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MagicCoach -
Helping you grow your Magic Business
from the Desk of Timothy Hyde
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Hi
Your time is precious - This is a 3 minute read!
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A little bit different this issue as we start what I hope will be a series of
Mini
Reviews of some Magic Products coming onto the market that I know
will
be of interest to you.
But, before I get to those, Peter Miller has informed me that the response to
his Up Front In Control book being available again has been huge and over
half of the copies available have been snapped up. Some nice comments are
already appearing on the Cafe and other forums. Remember this is a package,
so you get a printed Copy, an E copy and the other bonus bits.
Here's the full details
http://tinyurl.com/m8geg7
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MAGIC PRODUCTS - Mini Reviews
A few people have been asking me about the new Matt Johnson
products
that have created a bit of a buzz on various forums.
I've had time to look at 2 of them and I was impressed.
I think the YMCA Tossed Out Deck is a very
commercial routine indeed.
You'll know if you've read any of my books that I like routines that are funny
but that don't rely on hack lines and corny gags. Two out of three magicians in
the world bill themselves as Comedy Magicians and the quickest way to turn
an audience off is to do the same gags as other people.
One way to be a little bit different is to create situations that
encourage
moments of spontaneous humour. This means the comedy is matched to the
audience. This routine does just that. It would work in a wide range of venues
and to different audience sizes and types.
While there is nothing really new in the handling or methodology, what Matt
is really giving you here is a sure fire idea for the presentation of the
effect.
Well, I think it's sure fire, I haven't tried it out, but I'll certainly be
collecting up
the necessary items and giving it a try ASAP. I bet, like me, you have some
of them already. (I'm not saying which ones.)
Actually, to say there is nothing new in the methodology is short changing
Matt a bit, because there is a great moment for a switch that is fully explained
and shown on the live video demonstration. If my mention of a switch
scares you, you could use something like David Regal's deck that would work
just as well and requires no switch.
This is well worth the $10 he's charging for this! Note - what you are buying
here is the terrific premise. If you've seen the You Tube Clip or you've reverse
engineered the effect from the descriptions and start performing the routine,
do the right thing and send him some cash. There are plenty of extra tips
and alternative handlings in the manuscript.
The Rule of Thumb manuscript is a bit more expensive
at $25, but will be of
interest to anyone who uses the phone to sell shows. And isn't this everybody?
Actually, I think this book will be of most benefit to people who work the
birthday party, social event market and in particular people starting out. This
is not to say a seasoned pro will not learn anything from the book. In fact,
there was one chapter that taught me something I didn't know before
and if I had known it, I would have reacted quite differently to an opportunity
that came through just a few weeks ago.
You can read the full Table of Contents on his web so I'll
just mention a couple
of highlights. One of the very good things is Matt gives you real examples.
Examples of exactly what to say on the phone, examples of his Invoice template,
examples of his Reference or testimonial letter request etc. You get to see how
he organises his computer file system and diary system. There is also great info
on Deposits and how to deal with
common "stalls" you'll get in the
booking
process.
This isn't a huge book, coming in at 34 pages, so don't
expect to get a huge
manual.
You could possibly read through it quite quickly. But once you've
done that, go
back
and read it properly, read between the lines and start acting
on some of the
tips and
techniques. On the Cafe Cody Fisher made a great point,
that this would be a terrific
guide
if you were training someone else up to work
the phones for you. I agree. Great work Mr Johnson
Matt has a heap of other items available on his site and
here is a direct link
http://www.thecorporatemagician.com/magicstore.html
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Got something you think would be of interest to MagicCoach readers
or a request for me to check something out? Send me a note!
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MAGICCOACH
The full MagicCoach catalogue is here
http://www.magiccoach.com
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Thought for the Week
"Don't try this at home, actually means .. don't try this at all!" "
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Send me an email if you have any problems with links or
downloads mentioned in this issue. thyde@pnc.com.au
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Timothy Hyde
The Magic Coach