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I fell that some of the props which close up magicians use really dont fit into the modern world, therefore people think they are a special prop. (E.g the okito box) What do you guys fell?

This is why I only do magic with coins,cards,money,pens,paper and rubberbands.All items people are familiar with.I think once you intorduce a prop the audience begin to think it is the prop doing the magic and not yourself.I try my best to use sleight of hand with ordinary objects and some invisible gimmicks in ordinary objects.

If you are using props that have no familiarity then you can bet your money that it's going to wanted to be examined by the audience.Even when I do tricks with money sometimes a spectator will want to examine it.

you see my grandad passed down thease silver dollars in this old snuff box, he said he got them from a shaman in manhatten, here take a look big and shinny at there age, they seem to have some strange powers, everytime I take them from the box one jumps back

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workes the same with chinese coins aswell, if your going to do magic with everyday objects then thats fine but most uk magicians don't have half dollar or euros or even chinese coins so you'd have to introduce them as special to use them.

I came across a discussion similar to this on the Tenyo props. They are very clever but wish the mechanics and methods could be transferred to more recognizable props.

This is where performance and performance style comes into play. If you give the prop a reason for being then it does not become suspect.

Okito box is a great example. I have a pewter okito box with a dragon rising out of the lid. When I use it the patter revolves around legends and beasts of the past. How dragons love treasure, so the prop is part of the story.

A regular brass okito box can be explained away as a transporter device. Okito boxes are great because there is really nothing to see, no real gimmick to them. How does one explain cups and balls using brass or aluminum cups?

What one uses to perform with depends on your style of performing.

bmat wrote: How does one explain cups and balls using brass or aluminum cups?

A lot of presentations I have seen of the cups and balls start with the magicians saying to the audience something along the lines of "A magician is not a true magician until he can adequately do the cups and balls".

I think props look suspicious, and avoid them. Similarly I will not do a coin trick with a silver dollar. That screams trick. If you can't do it with the local currency leave it at home.

To me a Chop Cup has got 'Came From A Magic Shop' written all over it. It doesn't take too much work to make your own chop cup from a normal mug from Tescos or the Poundshop, the kind of mug folks are used to seeing in shops and using themselves.

I think it all comes down to presentation, with a good presentation, anything can pass. I've found that if an audience has had a good time, been entertained and enjoyed the magic then they're far less likely to question your props. Its back to the old argument of presenting something as art rather than a puzzle.

It seems we are talking about prop as a synonym for "gimmick". Interested to hear what your opinion is for 'atmospheric' prop, for instance in a seance or bizarre performance?

As Lady of Mystery has noted, there is the opposition between art and puzzle; do you think the way in which the performance is framed will make props instantly acceptable?

There's an amusing and insightful discussion of this in Henry Hay's "Amateur Magician's Handbook" (one of the best general magic books ever written and highly recommended). He suggests the tests to be applied before you "shell out" on magic apparatus.

Barry

Surely it all depends on the situation. For example, you'd be hard pressed to run a successful seance without props like a ouija board or a pendulum because they're expected (demanded?) in that situation. Both can be gaffed to the rafters, so as usual magic is about expectation as much as anything.

when I'm hired as a magician I turn up as a magician and use magic props when I'm hired as a mystic I turn up as a mystic and do readings and spooky magic with props.
if I'm at the pub and asked to show them a trick then I'm going to use the magicians prop generaly used and reconised as a prop that is a set of bicycle cards.
shurly this is horses for courses if your doing it on a non hired bases then use uk coins and props that are available were you are, if you go and see a stage magician you won't expect him to use a cardboard box because you might think his shiny metalic box is suspect, people get a grip please.

If the performance was clearly not impromtu, why would people be surprised that you are using a shiny metal cup instead of a mug, for example? I feel that it is more important to entertain and make sure they have a good experience than to think too deep and worry about the colour of your cards or whether your props look to new etc. As long as it's not obviously gimmicked, like a card box that says marvins magic on it then I'm not worried.

In my opinion, I fell props like the chop cup and the okito box are holding magic back in a way. Sure, there is a time and a place for these items and you can add patter to justify the item but I believe that whenever you introduce them people will still see them as "Magic items" just by their appearance. I think that Craig Petty has done well in modernizing the chop cup and making it new and organic with his trick chop and I hope more items like this will be released in the future.