Room for Creativity

After trying out smoke for my producer, he gave me some great feedback.
1. Don’t draw the lighter.
2. Take the pen out of play sooner.

So, now my sequence is:
1. Intro about pictionary/charades.
2. Mouth zipper gag.
3. Take out pen, cap in left hand.
4. Draw Square.
5. Place pen in mouth/drag.
6. Place paper on left hand palm.
7. Take pen from mouth, draw tobacco/drugs.
8. Put pen away.
9. Roll cigarette/joint.
10. Light cigarette/joint.
11. Take invisible lighter from pocket.
12. Light invisi-joint, release smoke.

I did some thinking one night, and realized I can actually do it twice. So, that’s 13- show mouth empty, 14- release second batch of smoke. Showed it to Tony, he dug it.

I only have one problem with this effect. You don’t get to speak. Not for that long. But long enough, I think, to make it a little awkward. And everyone uses the same presentations.
So, I thought to myself- what would be a good excuse to not speak? And two presentations I’ve always wanted to use popped into my mind. Pictionary and charades. I think this could be awesome.
First, start with pictionary by drawing tobacco, a pipe, and a lighter. Preferably for three people, and I tell them I’ll play with all three of them, drawing one image for each person. They’ll probably have a tough time guessing. So, I suggest charades- which also gives me another great opportunity to not talk. I will eventually take the pen from my mouth to pack the tobacco into the bowl of the pipe, which will give the pen some purpose before going into my pocket, instead of having it go straight from my mouth to the pocket- which I think is kind of awkward.
Anyways, good thing no one reads this blog. I will be keeping this to myself.

Just watched the trailer for Ben Seidman’s Alchemy. Immediately thought of a cleaner handling for coin to strawberry- with the strawberry in finger palm, simply use a quarter and shove the coin by it’s edges into the strawberry. Then take a bite after the transformation to prevent the spectators from wanting to check out the fruit. If they try, then eat the whole thing. If the quarter means that much to you, simply wait a couple of hours and retrieve it from the toilet.
This sounds funny, but I’m being completely serious. Not about the retrieval, but the method. It should work, no?

So, here begins a project. My goal is to compile a set of original work- complete with explanation in text as well as performance video. This will include my work in cards, coins, and anything close-up (though there will probably be more cards than others). I have temporarily dubbed this project “Pieces & Var.” because there are a few things that have a couple of variations.

Here is the list so far: (These are subject to change, depending)
Cards: Time Machine & Var., Card/Corner Transpo, Sandwich Select Var., Post-It ACAAN & Var., Ace Assembly & Var., Card to Pocket/BackPocket/OutsidePocket & Var., Progressive Sandwich & Var.
Coins: 1-Coin & Pocket Production/Vanish, 2-Coin Vanish/Production, 3-Coin Vanish/Production (Using 3 Coins), 3-Coin Production/Vanish (Using 1 Coin).
Misc: Ring Move Vanish/Production, PK Straw, Nickel Cigarettes, Micro-Production.

Okay, good luck me.

Calen Morelli’s project is wicked. And inspiring. http://365daysofmagic.tumblr.com/

Just bought the best book test ever.
* Note to self: write awesome lines for script.