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Juble Veteran user 363 Posts |
Hi - I originally posted this on the Pick a Card board but was advised it would be better suited to this one - hope you like it.
After doing the torturous family and friends circuit for a while I recently plucked up enough courage to venture further from home and perform at a 21st birthday party. Since then I have performed at a number of other similar events. What I wanted to do was to share with others some of the concepts that I have learned from this site that I consider have helped me out most in performance. I don’t expect this post to interest the seasoned magicians here but hopefully some newcomers to card magic may find it useful. To put the post into context, my routines were fairly brief and consisted of: Standing: - An in the hands Do as I Do effect (just to get me started) - Bizarre Twist followed by Bizarre Vanish - Card to Pocket At a table: - Design for Laughter (from RRTCM) - Triumph (as taught on Ammar’s ETMCM Vol 1) - Galaxy (version of Out of this World) So what have I learned? 1. Attitude and confidence is everything. If you don’t really believe in your magic then why should the spectator? If you don’t believe the spectator will most likely pick up on it they'll believe. Although I’ve read this a thousand times I didn’t really appreciate it until I got “out there” and performed. I always start with a simple effect just to get me going and to try and get the nerves out of the way. Nervous hands look seriously dodgy. Try performing the elmsley’s in Twisting the Aces with shaky hands and you’ll see what I mean. If you get nervous try to label your nervousness “excitement” – it has helped me out a little. 2. Focus on a smallish number of tricks and learn them inside out, particularly if you are going to perform for different people regularly. Quite arrogantly, I thought I knew all there was to know about the effects I chose to perform until I actually performed them and was hit by unexpected variables I hadn’t dreamt of. Spectators can be very unpredictable. I for one have been very guilty in the past of being greedy and trying to learn as many tricks as I can. This is in no doubt influenced by the glut of new tricks coming out daily professing to be the next great thing – “amazing climax with no effort” – these don’t exist. Sometimes you just don’t know which way to turn. There have been a number of times when I have been performing an effect similar to the hundreds in my head that I only half know and can’t remember what the heck I’m supposed to do next. A clear sign I need to slow down! 3. Have a change of pace in your set. By this I mean vary the tricks and sleights used so that the spec’s don’t get too familiar with what you’re doing. It also makes it more interesting for the spec. I’m embarrassed to say that for a long time I didn’t consider this until I performed 3 back to back tricks using the same sleight and was burned on the last one – man I was depressed. I won’t do it again though. 4. Try to have an emotional hook in your presentations. Again I have read this a thousand times but it is key. You don’t need to have long-winded stories – just enough to keep the spec intrigued. This can take many forms depending on your character such as a challenge or failed magician ruse such as Design for Laughter etc. 5. Concentrate on the Single Point of Failure. By this I mean focus on perfecting whatever misdirection or sleight is crucial to the effect being successful from the spectator’s point of view. This could be a D/L in an ambitious card routine, misdirecting the spectator whilst palming a card for a card to pocket effect, the face up/face down shuffle in Triumph, the Elmsley count in Twisting the Aces and so on. The spectator must really believe the cards are shuffled or that the card is place into the middle of the deck etc. 6. Control of the spectator is just as important as controlling the cards. If you can casually misdirect the spec with either a joke, question or by focusing their attention elsewhere you can get away with almost anything. Being casual is important. 7. Lastly, take your time, don’t rush the spec’s and effects and let the magic breathe. Like I said at the beginning these points all originate from what I have learned from this site. I am heavily indebted to the people who visit this site and offer advice – so thanks! I still have a long journey to make to get where I would like to be but I’m looking forward to it and learning from my mistakes. It would be interesting to know what concepts other members think have helped them out whether from this site or elsewhere. All the best. Justin |
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Bill Thomas Regular user 102 Posts |
Wow Justin, that was nice post. Looks like you are well on your way, congrats. Looks like your journey is on the right path - and I agree, the Café is a great place to learn and discuss with other magicians. Good luck.
Bill |
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mortonch New user 93 Posts |
Great post Justin, A wise man also told me to have an arsenal of about 6 tricks that I can perform really well when called upon.
Also, a nervous performance of Twisting the Aces is all too familiar! lol Thanks again!
-Chris-
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icicular New user USA 75 Posts |
Good advice, that.
A lot of fellows nowadays have a B.A., M.D., or Ph.D. Unfortunately, they don't have a J.O.B. - Fats Domino
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stuper1 New user California 100 Posts |
Great post, Justin. Thanks for taking the time to put that all down for us.
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ehands Special user Mississippi 524 Posts |
Jusin,
Thanks for the specific pointers you offered and for the invitation, by example, for we freshmen to be reflective. Icicular, Love your Fats' quote.
"Oh look, we have created enchantment." Blanche DuBois
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Chimp New user 28 Posts |
Thanks for the tips, Justin!
