The Cleveland Cavaliers Top Talent Contest
WHY DON'T YOU DO ILLUSIONS?
Last week Stacy and I were working an event in downtown Cleveland at The Arcade. We got to talking about the time we competed in the Cleveland Cavaliers Top Talent Contest in 2012. We also got to talking about why we don't do illusions... see below.
My Dad and I built this huge glass Metamorphosis illusion that weighed like 300 lbs., rolled on casters, and could be transported only in the back of a trailer. Beautiful illusion, much harder to perform well. Something you don't realize until you build it.
Stacy and I aren't illusionists. To be a good illusionist you need to understand how to move well on stage. Most illusionists start as dancers or trained actors. Both things we are not.
We had been entered and had made it to the finals of the Cleveland Cavs' Top Talent Contest and agreed to perform this illusion during a timeout. We brought my parents to help and watch.
Insert irrelevant picture of us with Mom and Dad attending price is right event in Akron here...
Let's talk about moving an illusion...
I'm assuming at some point I was given specific directions on where to park and how to unload properly into the arena. You know... park here, you can walk through this door, and we have staff waiting for you when you arrive. Sometimes... I tend not to listen. So... here's where the fun begins.
After parking 3 blocks away, the 4 of us pushed this massive crated illusion through downtown Cleveland. We waited at crosswalks, said excuse us, and made our way towards the arena. Here is where I learned that I don't like moving illusions.
Once inside we were set up high in the arena. We did a tech run to see how it would look. Nothing to it... Stacy and I had been practicing this illusion in our front yard each morning while the neighbors watched their kids get on the bus for school. Yes, we are the weirdos in the neighborhood.
Nothing to it... would have been true if I hadn't switched the size of the casters by half an inch the night before Cleveland. This is something you learn as a magician. The size of the casters on whatever you are rolling in determines how easy and loud the item is that you are pushing. Why would that change anything about our illusion?
So apparently half an inch is like 6 miles to someone stepping up onto an illusion. Take a look at a set of stairs in your house. There is a known measurement range that steps are set to (I believe this is true, or I could be making it up). If you go out of that range, a person who is used to walking up and down steps set within this range will trip and fall.
So during rehearsal Stacy fell. Luckily, she caught herself as she went down and was okay. Reason number 2 why we don't do illusions... physical injuries.
The performance
At this point we've recovered from our fall. We are on a platform halfway up in the arena, level with the game clock and screen. A timeout is called and it's our time to go. Every single light in the place turns on us and we are staring at a giant version of ourselves. Let's try not to fall...
From what we could remember, Stacy blacked out and I was surprised that the trick worked and we didn't go viral for hurting ourselves. It was a success.
We won the contest and were asked to do a second trick with a deck of cards... impressive and less chance of injury.
Once we were crowned The Cleveland Cavaliers Top Talent, we packed up, walked back 3 blocks to the trailer, and drove home with our crew. The next day we sold that illusion to a local magician for 1/4 of the price it cost to make it.
And that's the story of why we don't do illusions...