I think you should do Psychokinetic Silverware. You should bring some food that you eat with a fork and when you are done, you could bend the fork for them. You don't have to do this, this is only what I would do!

Sincerely,
Matt

mysteriousone:

I extend my heartfelt gratitude to you. I in no way meant to offend you or accuse you of anything. The trial lawyer in me goes into auto pilot on occasion. I have been to amazon.com and just ordered Restaurant Worker's Guide. You are more than correct, my nimbled fingered friend, when you state that there is more to magic than just "tricks". Please know that I harbor no animosity towards you.

Dan

First, when I wrote my post I did not see yours stateing that you do teh sponge balls etc.

You're right, I do not hesitate to correct grammar, and other English mistakes because it shows me that the posts were written by a school kid trying to pretend he is a magi. I stand by what I said earlier with the information I had. Chris also stated what all of us thought much nicer than I would. You come in with a question 2 days before an audition, list only gimmicks, then tell us you are an attorney. All this show poor planning on your part, exactly the opposite of all your training that teaches you to plan so well that you know the answer a witness will give before you ask the question.

What are we supposed to think? Also as a magi you (should) KNOW the reaction that your effects create, otherwise how can you routine your show? Learn to use the weighting system. Assign each effect a number from 1 to 10 (10 being best) based on what thr audience reaction will be, then routine with a "check mark." i.e. start with a 5, then a 3, then 5, then 7 then 10.

I still stand by my earlier post. You are not ready to perform in a restaurant situation. Kids parties is where you should be.

Peter

...I dont neccessarily think it would matter that much whether the trick is gimmicked or not....the audience wants to be entertained...thats what you're hired for......whether it requires a gimick or not...doesnt matter to them or the manager...they dont know if there is a gimmick for a non-gimmicked trick or no gimmicks for a gimmicked trick.

As long as you perform it well enough so NO-ONE picks up on any mistakes, add some good patter, and you've got it.....dont worry if its gimmicked or not...you've spent the money on the gimmicks....so use them...but try to get into the habit of non-gimmicked items for restaurant magic.... make use on the gimmicks now that you have them...but ry and invest in some non-gimmiked magic...i reccomend impromtu magic..like sankey's rev. coin magic or on the spot with greg wilson or something along those lines....no gimmicks and you can do it anywhere, anytime....

anway, the overall message is that perform it to your best.....gimmicked or not......what you want to expose is a good effect......

take care..

I think the problem is that you're getting too worked up about the audition and your trying to cram your best flashiest tricks into one routine. Pick out a few tricks that you are the most comfortable with and get those down really good and try to work them into a routine. Advertise well but perform better. If you overwhelm them in the audition with difficult tricks that require setup their going to expect that when your walking arround the restaurant. I'm pretty sure you cant perform and reset all those tricks continuously while walking around a restaurant. I think what they meant when they said gimmicked tricks are bad is that they aren't very spontaneous and you don't want to be fumbling with gimmicks as your walking around. I suggest that you practice several routines with a few tricks each and pick one of your best ones for the audition but remember not to do all your best tricks first at the audition and then make it seem like your getting lazy. I hope this helped, I know it's rather long and kinda repetitive, repetiitive, repetitive.