Your family knows the double lift and French drop.
- Thread starter CWhite
- Start date
You practice in front of a mirror and/or camera until you're as good at the trick as you can get without another actual person being there. This is where a lot of people run into problems. They practice until they can muddle their way through the trick once or twice, then "Hey, check this out!"
Performing in front of family is so you can see if your presentation works as you thought it would. Scripting, blocking, etc.
What I used to do, before the majority of my practice was rehearsing scripting, is have a rotation of folks I would show things to. I had a couple magic friends that would be the folks I show stuff that's still really rough to, looking for suggestions or checking that I'm on the right path. Then there were some friends who were patient enough to endure me testing routines on them, and knew enough to give useful feedback. Then I'd take it out busking, and see how it played for an actual crowd.
But really, most issues with the "burning out friends" issue are solved if you practice by yourself more before making them watch the routines.
Performing in front of family is so you can see if your presentation works as you thought it would. Scripting, blocking, etc.
What I used to do, before the majority of my practice was rehearsing scripting, is have a rotation of folks I would show things to. I had a couple magic friends that would be the folks I show stuff that's still really rough to, looking for suggestions or checking that I'm on the right path. Then there were some friends who were patient enough to endure me testing routines on them, and knew enough to give useful feedback. Then I'd take it out busking, and see how it played for an actual crowd.
But really, most issues with the "burning out friends" issue are solved if you practice by yourself more before making them watch the routines.
Christopher hits the nail on the head with most of this. When you practice for your family they need to act like laymen. I have to talk to my wife before hand and say something along the lines of, "I just need to see if this all works together, will you watch this trick". I approach my family like they are a director I make it clear that they are on my side before we get going. It is practice because they will give you feedback and you will get to work with an actual physical person, this is very different than a mirror or camera.
As far as mirror and camera practice. You need to look at yourself in a very nit-picky way. Be brutally honest with how your magic looks. Are there discrepancies? Are there errors? Os it smooth? Be honest and your magic will get better.
A few years ago I cut out almost every double lift I do. I was running into too many people who were familiar with the move and I found myself using it as a crutch. To challenge myself I cut it out of my repertoire. This forced me to do different kinds of magic and find different solutions.
I had a similar thing, Josh. When I created my version of ACR I did it using no doubles and no passes, because too many routines relied on them completely.
Practicing in front of a mirror will help you kind of see first hand the sight lines and angles for a trick and that helps smooth out the handling a bit. Practicing in front of close friends or family is great because it gives you an idea of how people will respond in a real world situation. From my own experience friends and family both tend to either be overly brutal or overly supportive when in the real world most spectators are somewhere between those two extremes. So it really gives you a good foundation to work from.
If you really want your ego thrashed, go out on a street corner and try doing magic for tips (A.K.A. Busking) for a couple hours. That's the boot camp of magic right there. That or restaurant work. I digress.
If you want a brutally honest opinion of your performance, record yourself with a camera. You can't misdirect a camera so unless you're spot on it will see EVERYTHING. Also doubles for a good ego thrashing if you need it.
Honestly with friends and family you can just tell them: "Hey. I'm trying to work on some magic routines and I just need your feedback. Yes you probably will know how it's done but will you indulge me and give me some feedback that I can use to better myself please?" MOST people get what you're asking them for and they'll respond with much more useful feedback when you put it like that than you just going up to them and saying "pick a card" for the hundredth time.
My sister doesn't give 2 pieces of lint for magic. However, she does respect the "magicians code", or atleast doesn't care enough to go around revealing my tricks. As a result, I do the trick to her after practicing, and then show her any new move, and ask her to critique it. Helped me with the pass a lot, because a mirror only shows you sow much.
I agree with the spirit of your comment. And, likewise, I always feel a little 'disappointment' when I am watching [any] magician handling cards and he executes a 'strike' turnover. My mind immediately "sees" that as two cards.
For that reason I challenged myself and have mastered (well, continuing to improve but am at least beyond 'adequate') a double-lift that looks just like a normal deal off the top. Similarly, I have never liked the most common form of the Elmsley count and forced myself to execute it so it appears just like a normal deal of the top card.
One of the biggest 'tells' is when you handle the cards differently during an effect. It is important to be consistent.
I think depending on how involved you're family/friends are in the methods/aware of magic depends on how you should approach them. You wont get far JUST practising in a mirror however you should probably beat a trick to death before you even consider showing it to someone you actually want to fool.
Present your trick to your friends/family how you would to a normal audience.
A good friend of mine is retired (A retired magician, not man), and my ex-girlfriend was pretty sharp when it came to understanding sleights. If you have someone who is willing to go in depth, it doesnt hurt for you to do the trick a few times so they know what to look for. From there they can help with things such as angles and patter.
