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you could shout out "look over there!" and then do it...

IAIN wrote:you could shout out "look over there!" and then do it...

That's pretty much how I do a pass

Really, there's no need to make these things invisible. no need to be invisible if no one is looking!

Lawrence wrote:

IAIN wrote:you could shout out "look over there!" and then do it...

That's pretty much how I do a pass

Really, there's no need to make these things invisible. no need to be invisible if no one is looking!

Funny you should say that.

I have said several times..." you might as well look away mate, , because Im not going to do it till you do"

( only to magicians of course )

daleshrimpton wrote:

Lawrence wrote:

IAIN wrote:you could shout out "look over there!" and then do it...

That's pretty much how I do a pass

Really, there's no need to make these things invisible. no need to be invisible if no one is looking!

Funny you should say that.

I have said several times..." you might as well look away mate, , because Im not going to do it till you do"

( only to magicians of course )

Last year we were in the Ruskin at stupid o'clock in the morning and some little swedish kid was showing me how inivisibly he could control a selected card back to the top using a clip shift right in front of my eyes.
I said i'd show him my pass;... put the card in the middle of the deck, made brief eye contact with him and when he looked back i showed him it was on top of the deck. sloppy sloppy pass too!

"but I can do it while you keep looking" he protested
"i don't need to, and mine maintained the order of the deck" i replied

He was not a happy bunny. I like to think he learnt a lesson though.

I use a version inspired by ted lesley- I use John Kennedy's mindpower deck which has several force cards and I can show that all the cards are different. I can then name all the options. I have no need for a switch.

Also, I think if your using the traditional method, I like the idea of exploiting the offbeat- once you have performed the trick- or even before you name the cards you can switch it and having all the misdirection you could want on your side. Then if anyone suspects the method (I have to be honest, I worked it out and have always then been very careful to keep the secret closley guarded, hence using a quite complicated version).

On the topic of TOD, I perform an impromptu version in which a regular deck is used and I leave a small break on one card to force by outjogging the deck slightly on the force card and I show everyone.

yeah but then it will happen in ure hands:P with TOD gazzoo u can throw deck to spectators:P and they will choose a card;) aint that better?

haha yeah distraction always works with a move:) also just lean in and talk to them while doing sleights works for me just a sleight lean and some words they will look up instantly

Just stick it in your pocket and bring the other straight out and say "oh I forgot I was gonna show you this" they dont even question that its not the same deck that you wer just using to show a generic card routine with! Its so bold I have never been questioned and they never remember you putting it back in your pocket!!!! like it say elsewer dont overcomplicate it...just swap the blimen thing

Seriously stop thinking like a magician. If you are actually entertaining your audience they are not going to sit around and backtrack about how you do things. I'll tell you why. They don't really care! do you honestly think the lay audience spends their time trying to work out how you accomplished the effect, perhaps if they are bored while watching the performance, perhaps if instead of entertaining them you are challenging them with a puzzle. Perhaps if they are your friends or family, perhaps if you handling is sloppy and they can get a glimpse of what is going on. Otherwise as stated before put the first deck in your right pocket and pull the second out of your left. If you engage with your audience during this time then they are not paying any attention.

The bigger the deal, the more convoluted you make it, the better the chances are that the audience is going to catch on. Keep it simple.

Seriously stop thinking like a magician. If you are actually entertaining your audience they are not going to sit around and backtrack about how you do things. I'll tell you why. They don't really care! do you honestly think the lay audience spends their time trying to work out how you accomplished the effect, perhaps if they are bored while watching the performance, perhaps if instead of entertaining them you are challenging them with a puzzle. Perhaps if they are your friends or family, perhaps if you handling is sloppy and they can get a glimpse of what is going on. Otherwise as stated before put the first deck in your right pocket and pull the second out of your left. If you engage with your audience during this time then they are not paying any attention.

Destroying any opportunity for mental reconstruction is certainly an art every magician should do his best to master. Spectators can enjoy the magic and treat it like a puzzle at the same time- that's part of the joy of it- it's a game between the audience and the magician, it's something almost unavoidable with most magic. I'm sure many will disagree with me there, but I'm putting my head out. My favourite magicians entertain me and sometimes I don't care how they're doing it, but it is a natural response no matter how good the magician is to be thinking 'how's he doing that- I have no idea'. I still believe that 'how did you do that' is a bad response to get, but I don't ever expect that nobody's going to be trying to latch onto my deceptions. Maybe I am just yet to be persuaded.

Read Derren Brown's Tricks of the Mind, where he talks about false memory, if you're wanting to be persuaded

That is exactley the persepctive I agree with- that you need to plant false memories, not just assume they won't try and backtrack.

I have the deck to be switched to in my left jacket pocket. I will unbox the hoy deck look at the empty box and say"won't be needing that" whilst i put it in my right hand jacket pocket. get on with effect in hand.....after effect I put both hands in my jacket pockets looking for the box switch in the left pocket and bring out the box in the right pocket the same time as I bring the switched deck out then go on to do something with the switched deck as if I've had a second thought. All looks natural. to the onlooker I was looking for my box.

SamGurney wrote:That is exactley the persepctive I agree with- that you need to plant false memories, not just assume they won't try and backtrack.

We may be arguing the same side of the coin, but you don't have to 'plant' false memories, you just have to perform really well. An example would be card on ceiling. Its amazing the stories I hear by laymen when they explain to me what they saw.

Of course there are always going to be the people trying to figure it all out but they are the exception rather then the rule. Of course you should cover your tracks, but you can usually just do this by interacting with your audience, by focusing on them. By getting out there and be engaging and entertaining. You know you are on the right track when they want to see another effect and not focus on the one you just did. Even better you end your set and the audience is satisfied, you have told your story, begining, middle and end. They know it, you know it. You bow, they applaud and everyone goes home and tells their friends about the great magic show they have seen.

As magicians we focus on the puzzle it is the single biggest mistake the magician makes when performing. When learning, when practicing you focus on the puzzle on the moves etc. When performing you focus on the audience the minute you revert to the puzzle so does the audience and that is when you run into problems. The minute you assume the audience is going to think you are using a gimmick is the minute they are going to assume you are going use a gimmick. The minute you start to overtly prove something you are inviting the audience to disprove it. I had a friend in Vancouver who would finish with a mental photo/nudist deck, once all the faces and backs appeared on the blank cards he would leave the cards on the side of the table unboxed and move onto a coin trick, I've watched this guy do this hundreds of times, never once did anyone reach for the deck.

Card under glass is another wonderful example. If you can do card under glass or any other impossible location surely you can switch a deck. The principal is the same. You want some confidence learn the Sylvester Pitch. Its amazing what you can get away with. Its amazing what the audience doesn't see when you don't point something out to them.

You don't believe me? Go out and perform, and perform again, and again, and again. You already know enough effects, put down the Darren Brown book and all the other books with all the theories and techniques, go and perform. Don't worry about being perfect, you are not going to be perfect, and luckly you don't have to be, you are going to blow them away anyway. Everything will fall into place with practice followed by perfomance. If you are not going to perform all the theories, all the practice is going to mean nothing. And once you start performing a lot of what you've read is going to come so naturally you will wonder what all your fussing was about. And it will be the ride of a life.

C

thnx bmat