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Lately I've been doing less and less card magic. Mainly mentalism, coin magic, sponge magic, and juggling. Anyways I want to start branching out into other types of magic.

I used to do alot of card magic (about 6 months ago). And I mean ALOT of card magic. Close to about 70% card.

Here's the problem. When I was in the "card era" I used cards as my safety haven and never really did anything else. When I compare the reactions of basic mentalism tricks compared to some of my favorite card tricks, the mentalism killed (relatively speaking of course).

So is card magic worth getting back into (with the exception of learning maybe 2 routines)?

I'd stick with some card magic although this is probably unpopular to mix magic with mentalism, It's good to stick to some magic. I can't give you much advice on this but that's what I have done, I've been developing mental parlour and stage acts and at the same time I've been doing card magic inbetween.

Take a break from card magic for a bit and than try it again. You'll like it more and you'll have a new found fun with it.

Anyways that's my advice, take it or not...

Ian
P.S. This post is riddled with bingo for those desperate folks. (That too)

Personaly, I like switching from one type of magic to another, since it keeps me interested and challenged. If I were you I would do the tricks that you personaly have the most fun performing, and you will find that those tricks get the best reactions.

Why are you defining everything so rigorously? It doesn't matter at all whether you do card magic, or sponge ball magic, or disappearing elephant magic (although I wouldn't recommend that for table-hopping), because magic IS NOT ABOUT WHAT TRICKS YOU DO OR PROPS YOU USE.

Apologies for the capitalisation, but I've been reading a lot of magical theory lately.

You are a magician, you are in your very essence magical. The spectators should think that everything you touch could at any moment do something utterly unbelievable and wonderful. Not a single spectator is going to go "he didn't do as many card tricks as I'd hoped" if you are doing your job correctly.

Read some of Eugene Burger's work about the philosophy of magic, and how to make the most out of your performance. He has some articles on his website that are worth reading:

http://www.magicbeard.com/articles.php

Serendipity wrote:It doesn't matter at all whether you do card magic, or sponge ball magic, or disappearing elephant magic (although I wouldn't recommend that for table-hopping), because magic IS NOT ABOUT WHAT TRICKS YOU DO OR PROPS YOU USE.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is one of the reasons we try not to have different sections or rooms on TM - Magic is magic and it doesn't matter a flying fez if it's cards, coins, rope or cheese slices. The magic is in the performance, not the props (cue Peter Marruci!) and each of us will have our own preferences about what we use. That's why this art is so wide and versatile - but it's all magic (or should be!).

I'm only an amateur (although quite serious) but I agree with Serendipity. It's about the magic, not the props. You're trying to create a lasting impression on your audience that they've seen something impossible. Lots of people will have seen or might've even learnt a simple card trick or two at some point. You'll really have to blow these people away with a card effect to gain their respect. Once you have it however, it won't matter what props you use, and cards are as good as any.

For myself, recently I've been looking at couple of mentalism routines with an idea of doing more varied impromptu magic. However I've sculpted the ideas and routines into more of a "tell when you're lying" variety, since that fits my style. I used to do lots of card tricks, but now I only do about 2 or 3 of my favourite "magical" ones which I feel really defy explanation. Plus I do several coin tricks which are my real favourite.

I suppose this is the real question. How long will it take an audience to get bored of a prop (in this case a deck of cards)?

It depends on what you're doing with that prop, if you're entertaining and they're enjoying themselves then that pack of cards can keep the audience happy for ages. I used to doa 25 minute long routine with just cards and it always seemed to be really well received. But we've also all seen those magicians who can bore you to tears as soon as they open their deck.

The audience doesn't get bored of the deck of cards, they get bored of you.