Finding The Funny – A Magician’s Guide to Ad-libs, Improvisation, and Audience Interaction by Ryan Pilling

Finding The Funny; A Magician’s Guide to Ad-libs, Improvisation, and Audience Interaction.

Learn the techniques to creating inspired moments of comedy, and engaging your audience with the spark of spontaneity.

This book is about that thing we call “Stage Presence.” Some performers try to manufacture stage presence through repetition and rehearsal, to have a polished act, but it can become robotic. They often miss the part about being present. To interact with your audience implies two-way communication. You can’t just stick to the script. You must listen and respond on your feet.

Live performance is about creating a one-of-a-kind experience happening right here, right now, never to be seen again. It seems like lightning strikes to create these special moments, but there are skills and strategies you can learn to raise your antenna and invite the lighting to strike more often than not.

“Finding the Funny is like its author: deceptively modest, but actually precise and thoughtful and pulling from a deep well of knowledge and experience. The chapter on working with audience members is easily the best writing on the subject I’ve seen, I instantly made a change to how I work with people, based on Ryan’s advice. This book is not exhaustive, you can read it in a day, but it is definitive – the distilled wisdom of a performer who’s been there and knows what he’s talking about. If you’re familiar with these topics you’ll find yourself nodding along and likely pick up a valuable tip or two. If you’re just beginning your journey into the world of ad-libs and improvisation in magic, this book is essential reading and will make sure you start out on the right foot.”
– Travis Bernhardt

Including four original stand-up magic routines chosen to exemplify how the lessons are applied on stage. They provide strong frameworks which leave space for improvisation and playful audience interaction.

“There is nothing else like this book on the market! It’s a one-of-a-kind look into techniques that can make your show more spontaneous, engaging and real! Ryan’s version of cards across is fun, silly and gets the entire audience involved. I can imagine doing this for a family crowd and ramping up the energy in the room 10-fold!”
– Doug Scheer

Contents

• Part One: Performing with Presence
  – Choose To Improvise – How improvisation benefits your performance.
  – Nuts & Bolts of Improvisation – The three-step recipe for making it up.
  – Real World Improvisation – A look at how improvisation and ad-libs happen in real life performances.
  – Improvising Your Way Out of Problems – Being flexible, attentive, and quick on your feet to dodge trouble.
  – Writing Through Improvisation – Boost your creativity while planning and preparing your act.
  – Practicing Improvisation – How to develop your mental muscles for quick thinking.
  – How To Begin Improvising – Prepare to be unprepared.
  – Working With Audience Members – This digs into the entire lifecycle of engaging with an audience from beginning to end to build rapport and increase engagement.
  – Live and Learn – One final word of encouragement.
• Part Two: Magic Made for the Moment
  – Energized Cards Across – Shows go better after this whole-audience ice-breaker get everyone physically engaged and participating in the fun.
  – Union Policy – Tracing the evolution of a Magician’s Insurance Policy routine to ridiculous heights, through a major crash, and re-birth. Teaches a variety of ideas and techniques along the way.
  – How To Be a Magician In Trouble – Tips on acting in the moment of failure to make it believable.
  – V.I.Psychic – A V.I.P. guest becomes the mind-reader in this bespoke Psychometry routine. Ideal for corporate messaging, trade show, and sponsor featurettes.
  – Water You Want From Me? – A three cup monte that gets your audience hollering as you play the fool.

Hardcover – 114 pages, 7 x 10 inches, printed cover, full-color throughout.

Note: There was a 2012 paperback edition of this book. This second edition is updated and expanded, doubling in length with the addition of original stand-up magic routines.