Antino Connects!

Drinking coffee before a performance ruins your cardwork. I had a steady card hand, which surprised me, at the walk-around gig I did last night. It was for an older upscale crowd- I didn't know what to expect (uptight? stiff? seen it all before?)- I had the nerve to judge them! They were the nicest people on Earth. I knew my hands were shakey, because I had accidentally treated myself to a tall cup of Starbucks before going there, and the caffeine was just starting to take effect and make my hands sweat. These people, the way they smiled and broke the tension when I introduced myself to each group, made it so much easier to just let go and perform. Anything I showed them, they liked! I spent about 80% of the time connecting with them, talking, smiling, laughing, that the magic just came out naturally. 20% of magic performed with 80% connection is powerful. I must have handed out a million business cards that day, because every group I hit pretty much asked for one. It's connection, not sleights! Lot's of eye contact, reacting to what they're saying, melding in with their social temperature, smiling, being at ease, listening to their reactions, providing reactions of your own...my cardwork was sloppier than usual to say the least, but the connection I established with each walk-around group was more than enough. I also was happy going into this gig, because the money I would make from it would be used to fund my June Cebu trip to see her. I was excited, that I was in a position to do what I love to see the girl I love, that these people were helping me do that, that they were about to see what I could show them, that they chose to have live entertainment at their event, and I actually brought all those positive vibes to each walk-around set. Not to mention some killer sleight of hand poetry routines that I know no other magician does =p I'm glad I connected- it made performing for them so much more meaningful.

-the antidote