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A week from now, I'll be attending a Sunday afternoon party at a lake and doing some free magic for people. Since it's free, I don't really have to be good, but nevertheless I want to make a great impression!

I don't know the exact situation in terms of who will be there, how many people will be there, what they will and won't like, and so on. A lot of tricks might be out of the question, since I'll pretty much need to carry everything around in my pockets.

My expectation is that I'll do a few tricks for a couple of people, then wander around and do the same or different tricks for others.

My current plan is to be prepared to do several different card tricks, a few mental tricks (such as tic-tac-toe or naughts-and-crosses prediction), something with Genii cards, maybe a gimmick or two such as pen-through-bill, and maybe something with I.T. (floating bill).

One of my fears is that I'll be prepared to do several tricks for a few people, then repeat them, but what will happen is that when I start to do a few tricks, suddenly everybody at the party pays attention and my whole show ends up being 10 minutes. (Maybe that would not be so bad?)

Any advice on how to handle such a situation would be appreciated.

Also, does anybody know of a knock-em-dead, blow-em-away street magic trick that will impress just about anybody?

Since it's free, I don't really have to be good, but nevertheless I want to make a great impression!

i dont realy know were to begin to explain how wrong this statment is......so i'll just say your only as good as your last gig.

Also, does anybody know of a knock-em-dead, blow-em-away street magic trick that will impress just about anybody?

not knowing your ability it hard to say but experience has taught me to keep it simple and make it bold so how about a classic force and reveal the card stapled, sowen, stuck to the inside of your jacket.
the ever ready haunted key.
scotch and soda in there hands.
or coins across using pointy transfer.

I don't think everyone will watch you all at once doing closeup unless the party is a real dud. Being a lake front party on a sunday afternoon I don't see that being a problem. However if everyone see all the tricks you do at once, then just sit back and enjoy the rest of the party. It's not like you are getting paid to fill a certain amount of time. You've done what you came to do.
As far as a trick that works on everybody: Sponge balls! Making vanished balls apear in spectators hands amazes everyone from ages 3 to 100.

Since it's free, I don't really have to be good, but nevertheless I want to make a great impression!

First up - I agree with MagicDiscoMan. That really isn't the attitude you need to have. If you don't think you are very good, then it's simple. Don't perform anything. You won't be doing yourself any favours and you certainly won't be doing any future magicians these people see any favours.

Having said that, I suspect (or at least hope) you meant that you won't feel as much pressure as this is something that you aren't being paid for, and you didn't really me you don't have to be any good.

You asked for advice on choosing what to do. Well firstly, going back to the first point, do NOT do anything you are not good at. Only choose from your repetoire of effects that you are confident with and you know you do well. Remember also that with walkabout in this sort of situation some of what you do may end up being repeated at points to the same people, so that is another consideration.

Don't over pack yourself with 1000's of effects. Big mistake. Take enough things for a couple of 4-6 minute routines. No more than that.

If you are going to mix and match mentalism with magic (something I fundamentally disagree with btw), then I would suggest you have one mentalism set and one magic set, and keep them both separate. That way at least if the same group of people what to see you do something else, you can impress them with "as well as the magic I also dabble with mentalism..."

Seriously though the bottom line is, don't overstretch your self with too many effects on your person, and don't spend too long with any one group...

oh and have fun with it. If you are having fun - there is more chance that they will too...

ab5zn wrote:A week from now, I'll be attending a Sunday afternoon party at a lake and doing some free magic for people. Since it's free, I don't really have to be good, but nevertheless I want to make a great impression!

Okay, Magic Disco Man, let me clarify what I wrote. I care about doing everything that I do very well, from mowing the grass to making magic to developing computer software. What I meant when I said that I "don't really have to be good" is the following: Nobody will recognize me as a magician. I'm not in the magic business. I won't show up with a tophat and wand. I'll just a be another guest at the party who happens to do some magic tricks. What I was saying is that I don't HAVE to be very good, but I WANT to be very good. I'd like for people to go away thinking, "Who was that guy...he was good!" Nevertheless, if they go away not thinking anything at all where I am concerned, well it's not as if I owed them something.

Imagine if someone pulls out a guitar around a campfire at the party and starts playing some tunes and singing. He doesn't have to be an Eric Clapton. If you go to a campfire meeting that you paid 100L or whatever to attend, though, expecting Eric Clapton to play the guitar for you, and then he does a good but not great job, then you feel let down.

What I was saying, therefore, is that nobody at the party will have any expectations of me as a magician, at least not this first time. I was not by any means trying to imply that it would be okay for me to bungle tricks. I don't think you should ever do a trick in public if you have not practiced and mastered it privately.

had a feeling thats what you ment to say but as a working pro i could not in all consience let the statement go without saying something if not for you but for the up and coming newbies, hope you werent to offended.

did any of my suggestions help.

