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I have performed with cards about 5-6 years, and would consider myself to be very accomplished with a deck. I use a variety of flourishes, card control sleights, etc. I usually perform for close-up street style, and find that I always tend to feel most comfortable when using cards. I have tried to work with coins, etc, but find that my best reactions come with cards. Basically, I want to know if anyone has any close up routine suggestions with items other than cards........or is it okay to be primarily a "card performer?"

Of course it is.

If you are getting better reactions from cards you have answered your own question, there is no point being a second rate performer just for the sake of diversity. Since the whole point of being amagician is entertaining people you must perform what gets the best reactions.

If you want to do wider perfromances with other disciplines then you should work on presentations for those effects that get results as good as you card magic.

Hey moodini,

Your story sounds the same as mine. I too do mostly the street style card stuff, and had poor reaction from coins. I have found that the King Rising Lev. and some light mentalism stuff meshes well.

Also I am looking into getting The Raven. Into what areas were you thinking of branching?

Oh, I am also working on some small object levitations.

Hey Jeremy.....

I do have the raven, and it does work well....but I find that I do not use it often. I have found that with little to no prep, and without being at all concerned about what I am wearing, I can perform some solid material with a plain old deck of cards anytime, anyplace. I do have to say that Scotch and Soda has worked well for me also. When I have a chance to be seated infront of small groups, I have gotten into some sponge ball routines, and they have been great, but problem is, I am mainly standing. As I posted in another place on the forum, I have used "mis-led" and the response has been astounding, problem is I lost the main part.......looking for a new one. I am working on some small object levitations as well, but I am not totally comfortable with them in performance yet, so I will see how they work.

What other options have you tried, what has worked well, and what types of suggestions do you have for me?

Also I am looking into getting The Raven

You need to bear in mind that the Raven really only does one thing but it does it very well indeed. If you check out the Reviews and other postings here, you'll get a good cross section of opinion. Just use the 'Search' function and see what appears (or disappears!).

Also I notice that there may be one for sale by a member - juggling_guy - in the for sale area. It is a double raven for £12.

Hope that helps ya!

L8R

I also agree with you guys. The raven does not offer a wide variety of things to perform, and that is likely another reason why I do not choose to use mine all that often. It is great for its purpose though!

Can you go from a card routine to the raven and back in one sitting? Or any mixture of the two? If not I am not sure I will bother.

Depending on what you are wearing, what exactly you plan to perorm, you could move around from raven-cards-raven a bit, but I would say that I personally don't find it to be worth the trouble! When I use my raven, I usually do some small card work that does not require a lot of subtle movements on my part, then throw in something with the raven, and then let the raven go and move on.

Don't let me talk you out of it, it is WONDERFUL for its purpose, and considering our style of magic (assuming they are as similar as they appear to sound) it has a great impact. Remember, it really only does one thing, but not to sound like a broken record, but it does do it GREAT!

Do you use scotch and soda?

In my own opinion there's nothing wrong with specialising in card magic, or any particular type of magic for that matter. As long as you're getting enjoyment from it, then good for you.

I too started with cards but as I progressed I found that the best way to captivate an audience in keep their interest for longer period was through variety. I added coin and note magic, then rope magic etc.

If it works for you then fine.

I added coin and note magic

Not to sound ignorant, but what are some good examples of “note magic”. It sounds intriguing.

Also, does anyone have some pointers for good ways to go from card work to small object levitation? I find that really difficult, and before I feel confident with it, I do not want to use the levitation.

Paper money here in the UK is commonly referred to as notes - taken from bank notes (I think - sounds obvious). That's what I meant.

I suppose when talking about magic with money, most people use coins but there are some good magic routines with bank notes such as ghost bills, pen e tration (pen throught note) etc; although I'll leave it to others to name their favorites if they wish to.

hope that this clears up the matter.

Ahhh yeah. I thought you were talking about tricks such as "write something down on this piece of paper..." I am not sure how they would be categorized. I would like to learn some though.

I'd say that the 'write something down' type of effects would be categorised more as mentalism but others may disagree. However, there are plenty of reviews in the reviews section and I'm sure that you'll find something that catches your eye.

Thanks