It's at about this time each year that magicians see articles and ads for Egg Bags and Changing Bags that look like Christmas stockings and Abbott's reminds us that they continue to offer the Hippity-Hop Santas effect. These and other holiday props are all fine with me, but what about some ideas for illusionists during the holidays?
Over the decades I have done a lot of work to adapt material for a holiday (Halloween, Easter, the Fourth of July and Christmas). Here are some concepts that have worked for me.
First, change your music and assistants' costuming. That will go a long way to making your show a Christmas attraction. I cannot dictate musical choices for you, but you cannot go wrong with Leroy Anderson's ever-popular "Sleigh Ride" as a start. Holiday albums are not hard to find so audition a few to pick appropriate selections.
I have had great success with the costume offerings of a firm called Leg Avenue. They're into Halloween big time, but their Christmas line has lots to offer. Many of the outfits are too skimpy (unless you're producing an almost R-rated show), but there are enough that are just fine. Leg Avenue's selection of hosiery for your assistants is phenomenal. They do not sell direct. You'll have to buy items through one of their merchants. Check costume stores in your area.
Remember, too, that not every effect needs to be tied into the season. The connection can be tenuous (the Pom-Pom Prayer Stick could be a gift you received from a magic friend).
It almost goes without saying that the Costume Trunk Illusion is a natural at these shows. An elf, Miss Claus and a toy soldier could be the three offerings with your assistant wearing the Miss Claus selection.
Abbott's built a "chalet" for me to the dimensions of their popular Temple of Benares. They supplied the unit and we attached it to my Temple base. Instead of swords I requested candy canes and Abbott's made a Christmas tree-shaped stand to hold and display the flat plywood canes.
Candy canes are also featured in my Broom Suspension at Christmas. I acquired a metal pipe of the same dimensions as the support disguised as a kitchen broom. We painted it white and then wound red decorative tape around it. From the hardware store I bought a closet pole and we cut it to length and decorated it the same way. With the familiar "March of the Toys" by Victor Herbert we staged a little North Pole fantasy. The female assistant walked almost mechanically. She put two red circles (removable labels from the office supply store) on her cheeks. Two toy soldiers marched out with her carrying the candy canes.
Paul Osborne took the old Grant's/MAK Magic Strat-O-Spheres prop and expanded it to an illusion. The balls are actually now basketballs so it's a plenty big prop. Instead of the box with the ridiculous Joker design for vanishing one of the balls, Paul created a sort of Crystal Cube Illusion. The assistant is concealed inside a glass cube in the dollhouse position. There's a trap folded up behind her and a hinged trap across her lap. Her upright body is concealed by a piece of fabric that matches a cloth partially over the prop (ala a Lion's Bride Illusion). I had Abbott's supply me with balls decorated like large Christmas tree ornaments. They also made a Christmas tree that these three oversize ornaments start out displayed on.
Although it's a pretty big job we have wrapped the two large boxes of the Backstage with a Magician illusion in holiday wrapping paper. They look like two very large gifts. That's a terrific appearance for Santa Claus himself.
I had my Bryce's Screen made just for holiday shows. Abbott's found an appropriate seasonal fabric with a vertical holly pattern. We wanted it to be green to compliment Santa's red outfit.
Our most impressive changeover, though, was what we did to my Owen Magic Supreme Modern Cabinet. We obtained rolls of a corrugated decorative product that is printed like bricks. We carefully cut 'panels' of it and taped it to the illusion. Gone were the occult images of the crouching imp. The tall cabinet could now be a chimney!
I explained to the audience that if I could not perform magic I would want to be Santa Claus. As I explained why, I carefully put on an entire Santa costume with wig, beard and glasses. There were boot tops and a wide belt. It took a minute or two and I was amazed that as I finished putting on the outfit there always was a round of applause. I still cannot explain this; I hadn't done anything.
My patter suggested that as Santa I would slide down the chimney and then cause all the gifts to appear by magic.
The execution, to Mannheim Steamroller's up-tempo version of "Deck the Halls," was the same as for our black magic "Mysteries from the Devil's Chamber." Opening up three large sheets of fabric I produced three 'blobs' that were positioned across the stage. Two were lovely assistants in brief holiday outfits. The third, of course, proved to be me. The Santa Claus costume perfectly covered the switch both cosmetically and logically.
These ideas are just to get you thinking. None are pipe dreams. I have performed all of them. They work.
You might consider putting my book So You Want To Be An Illusionist on your Christmas list. You can order it from me directly or from Abbott's. Beginning in January you'll be able to get a 'double-dose' of my writing as I begin an every-other-month series of articles for the S.A.M. monthly magazine, M-U-M entitled "Illusions of Grandeur." And, speaking of the S.A.M. (and for the I.B.M., too) you might consider my unique lecture about illusions as a 2010 activity. Ask anyone who saw my presentation at the 2009 Abbott Magic Get-Together whether it was worthwhile.
