Hey. I didn't know which section to post this in, as it includes cards and coins. Sorry in advance if it's wrong. I also didn't find many results for this question with this question in the search feature, so sorry again if there is some old topic covering.

Anyway, for a few weeks I have been practising my Bitten Coin trick, and my cards for a few months. I took them to school because my mates know about my hobby, know that I take it seriously and they ask me to do it sometimes (I'm not considered a nerd for it... ) Well, the point I am getting at is that I did my tricks for a group of very good mates, and they kept on asking me how it was done for about half an hour, and saying they wasnt gonna tell anyone else.

Then, I did them for my other mate walking home, and all the way he was going 'how did you do that? It's gonna annoy me forever! Please tell me!' I kept saying no, and that magic should only be learnt if you were serious about it. He said he was, and I suggested he should go and buy a beginners book like RRTCM. I also did a simple French Drop, and he annoyed me for about 10 minutes and kept on thinking of solutions and practising them, asking me if he was right. Oh yeah, I also did the coin bite trick to him, and he said he was adament (sp?) to find out how it was done. Did I do the right thing by telling him to go and buy the book? Also, was it right that I lead him to believe the solution he worked out for the French Drop (which was wrong) was 'ok' and told him to practise?

Tony.

There is no easy answer, you just have to follow your instincts.

I sometimes show someone I trust an easy sleight or force that they can practice and impress people with. This is usually enough to satisfy them and it may be enough to spark a deeper interest in magic which is always good.

It is something that often would occur to me in the start , not so much now for some odd reason. Oh yeah...he its usually your friends that will want to follow because well its pretty cool and they feel confident around you.

Once you start performing for strangers they will usually never ask you unless they are REALLY interested or they just want to know,(if that's the case they will either go about their business or continue to bug you...ha).

You definetly have to keep this up and make sure your friend does too if he is serious. A few weeks after I started doing magic my brothers best friend got interested too. But it was just a phase and he knows some of my secrets. Bummer. But don't let that get to you try your best to keep em in the art. If they hate it , just go on with your life. Those people like that friend of mine realize pretty fast why its so important to keep most secrets in magic so most of the time they are no harm. Included for the respect it takes to get an effect down they will probably never tell or say anything bad about you as a magician. It's never been the case for me.

My suggestion is wait a few days before REALLY concidering telling anyone to be a magician . If they do continue to bugg then there is definetly something there. Next time try not to break so fast. It might be the best decicion.

Keep up the magic man and as stated before do trust your instinct. You will get better with time and get more insight.

Have a great day.

By the way..you mispelled the title of the topic...hehe..not of importance , sorry to come off as grammar police....specially me who messed up a couple dozen times in the response. Hahahaha.

You did okay. Friends will try and make you feel guilty if you don't tell them but it is only a ruse to get you to tell. The answer to their question of how did you do that would be... "I got interested in magic when I was ___ years old and started to read avidly about tricks from my local library. It was hard at first but as I practiced the material I got better at it until it looks like magic. That is how I've done it, and thank you very much for asking."

Frank Tougas

Frank's hit the nail on the head. It is just a guilt trip ploy to get what they want. Whether conscious or not, they simply want to be able to say "you can't fool me", or "your not so smart, see it was only a trick" That is not at all uncommon coming from teens, and certainly not uncommon to magicians coming from friends and family. Friends and family are far from the best audiences. Strangers often ask the same question, but seldom more than once and don't try to put guilt trips on you. Frank's answer sounds like a great one to me.

Hi TCM,

I can understand how difficult it must be to keep your silence with all your friends begging you to see how it's done. I think you did the right thing. For as soon as you tell one...he'll want to show someone else and the same thing will happen to him. He may not have the same ethics as you regarding magic, and may have no hesitation in showing them. There's been a lot of post regarding that very thing. Soon what you had that was special and unique is no longer, as everyone knows how it's done. You can weed out the serious ones and those that just want to know by suggesting the library. Again, you did the right thing in my opinion.

If you find one of your friends takes you up on this offer, then you'll have someone to session with and give each other feedback.

It's often said that performing for strangers is easier than friends, as strangers will hesitate from pulling cards from your hands or asking how the effect was done. I think it's easier with friends and family to get honest feedback and you may not suffer as many nerves but as you've seen it has it drawbacks too.

Chrystal

I usually ask the children if they enjoyed the trick they are asking about and of course they say they did. I tell them, if I tell you how it was done, all the wonder, all the enjoyment, all the surprise will be gone. Enjoy the mystery, it is much more fun this way.

Rick

Thanks for the replies, they have all been very helpful. I will take this into consideration from now on, making sure that I do not tell anybody any secrets and try my best not to expose.

Thanks, Tony

Ps. I didn't think that I misspelled the title wrong, sorry if I did.

Rick is very right. If they enjoyed it, then that enjoyment will be gone if they do happen to learn it. One of my friends in arkansas wanted me to teach him some tricks. My question to him was how much time he had on his hands and the ammount of money he had to spend. It shocked him when I told him the hours/days/weeks and months it takes to get these effect to work so well. Then to top it off the fact that half my books are over 50 bucks a peice. Most People will get discouraged quite abit when they find out the amount of practice you have to put into this art. don't expose. If they are intrested they will show guinuene intrest.

I once showed a friend Liquid Magic, and I got the tipical how did you do that question. I oviously refused to tell him, and told him that it took a lot of practice. Well, a week later to my surprise I got an email from him that had a link to a site that showed how the trick worked. First I was angry that he new how the tick worked, then I was angry that a site would show you how it worked. Well later that night I relized that him knowing the workings of the trick was fine, because he took the time to research the trick, showing that he really was interested. So I geuss my point is that if the person really wants to know, they can fined out. And if they do, then I would be inclined to show the person how another simple trick worked, just to try to spark an interest.
Daniel

There you go, just what Pinto2 said...I work in a call center and usually if its a boring day I would practice my card tricks(its my stress ball). My officemates would usually ask how did I do this and that. I don't teach them anything. I just say it takes tons of practice. They don't bug after a few days. That is until the next new trick. Hehehehe. But then if they tried to research and learned the trick without me...I would gladly help them out in techniques and what books or Dvd's to further their knowledge.