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gocall911 Loyal user Salem, VA 247 Posts |
I don't know how many times someone has come up to me after a trick and said, yeah but I bet you couldn't do this or that. I put this on this board because this is really improv stuff. Here's the one that comes to mind right off.
I had just done a show for some kids ages 5-10 and had handed out the knot at the end of C&R rope. Well at the end of the show as I was packing up the smarty pants that had the knot came up and said, I bet you can't untie this can you! I had tied the knot very, very tight and they had been trying to untie it and knew it wouldn't be able to be done. I let them bug me a few more times by saying I couldn't do it and such but I had an idea, so while I was putting stuff away I snipped off another peice of rope about the same size and palmed it in my hand. I then put something else I had with me in my hand as well. I took the knot from the kid and said, OK here I will try to untie it as I pushed the knot into my hand. It blew them away when I opened my hand a moment later to find the knot undone. I have also had a few more I-bet-you-can't-do-that happen to me with cards and coins. So what are yours?
"Use your head." ~Dai Vernon~
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El_Lamo Special user Canada 589 Posts |
Someone asked if I could make her levitate.
I stared at her and asked her to tell me when her feet started to tingle. She shrieked! I smiled and apologized and said that I was sorry, but she wasn't in the right frame of mind for it. That it would be too overwhelming if she was unnerved just by her feet tingling. And I thanked her for her interest and moved on to something else.
Life is a system of circumstance presented coincidently in an illusory way.
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BearMage New user Kalamazoo, MI 26 Posts |
A somewhat inebriated guest at a party I was working, asked me if I could make his "old lady" disappear and gestured at his girlfriend.
I asked him if he was sure he wanted this and he responded, let's say, in the affirmative. I turned to the lady and asked her if she was free for the evening. She said "Yes" and walked off with me. Mind you, I don't recommend this technique but for this particular occasion, it was kismet and got a terrific laugh from the rest of the crowd. Blessin's Bear Here's a little thought. In the past, when challenged with "I bet you can't do this or that", I stop and think. If it's something I can do impromptu, I fire away. If not, I look at the person very seriously and say, "It sounds as if you are calling me on a magician's challenge. The tradition on a magician's challenge is that I have (insert an appropriate time here) to return and perform your challenge. If I can not, I buy a round for the folks present. If I can perform the miracle, you buy the round. Agreed?" (Note: Only do this if you know that you can go home research and/or slap the miracle together.) I did this when challenged to make a cigarette rise from the challenger's pack. I invoked the "traditional" challenge and he agreed. I arrived the next night to find a large group of folks waiting to see if I could do it. I asked only to be able to examine the "gentleman's" cigarette pack to make sure the cigarettes had not been glued in or otherwise tampered with. He handed me an aluminum cigarette case with a slide top lid. Kismet! I shook one cigarette out, examined it carefully and returned it filter first into the case. I then handed the case back to him, stepped back and focused and "mysteriously" the cigarette rose from his pack. I reached out and took it as it reached its apex and handed it at arm's length, to someone standing next to him to examine. Needless to say, he bought the round. Add a pin, and a bit of black string to the above description and you should be able to figure this little vested mystery out for yourself...Muahahahahaha! PS: Just to clarify, there is NO such thing as a traditional magician's challenge. I made that part up...grin.
"We have not the reverent feeling for the rainbow that the savage has,
because we know how it was made. We have lost as much as we gained by prying into that matter." Mark Twain |
juan Regular user Brazil 178 Posts |
If someone says "If you are a magician, make a $10,000 bill appears right now", I say, "OK, but it will cost you $50,000 to do it."
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wassabi_87 Loyal user moscow, idaho 226 Posts |
If there is a trick you are challenged to do, and you don't know of it, try and use patter for a similar trick so that they are almost alike.
bike during the day,
do magic at night, and very early the next morning, homework. |
WarlockDrummer New user Chicago (Evanston) 21 Posts |
The new book from Germany, Card Fictions, has an entire chapter devoted to challenges; how to manage them; and how to instigate them when you've set up the out.
!WD!
