Creating New Magic Tricks

Jun 13, 2013
1
0
Title pretty much explains it.


How do you begin to create a new magic trick/ variation of an old one?

What thought processes do you go through?

How do you know whether the trick is any good?

At what stage during development do you decide whether the trick is any good?

How much of the trick is showmanship, and how much is technique?



If you could post a link to a performance of one of your tricks that would be great.
 
Jul 13, 2010
526
34
Do what Joshua Jay and other professionals recommend.
First, ask yourself, why do I want to create a magic trick. Is it just for the money ? Or because a good idea came to your mind ? Wouldn't it be better to first build up a solid foundation, trying to walk before running ?
The problem with all these releases today is, they are often half-backed ideas coming from people with little experience. Don't take this personal and with a grain of salt, but if you are asking these questions above, you're obviously not ready to create a trick.
Let's say you really have a good idea. Don't try to release it. Before, it should be audience-tested thousand of times, for at least a year or better two. Or more. This time is important to improve upon your initial idea, to make it stronger and better. The audience will give you feedback and will answer your question: How do you know whether the trick is any good?.
Doing it a few times isn't sufficient. It needs time to improve.
Just as a caterpillar needs time to metamorphose into a butterfly.
 
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RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
I hate the word "tricks." To me, that reflects a mindset that takes the magic out of what we do. At a minimum, let's call them "effects" which reflects what the audience sees or "methods" which reflects what we do. I like the idea (from Larry Haas' book Transformations) of talking about "performance pieces." I just had to get that out of my system.

I develop new performance pieces based on what I want to perform. I don't develop new pieces to sell them and make money. If I'm going to put in the effort to make something unique, I want to perform it.

I think the most important thing is to have a strong basis in understanding of both the basic and advanced principles for the type of magic you are doing. Those principles are your toolbox. If the only sleights you know in card magic are a double lift and a pass, then you are going to be extremely limited in what you can do. So for card magic, I would hope you've gone through the full five volumes of Card College and some books on self-working effects (Scarne on Card Tricks, Encyclopedia of Card Tricks, Card College Light, Fulves' Self Working Books) so that you undertstand all of the available tools.

If you are creating a variation, make sure you know everything else that is out there. Research the effect using the Behr Archive (http://www.conjuringarchive.com), MagicPedia, the Genii Forums and the Cafe and then read the versions of the effect referenced. Then decide why you need a variation? What is wrong with the effect that you are improving?

My thought process is primarily about the effect, methods and trade-offs. I start with a general idea of what I want to do or the "effect." It has to be interesting and something that appears to be magical. I then explore possible alternative methods and decide which method works best for the effect and my style. For example, I'm working on an effect where I need a selected card to vanish from the deck. I came up with several methods. Some involved gaffed decks, some involved gaffed cards, some involved sleight of hand, some involved the power of suggestion. I decided on the option that used the gaffed card because it was the cleanest for a surrounded parlor performance, I could justify using the card in the selection process and because the I was comfortable with the level of spectator management that was required. In designing any effect, each method has trade-offs -- it is a matter of whether those trade offs matter for the effect being designed or for your style.

At this point, there are a lot of things to look at to see if a method will work. Is it practical? Is it angle sensitive? Is it sleight heavy? Is there a possibility of failure? Does the handling arouse suspicion? Is the handling justified based on the construct of the effect?

After deciding on the method that works the best for the effect, I then construct the prsentation or script. For me, merely saying what I'm doing isn't what magic is about. The presentation has to be engaging and entertaining.

Once I've got an effect that is interesting, a method that is the best possible and a presentation that is entertaining, I think I've got a good presentation piece. At that point, I practice the method (i.e. technical learning of sleights) and then rehearse the presentation (sleights along with scripting as if I'm performing). Then I perform for my wife and son. Review, revise, rehearse and then it is ready to be performed for audiences. Their reactions ultimately determine whether it is good. After each performance, I critique, revise, rehearse and then get ready to perform again.
 

Tower of Lunatic Meat

Elite Member
Sep 27, 2014
2,435
2,029
Texa$, with a dollar sign
I actually just started the process.

The way I'm starting is by taking the company that produces all the effects I'm completely enamored with. And looking at what they already have out and what they don't.

I have a METHOD (learning something new from RealityOne). But I need to research similar effects HEAVILY to try and make something original in terms of effect and presentation. Research is what will take a very long time.

