talkmagic.co.uk

Posted this over on thebunny too, but thought I would start a discussion here as well as I thought it was an interesting topic....

If you have read any of my earlier posts you will know that I am relatively new to “all this magic stuff” (about 6 months in...) and one of the first effects that caught my eye was Out of this World – I loved the concept but hated having to stop the participant half way through and hated the way the cards were revealed at the end. I love the whole creative process of coming up with new ideas almost as much as I love learning effects created by others so I saw this as an opportunity to let my creative juices flow.

After a couple of weeks or so of playing around with it I figured out a way to stack the cards so that they can be riffle shuffled before the effect takes place, I eliminated the need to stop the participant half way through the “experiment” and streamlined the ending. Naturally I was as pleased as punch with myself and have performed the effect like this ever since.

After recently purchasing all three volumes of Art of Astonishment, it turns out what I had “created” was Galaxy from Volume 3 lol

I could list a stack of other effects that I have “created” too but thought it would be interesting to start a discussion to see what effects others had created and later found out that they already existed?

Anyway that is all for now…..I must dash because while typing this post I think I may have just stumbled upon a brand new concept….a rolling, circular device….I think I will call it the “wheel”….

I've created lots of moves, tricks and ideas only to realise someone else has already done it... Sometimes it's really frustrating, other times it is quite nice to know that you've recreated something your idols have previously created.

Something that really stands out for me, I am fascinated with faro shuffling principles. I discovered the perfect combination of the incomplete faro control and the Penelope principle, later i read Martin Nash's books and saw that he had previously combined these 2 principles in the same way.

That would have been quite an accolade!

I agree it can be a little frustrating at times but I do take comfort from the fact that at least to a certain degree, I have been through a similar creative process to some truly talented magicians.

I remember, years ago coming up with a lovely effect for a friend's wedding where each of the couple pick and sign a playing card and then after a nice little, pink and fluffy story, the two cards merge to become one. Then I read a book containing the Anniversary Waltz.

Here Then There. And boy was I chuffed when I came up with it. I can't tell you how deflated I was when I saw someone else doing it.

Also, I came up with a method to have the deck shuffled, then a suit named by a spectator, and then the magician instantly knows the order of those cards in the deck as they come out. I had grand ideas of selling it to those websites that sell single tricks for lots of cash, buying the Ferrari, telling the boss to stick it etc.

Then I saw another guy doing it in what looked like an identical method to mine. I was sure I'd been hacked as I'd written the method in a word document. Then I realised I wasn't that important. The end.