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Does any one know any books that help you learn how to develop patters for magic effects. Or books that teach you how to tell effective stories?

Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz

There's some stuff in Card College vol 2

I'm sure there are people that can name some more.

I've been considering buying magic and showmanship by Henning Nelms. Its been recommended to me a few times for helping presentation and has a positive review on here.

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=2773

I've never read it but Its on the "to buy" list but Scripting Magic by Peter McCabe has to be based on just what you're after and gets glowing reviews

I'm half way through scriptin magic which I bought on the recommendation of a few TM members and it's perfect for what you are looking for.

I would also recommend transformations by Lawrence Hass which is a book of essays on performance that includes scripting.

I have Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz. I'm half-way through it and so far it does give some ideas but I am not a very creative person so i have trouble seeing how i could make patters. Or I feel my stories are always missing something to hook the audience.

I am looking for a book that does teach how to TELL stories well. As well as how to create them.

Thanks for all the suggestions

Most major bookstores have a writing section; browse this area: specifically anything that talks about fictional short stories.

Alternately, look in the same section for anything that says writing or creative exercises. These will help get you in more of a storytelling frame of mind. It may not directly help, but it may at least point you in the right direction.

Good luck.

I'm in full agreement that Scripting Magic is a great book.

I also think that Magic and Showmanship will give you a lot of good stuff to chew on.

Stepping outside the realms of magic, I'd suggest looking at Story by Robert McKee. It's a screenwriting book, but if you look at it alongside Scripting Magic, many things will click into place, as Pete McCabe writes his book from a screenwriter's perspective too.

As a personal tip, I always find that I get myself onto a good track for scripting effects when I force myself to think about why rather than what. If nothing else, it stops me rabbiting on without telling spectators anything they can't already see for themselves.

Something else to consider is your own personality...

Do you converse well in front of crowds? Are you comfortable with talking aloud?

I've always found that magicians who patter outside their comfort zone or persona are very tedious, sometimes cringeworthy.

If your patter, however, can fit with your personality, then you are open to natural ad-lib should you lose your way.

Take, for example, the following three performers:
Jerry Sadowitz, Eugene Burger, Darwin Ortiz...

To me, each has a very distinctive style, all based on their persona.

Sadowitz is the master of ad-lib. The patter is 'need to know' and is very 'him'. However, it gets the job done, and is very entertaining.

Burger—a true master of storytelling... it's like watching and listening to a classical guitarist, where the hands are doing one very complex thing, and yet the voice is telling a far different tale in a disjointed rhythm. Again, it just fits, and is very entertaining.

Ortiz... this guy could talk the hind legs off a donkey. 50% 'learned' and 50% ad-lib, his patter fits not only with his cheeky persona, but also fits with the people he's with. This rides along on top of his exacting skills, and again is very entertaining and forms a really big part of his act.

OK... now as another 'for instance'... imagine Ortiz doing a Sadowitz set, word for word, etc. And imagine Burger doing the Ortiz set, and Sadowitz doing the Burger set.

It wouldn't work as well, would it?

Tho moral of this (rambling) tale is that you need to find your own comfort zone, and patter within your own personal and natural spectrum of conversation. We've seen many magicians on TM trying to emulate other mainstream magi—with the thought that "Well, he's cool, so I'll memorise his act/actions/mannerisms". But it don't work that way.

The whole "Kras/Sankey" thing was arguably the best text-book example of this!

Be you. Be prepared. As I said, if you patter within your comfort zone, you will talk naturally. And this helps your minds' parallel thoughts on the magic too... i.e. if you're concentrating so hard on patter, your magic will suffer.

I believe that scripting is something that has to be down to an individual.

ask yourself the following questions before you start.


( Out loud so we can all think about them...)


what kind of magic are you talking about?

any specific effects ?

are you trying to routine a number of effects together into an act, and if so.. what tricks?

where is your starting point, and where do you want to go to?


Answering these simple questions should help you in forming a basic script, onto which you can hang the words that become your dressing.

I've never "scripted" patter for a performance ever. Well, actually, I did once - and it was the worst performance of my life. I spent most of the time trying to remember what I was supposed to be saying and the whole thing just turned into a mess.

I simply have an idea in my head of what I want to try and convey, then I just ad-lib it. All crowds/audiences are different anyway, they all have their own unique "personality" so a script that may work wonderfully for a 20-something crowd would die a death for a 50-something crowd. However if you simply have the bare bones that you want to touch on, you can then flesh it out with ad-libs that are appropriate for the time.

Most of the lines that I now use day-in day-out just came out of my mouth by accident while ad-libbing.

The most important thing is to appear confident and in control. And as long as your first effect grabs their attention and their imagination, you could be standing there saying "penguin orange marmalade to the right of next month" and they'd all be standing there nodding appreciatively.

themagicwand wrote:I've never "scripted" patter for a performance ever. Well, actually, I did once - and it was the worst performance of my life. I spent most of the time trying to remember what I was supposed to be saying and the whole thing just turned into a mess.

Now you see I am quite the opposite - not so much for close up and strolling, but for stage or parlour I script everything I do, I rehearse, rewrite, until I am happy with the flow.

However - when on stage - I don't necessarily keep to the script - there are so many things that can take what you do in all sorts of directions, and that for me is part of the fun of performing. Having said that though, whenever there is a pause the scripting I did makes it very easy to jump in at any point and continue without worrying about drying up.

I think it is horses for courses. Different methods will help different people. But I am definitely in th e camp that likes scripting. It helps me explore different presentational ideas.

I tend to loosly script all my routines. For me it helps me to know what I'm going to say and when and it helps me to keep my routine flowing. I do like to keep my patter flexible so that I can suit it to a given situation but it always follows the same rough lines.

Not speaking from my own experience here, but it occurs to me that it might be useful to check out books on public speaking, toastmastering, etc. as well as books on fiction writing. You want to engage and entertain, not recite a long story.

Having said that, I will agree that Story by Robert McKee is a must-read for anyone interested in creating any type of fictional work. It discusses screenplays in particular, but everything he says is equally applicable to fiction generally.

I don't know any books off hand, but admittedly, i've never taken the time to look for them.

Only you can shape your form of patter to suit you, no self help book would do it for you and i'd assume if you followed one your performance would sound crude and over-compensated. Almost like your trying too hard. The important thing with magic and mentalism is to communicate your own personality to the audience, that you are who you are, and i find if you are yourself then the audience become more intune and comfortable with you. And if they are relaxed whilst watching you perform you have the basis for a lot of misdirection open to you.

Having said that, i did find when first starting out, that scripting was a nice way to get comfortable with what your performing so that when your ready you can put your own slant on the routine and bring yourself out more through it.

Taking a leaf from Lady of Mystery's book, i do genrally script my routines, just to the point where i know what i'll talk about. Maybe if i have a story i tell during it, i would loosely know the gist of it and then embellish it in front of a spectator.

At the end of the day, no book will give you the killer routines that you aspire to. You need to be yourself. Don't rush into performing, work on your patter, and reap the rewards.