The Cardician's Bible Says...
- Thread starter Ben Long
- Start date
erdnase is was and ever shall be the MAN.
but well, some performing styles require shows of ability and extreme eye candy.
So this mostly refers to card cheats. (i actually like it when people go on and on about how fast my hands are when ive switched the card aeons ago.)
S. W erdanse or E. S andrews? hmmm..
but well, some performing styles require shows of ability and extreme eye candy.
So this mostly refers to card cheats. (i actually like it when people go on and on about how fast my hands are when ive switched the card aeons ago.)
S. W erdanse or E. S andrews? hmmm..
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This applies solely if you are a card cheat. A magician, however, may display as much dexterity and skill as he wants and even more so for the flourisher.
not really. some people prefer to have the magic happen instead of having the spectator attributing it to fast hands and dexterity.
Yeah, I was actually going to post this on that thread, but I thought it might be straying a little from your point...
I agree with this, even though I don't always follow it myself.
Sometimes when i'm doing flourishy Dan and Dave style magic it's obviously skill based. This magic usually gets 'Wow, that's cool' type reactions, which is some situations is quite appropriate.
I will also sometimes perform flourishes after i've finished doing magic, I think it was Daniel Madison who suggested this. If there is a pause between the magic and the flourishing the spectators will not connect them.
However, I find the really powerful reactions are when I have apparantely not done anything or the spectators have done everything themselves.
Out of this World is a prime example of "i didn't even do anything!"
Amazing reactions because people can't attribute it to sleight of hand.
Another great example is Lennart Green. He handles cards like a five year old, yet at the same time he is at one with the cards. He doesn't control them, they work together. It also seems much more magical when watching him since his card handling is generally seen as sloppy by the audience therefore most rule out sleight of hand.
Amazing reactions because people can't attribute it to sleight of hand.
Another great example is Lennart Green. He handles cards like a five year old, yet at the same time he is at one with the cards. He doesn't control them, they work together. It also seems much more magical when watching him since his card handling is generally seen as sloppy by the audience therefore most rule out sleight of hand.
I really like how Erdnase refers to the display of skill as "vanity." Because I feel like that's what it's about a lot of the time. I mean, I know sometimes one just flourishes out of habit.
What I really try to take away from this is that we should be, if nothing else, consistent to our performance.
What I really try to take away from this is that we should be, if nothing else, consistent to our performance.
The guy was a cardcheat,of course you cant show Skill at the table. I don't really show it because I like to FOol the audience in to thinking is
real magic sometimes. But Im not against it,If you dont Show it is because you dont have it.
real magic sometimes. But Im not against it,If you dont Show it is because you dont have it.
I said "as much as he wants"... This does not mean the magician has to show skill and dexterity for everything single he does. What I meant was that he often shows more skill and dexterity than an average person would. A card cheat would want to look like an average person just getting lucky. A flourisher wants to show his flourishes as an artform of its own. I'm sorry if I have lead you to misunderstand my statement.
Cheers,
Shanku
PS. I refer to the magician as "he" as most magicians are male; however, this also applies to females - obviously.
That's if the people of the 21st century still believe in the true definition of "magic". If you do a J5 followed by a Triumph routine (I don't know why you would, though) and there's no flashy moves in your Triumph like a one-handed shuffle or something, they'll appreciate the fact that you're skilled in your art and could do that effect right under their noses without them noticing anything sneaky. They won't think "oh, he must have done a push-though false shuffle" unless you're performing for a magician in which case you shouldn't be doing Triumph. But that's my opinion.
Cheers,
Shanku
No, they'll just think, "So you were able to control that one card upside-down. And?"
It's all about the framing. It's not that I dislike flourishes. It's the prevailing attitude that one must be show-off in order to perform them. The attitude is to seek out recognition and validation for the hours of practice.
It often backfires. It becomes less impressive when you pull back the curtain and tell everyone that you worked so long and hard to do that and now you want their praise. People percieve it as fishing for compliments.
If you give them a vague non-answer, they'll be more impressed. I wrote about this in my article Magic Sublime.
Truth be told, it's not an issue of taking credit. Asking for acknowledgement and praise for all your blood, sweat, and tears is really nothing more than shallow approval seeking behaviour.
Exactly.
For example, you've never ever heard a band, after playing a song in a concert say "Thank you! We've practiced all month to make it sound right and it took us two months to write it!!!"
It's a basic performance rule: make it look easy and natural. And that works with any performance, whether you are playing music, doing magic, stand up comedy, acting in a movie, playing a sport, etc.
All your hard work and practice is credited by the audience's reactions and (possibly) payment. Remember, we are entertainers. Period. Fundamentally, in the regards of practicing, being natural and entertaining people with our hard work, we are no different than someone who plays baseball.
Credit will take the form of the reaction you get from your audience. The less they know, the better.