Blapsing_Beard wrote:cymru1991 wrote:I'm going to be honest with you my friend. Your presentation is poor and so the effect is well and truly killed. I have a small tip that should help get you at least thinking about presentation.
Forget the Ellusionist tricks. Forget the latest next-best-thing-knock-the-audience-out effect. Take a simple card trick. Yes a SIMPLE card trick. Even a self worker if your sleight of hand isn't all that good. Now once you have your simple card effect, think of a story to go with it. For example, I love gambling themes etc. so I took a simple trick where a selected card turns face up in the deck and added a yarn about card marking to it. Now once you have that story, practice until YOU are confident that you can tell the story and pull off the trick at the same time. Now this means you have something scripted that you've learnt and can say naturally to your specs without lots awkward pauses and ums like in your stigmata vid.This may take a week, two weeks or maybe even more. Now, show the trick (with your newly crafted patter and witty mannerisms) to two or three friends. (preferably, as family usually know you too well), and see what they think. Perform it for as many different people as possible. Now depending on what they say and what you thought, go home and change bits. A joke not work? take it out. A flourish has just come into your head that would look perfect in the context? Throw it in and see how it works. Even change aspects of the trick. For example, I used a S*** S**** in my card-turns-face-up effect so that I could put the card into the middle but still be able to make it turn face up which was even better than placing it on the top then shuffling it in. Now practice once again until you're happy, then show it to different people again, and then go home and change things again and again (and again and probably again and once more for luck) until YOU'RE happy with the effect.
Congratulations! You now have a simple card effect that YOU have worked and worked at that knocks people off their feet. You now have a witty, gripping patter that makes the effect shine. But most importantly, you have been THINKING about magic. You've been thinking about small details that you wouldn't even have noticed before. You've learnt to FALL IN LOVE with magic, and that love, that passion for what you are doing will translate itself to the spectators. No spoonfed E effect can do that.
Of course, whilst all this is going on, show stigmata to your mates if they ask for a trick, but as soon as you have YOUR card effect my friend, you will soon see the vast chasm of difference between the two.
still not as important as wearing eye-liner though
NOTHING is as important as wearing eye-liner.
)
