Emotional Ideas

Nov 13, 2019
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159
Basically, I was going through my repertoire after watching some lectures and I found that I had no emotional patter at all in any of my main tricks (and any trick I have used ngl). I just wanted to know what emotional things, I can try to incorporate into my tricks. I'm kinda stumped as I can only think of like a romantic idea about love and that. Does anyone have any ideas, or things you have seen get a nice reaction from? (I'm 15 so maybe my patter is different then most other peoples).

Also, rather than do another thread as it is kinda related, I saw I had little comedy. I just wondered whether you guys have pre-prepared jokes, or is it spontaneous etc. I remember one time with a group which I performed for before in the day and we crossed paths again, I can't exactly remember what was said, but it set up perfectly for a diss towards the person (in like a banter way) where he took it very seriously, though the rest of the group found it funny - is this good? As by percentages the joke was good but it still upset that one guy, which is almost the opposite of the point of magic (entertainment).
Any response is appreciated.
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
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New Jersey
Rather than thinking about having emotional patter, think of it as trying to have meaningful presentation. Pay attention to how people have conversations. For the most part, conversations are stories about things that happened to people or stories that people saw or read. The news and sports are stories (did you see what happened in the game last night?). Conversations also can be about ideas (politics, religion, philosophy or the best pick for your favorite team in the draft). Close up magic is a conversation.

By meaningful, I am talking about presentations that talk about something other than the adventures of the cards in the magician's hands. Now, it is hard to come up with a meaningful presentation for a lot of close-up magic. The magic just doesn't support the presentation (e.g. discussing world hunger while doing a coin bite). Also, a lot of card tricks are difficult to have a meaningful presentation (e.g. a four ace production). It is ok to have some effects that aren't meaningful (think of it like a handful of M&M's - no nutritional value but it tastes good). The key is to have some effects that are meaningful.

Find things that interest you and make your presentations about that. Happiness, friendship, parents, siblings, old sneakers, books, getting ice cream, baking, things you wake up in the middle of the night wondering, school, etc. What does the effect remind you of? Talk about things you know.

Feel free to post effects and ideas here and we'd be glad to help you come up with some presentations.
 
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DavidL11229

Elite Member
Jul 25, 2015
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Trying to shoehorn emotion in can just sound fake. I don't think I'd be good at the standard emotional story presentation. I do strive for a presentation the will be felt emotionally, but not in the way it is generally discussed. To me wonder and awe are emotions and these can come from pure effect. It is your job to lead them there .

What comes to mind is the presentations where you question the nature of reality. What is real, what is solid etc. Verbally challenge their perceptions at the same time the effect does the same thing. I believe this can create emotion, but if nothing else it creates a meaningful presentation as the other David suggests.

It is common to turn an ad-libbed joke into a pre-prepared joke for next time. Most pros I've seen explain things say most of the jokes are pre-prepared. Scripting the entire effect can be useful. As for the comedy, you're on your own there. Comedy is dangerous. I personally do not like presentations where a spectator is the butt of a joke. But many people do try to use that in a good-natured way, so who am I to say.
 
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Jun 19, 2019
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Those are some great ideas and advice!
I find that sometimes it is easier to create a story or emotion from physical objects, such as a special pen my grandfather gave me, or a limited edition nice looking coin or something. Both of those items have a plethora of options for what magical presentation/effect you want to use.
Stories and anecdotes are great, but you can also use physical objects to create an emotional connection and narrative.

I hope this helped! :D
 
Jun 18, 2019
540
293
20
West Bengal, India
Basically, I was going through my repertoire after watching some lectures and I found that I had no emotional patter at all in any of my main tricks (and any trick I have used ngl). I just wanted to know what emotional things, I can try to incorporate into my tricks. I'm kinda stumped as I can only think of like a romantic idea about love and that. Does anyone have any ideas, or things you have seen get a nice reaction from? (I'm 15 so maybe my patter is different then most other peoples).

Also, rather than do another thread as it is kinda related, I saw I had little comedy. I just wondered whether you guys have pre-prepared jokes, or is it spontaneous etc. I remember one time with a group which I performed for before in the day and we crossed paths again, I can't exactly remember what was said, but it set up perfectly for a diss towards the person (in like a banter way) where he took it very seriously, though the rest of the group found it funny - is this good? As by percentages the joke was good but it still upset that one guy, which is almost the opposite of the point of magic (entertainment).
Any response is appreciated.
This effect didn't have any emotional patter. It didn't make me feel like my life has changed. It didn't make me feel like I've realised the purpose of loving and so on. But it's one of the most entertaining magic videos I've seen till date.


This has no patter at all, but hits a homerun on the shock level and just looks like pure, no-fooling-around-magic (honestly, once you can do this, do you even need a patter?)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBvYd3bHQ7F/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Again, no emotional value, but one of my favourite Penn and Teller performances.


Now, the following three videos are those which use emotion and hence have also made their performances memorable.


