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hi, im a high school student, and i am thinkking of doing a magic show for talent show. i have around 3 months until it will happen. can anybody recommend some tricks and gimmicks i can get under $100 for some effects?
its my first time planning to do something upstage, so every comment, flame, tips, and ideas are welcomed.

People are more likely to help if you post a short introduction. If we know your skill level and experience in magic then we can help you more. Tell us what you can or can't do, how big is the stage, audience size etc. All of these factors help.

well, i can do some card tricks like ambitious card routines, and own some dvds. i can do muscle pass with poker chips. and err thats pretty much it. the audience should be around 100~200 people. and the stage is pretty big. no worries there.

If you're going to be on stage cards aren't going to be visible enough. You're going to need something bright and visual that everyone's going to be able to too.

I'd think about silks, ropes, sponges that kind of thing would work well and will cost you next to nothing.

If you're doing a stage show, you need to decide what your magical persona is going to be. You could be a classic magician and use linking rings, zombie, and all those classic effects. You could be a comedy magician in which case you can use the same classics but with a comedy edge (search for Tommy Cooper on YouTube).

Alternatively you could do a mindreading routine from the stage. This will cost you little money wise, but you will need to be very confident and sure of your stuff.

But if you really want to blow their socks off, go for a clairvoyant medium show! Put your teachers in contact with their dead relatives and pets! It's all good clean fun and will certainly get you noticed.

C'mon folks we have enough shoddy magicians in the world, tell this kid the facts...

You cannot develop a "real" act in 3 months time... even an experienced pro has difficulties attempting that kind of thing.

Are you SERIOUS about magic? Do you have ANY background whatsoever? If not I hope you at least have some idea as to how challenging it is to get in front of one's peers and do a show let alone something that can (and usually will) go wrong if it is not rehearsed enough.

I certainly hope you're not thinking you'll be the next Derren Brown or even David Copperfield...

Now that I've destroyed you and gotten the world ticked at me (again) let me explain why I've said these things so you can understand; there are no performing art fields that can be learnt in the period of time you have available to you, they all require time and EFFORT. If you are of the type that can put effort into something then you've been given a few ideas and resources but don't fool yourself; just learning the mechanics of an effect does not mean you can perform the trick... you can certainly present a puzzle but you will not be creating "Magic" and that is the real goal... any buffoon can go to the magic shop and buy a bunch of tricks (just look around any magic club and you'll see that for yourself) it takes a rare kind of person to create magic or "enchantment" and it means studying a lot more than how the tricks are done at the mechanical level.

Now folks are going to tell you to ignore the grumpy old bear when he snaps at you like this... there's a truth to that. I can be rather hard on people but I do so in hopes of instilling in them the understanding that there is MORE to what we do as magicians than meets the eye.

That said, get yourself a copy of the Mark Wilson course in Magic it has EVERYTHING you need to know at this point including how to build several larger illusions (I made almost all of those big pieces 30 years ago out of cardboard and they are still around... just give them a couple of coats of heavy latex paint and they'll last you a lifetime).

Best of luck!

With full deference to Mr. Browning above, if you are good with your cards, then a "Card to Forehead" can be successfully performed on stage.

But, you have to have the personality to make it go over properly, so, refer to Mr. Browning's post, above.

Mike.

You need a good presence to do a stage show. I never have, but im working on it.

Paper balls over the head is a great routine for the stage.

Personally, I would do much magic on stage. I feel mentalism is much simpler, not as in easy.. but considering I would be a nervous wreck performing sleight of hand on stage, I feel mentalism is hell of a lot more natural, and I would do mostly mentalism pieces, with ideas I have picked up from Banacehek and Osterlind.

That said, you would need a LOT of practice, perhaps years worth to be able to pull it off.

Make it a simple stage show, perform things like magic with silks, sponges and if you have the time to devote some serious study of presentational skills, include the paper balls over the head as this is a classic and will have your audience howling with laughter.

Devin Knight has some great effects that could be performed on stage as Marc Oberon. Again, presentation is everything.

Keep it simple and dont try to run before you can walk. I think in your instance, try Mark Wilsons course as Browning suggested. Theres some good pices in there that can be performed on stage and are relatively simple.

I would recommend "The Tossed Out deck", or one of its variants.
I performed Luke Jermay's take on the effect "Touching on Hoy" the last time I had an opportunity to perform on stage.

Its simple, easy to perform and has a few outs in the rare occasion that things don't go to plan.
Another factor with it being easy to perform, is that you can think on your patter and presentation throughout as there is not much to remember or think about.