Hey guys,
I am a big idea man. I love to come up with these large and small scale illusions that seem impossible to even the magicians I tell them to. Even so, I still create and have the ability to perform these feats of magic and the magicians who see me perform it live always asks me, "How do you come up with these ideas?"
And with all the people always asking, "Well how do I create my own effect?", I decided to make a 4 step guide to creating your OWN illusions therefore having the ability to do something NO ONE eles can accomplish.
Step One- The Idea (Coming up with the idea/concept)- This by far has to be the hardest part of creating your own effect next to figuring out how to actually perform it for most magicians. And for some it comes very easily to them. It really varies form person to person. I think the only real way to come up with an idea is to just LET IT COME TO YOU. DO NOT try to force it. Most usually when you do something you enjoy or when you see a certain object or doing a certain something, it just hits you like a brick to the head. Haha, most of my ideas that I come up with I come up with in the shower. I don't know why, I guess it's just the feeling of being relaxed is just the idea maker for me. Also, do something or look back on something that inspires you like for me, I sometimes listen or play music. I'm a huge rock fanatic and I play guitar alot so that where I also get some of my ideas. So if you do something you enjoy or just relax a bit and take it easy and not think about it too much, then it will come to you...
Another thing that I also do and might be a little easier for the people who can't come up with something completely original right off the bat can also take an old or classic effect, and making it new and original with a new twist, handling, or look to the entire trick. I LOVE taking something like that 2CM that you can change the handling of so much and making it look like a completely new effect. AND REMEMBER, NO IDEA IS A BAD IDEA! When something comes to you, take it and run with it. Oh, and write it down so you dont forget it! I forget to do that all the time and I always forget what I come up with so yeah, be sure to do that
.
Step Two- The Method (How to find and come up with the sleights.)- This is I believe the second hardest next to coming up with the idea. With things like card or coin effects, there are some many sleights and moves to choose from. Of course you will have to do a bit of researching and buying, but if you believe in what you are creating, then it should be well worth it. Now, if there IS NOT some kind of sleight or move that fits into your effect, then MAKE YOUR OWN! I can't tell you how many purely awsome effect are made possible because they were made of original sleights and moves, and it makes it that much more harder for people to figure out and not that obvious to laymen who might know an extensive amount of sleights. Such effects like Sinful. Every move was created by Wayne Houchin himself and came out with one of the best impromptu effects out there.
And another thing I forgot to mention, when coming up with the method, keep it SIMPLE! You DO NOT want a overly complicated method that you might get mixed up with and might get the spectators confused. Keep it simple!
Step Three- Practicing (Organizing your effect.)- Practicing your new effect might sound simple enough, but there IS some work that you have to do so you can perform it effectively during performance. And that's why keeping the method simple is important, because you do not want to get into the effect and forget which step comes next and end up with an embarrassing performance which sucks by the way. First, you need some full-proof way that you can remember how to do your effect step by step, every step of the way. What I do is I right down all the steps with the names of the sleights and moves in order of when it comes into use during the effect. If there are angles that you have to deal with, try practicing it in front of a mirror and see what angels are working for you and which ones are not. A video camera works too if you have one. Depending on the effect and who you are, I think the average amount of practice it takes to get down a close-up effect is about maybe 4-5 weeks. That's just me, if it takes longer or shorter than that, that's fine, but practicing your effect or any effect for that matter is one of the most important steps in having a effective and entertaining performance.
Step 4- The Presentation- This is THE most important step in performing the effect. The trick is only as good as how you dress it up to look like. Presentation is the KEY to having a blowout performance. It can make or break your performance. In the end, it's all up to what YOU want it to look like. Mentalism, comedic, creepy, dark, whatever. That's the beauty of magic, you can shift and shape it to look like whatever you want it to look like, but you MUST have some kind of presentation to make your effect that you worked so hard on be as good as you want it to be.
And that's it. It took me quite a while to type it up but I finally got it done. Yes, it's a long process but believe me when I say it is well worth it. And who knows, maybe you will see your effect being sold where on T11 with rave reviews. Thanks for reading guys and I hope this helped ...
