Vandy,
I don't think you are supose to talk about thing like this on the Café. I know once I tried to welcome Koz back and my post was deleted. Then I got a warning not to talk about this type of thing on the Café.
Just a word of warning to keep you and Steve in good grace.....

kOnO

Regarding the pitch of the spengali deck, I sell tons of these at the amusement park, I always let them know that it is a trick deck, and when they all turn into the key card, the trick is normally sold.

Posted: Sep 15, 2006 2:20am
I am also amazed how even after they know it is a trick deck, they are still so amazed

Well, usually when I see a fantastic magic trick, I am still astounded by it, even though I know there is an unknown method behind it.

Dave

Gee whillaker .. You guys always make me grin from ear to ear and My better Half shudder at the thought of me pitching yet again , generally the first week or so after the new year ,, I start to look at all Venues possible .. I start to walk with a bit of a swagger , and my daily chatter becomes a little more bold and Brazen .. as of Late we have been showcasing , a monthly magic/ variety act .. and from there I usually Mc the Show ..I Have also set up a Pitch , during the Intermission , it is a show unto it self ..equally entertaining , yet I usually tuck an extra yard and a half into my jeans by the end of the 20 minutes Happy folks wandering away , for yet another 45 minutes of magic , and a happy pack , of Svengali deck ,a two card monte , and a profs nightmare, and a Cupon for a half hour workshop, directly after the show
Enjoy life
Keet

Where can I get decks wholesale? Thanks

T-Ray,
All that infomation comes with my Svengali pitch DVD. You can order it at:

http://www.magicpitch.com as well as see a clip of it.


Don

I find that I start off with the selection of the card, and I riffle through, showing the faces and say "As I riffle through here [showing the faces] I want you to stop me anywhere you'd like" That gets them to pick their card and subtly show the deck as normal.

I first saw the pitch on Television with Marshal Brodien’s TV Magic Cards. I remember as a kid when he showed (with Paul Scarne’s hands) that all of the cards changed to the Ace of Spades, it fooled me. Granted, I was a kid, but I didn’t know the principle.

When I became a magician, I thought it was not a good idea to show the key card. I thought it was exposing the secret. I used it only to pitch the cards. Well, when I do it, I notice that they are just as mystified as I was when I was that kid in the ‘70’s. Even when I tell that it’s a trick deck, they still don’t get it.

So, the lesson to be learned is, audiences will believe anything by the way you present it.

I purchase the Don Driver Svengali Pitch. Its very informational and I am very happy with the purchase. My question is to purchase the decks on tape you need a resale license. I was able to find 7 decks at the dollar store and wondered if I I could try to pitch it at the fleamarket this weekend and just sell the decks or should I wait for decks and two-card monte?

Thanks

It's up to you, of course. With seven decks, if it's not going to cost you much to go up there and get a table, you may wish to do it just to wet your feet I'm waiting for my two card monte decks, personally.

As to the resale license, it's a good idea to get one. I'm in the process of doing so - looks like it'll be about $50. That's not bad

Don't forget that while you need a State resale license to purchase items wholesale without paying sales tax, you also need the resale license in order to be able to collect sales tax when you resell the decks at retail. In fact, at least in New Jersey, you are required to have a copy of the resale license visible when and wherever you are selling. I taped mine to the side of my pitch table, so I don't have to worry about forgetting it. Some shows also require you to provide a copy of your resale certificate with your application before they will let you have booth space or a table.

If you happen to be caught at a flea market, craft show or street festival selling without a resale license, your friendly State Sales Tax agent will not be happy, and can shut you down and fine you for the uncollected and unpaid sales tax, plus interest and penalties.

I know you're anxious to get started, but if I were you, I'd wait for the resale license to come through. In many states you can register online and get a temp certificate within 24 hours, it's not a big deal. In the meantime, you can always practice your DL's. SETH

Well, (my great-aunt said NEVER begin a sentence with “WELL”) last weekend (my 1st with the Svengali deck) was an eye-opener!

Frankly, I don’t remember ever having seen a Svengali deck before I saw the ad for Don Driver’s pitch, (When I said to myself, “Hey—ANYBODY can do that. I think I’ll get one of them thar DVDs and learn it!) so everything is new to me. Yet I’m sure that most of the things I’m gonna say here are not news to the seasoned performers. But here goes….

I had rented 2 spaces at the flea market, one for the wire strippers to be done by a friend of mine and one for me. I printed out 4 “IT’S MAGIC” signs on my computer but by the time I got both booths set up it was almost 9:30, so people were there and walking past. In spite of my 14 years of experience saying, “Have you squeezed one yet?” I was a little shy to start the “Hey..it’s magic..gonna have some fun..make the cards walk, talk,…etc….” But I finally did.

