need some help

May 9, 2013
58
0
hi guys, i am practicing magic for about 10 months now and i mastered very good tricks like all zack muellers stuff even marbles i can do that 7 out of 10 time perfectly.i performed some tricks for my brother and that went good. and now we have a family party in about 2 weeks and they dont knew that i am practicing magic because i didnt telled them but i want to amaze them now. i planned that first of all i will produce four queens from 4 by shin lim than i will do the queens by dan and dave than planned to do some tricks like surge and inflict by patrick kun and some ring routines from reflex and divorce mixed and crazy mans handcuffs, some colour changes and casino royale with cheese by chris mayhew and then finally i will hit them hard with a haunted deck using loops i am taking with me my devos midnight blades blood spear edition deck with me. but guys i want to do some more things what tricks you recommend to do for a party environment when you are surrounded and i am taking my black deck with me because i will use loops. please tell me what is your tricks that gets best reactions and shoud i do thing that are very hard like shin lims stuff from shinanigens and 21. thank you for reading this
 
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yyyyyyy

Elite Member
Apr 7, 2012
537
12
Why does it matter if the trick is hard or not? Just because the trick is hard doesn't mean it's the best trick to perform. Also, Zach's material is generally difficult to pull off in public scenarios, with the exception of Fontaine and Gradual. You also use the term "Master" rather lightly, it's hard to believe that you've mastered anything within 10 months of magic. Nevertheless, the material you've already stated isn't bad for parties. I like Chris' routine you mentioned; I use it all the time in fact. Tricks don't have to be complicated to hit hard, quite the opposite in some cases. Simple tricks are easy to understand and can be just as powerful if you present them correctly. But don't expect things to be easier because it's a family party, performing for the family can be infinitely harder than performing for strangers.
 
Apr 17, 2013
885
4
If you can only do something seven out of ten times then it's not mastered. When I first started, I worked on my act and effects for three years before anyone outside of the ring or my mentor saw them. I learned long ago that it's not only the amount of time you put into practice, it is how you practice.

Also there is a huge difference between knowing how to do the effect and performing it. One of my strongest audience reaction effects is the simplest thing I do. It is self working using a wallet. What makes it is the story. It's the story that draws them in. I spent six months alone working on that story. Tweeking it. Making sure places and items in the story fit the time period. Making it something special.

The other thing you have to remember is that friends and family will not tell the truth. They will tell you that they are fooled or that you did well because they are family. They don't want to hurt your feelings.
 
Sep 2, 2007
1,186
16
42
London
i practice magic for 8 hours a day

Well done. Now you've got a good work ethic established, broaden your horizons by spending at least a couple of those hours going out and practicing performance skills by performing for real people. After you've done that for a couple of months, you won't need to ask anyone else questions about what tricks get the best reactions because you'll know from your own experience. And you'll be a much better performer than you are now.

In all honesty, despite my love of difficult and arcane sleight of hand, the effects I get the best reactions from are very simple. I've got a little Ambitious sequence that ends with a Rub-a-Dub vanish of the card. I do a Hindu shuffle force followed by "mind reading". And I do a pseudo card to wallet which is basically a force, some acting and the reveal of a card which was in my wallet the whole time. The reason these tricks get the best reactions is because I've performed them for real people more times than anything else I do. I know how to use these tricks to engage my participants and draw in skeptical or stand-offish spectators. I know the timing. I know the points that I can slow down and improvise a bit, and the points where I need to push the performance on. And, when necessary, I know how to use these tricks to get people to hand over tips.

Basically, what I'm saying is that the tricks that get the best reactions are the ones that you know how to get the best reactions with. That may be very hard knuckle-busting stuff, but after ten months in magic I doubt it. If I were you, I'd find a few easier tricks that allow you to think about your performance more than the sleights.
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
If you can only do something seven out of ten times then it's not mastered. When I first started, I worked on my act and effects for three years before anyone outside of the ring or my mentor saw them. I learned long ago that it's not only the amount of time you put into practice, it is how you practice.

Also there is a huge difference between knowing how to do the effect and performing it. One of my strongest audience reaction effects is the simplest thing I do. It is self working using a wallet. What makes it is the story. It's the story that draws them in. I spent six months alone working on that story. Tweeking it. Making sure places and items in the story fit the time period. Making it something special.

The other thing you have to remember is that friends and family will not tell the truth. They will tell you that they are fooled or that you did well because they are family. They don't want to hurt your feelings.

