Spectator Misconception

Dec 26, 2007
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Just a quick story I thought I would share, simply because the power of magic astounds me sometimes!

I was recently speaking to a person who I had performed to a little over a year ago, as they were interested in hirng my services again (thankfully just as a magcian, nothing too illegal!). I hadn't seen them for a year and as we began to discuss what they were looking for, they began to recollect an effect I had shown them last time i performed - Angle Zero.

Well, I must say I was astonished by the way in which he recalled the event! The beginning of the effect he described was exactly as it appears, simply having the spectator select a card. I had him sign it, before I began with the main show! However, rather than tearing off just the corner of the card, he recalls that i tore it into '50 pieces' which I simply held in my 'open hand'. In the blink of an eye, the pieces 'miraculously vanished', leaving my hand empty. The card box (where I made the corner reappear) had been in his hand the entire time.

Rather than pulling out the matching corner, he remembers discovering the entire card fully restored in the card case! I am truly amazed at the powerful impact we as entertainers can leave behind for a baffled spectator.

My main point is to play to the strong segments of the effect. By this I mean, you have to treat the effect like a simplistic storyboard consisting of several photos. It is these images that you want a spectator to remember, so that when they begin to piece the effect back together later on, they multiply the effect they have just witnessed tenfold in their mind. Construct these mental images carefully, and ensure they are clear and vivid. Imagine how incredible this effect must have sounded when he described it to some, with such passion and joy on his face!

So remember, first and foremost - ENTERTAIN. But almost as important - BUILD A STORYBOARD. Achieve both these things and you have the recipe for a magnificent show!

Thanks for reading, if you managed to get through it all!

Kieran
 
Sep 2, 2007
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Houston, TX
"The pictures you make the audience remember are the sum total of your magic" - Aaron Fisher

That sounds like an awesome thing for someone to come back and say to you man!
 
Dec 26, 2007
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Great quote. Should have put that in! And I just can't articulate how astonished I was at the description i was hearing, and how the images were so different to what they had truly seen. I suppose a picture really does speak a thousand words!
 
Sep 2, 2007
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Houston, TX
That is true. But the problem is, what if they want to see it again? Or want you to show it to a friend of theirs? Or even worse they hire you and make it evident that they want you to specifically do that trick at some point? Won't they be let down when they realize that it isn't what they remember?
 
Sep 2, 2007
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London
That is true. But the problem is, what if they want to see it again? Or want you to show it to a friend of theirs? Or even worse they hire you and make it evident that they want you to specifically do that trick at some point? Won't they be let down when they realize that it isn't what they remember?

That's one reason why you don't repeat a trick to the same audience. Just tell them something like, "I can do better than that, I've got something new to show you!", in a tone of voice suggesting that you're excited about showing them this "something new", and then go into a different effect. Or, if you've got another effect which could be interpreted in a similar way, for example, another vanish and reappearance but with a different methodology, you could say, "Yeah, sure, I'll show you it again, but I'll do it a bit different for you this time"
 
Dec 26, 2007
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I completely agree with TeeDee. Its not at all a bad thing for them to over inflate it in their minds, just use this to your advantage. You know they love magic, but more importantly love magic by you. That in itself should be more than adequate for you to provide them with some excellent entertainment.
 
May 3, 2008
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Hong Kong
Wayne Houchin talks about something similiar on the Alakazam Sessions DVD.
Instead of one trick, he spoke about how two tricks often get mixed together into a godly routine that makes no sense. He was talking about how someone mixed Thread and Needle Swallowing together so it seems like he pulled out threaded needles from his eye.
I remember something similar happened to me when I first started performing. I had performed card through window and card under audience shoe. About a month later, they remembered it as me taking a card, vanishing it, and making it appear in their shoe.

If asked to perform again, I would not perform anything at all for that moment. You can't repeat what they described, nor can you top it (probably), so nothing you perform next will be "as cool as that last one".
 
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