I had printed out the pitch in BIIIIIG letters and put the 10 pages (not 3!) into sheet protectors and had them on my table because, in spite of practicing for what seemed like MAAANY hours in front of the TV with Don’s pitch running and doing it maaaany times with my wife, I was still not confident enough to do it without the “instructions”.

But I finally got over (most of) my shyness and called in my 1st 2 people. You must realize, I had waited until Thursday to get it, so the location was not the best. Not a lot of people at any one time so it was mostly 1-on-1 AND, I learned very quickly MOSTLY KIDS stopped!

I made my 1st demo, not exactly shaking in my boots but, as you might imagine, not NEARLY as confident as I was doing the stripper demo. I still had not gotten the trick to putting the cards back on the deck after the “Give me a # between 1 and 10” so they were always messed up when the demo was over and so, after EACH demo, I had to spend time getting them straightened out. But back to my 1st “pitch”.

It was a guy about 14 and a well dressed older guy. Naturally, I messed up on the 2nd trick, altho I did finally finish the demo. The young guy was impressed but said he had no money (frankly, he looked like he didn’t!) but believe it or not, the older guy laughed, pulled out 5 bux and gave it to me. I was just as surprised at the money as he was with the tricks. So we were both happy.

I did a few more demos (all kids) with no results then 2 ladies came up and one was so excited she bought 2 sets! (“Christmas is coming, ya know!”) “Oh yeah, little so-and-so will love this. He is always doing magic…”

Sometimes when the kids would stop, so would the parents but it was obvious to me by the time lunch rolled around, I was gonna have to get to the “MONEY” thru the kids—or at least at THAT flea market and THAT location.

To make a very long boring story short, by about 4PM I had only $25 so I really felt the day was NOT as I had planned, altho my friend, Judy the stripper person, kept saying “Hey—first day, bad location, etc….”

I was still having a hard time with the end of the 2nd trick and was about to pack it in (Judy had already left) when a guy with 2 gold front teeth came by and watched my demo. He was on the edge for, what seemed like, about 5 minutes, while I kept saying “Hey if you can turn these 2 cards over, you can fool all your friends…..” Finally I said, “Hey, ya know Christmas in only 45 shopping days away…” He very slowly smiled with those gold teeth, pulled out 5 bux and gave it to me. “Are you sure all the stuff you showed me is in here?” “Yep, it’s all there.”

When I got home and told my wife of the problem I was having with the 2nd trick, she very painstakingly showed me the error of my ways (evidently she had been watching more closely than I) and commiserated with me about the “only $30”. But I was determined to make up for it on Sunday.

You will recall the time change on Sunday. Well, (there is again) I didn’t, so I got to the flea marked at 7AM. I was not the only one there but all of those that were said they had forgotten about the time switcheroo, too.

I sat and practiced the 2nd trick with myself and really did have it down pretty well by the time the REAL people came along. And it seemed that pockets just opened up. By the end of the day, I had over $100, still not a lot but over 3 times the 1st day. So I sold over 1 box in 2 days.

I had had a problem with the “grab the kid by the thumb” part because some kids just didn’t get the “flip thru the cards” deal, making the trick look hard. AND most kids had sticky hands. So even tho it left out one of Don’s jokes, I began leaving it out and doing the flipping myself. It seemed to work OK and I think that is the way I’ll do it from now on—unless I can be shown a better way to incorporate it into the demo.

One problem I had was the really small kids….4-6 years old. Even after the demo, they’d hang around in front of the table and want to see the tricks again. They were very cute and smiled at me and loved the demo but, frankly, got in the way. I know it’s easy to ask them to go away but it seems they always came back and just stood there. Any suggestions? Another problem—kids want to handle the deck after the demo. They come beside or behind the table and want to see what really makes it work. I just tell them, “Hey…get one and it will tell you in the instructions.”

All in all (as they say) I guess I had what might be called a low-average 1st time. I have read in Don’s DVD thread of people who did $1200 in a “first” flea market weekend. They musta had a bigger flea market and a better location. Or were more experienced in handling the cards.

I still have not had more than 4-5 people at any one time, usually 1-2. And usually the parent will ask the kid, “Do you want that?” “OH YEAH!!” Dunno whether it’s the parent or the kid who actually wants it because sometimes, even tho the kids wants it, the parents just walk away.

Hey…Christmas is coming and there’s always NEXT WEEKEND!! Gonna try to do a Christmas show or festival and see if that makes a difference.

John,
Putting the deck in the kids hand is really strong..don't leave it out.

