talkmagic.co.uk

What age group and sex responds best to card tricks? As a magic community that is full of people 1000000x better than me what demographic tends to respond best to card tricks?

I findthat it's not necessary what you show the spectators, but its HOW you show it that counts!

If you show a simple effect well to any group of people and they will respond, also you can show the worlds greatest trick to the same people, but perform it poorly and they wouldn't care if you made an elephant appear in front of them tap dancing and singing!

I'm waiting for Peter Marucci to post!

In the meantime, I don't think there is a particular demographic trend. I'd say that, in general, women are less confrontational/egotistical, so are more likely to go along with magic, and less likely to show off or act like a plum. There are plenty of blokes who don't have a problem with magicians, of course.

One thing I've heard of, but not personally encountered, is that quite a lot of younger people are not terribly familiar with playing card suits. Even if that is true, it doesn't mean they won't enjoy the tricks, but you might want to think about ensuring they know the suits and remember what card they chose.

Hello MasterSmiley

Obviously "Card Tricks" is a pretty wide field, there are huge presentational differences between a pseudo (or actual) display of gambling skill, a mentalism feat like Curry's "Out of this World", or the standing packet trick-like effects often labelled Street Magic nowadays.

Obviously, any answers here will be massive generalisations and oversimplifications, as I'm sure one or two of the Talkmagic luminaries will point out, but I would probably expect that the flashy card manipulation and hit-and-run style would go down better with a younger crowd, especially but not entirely teenage boys.

(Massive apologies to Lady of Mystery especially here, her card skills far surpass mine in every regard)

Very generally speaking, I find effects with a stronger narrative - and this almost has to include mentalism, as without a narrative frame to hang a mental effect on, you're basically just showing off - appeal more to women, and certainly the older and more thoughtful crowd, regardless of gender.

Gambling demonstrations are mostly male-centric, as gambling with cards is mostly male-centric, on average.


Again, apologies for any and everyone I've just offended It's not meant to be anything personal, just some very rough stereotypes to give an answer to an honest question

It wont appeal to anyone of you do not first make sure they speak English....

A young lad saw me messing with cards at a pub in holiday...walked over and sat down at my table....didnt talk I started ti perform impromptu stuff and got major blanks look until the reveal.

His dad walked over and said I will translate he only understands Dutch. Imagine how I was. hehe....

Um deffinately single young women say mid 20s they love to be surprised and uh anyone American,,,,, I love the obvious scepticism they enter with but they still enjoy.

Smithy

MagicalSmithy wrote:It wont appeal to anyone of you do not first make sure they speak English....

A young lad saw me messing with cards at a pub in holiday...walked over and sat down at my table....didnt talk I started ti perform impromptu stuff and got major blanks look until the reveal.

His dad walked over and said I will translate he only understands Dutch. Imagine how I was. hehe....

Um deffinately single young women say mid 20s they love to be surprised and uh anyone American,,,,, I love the obvious scepticism they enter with but they still enjoy.

Smithy

Thats not always true. I have been entertained by magicians who dont speak during their shows, who dont speak English; I too have performed for those who dont speak English and still manage to entertain them and get great reactions. Words arent the only way to convey. It can be a little more challenging, but it can still be fun and entertaining.

MagicalSmithy wrote:It wont appeal to anyone of you do not first make sure they speak English....

A young lad saw me messing with cards at a pub in holiday...walked over and sat down at my table....didnt talk I started ti perform impromptu stuff and got major blanks look until the reveal.

His dad walked over and said I will translate he only understands Dutch. Imagine how I was. hehe....

Um deffinately single young women say mid 20s they love to be surprised and uh anyone American,,,,, I love the obvious scepticism they enter with but they still enjoy.

Smithy

I have to disagree too!

On Saturday night I was performing at a wedding where the brides family were from France and Italy, and VERY VERY few of them spoke any English! And to be honest it was probably one of my favourite bookings, as I just simply let the magic do the talking !

MasterSmiley wrote:What age group and sex responds best to card tricks? As a magic community that is full of people 1000000x better than me what demographic tends to respond best to card tricks?

NONE and at the same time, all.

It depends on the performer not the material!

I loathe card magic in that too many magic enthusiasts become addicted to them, believing they are the only thing one need learn and master. Many becoming quite peeved when noted performers do a lecture and don't teach them a new card trick. But there is so much more to life as well as our craft.

If you have the right material and the right sort of personality you can appeal to either a specific demographic or a wide range of consumers. The only way to know which is right is for you to do some field testing in that what works for one person may not be as effective for another; Magic can be very picky in that way.

I do not recommend doing "card tricks" for those that have yet to hit puberty simply due to their short attention span. BUT you can do certain card-based routines such as Sidewalk Shuffle, the Find the Lady (special large framed wood cards) or even Card in Balloon. The thing is, you don't want to do too many of any one type of bit for kids in this age group, you have to keep giving them something new to look at and get involved with.

Teens on the other hand (and well into the mid-20's) are perfect for sucker styled bits in that so many are feeling their oats and believe they know everything... sucker & gambling bits gently put the hot shots into their place (when done properly).

This brings us to "adults" and in that category you have a much wider variety of folk that you are potentially dealing with, so once again it all depends on YOU and what your style and material is composed of. I know some fantastic card technicians that are about as entertaining as watching moss form on stones. But I know of some horribly sloppy performers out there that can slay most any audience because of their personality as well as the material they've mastered and blended together. It's just this sort of person that proves to me that it's not the tricks as much as it is the persona and style along side the wisdom to know how and when to apply variety to what you deliver rather than depending exclusively on one device.