I hate "normal" things

[William Draven]

It's been said by far wiser people than me: "If you want to improve your act, watch others perform." It's true; it works. Professional sports teams watch video clips of their rivals games, so why shouldn't we watch others work?

I spend a lot of time doing just that. Either in person or online with youtube videos, and I've got to admit. I'm developing a bit of a pet peeve with some very common lines used by a lot of magicians of varying skill level. I've come to find myself hating "normal", and "ordinary".

Think about it, how many magicians have you seen start a card trick with the line "Here I have a normal deck of cards"? Or the ever popular "This is just an ordinary deck". Well if it was so ordinary why would you feel the need to point that out to us? Magicians guilt maybe?

I think the normality of an object, cards for example, should be silently expressed through thoughtful presentation. Spread the cards, don't be overly particular about the details of what's selected, or where it goes, or how it's handled. Telling the audience that the deck is "normal" or ordinary is like beating them over the head with a blunt instrument. Instead why don't we just say something like "Please select a card?" It's obvious it's a deck of playing cards, your audience members aren't stupid so why insult their powers of observation by pointing out the obvious?

I have to admit even I'm guilty of using words like "normal" in my act. Which is why every time I catch myself saying it I put a quarter into my tip cup.

 

[Toby]

This is true. And then when magician do use a trick deck, they don't say "this is a normal deck of cards" because they are afraid that audience will ask for a deck inspection, and yet spectators never assume that it's not a normal deck. Just something to think about.

 

[RealityOne]

I was on Skype with a beginner in magic the other night and was walking them through Poker Players' Picnic. I had them take the deck out and give ariffle shuffle retaining the top stock. The did a run through saying, "I've got a normal deck here and I'm going to give it a shuffle." We worked on that a bit. By the end, he took the deck out, shuffled it, said "let me see if I can do something... Actually, I have a better idea, I don't want to touch the deck... Let's see if you can do something with the cards."

It is the difference between telling and showing. From a spectator's perspective, they will challenge what you TELL them but not what they SHOW them. In the example above, you are showing them that the deck is normal by inadvertantly shuffling it (and more so by not pointing that out) and you are dispelling any sense that the deck could be set up because you seemingly don't know what you are going to do with the cards when you take them out and shuffle them.

One of my favorite presentations involves shuffling a forcing deck. I also like to have spectators shuffle a Svengali deck. Those subtleties SHOW that a deck is normal - even when it isn't.

 

[Peter Harrison]

I agree. If you watch someone like Bill Malone being slightly clumsy, dropping a card maybe, spreading them a bit uneven then shuffling, it seems far more convincing than having a magician hold the deck close and simply state that it's "an ordinary deck".

 

[TylerRouss]

I can't seem to find it at the moment.. Ill get back to it tonight after school. Pete McCabe has an excellent passage on this very problem in Scripting Magic.

 

[RickEverhart]

Great thoughts fellas. Reality hit the nail on the head with his advice. Draven...I too catch myself (especially if I have a crowd that looks skeptical) wanting to point out that it is not a "trick" deck of cards. I like the advice of inadvertently shuffling without point it out. I need to do this WAY more often. Well said.

 

[KeoSilver]

I agree with all the above. While performing I believe that using normal or other verbal "convincers" is redundant and suspicious. As a magician, no matter how gimmicked the thing you are using in you mind it is nothing else but normal. So if the deck is normal and it is believed by the performer to be normal then in all senses the audience knows it is a normal deck. Not really adding anything just agreeing.

 

[Randy]

Don't think about a pink elephant.

The way I have been taught to make something "normal" is to pay no attention to it. If I don't want you looking the deck of cards in my hand, I simply drop left hand to the side and focus all of my attention on something else (usually the card I am holding in my right hand, or a salt shaker or simply talking to you and making constant eye contact.). If I want you to pay special attention to the cards/props then I have to FORCE you to look at the props by forcing myself to look at them.

 

[eostresh]

Great thread. And great observation. It made me think of the the old Andy Nyman tapes. I love how he would pass out gaffed and stacked decks to the audience just assuming that the more nonchalant you handle the deck the less likely they are to bother to actually inspect it!

Beyond the "Just a normal blablabla" issue you make a good point about stupid stuff we say over and over again in performance. I recently did a parlor show and found out later that I said "Fair Enough" about ten times! I think we all have something we say almost as if it was an "uhm" that highschool speech teachers tried to drum out of us. So there is always reason to be on the lookout for the stupid stuff we say. As soon as I purge "Fair Enough" from my system I am sure something else will try to replace it and I will have to work on that.

 

[RealityOne]

As soon as I purge "Fair Enough" from my system I am sure something else will try to replace it and I will have to work on that.

The quickest way to break those types of habits, fair enough, is to purposefully say the word , fair enough, as many times as you can, fair enough, for as long as you can take it. Fair enough? Doing that elevates your own awareness of the word, fair enough, and then you notice when you subconsciously say the word. Fair enough?

So for the "normal" problem, spend a day going around saying, I'm going to get a normal coffee cup and put some normal coffee in it. Then I'm going to stir it with a normal spoon and add some normal cream. You will never have a normal deck again.

 

[eostresh]

Fair enough! Thanks!

 

[Toby]

Fair enough! Thanks!

No, not really.

"No, not really" is one thing I always say when someone asks me a question where the answer is "no".