talkmagic.co.uk

Hi,
I'm starting to get to grips with more magic tricks and I'm working out things I want to do. I'm thinking ahead a little to performing tricks for friends and in casual places for my own amusement. I'm just wondering how people carry all thriller effect and gimmicks etc? Obviously if it was a gig, you'd probably have a case with stuff in. Is it just a matter of finding clothes with enough pockets?! How many decks of cards do people usually carry with them?

How many tricks are you wanting to do? When I do a gig, I'll only ever take along three routines (each routine is usually made up of three effects) with me, there isn't really any need to go along with just ab out everything that you've got. Keep things simple and concentrate on performing a small number of effects brilliantly rather than a lot of effects averagely.

Each to their own, but me personally - all I carry is a deck of cards and a good ol' Sharpie (this is when I'm off out to the pub on Fri and Sat night).

If you are performing in a table hopping environment it is important to be ready every time you switch tables. I carry quite a bit of stuff but only as much as I can easily carry, locate and bring out at any one time. Pocket management is the answer for me.

Everyone is going to have a system that works for themselves. Here is how I manage.

First learn to manipulate objects so you can perform with objects lying around. 'One Ahead' is a great mentalism thing and can be made up on the fly using napkins. You can also perform torn and restored napkin, cups and balls using napkins and coffee cups, coin through table, Two in the Hand one in the pocket. The list goes on and on. So right there you are halfway home.

Bill Switch. Depending on method you choose you can carry a little something which takes up very little space, or carry nothing. Borrow the bill and you are good to go. Coins, I carry four half dollars, but really I can use change from the spectator, just learn some coin magic.

On my key ring I carry a haunted key and a coin for cig through quarter, (I use a rolled up bill and not a cigarette) and no, nobody has ever gotten so close to my keyring to wonder about the coin hanging from it. Naturally if I'm going to perform it I remove it from the key ring well in advance.

Other than that I have a sharpie pen, a deck of cards, (with one gimmick card) Four half dollars. I've got a TT because you just never know four sponge balls and as of late I've been carrying around Superman (coin bending gimmick).

Sharpie is in my shirt pocket, TT often in with the pen. Sponge balls left front pocket (sometimes the TT is there with them), Coins in the little coin pocket in my jeans, I really don't know what that pocket is for, but I like it. Cards are in my back pocket. I have yet to find a good place for the Superman gimmick but the easiest to get at them is front pockets due to their design they take up very little space, you can also use the 'prefered method' and they don't take up any pocket space, But I don't like that method.

Perhaps that will give you ideas.

I hate carrying a full deck of gaffed cards just to perform one effect.
When I use gaffed cards they are just small numbers of cards, e.g. twisted sister (8 cards in total) , 'this that and other' (3 cards) or 2 sets of ESP cards (10 cards) - that is at least 3 effects for less than half the space of a full deck.
Try and use things you normally carry with you anyway (e.g. coins/notes in your wallet) or things that you find at the places where you perform (e.g. napkins, beer mats, etc.)
Doing effects where you write on the back of your business card is good. You get to hand out the card at the end of the performance.

Yeah, I don't carry a gaffed deck on a regular basis just one gaffed card with a regular deck is good for me. I used to carry an ID just in case I needed an out. But it took up too much space.