I recently purchased Michael Skinners Ultimate Three Card Monte. I've been practicing with it for about a week. I would like to show it soon but my main concern is someone grabbing a tabled card and blowing the whole effect.

How do you prevent this or even deal with it once it happens ?

Dave

It's never happened in over 10 years - Don't worry about it and the spectators won't worry about it.

Dave

I saw some magicians before studying magic (so i was a "normal" guy), and i didn't had the tendency to grab the cards, except when the magician was putting it right in front of me (like if he was saying : You can look, it's not a fake, it's a real card, look, you'll see !). I'm pretty new to magic, but I think that maybe some wise guy who read a little about cards or magic will want to look smart and grab your card, but I don't think that it will happen.

Good Luck
Mark

The way I get around this is to do some effects using 'normal' cards - which they can [if they want] examine to their hearts content - then once you've established that the cards you're using are gaff free - ring in the gaffed ones ! works for me !

I have yet to have a stranger try to grab a card. I always make sure to say (when doing a gaffed monte trick) "point" to the card, I never just leave the option of touching the card up to the spectator. Most people aren't comfortable enough to just GRAB your things if they don't kow you too well. I don't think it's anything to worry about.

I'm sure it's mostly your friends and family members who will grab your cards, strangers generally won't.

The only time I had this trouble was when I was first starting. It's a question of control and confidence.
Watch the audience and you can see it coming. The Skinner routine is easy because your hands never move far from the cards and you have duplicates to switch in.
Any hands which move forward on any trick I touch the back of the wrist and remind them it's a memory test.
Eddie

I have had a few problems with people grabbing cards. Believe it or not, mostly on the Chicago Opener. I have never had anyone grab for my Skinner Monte. Could be because you are always working with the Monte cards, and the spectator is not sure when the trick is over. I think the longer a card sits out untouched, the more likely it is to be snagged.

The best thing to happen to me when a guy grabbed my card was when the other girls at the table chastised the grabber by saying "Leave the cards alone da**it, we want to see the trick!" I could have hugged them. The fact they were pretty easy on the eyes didn't hurt either!!!

I didn't realize the importance of tempo until now. If I don't let the audience get to bored they won't be worrying about the cards.

I'm also working on a line of patter that revolves around me getting taken as opposed to me takeing the spectator. I figure it's better for me to be the loser than the spectator. I've seen clips of Bill Malone doing the routine and he's messing with a guy during it. I don't have the audience skills to pull that off so I'll mess with myself instead.

Dave

I also recommend doing some ungimmicked card effects to start off with. Then remove the cards for 3 Card Monte from the deck in use and hand the remainder of the deck to an audience member while you perform it. This will seem more casual and open and hopefully deter suspicion.