What does this mean? It means that firstly, emotions are misunderstood a lot in magic. Secondly, they are subjective.

Like mentioned before, you don't need to talk about something life-changing to perform something somebody will remember for their entire life. You don't need to be over-dramatic to be emotional.Especially if you're 15, do not do that. It comes off as a bit too much. You (and I, for that matter, haha :D ) have spent just a little over a decade in life, it'll not suit you to talk about emotional things. Even if you speak about romance and love, speak about what you know and what people know that is normal to experience at your age, and chances are, they have experienced it too. The reason I bolded ''People know" is because sometimes even if you know something for sure and you have experienced it, but people think it's unlikely that you have...
It is unlikely that you have.

As for jokes, I don't deliberately crack jokes in my performance, just go with the flow. But that is because I don't plan my magic to be comedy magic. If I did however, I'd be more comfortable to at least have a few pre-planned jokes, even if others are on the spot. It's surprising how many of the things that look like casual spontaneity in the hands and words of experts, are actually planned, practised and polished over years.


Close up magic is a conversation.
This deserves to be written on a beige background with typewriter font.


Trying to shoehorn emotion in can just sound fake
In my opinion, this is truth. But not only ''can'' it sound fake. It ''does''. You can exaggerate your experience, make your walk to the multiplex sound like you were trekking, talk about watching your favourite performer on stage live when really you just watched their live performance on You Tube and were moved by it. But something related to what you're talking about should have happened.

It's easy to fake spontaneity.
It's impossible to fake truth.


Stories and anecdotes are great, but you can also use physical objects to create an emotional connection and narrative.
This is a great idea. Also, something Ben Earl said is that if you perform an average sleight with just props that are out of the box, your magic elevates itself. Use business cards instead of playing cards and pebbles instead of coins.

And if nothing works, just look at this thread, read all of the ideas and work on each one of them, as I will be doing. :D
The best of artists steal ideas, in a way. ;)
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
I saw I had little comedy. I just wondered whether you guys have pre-prepared jokes, or is it spontaneous etc. I remember one time with a group which I performed for before in the day and we crossed paths again, I can't exactly remember what was said, but it set up perfectly for a diss towards the person (in like a banter way) where he took it very seriously, though the rest of the group found it funny - is this good?

Comedy is dangerous. I personally do not like presentations where a spectator is the butt of a joke. But many people do try to use that in a good-natured way, so who am I to say.

I agree with the other David... don't make jokes that insult your audience unless that person will think it was funny.

Now, the following three videos are those which use emotion and hence have also made their performances memorable.

Kayla Drescher's performance is one of the best on Fool Us. She knew that there was no way she could fool P&T with that effect but she performed it not to fool them, but to entertain the audience.

This deserves to be written on a beige background with typewriter font.

upload_2020-7-18_10-13-29.jpeg


It's impossible to fake truth.

Yes and no. I tell a story about an armoire in my grandparents house as part of my haunted key routine. My grandparents, the house and the armoire all are true. I was even creeped out by the armoire. The rest of the story, well, let's just say I've told it enough that it has become true to me. I tell a story about my Uncle Jim and Aunt Bertha... they've been gone so long that, well, sometimes I question if they ever existed. The key isn't where the stories are true, but whether they are plausible. That is, whether they could be true. Now, I can tell a story about when I worked as a bartender in Law School (I didn't) but that wouldn't fly for a 17 year old who hasn't even gone to college.
 
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Nov 13, 2019
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159
(So some of my points make sense I need to highlight I mostly perform for people my own age or slightly younger; kids younger than 8-9ish sometimes struggle to follow basic instructions and I don't really have a set they can follow as of yet)

Find things that interest you and make your presentations about that. Happiness, friendship, parents, siblings, old sneakers, books, getting ice cream, baking, things you wake up in the middle of the night wondering, school, etc. What does the effect remind you of? Talk about things you know.

Most of the ideas I've had after a short brainstorming session relate to something I would be forced to study at school (mental health-bullying) and I can only think of ideas where I would present it almost like a lesson. I personally don't want to see myself as my spectators teacher or parent, telling them life-lessons (more their mate which I think you highlighted about conversations somewhere). I had a few ideas with card transportation about teen romance and making a joke about that (the constant changing and getting over it - the 2 week relationship people say is 'long-term' etc.) As some teens think there relationship is entirely serious and is definitely leading to marriage and kids etc. I thought about doing Daniel Madison perfect pair (forcing the first card) to show they are linked. (If you don't know the effect basically one person chose a card - which they can see, then the second person chooses a card and it's the perfect match (same number and same colour - eg. 3H and 3D)) I could also do an OOTW with one person doing the first bit and the second person doing the other to show how in sync they are or something? Other than that I don't know what is quite universal. I thought about homosexuals and things like that but that is quite a touchy subject and it can be hard to judge. The trouble is most of the people I perform for normally with there friends so are trying to act 'hard' so they might not like an emotional idea. @MohanaMisra is there any certain parts of life that you feel affected by? (as you are more the age of my audience I felt like asking you but anyone can respond if they feel it could work (and I also wanted to do the tag thing to see if it worked)).