"80% of life is showing up."--Woody Allen "That's how the world will end, not with a bang, but with a whimper."--t. s. elliot |
Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-09-23 13:36, BearMage wrote: Bear, My favorite response to the challenge of make my spouse/significant other/boss, etc. disappear is to laugh and say: "Hey, this is Chicago (insert the city you are in)! For fifty bucks ANYBODY can disappear!" Wait for the laugh to subside and add: "In MY neighborhood, it's only $19.95!" Done with a smile and a wink, this usually keeps everybody happy. I just wish I could remember where I first heard this line. Rik Jonsson, maybe? Lee Darrow, C.Ht. P.S. I loved the idea about the Magician's Challenge! Great idea!—LD
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
Densloe New user 5 Posts |
I have done magic for almost 25 years and I have some "I can do that" planned in the repertoire but beside this for sometimes I have manage to do the impossible. This is a great feeling.
I do an ordinary "Think of any card you want" and then I or the spectator mix the cards and I just cut the deck without any control and show the card. It use to be wrong and I do a gag about it as "Well, but it was pretty close, hehe." Once a year I cut the deck and the right card has shown. Guess the look of the spectator this times: One time I placed a card in front of my wife backside up. I asked her to tell me the card she was thinking about. She said five of hearts. I turned the card and she was right. Pure luck or telepathy between a married couple but again I had done the impossible. These times have inspired me to "force the luck" in a magic trick. I have an idea to always manage to show an impossible card. I think like this: Place the cards ordinary laymen think about in controlled order in the deck. The three cards in the top (just lift single or double, tripple, etc.) Turn two cards in the deck around and control the place. Put some cards in the bottom that you know well. After this you can end the trick with the "out" that fits you and the spectators' choice. You can always make a "right" answer that seems impossible. What the needed cards is? I think this changes between countries and age of spectators. I use five of hearts, queen of clubs, ace of clubs, etc. Some classic magic routines are built on this and you can find more in good books. Come up with the cards that suit you and your audience. Hope you understand the "plot" of the trick. Best regards Densloe http://densloe.net/magic |
wsduncan Inner circle Seattle, WA 3619 Posts |
I first heard the "for $50" line from Eugene Burger but I'm guessing it goes way back in the Chicago bar magic scene...
The best response to "Can you make my wife/mother in law disappear?" is "Yes, but who would pay your bills?" |
bobser Inner circle 4178 Posts |
I always answer, "Sure...but first, a card trick." And never return to the initial request.
Bob Burns is the creator of The Swan.
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Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Another great response, tongue in cheek though it may be, is:
"At these prices?! Are you out of your ever lovin' MIND?!" Done in an over the top, vaudevillian, almost Snidely Whiplash vein, this can get a real belly laugh. Lee Darrow, C.Ht.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
Count Zapik Loyal user UK 205 Posts |
I might say, "You need to give me a reason to want to first."
It starts a ball rolling and gives me a chance to get the odds in my favour. Count ZAPIK
I feel as if I have been whisked here from another life....it may even have been my own!
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-09-27 08:51, juan wrote: I get the same and similar comments a lot from people. I always say, "It is illegal. I don't know you. You could be undercover Secret Service or FBI looking to arrest me. If I get to know you real good, then I'll trust you." |
Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Ammar has a good line for the "make my wife disappear," guys:
"Sorry, but I got a better bid from HER to make YOU disappear!" I usually follow that with a call over my shoulder: "Guido! Nunzio! This is the guy the lady wants to disappear!" The laughs (except at Italian parties), are usually pretty good on that add-on. Lee Darrow, C.Ht. http://www.leedarrow.com
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
Erik Anderson Regular user Des Moines, Iowa 171 Posts |
I get the "can you make him/her disappear" request a fair amount.
For making "her" disappear, I love the "better bid" line. If the request is to make "him" disappear, I reply, I'm sorry, I don't do public service." I get a laugh on that but a friend of mine almost got punched out. Just goes to show, it's all in the delivery.
Erik "Aces" Anderson
"I never let my schooling get in the way of my education." ~ Mark Twain http://www.acesanderson.com |
Shenaniganz New user Cypress, CA 100 Posts |
My favorite "make my wife disappear" reply is
"It looks like your doing a good job of that on your own" |
Jonathan Rice Loyal user Maryland 223 Posts |
I usally just start my fake fundraising campaign. Well you could always donate your money to the Jon the magician fund. At the 500,000 dollar level we have the floating rose. etc.
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majorshaw New user Randy Shaw 73 Posts |
I just ask, "would you like me to cut (most of the time it's a husband is asking) a person in half/" They always say yes. You then say, "you do know you will then have 2 of them." You're now free to move on.
R.Shaw
AIMC with Silver Star |
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