If kids keep wanting to see the deck after the pitch say " the deck is $5.00 lessions are $10.00"

Best to you...
Don

Neat idea. I'da probably thot of that in about a ZILLION years.

But I must say I DID add, "Hey, watch, takes only about a half a minute." I guess I'm "one of these guys" too.

Jon-O

I don't know if any of you are familiar with a Scottsman named Ronnie McCleod. He used to be an excellent pitchman, although I imagine he must be getting on in years like the rest of us! He has much to say on these matters:

"I get a vibe that New Zealand is virgin territory where the Svengali deck is concerned. It is a small country and I suspect that Brent is the only one selling Svengalis there. I suspect the public have hardly ever seen it. If this is the case he has the potential to take in $1000 per day on a regular basis. It is only 100 decks a day at $10.

Joe Stuthard worked Australia with the cards for years. He was a great Svengali worker. I am not sure if he went over to New Zealand or not.

Do you know Richard Webster? I got my psychic powers from him and he worked Ginsu knives in New Zealand for a while.

There is a UK pitch and a US pitch. I have never heard of a Kiwi/German pitch. It sounds to me like the end of civilisation as we know it. However I cannot comment upon it until I actually see it. Neither can I really comment on whether you should show the "secret" until I know the demographics of New Zealand punters and how hot the deck is over there. I suspect it is as hot as hell and you should be taking in a grand a day. I suppose I could be wrong. I am just going by intuition from years of experience in ripping off the public in the way they deserve.

What does your routine consist of? What tricks? How do you come to the bat? (close the sale) The way you come to the bat is more important than the tricks themselves.

First I do NOT show the secret in the way that I work. I only give the illusion of doing so. I get a vibe that you should certainly show it in your demonstration since not only will it increase sales it will take the unholy burden off your shoulders of you having to give the ***s magic lessons later as you have described in your post. You may as well give them the lesson during the demonstration rather than after they buy it.

It is utterly fatal to your business wasting time teaching people how to do it after they buy them. You are not running a school of magic. You have their money. It is essential that they now clear off and that you never see them again. I believe in protecting the secrets of magic and it would break my heart if I thought anyone could actually do the trick after purchase. I don't think I could sleep at night if I gave anyone value for money.

You come from New Zealand so you must know something about sheep shearing. The punters are merely sheep to be sheared and you are not there to educate the ***s. Take their money and get rid of them.

One advantage of being a nasty man like myself is that they are very nervous of coming to me for private lessons afterwords. They get away from me as soon as possible and that is just the way I like it.

You MUST have some way of giving the illusion of revealing the secret in the demonstration so they think they can do it. I have my way and Don has his way. It helps sales and discourages people asking for lessons afterwards. If someone comes up to me and asks for deeper instruction after they buy it I merely snarl at them and say "Read the Instructions!"
They soon get the vibe that I want them to clear off and leave me alone.

I have always believed in service with a smile." RM

Thomas, this was an excellent imitation of Mark Lewis!

Or could it possibly be the Master himself, in yet another disguise? SETH

Hey, Rome wasn't built in a day! Sounds like you had a decent start, anyway.

Once you get the routine and the pitch down solid, you can concentrate on pulling in the customers. I find that even if you're doing a one-on-one or just pitching to a few people, it pays to "play to the crowd." Look over the heads of the front row, include those other folks and you will pull more people in. And of course, the sight of a small crowd will always draw even more people, who just HAVE to see what it is everyone is looking at. SETH

If only there WERE more than the front row! ;-) Truly I was in a very low traffic area--a cross aisle--and people were sparse. And getting ANYONE to stop, except for kids, was very hard....IT SEEMED they were all wanting to get to the main aisles. I think they got on my aisle by ACCIDENT! My friend selling the wire strippers did about 1/2 of what she usually does at that flea market.

Next weekend I have several choices and I think I will use the flea market as the last resort.

Jon-O

I agree, it's "tough to make bricks when there isn't any straw," as they say. We've all been in that situation, there isn't much you can do.

But as you said, there's always next weekend! SETH

Re-reading the above, it sounds like I'm whining about the show. In actuality, I'm trying to give encouragement to new guys, such as myself...DON'T GIVE UP, just because you have a bad day or a bad location. There's always ANOTHER day and another show.

On a good day at a good show, I can AVERAGE $100 per hour or more with the wire strippers. (I've done over $300 per hour many times) But I DIDN'T do that 14 years ago, when I started. The fact that I did a little over $100 ALL DAY on Sunday with the cards only shows that

1) I need to practice MUCH more and
2) do the demos, don't worry about the money, it will come.

And 3) FIND A GOOD SHOW!!

Jon-O