I am a big idea man. I love to come up with these large and small scale illusions that seem impossible to even the magicians I tell them to. Even so, I still create and have the ability to perform these feats of magic and the magicians who see me perform it live always asks me, "How do you come up with these ideas?"
And with all the people always asking, "Well how do I create my own effect?", I decided to make a 4 step guide to creating your OWN illusions therefore having the ability to do something NO ONE eles can accomplish.
Step One- The Idea (Coming up with the idea/concept)- This by far has to be the hardest part of creating your own effect next to figuring out how to actually perform it for most magicians. And for some it comes very easily to them. It really varies form person to person. I think the only real way to come up with an idea is to just LET IT COME TO YOU. DO NOT try to force it. Most usually when you do something you enjoy or when you see a certain object or doing a certain something, it just hits you like a brick to the head. Haha, most of my ideas that I come up with I come up with in the shower. I don't know why, I guess it's just the feeling of being relaxed is just the idea maker for me. Also, do something or look back on something that inspires you like for me, I sometimes listen or play music. I'm a huge rock fanatic and I play guitar alot so that where I also get some of my ideas. So if you do something you enjoy or just relax a bit and take it easy and not think about it too much, then it will come to you...
Another thing that I also do and might be a little easier for the people who can't come up with something completely original right off the bat can also take an old or classic effect, and making it new and original with a new twist, handling, or look to the entire trick. I LOVE taking something like that 2CM that you can change the handling of so much and making it look like a completely new effect. AND REMEMBER, NO IDEA IS A BAD IDEA! When something comes to you, take it and run with it. Oh, and write it down so you dont forget it! I forget to do that all the time and I always forget what I come up with so yeah, be sure to do that
.Step Two- The Method (How to find and come up with the sleights.)- This is I believe the second hardest next to coming up with the idea. With things like card or coin effects, there are some many sleights and moves to choose from. Of course you will have to do a bit of researching and buying, but if you believe in what you are creating, then it should be well worth it. Now, if there IS NOT some kind of sleight or move that fits into your effect, then MAKE YOUR OWN! I can't tell you how many purely awsome effect are made possible because they were made of original sleights and moves, and it makes it that much more harder for people to figure out and not that obvious to laymen who might know an extensive amount of sleights. Such effects like Sinful. Every move was created by Wayne Houchin himself and came out with one of the best impromptu effects out there.
And another thing I forgot to mention, when coming up with the method, keep it SIMPLE! You DO NOT want a overly complicated method that you might get mixed up with and might get the spectators confused. Keep it simple!
Step Three- Practicing (Organizing your effect.)- Practicing your new effect might sound simple enough, but there IS some work that you have to do so you can perform it effectively during performance. And that's why keeping the method simple is important, because you do not want to get into the effect and forget which step comes next and end up with an embarrassing performance which sucks by the way
. First, you need some full-proof way that you can remember how to do your effect step by step, every step of the way. What I do is I right down all the steps with the names of the sleights and moves in order of when it comes into use during the effect. If there are angles that you have to deal with, try practicing it in front of a mirror and see what angels are working for you and which ones are not. A video camera works too if you have one. Depending on the effect and who you are, I think the average amount of practice it takes to get down a close-up effect is about maybe 4-5 weeks. That's just me, if it takes longer or shorter than that, that's fine, but practicing your effect or any effect for that matter is one of the most important steps in having a effective and entertaining performance.Step 4- The Presentation- This is THE most important step in performing the effect. The trick is only as good as how you dress it up to look like. Presentation is the KEY to having a blowout performance. It can make or break your performance. In the end, it's all up to what YOU want it to look like. Mentalism, comedic, creepy, dark, whatever. That's the beauty of magic, you can shift and shape it to look like whatever you want it to look like, but you MUST have some kind of presentation to make your effect that you worked so hard on be as good as you want it to be.
And that's it. It took me quite a while to type it up but I finally got it done. Yes, it's a long process but believe me when I say it is well worth it. And who knows, maybe you will see your effect being sold where on T11 with rave reviews
. Thanks for reading guys and I hope this helped ...
