"Stop what you're doing. Think of a time you were frightened. Now I'm not talking about being scared of an exam or a meeting with your boss. I mean, being uncontrollably, irrevocably petrified. You're body shaking, your mind racing. Listen to the ticking of the clock. Tick, Tick, Tick…. Take your seat. Let’s begin!

Jamie Daws is a master of creating awesome magic effect with a dark twist. Magic that has your spectators at the edge of their seats. His thoughts, routines and scripting always send a shiver down your spine.

Spooky magic always seems to get an unreal reaction and on this course Jamie will teach you the secrets.

THEMING:

In this section we begin with talking about macabre themes. More importantly, how to structure them and to elaborate on them using techniques actors use on a daily basis. Being mindful of taboo subjects that may upset or disturb people and making sure you are tasteful with your decisions. We discuss how to build atmosphere. Paying particular attention to tonality and pacing to hook your audience and suck them in. How to make your story so believable that they will buy into everything you're saying. We’ll talk about taking an everyday effect and giving it a bizarre twist. As an example, I’ll go over my presentation of Magic Smith’s ‘Double Cross’ which I use in every gig exactly as I’ll show you the effect I’ll explain why I’ve chosen to perform it this way and how I believe it adds to the effect. We will talk about tension, hypnotic language, rituals and we will watch one of my favourite short films which will make you scream. (You WILL want to show your friends!) We will finish of by talking about putting everything together in performance.

PROPS:

In this section, we will discuss props and the importance of them in your performance. Everuthing from playing cards to photos. We will be looking at ageing props to make them fit the themes we are using. I’ll introduce you to my China doll called Greta! Look at some props I have aged for auditions and acts over the years. We will look at the emotional importance of the props we are using in macabre effects and why they work. How to upscale props to make them play for larger audiences and how to use props you may already own and turn them into pieces of bizarre interest.

METHOD:

In the final section we discuss method! How method plays a huge part in scary tricks. Keeping method simple to focus on presentation and making methods part of the effect ritual.

We will look at SCARED, a haunted deck effect and how one subtle change turns a magic trick into a creepy and unsettling ritual for your audience. Then we will move onto photo effects. We will discuss the first creepy effect I ever created, The Burial and how the theming, incredibly simple methodology and compelling script create for a wonderfully unsettling effect.