Jokes in Card Magic

[RODEN]

HI everyone~i just wanna ask while you guys performing card tricks...(e.g ACR)
what jokes will you make with the spectators???
I think my performance was a bit boring because i dont make much jokes to them.......
_____________________________________________________
Recently i'll do this: ( in ACR)

Let them pick a card and sign it (i turn my back )
while i turn back to them ,i take their card and blow on the signature and see their card....and i say im gonna guess what their card is ......

___________________________________________________

i hope you guys can share some good jokes to make our performance to be more interesting!

(SORRY FOR MY BAD ENGLISH)

 

[Morgan B]

Hi Roden,

If you are looking for stock lines, or jokes that aren't yours, there are books you can read. Harry Allan has a book, Sleight of Mouth. Aldo Columbini has joke books, as does Mike Close. However, if you are not a funny guy, these lines will come off unnatural. Using one liners and jokes that are pre-written, is like doing comedy on stage (stand up) and using someone else's act.

It sounds like you need to buy the book Scripting Magic, to learn and grow onhow to present an effect. If your magic is boring, it isn't the magic - it may be that you are not thinking on how to make key moments enteraining. An effect should at least be interesting on it's own - and you add to it by talking - not it is boring, and you need jokes to make it interesting.

I don't think asking for jokes will make your magic better. However, I am sure people will share, despite the fact that it isn't a good approach to insert someone else's jokes, or use one liners to fill your magic.

Good luck.

 

[fkace63]

look at tommy wonder's ambitious card

watch tommy wonder's ambitious card. Its brilliant, interesting, and full of laughter. And by the end, an entire room of adults is in an uproar, giving him a standing ovation.

his jokes, clearly aren't made up on the spot. However his jokes flow beautifully with the effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrApPgoWZqE

 

[RikAllen]

Tommy Wonder has an amazing ACR

I thought I'd post another one, just so you can see the differences in what an ACR can be. This is Bill Malone doing his ACR, and it's one of my favorites. He does it a little fast, but the routine itself is amazing.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpzuXmQm3fA&feature=related

Also, Funny and Entertaining are different things. If you want to become funny you have to learn why things are funny to different people. Try watching Comedy, but watch comedians with different styles.
Dane Cook
George Carlin
Gabriel Iglesias
Mitch Hedberg
Steve Martin (find some of his old work)

They're all different (though some more similar than others) and get great reactions. Being funny isn't about one liners, it includes timing, character, and tone of voice. The way you say something can completely change how the joke works, as well as using someone else's lines.

If you're not funny in real life then you should work on that first. If you're naturally funny, let that flow into your routines.

 

[RODEN]

Hi Roden,

If you are looking for stock lines, or jokes that aren't yours, there are books you can read. Harry Allan has a book, Sleight of Mouth. Aldo Columbini has joke books, as does Mike Close. However, if you are not a funny guy, these lines will come off unnatural. Using one liners and jokes that are pre-written, is like doing comedy on stage (stand up) and using someone else's act.

It sounds like you need to buy the book Scripting Magic, to learn and grow onhow to present an effect. If your magic is boring, it isn't the magic - it may be that you are not thinking on how to make key moments enteraining. An effect should at least be interesting on it's own - and you add to it by talking - not it is boring, and you need jokes to make it interesting.

I don't think asking for jokes will make your magic better. However, I am sure people will share, despite the fact that it isn't a good approach to insert someone else's jokes, or use one liners to fill your magic.

Good luck.

Thank you so much.....
I'll think about it deeply=]

 

[nomorecardtricks]

A quickie is have a card selected
Tell them there card is not marked or scratched in anyway...
as you show the back!
I believe this is a Bill malone idea

 

[Steerpike]

Notice that most people are still posting canned lines.

Canned lines are like training wheels. Fine for showing a beginner the ropes, but eventually you need to learn how to construct a joke on your own.

 

[Randy]

Actually you need to forget one liners and stock lines. They are stupid and often come off forced, even from experienced guys. IE: Bill Malone.

What you really need to do is just learn to let the humor happen. Respond naturally to people questions and comments, and if somebody says joke or if something funny happens. Let it.

 

[Kontents]

Actually you need to forget one liners and stock lines. They are stupid and often come off forced, even from experienced guys. IE: Bill Malone.

What you really need to do is just learn to let the humor happen. Respond naturally to people questions and comments, and if somebody says joke or if something funny happens. Let it.

Spot on. Let the reactions and responses of the spectators be your ammo.

 

[Mike.Hankins]

Actually you need to forget one liners and stock lines. They are stupid and often come off forced, even from experienced guys. IE: Bill Malone.

What you really need to do is just learn to let the humor happen. Respond naturally to people questions and comments, and if somebody says joke or if something funny happens. Let it.

Saying Bill Malone's lines are "stupid and forced" is one of THE silliest things I have ever heard. Bill Malone is a GENIUS at what he does. And he can get away with a lot of his lines BECAUSE of who he is. He uses his weight and looks to his advantage; coming on to very attractive females. And guess what? It works.

Telling someone to "forget one liners and stock lines" is also complete doggie #2. It is all in WHO is presenting the one liners and HOW they are presenting the one liners. I DO agree that sometimes magicians make one liners seem forced. Any easy way to combat that is to find out who YOU are as a person and as a performer.

