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The Burnaby Kid Inner circle St. John's, Canada 3158 Posts |
Anybody do this? I know Chan Canasta has stated that for mentalists, it's sometimes not a bad idea to incorporate a failure into a routine as it helps build legitimacy for a claim, but I'm curious about ways of going about this that are still dramatically satisfying for a spectator. I'm not talking about apparent failures where the magician or performer then turns around to create a rousing success, I'm talking about dealing with legitimate misses.
I'm brainstorming here... I'm not trying to "teach" anybody -- quite the opposite, I'm hoping to be taught myself as I'm not smart enough to see my way through this. Kollossal Killer -- Spectator names the eight of clubs (or whatever). You pull out the seven of clubs from your wallet, shrug apologetically, and then say "Well, for what it's worth, I had the feeling I'd be off by one." at which point you turn the card around to show "Off by one" written on the back. Keys to Success...? The initial effect is still technically a miss, but the secondary revelation seems to confirm that something really weird is still at work. Deja Reverse -- Tommy Wonder's routine where the performer vows to make both selections turn face up, but he can only make one of the spectator's cards turn face up. Finally, in frustration, he tears up the first selection, and when the first selection turns face up again, the pieces are examined, and the second selection is the one that's been torn up. Keys to Success...? Still a freaking wonderful magic effect. Richard Osterlind's Reach -- Not an effect per se, but a concept in which after getting a hit you try to reach for additional hits, such as trying to verbalize the rationalization a spectator made in a choice. For instance, "Where you thinking about the umbrella first, but then decided to go for the kiwi?" after you've successfully hit on "kiwi". (I've attributed this to Osterlind but I have no idea if he originated the idea, only that in the little bit of research I've done, he's the most vocal exponent of the idea that I've found) Keys to Success...? Even if your reaches miss, you still have an initial success to rely upon. The Prize Finder -- Apologies for being vague, but I'd prefer not to tip the methodology for a known effect by a popular performer. Suffice to say that the routine goes (approximately) like this: The performer has seven people come up, an item of some sort is hidden amongst them, and he knows that two of the seven might have the item that he must find. Conversely, he knows that five of the seven must not. He asks "lie detector" type questions to eliminate those five, and then takes a chance at the end as to which of the last two assistants has the prize that he must find. Keys to Success...? No matter what, he still gets five hits, and if he fails he can always follow up the effect with that spectator to get a hit on an apparently even more impressive feat. Any others? The reason why I'm wondering about this is because I'm curious as to whether or not certain questions of character can be answered for a magician or mentalist by dramatizing the limits of powers. For example: If you're so great at predicting the future, why don't you go predict some lottery numbers? One answer could be that you're an ethical person. Another (and in my opinion far more realistic) answer would be that some aspects of the future are outside your control, and you go on to do a lottery prediction routine where every number you've predicted is shown to be off by one. The problem is, would something like that be a satisfying experience for an audience? And if it could be, how would one make it work?
JACK, the Jolly Almanac of Card Knavery, a free card magic resource for beginners.
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Big Daddy Cool Inner circle 1604 Posts |
Let's look at the character of the magician... Historically the character of the magician was one who weilded absolute power over the laws of nature. The were social leaders, political leaders, and sometimes outcasts. But they had power.
During the Middle Ages the Roman church began prosecuting magicians for practicing black arts, and the magicians of the day began exposing magic as mere tricks and took on the role of the clown. So, IMHO a trick that seems to fail (even one that kills in the end) is one that suggests failure is possible for the magician. Does not sound like the powerful character to me, sounds more like the clown. Which would you rather be - A magician or a clown? |
The Burnaby Kid Inner circle St. John's, Canada 3158 Posts |
That's not quite what I was getting at, John. The aim of failing within the dramatic context (in the manners described above) is to establish the boundaries of one's power, not to set oneself up as incapable of power -- let alone being a clown.
JACK, the Jolly Almanac of Card Knavery, a free card magic resource for beginners.
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Alex Linian Inner circle Peru 1277 Posts |
I like the effects you mentioned Andrew.
A close up effect that also involves "failure" of sorts which I really like is Torn & Restored Transpo by David Williamson. Effects like that, and Kollosal Killer, are interesting because they don't fail completely; the "power" that is being demostrated is still felt to be there somehow, and the mistake is of a very human nature, which makes the audience relate to you even more. The Keys to success in these sort of effects I believe to be a convincing presentation, and an ability to present alien events to an audience without alienating them. ...
