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NessFest wrote:I have a gag routine that I use with other magicians from time to time if we are working the same room.

What happens is that my participant selects a card and I pretend I can't find it. I then call over to my colleague saying "Hey, which card did this lady choose?" and he replies, naming the correct card. We alternate throughout the evening.

There are endless ways to add fun to this, using fake code words to transmit the card etc.

The method? I don't mind tipping it, it's good fun. We force the cards, using a stack sequence like EK or SS.

If I begin, I'll force the first in the sequence so my colleague knows to name the first card - say 8C. When my colleague takes his turn and asks me for the name of a card, I know he'll have forced the next in the sequence - KH.

Make up your own script and gags.

If I ever get a chance I am so using this.

I have my girlfriend well versed in a few cuing systems using my electronic thumper - works a treat when we're out, as nobody ever suspects her! Makes for some pretty impossible miracles. If you're into 2 person acts, I can't recommend a thumper enough.

@nic ! yeah true ALMOST every efffect can be performed better together... but im looking for an extra Effect instead of an extra piece of presentation...

for an example a coin matrix... can be done alone or together... but still would provide the same effect...

a 2 person telephaty act CANT

Not everyone's cup of tea but Barry & Stuart's patter and 'explanations' are are superb - one takes over from the other with barely a pause, almost as though one peson were presenting.

@mandrake!:P yeshhh there one of my favorites among with pen and teller...

i like a little bit humor in my routines and they do it superb! thanks for the tip

Miniolo wrote:@nic ! yeah true ALMOST every efffect can be performed better together... but im looking for an extra Effect instead of an extra piece of presentation...

for an example a coin matrix... can be done alone or together... but still would provide the same effect...

a 2 person telephaty act CANT

I have to disagree. If you add another effect whether it is designed for one or two people to perform there is an extra piece of performance unless you see see an act as just a sequence of effects/ sleight. Magic is about performance/presentation. Keeping Penn and teller as an example they may perform a coin matrix but what makes it stand out is their presentation. As performers we all look for unique pieces, but any effect is only as good as the performance.

As for your first statement almost all effects can be performed better together... I am sure many solo performers would disagree. I certainly was not saying that in my initial post. What I was trying to say is you dont need to look for effects for two people all you need is an effect you can perform as a duo that you can perform well, put your mark on it and make it entertaining.

As many people say you are only as good as your last performance. If you perform any effect as a duo well, thats great. Choose an effect because it is designed for a duo and perform it baddy, it is bad. It comes down to performance and how you perform as a duo not what the effect was designed for.

Nic

@nic i understand presentational its always better but im talking about the effects/handling of the tricks only ... u can simply not do a mentalism duo act like mentalism for 2 with signals etc...

if u are the sender and receiver it just doesnt work because its just seeing with your own eyes instead of the eyes of the partner

also i got a routine that i dont wanna share (A) but that routine is IMpossible to do alone...

It's been said before, but I'll say it again. It's what the audience sees that matters, not the method

The day you start sending/receiving secret signals as a method because you have a partner to do it is the day you start having a partner hanging around on stage for no apparent reason

Once you have a presentation for two people, the method will come shortly afterwards. Penn and Teller's double bullet catch has the presentation that fits with two people. The bullet catch can, and has, been done with one magician. P&T just thought "Let's do the bullet catch, but with two bullets!", then they worked out the method afterwards. It doesn't matter if it needs one or both magicians to do the method. I don't know, I don't know the specific method, but it appears that many of the tricks they do only needs one person to do the dirty work (normally the shorter, quieter one)

A mentalism trick isn't normally improved by having an extra magician on stage. The layperson will just say "oh he just secretly signalled the answer to the other dude". Which, of course, is what you did

Unless you didn't, and you only pretended to. Which is a presentation of a two-magician mentalism trick right there. I'll let you figure out the method - just don't just secret signals, and make the kicker ending of the trick as such that it's impossible for the 'answer' to have been signalled

kolm wrote:they worked out the method afterwards.

This is how to create magic. Work from the effect to the method. Say "I think it would look amazing if you could go up to a guy in the street, have him name any card, and in his wallet is that card", then work out a way of getting it done. Or "If I was a spectator I'd be impressed if what I drew was on the cover of the notepad all along", etc etc...

Concentrate on the part that everyone sees, that's the important part.

Speaking as half of a duo, I have to agree with a lot of what has been said. Yes - having another person around allows for some really powerful effects and deceptive methods, but it is also a huge challenge to do properly.

You can't rely on winging it, or making it up as you go along. If you have a trick with then outs, you've got ten pieces of script to learn. You have another person to occupy the space, to draw attention for good or bad, to change the energy and the focus of the piece. It's a lot easier to go it alone.

It's not about having another magician WITH you, it's about BEING a duo. You are one magician, with four hands, two heads, four eyes and two minds. The possibilities are endless.

To repeat some of the above - if you want to come up with something really amazing, just imagine it, then make it happen. What would be the perfect magic trick? Does it fit two performers? If the answer is no, throw it away and start again. If the answer is yes, how? How do you interact? What is your relationship with the audience? With each other? With the magic?

I could talk about the various tricks and tips about having a partner, but the best way to learn is to experiment for yourself, see what works for you as a pair. It took Rhys and I a long time to get anywhere near the stage relationship we now have - and we're still refining it.

I will say this - the biggest advantage of having a second person on the stage, bar none, is the theatrical possibilities it allows. We're always dreaming up acts that we will probably never do because they no longer fit with our style - a social recluse with strange powers and his handler, speaking on his behalf to show the world what he can do; two magicians who hate each other, each one constantly trying to best the other, if not disrupt the other's effects; the list goes on.

It's a whole world of performance that is barely explored outside of magicians chopping up their assistants in boxes. It's a lot more than a new method to achieve old tricks.

@ user24 yeah true true i do think like that.... but its hard to come up with new ideas... so i was going through my tricks and asking... what can i do to make them better together...