talkmagic.co.uk

Hi guys, i just want to ask as i have never done magic professionally ie parties, weddings etc ...... i would like some tips on how many effects to carry with me to do on the night and how should i cope if people start with the oh i seen what you did there or things like putting their hands into the deck that sort of thing ......

the main effects i perform to friends are

2 different coin vanishes
the ambitious card routine
the 2 card poker routine
i have the bitten coin effect but i cant perform it 100% yet but im getting there
ID routine
and i did have a svengali effect but i need to repurchase .........

is this enough or to much ???

thanks alot .....

Before choosing what tricks your going to perform observe your audience. The tricks you described are just tricks and usually the performer is left with the choice to come up with there own routine.

Card tricks and other close up tricks are good for weddings and small parties, but if you ever upgrade to the stage; make sure you have a trick to fill the stage( and that dosent necessarily have to be a large trick ).

Thanks

When working tables, I have a standard repertoire of 4 (yes, really, just 4) effects, 2 for one table, 2 on the next, repeat as necessary.
My two openers are card effects - despite being a mentalist I find opening with a card effect is a great introduction, my patter is very much based on the "Have you seen a magician before? Well, I'm not a regular kind of magician... " etc.
My secondary effects are ones which can are designed to include as many people as possible and show off a number of 'abilities' within the one effect.

In addition to that I have maybe one or two others as backups, mostly because I get asked to visit a table again and if I've got time, I will. If a wedding or birthday, I'll have something just for the 'special' person/people.

for me, I have three sets of 2 effects each. I'm mainly a mentalist so my first will be a short introductionary effect with the second being something more indepth. Like Vanderbelt, I'll always have something special for the Bride and Groom or birthday girl\boy. I'll also always have my sponge bunnies with me as a little something for the children (eeek, did I really say that I do sponge bunnies and mentalism at the same gig )

When I do close-up opening effect is something that involves the spectator directly which will engage them and those watching. It's usually something as basic as sponge balls or metal bending if in a dining environment.
You will always get people that claim rightly or wrongly that they have 'seen' something, so make sure you have some things lined up that have that element of suprise, something unexpected.

Kids have a tendency to day, when you pull out a deck of cards, "I've seen this one!". I always ask them what they think is going to happen next and they generally think you just find and reveal their card. I had this happen the other night and changed the colour of the deck from red to blue, which threw them somewhat!

Another tip with hecklers, is to perform Paul Harris "Ultimate Rip-Off" and hand the last piece to the annoying chap and declare to his friends that as he knows so much about magic then he will restore the last piece. Great for shutting up those annoying know-it-alls.

Hammie wrote:the main effects i perform to friends are

2 different coin vanishes
the ambitious card routine
the 2 card poker routine
i have the bitten coin effect but i cant perform it 100% yet but im getting there
ID routine
and i did have a svengali effect but i need to repurchase .........

is this enough or to much ???

thanks alot .....

OK..
Breaking the list down.
you have 2 coin vanishes... In themselves a vanish isnt a trick. They tend to be a point in a routine. By that i mean you borrow a coin... you make it vanish.... you bring it back.

Or, you produce a coin.... you do something with it...... you send it back to where it came from, by vanishing it.

Now, looking at that second list, you can see where your bitten coin could fit in.
you produce a coin.... you offer to make it vanish.... you vanish a bit of it by bighting the side off and swallowing it.
you make that bit reapear.. the coin then vanishes, becauise as you explain.. It was all just an Illusion.
Routining is therefore the key.

your second list..
you do an acr, a poker demo, and the i.d.
ACR.. your using a standard clean deck.
The poker routine, depends on which one,
and the id.. well thats a gaffed deck.
as is the sven.
so... one of these i feel ,has to go.
I think the best thing to do, would be to hold back the id, as its usefull as an out.
so.. look at how ive sugested the coin routine goes, and work out how you would do the same to your cards.
D.

I talk about this in my book! As a paranormal entertainer / mind reader i only actually do four effects, 2 in each set and that will last 5 minutes. You can spend ages learning 180 different effects, but do you really need to? NO!

Thanks for all the tips guys really appriciate it !! Any more tips are welcome to =]

Lady of Mystery has an excellent point which is worth reiterating - sponge bunnies! If you're doing a restuarant/wedding etc. then there's a high chance you'll encounter some of Satan's Alarm Clocks. Especially with mentalism, they just don't 'get' grown up magic (the especially young at least) so, after reading Lady of Mystery's advice on here some time ago, I carry some sponge bunnies around with me for them too. One unexpected bonus this gave me was that it solidified the mystery around the mentalism that I perform. I explain to the parents etc. that "I've also learnt a few magic tricks for the kids, don't want to leave them out". That little throwaway sentence a) makes the parents appreciate me a little more, I'm obviously a professional and have thought about their evil sprogs and b) seperates what I've done with them and a 'magic trick'.

When working close-up magic you really want to carry as little possible. Having lots of props makes your jacket pockets bulge and really does not look good. Also by trying to carry and perform too much you will struggle to remember what to perform next.

For Close-up magic it is common to perform three effects per set, some magicians will perform four but it really depends on what you will be performing. You will need 2 - 3 good quality sets to work most venues and you will be performing an average of 4-5 minutes per group. It is best to start with a fast effect that will grab people's attention straight away.