Mostly at the end of this kinda blabble paragraph, my only main ideas is things I feel everyone is affected by and doing a journey about them. I am mostly a card magician so I can't really do much organic magic but I may try think up an idea to do magic with a condom packet (I think there was a marketed effect somewhere which I will track down and see ether I can take some inspiration from it) I can also think up some jokes for it but I will mostly need to practice them on people irl and judge their sense of humor .

There was a few other things I wanted to say but I forgot them I'm sure they will come back to me.

Thanks for all the responses and the ideas, I appreciate it.

it'll not suit you to talk about emotional things.

Plus mostly my audience don't care about emotional things anyway:D. (That came out harsh I didn't mean that how it sounds but I spent 5 minutes re-writing it and I can't make it sound better so I put a smiley face).

As for the jokes, I just wondered what sort of pre-prepared jokes a magician has (I don't want to copy as this will most definitely not work but I just want to see what sort of things they say and whether it would work with my audience)

Still all I can think of I'll just post it now to give my brain some time.:)
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
@Arconik you are trying too hard. At age fifteen, you don't have the life experience to be able to say anything profound. Any attempt to be emotional will probably come off as fake and any attempt to be edgy will probably backfire. Make your presentations about things you normally talk about. Also, it is OK if your presentation is say-do-see patter. As a beginner, you will be getting performance experience. As you get older, you can adapt your performances to have better presentation.

Performing for friends is difficult because they know you aren't magical and they also know when you deviate from your personality. That is, if you don't normally tell stories then telling stories won't feel right. Also, if you perform for the same people, you are always going to have to be learning new effects. You won't have the time it takes to develop a good presentation.

So for now, just perform. As you perform more, you will develop your character. If you start to perform more than just casually, you shift from performing multiple tricks for the same people to performing the same tricks for multiple people. At that point, you can take the time to change your tricks into performance pieces that are well thought out, scripted and rehearsed.
 
Jun 18, 2019
540
293
20
West Bengal, India
Also, it is OK if your presentation is say-do-see patter. As a beginner, you will be getting performance experience. As you get older, you can adapt your performances to have better presentation.
It's more than okay I guess. Sometimes even the best end up saying the say-do-see patter in their performances, not realising it. As long as it's not too much, it's alright, in my opinion.

Kayla Drescher's performance is one of the best on Fool Us. She knew that there was no way she could fool P&T with that effect but she performed it not to fool them, but to entertain the audience.
Her performance, for me, is a huge example that somebody can know how something works, yet you can leave a lasting impression in their mind as a magician. It was also pretty smart that she didn't talk, seeing that Teller doesn't speak.


. I personally don't want to see myself as my spectators teacher or parent, telling them life-lessons (more their mate which I think you highlighted about conversations somewhere).
As said earlier, it is a conversation.

Even if you're talking about lofty topics, you don't need to tell it as if you "know" it. Instead of using a sort of "Hence, this is what it is..." patter, use a "This is my opinion, what do you think...?" patter.

But again, avoid lofty topics as much as you can, including issues of mental-health and bullying, especially if you work mostly with cards. The effects will break down under such heavy topics.

It's very subjective, really. First find an effect which can bear the weight of the patter you want to use with them. When you do, don't come off as if you know everything.
Plus mostly my audience don't care about emotional things anyway:D. (That came out harsh I didn't mean that how it sounds but I spent 5 minutes re-writing it and I can't make it sound better so I put a smiley face).
I don't think so. I think they don't care about emotional card tricks.

I'm telling you, you're more interesting than you think you are. Check what you watch online, see the topics of the articles you read, what videos you binge-watch. What is it about that singer you love, or that celebrity you crush on? Do you hate documentaries, but love rom-coms? Or is it the other way round?

Does your brain switch off during Chemistry class, but is super-active during Physics class? What infuriates you about being a teen (there must be something. Nobody hates teenagers more than teenagers themselves :D )? What do you love about being young?

Do you love Instagram more or Snapchat? And why? What's your opinion about Android vs iPhones? Do you think book/film sequels fail to live up to their expectations? Why do you think so?

Incorporate all this in your patter. That, is using genuine emotions. :)

Again, in my opinion. Because what do I know? ;)
 
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Nov 13, 2019
141
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Thanks for all the replies, if I and any of you are still active on this site in a few months (which I'm sure you will be) I might create a new thread saying how I got on.
I just wondered is there anyway I can pin this thread to return to rather than go through and find it each time I want to remember something that was said?
 
Nov 13, 2019
141
159
I’ve found an interesting video of Paul Daniels explaining how he created his patters/made the tricks interesting and entertaining for the audience. I think it’s worth to watch it.
That was actually really interesting to watch, thanks. I always liked Paul Daniels work and honestly it surprised me how much I would much prefer to watch that basic trick with the story and patter than a trick that fools me but doesn't really entice me in.
 
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