theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Original Effect

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parsons18

Oct 17, 2010
29
0
Newport
Hi guys,
This might already have been covered, apologise if it has for starting a new thread, is there a way or some kind of magic database which you can search in which you can find out if your effect is original?? I've searched and asked around and everyone seems to agree that it is and that they haven't seen it before, just wandering.

Regards

Dan Parsons
 
I'm not aware of any such data base in that there are only so many base effects we can do and because of this, and the fact that it's simply how we dress the methods & presentation that differs, it would be quite difficult to do such. . . at least to my mind. On the other hand I will tell you that any magic lover with more than a year's time invested, already has several notebooks full of "original" tricks. Old guys like me could fill a small warehouse when it comes to such things. Truly "original" magic is really hard to come up with though we can develop novel presentations as well as methods for getting there.

Back in the 80's there was a group of about a dozen different people that came up with the same basic idea at the same time and even came up with similar methods. Catch is, it was Bill Smith that actually built the device first and so he is credited with the kudos for being the "originator". It is possible (likely) that he got ideas from various sources and then made things tangible but magic is a politically driven monster and it's not always the originator of something that gets the brownie points; the Spectator Sawing (Bow Saw) for an example, was developed by Percy Abbott who sold one of the first three made to Robert Harbin who is the man everyone points to simply because of a few improvements he made to the trick. His name on the effect however meant bigger price tags and bragging rights for those that owned one. Go figure!

My advice to anyone that is creative is quite simple; write it up and share it for free!

Understand there is a logic to this. . . the more you ideas are published and recognized by the magic fellowship the more credibility you will gain. After doing this for a couple of years you can sell a book with a few dozen effects of your own making and people will be clamoring to buy it and willing to pay an upper-dollar price for it.

Take your time to build a name and reputation. Don't be like everyone else that has a Lulu.com account and write just because you can. Be picky! Take your concepts and play with them for a while so you can refine them. Allow a select few who have varying skill levels and markets, to try it out and "audience test" it. All of these things allows you to gain the upper hand when it comes to marketing and consumer trust.

Best of luck!
 
thank you, i have a notebook full of stuff but none of the material inside i have thought to be worth getting out there, if you get what i mean, this though i might actually film and release on the Wire for free just so people can play about with it, but thanks again guys for the help, much appreciated :)
 
You can check out the Behr Archives HERE. It is a great resource to find out various versions of effects and plots that have been published. It isn't comprehensive, but it is extensive.
 
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