When I perform to one of my friends, I always screw up. Let's say that I want to do riffle force, but he always says stop at the very beginning or bottom. Or when I've done the setup, he takes the top or bottom card. And once I performed him the trick by Daniel Madison where I pick a card from the spectator's hand and it's their card. He got it how I did it because I didn't want to give him the card because of the double. Hope you understand and can help me.
Problem with a friend when performing
- Thread starter Rasengan
- Start date
Don't perform for your friends. That's something I learnt early on. They're only out to get you, so there's no point to performing for them.
That's a pretty pessimistic way of looking at it. If they are "out to get you," would they really be friends? I perform for friends all the time. In fact, friends are the first people I perform to, because they support me and want to help me.
Anyway, as far as the original post, I'd say to not perform for that specific friend.
I concur, I perform my new tricks first of all to friends (well, and my mother), and they are always supportive, and even if I mess up they give me constructive feedback ("I saw you doing this and that, try to hide that more").
If a specific friend tried to ruin your tricks intentionally, just give him the "talk" about what a spectator should do (play along and enjoy the magic)... If it's the same thing with all your friends, find better friends, or at least some that are more mature
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perform to you friends moderately. dont try a new trick on them. some people are really nice people but just get tricks, or feel they must kill your trick.
Well, it may be a bit of overkill too say don't perform new stuff to friends - in fact, earlier today I enlisted the help of two friends who are coming over for the sole purpose of testing new tricks... As for this particular friend, that is probably a good idea, just not performing for him in particular. Or, at the very least, perform something really clean - no setup, clean ending, no gimmicks/gaffs etc. If you really really desperately need to perform for him, I can't imagine why, but if you did, force his card, or mark them, and at the very least you can mindread his cards without seeing them. Probably best to just not worry about him though.
Incidentally, with any double... Take the deck back, drop the double back on the deck if they want to see it, begin to offer them the card (not the right card) and hesitate for a sec, say "Hold on a second, what's the time?" and in that exact second, turn slightly and top change. No-one can help being distracted by such an out of the blue comment, but you only have the literally one split second to do it. Just a thought off the top of my head...
Incidentally, with any double... Take the deck back, drop the double back on the deck if they want to see it, begin to offer them the card (not the right card) and hesitate for a sec, say "Hold on a second, what's the time?" and in that exact second, turn slightly and top change. No-one can help being distracted by such an out of the blue comment, but you only have the literally one split second to do it. Just a thought off the top of my head...
this might help you...i was thinking how i can tell the so called 'rules' of magic to my friends without being rude...so the first trick i do to them is my version of triumph, with the patter , i was performing magic the other night at a dinner table and there was a guy there who was being a dick,, not listening to me ,grabbing the cards, and always trying to figure out the trick, now thats not appreciating the magic and he was ruining it for everbody else....then i carry on with the trick.....this sets some guide lines and rules to the spectators with out being direct with them...and nobody wants to be that guy who i just slated......it works for me and it might work for you too...
peace!!
peace!!
I tried yesterday to do riffle force for my friend and he said "I didnt say stop in that spot!" I tried it again and same result. Then i put my force card on top of the deck and placed his card above it. Then i did a double lift and that worked.
Later i did Biddle trick for him and after 10 minutes he said: "I figured it out" And he did. Does anyone have this kind of problems?
Later i did Biddle trick for him and after 10 minutes he said: "I figured it out" And he did. Does anyone have this kind of problems?
When I don't practice well enough, or make a mistake, it often happens... It may be because they saw a move, it may have just been too obvious.
Occasionally, VERY occasionally, someone is just clever or has knowledge of magic. But most often this is not the case.
Occasionally, VERY occasionally, someone is just clever or has knowledge of magic. But most often this is not the case.
I did it for few people at the same time and nobody saw any moves. Maybe he is just clever but he didnt fiqure out other tricks...
If you know that some of your friends likes to spoil your performance, do not perform for him.
If he says you are a coward, just tell him "There are 2 kinds of spectators. The first kind will watch the magician perform to be entertained. The 2nd kind will watch the magician perform for the sole purpose to debunk his/her trick. You are the 2nd kind and I don't perform to such spectators."
I know this might seem a little harsh, but your friend should be able to understand the message you are trying to bring across.
If he says you are a coward, just tell him "There are 2 kinds of spectators. The first kind will watch the magician perform to be entertained. The 2nd kind will watch the magician perform for the sole purpose to debunk his/her trick. You are the 2nd kind and I don't perform to such spectators."
I know this might seem a little harsh, but your friend should be able to understand the message you are trying to bring across.
For some reason, friends will often try and cause trouble. They probably don't realise quite how annoying it is for you. I have a couple of friends I never perform for.
However, the problems you listed could be easily avoided. To avoid people saying stop at the beginning or bottom when doing a riffle force here's what I do. Go through the first 20 cards so fast they don't have a chance to say stop then slow down for the 20 cards then speed up again so they don't have chance to say stop near the bottom. Repeat this process until they have picked a card. This can be done very naturally.
As for the Daniel Madison trick, You should ask them to spread the cards out on a table to look for their card. Simply show them the card then place it in the middle of the spread.
To be honest, it sounds like you didn't perform some of the moves too well.
There's a lot more to the Riffle force than you might think. You need to change the angles at different parts of the move for it to be effective.
They should be able to see the front while you are riffling down the side. When you should tilt it down so they only see the top of the deck. It will be impossible for them to tell where you stopped.
Looks like you didn't do your force correctly. If your friend says "I figured it out", give him the deck and show it to you.
dude cop the card that is not his away and while he is looking at his card place the card that is not his in your pocket as you grap your phone to check the time or somthing
just a tip for people reading this thread.
whenever someone gets close to seeing though a trick and decides to expose the method or tell me how i did it, i always say "hmmm... thats a good idea, but i dont do it that way"
that way, you give the spectator some respect and at the same time, establish that youre wayyy ahead of them.
whenever someone gets close to seeing though a trick and decides to expose the method or tell me how i did it, i always say "hmmm... thats a good idea, but i dont do it that way"
that way, you give the spectator some respect and at the same time, establish that youre wayyy ahead of them.
Im thinking, why run away from a heckler (your friend heckler, not the one on the street), when you can use them. Practise on him. I think, that way you will advance more quickly. And after all that heckling from him, and improving your skills and presentation, a normal spectator who is not a heckler and acually enjoys your magic, will come like a vacation to you
Just my tought...
Just my tought...