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The Magician Loyal user Liverpool 267 Posts |
Great tips. I am sure they will help us out.
The Magician
Expect the Unexpected |
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edh Inner circle 4698 Posts |
Good Advice. I read an anecdote somewhere. I think it was in RRTCM. It was a quote (I don't recall who made the quote) where a famous magician was asked by an, I believe, amateur magi how many card tricks he knew. The famous magi resonded by saying he knew only six and the amateur was astonished and said he knew a hundred. Point being, the famous magi knew six tricks inside and out perfectly, whereas the amateur knew 100 tricks but none perfectly.
Edh
Magic is a vanishing art.
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Apprentice Regular user 164 Posts |
I too am a firm believer of being able to perform 6 (give or take) "Killer Perfected Tricks" (routines that amaze, that you have practiced, performance tested and can do in your sleep!).
That is much preferred over a jack-of-all-trades magi who vaguely knows or remembers all of his 100+ routine repertoire. DO learn more than 6 routines!! Just make sure you always have 6 great ones, ready under your belt, to make you look professional! If you're asked to show 6 tricks and you 'Muddle' through 6 poorly randomly chosen tricks from your 100+ routines, then the spectator still only ends up seeing 6 tricks!! Except you looked poor doing them (e.g. forgetting patter, messing up a sleight and therefore the routine, shaky hands, pauses to figure out what comes next, etc.). If you're going to show 6 tricks why not show them your 6 Best Time Tested tricks first! After they've been impressed you can slowly dish out the rest of your "shaky" 94+ tricks.... |
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Mitchum New user 59 Posts |
Thanks for the tip. I too have fallen prey to the trap of wanting to learn every great magic trick out there. I will begin to focus my efforts on a handful of routines.
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King Of Pop Veteran user Estonia 392 Posts |
Great post Juble, fantastic.
God Bless You, I Love You From The Bottom Of My Heart.
God Bless You, I Love You From The Bottom Of My Heart
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davidpaul$ Inner circle Georgetown, South Carolina 3086 Posts |
Great advice Juble,
As you said, you can read a lot of advice regarding performing, but it's not until you actually experience it in real life that it takes on a whole new meaning. Looks like you have arrived and are experiencing what it takes to be real magician. The one thing I've learned to make the performances memorable is to involve the spectators and let the magic happen in their hands as much as possible. Let them make the magic happen with a snap of the finger, or a wave of the wand. A good time and a pleasant escape from reality for your spectators is the main goal, and of course the skill that you mentioned can make it happen. Nice post David Paul
Guilt will betray you before technique betrays you!
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Shane Wiker Inner circle Las Vegas 1199 Posts |
Very good post.
By the way, did you consider doing the 21 card trick in celebration of the 21st birthday? Shane Wiker |
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JJDrew Loyal user Arizona 221 Posts |
One piece of advice I read on the Café and liked so much I printed it out in large letters and hung it on my wall (I wish I could remember who said it or where I saw it):
"Please yourself. That way you know at least one person is happy." I used to look at my effects and wonder which ones the audience would like and what I could do to make them more entertaining. While that has its place, when I began to take the aforementioned advice and designed the routines so that I liked them, my performance quality went up immediately. Last weekend I did a show that I designed entirely to please myself, and it went over wonderfully. Of course, sometimes this will backfire and what you think is awesome your audience might hate, but it's the best starting point I've found so far. Regarding the six trick discussion, I read this piece of advice long ago, but it is only relatively recently that I forced myself to take it. It can be difficult to do the same tricks all the time and stay interested. There are SO MANY awesome tricks out there that I'd like to learn! But it's worth it. After a while, you find yourself doing things with it that you never would have thought of had you stopped at the general knowledge and gone on to something else. After that you find yourself inventing new moves! |
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edh Inner circle 4698 Posts |
JJDrew,
I agree with what you posted. I have been practicing six to eight card effects now for about 8 months. Sometimes I get burned out on them so I try to vary the effect and see if I can come up with a different variation of a particular card effect.
Magic is a vanishing art.
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SOHartist Loyal user Ft. Myers, Florida 211 Posts |
Wow, thanks for posting that. That's definitely going to help me out.
mike |
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ShidennOdmistL Regular user Vegas 109 Posts |
Thanks for the tip. Probably one of the most practical pieces of advice that I have ever read.
Sol Hiden N D Mist...
Never look back.... |
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Decomposed Eternal Order High Desert 12059 Posts |
Tru dat......very good advice.
When learning the six time tested, how about variations of the six which could lead to knowing 12, etc.?
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Firebert New user 97 Posts |
Wow!! Very intelligent, well-written post. This is highly recommended reading for everyone.
“Nor is the man enriched, in repeating the old experiments of animal sensation, nor unless through new powers and ascending pleasures, he knows himself by the actual experience of higher good, to be already on the way to the highest."
--Emmerson |
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