talkmagic.co.uk

Hey folks.
It's late so I'll ask this quickly before I get my head down for a bit...

I've been practicing a few tricks, and while I know for a fact I'm getting better at the techniques, it seems like no matter how much I improve, the trick still looks really obvious to me. (Though I suppose it would, seeing as I know how it's done and all that.)

Even though I know the tricks work and get a good reaction from the people I've done them for - I still see sleights, some of which seem so blatant I wonder how on earth I get away with them at all.

I've been practicing tricks and actually thought "there's no way people aren't going to see me doing that... I'll never get away with it!" and even when I perform it and they completely miss it I find it hard to believe I'm actually getting away with it.

I enjoy the "I can't believe I'm getting away with this" feeling and the reactions of people when they see me perform an effect but I do wonder if it will last.

So, is it always this way from this side of the cards/cups/sugar cubes and so on or does it start to feel different after a while?

Quite often when I perform a new effect I worry about the method and if it's really as obvious as it seems. I think this is half the reason why so many magicians try to over complicate things. The truth is that the average spec doesn't know what you're going to do so wont know what to look for. If your misdirection is solid then you've not really got much to worry about.

I went through this phase too. That giddy thrill you experience at not getting caught out? That's what you'll come to love.

Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf - Chapter 10 wrote:All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true in itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

Not that I am in any way trying to support Hitler, but the reason the Nazis were so successful was because they were fantastic politicians/spin doctors/liars.

Put simply - the bigger and more obvious the lie the less likely it is to be noticed. You feel nerves about the lie being discovered. Do it with boldness and conviction and even if it is the person will doubt it is something so brazen.

Davey
I've been telling myself that "they don't know what they are looking for" for a while now. I decided that some of the best performers do some utterly outrageous things in their acts, often under the thinnest of misdirections - and sometimes with none at all - and get away with it. I just wondered if that would become the main thought when performing if given time.

One example is (I dunno the proper name for the effect) the "this and that" card trick - I practiced that with an A, 2 and 3 months before I got some blank faced bikes to make the proper cards for the trick. Even now, about 4 months later, I still find it amazing that people don't see the DL at the start or the moves (dunno the name - if they have one) that come in the second part of phases 2 and 3.
They are far more subtle than some things I've seen, but they are so screamingly obvious to me that it still gives me that "giddy thrill" that Grimshaw mentioned.


Grimshaw
A giddy thrill is a good way to describe it. I can see why you'd come to love it. I'm getting that way already.


A_n_t
Wow.
No admiration or support for the guy either, but I've been thinking about reading Mein Kampf for a good few years.
That's a very well written piece and seems pretty accurate too. I can see why you posted and certainly see its relevance to this.
Oh... I'd probably add "murderous thugs who crushed any opposition" to your list of what the Nazis were that brought them success.

I suddenly enjoy this feeling all the more having read your post. Strange that something Hitler spouted could raise such an emotion in me, but there you go.

I won't feel as guilty when I use an overhand shuffle to control a card to the top of a deck again now - I'll still be kinda amazed that I'm not getting busted for it, but I'll enjoy it more.

BigShot wrote:I won't feel as guilty when I use an overhand shuffle to control a card to the top of a deck again now - I'll still be kinda amazed that I'm not getting busted for it, but I'll enjoy it more.

That was the first sleight I ever learnt and, although I use it less and less these days, I still can't quite believe I get away with it... or that no-one has ever picked up on it!

Sean

Klangster - Royal Road by any chance?

I've decided - I really enjoy "getting away with it".

Do you use the Top Change? If not, start. You can do some amazing effects with it, and it's the perfect way to learn how much you can get away with in front of a table full of spectators.

yeah its natural to assume its obvious solely due to the fact you know the move also the view you have is different to the spec's try performing infront of a camera.? this should give you some confidence.
I have always shown my wife then explained the moves and asked her to watch until it fools her.

like others say the most blatant moves are the best. Half the time if miss direction is good you can get away with anything!
Deck to pocket is so risky but the total cheek of it means its never suspected.!

Ha, magician's guilt!

I get this ALL the time when performing a new trick or sleight. Its sort of the downside of learning magic that you will see everything you do as blatant, because it is if you are looking right at it.

Here's a good exercise that puts my mind at ease. Find a sleight that you do not know at all, just find the name of it with no explaination so you have absolutely no idea how it is done. Then find a video of someone performing the sleight, again with no explaination of how it is done. Better still if you are a member of a magic club and get someone there to do it for you in the context of a trick. This way, before you learn something, you get to see it how it should be seen, you understand that when it is done properly just how easy it can be to get away with it.

I did this for things like the classic pass, colour change and the shapeshifter (I think thats its real name) before I learned them, just to puzzle my head for a few minutes at them. This way I know that if I do it right, people should be as fooled by it as I was!

Now I'm a little more experienced than I was when I first started doing this method of learning, I no longer need it because its just to build your confidence in the sleight/trick/gimmick or whatever it is.

Try it out, see if it works

Matthius88 wrote:Then find a video of someone performing the sleight, again with no explaination of how it is done.

Just be careful which video because some of the ones on YouTube will convince you the spectator really can see everything to the point they are borderline exposure.

Serendipity
I'm not sure what Top Change is - if it's in the Royal Road then I'll definitely be getting around to it. Otherwise - where can I find it?

Also, is there a good video of it around? The search term Top Change brings up a lot of results on YouTube and I'm not sure which one I should be looking at.


magicsy
I've been playing around with the 4 jokers/4 aces effect (Elmsley Count... I think it's called) but don't like the fact you finish dirty. I've taken to keeping 4 aces in a pocket and as soon as the trick is done I put them in there - when asked for an inspection I pull out the clean set - 3 times so far and not been rumbled once. It's absolutely brilliant.
I've been telling myself it's only obvious because I know how it's done - though trying to avoid flashing loads/palms etc with that in mind can be tricky for a newbie like myself.


Matthius
I've done similar things actually. One example was Todd Various performing cups and balls in Edinburgh. After seeing it I watched his showreel on YouTube and saw a few of the loads I'd wondered about... when I went back the next day to see it done again I still missed the big final load - brilliant misdirection... got me even when I was trying to avoid it! Haha.

Now you've suggested doing it more systematically I'll definitely give it a go again.


A_n_t
You're right, there are some truly horrendous videos on there. If nothing else they serve as motivation to make sure I never perform a trick so early or so badly.
(Though that said, I did perform Matrix - having only read about it before - after a meal and it went down a storm. I wouldn't do it with anything more complex though - and I'm going to practice that one too so I can give a slicker performance of it next time I'm asked.)



Thanks for all your replies so far - I'm getting even more excited about learning now!
I'm about to head to the pub with a neighbour who doesn't know I've been learning any tricks - I think I might bring some cards for a bit of fun.