For someone starting out on stage material ....
what are your recommendations?

The focus is on visual rotuines - ie, dancing cane, d'lite, torn and restored newspaper, extreme burn 2, etc.

Any suggestions, much appreciated,

regards,
WulfieSmith

Here are some standard visual stage effects/routines:
--serpent silk (and allied silk through ring penetrations, etc)
--20th century silks
--color-changing silk
--any silk blendo
--linking rings
--multiplying balls
--color-changing balls (red ball in red silk placed in wine glass changes with green ball in green silk inside another wine glass)
--card fan productions and flourishes
--Miser's Dream

I seem to remember a very old effect of lighting a wooden match and the flame floats from the match through the air to light a candle on the table.

An idea I had years ago for a closing effect was to tear a large sheet of white paper and a small sheet of black paper into several strips and flash restore them to a white sheet of the original size with the words "THE END" or "That's All Folks!" in black as if formed from the torn black strips.

----- Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

The match effect sounds brilliant, if you remember more, please do let us know Sonny.

D~

Thank Anatole!

WulfieSmith

To address the original topic, all magic is visual, without presenting the magic before an audience, you have junk in a case or drawer.

The best is the one:
1. You like to perform.
2. You get fantasic audience reaction during and after the effect.
3. If you only could do one trick at the most important showing in your life.

It is different for many, they may overlap and some choose the same effect of course. Most likely it would be some form of a Classic magic effect.

Well said Bill. Its material that is you. One performer can kill with a thumb tip and the other a Zig Zag.

David

Here's a nice floating flame and candle to silk effect by Fantasio:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtOsxLYEuAU

-----Amado "Sonny" Narvaez

Personally I think for me
I end a few stage shows to music with a lit cig vanish,then using a glass, water & tissue
finish with a Snowstorm ,pretty visual,pretty spectacular!!!!!

Cheers

It really depends on your style. Whatever effect you have or get, you need to start off your act with something strong that will get the audiences attention. For me, I do a parasol act to music. Then I do things to get the audiences participation. The best stage routines I've ever seen don't use fancy props or expensive boxes, they use very simple things, ordinary objects and the audience. Look at Michael Finney.
One of the most entertaining routines ever and he uses what. Two decks of cards. Two borrowed bills, and the audience. As jeff hobson says, the audience is your most important tool you will ever have.