Showmanship for Magicians

Showmanship for Magicians
Author	Dariel Fitzkee
Publisher	Saint Raphael House
Publication Date	1943
Language	English
Followed by	The Trick Brain

Showmanship for Magicians is part of the Fitzkee trilogy (along with The Trick Brain and Magic by Misdirection) and is considered by many to be an important contribution on the theory of magic.

Content

• 1 Introduction
• 1 The Need for This Book
• 1 Much Applies to all Entertainers
• 2 Why I Have Dared
• 2 Well, He's Working
• 2 Collected by the Show Business
• 2 The Unmentionable Appeal

Chapter I: Do Magicians Need Higher Entertainment Standards?

• 3 The Only Reason for Showmanship
• 3 The Fallacy that Magic Always Entertains
• 4 Why Changing Standards Have Made New Presentation Methods Necessary
• 5 The Spectators Themselves
• 5 The Damage Poor Presentation Does
• 6 Clues from the Show Business
• 7 See the Performance as the Spectators Do

Chapter II: Things From Another Era

• 9 Who the Average Magician Is
• 9 Tables and the One-Hoss Shay
• 10 The Circus Adopts Modern Taste
• 11 Look At The Stuff And Hang Your Head
• 11 Whose Fault Is It?
• 12 Second Childhood
• 12 Magicians As Strange Characters^
• 13 Glib And Idle Talk
• 13 Dismal Patter
• 14 Stumbling All Around
• 15 Secrets Are Not Important
• 15 Flunkies
• 16 What Do You Prefer For Entertainment?

Chapter III: How To Find Out What The Public Really Wants

• 17 The Magic Of Attendance
• 17 Motion Pictures
• 17 Stage Musicals
• 17 Dramatic Shows
• 18 Vaudeville
• 18 Night Clubs
• 18 Burlesque
• 18 Opera
• 19 Concert
• 19 Ballet
• 19 The Secret Of The Appeal Of Drama
• 20 Romance, Rehearsal And Punch
• 20 Specially Written Material
• 21 Unified Routine
• 21 What Show Business Reveals
• 22 Who Gets The Dollar?
• 22 Build To Customer Preferences

Chapter IV: The Things Big Audiences Really Buy

• 23 Dissection For Diagnosis
• 24 Analysis Of Audience Appeals
• 24 Where The Average Magician Misses
• 25 Make Them Like You In As Many Ways As They Can
• 26 Quantity And Variety
• 27 Modernizing The Mental Act

Chapter V: How Music Adds Interest

• 28 The Foundational Principles Upon Which The Whole Show Business Is Based
• 30 Shaping Magic To These Standards Not Difficult
• 31 Music
• 32 Not "A Tiny Little Valse"
• 33 Mood, Background, Situation And Character Through Music
• 33 Pennies From Heaven Versus The Miser
• 34 Audience Sympathy
• 35 Intermezzo To A Snootful
• 36 Murder To Music
• 36 The Anvil Chorus And The Heathen Chinese

Chapter VI: Rhythm, Youth And Sex Appeal

• 37 Tap Your Foot To Top Billing
• 37 Stardust And A Beautiful Blonde
• 37 Stop, Look And Listen
• 38 Walk-Ons
• 38 Who Is The Greatest Magician, And Rhythm
• 39 Life Begins At Forty, But Factor's Helps
• 39 Gals As Gals
• 39 Stress Without Vulgarity
• 40 Glamour Sells Tickets
• 40 Indirect Methods Are Best
• 41 On Being Unaware And Subtle

Chapter VII: Personality And The Necessity Of Selling Yourself

• 42 People Are More Interested In People
• 42 The Big Stars And What They Have In Common
• 43 How Individuality Makes The Star
• 43 Only One Result Possible
• 44 How A Pleasing Personality Is Achieved
• 44 Dale Carnegie's Magic Book
• 45 Only Five Ways To Reach A Spectator
• 45 Two Most Important
• 46 The Sound And Fury
• 46 Make Yourself Different
• 47 Identifications
• 47 They Must Please The Spectators
• 47 Try It Yourself
• 48 Material And Style
• 48 Push The Man, Not The Tricks
• 48 Picking Your Own Pocket

Chapter VIII: Color, Harmony, Sentiment, Romance

• 49 Color In Keeping Only In Certain Cases
• 50 Think Of The Other Stuff
• 50 Artificial Lights And Color
• 51 The Conventional Is Dangerous
• 51 Many Meanings To Harmony
• 52 Good Taste, And A Sense For Fitness
• 52 Sentiment Pays Dividends
• 53 Hats
• 53 Love, And A Two Timing Daddy
• 54 Conjuring Courtship
• 54 Nostalgia, Not Neuralgia