I had to use this quote because there is so much valuable truth to it and rules of the art so many ignore, like working on an act for extended periods of time, quietly, until THE ACT IS GENUINELY READY FOR THE STAGE. . . or types of venues you're wanting to work; knowing the mechanics of a trick doesn't mean you know how it's done (performed).

I do a card effect that has never failed to blow magicians out of the water and all it is, is a Svengali deck that I switch to. I've done the same by ringing in a force deck after borrowing a deck of cards from one of the guys (can't get away with that as easily now days thanks to all the designer decks). Then again, routines as simple as the Vanishing Salt or Cigarette via Thumb Tip can get you major applause IF you present it correctly.

Most of the guys I've watch that love all the difficult card crap suck as entertainers; usually because they are more concerned with showing off "the moves" than they are performing. I've seen this same problem with guys that buy big illusions thinking that's all you need; a big expensive box. Truth is, big illusions are a pain in the tukkiss to present in an entertaining and enchanting manner, especially when you don't have the advantage of a proper theater. I should point out that I've been in and around two huge illusion shows over the years (my mentors and my own) in which the one effect everyone remembered was the simplest, "smallest" of them all, a pure manipulation routine known as "The Orange Bowls" and while the method is simple the presentation is a royal pain to learn. Yet, the production of two pounds of real oranges is what people remembered and clamored about most.

When it comes to performing for Friends & Family there is a truth to what I underlined but there is also the reality that most of your peers will be prone to give you a harder time and taunt you as well. It's not usually mean spirited just classic orneriness. This is especially true when you do things at school.

Now Comes the Big Spanking . . . why are you waiting till a week before the gig to ask for help?

Halloween is about 3 months away, it's my big season because of what I do. I've been working on the act I do for this time of year more than five years ago and have been "courting" the client I want to work with, for several months already. This is how it's actually done; you prepare for a show months ahead of time, especially when you're young and new at the game. As you get experience you can be more flexible but not when you're first starting out. So keep this in mind.

I know I can come off harsh but understand that it's just my love of magic and desire to see neophytes like yourself, do better.
 

JokerZingo

Elite Member
Oct 16, 2012
94
0
Sweden
freemagictutorials.com
I have to agree with teedee take easier sleights after ten months you probably havn't mastered all these tricks even if you practice 8 hours a day it's very knacky moves.
For your first show ever try to use tricks like ambitous card, Joker find card tricks and abit more simple things I been doing my act for over 2 years now and I still use ambitous card as an opener as everyone else said in this thread is not what trick you do is how you present it.

If you work enough of your preformance you can get the best reaction from the most simpel trick. One of the best reactions I get is from "changing" a card in their hand and it's done with just one double lift.
So don't think about how complicated the trick is think about how you preform it.

Thanks - Markus/JokerZingo
 

venom546

Elite Member
Mar 11, 2013
121
5
I like to perform distortion by wayne houchin and five speed by chris kenner. But if someone just hands me a deck of cards, then I can usually just combine tricks. I sometimes just have a spectator pick a card then perform victoria and do pop sandwich by oliver smith. I get some pretty good reactions with that. Or I just control their selected card second from the top and do Suchong by Zach or something simple. Some of the very simple tricks can get you some amazing reactions. It just depends on how you perform it.
 

Carl K

Elite Member
Jun 13, 2013
2
2
Angle Zero

Hey there. You should check out Angle Zero by Daniel Madison! That is one of my most hard hitting effects and it is really easy to do. You dont have to practice that much!
 
Apr 17, 2013
885
4
Even if that were true, I believe that would be too much practice. Too much practice can be just as useless as never practicing.

I think it falls back on how he goes about his practice. for me, I spend about eight hours a day in practice. Of that eight hours there is script work and outlining of the patter and effects. Recording myself working on the new stuff and then watching it the next day for fresh eyes. Reading books looking for new stuff, cataloging the effects from my new book finds (and my book collection keeps getting larger and larger). When I'm getting closer to a cabaret show I'll do and record run through of the act with my director. Work on pacing act act.

But like you said if you are just sitting around working on slights over and over for eight hours a day, you are losing so much in the form of practice.
 
Jul 22, 2013
222
1
California
Even if that were true, I believe that would be too much practice. Too much practice can be just as useless as never practicing.
Practice doesn't make perfect. PERFECT practice makes perfect. That being said, if you have many sleights down, why not try to come up with a couple tricks on your own? If you can perform the moves behind the tricks, imagine that most tricks are the same, with the exception of the reveal. So go with some basic passes, double lifts and such, and just work in the story and the reveal.
 
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