Cooperació i Relacions Sectorials
PROJECCIÓ INTERNACIONAL:
gentle enough to nourish a man’s growth without destroying his roots.
-Frank A. Clark
achieve anything of value. You must risk failure to get the rewards of suc-cess. All of us have had props fail, jokes fail, new ideas fail, auditions fail, and more. Each failure had the ability to break our confidence and make us give up or to make us stronger, more experienced, and determined. I cer-tainly hope you’ll choose the second option and get back on the horse.
With the popularity of shows like America’s Got Talent, The Voice, Amer-ican Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, there are plenty of opportunities to see a so-called panel of “experts”
watching and evaluating numerous performers We, the viewer can see how they give criticism of various per-formances and witness the reactions of the artists to what is said.
If the judges are truly experts in their field, the experience can truly help the growth of the performer and still inspire them to do better or achieve more. Some television judges, how-ever, are focused on ratings and cre-ating more press for themselves than actually making better performing artists out of the competitors. It’s our right to decide whether to take the advice given or go our own direction.
“I like criticism. It makes you strong.”
-LeBron James
Taking criticism is a skill that can be learned with practice. As performers, we are personally and emotionally at-tached to the work we create and as such are deeply affected by positive or negative comments we receive.
For the inexperienced performer, a handful of gushing reviews will boost the ego, while a few undesir-able observations will send him/her home crying.
I remember when I was 16 and danc-ing with the Gateway Ballet Company in St. Louis. We were doing the Nut-cracker with weeks of rehearsals and dozens of performances. After each run-through and show, the entire cast was assembled. The ballet master would give specific notes to the danc-ers. When a note was given directly to
a person, they would respond after-ward with, “Thank you, Miss Norma.”
(The name of the Ballet Master) How awesome was that. The level of re-spect shown to the director and the ability to listen and apply the notes immediately was a wonderful lesson.
Some criticism is asked for, some is simply offered. Both can be valuable.
But, the criticism must be filtered to separate the constructive from de-structive.
Destructive criticism is given with the intent of weakening your resolve and confidence. It can sometimes be given by a competitor or jealous rival and is usually hurtful or detrimental to the improvement of your product.
Someone may say, “You should do this.” or “You look stupid doing that.”
The commenter will not give a reason why or even a way to make it better.
It is just negative criticism. Ignore it, and move on.
Always consider the source of criti-cism. Is this someone you respect?
Is it someone whose work you ad-mire? Is it someone who really is experienced and knows what they are talking about?
If comments are solicited, be pre-pared to listen. If you only expect to receive heaps of praise and hear how great you are, you are wasting the time of both parties. Many profes-sionals pay big money to consultants for honest appraisals of their work. I myself have hired magic consultants, Don Wayne and Mark Parker, for can-did advice on specifics when creating new routines. They helped me to get to a place that I could not reach alone.
Money well spent.
If you are getting great advice for free from people you trust and respect, keep your ears open and your mouth shut. If you have to, bite your tongue.
It’s not easy to be told what someone else thinks of your work, but it can make you better and get your brain thinking in ways you never imagined.
Don’t try to defend your choices. No
excuses are necessary. They just saw your act and this is their evalu-ation of what they saw. You can’t change what they think now.
Just listen, write down, or record what is said. Sometimes we only take in information when we are truly “ready” for it. That may mean taking some time to understand what the speaker meant and how to apply it to our performance.
And, remember to always say
‘thank you’ for the critique.
Jeff McBride worked on his card act for years in the clubs of New York City. I remember hearing how he often asked others for com-ments after the show. He respect-ed the magicians as knowlrespect-edge- knowledge-able and experienced enough to offer insight that he may not have considered. As a result, the act progressed faster. It’s great to see how he now returns the favor by giving great advice to other performers through his lectures, online and private teaching.
Advice or critique that is not asked for should be treated the same way. Filter out the destructive and listen to the valuable bits that you can employ. This person who came to you with unsolicited com-ments was really compelled to do so because there was something worthy in your performance of discussion. That’s a good thing.
A good critique should also be specific. Consider the following conversation at magic convention somewhere on the planet:
Mr. A - “How was the
You can’t do anything with that critique. The person is unable to go into specific details that could improve the performance.
