Increasing Reactions (Build-Up)

In my first article dealing with this topic I discussed the four areas briefly. Now I’m tackling each one of them head on in hopes to go a little deeper into each section. The first section I talked about was build-up so it only makes sense to start with it as well. So put on your thinking caps and let’s start the discussion…

Build-up requires you to keep your spectator interested. You build off of this interest. The interest plays a key role because if you can build the interest than you can essentially build an emotion, which will generate your big reaction. In order for build-up to help increase your reactions there are a few things you must do with your magic effect/routine in general…

Capture Interest

When you first start your effect/routine, I do mean the very first seconds, you should begin by capturing your spectator’s interest. This can be done with your words, gestures, or a technical display. This is up to you, as no one knows how you perform better than yourself.

Think about a book you just picked up. You don’t know a thing about this book. So you start to read it and the author’s text pulls you in from the beginning. In other words he captures your interest. Now you’re paying attention and more open. Consider just the opposite. If the author’s text bores you this will most likely lead you to putting the book down and never read the book again. It just didn’t capture you the way you wanted. So you move on. Why? From the moment you started reading that book your interest wasn’t captured. You had no reason to keep reading. However if you had kept reading just for the sake of not wanting to have gotten it for nothing you would have most likely understood it and all but your feeling towards it wouldn’t have been as great as they could’ve been if your interest had been caught in the beginning.

So, from what I’ve just said, you must capture your spectator’s interest from the get go. If your spectators have nothing to be interested in then why would they bother paying attention? Perhaps they would just go with the flow however since their interest level is down their reactions will be as well. A higher interest level allows for a greater reaction in the end, considering a few other things happen. How you obtain this interest is based on your own creativity. It also depends on your style and general look on magic. There is one thing you should remember though. This spark of interest should remain follow the theme of the effect/routine.

To Be Continued...

Continued From...

Keeping Interest

Once you’ve hooked your spectator you must keep them on the line. You don’t want their interest to begin to fade. Why keep the interest? Well why not! You’ve already brought the spectator into another world. Why not keep this little fantasy going? By sustaining interest you keep your spectator locked into your performance as a whole. Keeping interest, again, depends on what you do with your magic. It all depends on your creativity. An author will keep interest by putting mental images, by words, into the reader’s mind that is in context to the story. In magic there are many areas that do this. The images are usually visual images that the magician is doing right in front of them. You also sustain the interest through your verbal presentation.

Building Interest

A reaction is an emotion. For an emotion to be created you need to use emotions. An author gives the reader everything they’ve experienced before but now throws in shocking twists and turns to create an emotion within the reader. The reader is already hooked but now they are full on excited to see the outcome. They are so open for anything to happen. It thrills them a bit. This is sort of what happens in magic when a build-up is happening. You’re throwing in shocks and turns at the appropriate places to advance their interest. You want your spectator to be open for anything. However you shouldn’t have them confused.

The Stepping Ladder

The word build basically means to construct something. Whenever you build something you usually piece it together piece by piece. A person is often careful at how they do this. If they don’t think out something the end result may not be what they wanted. The same is true when build-up comes into play. Using a step-by-step process you should be building up the emotions and ultimately the end reaction from a minimal impact to a major impact. It’s sort of like climbing a stepping ladder. From that first step you’re beginning your build-up. With each progressing step your increasing the build-up. There is not set amount that must be increased. This is to the performers choosing. However it should all be consistent and flow. By the time you reach the top the build-up should be at it’s maximum point.

Pacing

In magic we use something labeled as pacing. Pacing is like rhythm, as in a beat. Life has it’s own rhythm. It has it’s own beat. This beat is different for everyone. Now think of music. Whenever you listen to music you’re listing to the beat given off by the artist. This beat affects your beat. It affects your emotions. Now apply this build-up. Your rhythm, or rather, pacing can generate emotions in the same way a music artist affects their fans. However some music can give off a negative feel. With your magic you want to make sure you try to give off a positive feel. Experiment with different pacing speeds. Be a little creative. However you cannot solely rely on pacing. It’s true that pacing can add to build-up but you don’t want to rest all your weight on it.


From all that has been said you must remember that in the area of build-up these things must be used as a whole. These areas are woven together and come as a whole. Don’t forget anything. After all a car won’t run without the motor. The other three areas will be discussed in other threads that should be up after awhile. I hope you found something useful out of all this. Thank you for taking the time to read it. Please feel free to post your own thoughts. Thanks and take care.

-Aaron

COOl, thanks again!