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Perhaps you could try going a slightly different way, Have a list that you know 100%, a list that you are happy to perform and use it for a month- the after that month you can work on a second list, then build up groups that you know very well and before long you will have a fairly well rehearsed repetoire!

On top of actually performing for an audience, practice the tricks over and over in the groups- I don't know if anyone has ever mentioned practice before! Run over them in your head again and again, constantly practice them and in theory you should have no problems!

And a final quick point- don't run yourself dry! There is no need to! Stick to a group of magic that you do, and then stop! Why? For many reasons- have you ever heard the expression:

"Leave them wanting more"

It is a very true statement indeed! What do people like about a good book? It has a good beginning, a good middle and a great ending! Quite like the old joke:

question: how many short story writers does it take to change a lightbulb? Answer : Only one, but they need to give it a really good twist at the end!

Two very important things about performing magic, you need to start off well- to "hook" people once you have them the middle should be Entertaining and then as long as you have a good ending they will remember you! The problem with running yourself into the ground is you will not finish your magic, it will just slowly run down like a wind up toy- people may not notice this but there is a high chance they will- an anti-climax is a bad thing which can effect peoples thoughts and feelings about the rest of your magic!

so, what am I trying to say:

They might ask for more, you don't always have to give them it! Golden rule of performing- give them a reason to come back to you! Why do 10 tricks when you can do 3 and save the others for another time- if you can be entertaining enough then you can make 3 tricks last as long as 10!

hope you can get some ideas from that!


David

That was a very long "final quick point" David. Not that I mind.

I have alot of problems with this lately. I've only been doing magic seriously for about 6 months now and I've never done any serious performances but I have been using what I've learnt to amuse people I know down the pub. However I've been through alot of my favourite (mostly quite simple) effects with most of the people I drink with (simple because I'm usually drinking aswell) and have developed a reputation for it now and people ask me to show them card tricks rather than me asking them during a game of 3 card brag or something. Occasionally I have people I know bringing their friends that I don't know over saying "show him a trick" [turns to friend] "he's really good". Since I've never been good at being put on the spot I try and remember about 4-5 tricks from a (constantly growing) list I keep that I'll use to get me through the night (in additon to my most common routines - dr daley, etc). I find this night by night system is the best way because I don't know how many tricks or people I'll encounter in a night down the pub.

If anyone is in the same situation then maybe this system could work for them. Whatever your system, make sure you have a list of your tricks.

I always try and have alternates for some of my tricks aswell. I have a trick called "stabbed coincidence" where they take a card (say a 6 of diamonds) stab it in the deck and it's between the two opposite coloured matches (6 of clubs and 6 of spades) then I show the other match (6 of hearts) in my pocket. If anyone wants me to repeat this trick then I say "okay and the card shows up between two jokers which weren't even in the pack to start with. For as many tricks as I can I have an alternate ending in order to be able to repeat it if some asks. I always try to be careful though as I don't wanna keep it too similar for people to work out how I did it.

'He said, "Do you like card tricks?" I said, "NO". He showed me 5.'
Tenko you cannot seriously expect us to believe you foist over 2 hours of card tricks , at one session, on innocent people. It must be the best way to turn folk off magic there is! Do you change pubs each week or are they subjected to the same repertoire each week.otherwise how many thousands do you get through in one year? I really must avoid pubs in Wakefield. Have you never heard of the Show Biz motto, 'Leave them wanting more?'
Keno. When I was a kid and changing programmes all the time (before I learnt to work out a proper, routined Act) I used to have the order of the tricks written on a very small piece of paper stuck to my table. I did this with the miscellaneous jokes which followed my main vent dialogue, with the slip pinned on the doll's shoulder. Couldn't you write a SMALL list on a card? Say a bit of paper lightly stuck( then it's changeable) on a joker, or the card case. Or be even more open, & bold ,pull out a list and say, "This is my programme for tonight, lay it on the table and carry on. This means working out set routines (they can be revised after performances to improve) Otherwise you are working a long, never ending stream of card tricks with no real variation, no climax etc. This means that D.Ortiz, John Mendoza, Ken Webber, Jerry Mcgregor, Eugene Burger plus many more including my small articles in Abra., have all been written in vain. When I retired, in 1989, from full time Drama/Theatre teaching, my wife's retirement present was 5 days at the IBM Convention in Scarborough. I hadn't attended a big convention since 1954(Brighton) because of gpoing to College. 35 years on I was still seeing many magicians (in the Competition) making the same errors with regard to presentation, stagecraft, routining etc. it was an eye opener. Work out routines; variety, pacing, timing etc. and make magic entertaining.
Allen Tipton

There used to be a 'stand up' comedian, no idea what his name was but it was yonks ago in the 1950's and 1960's, and he used to walk on with a plank of wood about 4ft tall and tell everyone that he had to bring the plank as it had all his jokes written on the back of it. Throughout the act he'd refer to the plank and apparently tick off or cross out as appropriate depending on how well each joke was received. All very tongue in cheek but a perfect way of having a list (assuming he really did have one!) in plain sight and with the audience's implied consent. I'm not suggesting you use a plank but, as long as you have a believable reason for having a list or other memory aid then just go with it and try it out - it's your act and you're in the driving seat!

