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I'm an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas, and I'm about to participate in the National Novel Writing Month. My novel this year is entitled "Welcome to the Magic Hour," and it is about two feuding magicians.

However, before someone accuses me of writing The Prestige in the modern day, let me say that the feud is quite a bit different. For one, neither of the magicians are crazy or would ever hurt the other one. It's much more of a career thing, one is trying to revive his sinking career, and the other is trying to jump start his. It's more complicated than this, but it's a very light story, and a good part of it is an uplifting romantic story.

Eh, I'm sorry to go into it too much. No one really enjoys reading guarded synopses. My point: I love magic. I was always into it as a kid and I've read a bit about it as an adult. However, my knowledge of slight of hand and of the professional world of magic is very, very limited.

So, I'm going to be lurking around here, reading posts, and occassionally asking questions about whether certain slights are possible. (I've already asked such a question.) In addition, I have a variety of philosophical questions, many regarding the Magician's Code (and its application to a novel written with magician characters). I understand that many people won't want to give away secrets, and I respect that--most of my questions will simply be "is it possible," for example, is it possible to produce a rose out of nowhere without wearing sleeves?

I know that one could hide the stem behind his or her forearm and then pull it out of one hand with the other, but could he produce it with a single hand? If so, what would be the limitations of such a trick? Angle-specific? Stage only?

Thank you very much for any help you're able to offer.

Hi and welcome! In magic, just about anything is possible if you think about it, figure out the possibilities and the alternatives, and try it out. For the example you mention, are we talking about a real flower or an artificial (and therefore folding) one? Not having sleeves isn’t a real obstacle and items can be produced from a lot of places, but even if the performer were stark naked it would still be possible to do the effect – perhaps in my case not a pleasant experience for the specs but we’re only being theoretical thank goodness!

We might be able to help in general terms but, as you mention, it would be difficult to be too explicit about techniques and methods which others have developed and may be using to earn a living. Let us know what information you need or any thought/questions you have and we’ll do what we can to help.

Hello GTKarbe and welcome to TM.

As long as you don't intend to reveal the magic tricks in your book, then your imagination is your limit. You can actually do any magic trick you think of in a book, because then you don't have to worry about solving the actual problem, "how the h*ck can I perform this?"
If you want your caracter to pull a flower from thin air, he can do that magnficantly, but whether he's hidden the flower on him, on the set or what ever is realistic, you don't have to worry about it. It's magic. The layman (reader) is not supposed to understand the magic, just enjoy it.

Best greetings from Iceland!

GTKarber wrote:is it possible to produce a rose out of nowhere without wearing sleeves?

Slightly problematic (because in 'realistic' novels, as you'll know, verisimilitude is much more important than truth), but the physical method is far less of an issue than the psychology - the skilled misdirection and so forth. I have no doubt that Malini
http://www.magicwebchannel.com/hall_malini.htm
could produce your rose in his right hand simply by holding it in his left until the time came to transfer it. But, in novel terms, it's implausible and unsatisfying to say, 'In fact, he merely held it in his other hand and carefully ensured no one noticed this.'

Also, let me warn you, you'll find browsing Talkmagic even more irresistably attractive when you really should be getting on with writing a novel.

Oh, I'm already starting to realize that.

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