SAM Assembly #206 February 2024 Meeting

Character Development with Ray Anderson

This week, we had Austin’s very own Ray Anderson from Esther’s Follies as a special guest to discuss the use of characters in magic! The meeting began with Ray Anderson talking about creating a character. A character can do tricks that you would not do as yourself and be a reason to use new or different props. Some may not do magic but perform comedy or serve another purpose instead. Wearing the costume for a new persona can help a magician understand the character they are trying to enact. Characters can create completely different effects than magicians acting only as themselves.

We then discussed how some personas can be limiting. They should be consistent, so to do a whole show, that persona needs to have room to grow in different ways. Anderson talked about how one of his characters, Frank, is not completely likable if the audience doesn’t know the real magician. He would never do a whole show as Frank because the character’s comically offensive nature does not give Frank room to evolve.

Anderson talked about transitioning from corporate jobs to working at Esther’s Follies. At Esther’s Follies, Anderson is able to enact a different character each time he comes out on stage, giving him the opportunity to use a variety of otherwise more limited roles for short time periods throughout his show. This setup at Esther’s Follies allows him to do more of the characters and routines he wants unlike his previous corporate jobs.

Characters can grow over time. Some may be crowd favorites and long standing mainstays, but others may be limited and stop working in new settings or for new audiences. The creative process is ongoing; there will be many large and small changes that a magician will make as they develop and perfect their routines. However, no matter which characters a magician employs, whether they represent a heightened version of themselves or a completely different person, characters need to be given everything you’ve got.

We finished the meeting with members presenting their own magic tricks. Dan Page performed a 30 second chain escape. Bobby Cordell had a volunteer tie a ribbon around a rope, then removed the knotted ribbon through an invisible hole in the rope. He then performed his version of the Professor’s Nightmare. President John Carter performed a card trick whereby cards magically grouped by suit on the table in front of him. Vice President Joe Weaver did a prediction of an audience member’s birthstone. The last trick of the evening was by Bobby Cordell, who joined two ends of a rope and passed a ring onto the closed loop.

We hope to see Austin magicians join us on Monday, March 18th, for a lecture by Nick Lewin on creating routines!