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ravi Elite user Germany 413 Posts |
Hi everybody.
In the table hopper and strolling section, there has been a question about the possibility to give out a gift or souvenir to the guest of honor. This person got a lot of feedback but mostly it was something like: "I show this and that trick, have the card signed and give the card away as a souvenir." Somehow, we think that cards make a good gift for the spectator. Can we really hope that our spectator will go away and after several days, he will show the signed card to everybody and keep it `til the rest of his life? Have you (honestly!) ever met a person, who did? I cannot understand this thinking. This is why I posted a reply on that thread concerning card- gifts for the spectator. Maybe you want to read it: It is in, "Table hoppers & party strollers" and it is called: A gift for the guest of honor! I hoped that with a little provoking, we could bring up an interesting brainstorming on this issue. But so far, no one replied. Am I wrong? Hasn't anybody read it? Below, you will find my response ( quotation) and maybe we can have an interesting discussion which will bring US ALL further: I cannot believe that no one of you mentioned Jay Sankey`s "Gift of the Magi" It is in his book 100 % Sankey. The effect goes something like this: you show a few card tricks. After this, the magic starts!!! "At the conclusion of your final trick, the deck instantly metamorphoses into a gift-wrapped bundle, complete with ribbon. A moment later, gift card appears on the package." When I did close up magic for companies and did table hopping, the most important person, the person , who booked me or the guest of honor would get a deck of cards in an inflated balloon.( Jay`s airtight) Other possibilities were Michael Ammar's permanent pencil through quarter or Michael Weber`s effect, where a card rises from the deck that is wrapped with a rubberband. In the middle of the rising, you stop and show that the spectator`s card has the rubberband running through the card. What I mean with this is: As Michael Ammar points out, you have to give the people something that brings the magic effect back again, even for the spectators who did not see the effect. Look at the examples above. The gift is a trick by itself, another example might be "Card on Ceiling," by Ammar. Hey guys, who are you???? We are not Madonna, nor Michael Jackson!!! If I have my birthday and the magi presents me with a playing card that is signed (my or his signature, not Michael`s or Madonna`s), it is nice but nothing more!!! I will maybe remember the effect for the next few days but then...? I will throw the card away. Even for the few times where you really can emotionally hook your audience with a signed card effect, other people, who see the card will never be able to share the experience of wonder and magic that has happened with the signed card. Give the spectator something to experience a feeling of magic and wonder. Let the magic happen, even when the trick is over: How did the cards get into the balloon? How did the card get to the ceiling? How is the quarter impaled with the pencil? How is the card and the rubberband melted together? This is a gift that is definitely not thrown away. The magic happens again, even days after the performance!!! Be honest: if you ask one spectator one week after your performance, what has happened to your signed card, what will he say? Will they be able to remember the effect? Honestly, did you ever ask one of your spectators this question? Hoping for a lot of feedback!!! Ravi
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Garrett Nelson Special user 644 Posts |
I think it is a bit silly to say that magicians think people will hold on to a signed card forever. That isn’t the point of giving the card away.
If you can afford to give away decks of cards in balloons, or pencil-thru-quarters at every table, by all means do it. But most performers can’t. And in many cases it is impractical. A signed card is something simple, easy to make, cheap, and not overly assertive. It seems people are generally happy to receive an interesting balloon animal (if you are the balloon animal making type), and it isn’t worth a lot of money, nor will it last for a long time. People like to get things. Look at fairs. Who goes to a fair thinking, “Man, what I really need is a 6 foot tall stuffed ape!” But many people enter drawings for them. Or at trade shows, people swarm to get stickers of companies they have never heard of, nor will ever put on anything. This is far from a perfect comparison, I know, but I am trying… It is more like a gift in the sense that I am signing this card just for you. I appreciate you, and want to give you a little something. I don’t see any implication that it is worth more than it is, or that there is any need to hold on to it for a long time. It is just a nice gesture. However, in that thread you were talking about, I did bring up a signed card routine which uses a double backer, and ends with two signatures on either side. Although the idea is to have two spectators sign it, it could be done with the magi’s sig as well. There is a signed card that lets the magic happen even after the trick is over! |
ravi Elite user Germany 413 Posts |
good post.
Of course , I do not give away these things at every table. One or two, not more. But I wanted to bring up this topic, because you see that a lot of tricks talk of the "fantastic" give away of a signed card. A signed card is nothing. You have to give it a meaning. One possibility is the double backer, you talked about. The double backer is a gimmick by itself. The spectator will think what card this is ( if he does not know gaffed cards) My aim is to discuss this topic, I used provokation to make myself clear. There is nothing wrong with a signed card, as long as it has meaning. But no inflation please. Thank you for your good comments.
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BroDavid Inner circle America’s North Coast, Ohio 3176 Posts |
I always give away the signed card.
Not as a souvenier , but as the clincher that it really was that person's card. And people from other tables often lean over, or get up and walk over to look at it and ask, was that really your card? So you could say that it is given as a souvenier, but that is just something to say as you give the card to the spec. And as I give the card back, I recap the amazing even that we all just witnessed!...yada yada yada.. In my case, it is just to cemnt the event in everones mind, and "polish the Proof" that it was so amazing. I do Sankey's Paperclipped a lot, and now also do a new one, where I have a spectator assemble a small gift box (the kind that come come flat undolded ) and close it up and leave it on a table some distance from me. I then have a card chosen freely as I hand the deck to the spec, have tehn choose and sign a card, and then take the card and place it on the top of the deck, and set the deck aside on the table. I then pick up the small box, which have never been near the deck, and shake it, and you can hear "something" in it. I then open the box and pour out a folded card, which is the signed card. And I Hand out the card! BroDavid
If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.
