Help with Routine

General Yo-Yo
1

Hey guys!
I will be performing a yo-yo routine at my state fair this weekend. I did one last year, and am trying to do even better this year! One thing that the judge liked last year was when I had the crowd do the wave ( he liked it because it engaged the crowd and got them cheering.) I need a way to engage the crowd this year, and am out of ideas… Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Also, if any of you have any tips from your personal experience for a public performance would be appreciated. I do them often and are always looking for a way to improve ;D

2

Are you mic’d or anything, or is this a semi-closeup performance? I’d imagine if you did a bit where you started with something like a Houdini Mount, got the audience to clap, and dropped your thumb so you end in a trapeze, then proceeded onto things with similar elements, but increased difficulty(like Magic Trick, or Wrist Mount…Psych), and had the audience clap at the appropriate moments, that would turn out pretty well.

As far as general performance tips…I don’t have any experience throwing in front of a crowd, but I’ve done closeup magic(“street” magic if you will), and I have some theater experience as well. But your question was a bit vague. What, specifically, do you want to improve about your performance? Are there any general elements you feel you could improve, or that would improve your show overall?

3

Just a few random ideas… Off the cuff, so to speak. They might involve giving the audience instructions.

-if there is a rhythmic portion of your routine, have the audience clap or something.

  • work in something like a few single Eli hops and have the audience say ‘weeeee!’ Anytime the yoyo goes above your head
  • light up yoyo and have someone hit the lights at some point.

These may not be do-able. Just throwing out ideas.

4

In my opinion, the tricks you make don’t matter as much as connecting with the audience.

5

Make sure they know that you are having fun! The judges will score you higher if they know you are enjoying it!

6

Nothing gets a crowd more pumped up than free stuff. I’d say, buy 2 Classics and throw them out in between, though I don’t know if that would count as bribing, you also might wanna tease them, like pretend your gonna throw it to one side, then throw it to the other side of the crowd. Try and give as many people a good chance of catching it, like the first yoyo, throw it to the middle of one side of the crowd, and the other to the far side of the crowd. Something like that.

7

Thanks for the ideas guys. yes, i am mic’ed up, and the stage is fairly large. I talk for like 30-40 seconds before my routine, and somehow am trying to get the crowd engaged before my routine starts :slight_smile: Having the crowd clap during my routine sounds like a good idea though