talkmagic.co.uk

sorry i havent been on in a while....


i was wondering what "tricks" would be OK to show people....small tricks???very very simple...people ask i feel like i should show them someting small to just satisfy them

What tricks do you KNOW?

I don't mean what tricks do you know how they work, but rather effects that you can do without having to think about it?

You're young and you're new... I'd suggest that you adhere to a concept offered by Eugene Burger some years ago... find six to ten effects that you like and don't worry about anything but those particular pieces for the next month or so... do them day in and day out until you can do them blindfolded, with your ear's plugged, etc. You see, the body-memory wont start setting in on each move until you've done the same exact and proper moves a few hundred times... most any martial arts or ballet instructor will tell you this, magic is no different.

Learn a solid Sponge Ball Routine and perhaps a few bits with coins, like a Coins Across or Matrix, Scotch & Soda, toss in a couple of decent card effects and you'll be fairly well rounded out with a simple 10-15 minute act.

The important thing is to practice your slights... if you don't have them I'll suggest the Jeff McBride Manipulation videos... they helped me a heck of a lot on stuff and I've been doing this stuff for years. The catch is, knowing slight of hand will let you do magic on the spot with whatever you have available. To augment that pick up the books and videos on Improvisational Magic as well as Bar Magic. Stevens Magic Emporium has some great deals on VHS videos covering these topics and I highly recommend them!

Rather than learning or buying "a trick" try studying and learning Magic, you'll be much happier in the long run and far more empowered.

i actually meant...like show how..

Ah, I misunderstood what he meant.

armyperson59 wrote:I actually meant...like show how..

Never EVER show a non-magician how you do something! Magic depends on secrets.

Revealing how you do something is like pulling the wings off a fairy. No one's really entertained by it and the fairy dies.

armyperson59 wrote:I was wondering what "tricks" would be OK to show people....small tricks???very very simple...people ask I feel like I should show them someting small to just satisfy them

Who, and where? If the "where" is "in front of an audience", then the answer would probably be "don't". But if you mean privately, for only one spectator at a time, that might be different. But even then, consider making the spectator earn the privilege in some way. Reward a good guess with a hint, that sort of thing, rather than handing the solution on a plate.

Incidentally, consider this hypothetical scenario: a magician performing for a school arranges, in consultation with the teachers, for students to write non-assessable stories about wizards. The stories are judged by the magician, and the prize for the best story from each class is a one-hour private tuition in magic. Just a thought, on the basis that people probably appreciate more what they've worked hard to find out. Requirements: a magician with a lot of time on their hands.

Among the first tricks to be demonstrated to me as a child were one or two very simple card identification effects, a french drop, and that sort of thing. Such demonstrations never did me any harm. Perhaps choose something that's a good example of some basic principle in magic (e.g. misdirection).

I have a trick that I consider to be 'expendable'. A sacrifical trick.

This is the only trick that I ever expose to laymen and has come in very handy.

It's a very simple and completely unskilled self worker that uses a key card. It can be found in any primary school book on magic.

I do however give it a slightly more 'real' presentation that hides its method very well, and gives it an edge over anybody who may know the trick already (and most do!)

Mr Armyperson59, I would not rule out exposing a trick. But I would make sure that it is a very simple trick that requires no skill whatsoever and that you don't expose anything that can be considered a 'real' move or technique. And don't change it.
Give the impression that you are revealing your inner soul and people will really believe you're teaching them something juicy. Which of course, you aren't.

maybe a very simple little self worker wouldn't hurt, something like the 3 burglars that everyone knows anyway. But remember if you show one trick, you're going to get pestered for more.

Personally I wouldn't show anything.

Lady of Mystery wrote:But remember if you show one trick, you're going to get pestered for more.

Yes this used to happen to me at first, but get the 'conspiring' bit right and this stops being a problem.

What I mean is pretend that you really shouldn't be exposing this since it is a protected secret, and that you would get strung up by your wizard's sleeves if you were caught.
The fact is, of course, you aren't exposing anything. The presentation of the little routine (and it is a routine in itself) just makes it appear that I am.

Hey presto.

The "betchas" from the complete course would be ok.
Since thats what their designed for and they are not really tricks, but look good!

Marvo Marky wrote:Mr Armyperson59, I would not rule out exposing a trick. But I would make sure that it is a very simple trick that requires no skill whatsoever and that you don't expose anything that can be considered a 'real' move or technique. And don't change it. Give the impression that you are revealing your inner soul and people will really believe you're teaching them something juicy.

An argument sometimes made against that strategy is that it might inadvertantly give people the impression that magic requires no skill whatsoever, which is obviously not an impression we want to give. I'm not necessarily endorsing or rejecting that argument in all contexts; merely suggesting that it's worth thinking about. (Of course, the most important skills in magic are to do with acting, and if you can convey that it's probably a good thing.)

I tend to believe that the bottom line can be found in a quotation from Terry Pratchett: "Rules are there to make you think before you break them". So if you're inclined to break the first rule of magic, "Never reveal your secrets", then first of all you should think through the issues very, very carefully. Is the spectator really keen to know? Have they somehow earned the privilege? Are you sure the solution won't feel like an anti-climax? Would it be better to lend them a beginner's book on magic instead? Those are some of the questions to ask.

I think it's ok to show something to an individual who seems to have genuine interest (rather than just needing to appease their ego after being fooled and suffering from a traumatising inferiority complex).
But firstly I'd ask: Why would you want to tell anyone? Because remember the famous saying - Noone is impressed by the secret!
An exception could perhaps be an act where you perform a feat, then explain the method and then tell them to watch while you do it again but you then use a different method as to completely throw the spectators' who thought that they'd know how it worked, given that you've just explained it to them.

I have in the past shown some kids the most simple key card effect possible. This was when during a gig they were following me around with unwanted enthusiasm.
Hand them a deck, show 'em quickly and get rid of them.

I think showing a very basic effect does no harm and in fact may even be the trigger to start someone to take up magic.
I certainly wouldn't tell a layman anything which involves any commonly used sleights like a DL.

what about th CD force begginning with writing the force card down.... then them seeing it written down after the trick....or one where u say find (this card) tney dont look at it...you say find (this card) they dont look at it...then u find the last one...and they have found all the ones u siad

Craig Browning wrote:Learn a solid Sponge Ball Routine and perhaps a few bits with coins, like a Coins Across or Matrix, Scotch & Soda, toss in a couple of decent card effects and you'll be fairly well rounded out with a simple 10-15 minute act.

Now I never thought I would ever see Craig write that?.