Roy Walton is a GENIUS.
I often wonder if someone like Roy gives any thought to the impact his creative out put generates.
Having met him, he comes across as such a down to earth and humble man. I struggled to put this man together with the individual who created this wonderful routine.
Let’s take a moment to enjoy the full impact of this routine.
It would be very easy to dismiss this as another Sandwhich card effect.
How wrong this would be.
The Smiling Mule is much more.
This routine is a vechile for humour, audience relationship and it comes with an outstanding magical finish.
This routine comes with this potential built it in. It’s up to us to bring life to it.
Many other routines require us to work even harder to find a premise that allows so much room for communication and connection with an audience.
This routine starts out with a very funny gag and moment. The humour is built in, ANYONE, will get the laugh.
If you gave good technique the second half of the routine will be a piece of cake to bring to a satisfying conclusion.
I love this routine because it conforms to my style and mission.
“Make them laugh, make them gasp”.
Laughter and total astonishment are two powerful agents and when used in the right way can really alter the point of view of reality for our audience.
From a technical point of view, this routine is at an intermediate level. It takes a different skill set to bring to a level of high performance and Art.
I am talking about scripting, delivery, pacing, pausing and expression. This comes over time. It took me a while to make it play.
This routine features in many contexts for me.
Formal and Informal
Close up
Walk Around
Parlour
Cabaret
And Stage
You read that right – a Sandwhich Routine that can be performed on STAGE.
You bet.
How ?
The how is not important.
What is important is the simple fact and distinction that although it is a card routine and cards are a smallish prop on a stage, this routine produces a BIG EFFECT on an audience.
Small Prop
Big Effect
Nate Leipzig built his career on this concept.
Through studying how Leipzig presented magic, I was able to apply many of his strategies to The Smiling Mule.
Watch the video again – you will see what I mean.
Leipzig was a Master at selling his close up to a Theatre audience.
This effect by Roy Walton would have been a perfect routine for Leipzig’s style. I say this with certainty because Nate Leipzig is my hero and role model along with Fred Kaps.
I chose these two performers because I felt a real connection with their persona.
Roy Walton is without question the one of the most creative card magician this country had every produced. He can stand shoulder to shoulder with Alex Elmsley, Peter Kane and Fred Robinson for his creative and technical virtuosity.
This routine is a deserved classic and should/must, be in the repertoire of every card magician on the Planet.
It has never let me down.
Thanks for reading.
Mike ♣️❤️♠️♦️