talkmagic.co.uk

I'm not sure that the previous post above should remain in the public forum? I think it may count as revealing secrets.

Although, this whole thread is quite on the edge, to be fair!

Hi,

I was careful to mention the 'what' and not the 'how'. Besides which, the 'what' is without a real context, and it's a given that any DVD about spoon bending tricks will contain just that - tricks. So the fact that things don't really bend themselves shouldn't be news to anyone.

So I think it's safe.

But if anyone else agrees that it's inappropriate, let me know and I'll edit or delete the post myself.

Cheers,

Pete

Being blatant certainly pays off. Just a few days ago showing these late teens to mid 20's some tricks on the way home.. my hands were freezing.. and I messed up my first DL in ages!! I looked down and said '' Sorry I accidentally picked up two cards there'' threw the top card into the middle of the deck ''let me try that again'' handed the bottom half of the deck to the spec.. lifted the top card of my half.. '' look your card goes into the middle'' BLATANTLY put their half back underneath mine.. clicked the fingers.. and carried on with the routine ''look it jumps to the top again'' .. they went nuts while I was still in my mind waiting for someone to clock on!!

If your confident it pays dividends.. what Id say Ian is that if your sleight of hand needs practice.. use sleight of hand in your tricks anyway but bring that same cheekiness with it as it sounds like the blatant nature of your handling can serve as wicked misdirection for the fact your still cr*p at cards ( you know I dont mean that literally!! )

I think I really suck at the invisible pass.. which in a mirror looks exactly like it does from my angle at times .. but I found that when I do the pass in performances.. much to my own amuzement.. i found I ''sniff'' rather loud every time I do a pass.. I never noticed until someone asked me if I had a cold at that very second.. she said I kept sniffing whenever she sees me so the ACR for someone.. or ''the trick where it keeps coming to the top!!'' I kept an eye on this andfound it to be true.. and people always look up the second I sniff.. half a millisecond before the pass..

And it's always worth remembering that if you don't handle cards with the slick panache of a card magician, your audience won't expect you to do crafty sleights, and won't scrutinise your hands quite so intently. Sometimes it's worth being a bit clumsy just to keep your audience on the wrong track...

pcwells wrote:And it's always worth remembering that if you don't handle cards with the slick panache of a card magician, your audience won't expect you to do crafty sleights, and won't scrutinise your hands quite so intently. Sometimes it's worth being a bit clumsy just to keep your audience on the wrong track...

Yes, I'm always cafeful not to handle the cards like a card sharp. If you act too "fancy", the spec just knows you're about to "trick" them.

Also if you don't use cards that look too much like playing cards ... I have a set by a chap called Roth (not Outlaw's Roth) that look quite odd. I find it helps for some effects.

I agree with XTTX in that I get genuine satisfaction from learning technical skills. For example I've just nailed the hotshot cut and it's an absolute joy to sit there and watch it flow together.

On the other hand it's great to pull off an effect with sheer ballsiness and acting. Which is why I do both types of effect. It's always great to learn a hard sleight and put it into practice but very often you find that a simpler method will suffice once you get bored of busting your fingers.

Each to their own I suppose.

Don't get me wrong - I'd LOVE to be able to do some of that stuff and with practice some of it is coming. But the fact is I was born right handed, had an accident and am now mostly left handed and not v dextrous. I keep practising though.

But my point was even the simplest concealment is sometimes unnecessary and, moreover, can give the game away.

Maybe I just have a guilty face?

Have you seen Get Nyman Ian? The chap is an absolute scam artist of the highest order, he just loves to get his methods right out in the open where they're least likely to be spotted. You'd probably love it if you've not seen it already.