Messing up

Apr 4, 2009
6
0
32
Apple Valley. CA
i was just wondering what other do when you mess up a trick... ether have the cards fall, show the slight, or just do something wrong and it comes out wrong... i mean i know myself i have messed up a lot when i first learned... i mean yea it was cause i didnt practice that much.. and i was nervous at first... but i have always found ways to cover it... i mean everyone knows me as a person that can make you laugh.. so if the cards fall i play it out and yell.. "thats your card!!" when they are all face up... then i pick them up and start over.. of if i show a slight and they catch it... i change up the trick and ask them to follow the card and it always throws them off.. HAHA

so i was just wondering what do you do when you mess up??
 
Jun 6, 2010
796
0
Nashville, TN
I just use misdirection whenever I'm doing a move unless it's like a break the a cut because I don't need misdirection for that but for something like a top change, you need misdirection. Most of the time, it stops you from getting caught.
 
Go out and perform more. The more you perform, the more you practice for a real audience, the more you make mistakes! Mistakes will help you learn so you can make... less mistakes! But when you do screw up and THEY notice it, then apologize move on to the next trick. If nobody notices, quickly misdirect them (a good way to misdirect is to stop talking for a few seconds/make eye contact with them even if they aren't looking, stop moving your hands and people will naturally look up at you), or switch the trick so that it will suit your mistake.

That's my two cents!

Mehar
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
As it was stated, you need to get out and perform more for real audiences so you can figure out all of the possible results of an effect. There will simply be times when the effect fails due to your own mistake or a mistake the spectator made, ie. not following your specific directions. And even when it is the spectator's fault, you do not embarrass them on stage or tell them that "they" were the ones who screwed it up.

I just had this happen at a gig last week when my spectator did not follow my exact instructions and instead choose any word on the page of a book test. I needed him to only focus on the first word on the page. He didn't follow the instructions and so after a huge build up and time for the revelation.....Boy did I look dumb when our words did not match.

Sometimes you can cover and other times you are just caught dead in the water as I was that time. I simply apologized and asked if the group minded if we give it one more try and I was fine that time. Most of the time the audience will be on your side and they realize that you are human and mistakes can happen.

However, that being said, as soon as I got home I called one of my friends who is a working professional mentalist / hypnotist and gave him the info on what had just occurred. He answered my question and told my exactly what I needed to do and say so that another instance like this didn't happen.

Mistakes happen to EVERYONE. If someone says they have never made a mistake when performing magic they are out of their mind. Those of us who are actually out there performing every week or weekend know that, "Yes, at some point in time, something will go wrong so you need to be prepared." Experience will help this. Learn from the mistake so it doesn't happen again.
 
Aug 31, 2007
689
12
33
Lacey,Washington
At my first gig I held up a double to everybody

The double I was doing were too different cards. 1 mandolin and 1 bike card so the card stock was different and weird to put together. One of the cards edges peeked out
The double flashed and a staff lady said ," Well what's the card underneath it" . I was being witty and funny the whole performance so I quickly said " Oh the 10 of diamonds of course!, My favorite card, here let's take that off" (as I mimed taking it off) and it happened so fast the spectators didn't make a deal of it at all.

I think Eric Jones said it on multiple occasions, the best way to learn is to get caught.


Well lesson learned :D
 
Mistakes happen to EVERYONE. If someone says they have never made a mistake when performing magic they are out of their mind. Those of us who are actually out there performing every week or weekend know that, "Yes, at some point in time, something will go wrong so you need to be prepared." Experience will help this. Learn from the mistake so it doesn't happen again.

Yeah, I make a mistake almost every performance, only, the spectators don't notice, and I cover it up well!
 
Aug 31, 2007
61
0
Ohio
www.myspace.com
I need to get out of the habbit of saying "I just messed up." when i mess up, because 90% of the time they have no clue i messed up. But most of the time it is because i am nervous, just keep practicing with crowds and dont ever sell yourself out when you mess up. Just play on it and keep going.
 
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
bittle trick ftw

a) -100 respect points for making a typo on one of the most well known tricks in card magic.

Yeah, I make a mistake almost every performance, only, the spectators don't notice, and I cover it up well!

b) Yeah... That just means you haven't practiced enough. Stay home. Practice more. It's one thing to make a mistake and learn to recover. It's another to rush out unprepared crap because you can't be bothered practicing more. I can't see why else you'd go out into the real world without being ready. Have you ever seen a play where an actor forgets his lines every scene? If you have, were they a good actor? Why do you expect magic to be any different?
 
a) -100 respect points for making a typo on one of the most well known tricks in card magic.

b) Yeah... That just means you haven't practiced enough. Stay home. Practice more. It's one thing to make a mistake and learn to recover. It's another to rush out unprepared crap because you can't be bothered practicing more. I can't see why else you'd go out into the real world without being ready. Have you ever seen a play where an actor forgets his lines every scene? If you have, were they a good actor? Why do you expect magic to be any different?

Ma bad....

I don't mean large mistakes, I knew someone would bash me on that comment! I mean just something like trying to get a break and it keeps slipping or something small like that. Nothing like an erndase classic color change showing.
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,395
8
37
Belgrade, Serbia
Well, mistakes are going to happen, to everyone, but it's up to you if they are going to happen every day, or once per month (assuming that you are performing every day). Now, if you want, you can take couple of days, go through your material that you are performing, and calculate every situation where a trick can go wrong (either by you or by the spectator), and then come up with a solution for EVERY scenario. Or you can just acknowledge the mistake, if you are called upon it by the spectator, that's up to you.
To give you an example:
I was performing card to pocket, and when I palmed the card, I flashed, so spectator could see the card in my hand. I had a duplicate of the same card on top of the deck, so what I did was I looked at the card in my palm, and show it for everyone to see. I said "hmm, what a polite gentleman he wants to shake hands first" (it was the King of Hearts), as I said that, I slipped the duplicate into spectators own pocket. I proceed with a rub a dub vanish, and reveal the card in the spectators pocket. So reactions were even better than if the trick went as planned and appeared in my own pocket.
 
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