There was also a well known comedian(1950's) Robert Moreton and his Bumper Fun Book. All the gags were listed in it. Another well known comic(think it was George Martin) used to come on stage with a newspaper and sat down down the act. Anything he couldn't remember was written on it. I well remember seeing Ken Dodd for the first time (front row at the Palladium) He'd gor gags written on the back of his hands. When I was teaching at Nottiongham Playhouse (the kids Sat. morning Drama Workshop) we had an actor in the Company who was bad at lines. In one play he wrote all of his main cues on a pack of cards. Another joker in the Company, one night as they sat down for a card game that normally didn't happen, SHUFFLED the pack and handed it over to the poor memory man. Ouch. This year in a show I'd written, one of my actors couldn't remember the ORDER of the gags in a landladies sketch. he wrote himself cue cards, had them on the top of a string bag with groceries in it. They slipped down. As we're repeating the sketch in our Dec. show I have suggested he has a 'Shopping list' which he can carry with him. I did the same in a vicar mono. with the vicar doing his parrish announcements. Simply carried a clip board and pen. Bob Hope used cue cards. If you must then do it OPENLY. You can then get away with it easily.
Allen Tipton

Huge tip from bitter experience: if you're using more than 2 cue cards - clearly number the little bu.ggers! I once had to deliver a speech to 100 or so people and I wrote everything down on 6 small index cards, about 3" x 5" or so, but didn't think to number them. Just as I rose to my feet to spout forth, I accidentally dropped the cards onto the desk and, unknown to me, three of the cards went out of order as I gathered them up. As I reached the first out of order card, I realised that it wasn't the right one but had no idea where the right one was so just carried on. All the things I had to say were covered and, bless 'em, nobody there took me to task over the less than clear presentation, but some nights I still wake up sweating about it. If I'd numbered them it would have all been so much easier…..

If you use cue cards don't make them smaller than 6" x 4". As I said if you're OPEN about it no one will mind. Most speakers use notes but use notes that you don't have to PEER or squint at. And yes, as Mandrake says, NUMBER them, boldly If I have a card sequence , as in a spelling effect or the Jumbo Sidewalk Shuffle, I number the cards in the top left corners, repeating it, if necessary on the corner,diagonal opposite. Then when you are setting up , it's peace of mind and quicker because you don't have to think and it's already been tried and tested in rehearsal and performance, so it must work. I have seen magicians in dark corners, their secret 'preparation areas' fumbling about , thinking (often with a look of near agony or puzzlement on their faces) about their set up. Sometimes (mainly the older ones) spectacles have been forgotten! Also, in the Theatre with sets, furniture, we MARK its position. Therefore mark any prop with a dot, an arrow pointing upwards, a bit of tape etc. if you have to know which way up it begins. I've always done this with Round The Bend (Chinese Compass) the Japanese Coloured (flat) Dice version, odd boxes even the card below the roughed card so that when I separate the two I know the spectator is getting the force card. In my early years I used to put a PENCIL index as JS, 2H on the requisite card in Brainwave Deck so I couldn't get it wrong. The marks need not be obtrusive BUT YOU must be able to see them EASILY. It makes life simplier, aids self confidence and promotes a more relaxed performance.
Allen Tipton

what i do is link each card trick with a non-card trick which is easier to remember, then i alternate between non-card tricks and card tricks

My problem isn't remembering the tricks I do, its remembering all the little niceities that turn it from a bunch of tricks into a performance.

I do mental magic so a lot of it is about talking and I have got so many little stories and one liners that gently link each effect and I am annoyed when I finish a routine and think 'oh I forgot to say that!'

I'm not sure a mnemonic woudl work for that, I suppose its just practice.

Oh Roland. You must SCRIPT your patter down on paper. Now you might write it first then cut it and change it after reading it, or after try outs/ performances, OR you can IMPROVISE the patter IN REHEARSAL but it then needs scripting down on paper. From this written draft you can mark in pauses, emphasis, pace etc.; again checking it after performances for any further alterations. Thus you have a ready written down reminder to refresh your memory AND more important you have a patter routine which you know works. Obviously there will be perhaps half a dozen words which alter with the performing situation BUT the script will ensure you give a steady, reliable,more polished peformance. The REAL trick is making it sound as though you deliver the same script for the first time. After all actors all over the world do this nightly. If you are a good performer then the adrenalin which flows usually takes care of the supposed spontaneity. Above all it's a mental thing. You have to concentrate , enjoy it and make it sound spontaneous.
Allen Tipton

Well, i am not really a "card" magician as such but I am a ventriloquist who also uses magic!

I was thinking that its almost the same problem when i get a vent figure and i create its character and then the next day forgot stuff about him.
I have a few suggestions,

1) Practise and Practise your routine until its stuck
2) Write it down - I always write a "profile" for my Vent charcaters on the cpmputer. - As Allan has said script it.

3) "remembering all the little niceities that turn it from a bunch of tricks into a performance." Fantasic. Note these down too!

Not when I'm performing vent but in between my vent acts i use a clip board. Maybe thats a bit dodgy with card magic - youd look a lil silly if you carried a clipboard with cue notes on.

As i will always say...I do not know everything and i wouldnt want any of my "advice" posts to come accross as if i thought i knew everything. Take other peoples advice and see which advice suits you best!

Best of luck in your magic.
Tom!

That is way too funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That animal rights BBQ is comming soon