talkmagic.co.uk

I was just reading a post where someone advised against using the Viper Black Tiger deck because it attracts attention in a bad way (you know, "something's up here"). Then I started wondering if perhaps all of my decks should look the same. I have an assortment of gaffed decks, regular blue decks, regular red decks, Raven decks, Bicycle decks, and so on. I thought to myself, "Maybe I've wasted money buying different kinds of decks." "I wonder what other mistakes I might be making as an amateur magician."

I can say that I've also wasted some money on buying tricks that turned out to not be quite so good. I was the one who got tricked.

To those of you who have been doing magic for some time and consider yourselves to be good at it, please share with the rest of us the mistakes you have made.

Or, another way to look at it is this: If you had it to do over again, what is something that you would do differently?

Thanks everyone.
Dave

I've been doing magic for about 15 years on and off, and until about a year ago I was quite good (now I am realy terrible, you couldn't believe how much neglecting my practice degraded my card skills)

Anyway, on the whole I have more or less steared clear of mistakes. I mainly buy books rather than tricks which means that there is pretty much always something I can get out of it. I also spent a couple of years working part time at a part time magic shop so got to see a lot of products and find I can now judge quite well if it is worth buying something.

You mean you started when you were 8? Nice going!

Kati

Part of the difficulty with this question is that what one person considers a mistake another one doesn't. For example when I started out I spent a small fortune buying mainly gimmicked and self working tricks. Well over £1000 in the first 12 months. I was also light on books but heavy on DVDs though at least I was able to borrow most of the DVDs so not so painful for my wallet.
I still spend heavy and in fact am just spending over £700 on one trick.

However even though I've spent a lot of money it has cost me nothing as I've made it all back and a lot more besides with gigs. Though many magicians would say this whole method into magic was wrong, for me it has worked a treat.

So one mistake I could have made was listen to closely to the advice of other magicians. On the other hand one very useful area of advice on these boards is found in the reviews section. If an item you are tempted to buy has been reviewed it could save you disappointment not to mention money to read them and possibly a few private PMs as well.

On the card issue, I personally wouldn't use more than one brand of cards unless there was good reason to do so. Just because to a magi a particular new look gets them excited doesn't mean it will make the slightest difference to a spec but just might make them want a closer look.

I started magic 10-15 years ago,and during that time I have bought tonnes of plasticky gimmicky junk.
But I have found that I have learned from these mistakes, and now am very cautious when buying a trick.
Thankfully, there is a website that shows many reviews of products , so I know what I should or shouldn't buy.

katrielalex wrote:You mean you started when you were 8? Nice going!

Kati

Well, I got my first Paul Daniels set when I was 6-7 but I don't think I actually mastered any of it till I was about 8. I would say I got seriously into it for the first time when I was 12 then let it drop of for a few years from 14-18 when I got back into it again.

I have to agree with HT, what might be a mistake to one magician won't be to another, it is all down to what they consider to be a mistake.

I certainly feel that if I had taken the path that he did I wouldn't have become as accomplished as I was since I would have spent a lot of money on a few effects with little hope of making it back, whereas the way I went I spent a little money on a lot of effects and had to develop my mind alot to increase my repertoire when I didn't have the funds to spend. If I had been performing for money regularly I might ahve reconsidered slightly.

(By the way, if anyone is confused as to why this thread has moved to miscellaneous it is because it is not talk about a magician and so doesn't fir in the "Magician Talk" Area.)

ouch-kabibble wrote:I started magic ... 15 years ago

But you're only 14 .

Kati

Magic has been a hobby of mine for about 15 years now. In the early days, I spent a lot of money on just about any packet trick you care to mention. A few were excellent, some were good, most were poor. I have accumulated somewhere in the region of 300-350 tricks of all descriptions; cards, coins, close-up, etc. I must confess that most of my collection now resides in the attic, quietly gathering dust. I actually perform just a few and I'm currently trying to put together some sort of routine.

With the benefit of hindsight, it is easy to say I wish I hadn't wasted so much money on tricks I don't use. But it was a learning experience for me; along the way, I learned many card sleights and gained experience with handling cards and other props. Perhaps I should have restrained myself and eased up on the purchases, but CUPS is a serious affliction that can consume you if you let your guard down for even an instant. Now I am older and wiser, I have drastically slowed down on purchasing tricks and I'm now concentrating on learning to present the effects I already own. I also have numerous books and a few DVDs that contain a wealth of information I have never really delved in to.

The best advice I can give to newcomers is to stop and think before parting with your cash. Do your research and read some reviews. Is the trick really for you? Is it something you will actually perform for people? It is inevitable that you will end up purchasing a number of tricks at the begining, but just be careful you don't go too mad. I would recommend investing in books and DVDs as this will give you much better value for money and will enable you to build a solid foundation from which to evolve.

Ten years ago I started an intrest in magic. The first trick I saw was probably either a card trick, cups and balls or spots changing on a card trick. I have really forgot when was my first magic pack, the Paul Daniels or a cardboard file'o'fax thing. My interest has gon on and off a few times.

Mistakes I have done are:
- Not properly preparing tricks
- Buying some really poor tricks
- Trying to catch a magician out with the collapsing wand (whatever it's called)