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español jeff New user 81 Posts |
I've read a lot of posts which mention effects/tricks being good enough for "laymen" , but not necessarily good enough for professional magicians. Am I reading too much into this (because it is difficult to tell from reading print), or is the quality of an effect looked down upon if it isn't seen as good enough to convince a fellow magician?
I feel like I'm going out on a limb, here, in that I may offend someone. But I'm just trying to understand. |
magicurt Loyal user alabama 222 Posts |
Yes and no. It is truly the magician that makes the trick-- no matter how old or simple, but most pros aren't going to use a trick that anyone's uncle might have shown them. Example--making a quarter dissappear is something every magician does but the magician can make it a simple trick or a miracle depending on their handling and presentation.
A child may use a spiked coin from a magic set but a working resturant magician may use a brass spiked coin and a great story to wow the crowd. You ask the pro and he wouldn't use the kids prop but he does the same trick. I do not like to use tricks that anyone might have seen before but that is just me. Curt |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
I haven't seen anything that says a particular trick might be good enough for a "layman." I sometimes see people stating that a particular item might be good enough for a hobbyist. To me the difference is that a layman knows little or nothing about magic and a hobbyist may simply perform a particular item sporadically.
Props and items made to a professional level need to be durable and precisely made. They also must be very dependable. A professional's livelihood relies to a certain degree on the reliability of the things he uses in his act. Some of these things may not be magic props, per se. For example, if you do a signed card routine when you are strolling in a corporate environment, you must have a pen that will write on a playing card. A Sharpie® would be a good choice. But you must also have an extra one in case the one you are using runs out of ink.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
magicurt Loyal user alabama 222 Posts |
Bill I love the picture. Is that your stage character or just everyday you?
Curt |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
That's the character that I used when I played Merlin the Magician at the Texas Renaissance Festival for 26 years.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
magicurt Loyal user alabama 222 Posts |
I love it. My merlin out fir could use a better hat. you have a very mrmotable look, good job.
Curt P.S. Leave that outfit to me in your will and I'll grow the hair and beard. |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Thanks. I could leave the hair to you, too. The beard and mustache are mine, though!
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
eddieloughran Special user 942 Posts |
I've seen a number of routines which are described along the lines of -
although this won't fool magicians it is very strong for lay-people. The kind of things David Blaine does for instance. It works the other way to of course. Magicians will sit through complicated, multi-phase tricks that lay-people run away screaming from and require set-ups that don't work in real life. Note there that I'm not refering to Professionls. Just magicians. |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
It's difficult to determine what the original post was about. Maybe he could clarify this.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-10-11 21:14, español jeff wrote:...good enough for "laymen" , but not necessarily good enough for professional magicians...is the quality of an effect looked down upon if it isn't seen as good enough to convince a fellow magician?... Great question. It's all supposed to work for lay audiences. The magician fooler thing comes from a truly misguided marketing attempt to get magicians into an "arms race" mentality. The FEW magicians who put in the effort to make things that will also HAPPEN TO fool magicians did so by keeping in mind how the average ill-read magician happens to be thinking at the time. Well constructed routines and carefully developed props will likely work for your audiences regardless of their being magicians or not. BTW, real audiences tend to pay better than magicians, so be cost effective.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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español jeff New user 81 Posts |
Great advice, Jonathan. Thank you. I've admired you since I was a scared lurker. I really respect your opinion and look forward to the possibility of meeting you someday.
Thanks, Jeff |
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