Raising the bar in card magic

[Jack Spades]

Right now where is the bar for being a decent card magician? What are the backbone necessary effects/sleights a card magician must have in their repertoire?

side question: how many minutes can you perform with only using one ungimmicked deck of cards?

 

[Jack Spades]

I feel every card magician must have a solid ambitious routine and maybe one or two signed card effects.

I could probably have about 20 minutes of material at the moment.

 

[tpscot]

I don't think being a good card magician is based on knowing any particular sleight or effect, there's certainly nothing wrong with a good ambitious card routine but it's far from a necessity. Having said that, it's very important to have a solid understand of the fundamentals of card magic such as shuffling and switching cards before moving onto more advanced moves.

Good card magic comes from the intersection of a range of skills and principles including tension free card handling, attention management, structure and the ability to engage your audience. If these aren't in place, all the tricks in the world won't help you truly amaze people and give them a memorable experience. When you start focussing on these ideas the actual effects don't seem to matter that much anymore. I aim to have a variety of material which will allow me to adapt to whatever situation I find myself in. Something which might go down really well in a coffee shop might not be so great in a nightclub for example. If you know the sort of people you want to perform for and the places you want to perform in, that's a good starting point for making an informed decision on the effects you choose.

 

[Jack Spades]

Great insight! How much time and practice would you say you put into one card effect?

 

[KonTW]

Practise until you think, that you can perform it for strangers.
When you think so start showing the effect to your friends and family, and ask them for
feedback or so. When you feel completely comfortable with the effect, you can start performing it
for strangers, ...

And like tpscot already said: Not the trick itself is, what cares in the end, but your management and
the way you handle your cards etc.

Even if you have performed a trick many times, for maybe years, you should always come back to it and just repeat it over and over again, so that it gets even better.

I think no one can tell you what moves you should learn, but there are a few fundamental moves you should know, and then you can decide your style and the kind of effects you want to do, so you can adept the moves you use, to that.

Here are some of the moves I talked about:

Pass
Top Change
(Classic) Force
Double lift
False Cut
Maybe a false shuffle

If you have mastered these moves and some others like a Biddle count, an Emsley Count and and some color changes, you will be able to perform for hours, because there are unlimited effects possible with this move.

Just practise and try it out yourself...

- Konrad

 

[tpscot]

KonTW makes a very good point, mastering the sleights is by no means the end of the practice process, in some ways it's the beginning. How much time you should put into an effect varies greatly although you could say you should never stop putting time into them. I feel that an effect is ready to begin performing publicly when I can do all the sleights involved without thinking about them, this allows my attention to be entirely on the audience. At this stage I begin thinking about refining the timing, presentation and misdirection involved based on the level of success in the performance.

To offer something a little more 'tangible', the sleights I use on a day to day basis are the double turnover/lift (the distinction between the two is very important), classic pass, gravity half pass, outjogged herman shift, top change, false shuffles and cuts, elmsley count, 4 for 4 switch, paintbrush change, one handed popover, gamblers cop. There's a fair few shifts in there which I believe is very important at a more advanced level, although many people would disagree with me and have had a great deal of success despite never having anything to do with the shift. I know many more sleights, such as a load of colour changes, I just find they don't really suit the way I perform anymore.

I selected these sleights as they serve me best for the types of routines I like to perform and are all at least angle efficient if not angle proof, meaning that while there are some slightly weak angles in some cases, these are easily covered through presentation and attention management.

 

[KonTW]

I totally agree with tpscot, especially in the point, that you mustn't think of you moves you do, so that you
can bring all your attention on your presentation.

- Konrad

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I think one needs a solid palm, control, force, peek, and switch. Which ones, specifically, don't matter all that much. Though I would actually recommend more than one control and more than one switch.

I don't have a ton to add here, as they've already said it. There is no checklist which says you're now a good magician. Well, I suppose there is a checklist, but it only has one box on it, and that box is labeled "Skill at entertaining". Once you have that, it barely matters what you do.

I adore complicated sleight of hand. I obsess over esoteric sleights which are difficult, knacky, and just plain aggravating to learn. And then I go out and perform with the most basic moves possible. My ACR uses no doubles/multiple lifts, no passes. One phase does use what could be considered a shift, but it's done in the open (slow rise sequence). Otherwise, everything is basic sleight of hand and solid routining.

Don't get me wrong. When I'm feeling saucy I'll break out some Tony Chang stuff. But most of what I do for an audience is as basic as it can be so that I can completely focus on the audience and the performance.

As for the time I spend on a trick ... Anywhere from a couple hours if it's just a matter of scripting it, to years if I'm really having trouble with a move. I practiced some moves for over a year before I even showed magicians for feedback.

There is no "I've practiced for this long, I must be ready." You practice until you've got it. Then you keep going until you do it without even realizing you're doing it. Then you keep practicing until you can hold a conversation while doing it and not realize you're doing it. Then you rehearse it along with the script.

 

[Austin Fields]

Christopher, we should hang.

In terms of sleights, Christopher has the same list I do.

Here's what I would consider "core knowledge" for cards;
- Controls, effect/presentation specific
- Switches, justified and rhythmic
- Peek
- Basic historical knowledge of sleights/routines regularly used (at least)
- Rehearsed routines
- Humility
- Respect for the art

 

[Jecoa]

A good double lift, palm, top change and force. With these amazing card tricks can be performed.

 

[Jack Spades]

You guys are right. I guess it doesn't really have to do with the sleights (but they do help). For example, you can know all the sleights in the book, but be unable to put together a decent routine, patter, trick..etc. On the other hand, you could just know the "glide" which is probably one of the most basic sleights in card magic....and go on to perform a variety of great routines with this one move using proper patter and setting up a great story.

