Two are my own. The rest are in print.
I have mentioned one.

Thanks.

kukram

As Prospero states, it's all in presentation.

I'm curious about the other effects, including the original ones, if you don't mind sharing..

All right, one reason why many perform Crazy Man's Handcuffs or why there is a large area of band magic is because there are some great tricks---some not killer but all portable and practical. I use band magic.

Do you want your audience to laugh, or do you want to audience to believe that there is something more to you than meets the eye?

I believe it's all the the way you perform something.
I seen guys with very little skill blow people away with the simplest tricks you could think of.

I think Kukram has made some interesting observations about the merits and strengths of certain effects hence his post. We are in the 21st Century and card magic has evovled in ways which would have astounded Hofzinser. Routines like the Ambitious Card, The Card to Pocket etc are classics no question and I for one consistantly get a powerful responce every time I present them.

Times change and I feel we should as performers; part of my ongoing evolution is to push the bounderies of what is possible with a deck of cards.

For those of you who are interested, my current impromptu repertoire consist of the following effects.

1. Intuition speller-Lorayne/Vincent
2. All Systems Go-Jennings
3. The Awesome Foursome-Wimhurst
4. The Combination Cull-Ortiz
5. The Vegas Shuffle-Ortiz
6. The Ultimate Topsy Turvy Aces-Marlo/Wimhurst
7. The Sting-Ortiz
8. The Showdown-Ortiz
9. The Unholy Three-Ortiz
10. Miraculous-Swain/Kaps

The effects are impromptu and can be done with a borrowed deck. These are effects I am sure you are all familiar with; what I like about them and I think supports Kurkrams initial post is the fact that they are different to the norm, refreshing, novel exciting and in terms of audience impact all I can say is they are abosulutely outstanding.

I hope my contribution to this thread encourages further thought for you. Let's push further and harder and give our audiences an experiences with cards which elevates the poetry of conjuring.

Good luck

Mike Vincent
London

The green shuffle can be used to make miracles happen, especially when you show the deck still to be in full order

I split the fence on this issue. I know where kukram is coming from. I think he should have been more clear in what he was stating, though. It's not that ACR or CMH are not good effects. I don't do an ACR, but I always get good reactions with CMH. Some of it does have to do with presentation. Still, IMO, the rest has to do with the fact that I'm the only one doing it in my area.

It isn't that ACR or CMH suck; it's just that so many people do it. I study kung fu. I remember being in a tournament, my first actually. There were three other classmates in my competition. Of the four of us, three (myself included) did the same form. All of us did the form well, but the judges saw it three times. Needless to say, my other classmate won first place for doing a different form. The rest of us came in third to fifth.

It wasn't that the form wasn't good (I won first place in the next tournament with the same form); it was that the judges saw the form three times in a row.

Basically, I think kukram is saying that we should "step our game up!" This is true. There are other effects out there that will blow people away. If you have mastered the ACR, find something else that will challenge you to learn. There are much more things that can be done. I wouldn't go so far as to say they are better. That really is a matter of taste.

Keep in mind with commercial effects, such as ACR and CMH, that scores of other magicians perform the effects. You will have to rely more so on presentation than skill. After all, they more than likely have seen it before. You really have to put your personality into commercial routines.

There are many card effects which have been "played out to death".

In my previous post you will see that my program consisted of effects which are technically demanding. It took me a while to feel comfortable with the handling on many of them. What's inspiring about mastering advanced routines like "The Sting" is the fact that it challenges you to step out of your comfort zone. In meeting the demands it places on you, you come away having mastered your own fear.

I love routines that challenge me technically and also artistically. Card Magic is such a beautiful experience for me to perform and also for an audiences because there is so much emotion in it. It is our job to find the truth and emotion in every effect. This is not easy. It takes time, patience and most of all self-discipline.

Good luck.

Mike Vincent

A year ago I did a show at a local school -- it was actually several short, 10-minute shows for different classes.

For the last class, I did only one trick. Before the class joined me, I gave a sealed envelope to their gym teacher, who was NOT at my table with the kids. I selected one kid to shuffle the cards, and I let him go at it for 10 minutes. When he was done, I looked at him and studied his face for about a minute. Then I had a second kid keep his finger on the deck so that nothing about the deck would change, while I left the table and found the gym teacher.

Bring the gym teacher to the table. "Did you hold this envelope for me? When did I give it to you? Do you know what's inside the envelope?"

Grill the first kid. "Now do we know each other? Did you honestly shuffle the deck? How many times, do you think? Did you cut the deck? Did I ever touch the cards? Did anybody else?"

Have the second kid open the envelope, and inside is a letter stating what the top three cards are. Have the first kid (the one who shuffled) turn over those first three cards, and...

Screams ensued. This was the biggest reaction I have ever gotten to any trick. As most of you will recognize, this is a simple, no-sleights-involved effect (well, there's one easy but brave sleight). This trick is over 100 years old -- Alexander Herman maybe? But this was the one that convinced the school kids that I had magic powers.

Hmmm interesting stuff...

I too understand what Kukram was saying, but I'm not sure I fully agree.

