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eryanic Special user 683 Posts |
Hey guys, this is sort of similar to the topic "Do it again!", but what do you normally say to your spectators when they want to have a look at your cards/coins and your cards are gaffs and your coins are gimmicked. How do you reply then?
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Eirik Special user Oslo 879 Posts |
The best way to go about this problem is to make the right preparation beforehand,so you never have to experience those unpleasant surprises.
Learn at least two sleights, palms, vanishes to go with each gim. routine. The one simple rule when using gim. cards/coins is: The routine doesn't end until the switch has been made and you end up clean. I learned this a couple of years ago, and I still stick to it... -e-
...As long as i`m not a world-champion at anything, the great reactions of doin` magic will do just fine.....
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kinesis Inner circle Scotland, surrounded by 2708 Posts |
This also has a lot to do with presentation and audience handling. If you handle cards and coins in a natural manner then the audience will assume they are normal and shouldn't be prompted to ask to see them. If you can move on to the next effect or ditch your props on the off-beat then you'll also catch your audience off-guard and they'll have lost the opportunity to ask. If you can come across strongly confident then your audience won't ask to see anything. I'd also be prepared as Eirik outlined above.
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Shadowzen New user 69 Posts |
A great place to switch out a gimmick is the exact moment that the trick climaxes. This is a great time to tell a joke or say something funny and create an "offbeat" situation that you need for major switches. There are some deck switches in Card College that you should consider.
One other way to create a good offbeat moment for a switch is to give someone an instruction (perhaps the beginning of the next trick). |
Close.Up.Dave Inner circle Behind you! 2956 Posts |
A very easy way to do it is (if possible) go onto another effect with the deck. Simply say, "I'll let you see them after a few more tricks." Then after you are done with the tricks, do a deck switch in your pocket. As you do this say, "Oh wait, you wanted to see my cards right?" as though you almost forgot. Then you're clean to let them see them. Though an interesting way to let them think that they aren't trick cards from the beginning is to let them handle them throughout the show. Here's what I would do:
Let the spectator shuffle the deck (leaving the cardcase on the table) and handle them. After the cardtrick, do a deck switch in your pocket as you bring out say, a coin purse for the next effect. Then leave the new gimmicked deck on the cardcase in plain view. Then later after the trick is over say, "Back to the card tricks," as you pick up the deck from "before." If they handled them before then they really have no reason to believe that they are gimmicked. This isn't a guarantee that they won't want to see them later, but it does give the impression that they can be handled freely. And if they do want to, do what I said before. And if all else fails, stop doing full deck gimmicks and just do tricks with a few cards as the gimmicks that are easy to palm off. |
Steve Friedberg Inner circle 1402 Posts |
Well, this is another vote for working with ungaffed stuff. If you assume that your ability to control a street crowd may be less than a more formal setting, why would you want to work with cards/coins/ropes that are gaffed, potentially leaving yourself open for exposure if someone grabs your material?
Even if they don't, the nature of the streets is such that someone may be far more likely to demand that you show them your material than if you were in a parlor setting. Why give them the opporchancity to show you up? Alternately, if you're working with cards, start a set with a FASDIU trick...that gives them the chance to examine them for themselves. I routinely trot out the old "yeah, the cards are marked" line...but darned if it doesn't work.
Cheers,
Steve "A trick does not fool the eyes, but fools the brain." -- John Mulholland |
ellisd Veteran user Sacramento 330 Posts |
I have to agree with using a normal deck for the first trick and then switching out. The biddle trick works good for an opener.
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Shadowzen New user 69 Posts |
And avoid really really powerful gimmick stuff. Why you ask? Powerful you'd think is good....
But the problem with powerful stuff is that it is best used as a last effect (closer). To follow it with something weaker just to do a switch out reduces the overall effect of your magic in the spectator's mind. Some stuff (like the mental photography deck) is obviously gimmicked and therefore the only way to get around the inevitable question is to only use them in stage performances. Levitation effects suffer this same problem (although the rising cards in "Card Manipulations" gets around that problem somewhat). If you really want to perform these type of effects you need to have the audience in a state of suspended disbelief. ie, you've dazzled them with so much stuff that they can't figure out that they finally let go of trying to "figure it out" and just enjoy the magic. |
kinesis Inner circle Scotland, surrounded by 2708 Posts |
If your closer has a gimmick, then I don't see the problem. Do the effect and your audience is momentarily stunned ('cos it's your best effect and it's a super strong closer). So while they're picking their jaw of the floor you pocket your props and say goodbye (or "gimme some money then" depending on your style.)
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Rob Johnston Inner circle Utah 2060 Posts |
If there is no coin/deck, they can't examine it. Disappearances are great for this sort of thing. Also, as mentioned previously, the switches are a must if you use gaffs.