Mr. A - “How was the opening act?”
Mr. B - “It sucked.”
Mr. A - “What sucked about it?”
Mr. B - “The lighting was too dark, the props were painted poorly, the concealment was obvious, the costumes were wrinkled and shoes scuffed, the timing of the music was late. But, he did have a hot assistant.”
Now, we have some details that can be worked on. All of these things could be improved over a couple rehearsals to make a better performance.
Another set of eyes viewing your work is a valuable thing to have. If a magician approaches you with comments, they will have the ability to communicate in a vocabulary that is easily understood. Non-magicians, without even knowing methods, can still spot awkwardness, uncomfort-able, or unnatural moments.
However, they may not be able to communicate details without some help from you. Ask questions to under-stand the areas that need fixing.
There is one more way to receive feedback with getting solicited or unsolicited remarks. That is to listen to your audience. When you are comfortable with your act and can feel the audience response, it will tell you what is working and what is not.
For a great example of listening to the audience, watch The Comedian by Jerry Seinfeld. The film is about the testing and building of an entirely new act. Fame and years of experience put Seinfeld in a starting block far ahead of the guys who are just building their first pieces of material.
But, the process is the same. You “listen” to the audience response and learn what is good and what needs work.
The film also follows another comedian who has talent, but also carries around an ego that gets in the way of his growth and success.
“The worst sound you can ever hear on-stage is the sound of sucking.”
Now, it’s your turn to give your notes to others. By remem-bering how personal it can be to receive, take the time to approach criticism with care. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
When you are not asked, but stirred to give a comment to a performer use a soft approach. Try, “I enjoyed your performance very much. May I offer one thought?” They will not be offended and will be willing to hear what you have to say.
Relate everything to them and how it applies to their act.
If you want to use an example, make it hypothetical or relate it to something besides magic.
A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Give a
compliment before giving critical comments. “That was a beautiful production of the rhesus monkey and banana.
Perhaps the banana could be produced before the mon-key since his appearance is more dramatic.”
Make your comment a question and make the other person part of the dialogue that leads to a better result.
“Would it be possible to steal the load from X?”, “Do you think this could happen when you do that?”, “Have you tried a…?”
As I said in the beginning, it’s not about ego; it’s about the end result. Please be honest and offer advice that makes us better magical artists and performers. Empty praise does nothing to advance our art. It’s true, honest criticism that allows us to grow and take magic into the future.
And since I perform on cruise lines often, let me share something about critiques. I see written criticism by guests at the end of each cruise. The cruise lines often rate the acts individually and a lot of weight is given when re-booking. But, you can’t take it too seriously. The highest rated act for the week was a violin player that missed the ship and never performed.
A
little over a decade ago, I left a ten year stint working as a clerk, on the floor, for a huge, national retail chain. I was full time, mostly days and took the job because I knew I could do it well and because it allowed me to still perform in the evenings while enjoying married life. Plus, as it turned out, my wife got hired at the same store in the Customer Service department. We both left the store within a year of each other because the company was heading towards a ‘self-service’ format and we were both focused on a ‘customer service’ experience.As anyone who has been there knows, most of the time you are a ‘pee-on’ or a mushroom (kept in the dark and fed a lot of crap) and have very little say in the policies and procedures relating to the products and services but if you open your eyes and ears, you can learn a LOT about customers and their wants and needs.
Here’s what I learned and how I applied it to my magic career.
Customer Service
“What Can You Do For Me?”
This is what makes a store really successful. Service. In the retail sector, customers will go out of their way to get better service. They will spend more money and travel further if the experience they receive is more valuable to them.
This is what the smaller, independent stores realized when the big-box stores started showing up.
Nation-wide chains succeed by competing on price but they lack the necessary customer service (can you ever find a Wal-Mart employee when you need them?).
Why? Simple! They cut prices so low that they can’t afford the labour costs of having enough staff to sat-isfy their customers. Frustrating isn’t it?
Smaller, boutique stores offer the same product (quite often better made products) as the national chains yet can afford to hire better informed employ-ees and have them available to service their custom-ers – simply because they charge more.