Chapter IX: Timing And Pointing

• 55 What Timing Is
• 56 Examples Abound
• 56 Emphasizing To Sell The Idea
• 57 The Gradual Ritard
• 58 Piano Solo With Razor Blade Accompaniment
• 59 Timing For Punch
• 59 Amateurs Don't Like It
• 60 Volunteer Critics
• 60 Pointing For Mayhem
• 60 What Pointing Is
• 61 Lazy Pointing To A Very Fast Trick
• 61 The Factors To Stress
• 62 Good General Rules

Chapter X: Surprise, Unity, Character And Situation

• 63 An Effective Expedient
• 63 Logical Development Best
• 64 Surprise With Punch
• 65 Unity, The Connecting Thread
• 65 What Unity Is
• 65 Examples
• 66 Characters
• 66 What They Are
• 66 How They Trap Audience Interest
• 67 Back To Unity Again
• 67 More Ways Of Achieving It
• 67 It May Be Bird, Beast Or Fish
• 68 Maintaining Character
• 68 People Are Interested In People, Again
• 68 How Character Is Revealed
• 69 Situation, What It Is
• 69 Conflict Brings Consequences
• 69 Russell Swann And Situation
• 70 Situation And A Nude Young Woman

Chapter XI: Costuming, Grooming, Make-Up, Personal Behavior And Smoothness

• 71 Proper Costume And Careful Grooming Essential
• 72 Old Out-Of-Date Clothes At A Party
• 72 Clothes Make The Character
• 72 When There Is Doubt, There Is No Doubt
• 73 Well Groomed Routine
• 73 What, When And How
• 73 Being At Ease
• 74 Let The Subconscious Do The Work
• 74 On Standing Still
• 74 Be Particular About Make-Up
• 75 How To Find Out How To Dress
• 75 How To Avoid Having To Have The Hands Cut Off
• 75 Facial Expression With A Floy-Floy
• 76 Voice Placement, Not Ventriloquism
• 76 Stage Fright
• 76 What It Is And How To Eliminate It
• 77 Poise A La Old Granddad
• 77 And Smoothness

Chapter XII: Confidence Through Rehearsal

• 78 How To Gain Confidence
• 79 What Rehearsal Really Is
• 79 What It Is In The Beginning
• 79 Time Limits
• 80 On Acquiring Material
• 80 Putting The Act Together
• 80 Get Good Advice
• 81 Magicians Are Poor Judges
• 81 Every Little Movement
• 81 The Walk-Through
• 82 What Is Action?
• 82 Climbing The Golden Stairs
• 82 What Lift And Movement Are
• 83 The Grind Of Rehearsal
• 83 On Correcting Mistakes

Chapter XIII: Physical Action, Group Coordination, Precise Attack, Economy And Brevity

• 84 Why People Like Physical Action
• 85 How It Can Be Incorporated In Magic
• 85 How Group Coordination May Be Applied To Magic
• 86 Coordination With Money, Hats And Water
• 86 Stupendous Trickery
• 87 Out With The Flunkey
• 87 Again, People Are Interested In People
• 88 A Game Of Catch
• 88 With Rope, Too
• 89 What Precise Attack Is
• 89 What Economy It
• 89 Getting His Money's Worth
• 90 What Brevity Is, And How To Achieve It
• 91 Holding Attention

Chapter XIV: Efficient Pacing, Punch, Instinct Appeals, Combined Appeals, Grace, Effortless Skill, Spectacle And Contrast

• 92 How To Pace Efficiently
• 93 What Punch Is
• 93 How To Acquire It
• 94 From 36 Gals
• 94 Why Magic Acts Lack Punch
• 94 Instinct Appeals And Responses
• 95 Ganging Them Up
• 95 How To Be Graceful
• 95 How To Make Your Skill Seem Effortless
• 96 Sure-Fire Material
• 96 What Spectacle Is
• 96 How To Create It
• 96 Contrast For Emphasis

Chapter XV: Comedy: Its Importance

• 97 Subordinate Tricks To Comedy
• 98 Comedy Is A Serious Business
• 99 Where To Learn About It
• 101 Various Kinds Of Comedy
• 103 Humor And Wit
• 104 Jest And Joke
• 105 The Laughable, Ludicrous, Comical, Droll, Ridiculous
• 106 Satire Irony, Caricature And Burlesque
• 107 Comedy In The Difficulties Of Others
• 108 Twenty-Four Causes For Laughter
• 109 Some Suggestions

Chapter XVI: Getting And Holding Interest And Attention

• 109 Success Is Proportionate To Interest
• 109 The Kinds Of Attention
• 110 Voluntary And Involuntary
• 110 What Kind Of Attention Is Interest
• 110 Keep Within The Spectators' World
• 111 My Stuff Is Over Their Heads
• 111 How To Bring Your Act Within The Spectators' Worlds
• 111 The Three Classes Of People
• 112 Fit The Act To The People
• 112 Contact Through The "Other Woman"
• 112 Emotion, What Makes It Tick
• 113 Fatigue
• 113 Patterns

