Director and Coach Get your act together.
One routine or the whole show. I’ll be your director: tighter beats, sharper laughs, a stage you own. You send me the act. I send back the notes nobody else will give you.
You can’t see it. That’s not a knock. It’s physics.
Even the most critical performer can’t objectively critique their own act. We look at everything through rose-colored glasses and forgive our bad habits by blinking them out of existence, or more likely never noticing them in the first place.
A director doesn’t blink.
The routine that’s “fine.”
It gets a laugh. Not the laugh. You got the first-night laugh once and have been chasing it since.
A thousand shows to hone it.
“I’ve finally got it where it needs to be.” After years. A director gets you there faster, and skips most of those shows.
The booker who doesn’t call back.
The room never tells you why. It just doesn’t rebook you. The fix was visible from the seats the whole time.
What you walk away with.
- Laughs that land every night, not just the night you were on.
- A character the audience remembers, and a show built around it.
- Notes you can use at the very next gig, not theory for someday.
- A show that gets you booked, rebooked and paid.
I’ve been where you are.
Most magicians, and a lot of stand-ups, never think about what they are really doing on stage. They practice tricks. They hone punchlines. They never think about production value, motivated movement, or the overall direction of the performance. That’s where I come in.
I hold a BFA in Musical Theater Performance with a directing emphasis. I was the original magician in the world premiere of Stephen Schwartz’s Magic to Do, and when the original team left I was trusted with the creative heavy lifting: making the illusions make sense inside the play, so the audience couldn’t tell where the story ended and the magic began.
Add nearly three decades of corporate, cruise and club stages, and the notes you get are not vague advice from a Facebook group. They are direction from someone who knows the trenches.
“Michael has a way of putting you inside the mind of your audience and making you understand it from their point of view.”Rob Thompson
“The guidance he gives me provides the confidence I need every time I step out onto the stage.”Aaron Baca
How it works. Three steps.
Book a consult call.
Fifteen minutes. You tell me what’s bugging you about the act. I tell you what I’d do about it and quote it straight.
Send me the act.
A routine or the whole show, on video. It does not need to be polished. Rough live footage is more useful than a perfect rehearsal.
Get the notes. Then go kill.
Multiple viewings, a written breakdown, and a Zoom where we shape it together. You leave with a plan you can rehearse and the tools to land it.
Six things a director can do for your act.
Find your focus
We spend so long on a concept that the focus of the routine gets lost in the shuffle. A director listens to where you think the focus is, then watches to make sure you are keeping in line with that vision.
Develop the character
If you don’t have a character, why are we watching you? Every time you step on stage you are presenting one, even if it is just the very best version of yourself. A director pulls out the elements that soar and suppresses the ones dragging you down.
Eliminate the extra moves
Vernon said “be natural.” Easier said than done when you can’t see yourself, and video doesn’t help, because we train ourselves to blink during the move. A director looks at the bigger picture and makes sure every move counts.
Make the tough cuts
It is hard to kill your darlings. Maybe you love a routine that isn’t loving you back. Maybe you got the first-night laugh once and never again. A director watches with an audience’s eyes and helps you make the frank decisions.
Script for clarity
“Play it, don’t say it.” If you are angry, play angry. This goes double in magic. A director finds the moments where you are over-explaining, or where you have said “do me a favor and…” for the umpteenth time.
Punch up the comedy
Tough pill: when someone says “I’m a comedy magician,” they are usually lying about one of those words, and it is usually the comedy. A director helps with the writing: when to take a beat, add a look, or cut, so the joke lands harder and more consistently.
Two minutes on what a director actually does.
Three ways to work with a director.
Routine Review
One routine, five to fifteen minutes. Multiple viewings, each pass hunting something different: clarity, structure, laugh lines, timing, character, presence, missed opportunities. A written breakdown of fixes, tweaks, beats and breaths. Then an hour on Zoom to shape it together.
Most magicians drop the price of this on a gimmick that never leaves the case. This turns the routines you already do into material that works every time.
Full Act Review
The whole show, up to ninety minutes, in whatever shape it’s in. Multiple passes, each on something new: structure, pacing, character, audience connection, staging, flow, production value, and why that one joke you swear works…doesn’t. A full write-up, honest and specific. You want fluff? Call your mom.
Three hours on Zoom. You fix it, send it back, I take one more full pass, and we meet one last time to polish. If this lands you one corporate show or theatre booking, it paid for itself on the first gig.
In Person, Ongoing
Want to come to me? Work in my in-home studio, no screen between us, fewer distractions. Want me to come to you? I see the show live, we rehearse by day and apply the notes that night.
Some performers keep me on as an ongoing director and check in as they build new material. Beyond reviews there is script work (notes, punch-ups, full builds), theatre and illusion design, corporate magical design and commercial theatre. Every one of those has its own form below.
Already know what you need? Pick a card.
Eight cards, ten forms. Pick one and it opens the form for that job. Every one of them ends with me on the other side of the table.
Better show. More bookings. Rebookings. Food on the table.
That is the order. Or keep honing it over a thousand shows and hope.
Fifty-two things a director can do for your act. A full deck.
Questions you are already asking.
Do I have to be a magician?
No. If you perform in front of people (comedians, speakers, teachers, even pastors) I can help. Anyone who stands in front of a group to communicate a message needs a trusted set of objective eyes on it. In other words: everyone needs a director.
What if I don’t have a “show” yet?
Start with a routine. The feedback will still change the way you see your show. Think of it as laying the foundation for a house.
Why not just ask a friend to watch my act?
Friends, and even fellow performers, will tell you if they liked it. I will tell you why it worked or didn’t, and exactly what to change.
Will you just tear me apart?
Nope. My job is to sharpen, not destroy. But I will be honest.
Will you rewrite my whole act?
No. My job isn’t to change your voice. It is to amplify it. I help you shape what you already do so it lands harder and connects deeper.
Do I have to perform live for you?
Not necessarily. Most clients send a video, and rough live footage beats a polished rehearsal every time. Some work in person, at my in-home studio or by flying me out to a long-running show so we can rehearse by day and apply the notes that night.
What if I disagree with your notes?
Great! That means you care. It is your show. My job is to push you, challenge assumptions and hand you tools. You decide what to keep.
Can I book you more than once?
Yes. Many performers start with a routine, then come back for the act. Some treat me like an ongoing director and check in as they build new material.
What does this cost?
I don’t list prices because the work isn’t one-size-fits-all. Cost depends on deliverables and travel. Book a consult call and I will quote it straight.
This isn’t therapy. It’s triage. When we’re done, your act will walk again.
And maybe even kill.
Book a consult call, or pick a card above and submit the form to get a quote. Tell me what you want to work on. I’ll bring the scalpel.