Present your trick to your friends/family how you would to a normal audience.
A good friend of mine is retired (A retired magician, not man), and my ex-girlfriend was pretty sharp when it came to understanding sleights. If you have someone who is willing to go in depth, it doesnt hurt for you to do the trick a few times so they know what to look for. From there they can help with things such as angles and patter.
I feel for you if you have had troubles performing for your family and friends. My family really doesn't see what I do often. My dad took it upon himself to be my toughest critic since I was very young in magic. He didn't let me get away with anything. I think it helped at the time but at this point I really don't practice with him in mind. Some of the people closest to me have not seen my A list material.
YES. I performed recently for my family (15 of us or so) and at the end, I received a lot of praise. When I was getting ready to leave, my cousin's girlfriend asked me if I was willing to hear some constructive criticism about my performance. I was at first shocked by her forwardness but I immediately jumped on it because very rarely do I ever get criticism (other than my girlfriend who I normally practice my tricks on). It also kept my ego in check lol
Family/friends are the last stage of technical practice and the first stage of performance practice. You want to find someone who's good at seeing moves, and get their advice on what they're seeing, and why they're seeing it, then you need to figure out how to fix it. For example, a friend once caught all my double lifts because he could see the card was too thick when I turned it over. The fact that he was able to see that meant that he was focusing on the card(s) as I executed the move, and was almost even looking for it. So my solution was to redirect his focus so that in the instant I turned the card over he wasn't watching the edge, he was watching or thinking about something else. Of course he sometimes did figure out what I'd done even without actually seeing it, however this also provided more insight on how to structure an effect and hide the moves to intellectual as well as visual perception.
Actually, the worst part about performing to your family is having douche bags in your family. My uncle (who is a complete and utter piece of trash) brought his whole extended family to stop over at my family's tiny town house for a week. I lent him my room, and lo and behold, he somehow found all of my gimmicks, even though I asked him not to mess with my stuff. Later in the day, I performed one of my favorite tricks for them. He leaves, and comes back with the gimmick I used, and asks me if I used it. I tell him yes, then ask him not to tell anyone about it. He says okay, only to go show everyone he knows.
That experience taught me 3 things;
A: Never perform for those who don't actually want to be entertained. If someone wants to just mess with you, say no.
B: Never rely to heavily on one trick. The trick I used was one that I had used extensively. However, upon my uncle revealing it, I started to try and find new ways to perform the same trick that would leave me clean. I also learned to organize my routine.
C: Always have an escape plan. Never allow a Heckler the opportunity to mess with your cards. Either shuffle and cut the cards, or give them a pass, palm off the gimmick, or whatever you need to do. Just make sure you don't leave yourself open.
That experience taught me 3 things;
A: Never perform for those who don't actually want to be entertained. If someone wants to just mess with you, say no.
B: Never rely to heavily on one trick. The trick I used was one that I had used extensively. However, upon my uncle revealing it, I started to try and find new ways to perform the same trick that would leave me clean. I also learned to organize my routine.
C: Always have an escape plan. Never allow a Heckler the opportunity to mess with your cards. Either shuffle and cut the cards, or give them a pass, palm off the gimmick, or whatever you need to do. Just make sure you don't leave yourself open.
Hi,
Yes. I don't really recommend practice in front of a mirror. Use a camera video yourself and take the lens as the camera as the eyes of the audience. The only reason when i use the mirror is to check my angles for flashing after that i go straight to the camera because you will keep looking at your hands if in front of the mirror. Video yourself and then take the role of a layman and a magician and rate your trick and fix those are not good. Example: My double lift is very weird, too obvious getting the break, performing the move not natural.
The reason why your parents know the trick is neither all your moves are not natural that why it cause suspicious and with adult brain are smarter which is easy for them to find out or you are performing too easy stuff till that could be the only way that it could be done.
Hope i have answer your questions.
cheers.
Yes. I don't really recommend practice in front of a mirror. Use a camera video yourself and take the lens as the camera as the eyes of the audience. The only reason when i use the mirror is to check my angles for flashing after that i go straight to the camera because you will keep looking at your hands if in front of the mirror. Video yourself and then take the role of a layman and a magician and rate your trick and fix those are not good. Example: My double lift is very weird, too obvious getting the break, performing the move not natural.
The reason why your parents know the trick is neither all your moves are not natural that why it cause suspicious and with adult brain are smarter which is easy for them to find out or you are performing too easy stuff till that could be the only way that it could be done.
Hope i have answer your questions.
cheers.