“In life, take credit for everything.” – Joel Bauer

Sometimes you just can’t plan everything. It happens fairly regularly that during a presentation, I get lucky. Something unexpected will happen that will enhance a trick, or will make me appear even more ‘magical’ – as if I was in control of the situation the whole time.  Of course, since my audience assumes that it was part of the show, they are often blown away with amazement. It’s hard for me to take direct credit for something like this, but my audience wants to believe it was part of the show, so my answer is: “It’s Magic. In life, take credit for everything.”

Everything you experience in life is as a direct result of your mindset – your ‘magic’.

I catch myself, occasionally, forgetting to take credit for something I’ve done – even if it was something good.  I don’t necessarily mean ‘taking credit’ in the sense of the need to be accepted by others; it can also mean that I’ve neglected to accept the responsibility of the effects of my positive actions.

So the phrase’s dual meaning is that no matter what happens, good or bad, you should accept & acknowledge your actions. Now while most people take the action of ‘accepting responsibility’ when they need to need to repair anything negative they may have caused, acknowledging positive actions is also very important.

Here’s why: to become a good magician, it’s vital that the audience totally believes that you are in control. The power of a magical performance is in the audience’s total belief that the magician is capable of achieving anything. The moment that this comes into doubt, the bubble bursts.

If we deny ourselves the acceptance of doing something good, we are denying our ‘magic’ – our perceived control of our world.  There a few fears greater than that of being out of control.  Even more important: when we are ready to acknowledge our successes, passions & talents, the people we connect with are far more likely to believe that we really are capable of doing ‘real magic’.

Contemplation:

The next time someone asks you if you are responsible for doing something positive, instead shrugging off the praise & deflecting it, accept it & acknowledge the person’s thanks graciously. Don’t gloat!

Remember: by denying someone else the action of saying ‘thank you ‘, that person will feel less eager to do so again in the future.

Accept it – it is the result of your ‘magic’.

George Carlin: Brilliant comedian. Foul language. Inappropriate for corporate events

With so many year-end functions, Christmas ( X-mas?!) parties & corporate events happening around this time of year, I thought I’d share something that’s been irritating me.  If you’re an event co-ordinator, or a party planner, you may have experienced this kind of frustration with corporate event entertainers before.

Occasionally I get the honour of sharing the stage with some of South Africa’s most well-know MCs, comedians, singers & other performance ‘artistes’, & so I relish to opportunity to watch their performances & learn from their experience & techniques.  However, I find it absolutely shocking that some of them use foul language or risqué material at the most inappropriate times.

I’d agree that in certain circumstances this may be considered acceptable by the audience – comedy club audiences have completely different level of tolerance for sexist, racist or sexual jokes & material.  But all performers at a client’s company event should be fully aware that they are not only damaging their own reputation (with potential repercussions) but the reputation of their client.

Corporate event entertainers are expected to assume that inappropriate language, humor or materials will not be tolerated; except under situations where the client’s representative has cleared this during the event briefing process.  In my humble opinion, even performers – particularly comedians – who have become established because of their extreme behaviour should be very careful when they consider what material they will be performing.

Foul language is ‘easy humour’ – but a true professional understands that event is not ‘about them’ & they are not the main feature of the event. The client’s guests are to be treated with the utmost respect, since it’s because of the guests’ support that event is happening at all.

If you have had the misfortune of working with an entertainer that made you cover your eyes out of embarresment, or had to deal with guests’ complaints, please comment & tell me your story.  Please do not mention the entertainer’s name: rather, let this be an opportunity to share your experience & what you learnt with other event planners & corporate function coordinators.