talkmagic.co.uk

Something has occurred to me that's been fermenting in my brain box for a while and I thought I'd post about it here. Basically what's the whole magic obsession with card tricks? The majority of books and dvds that are released are card heavy, often over 50% of the content, and nearly every trick you'll be shown by another magi will be a card one.

I have a few ideas about this, essentially:

- Cards are recognisable objects that are synonomous with magic in the public's eye.
- They're easy to pick up and get some impressive effects out of without too much technical ability.
-There's an almost infinite variety of plots and possibilities just from an ordinary deck, without even getting into gaff territory.

But, overall lay people are more impressed with non-card stuff. Yesterday at the end of the London meet I asked the table next to us (who'd had about £600 worth of magical performance out of us) what their favourite effects had been. There were three that emerged as favourites, a bit of pen animation, Greedo's spoon bending and another thing which I forget but wasn't card related. When I first saw magic I was always more impressed by tricks with ordinary objects, they seem that little bit more impossible. I think when an ordinary person sees a card trick they instantly suspect sleight of hand, it's almost like a general method that explains away the impossibility. How many times when you've heard someone retelling the tale of a card effect have they said "I don't know how he did it but there must have been some sleight of hand somewhere."?

Even though I'm no good at cards technically I still peform roughly half card stuff and I'm happy with that. Any thoughts?

I still perform a fair bit of card effects but not as much as I used to. I do agree that, generally, the lay person is more impressed with non-card effects; sometimes I get the feeling that people think "God, not another card trick" when I produce a deck of cards. (Although that could very well be just me!) Having said that, I have a few select card tricks that I perform a lot because they never fail to impress. But I am branching out and trying new effects that are not card-related as I am finding these go down very well.

Basically, I think it's important to have a mixture of effects in your repertoire. Some would disagree with that, no doubt, but I find it does work for me, especially now I am starting to move away from performing card effects extensively.

bronz wrote:Even though I'm no good at cards technically I still peform roughly half card stuff and I'm happy with that. Any thoughts?

I'm happy with that too. "Would you like to see some card tricks or something more interesting?"

bronz wrote:what's the whole magic obsession with card tricks?

My thoughts exactly! There are many who seem to think that magic begins and ends with a deck of cards and they get so annoyed when we try to tell them otherwise.....

Ah good to see I have some allies! I have to admit I love card effects but much of what I do is no-brainer stuff technically, not much more than a dl (although I use the classic pass a fair bit). For some reason the review of Benjamin Earle's new set got me thinking about the sheer quality of some of the card material that's available and how good other types of magic would be if the same brain power was applied to them...

I am not very cardy as bronzy knows. Except esp cards. And the afflicted by Marc Spelmann allthough I call them vodoo cards. But yeah I could do a whole 4 hours with out playing cards.

But people do expect a magician to have a card trick or two.

bronz wrote: Greedo's spoon bending and another thing which I forget but wasn't card related.

my mindreading?

I did a bit of one ahead, and a good ole billet peak when he used a fraction number

My living and dead test beardy.

Replicant wrote:sometimes I get the feeling that people think "God, not another card trick" when I produce a deck of cards. (Although that could very well be just me!)

That's exactly what I was going to say. In my experience, I've found that the people I perform to (mainly my school-mates and teachers sometimes), tend to associate card magic to "tricks"-ie "Tell me which pile your card is in" or "now I'm going to go through each card in the deck until i get to the right one (hope that makes sense!). I however try to repel this connotation by never saying "card trick" or even "card magic". It'll always be something like "Now let me show you something cool with these". More recently though, I've been working with gambling-type effects, which again move away from the traditional "trick" image. I do also agree that it is always a good idea to have something else in your repertoire. I can flip over to coins (excuse the pun) if need be.

One thing you can say to anyone who says that card magic is awful/boring/stupid etc. is this:

"I have two words for you........RICKY JAY"

5 card tricks in a row is boring

Markdini wrote:5 card tricks in a row is boring

As would be 5 rope tricks or 5 sponge ball tricks or 5 five coin tricks etc. in my opinion.

unless it is structured very, very well

It's probably one of those things that is at least partly self-perpetuating. There are lots of card moves, and lots of gimmicks and fake decks, so people come up with routines using the moves and the gimmicks, which in turn leads to new moves being created, or new combinations of moves, and new gimmicks, and so on.

I also think the convenience and familiarity of cards has a lot to do with it. Most households have at least one pack of cards knocking around, and just about everyone's seen 'The Sting' or 'Ocean's Eleven' or 'Rain Man', and so they understand about cards and gambling, even if they can't name the suits!

A deck of cards or two can easily fit into a jacket pocket, or trousers, if you don't mind them getting a bit mangled. Easy to carry around if you want to practice. Easy to have to hand, if someone asks you to do something. Even if you don't have them with you, if someone asks you to 'do something', they are likely to give you cards.

Cards also give you 52 (or 54) separate and distinctive items to use for mind reading effects. Even a five colour ESP deck has less than half that. The Symbology and Phenomena Decks offer a bit more variety.

So, yes, they are over-used, but there are plenty of reasons for it.

A deck of cards must always be a part of a magicians stock in trade possesions. But like anything else, you must judge the spectators interest and balance your performance on what they like.

A month or so ago I worked a hotel in Leeds and at one table of 20yr or so kids I took a deck of cards from my pocket and the girl next to me muttered 'Oh no' I assured her that I would do the next trick specially for her and it would not be cards. After I had done the card trick she said to me 'That was the best card trick I have ever seen'

Last week I was out with my son James and we were in a pub messing about with card tricks. 3 lads he knew came over and James showed them a couple of card tricks and they then asked me to show them some. Every time I showed them a trick they wanted to see more and in the end I spent over an hour doing card tricks. At the end of it one lad wanted to buy my £1.50 deck of Waddingtons off me for £20 because he thought they were special trick cards.

Everything in its place. If cards are going well, use them. If not, use something else. If that's not going well, change it. Mix and match to suit what the customers or punters enjoy.

Don't just debate whether cards are c*** (not the best). They are a magicians tool. Use them like all the other tools you have.

An old County singer friend of mine used to do a mixture of different songs in the first spot. He said that it let him judge the rest of the evening and its true. Pitch your magic to what the punters are enjoying.

And finally, don't perform magic tricks. ENTERTAIN, that's the key factor. Enjoy what you do, but entertain. Do not perform the fancy tripple what-sits-do-da that you know all your mates have been trying to learn. Do the basic simple tricks and entertain as you do it. Your spectators will go away believing you are God if you entertain.

Just enjoy it. Being a magician is wonderful. Don't make it hard work.

Some reasons cards are popular:

Practical
Control over a deck of cards impresses adult audiences because of an association with gambling
Cards can be used in a wide range of effects that are not simply "pick-a-card" effects.

On occasion someone will hand YOU a deck and ask you to do something!

I think card effects can be very strong depending, of course, on the effect and presentation.

Best to all, and happy holidays-

-Steve