The Magic Lab: Purpose & Priorities

 

The Magic Lab is a curated open stage designed to create performance opportunities for a wide range of magicians while maintaining a supportive, well-run show environment. Access is central to our mission, but we also aim to create a show that audiences trust. We want to put on a good show.

 

Every lineup decision is made intentionally to provide opportunities for new acts AND to ensure a fun experience for the audience.

 

Despite being a curated open stage, every performer shares responsibility for creating a respectful, audience-ready environment. Magic Lab audiences are real audiences (not just magicians), and performers should arrive prepared to entertain accordingly.

 

This document outlines how lineups are created and how performers can work with us toward appearing on a future Magic Lab show.

 

How Lineups are Created

 

If you’re local to the New England area and you want to get on a lineup, the first thing to do is actually to come and watch a Magic Lab show. Then say hello to Felice, find her and introduce yourself, and share your work.

 

Once you’ve done that, you’re in! Anyone in the New England area who is interested gets added to the performer pool. Scheduling now depends on timing and show needs. If you want to perform in a Magic Lab lineup, the most important thing to do is to be around.

 

There are a lot of people on the waitlist. Staying visible in the community is the best way to signal continued interest. If you ask once or twice but aren’t around, it’s easy to slip off the radar; just coming to hangouts or volunteering to help out will put you more top-of-mind.

 

Once you’re on the list, we attempt to get everyone on the lineup at the very least once every other year. Do you want to be on the lineup more than that? Keep on reading!

 

1. Each Magic Lab show ends with two professional-level acts: one local headliner and one out-of-state guest headliner (if possible). To get one of those two slots, become very good. Actually use the feedback workshop to improve your acts. Past performance, professionalism, and audience response are all considered for these slots.
    

2. Diversity matters. Diversity means a lot of things, including demographics, experience level, skill level, genres, and performance styles. If every show, everyone talks, someone who tends to perform silently will be easier to fit into any lineup. If everyone does card manipulation, then we’ll try not to have more than one manipulator per show (though sometimes it can’t be helped).
   
   With a more diverse cast, we also get more diverse audiences. The Magic Lab should feel like a magic show for everyone – to create magic fans from every nook of Cambridge / Boston / Somerville and beyond.
    

3. If you’ve volunteered your time to the show, we do our best to make sure you’re IN the show at least once a year. Our volunteering team has grown, so that may become more difficult in future years. Someone who has put a lot of time behind-the-scenes making the show happen should get a chance to be in front of an audience at least once a year. It’s like the next step to being around / being top-of-mind.
    

4. Even professional-level acts will skip a year every so often. If someone has been on a lineup two years in a row, and there are others who haven’t been able to get on a lineup in a while, The Magic Lab will showcase the new person – even if we have to drop the best act in the world. Audiences like new acts, and we aim to give people chances.
    

5. Reliability, preparedness, and respectful collaboration are essential for all performers invited onto a Magic Lab lineup. Those who break agreements with our venue, break our code of conduct, or are difficult to work with may not be invited back.
    

 

How MC’s are Selected

 

First and foremost, MC’s are selected. While performer lineups are intentionally broad and community-driven, Magic Lab MC roles are invite-only because the MC represents the Boston Magic Lab much more than any individual act. The following criteria are considered for MC’s:

 

1. MCs serve as cultural stewards of the Magic Lab, helping to uphold the welcoming, inclusive environment the community is known for.
   
   Strong candidates demonstrate a clear understanding of Magic Lab’s values and consistently reinforce them through their behavior – both onstage and within the community. This often develops through sustained involvement with the Magic Lab, though newer performers who clearly embody these values may also be considered.
    

2. The MC makes the audience feel comfortable, welcome, and safe.
   
   The MC’s capabilities as a magician is secondary (or even tertiary) to their ability to evoke the welcoming / friendly vibes of the Magic Lab. They must help the audience feel comfortable in their hands by projecting confidence and friendliness. Anything can happen at The Magic Lab in the sense that sometimes performers will mess up. The audience has to feel as though they have a safe home base to come back to, after an act has messed up. While performers may occasionally miss the mark, the MC must never be the source of discomfort.
    

3. The MC knows the show isn’t about them.
   
   The MC facilitates. They must project interest and curiosity in the other acts in the lineup. They can perform, but they really shouldn’t dominate.
    

4. The MC must be able to consistently keep to time.
   
   If the show is running long, the MC should be ready to cut out bits / sets / performances that they’ve planned (without prompting from Magic Lab staff). If the show is running short, the MC is ready to jump in and extend a set or a bit to fill out the time. Anyone who isn’t able to consistently keep to their set time as a performer is likely not ready to help ensure the entire show sticks to time.
    

5. MC’s are very involved in the Boston Magic Lab community at-large.
   
   Except for invited guest MC’s who come to The Magic Lab to gain experience as MC’s, local magicians are selected as MC’s in part because of how much they’ve given to the community (assuming the other criteria are met). Out of any performer in a given show, the MC represents The Boston Magic Lab community to the audience. Actually being a part of the community helps.

 

Local magicians are selected as MC’s based on this criteria, drawing from people’s past performances and their participation in the community. MC’s may also be selected for different lineups to ensure a mix of experience levels and diversity of acts (e.g., a newer MC may be in a lineup with more experienced performers overall).

 

If you would like to MC one day and would like feedback on areas to develop, feel free to reach out!