Hi, I think I know where you are coming from. I often get asked at parties that I frequent to show someone a trick. I NEVER go anywhere socially with the sole intention of performing but I always have something with me just in case!

My advice would be to go to the party and enjoy yourself firstly. Secondly only perform stuff that you are really comfortable performing so that all your efforts can go into presentation and patter. I have devloped a set of effects using cards from a regular pack that I can make last 20 minutes that I have been doing for many years. I can do this routine without really thinking about what I am doing. And have had great responses.

Because nobody is expecting a paid magician to be there, you will not in my experience find yourself surrounded by people. Its amazing that alcohol is often more luring than a pack of cards!

As space is a premium, and if like me you perform in everyday wear(jeans and a shirt) just carry a pack of bikes, and perfom what you can using these. I have also learnt many effects using gaff cards that I keep in a plastic wallet in my shirt pocket. I also usually have an ITR on me somewhere to do stuff with, and some special coins in my pocket.
Just enjoy the party and try to entertain your best way you know how. And one last piece of advice. Do your performance and THEN have a drink. Works best that way I have found!

Good luck!

Well, I worked the party, which ended up being on August 13. Overall, I was very successful. When I did a mind-control experiment to cause someone to pick a particular card, which I then revealed as my selection in an ID, he asked me if it was a magic trick or actual telepathy. When I used Genii cards to reveal a woman's fortune, she then asked me if I could read palms and cards. (I told her no, that such stuff was too serious.) When I played tic-tac-toe (naughts 'n crosses) with one young lady and then revealed that I had predicted the exact outcome of the game, she said, "Wow, you REALLY impress me." I think levitating a $20 bill above the palm of my hand (thanks to some I.T.) really impressed them, too.

The most popular trick was my variation of the Ultimate Transpo, which Oz Pearlman teaches on his DVD. Basically the magi causes his card to swap places with a card held firmly between the palms of the spec. I was asked to do this over and over again.

I ended up carrying four separate decks of cards with me, along with other paraphernalia. I took advantage of a pair of short pants with several pockets, and carried what we call a "fanny pack" here in the states. It's a bag with a belt worn around the waist.

On a related note, what I'd like to come up with is a single deck that would work well for a variety of entirely different effects. (You don't need to write and tell me that all I need is an ordinary deck and that I can a million different things with that deck, if I'm good enough. I know that.) It's just that a few of the greatest tricks involve a gimmicked deck. I'd like to come up with a single deck that supports a variety of very different types of effects.

I don't care much for having to put a deck away and then pull out a different one. It affects the smoothness of the operation and can engender suspicion.

Actually it's probably a combination of a gimmicked deck and an arrangement of cards that I want to come up with. For example, it could be marked cards, include a few extras of certain cards, etc. Maybe the single multi-use magic deck of cards that I want is just impossible to create.

Anyway, I'd be interested to hear any routines and techniques you all use when working a group.

Thanks for all that,

and carried what we call a "fanny pack" here in the states

we'd call it a 'Bum Bag' in the UK - the US phrase tends to be sometimes considered a little bit indelicate!

Best advice I can give, is stick with what you know. Have 5 or 6 of your best tricks which you feel 110% comfortable performing. Try to work with just a few people at a time. If you see a group of 4 or 5 people standing farther from the main group... exploit this. Don't just walk over and say "Hey, wanna see a trick?".. Mingle as you would at a party, then casually bring it up.

Also, try and take some "business" cards. Just your name and number is fine. At worst, you might suck a bit... and not give any out. At best, you could find yourself much more work. If your routines are going well, use your business card in the "final" one.. which can be handed to your spec. Try a simple torn restore effect! The spec can even sign your card..

~Sym~

Mandrake wrote:Thanks for all that,

and carried what we call a "fanny pack" here in the states

we'd call it a 'Bum Bag' in the UK - the US phrase tends to be sometimes considered a little bit indelicate!

Mandrake,

You folks have some words we consider "indelicate" over here, too, such as your word for cigarette. Actually, I get a kick out of hearing someone from the U.K. say the word and get away with it because, well, he's from the U.K. and that's just what they say. I like turning political correctness on its head.


Sym,

Thanks for the good advice.

If no one knows your a magician, do tricks with money, a very common object. Not many people carry around a pack of bikes with them in their casual outings. As a joke you could say somehting like ' I just happenned to be carrying around this pack of cards' to introduce them, but i think it comes across as 'I'm a magician and I crave attention' when someone brings out a deck and then proceeds to perform with it, unless they are a known magician or are being paid to entertain. By the way, craving attention isnt a bad thing, making it known to possible specs and/or clients is.