Interesting thought...

[mikkparg]

Im currently studying an awesome piece of Mentalism and came across this sentence:

"You must know the presentation so well that you can focus your attention, as needed, on other things..."

Whereas the current mainstream thinking is:

"You must have the mechanics down so well that you devote everything towards your presentation..."

Although the first one does not imply that you have to devote to your sleight of hand it does imply the exact opposite to the second.
So what are your views on the two sentences?

M.

[[RH]magician]

Sleights I believe shouldn't be performed If the performer is not sure that he has mastered the sleights however I think the first quotation makes more sense... The presentation gives misdirection, helps with audience management, and a lot of other things. I'd bet sleights would become a lot easier to do.

Very interesting topic.

[haroldross]

Im currently studying an awesome piece of Mentalism and came across this sentence:

"You must know the presentation so well that you can focus your attention, as needed, on other things..."

Whereas the current mainstream thinking is:

"You must have the mechanics down so well that you devote everything towards your presentation..."

I would say we have a paradox.

We must know our presentation so well that we can adapt it to whatever situation we may find ourselves in. So many times either we mess up or our spectator helper does something out of the ordinary. One of the hardest things my son had to learn when giving a speech in 4-H was if he forgot a phrase or something, just to go on. We have to give the impression that we are in control of the situation. The audience does not know what is going to happen next. In this respect I agree with the first statement.

I also agree with the second statement in that I need to know the mechanics so well that I can focus on the presentation. Being able to quickly adapt is essential. When I am learning a new card trick it is like there is only one way to do it. As I continue to learn and practice it, I learn some alternative options to cover for when things don't go right. Only when I have gotten to the point where I am completely satisfied with my technique, should I attempt to perform the effect.

Yes, I believe both of the statements to be true- a paradox.

[lag]

Im currently studying an awesome piece of Mentalism and came across this sentence:

"You must know the presentation so well that you can focus your attention, as needed, on other things..."

Whereas the current mainstream thinking is:

"You must have the mechanics down so well that you devote everything towards your presentation..."

My take on this is that the word 'presentation' used in both quotes takes on a slightly different meaning(or you can say slightly different context).

In the first quote, the presentation refers to the flow of the performance and direction in which a performer wants it to take. Hence, to know the presentation well would mean to:
1) familiarise oneself with the entire flow of the performance and the direction he wants it to go (i.e, mysterious, dangerous, funny)
2) how he can manipulate the flow of the performance should it divert from the direction he wants it to go

In the second quote, presentation refers to the nitty gritty details of the performance, e.g when to act surprise, exaggerate your actions, cue for applause, etc

Lag

[mikkparg]

Originally Posted by lag

My take on this is that the word 'presentation' used in both quotes takes on a slightly different meaning(or you can say slightly different context).

In the first quote, the presentation refers to the flow of the performance and direction in which a performer wants it to take. Hence, to know the presentation well would mean to:
1) familiarise oneself with the entire flow of the performance and the direction he wants it to go (i.e, mysterious, dangerous, funny)
2) how he can manipulate the flow of the performance should it divert from the direction he wants it to go

In the second quote, presentation refers to the nitty gritty details of the performance, e.g when to act surprise, exaggerate your actions, cue for applause, etc

Lag

Ah didn't think the context would come up but the first quote actually refers to the laughter, gasp, clap etc. parts of a presentation. To my knowledge so does the second one, going by the idea that memorizing a performance is really bad.(due to the way different people react, you can't have one fits to everyone type of presentation)

M.

[Brandon Pomeroy]

I think that neither quote is correct... You should never pay less attention to presentation or mechanics; both need to be practiced as much as possible. You should be able to do both almost without thinking. Of course, it's very difficult to get to that stage, so most people (myself included) compromise.

In the case of compromise, I'd say that it's best to have the mechanics down perfectly. That way everything is smooth and confident. If you are a little bit bumbling in a performance or patter, you can laugh it off as having stagefright, or something. If you mess up a sleight, as I think everyone has, we all know that we have to go straight to damage control, and that the effect is usually ruined.