"Genius is another word for magic, and the whole point of magic is that it is inexplicable." - Margot Fonteyn
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Dolphin Regular user Slovenia 171 Posts |
There's a great deal of gimmicked accessories that we need to switch or ditch before handing them out for inspection. So switching and ditching should be a part of our acts when we practise or perform them. It must look natural. For instance, keep a deck of non-gimmicked cards in your pocket when doing card tricks. So when you finish your act put the gimmicked deck in your pocket before they can ask you to check it. If they do, just give them the ordinary one. Hope this helps.
Best regards Ziga |
abc Inner circle South African in Taiwan 1081 Posts |
As a rule I don't like letting spectators handle my cards or coins because sometimes their hands are dirty and it really ruins a pack of cards. I usually say something like, "are your hands very clean?" They say, "whatever" and I say, "just wipe them nice and dry" and I take a napkin out of my pocket that allows more than enough time to switch the packs.
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Tony Ley New user Orlando, FLorida 46 Posts |
Eriyanic -
A lot of awesome posts and information has been thrown up here for you to think about. If you really think about your chosen effects and PREPARE in advance, you can almost ALWAYS end clean. I've also got to agree with Steve Friedberg about using ungimmicked props, ESPECIALLY in the street! It's a LOT more difficult to get rid of something in that type of environment. Pick your effects wisely if you think you'll get caught with your gimmick. An excellent routine worth your time AND to understand this concept AND help tear down the spectator's wall of defense to put them at ease is Michael Ammar's Shadow Coins routine. You can find a VERY detailed write-up in his 1991 lecture notes available from his website or his Easy to Master Money Miracles Volume 2 (personally I like the lecture notes better because he really helps you understand the thought process a LOT more than the video). Study this routine, learn it, perform it and then go back to the other routines that you do and apply that to the routines where you're attempting to conceal a gimmick or get rid of one. Hope this helps a little, Tony Ley |
Diavo Veteran user The District 357 Posts |
Show them before you start that the deck/coin is legit by using a legit deck/coin in a trick first. THEN switch decks/coins and do the gaffed trick. When they ask now say "You already examined it yourself!" and they will reply "Oh...yeah."
Otherwise, if they're asking to see your deck (say it's a fully gaffed deck), put the deck in the box and into your pocket as you explain some BS like "I know I'm a magician but I'm *not* a cheater!" and if they persist hand them the deck -- the one you switched for! I start my Hopping Half routine by showing a real half dollar and a real english penny -- since few people (in the USA) have seen an english penny I like to let them take their time checking it out [it's a bit of interest]. Then I do a shuttle pass switch [complete w/ chink-chink SFX], explain what I'm going to do as my other hand slinks into my pocket to ditch the real coins... --Diavo
I'm not just a magician, I'm an interpreter of Reality.
Underground, above ground, whatever. I don't need a label, thanks. |
dynamiteassasin Inner circle Naval Air Facility, Atsugi, Japan 1158 Posts |
Once I was performing my Svengali Deck on the streets. After the trick, the people couldn't believe what I had just done. I turned the whole deck into the Ace of Clubs. One shouted we need to see your cards! I had no choice but to lend it. He flipped it and saw an Ace of Clubs at the bottom, he picked it, then saw an indifferent card. Then he paused, then shouted, "it's real magic!"... whew... I got away from that one...
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RonCalhoun Special user Independence, KY USA 599 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-01-20 05:47, eryanic wrote: Question? what do you do if NOTHING is gaff or gimmicked. Ok, now do the same thing. I don't have anything to prove. If they want to watch they watch. If they want to show off I just ignore them.
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MinnesotaChef Regular user Minneapolis,MN 176 Posts |
I stop every thing and very slowly lift the top card and say "This is the 3 of Clubs" slowly lift the next card" This is the 4 of Hearts" slowly lift the next one" Only 50 left to go, I can continue with this or move on to something a little more stimulating". Or I say "Oh, you're interested in cards?" and go into a Ricky Jay style lecture about the history of playing cards. After a few minutes, very few in fact, I pose the same question about moving on to other things. Usually the crowd will overrule the heckler. Andy Kaufman did something similar to college kids when heckled to do his "Foriegn Man" routine, he read from a long winded English novel instead.
"Great restaurants are, of course, nothing but brothels.There is no point in going into them if one intends to keep one's belt buckled."- Fredric Raphael
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EvanSparts Veteran user Michigan 333 Posts |
Once agian I have to qoute the great Burger, "have enogh script to get the items put away."
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RonCalhoun Special user Independence, KY USA 599 Posts |
I was a pitchman for around five years. I trained other people to pitch products. I have done over 8000 presentations. So, in my anything but humble opinion may I offer this advice as rule number one to handle hecklers and other distractions.
Ignore them. Ignore them. Ignore them. Just keep going. Never feed the monkeys. By giving them ANY attention. You are only feeding their ego. You must have a solid routine. You must know what your going to do and said next. You must not allow them to take control. But changing you routine and including them in the show you have made them a co-star. Don't make them a part of the show.
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