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Mr Nutkins New user 12 Posts |
I have to agree with Garrett, if you can afford pencil thru quarters then do it, but as for us poor folk how about the penny & nail in the forehead ?
Mr Nutkins
"Bloody otters !"
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blurr Regular user 143 Posts |
The Zoom effect, by Ben Harris is exactly designed for this. You show them the trick and give them the card. In doing so, you say that they should keep the card. So that if they run into you again, they can take out the card and you will do the effect again.
Blurr
"Someday men will look back and say I was the start of the 20th century."
---Jack the Ripper |
espmagic Special user 978 Posts |
Well, I may be the odd man out (!), but twenty-two years ago I did a spoonbend for some classmates in a pizza shop. Six months ago I ran into one of the aforementioned attendees, and I found out that he had "removed" the spoon from the restaurant, and has kept it wrapped in a handkerchief in his dresser drawer ever since...go figure...maybe we, as magicians, underestimate the impact of what *we* think of as a "magic trick"...
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Kim Van Weert New user Perth, Australia 19 Posts |
BroDavid is on the right track. Giving a signed card is about clinching the proof that this is a genuine signed card. I do Carl Andrews'Hula-Fusion (from his No Jacket Required video)an awful lot. When both signatures are found to be on the same card most spectators assume that it is a trick card or trick ink...giving the card to them to keep destroys this "out" from their mind.
Sometimes I'll make a card frog out of the signed card. I find most people keep this as a cool souvenirs. Kim |
Garrett Nelson Special user 644 Posts |
A card frog...now there is a good idea for a signed card I never even thought of.
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Dennis Loomis 1943 - 2013 2113 Posts |
There certainly are many better give aways than a signed card, but my thinking is: "Why Not?" If you're going to throw it away, leave it with the spectator. I have some little stickers in my wallet I can put on the back of the card with my phone and e-mail info. It's like a business card... you give away 100, and 95 get tossed. But if one or two people call you for a show, it's worth it.
Itinerant Montebank
<BR>http://www.loomismagic.com |
mrbungle Regular user 149 Posts |
I often hear people say that they still got their signed card. a few weeks ago a friend of mine told me that he saw a girl walking with the card in her hands. Giving out signed cards is cool. People think they are special, cause they made your deck incomplete!
Grandia Enterprises inc. 1974
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Glenn Godsey Special user 737 Posts |
At a recent event, I performed close-up for four different groups, ending with a signed folded card in a box. I gave away the first three, but forgot to give out the card in the last show. The girl came and found me after the show and sked if I would give her the signed card, which I did. It is a nice gesture and a clincher that it is really their normal card.
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gmartins New user Portugal 88 Posts |
Quote:
People think they are special, cause they made your deck incomplete! :-) I think this sentence is great!!!! My experience tell me some people love to take a signed card as a souvenir. Others don't! But I've seen people that I didn't knew, talk to me one year after I did them a card trick and showed me the signed card I gave them as a souvenir one year before!!! Of course some people don't give a *** about your stupid card trick, but others do! So, if you're going to throw the card away (it's useful anyway) give it as a souvenir! I do card to mouth a lot (mercurys fold), and when I give them the card as a souvenir, I think is something they can show their friends:"He took this card from his mouth!!!". Of course, one think is for sure: if they don't like you, they don't give a *** about the signed card or the card trick you just did!!!
Gonçalo Martins
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Garrett Nelson Special user 644 Posts |
Or think, "Ew. That came out of his mouth."
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Paul Inner circle A good lecturer at your service! 4409 Posts |
re;
I do card to mouth a lot (mercurys fold), and when I give them the card as a souvenir, I think is something they can show their friends:"He took this card from his mouth!!!". I'm surprised anyone takes it!!! Remind me again if AIDS can be passed via saliva, or any other diseases. Hope you don't do this as a restaurant trick. A friend of mine ends with the card in his mouth, the Lovell routine, but only JOKINGLY suggests they will want it as a souvenir. For the most part I think we over-estimate giving away cards as "souvenirs", but it is a case of leaving them with proof that something really did happen. If there is something "different" about the card,e.g. linked to another one, an origami frog fold (as mentioned earlier) etc. then the spectator may very well keep it. Paul. |
ravi Elite user Germany 413 Posts |
You got my point with your last sentences.
Thank you Paul!
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gmartins New user Portugal 88 Posts |
Quote:
On 2002-06-30 09:03, Paul wrote: :-) Yes, a lot of people take it (some don't) and no, AIDS can't be passed via saliva. Other think, the card when it cames from your mouth, doesn't necessary comes with saliva. If you have your mouth dry, most of the times, the card comes completely dry.Well, it's a matter of taste! Most of the times I don't give the card away, I just lay it on the table and after people begin to take a look at it I say:"You can't keep it if you want!". And of course I don't do it at a restaurant table.
Gonçalo Martins
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Paul Inner circle A good lecturer at your service! 4409 Posts |
re;
no, AIDS can't be passed via saliva. Yeah, I knew that was the official line really. But there is still a lot of ignorance surrounding AIDS. But I am certainly glad you don't do it at restaurant tables, Goncalo. Some probably would, so it was worth establishing the performance area. Paul. |
MagicHatofMatt New user Florida 71 Posts |
Surprisingly, the rubber bands used for Crazy Man's Handcuff's mean something to do a lady I performed for. I did a walk-around/parlor kind of show at a luncheon for a college. The person who booked me just re-booked me and mentioned that this lady has been stretching those rubber bands for the past 3 months. Whenever she sees her, she is always asking, "How did that young man do it?" Its great to get those reactions! Thats why I love magic!!!
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