 

[erdnase97]

Well, if you have read the royal road to card magic, you should have a good repertoire of card tricks and all the fundamental moves in your arsenal. What you need to strive for after technical mastery is presentation. I've got thirty great pieces of card magic on my repertoire, and none of them uses a gimmick. If I performed every single trick in the repertoire, it would last for hours. Because you shouldn't just do tricks. You should lead a conversation and do tricks in the "by the way" style. All you need for a great card magic show is the book royal road to card magic read and practiced from cover to cover. If you don't have it, I recommend you reading it. In my opinion, it's one of the best card magic books ever written. You can also watch "What to read" video by Jason England, it's right here, on T11. Hope this helps.

 

[Martineau]

Card Magic has come a long way thanks to many genius magicians such as the pioneers Dai Vernon, Ed Marlo, Harry Lorayne, Jerry Andrus, Allan Ackerman and countless others. If you study the current masters such as Allan, Darwin Ortiz and Guy Hollingworth you will see a pattern of taking a good effect or sleight and making it stronger by adding more layers of proof. The level of claim and proof has to be in balance in order to have a strong magic impact. There are many examples to use. One good example is how Jerry Andrus approached card magic. When he put a card
into the middle of the deck there was no cutting or shuffling or moving the position of the cards. He did'nt like all the useless double-undercuts etc!
The problem with the classics is that they are good but modern card magic has evolved much further and many of the old moves have been updated and improved from such things as more angle proof to more versatile and subtle and deceptive. You can take a simple move like the double-lift and see that with modern moves it no only is cleaner but a lot of times not even necessary. Sometimes in your magic you need to think about taking away moves and sleights, etc. -- to make the magic better. One of the key secrets to great card magic is that you don't focus on the moves they are only a means to the end. That being said, Know your reasons for adding or taking away because it may enhance the effect or it may not. The best thing to do is innovate based upon what Darwin Ortiz says -don't do a trick if it is not stronger then what has been done already. This may be created from any possible angle --presentation/effect/method. What you are really asking is what are the best card magic and moves etc. This is the same as asking who is the best musician because the best is a matter of taste. Jimmy Hendrix and Allan Ackerman if you ask me!

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I think most modern card magic (At least what I've seen) is distinctly NOT magical. It has no meaning, it says nothing. It is candy for the eyes and brain. No substance.

Now, I'm not saying that I don't enjoy it, and I'm not saying I'm any better (yet). But all the videos I watch are generally filled with sports casting patter and displays of impossibilities. Even the shows I love, like Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants are largely just displays of an impossibility. It doesn't mean anything. That hasn't stopped my from watching it a hundred times or more, but I can't find deeper meaning in any of it.

There's some attempts out there, and a few successes. Very few. I think too many people have retreated and hid behind the idea that "we're just entertainers". Well, eff that. I don't want to 'just entertain'. I want my spectators to walk away with a profound insight to their lives or the world. If you want to raise the bar, don't worry about the sleights involved. Worry about coming up with something to say that actually matters.

 

[ChrisWiens]

But isn`t "meaning" something highly individual ? Something that Ricky does in his show for example could be of importance to me because there are parallels to my life, just not yours.
It would have a meaning to me, just not for you.

What do you mean by deeper meaning ?

I think even philosophical presentations with deep?! meanings in general are not of importance to everyone.

A presentation about the origin of the universe may be of upmost importance to me because I´m interested in Astrophysics/Astronomy, but not for others because they have no emotional connection/interest in this. You could think "But this is important to everybody!".
Yes, it should...from my POV. The truth is, many people just don`t care.

Maybe a normal day situation you used in your presentation has a deeper meaning to your audience, because they are rather narrow-minded (No offense!).

What I wanted to say. Meaning, to me, is subjective. Even an universal "truth".
Let`s that there may be even an universal meaning of life, and you managed to transcend this in your magic, who cares if it doesn`t have a connection to your audience ? What if they don`t care ?

I think it depends on your personal goals. Do you want to give your magic an universal meaning (from your POV), regardless of whether it`s important to your audience or not ?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Part of this is being able to read the audience and understand what would be important to them. However, there are things that are universal to the human condition. Every person in the world has experienced certain feelings and thoughts, or can be caused to experience them with the proper guidance.

With an understanding of how people think and what they tend to think about in general terms you can tailor a performance to hit those points which will cause the performance to resonate with those basic human experiences.

 

[Martineau]

What do you think of Paul Vigil or Darren Brown?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Derren Brown does very little card magic these days. But even then, some of his tricks that he's published that were card effects do hit on those semi-to-universal experiences. Zamiel's Rose is a great one because most people have had a crush on someone and tried to impress them somehow. I enjoy Derren's performances because I like the British sense of humor and I think he's good at touching on things that people care about and connecting with an audience. He has a way of being both a normal guy and above it all which I like.

I have not seen enough of Paul Vigil to say one way or another. The only performance I've seen of his was a video of him doing The Haunted Deck which did not necessarily impress me, but it was also a small clip taken out of context. Clearly the audience was enjoying the show. So I have no opinion of his performances.

 

[Josh Burch]

I think I look at a decent card magician by how their routine looks. If they can entertain for 5 or 10 minutes with a deck of cards I think that would be proof enough that they are a decent card magician. When you look at Lennart Green he doesn't perform many double lifts, Juan Tamariz may not choose to do a pass and Dani Daortiz doesn't always do a top change. The sleights you know doesn't make you good I think it's the entertainment factor. For instance in my first DVD I have 5 effects and there's only one double lift and it's not even with cards. http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/3362