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I am about the same as Dat. It depends on what show i am doing. I average about 12 effects for tables (3 per table and 4 groups of effects)

alot of you talk about routines...

ive always had problems making up my own routines, so.... i don't have any routines per say

i have quick opener(here then there, or just a DL) and i go from there. i do what pops into my head. i tend to do about 5 tricks and the walk away but i can do about 15-20 before they start to become lame(ie self working tricks, that don't have a good patter, or tricks i just don't sell well)

every week i try ot teach myself a new trick and then i always have tricks to practise because i get bored of practising the smae trick over and over espessially when its not goin to well.

I'm confused. Are some of you saying you perform TWELVE effects in a routine? Or twelve effects on that night and have twelve in your selection?

i understood most of them to say they have 12 tricks in their selecetion(which i thought was quite a small number) and i understood some to be saying they preform 12 tricks a night meaning they just keep doin the same 12 tricks over and over

Having too much in your pockets and case can get really confusing. So many table hoppers will do 12 different effects (maybe have a few backup). Let's say we have 30 tables. I divide my 12 effects into groups of 4 so we get..

Table 1 - gets effect 1 , 2 & 3
Table 2 - gets effect 4, 5 & 6
Table 3 - gets effect 7, 8 & 9
Table 4 - gets effect 10, 11 & 12

By the time you reach table five they are normally too far away to have seen the effects so you start the process again with effect 1,2 & 3.

I get you.

I have about 10 effects in my bag which I'm comfortable to perform on the spot.

However, I've only ever had one gig. Where I had three routines with three effects in each. However I only performed at two tables so only two routines were used.

I think three is the magic number.

You can of course purposely use an odd number of effects so that when you start the repeats, they are always in different combinations, eg. table four would see 10, 11 and then 1.

Stephen is right though! There was a saying that I read first on TM that went something like this:

An amateur magician will perform 30 tricks adequately whilst a professional magician will perform 10 tricks amazingly.

That's something that I've always remembered when planning for a booking

Also i have different shows. So i have 12 mentalism routines for a mentalism walkabout show. I have different effects for a trade show etc. It all adds up!

dat8962 wrote:An amateur magician will perform 30 tricks adequately whilst a professional magician will perform 10 tricks amazingly.

almost feels lie thats a shot at me...

i believe thats a quote from a magician... i want to say dai vernon but i think i would be wrong... the quote as i heard it used the numbers 100 and 10... but no matter it gets the same point across

It is just saying that you should do what you do well and not try to learn hundreds of different tricks.

i know...

i do about 15 or so of my tricks well... the other 15 are there for when im bored and the knew tricks are there because i like to learn lots... on any given night ill only really do my 15 main ones.... but if i sit down and talk to people(i can do that since im not getting paid) i may start doin my s*** ones as a joke here and there if the ask to see another one after ive run out of my good ones

i also use that time to test out new stuff on people

As I work primarily as a "psychic entertainer" this is how it often works for me. Let's say I'm working at a wedding (wedding work accounts for a good 75% of all my bookings), I approach the first table and launch into my favourite routine. During this routine it becomes apparent that I'm not a sponge ball kind of guy (no offense to those who use spong balls). The routine climaxes with a palm reading for my spec. Other people on the table ask to have their palm read also. I oblige.

The next table have seen me palm reading and ask for their palms to be read also. They often use phrases like: "No card tricks. Just palm reading." At this point I usually pull out a pack of tarots and get them a bit excited by asking "Who dares to have a proper reading?" or some such nonsense. So I start doing tarot readings.

3 hours later I leave having done one "magic" routine and anything up to 50 palm or tarot readings. This happens at most of the weddings I work at. I often insist that I take a break from doing readings to at least bend a fork or two, but you can see it in their eyes - they're thinking "Yeah, yeah, very clever but I'm waiting to have my tarot cards read matey!"

It's very rare that someone will say to me "I don't want a reading, I want to see some card tricks." But it happens all the time that people ask for the opposite.

My point? I have no idea. I just felt like a ramble. Oh yeah, perhaps my poimt is that do readings count as a routine? Or are they new routines that are continually re-inventing themselves as they're performed? Who knows. Again, I'm just rambling. Ignore me.[/i]

I go out loaded with ....

Pen thro' note (you remember ID ).
Card Warp.
A packet trick where the predicted Queen is face up in a face down packet of 4 cards and the others are blank.
Large version of Hopping Halves.
My Time Lord trick.
NFW.
Thought Transmitter.
Loops.
ID.
ESP deck (5 or 6 effects).
Straight deck (dozen or so effects).

tenko... im guessing you carry a case with you when you head out...

If I conciously go out to perform I will have

One deck (with duplicate card )
Outlaw wallet which contains Kiouku, sanctum, between the lines and business cards.. plenty of bang for my buck there and plays small )
Reflections in inside pocket
Pk ring and wearing Relic
one packet trick ( usually TEN by Richard Sanders)
a TT
super sharpie

It sounds a lot but its not, it packs so small and it gives me the option of magic or mentalism depending on who I meet.

Sometimes Ill take nesting coin boxes as I love the effect and again, packs small