John Carney speaks a lot on this subject in his book Magic by Design. He talks of his character he created, Mr. Mysto. He mentions that at first, he forced humor our of him. And realized that it didn't work. So he started taking improv and acting classes to find out how to create a character. Now I am not saying to pay for acting classes or run to your local theater and start in an improv troupe. But I AM saying that it wouldn't hurt to read books that are not related to magic, but in turn are related to acting, character creation and improv. If you WANT your own originality to come out in your performances, you are going to need to know HOW.

I used to perform stand up comedy for many years and then got into sketch comedy and started teaching character creation classes. And I will say this: some people are just born naturally funny. (Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Will Ferrell, etc etc...) There are no kinds of classes that one could take that can MAKE them funny. But you CAN learn the art of comedic timing. You CAN learn how to write comedy.

One of my good friends and mentor, Jeff McBride has this equation:

Comedy = Drama+Time

If you can figure out what this means, then you have opened up a new world towards developing your character, your scripts and your humor that can all be personally related to you.

Guys like Mac King, David Williamson, Michael Finney, and Bill Malone have performed for 30+ years. They know what lines work for them and what lines do not at all go with their character. They understand their character inside and out.

All of the books mentioned like Sleight of Mouth are great books to look at. But just remember, there is a ton more books out there for us that are NOT magic related that can be extremely helpful to us in the long run.


Mike

 

[SHANE BLACK]

Saying Bill Malone's lines are "stupid and forced" is one of THE silliest things I have ever heard. Bill Malone is a GENIUS at what he does. And he can get away with a lot of his lines BECAUSE of who he is. He uses his weight and looks to his advantage; coming on to very attractive females. And guess what? It works.

Telling someone to "forget one liners and stock lines" is also complete doggie #2. It is all in WHO is presenting the one liners and HOW they are presenting the one liners. I DO agree that sometimes magicians make one liners seem forced. Any easy way to combat that is to find out who YOU are as a person and as a performer.

John Carney speaks a lot on this subject in his book Magic by Design. He talks of his character he created, Mr. Mysto. He mentions that at first, he forced humor our of him. And realized that it didn't work. So he started taking improv and acting classes to find out how to create a character. Now I am not saying to pay for acting classes or run to your local theater and start in an improv troupe. But I AM saying that it wouldn't hurt to read books that are not related to magic, but in turn are related to acting, character creation and improv. If you WANT your own originality to come out in your performances, you are going to need to know HOW.

I used to perform stand up comedy for many years and then got into sketch comedy and started teaching character creation classes. And I will say this: some people are just born naturally funny. (Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Will Ferrell, etc etc...) There are no kinds of classes that one could take that can MAKE them funny. But you CAN learn the art of comedic timing. You CAN learn how to write comedy.

One of my good friends and mentor, Jeff McBride has this equation:

Comedy = Drama+Time

If you can figure out what this means, then you have opened up a new world towards developing your character, your scripts and your humor that can all be personally related to you.

Guys like Mac King, David Williamson, Michael Finney, and Bill Malone have performed for 30+ years. They know what lines work for them and what lines do not at all go with their character. They understand their character inside and out.

All of the books mentioned like Sleight of Mouth are great books to look at. But just remember, there is a ton more books out there for us that are NOT magic related that can be extremely helpful to us in the long run.


Mike

Amen brotha, keep singing!

 

[Luis Vega]

one time in a show I used a Lance Burton´s line

"This is a great audience....this is the greatest audience we had ever had here"...people start clapping, but he stop them by saying "no,no I mean this time"

it´s great!!! I don´t like to use other people´s jokes but this line is awesome! it always seems to like to the people and you get a good laugh from them!!

I understand that it´s somehow difficult to create your own jokes, but only experience can help you out into knowing what people like and what don´t in creating them and also depends on your character and your personality...some people seems that can be comical very easy

I think you should invent your own jokes but it´s ok to use other people jokes sometimes...but not his persona or his style. so just perform a lot and be aware of what you are

here is for anyone who want´s to see it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTj9oD5nHJA

hope this helps

 

[chriswiehl]

shouldnt topics like this be in the card magic forum.

 

[KeoSilver]

Thread title: Jokes in Card magic...
The biggest jokes in card magic are the card magicians.

 

[Justin.Morris]

Well said Mike.

 

[Mike.Hankins]

Thread title: Jokes in Card magic...
The biggest jokes in card magic are the card magicians.

What is that all about dude? That was a pretty harsh comment. Actually it was a comment that wasn't needed at all.

I'm not sure what sort of "magic" you are in to, but rest assured that I would never comment so negatively about something me or others on here make a career out of...

Mike

 

[KeoSilver]

What is that all about dude? That was a pretty harsh comment. Actually it was a comment that wasn't needed at all.

I'm not sure what sort of "magic" you are in to, but rest assured that I would never comment so negatively about something me or others on here make a career out of...

Mike

Don't take it personally, it's an incredibly vague statement. Do you think your a joke? Of course you don't, but do others think your a joke? Not you specifically just people in the card genre. Do your participants see you as a joke with no punch line?



It may have been harsh, but that is my view of most of the current generation cardicians.