Chapter XVII: Types Of Audiences And Their Preferences

• 114 Why You Have To Know Your Audiences
• 114 Eleven Kinds Of Audiences
• 115 The Kind Of Material And Angle Of Attack
• 116 Kids, Men, Women And Mixed Audiences
• 117 Drunk And Sober
• 118 Two More Groups Often Neglected
• 119 What These Audiences Are Interested In
• 121 The Patterns To Follow

Chapter XVIII: How To Routine

• 122 Planning Every Minute Detail
• 123 Tricks As Materials
• 124 How To Make A Trick "Arrangement"
• 125 Interpretation Is Everything
• 126 Tricks Are Skeletons Only
• 127 Top Entertainers Insist Upon Special, Exclusive Material
• 128 Routines Are Individual
• 129 The Three-Act Idea
• 130 An Example With A Pocket Trick
• 131 A Trick Is Like Sheet Music
• 132 Are Musicians More Painstaking Than Magicians?
• 132 Routine Defined
• 134 An Example With A Stage Trick
• 136 An Example With An Illusion
• 136 'Hammy' Magic

Chapter XIX: How To Routine: Continued

• 137 Don't Drag In Tricks By The Ears
• 139 Find A Reasonable Cause
• 140 How A Logical Cause Colors The Whole Routine
• 142 Mora Wands With Sex Appeal And A Moral
• 144 A Good Neighbor Presentation Of The Cut Rope, And A Situation
• 146 Rising Cards With Boogie-Woogie
• 147 Look Out For Stock Instructions
• 148 The Spark Of Life
• 150 How To Keep From Boring House Guests
• 152 A Routine For Company

Chapter XX: How To Get Ideas For Acts

• 153 The Name For A Performance
• 153 Acts Are Ideas
• 154 An Act From A Trick
• 154 An Act From A Character In A Situation
• 155 An Act From Sex Appeal
• 155 Acts From Confidence Games
• 156 Waller Suggests "Perverse Magic"
• 156 The Neophyte Magician
• 157 Impersonations Of Well-Known People
• 157 From Characters And Character Types
• 158 From An Ultimate Impression
• 158 From A Situation
• 159 By Taking Another Act Apart
• 159 From Folies Bergere To International Magicians
• 160 My Slip Showed
• 160 A Revue Act From A Trick
• 161 More Suggestions

Chapter XXI: How To Put An Act Together

• 162 Getting The Materials Together
• 162 Stock Apparatus
• 163 How To Make Your Props Convincing And In Keeping With The Act Idea
• 163 Preparing Spoken Material
• 164 Preparing Music Score
• 164 Putting In Cues
• 165 Cue Sheets For Curtains And Lights
• 165 Property Lists
• 166 You're On!

Chapter XXII: How To Make Your Act Saleable

• 167 The Formula For The Shortest Route To Success
• 167 Making The Product Like They Want It
• 168 How To Take An Act Apart To See What Makes It Tick
• 168 The Booker Is The Guy To Please
• 169 The Longer Way
• 169 The Scarcity Of Geniuses

Chapter XXIII: A Magic Show In The Modern Manner

• 170 A New Slant On Magic Presentation
• 170 A Revue With Magic As The Theme
• 171 Where It Differs From The Usual Magic Show
• 171 Ouch!
• 171 Cocktails And Cash
• 172 Tails And Tricks
• 172 Stubs And Sparks
• 172 Memory With Music
• 173 The Cut-Ups
• 173 A Bottle Of Spirits
• 173 East Is East
• 174 It's Just Things Like This
• 174 All Wet
• 174 A Bride And A Bathing Suit
• 173 Lunch
• 173 Beauty And The Bird
• 173 My Hat, Please
• 174 Snorted Again
• 174 It's Murder, He Says
• 174 Stardust
• 175 Oh, Daddy
• 175 Slow And Fast
• 175 And Stuff

Chapter XXIV: Finale

• 176 An Inventory
• 176 Salesmanship
• 176 Likable Qualities
• 176 Don't Don't
• 177 Grooming
• 177 Ease And Confidence
• 177 Prepare Thoroughly
• 178 Talk
• 178 Props
• 178 Smile
• 179 Bows
• 179 Building Up To A Hand
• 180 Emphasis
• 180 Be In Style

Chapter XXV Check Charts

• 181 Appeals: A List Of Audience Appeals
• 183 Idea: Check Chart On Act Ideas
• 185 Routine: Check Chart On Routines
• 189 Performance: Check Chart For Performances
• 193 After Performance: Things To Think Of After The Show, Packing And Review
• 197 Act Revisions: Things To Think Of At The Hooch Session
• 201 Applause: Confirming Audience Feedback

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