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I'll be performing on stage next Friday for my school's talent show. This is the first time I'm going to do stage magic (normally I do close-up magic while my teachers are blabbing away).

I want to perform a trick (bought or non-gimmicked, it doesn't matter) that:
1. I can't mess up no matter what.
2. Under $20 if it's a gimmick.

I will be performing the Toss Out Deck at the end. I'm going to a magic store to buy some gimmicks this weekend.

next friday doesn't really give you much time. Personally I wouldn't be doing anything new and just stick to what you know. Have a think about anything you do close up and if it can be adapted to stage.

Anything with ropes.

Barry

Narutodude: There is NO such thing as 'A Good Stage Trick' or indeed no such thing as 'A Good Trick'
There are only Good Magicians & Bad Magicians.

A Good Performer will take ANY trick and after working on its handling, moves and ABOVE all its Presentation and turn it into what You call, 'A Good Trick'.

There are some 'questionable 'tricks.
Tricks which may not suit the age, the style of the performer or the venues he works at.
Tricks which have a complicated plot or over complicated handling.
Tricks whose 'plot' may offend audiences.

But it still comes down, in the end, to a thinking, hardworking on his Presentations --- Performer.

Now asking for which trick to buy and perform after a few days COULD be the sign of a Bad, unthinking magician.

IF you have an effect you like; have worked on for a good length of time & have performed often, THEN that is The Trick to use.

As you are 'over there' I would suggest you save up and buy, Ken Weber's book, 'Maximum Entertainment'.

It will teach you many things you NEED to know.

PM me if you get stuck!

Allen Tipton

I'll be performing on stage next Friday for my school's talent show

Do what you already do. You dont have time to learn anything new.

I have to agree with other who say that time is not on your side, particularly as you won't be getting your hands on anything new until the weekend at the earliest.

As Dale suggests, look at what you already have in your repetoire and use that with some adjustments for stage.

Allen, I agree that the performance makes it, but by the sounds of it, Narutodude will not be able to learn how to make a wonderful performance by Friday !! It's something even the best take a lifetime over, but still, that's no escuse for not starting immediatley to refine those skills.
Narutodude- I am wondering how many effects you are wanting to perform. I know talent shows are litterally- you're on, you're off- you'd be lucky to get three effects in there.
From what I know about Talent shows- it would be better to just do one effect, and a very strong one- I think just doing one, actually enhances it. Scinse you'll be performing TOD, I'd stick to just doing that: I have seen entertainers milk it for 20 minutes, without exaduration, so 5 minutes is easy. However, I could have it all wrong and you get a decent 15 minutes.. I don't know?

Hi there,
How about six card repeat,great opener,and quite easy to do.
Best of luck anyway,whatever you do.

The problem is, I'm new to stage magic. Normally I do close up magic. All I have is the Multiplying Sponge Balls. I want to do a trick like TOD where you build up the suspense until the last moment.

I have about a bit more than 5 minutes to perform. I might do an opener before beginning to build up the suspense.

Here's some additional info that might help to decide on a trick:
-I know half the audience
-more than half the audience knows me
-all the other people in the talent show are either singing or dancing
-every year, people get bored during the talent show (due to all the singing)
-I can learn a trick in 2 days no problem (I have a ton of free time)

If you've got 5 minutes to perform then you only need one trick. Work on the tossed out deck. With the right scripting and build up you'll be fine. It also means you'll be less likeky to screw up.

I honestly don't think anyone here will be able to give you useful advice for 'a good stage trick you can buy'. We don't know your performance style. D'lights are nice, easy, under £20 and can work well on stage but I doubt it will work with the rest of your performance. Branston pickle and penut butter both work well in a sandwich but not together.

Also your in luck Chris Beard just posted a few clips of his latest performance you'll see he does three effects in about 15 minutes.

Narutodude wrote:-I can learn a trick in 2 days no problem (I have a ton of free time)

But the show is the day after you posted this!?

Lawrence wrote:

Narutodude wrote:-I can learn a trick in 2 days no problem (I have a ton of free time)

But the show is the day after you posted this!?

He said in his introduction it was postponed. To today, I think...

spooneythegoon wrote:

Lawrence wrote:

Narutodude wrote:-I can learn a trick in 2 days no problem (I have a ton of free time)

But the show is the day after you posted this!?

He said in his introduction it was postponed. To today, I think...

No, it's next Friday, the 7th of May.

Thanks for the other posts, I researching some tricks right now. I'll post some more replies later.

You have to build up the suspense. Your best option is to take what you do in close up and do it bigger. You mentioned mult sponge balls. Do you have a regular sponge routine? I've seen it done brilliantly infront of huge audiences on large stages.

Any rope stuff? Prof Nightmare etc? Packs flat, plays big.

I won't get into impossible to fail stuff because the trick never fails, only the magician. And you simply cannot guarantee the magician won't fail.

multiplying sponges might be nice, as long as you can do it well, so you just have to work on a very entertaining patter. Dynamic coins? I know it isn't strictly a stage effect, but if it's a scool tralent show, the stage can't be too big/far away for them to see a stack of coins surely? Maybe it could be adapted.