Looking for recommendations but my personal ones are mental photography, invisible deck, do as I do,ringflight, ashes on arm, force predicitons, etc. Anyone care to contribute?

A cheap little Adam's trick, The Ball & Vase is being done now. Mike Gallo did an awesome job with this! I wish the pic wasn't so badly cropped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPeDVxRI710

Some is it is cut off, but I think you can see what I mean. A 99 cent trick kicked up to stellar levels...

Doug

Chicago Opener (particularly Whit Haydn's "Chicago Surprise") is a great, solid trick that works very well as an opener for card sets. It's a strong effect, more visual than the normal card trick, and gets to the magic relatively quickly. Basically, it counters the typical person's stereotype of a card trick.

It may not be "hard hitting," but I also like opening with a sponge ball routine (typically Patrick Page's). Sponge balls are unique enough to get people's curiosity, the effect doesn't take much explaining, and the routine is fun and entertaining--putting them in good spirits for whatever else comes after.

Sponge balls are great! Good one, Richard. I try to stay away from card tricks as an opener. I'll toss one in, performing a three or four effect set. Keep it simple! Nickles To Dimes is great, and so is The Dime & Penny!

Any links to where I can learn chicago opener? I mostly dabble in card tricks and people can be a little blase(sic) about them, compared to some other techniques. I like to show people things that make them question reality, colour changes are good for that along with nice sleights but I'm in great need of practice for those. Another favourite of mine is dynamic coins, cheap and simple but for those who've never seen it it's a joy.

You can’t get any cheaper than a good book, a deck of cards and some coins... in the long run; they will pay for themselves over the years.

Tricks that are considered expensive are not necessarily better than what can be accomplished with some practice and working on your presentation.

Now here is the rub... there is no excuse for using shoty and ratty props... soiled decks of cards, dirty sponge balls, etc. One should get the best props that one can afford... props are the tools of your trade. Your family and friends might put up with you using cards with smudges, but strangers will judge you on your props and appearance; sometimes to the point of overlooking your skills... I am not trying to sound like an old grumpy guy.

Good luck and a great presentation can be more valuable than a trick can ever be,
Bruce

You can get the Chicago Surprise e-book for $10 directly from Mr. Haydn, as mentioned in this thread:


You can get the actual manuscript from different sites, just search for "chicago surprise haydn".

Here's a standard presentation of the effect.

Aside from Chicago Surprise, I'm sure you can find other takes on Chicago Opener from different sources. I can't recommend any off the top of my head, though.

I love "I Should Have Done It Myself". Easy, funny and great reactions!

Ring flights have been fascinating me, these push the budget a little. But if you get a decent one like departure at a reasonable price it can really sell your performance. Anything with the spec'd items kills. I don't know that trick mr pink

Oh, c'mon. I've written quite a few books for you (if it's cards you're interested in). But you'll have to save your money. HL.

Thanks harry, they're not too cheap but I'm also looking for other tricks too that don't involve cards. I've heard so many who see a deck say Oh here we go again.

Interesting - when someone hands me a deck of cards, people say "Oh great!" I guess what it boils down to is doing better stuff so that people look forward to you doing card stuff for them - certainly not "here we go again" HL.

I find "Little Bunny's Card Trick a great one to get them involved and to kind of blow them away

My point is simply that though people are impressed with card tricks they're well known and can some degree can be expected, let me find a card, etc. rather than other illusions that defy explanation beyond "cool, you found my card. wow".

Prismatic, When you get a chance, study Harry's stuff. It's not the same-o same-o at all. Do a couple of his stunners for family and friends and they will BEG you to do more and more card tricks. Yeah, his books SEEM expensive but they are a very good investment if you want to do exceptional audience-tested card magic for years and years.

Jay Sankey ( http://www.SankeyMagic.com ) puts free tricks on his main page every few days or so. Most are cards or coins; very few are "same-o same-o".

Ed

Atom3339 told you, so you don't need me. He's made my/the point for me. I never, ever, start with "pick a card."

Some specific tricks to learn:

Color Monte. Get the packet trick, learn it and practice it to death. People like this one. You can also do this impromptu with regular cards.

Cut and restored rope. Get a hank of rope and a pair of scissors. Whit Haydn can keep an audience entertained for 10 minutes with his routine. It is hard to be more magical than destroying something and making it whole again. It is also possible to borrow rope and scissors.

Cups and Balls. Seriously, practice the moves with every type of cup you can find. Lance Burton uses three coffee mugs you could get at WalMart for a buck each. Other folks might use solid silver engraved cups. Penn and Teller use plastic beer cups. But if you can do a basic routine with all of those, you can do it with any three cups and improvised balls. I suggest Michael Ammar's DVDs. Balls can be tinfoil, wads of bread, or chunks of rope tied in knots. Or nice crochet balls if you want.

Jay Sankey has a lot of routines that work in the cheap but cool category. Leaving Home - he pulls a key off a string and tosses it back on. Very visual. One that is a paddle trick with a cheap lighter and some red stickers. Very fun. I don't really like Sankey's performing style, but I love his thinking.

-Patrick

In addition to all the other great recommendations, the Rising Card is a simple and inexpensive trick that gets great reactions.

Hope this helps!
y.

Any magic in the hands type stuff goes down really well. Sponge balls always gets great feedback. However the other one that does really well is crazy man's handcuffs...do it in your hands and then in theirs. It is also one of the few tricks that can be repeated fairly safely and the angles are WONDERFUL.

For cards (mostly) Lee Smith has a DVD called STEP (Simple Tricks Extraordinary Power) which is worth getting. I did a couple of his opening effects and my audience were just blown away....I was surprised by the reaction to be honest which just goes to show I can become a little blase about how some tricks appear from the outside.

Best wishes,

Danny