by Poppadom » Mar 15th, '13, 16:52
This is an article/essay that I wrote recently about self-working magic and the advantages it can have over conjuring with more complex methods. I've also sent it off to Rick Carruth, who runs the online Magic Roadshow magazine, so apologies if anyone comes across it there as well. I hope you find it interesting...
Let’s face it: self-working card tricks aren’t exactly the most popular things in the world. All too often they are neglected by ‘serious’ magicians who regard them as the little brothers of proper magic tricks. Self-workers are things that you learn as a kid when you’re just starting out and can’t do any better. Then when you reach a certain level of maturity you move into the big boy world of sleights, and leave such childish things behind. After all, self-working tricks are boring anyway – most of them consist entirely of the spectator dealing out endless piles of cards and adhering to poorly-disguised mathematical formulae that bear no resemblance to real magic. Such tricks are childish. They’re dull. They’re useless.
Or are they?
I must confess that until recently I too had developed such a bias against self-workers. It wasn’t something that happened consciously, for I never made a definite decision to shun them, but nevertheless when faced with a choice I would always go for the sleight of hand option. It was just the obvious thing to do. Sleights give us the most powerful card magic, so why would I settle for anything inferior?
Then, after a little time spent studying some books of self-workers, everything changed. I discovered that they can be not just as good as more complex magic, but often a lot better. Now I am a convert. I’m no longer ashamed to use things that supposedly require no skill. Let me tell you why.
Before I do that, however, let me first try and define the subject. At first this may seem like a simple task, but there is a surprising amount of disagreement among magicians as to what the term ‘self-working’ actually means. I think it’s fair to say that if a trick is genuinely self-working then it should be possible for the spectator to do everything themselves and still be fooled, as the magician plays no real part in the method itself. Such tricks do exist (have a look at ‘Impuzzibilities’ by Jim Steinmeyer for a taster) but instinct will tell us that there aren’t huge numbers of them, and so we must broaden our definition a little.
If we broaden it too far, though, we end up at the other end of the scale with tricks that are labelled as self-working but are clearly anything but. I’m referring here particularly to chapter 14 of Hugard and Braue’s Expert Card Technique, whose title promises ‘Self-Working Tricks’ but whose contents deliver quite the opposite, requiring many advanced pieces of sleight of hand. Although there are some parts of the tricks that can be done by the spectator, it is nevertheless difficult to tell what the authors were thinking when titling that particular chapter.
The definition that I propose is a happy medium between the two. I suggest that a self-working trick is generally one that uses no sleight of hand. Any movements on the part of the magician are simple and can be done without excessive training of the fingers. Whilst the method may necessitate some hidden manoeuvres, they are not complex and can be accomplished easily without arousing the suspicion of the spectator. In other words they require little to no misdirection. For the time being I will be dealing specifically with card tricks.
So is it true that self-workers require no skill? Not really, no. Perhaps they require a minimum of manual dexterity, but any competent conjuror will know that that only represents a tiny part of magic. These tricks still need all the most important skills of plotting, audience management, acting and so on, and for that reason it is a mistake to dismiss them as requiring no effort at all. The most challenging aspects of magic are still there.
It is also a mistake to think that such tricks are not approved of by serious grown-up magicians. Dai Vernon, widely regarded as one of the greatest magicians of all time and a master of sleight of hand, often emphasised how much time he spent trying to simplify methods and eliminate the need for sleights. Then there’s John Scarne, another expert in prestidigitation, whose seminal book Scarne on Card Tricks consists mainly of self-workers. The list could go on, but you see my point. Many of the greatest conjurors know the value that these tricks can bring.
I believe that the real problem holding back self-workers in the eyes of the magic community is actually that there are a proliferation of bad ones. When I spoke at the beginning about dealing endless piles of cards I was only half-joking, for there are far too many tricks that rely on such dreary practises. But it is important to look beyond this unappealing façade and seek out the truly great self-workers. I recently acquired a copy of More Self-Working Card Tricks by Karl Fulves and was astonished at the variety of strong effects contained within its pages. If you look in the right places then you will find plenty of these tricks that you will not be ashamed to show your audience. They are definitely out there, if you take a little time to look for them.
And when you do come across these gems you will have discovered some of the most versatile, powerful and useful effects in magic. The best ones are basically foolproof, so you need not worry about getting caught or about people figuring out the method. In a lot of cases the mathematical principles involved are far from intuitive and so there is no danger of them being worked out by the audience. In fact there are a lot of tricks that are able to fool the performer just as much as his spectators, and I’m sure you realise what a satisfying thing it is for the magician to be deceived by his own magic and experience that sense of wonder that he never catches a glimpse of when performing sleights.
Because their secrets are so impenetrable these tricks are ideal for use at the start of a routine. When the conjuror begins his act the audience immediately start to size him up. Subconsciously they want to know if he’s really as good as he thinks he is and if he can actually fool them. During this initial period of assessment the audience are particularly attentive and on the lookout for anything that may give a clue to the magician’s methods. It is important that the magician genuinely impresses them from the beginning if they are to gain his trust and enjoy the rest of the performance. But because they have not started to fully relax yet, misdirection is very difficult. How can the magician be one hundred per cent certain to amaze them when they are so alert?
The answer, of course, comes from self-workers. Show them a self-working trick that astounds them and they will start to relax. They will not see any suspicious moves or sleights, and consequently will give up looking for such things so closely. This opens the door for the rest of the performance, allowing misdirection to be properly effective and enhancing later tricks.
The other large barrier that the performer must overcome at the start of his act is that of self-confidence. This often manifests itself in the form of nerves, and the problem is only worsened by the uncertainty around whether the audience will genuinely be fooled. But by opening with a self-worker the magician doesn’t need to worry because it is guaranteed to be effective. He doesn’t need to be concerned about his pass not working properly or his DL being detected. So starting with a self-worker does not just relax the audience but the performer as well, and he is able to go on to present a better show as a result.
What’s more, the fact that self-workers need so little effort in terms of method and technique means that they free up the performer to concentrate on the most important aspects of presentation. This can allow them to give a much stronger and more entertaining performance than if half their mind were distracted by complicated sleights. And in realising this we recognise that we’ve come a long way from considering self-workers as inferior in the eyes of the audience. In many cases they can be better, simply because of the freedom afforded to the magician.
On top of all this, many self-workers are angle-proof, making them incredibly versatile and useful in those situations where the conjuror is surrounded or has little control over the positioning of his spectators. Yet another reason to take these tricks seriously.
Of course, I don’t deny that sleight of hand has its place. If we got rid of sleights then the magical world would be considerably impoverished and many wonderful tricks that rely on them would be made truly impossible. But sleight of hand can’t do everything. There are many occasions for which self-working tricks are perfect, and therefore I urge you to seek them out and uncover these wonderful neglected miracles. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed.