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tupawk New user 87 Posts |
I see no reason to avoid the word trick, unless you are trying to sound sophisticated....
According to most dictionaries of the english language the word "trick" is perfectly acceptable when describing something done as "magic". Dictionary Definition |
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Habu Veteran user Texas / Alabama 393 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-02-14 11:09, DStachowiak wrote: Yessir
www.magicbyhabu.com
Real name: Rick Jackson Habu: Taken from SR-71 spy plane I worked on. It's name came from a poisonous snake on Okinawa. Hope my magic isn't poisonous! |
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SoundWave New user 82 Posts |
Method or effect talking to magicians. I use tricks when talking to normal people oops I mean spectators.
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mark1991 Veteran user Boston, Lincolnshire, England 311 Posts |
Hi there,
I like to use the term trick, but the trouble is most of my magic books and DVDs say not to use the word trick. They prefer the word routine, or performance because it sounds more professional. However, when I am amongst friends, I just call it a trick! Hope this helps! Many thanks Magical Mark Watson (mark1991)
http://magicnewstelevision.com/mn/magicalmark
Magical Mark Watson - Christian magician, juggler, puppeteer, all-round entertainer and lover of Christ! |
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Kipp Sherry Elite user Boise, ID 477 Posts |
I think it all depends on your audience. Certain terms fall in and out of being "politically correct". As an example, here in Idaho (Indian Country of the Old West) we have a lot of landmarks with names like "Squaw Butte", "Squaw Mountain", "Squaw River", "Squaw Flats", etc. Recently the term "Squaw" fell out of favor as being politically correct. The state now has to officially rename all of these landmarks, change maps, references, ect. A big waste of tax dollars if you ask me.
Now back to the audiences that magicians deal with. If you are performing for magicians then don't use the word "trick". It's not politically correct anymore. But if you are performing for the lay audience then perhaps it is okay to use the word "trick". However, I have run into people who dislike magicians simply because the magician seems to find joy in "tricking" the audience member and making the person feel stupid because of it. And heaven forbid that someone enter a competition with a "packet trick". I personally don't mind using the word "trick", but I do try to judge the audience and decide what are the best terms to use. My tricks are for entertainment, so if my audience is put off or not entertained, then I fail as an entertainer. If changing the terms I use is all I need to do, then in the words of Staples, "That was Easy". Until we appear again, Kipp Sherry |
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the AuditOrr Regular user 175 Posts |
I do tricky effects with illusionary devices.
I want to go far...
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Mark Wilden Veteran user San Francisco 375 Posts |
I think the most effective magic is when the audience believes that what just happened is impossible (see "Designing Miracles"). Not all magic is or can be like that, of course.
Performing a "trick" implies "tricking" the audience - i.e. fooling them. You've used your abilities to do something they can't figure out - not something that's impossible (see Nelms). A "trick" presents a puzzle, that many spectators will feel compelled to try to solve. This is the wrong mindset for ultimate entertainment, IMO. I had a coworker who just would not let go of trying to solve OOTW. What's worse - he did solve it! I believe this points to a deficiency in my presentation. Also, "magic trick" conjures up Uncle Charlie (for me) - not Dai Vernon. And I don't think people think Blaine and Angel are doing "tricks." So I do try to avoid the term. I do call some tricks "experiments." Sometimes, I'll just ask someone "do you want to see something?" But among magicians, "trick" is the most concise way of referring to our unit of performance. My two cents - as a relative newbie. ///ark |
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James Alan Special user Toronto, Ontario 680 Posts |
I think trick is a fine world. It's short, to the point and when you say it, your audience will know what you mean. Tommy Wonder, who valued magic as an art form more than most anybody, still frequently used the word trick.
