talkmagic.co.uk

Good tricks for halloween


here is what i came up with:

Ghost Vision
Haunted Key
Haunted Matchbox
Saw
and Haunted Deck


Do you guys know of any more?

General card routines as per normal with a black tiger deck!

The web is brilliant for halloween

how does doing a normal routine with black tigers make the routine spooky?

taking an existing handling, and changing the storyline could make it more halloween-ish, but not always...

just take someting basic and fiddle about with the storyline...

a simple force-bag or a change bag and a good storyline can work wonders...

JUST AN IDEA FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT...

You don't start planning your holiday material two weeks prior to the holiday; even two months prior is cutting it rather close in that "new" routines will not yet be second nature and thus flow naturally for you when presented and your older "known" routines might just suffer the ordeal as a matter of habit vs. practicality.

When it comes to the suggestion made by Abraxus we are confronted with another critical issue; the art of creating suspense and enchantment using nothing other than our words and our ability to not only manipulate them but our own character and voice as well. The world of the Storyteller is filled with more challenge when it comes to creating wonder than anything any one of us can do with a deck of pasteboards or a few coins e.g. we need time to not one learn the script we are to lean on, but to gain technical direction -- coaching if you would, in how to be most effective just in the telling of the tale, allowing out magic to punctuate the story much in the way special effects punctuate action in a film.

Yes, this is most certainly "our season" but it is an area of performance some of us do year round which is the third reason those of you who wait till the last minute to contemplate such things will find yourselves falling short. I'm not saying that you can't do bizarre styled routine and have some fun, Eugene Burger has a ton of them (including one of my favorite card routine involving Dracula's visit to a college campus...) On the other hand, I am encouraging you to plan your goals around each holiday or event several months in advance. If you are working towards pro then you will be pitching and confirming Halloween show dates in February and March followed by Xmas programs you are scheduling in April & May... 4-6 months out is normal and many of the bigger named pros are scheduled as much as 18 months ahead on deals.

I'm not trying to rain on your dreaming and scheaming, just trying to shine some light on things so that you can be better prepared on down the road.

abraxus wrote:how does doing a normal routine with black tigers make the routine spooky?

Black is always considered to be an evil/sinister color.....so using a black tiger deck in your halloween routine can add to the halloween effect. You wouldn't only make this change, you would obviously add/modify other effects to your routine, but the black tigers are another subtle halloweenish addition.

Actually "Black" is only seen that way in those cultures infected by the western ideas established through the Judeau-Christian propaganda machines of the past (and to some limited degree, our present). In metaphysical circles however, black is not seen as evil when it is being used properly and if you want to deliver a bizarre styled performance, it might be nice to know what you are talking about. Besides that, a deck of cards is a deck of cards and no matter how you slice it, your audience will know it's all tricks... I don't care if you really are the world's greatest Psychic and even James Randi is willing to endorse you as the real thing, if you use playing cards the public is going to instantly assume you are doing card tricks... it's a sad but honest truth.

Yes, (before it's asked) there are many routines using Tarot which will get you a bit closer to the theme of things. I'd recommend looking into Stepen Minch's BOOK OF THOTH as well as some of the material produced by Jim Magus years ago, that uses Tarot, Runes and other such devices for some down right awesome bits of business.

If you don't have it yet get Rick Maue's BOOK OF HAUNTED MAGICK in that it is packed with some great material that is appropriate to this time of year and as mentioned previously, Eugene Burger has more than his fair share of stuff.

You may also check out...

http://www.dragonskull.co.uk/main_map.htm

http://vo-du-magick.phrets.com/

if anyone is interested in the darker side of things, Mr. Burger's Spirit Magic dvd is very good...

i reviewed it on here somewhere...search and ye shall find...

Someone on here once pointed me in the direction of where to get BIZARRE magic, kind of gothic in nature. Will try a search and come back with something. I agree with Craig though, why are you only thinking of halloween now???!! I'm thinking of christmas and new year right now and even Valentines day. Preparation and practice are the keys to success.

[Craig Browning"]Actually "Black" is only seen that way in those cultures infected by the western ideas established through the Judeau-Christian propaganda machines of the past (and to some limited degree, our present). In metaphysical circles however, black is not seen as evil when it is being used properly and if you want to deliver a bizarre styled performance, it might be nice to know what you are talking about. Besides that, a deck of cards is a deck of cards and no matter how you slice it, your audience will know it's all tricks... I don't care if you really are the world's greatest Psychic and even James Randi is willing to endorse you as the real thing, if you use playing cards the public is going to instantly assume you are doing card tricks... it's a sad but honest truth.

I am not sure what you are all saying? I was simply saying that to some people the use of black cards IN CONJUNCTION with other items that suit a halloween style perfmormance are simply another way to dress up the entire presence.......in Canada we often symbolize evil and halloween through the presence of black capes, black cats, black outfits, black of night, etc.............they are all ways to subtelly dress up your halloween show.

I am not saying that you would simply show up as per normal but use a black deck and go on......you would make numerous changes to dress up yourself, your props, and your routine to suit the Halloween theme!

Try here.

Black and Orange.

The colors of Halloween.

You know, I think I'm going to present the ID as a piece of mind control this weekend to see how creepy I can get it.

Barnabas wrote:Black and Orange.

The colors of Halloween.

Exactly what I was trying to say....thank you! And if I remember right, I am pretty sure I saw a set of orange bikes online the other day.

For the younger trick or treaters I had some fun last year with my change bag. Nothing in it, wave the wand and now its full of sweets. I have ordered a flash wand which I am expecting today or tomorrow so will use that as well