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Richard Osterlind V.I.P. 2213 Posts |
Andrew,
Just to be clear, I believe what I have said in the past is I don't like to purposely miss. I would rather go out on a limb and take a chance and miss then, but with the possibility that I might hit big time, than miss just for the sake of missing. As for limiting your powers, you will have to think that through yourself. I know I would rather imply that a prediction effect was caused by my causing the spectator to do something (which is actually quite thruthful!) rather than saying that I was able to look into the future. Richard |
longhaired1 Veteran user Salida 316 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-10-02 09:28, Andrew Musgrave wrote: I think it's a perfectly legitimate tool for character development, and as such doesn't necessarily need to be obvious or even stated to the audience. I have imagined a number of scenarios about the downside of living in modern society and being blessed/cursed with magical powers. It's conceivable that one would eventually choose to hide the existence of such powers, and the dramatic possibilities of the upside and downside of those powers is endless. In one of my plot lines the magician learns over time that that using his magic for any sort of personal gain always has negative repercussions. In the same story he has a woman in his life who is aware of his gifts and acts as a balancing force for him. Eventually he loses her, and then the fun really begins. |
The Burnaby Kid Inner circle St. John's, Canada 3158 Posts |
Thanks very much for the feedback, Alex and Steve. Also, thanks very much for the clarification, Richard. It seems I've bitten off more than I can chew with this one. Obviously there's a great deal of difference between the possibility of failing on a bit hit, and having failure built into the routine.
I'm having difficulty defining the subject -- I should have put more thought into this ahead of time, so sorry about that. Let me try again. This thread is about presentations that either include a built-in apparent failure (without the magician-in-trouble surprise ending) or risk the possibility of a legitimate failure. The commonality would be the prospect of the audience seeing you not come through on a claim, and the experience that they may go through. It seems already we've got two categories to explore -- I still don't want to incorporate the sucker effect, at least not yet. Risk of Failure Kolossal Killer -- You might miss the claim, but you have an added bit of mystery with the "Off By One" written on the back of the card. If you hit, you've got a miracle. Osterlind's Reach -- You might miss the claim, but you've already got the context of a hit that people can appreciate it. If you hit, you've got an unfathomable miracle. (Please let me know if I'm still not getting it, Richard) Prize Finder -- You might miss the overall claim, but you've already got the context of many hits going for you. You've at least partially demonstrated the ability. (It seems telling that there are no traditional "magic" effects in the above) Deliberate Failure Deja Reverse -- You miss the claim, and the climax still apparently involves a failure, but the end condition generates a deeper mystery than what would be there if you actually succeeded. Purposeful Missed Claim To Establish a Condition -- You imply a claim, which you fail, in order to establish a condition. For instance, David Williamson's inability to escape a rope tie in order to establish the solidity of a rope, which then comes into play with the ring and rope routine later. Made entertaining by the way the performer comically needs help, and also by not belabouring the miss. Flawed Diamond -- Sorry for the melodramatic title. This would be adding a minor flaw to the revelation so as to avoid the prospect of the result being too strong. An example would be Lennart Green's approach to handling Shufflebored, wherein the end result is correctly stated except for a single card that stands out. Other presentations use that single card that stands out as a kicker ending in the prediction, whereas Green has experimented with letting it stand as a minor mistake that he shrugs off, in an attempt to psychologically lead people away from the real secret. Worth noting that the claim to power is different in Green's version -- he claims a "shuffle tracking ability" rather than the power to predict the future. Dramatic Failure -- (thanks Steve) The magic itself may work, but the reason for using the magic fails.
JACK, the Jolly Almanac of Card Knavery, a free card magic resource for beginners.
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Richard Osterlind V.I.P. 2213 Posts |
Andrew,
Yes, that's exactly it. Richard |
Steve_Mollett Inner circle Eh, so I've made 3006 Posts |
In my favorite field, escapology, a deliberate failure could be used to add drama and an air of legitimacy to a 'second attempt' at a later date (which succeeds); kind of like a 'rematch' in TV wrestling.
Author of: GARROTE ESCAPES
The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth. - Albert Camus |
Mr. Mystoffelees Inner circle I haven't changed anyone's opinion in 3623 Posts |
Big Daddy Cool says it IMHO. I have never understood how you look better by almost flubbing the magic...
Jim
Also known, when doing rope magic, as "Cordini"
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