The problem is that there is no suitable replacement. Terms like effect and routine are great for speaking among magicians but they don't have much meaning for the audience. A few months back in Magic(the exact month excapes me) David Parr was having similar trouble with the word "magician" in his Magic Word column. The problem is that for someone who wants to be a professional entertainer for people, the term magician can have a lot of unwanted connotation associated with it (kids birthday parties and rabbits in hats for instance). But if he called himself anything but a magician (say a conjuror or an escamotteur) nobody would know what he was talking about. So what do I do about it? I will never preface a trick (see it comes out so naturally) by saying let me show you a trick. My preferance is to say "Let me show you something absolutely amazing." Depending on the particular routine I may describe it further by saying something like "this is a test of observation" or this is an exercise in imagination. This leaves the audience free to call it what they want at the end. I have a mentalist friend who likes to call everything he does "an experiment" but I've never heard the audience call it an experiment after he was done. If someone says to me "that was an amazing trick", I'm going to focus on the positive (they called it amazing!) rather than the negative (it was a trick). |
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blink_inc Loyal user Hamilton 278 Posts |
I think the "trick" is of the mind or vision in most cases.
I call myself a close up artist, that performs effects, to trick the mind/
I am a Sankey addict....please, help me!
My name is Will, my company is Blink, an experience in transposition. |
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David Parr V.I.P. 898 Posts |
Hello Jameson. The article you mention was the start of my column in Magic magazine, September of 2006.
I think questions about what to call ourselves and what we do are very important to mull over and attempt to answer as individuals. In my case, I made a decision some time ago that I wanted to do what I could to encourage a perception of magic as a performing art. The word "trick" is often associated with the word "cheap" and, in many people's minds, "trick" is synonymous with "prank" or "joke." It seems to me that if I don't speak of my magic in terms that suggest it is more than a prank, I can't expect non-magicians to treat it as anything but a trivial source of amusement or even to understand why I think of it as something more important and substantial than a practical joke. So I deliberately dropped the word "trick" from my vocabulary when speaking about magic, even around other magicians. No matter what words we choose, what's important is that we really choose them -- that is, that we take the time to think about the words we use. |
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DomKabala Inner circle I've grown old after diggin' holes for 2827 Posts |
Quote: No. I do/perform/express, tricks/effects/experiments also/too. Words...gotta love 'em.
On 2007-02-13 01:26, Payne wrote: Cardamagically, :hypnodisk: KRaZy4KaRdZ :)
We don't stop playing when we grow old...we grow old when we stop playing.
God is enough, let go, let God. Gal 2:20 "Anything of value is not easily attained and those things which are easily attained are not of lasting value." |
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JackScratch Inner circle 2151 Posts |
Payne, I think the problem you are having is between any use of presentation at all, and the use of presentation to perform "tricks". Personaly I don't care what you call your effects in your script, as long as you have a script and are mindful of your audiences reaction to it. Now, mind you, while I think it is beneficial to every performer to put pen to paper, you do not actualy have to have done so, to have used a script. Many a performer has subjected his audience to his creative and rehearsal process buy just jumping in front of an audience and muddling through it. Not what I consider the ideal method, but it is possible to reach a state of adiquicy in that manner.
Within that frame, I think calling them tricks right up front is one of the less entertaining and creative directions to start from, but if you make it work, and your audience truly appreciates it, then who am I to say that it's wrong? |
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Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
"Tricks are for kids."
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Father Photius Grammar Host El Paso, TX (Formerly Amarillo) 17161 Posts |
English language and its ability to keep expanding definitions of words, so that eventually one word can mean many different and even conflicting things. My dog does tricks, he comes, rolls over, begs, sits. There are some ladies who hang out around street corners in certain parts of town who do "tricks". The word has been used and abused in so many ways I can understand why some magicians shy away from it. It has many "negative" connotations. I recally a former president, who resigned from office, being called "Tricky Dicky". Con men are sometimes refered to as "Tricksters". But, yes I still do magic tricks, and don't mind calling them that. But also use effects, illusion, etc. They are sort of interchangeable in English.
"Now here's the man with the 25 cent hands, that two bit magician..."
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Bill Rubie New user Baltimore 61 Posts |
I call them "something" well I'm from Baltimore so I say "Lemee sheow yu sumpin hon"
Bill
When a person starts off a factual statement with "They Say"...
Please ask, who are they? Bill |
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