I agree that some tricks have been "done to death". Take for instance the silk and TT. However, in my experience for lay audiences the AC still kicks in well.

Magic seems to have come a long way in recent years, with many new "killer" effects coming to the fore, maybe a result of exposure on TV forcing new effects. Maybe we just have a talented new generation (maybe more magicians have worked out they can make better money inventing tricks than performing them.)

However, I don't agree that ALL your tricks in a routine should be killers.

Kukram says:

"Why do lots of people choose effects like these when there are much more powerful routines out there? Is it just because they are easier and entertaining?"

I'd say, yes. And I'd add that there is nothing wrong with that.

Carbone1853 says:

"So the reason to do non-killer effects is to give the audience a break to sit back and relax. Do a heavy-duty killer trick then do a lighter, more relaxed trick."

And I'd second that. Charlie Chaplin used to talk about light and shade. You laugh, you cry. Look at Chaplin, and you'll see that what makes it funnier is the contrast of emotions. If you are feeling sorry or sad for him, when something funny happens it seems all the more so because of the contrast. You will also see this principle in theater and even rock concerts with contrasting songs breaking up the moods and enhancing each other.

When you are routining tricks you need to pick out vehicles that best display your personality. They shouldn't remember the killer trick. They should remember YOU above all else.

As a basic rule you should open with an attention grabber. A quick strong direct effect that wins respect and justifies their first impression of you.

Then play with them. Entertain. Amuse. Let them get to know you. An "entertaining" trick or a "filler" if you like is fine for this. It gives them a glimpse of your facets.

Then finish with a Killer.

Kukram says:

"You can entertain and blow the spectator's mind"

And he is quite right.

However, musicians understand that an audience only has so much emotional response in them. If the warm-up band is too good, there isn't enough energy left in the crowd for the main event.

So too with your routines. I'd argue you need to nurture your audience's response to an ultimate climax rather than go for multiple orgasms. (Sorry about that one!)

Now I love Mike Vincent and count him as an old friend. I remember him doing an effect to me recently that destroyed me in the first 30 seconds. Trouble was the rest of the routine was a blur. I was still in shock. I was emotionally exhausted from the opening.

Later on Mike told me that he deliberately sets out to blow audiences away initially so that they can then just relax, suspend disbelief and be entertained. However, I observed that it is one thing to impress and fulfill their expectations, and another to climax too soon. You should be tempting them with the potential of what is to come, not kill them from the outset. Trouble is when you're as good as Mike it's hard not to blow them away. What a problem to have, eh?

Slydini used to say "you maaash them..." but he meant slowly---irrevocably---not with a hammer, but with gradually increasing pressure, effect after effect, like a vice.

So yay for "entertaining" tricks! Yay, for "killers"! But follow an entertaining trick with a killer and then you really have something. They should be on a roller coaster ride, not simply a series of car crashes.

Phew! enough with the metaphors already!

Ha ha (that was for "phew! enough with the metaphors already!"). Obviously all your tricks shouldn't be killers and finishers, because that's just what they are...finishers.

But, how does one define finishers? Torn and restored? Card on Ceiling? NFW? Personally, I start out with "Here then There" (I doubt that's the original name, but that's what Brad Christian calls it) and then finish with Paul Harris's Cross Twist.

I might float a card (IT) at one point and do Invisible Deck. Most of these tricks are stunning, but you need to start with a quick opening one and then build up to the finale.

I think Chris might have covered all the finer points with his metaphors (ha ha!).

-Orrin

We are all talking about entertainment, and entertainment should build to a crescendo just like a firework display - the final should leave the real kicker and leave them wanting more.

YOU can't guess which one they will like more, which least and which they will remember if they are all killer effects?

Imagine the end of a firework display when throughout, the first two minutes were the best. Even though all may have been fantastic it will still be a let down.

It should start out with a simple twist - make them think they've worked it out then twist it. That gets the initial interest and can be done with quite simple/short tricks.

Put yourself in the audience perspective - all killer effects would lose me and at best make me feel stupid. Build gradually then leave them stunned.

Finally, they will remember only one, possibly two. Just make sure one was the last and leave them with a smile or sheer amazement.

One very last note. You should play to the audience and audiences differ even at the same venue. CMH and ACR have their place.

I would suggest nine mediocre but passible tricks with any one of your 10 would leave an audience more stunned and amazed, because cos you are going from zero to hero rather than 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10.

This is for "JimMaloney"...I saw at the convention at the capital 98 Tommy Wonder performing Ambitious Card. It's perfect and with his different finale!

Clarioneer,

Depends what the situation is---table hopping, street magic, etc., where you don't have the time to build the audience up.

Indeed, it does even the age group and mental age. Also cards alone can get very boring very quickly, so CMH/Star Gazer/Pinnacle have their place as does some simple but effective coin magic like gadabout coins or ungimmicked copper/silver, and maybe even 21st Century silks BUT most important for me is the patter/story line.

One of the greatest magicians to come out of the UK was Tommy Cooper, a comic/magician. The magic was almost incidental. A genius.

It's not the effect that's powerful, it's the performance.

Presentation can only do so much. You need a strong effect to begin with.

Tommy Cooper, positively proved that NOT to be the case...