Hey guys,
I felt that I didn't really know who our character was, so I wrote up a little something about his character. This doesn't have to be exactly what we go with, but I thought I should share to give you guys some inspiration.
Who is Norm the Magnificent?
He is a guy who has great enthusiasm and excitement for what he does, but no skill. Everything he tries to do ends up in failure, but he keeps going. Indefatigable spirit with a touch of vanity. In his mind he is great, but he clearly isn't. His father was a great entertainer. He lives with the belief that talent is seamlessly passed down from father to son. A lot of people were nice and complimented him in childhood about how talented he was, when they didn't want to tell the truth that he sucked. so he thinks he's great. he thinks everyone wants to see his performance talent.
What does he want?
(superficial) his goal and dream is to have his own show in Las Vegas. he wants to be acknowledged by the entertainment world. he wants to prove himself.
(deep down) truth be told, he's the son of a car factory worker in Detroit, MI. his dad was a magician as a hobby on the side, and was mediocre at best. but such things excited the mind of the kid in Detroit whose name was Norm. Deep down he fears that he is just what his name suggests: normal. yet he is in denial of this, he chooses to believe that he is Magnificent. That fear lingers still, and his is constantly denying it and battling with it, always needing to prove himself.
He wants to feel special and someone who is important.
He left his job at the factory and went traveling around the midwest doing shows. He wants to make it to Las Vegas. He is in his late 30's: 38-40 yrs. Just at the brink of midage, and with the flower of youth beginning to wilt. Right handed. of unathletic or dexterous physicality. medium height.
In all ways, uninteresting, normal, and boring in every way.
I think the main/only thing I'm not buying is the very last statement. I feel that Norm is an eccentric guy, that's quirky, and a big talker. He's someone who is a little unreliable, and the type of person you wouldn't loan money to.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was thinking of the name Norm for normal, I was thinking normal in the sense that he has no extraordinary talent (for the performance tricks), and not quite in the sense that he is a bland guy. A lot of people are quite strange, so being a little out there could be considered normal? I don't know, haha, this is just my thought process. :)
What does everyone else think?
Also, thank you Aaron for writing up all this back story! That was really cool of you, and there's some really fun stuff in there.
I pretty much agree with what Kim said. I thought it was strange that he was considered a boring and normal guy. The fact that he is going to be doing magic, sword swallowing, and tight rope would make him pretty interesting.
ReplyDeleteOther than that I think this back story is interesting and works with the character really well.
I agree. I think any guy who wants to have a one man Vegas show can't be all that boring and bland. I feel like if he was so uninteresting, maybe the Vegas show would just be an idea that he never acts on. But this guy has actually sent an audition tape to Vegas agents, he's got some sort of strange quirkiness to him.
ReplyDeleteok, sounds like we're going for less talent, more personality. so he's not a boring and uninteresting guy, he's just someone who doesn't have any talent at all.
ReplyDelete