Title: “Sounds Impossible: a magic show by Neil Kelso with Live Music”.

Time: Starts at 15:10, and lasts 1 hour

Dates: August 6-10 , 12-17, 19-24 , 26-28  (so it's every day except Thursdays)

Location: Fingers Piano Bar (61A Frederick Street, Edinburgh, EH2 1LH)

 

More About Me and The Show:

I make my living as a magician and as a concert pianist. I live in London and perform magic, illusions, and mindreading in lots Cabarets in London (sometimes as a specialist act, sometimes I'm the Compere/host).

 

Sometimes it helps for potential audiences to know that I'm experienced and have an impressive list of credits, so here are a few things: I've just been performing a show the Orient Express between Paris and Venice, and I'm a resident act at the famous Crazy Coqs cabaret in London. I've played concerts on Rachmaninoff's piano and I won some competitions as a Concert Pianist, but I'm most well known as an expert magician. Lots of magicians hire me as a coach - including Dynamo and Ben Hart.

 

I've performed at EdFringe several times in all different shows since 2011, but this is the first time I've brought a Solo Show. It's unlike any other magic show they may have seen, because all the magical happenings are caused by live music and sound waves. So no matter what kind of music people are into, there's a good chance this will be interesting for them!

 

During the Fringe, I will also be performing in up to four shows a day, because after my show I am part of the show “Ben Hart: Wonder” at Pleasance Grand, and I also the host of The Best of Burlesque show at 10pm and the Best of Burlesque Encore at Midnight. I'll be working hard, so having some ace helpers will be great.

 

What I'm Offering You

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I'm offering 2.5 hours work for 2 people every day except Thursdays. The more dates you can do, the better, but I'm open to scheduling what works for the right people. I have budgeted to pay £10 per hour for that work. I'm self-financing my show - I hope donations from audiences will cover that cost, but even if it doesn't, I will still pay you. I can pay cash, or bank transfer/paypal etc. I might also be able to offer work on the Thursdays, but I will have to confirm that in August.

 

What We Do On Show Days (so every day except Thursday)

 

The "shift" is from 14:10 until 16:40. There's no uniform, just be you and be ready for whatever weather! Ideally you can do the whole shift, but if it clashes, let's discuss.

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14:10 Meet at Fingers Piano Bar

 

Neil will provide flyers and any other useful bits in a snazzy little tote bag. 

 

The first job is to help build the audience. I am hoping to schedule a couple of people each day to be giving out flyers in the immediate area for the hour running up to the show, and directing those people to the venue.

 

The words Free + Magic Show + Live Music + Nearby + Soon means people are usually quite pleased to be approached.

 

The show really is completely free. At the end they can make a donation if they want, but it's voluntary.

 

15:00 Return to Fingers Piano Bar for the show

 

As the audience are coming in, if you can help encourage them to fill up the seats from the front, that'd be great. Nobody gets picked-on during the show, so it's worth being near the front to see the magic up-close.

 

The show before me will be finishing up, and their audience will be leaving, and I'll be setting up my props and checking sound levels etc.

 

[In the hopefully unlikely event that there is less than 15 people in the audience, I'd like you to go back out for another 45 minutes and keep flyering to drum up interest for future shows, and return at 16:00 for the end of the show]

 

Once the show starts (assuming there's 15+ people in the audience), I'd love for you to be at the back of the room, to tell any latecomers to quietly sit down etc.

 

I'm hoping to film and/or audio record every show so I can review it immediately afterwards. During the show if you're able to film any clips or take any pics that could be used on my social media, that would be really helpful.

 

I also would really value your thoughts on the show, so if you notice anything that you think might improve the show for future audiences, I'm always keen to hear ideas, or even half ideas. So if you could keep a note of anything that occurs to you, I would really appreciate it.

 

16:10 At the End of the Show

 

By the end of the show, I will have explained to the audience that they can make donations if they enjoyed it and can afford to. I will be at the back of the room with a hat for any cash donations, and I will also have an iZettle device for anyone who wants to pay via contactless.

 

I will also explain that if they enjoyed it, I'd love for them to help spread the word, and one way they can do that is to say any nice things as a little video soundbite (the jargon for this is a “vox-pop”). At this point I'd love to direct them to come to see you, and you film them on my phone. Easy ways to prompt them to be constructive and upbeat is to ask one or two questions like:

• Can you describe the show in three words?

• What were your favourite bits of the show?

• Did any bits catch you by surprise?

• What would you like to see more of?

 

During this we'll need to be mindful that there's the next show setting up, and a new audience arriving, so on nice days perhaps you could do the vox-pops outside the venue wherever there's a nice background. 

 

16:20 Debrief for the day

 

Once the post-show jobs are done, I'll be grateful to hear any insights about the show, the audience's experience, any feedback that stood out... basically anything I can learn from to make the next show better.

 

This time is also when at I'm most off-duty and relaxed, so I'll also be excited to hear if you've seen any fab shows or are off to see anything exciting!

 

16:40 Off Duty :)

 

On Thursdays... and Other Things

 

 

On Thursdays, I don't have the Sounds Impossible show. My first priority is to establish a team that can be with me on show days, but I do plan to offer those people extra opportunities on Thursdays or at other times if I can.

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For example, it might still be good to do flyering during the usual show time to help build up audience for the other days. And/or it might be helpful to do some exit-flyering of the “Best of Burlesque” show that I Host - it finishes at 23:05 in the Assembly Rooms “Bijou” at EH2 2LR (not far from Fingers Piano Bar).

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I might also do some guest-spot performances during the month, so that might also be times I'd benefit from help exit-flyering and/or taking a couple of action pics!

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It's all open to be adapted to suit peoples abilities / availabilities / interests etc.

 

If you're interested - let's talk!

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Neil 

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Neil Kelso
email: neil@neilkelso.co.uk

phone/whatsapp/text: 07763881755

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