A mixed bag of goodies
The first eight months of the year that is 2020 have flown – although felt never-ending at times too. Already I have achieved so much as a performer and personally. My confidence is growing day by day.
Not only have I progressed my FizzWizzPop work but thanks to the Chicago Magic Lounge my Close Up repertoire is growing too.
I believe after a week of madness I’m close to creating another brand new Close Up set. Yippee!
Secrets should be shared!
I am beginning to realise that the secret to putting strong acts together is not about the actual tricks themselves. But it is how you shape your entire routine.
All the bits in-between are vital. Links should take the same amount of time to build – if not more time than the routines you perform.
For this weeks Chicago virtual cocktail hour I chose four tricks that I had never performed ever before. I know, Rock and roll suicide. Or a chance to learn and grow.
My set list was…
- Intro Ring and Ribbon – Sugawara
- Dinglish Deck – Curtis Kam
- Will the Cards Match Chicago Style – Paul Harris
- O.C.D. Cups – Nikola Arkane
Challenging to say the least. As you can probably tell from the set list above the routines I chose were very diverse. Antithetical even. So finding a way to make them gel became an interesting project. Though one that did not take too much thought.
I doubt I’ve ever creatively linked effects this quickly before. And how did I do this I hear you ask?
- I integrated a theme of Chaos and Beauty into my patter
- I made items appear earlier than required. These items made no sense at all in the beginning. A hint of what was still to come. In other words I foreshadowed everything I did prior to the time I did it.
You got to pick a pocket or two!
As most of you might be aware (if you are friends with my on Facebook) I finally treated myself to something I have always wanted… a tailcoat! I found a shop in Stockholm that sells amazing unique clothing with a steampunk/gothic feel to them. When I spotted this jacket hanging on the rail it just had to be mine. And I thought it was too an investment that hopefully I will perform in for years to come.
Being relatively new to magic and costumes I’m really not that read up on tail coat designs. Or indeed how they work. Amazingly before the last Mystique show John-Henry Larsson gave me a speedy run around of his jacket.
As this post is a mixed bag, I am throwing a question out to pick your brains too…
Do any of you have any tips, books, advice or do’s and dont’s I must follow in creating a tailcoat that I can use in performance?
If you do please comment below or indeed pop me an email at nikola@arkanemagic.com I’d love to hear from you. Any help would be much appreciated!
To a Swedish Summer and new beginnings
It’s hard to believe that the summer is almost at its close. For the last three weeks I have literally lived! I am so grateful that I could travel to Sweden to attend a magic course. Take a boat across the Archipelago to Nalle’s island. Spend time with all my friends and make new ones too. Swim with Hanna. Become a flying acrobat with Jeanette and Ottar (almost ending in tears). Watch not one but two Mystique magic shows LIVE! And most importantly to eat breathe sleep magic for a full month and be with Tom everyday!
On the eve of travelling home I am sad to leave however I am eager to get stuff done.
I have some personal stuff to sort out first. Then I intend to get the head down on my next written project, “In Plain Sight.”
I am hoping to get a video trailer of all the effects this September. Then if there is interest I will put together a miniature zoom lecture tour this autumn. With the promise of some live events in the near future perhaps. Watch this space!
For now here is a fun trailer of my monkeying around with Jeanette and Ottar after which I had a very sore foot for a few days, but it was entirely worth it!