I'm not doing it for money, fame, or notoriety. I think it would be awesome to say 'I made a Tenyo effect'.

Good art doesn't happen quickly.
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
How do you begin to create a new magic trick/ variation of an old one?

I prefer to start with the method more often then the effect. If I can find something clever, deceptive or puzzling I feel like it keeps me going longer than if I imagine an effect that I'd like to achieve then tried to find a method.

What thought processes do you go through?

Once I have thought of an idea the hardest part is working with it till it is effective. If you have an idea for a gimmick you have to be willing to make it. It takes time to work through it and it can feel like you aren't going anywhere. This is where it get's really tough.

How do you know whether the trick is any good?

You try it out for someone you know will give you hard time about it and listen to them. Then try it for people you don't know and see if they like it. In the end though you have to be happy with the product. If you like it and enjoy performing it then keep it. Just strive to convey to your audience why you like it.

At what stage during development do you decide whether the trick is any good?

From the beginning. There has to be something about the trick to keep you going.

How much of the trick is showmanship, and how much is technique?

It depends on the trick. Some effects have a built in presentation, like the invisible deck or sponge bunnies. Others require a lot more from the performer. As you create you will see what your trick needs to pull off.

If you could post a link to a performance of one of your tricks that would be great.

Here's Electro produced by Penguin Magic

Here's a bunch of mental magic I performed a little while ago. Everything is my own creation.
 
Aug 17, 2010
411
4
How do you begin to create a new magic trick/ variation of an old one?

Usually, it's to solve a problem. How can I strengthen the weakest part of this trick, how could the effect be made more clear, that kind of thing.

What thought processes do you go through?

If you liken a trick to a syllogism that is sound and valid, and it leads to an impossible conclusion, then you look at the premise is the weakest.

In an Ambitious Card phase, as a syllogism;
p1: I put the selected card in the middle of the deck
p2: I did nothing to move the card's position
c1: The selected card is now at the top of the deck.

So, the creativity comes in making the weakest premise stronger, or the conclusion more inescapable.

How do you know whether the trick is any good?

I guess it comes down to experience - I think most people that have been doing it for a while kind of develop a sense of the magic that plays well for laymen. To me, the plot has to be relatively clear (so people can follow what goes on), and the method must be sufficiently good to make it appear impossible.

Once the routine is strong enough in its construction, then a presentation has to be strong. There's as many opinions on presentation as there are people doing magic, so your mileage may vary.

At what stage during development do you decide whether the trick is any good?

Depends. Some come together in a hurry, some take forever.

How much of the trick is showmanship, and how much is technique?

Totally depends on the performer. Performers should reach at least a minimum level of proficiency necessary to make the magic work (more is certainly better), and enough showmanship for people to keep watching.
 
Sep 16, 2011
15
2
Ryan, I agree with all the post above that talk about you should create the effect to use and not to sell. If you think about it why would someone else buy a trick that the creator wouldn't use himself. Also, I do not know you're age but I have a feeling that you are younger. If not, I'm sorry. As a young magician(I am as well) you have to be very careful not to release anything that is anything less than a professional would use. You do not want to ruin you're image in the magic community as you need connections and if people look at you as "that kid who released that terrible trick just so he could make money" it will screw you over in the long run.

Now to answer your main question on how to come up with a trick-
I have come up with a few effects that have not done before. Of course I woul think about releasi them until they are perfect(and even then I probably would keep them to myself). When coming up with a routine I first think about what I want it to look like in the audiences eyes. Then I write down every possible way I think it could be done nomatter how silly of inconvenient it would be. Then I mix and match to create the method I will use.

I learned this strategy from my magic club. We frequently do exercises where we will think of I effect that most people would say is imposible and can now way be done, and then we come up with a way as a team. Oh. Collaboration helps a lot. Sometimes the method would be way out of our price range to make, but we always find a way. As a club we talk about how nothing is impossible whether it is making the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building switch places or simply making a card rise to the top of the deck.
 
Apr 19, 2015
131
118
32
Florence, Italy
I create something new in two ways:
1) I suddenly get an inspiration by just looking at something, or i see an old method applied on totally different situations
2) I think about the effect i want to achieve

then i make it reasonable (by tries, by adding/subtracting things, by practising angles and presentation).

just as simple as that. For example yesterday for the Saturday Night Contest i create a new effect from an old idea.
It's a "color" change, but instead of cards, i change chocolates

 
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