Which Magic do you guys think is more fooling: Card magic, Coin Magic, or Mentalism magic?

Sep 5, 2018
2
0
Hey guys, I wanted to get this question out to you because I'm doing a project where I see what type of magic people enjoy, and see if that affects which magic they are more genually fooled by :) I'm super curious to see what you guys think :)
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
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There's no such thing as "Mentalism Magic".

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking here. What do you mean when you say "more fooling"?

This also seems to ignore skill level. A good coin magician is going to fool more people than a bad card magician - but that has nothing to do with the props in their hands.
 
Sep 5, 2018
2
0
There's no such thing as "Mentalism Magic".

I'm not sure exactly what you're asking here. What do you mean when you say "more fooling"?

This also seems to ignore skill level. A good coin magician is going to fool more people than a bad card magician - but that has nothing to do with the props in their hands.
Well I'm trying to compare peoples reactions to the different types of magic. Mentalism I know techinally isn't magic but it is a using the brains knowledge against itself, so I feel it belongs into the catagory. So like do people enjoy watching card magicians more or coin magicians or people that perform mentalism tricks, then see if they have any prior knowledge of these and see if that impacts it in anyway. So I'm just asking what type of magic you guys enjoy, or maybe even perform to use as a base for my research before I go out and perform these onto ppl. If that helps at all
 
Jan 2, 2016
1,092
881
24
California
It really depends. Like Christopher said, it really depends on your skill as a performer.

Joshua Jay did perform a study on types of magic and found that card magic was the least memorable. That's not to say people don't enjoy it, but they don't remember the exact details of it as well as they do other types of magic. That changes however, when you involve an outside prop like a lemon, ceiling, window, omni deck, etc.

Here's the full document: http://www.magicconvention.com//wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Survey.pdf
It could have some useful info for your project.

But yeah, there really isn't an area of magic that's inherently more fooling than another.I will say though, that generally anything that can be done with borrowed objects or in your spectators hands seems to fool them more. It just feels more impossible.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
I'm sorry but your premise is flawed. You're trying to quantify things that can't really be quantified. There's just too many variables.

I can tell you what will greatly enhance your chances of entertaining people, though: Do what you enjoy doing.

People can sense when the performer is doing something they are interested in personally. The audience can also tell when the performer just isn't that into something.

So what do YOU like seeing? Get good at that, and perform that.

I like to see good magic and mentalism. I can't stand bad magic or mentalism. The props being used by the magician shouldn't be that important. On top of that, I'll watch something which is performed well and has an interesting premise before I'll watch something that's technically demanding but lacking theatricality in the presentation.

If your goal is simply to fool people, though, you're going to be disappointed in the reactions you get.
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
The easiest way to fool someone is by doing a long boring mathematical card trick.

Coin magic is the most naturally visual of your three choices. This means that it can be fun to watch but might not be all that fooling. A coin roll or card flourish can get a big reaction but they aren't fooling anyone.

Mentalism, when presented poorly, is neither visual, fooling, or fun to watch. When it is performed well, it is can create a great reaction.

One of the wealthiest entertainers in the world, David Copperfield, performs very little card magic, coin magic or mentalism. He instead focuses on story and character. Story can mean much more.
 

Tower of Lunatic Meat

Elite Member
Sep 27, 2014
2,435
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Texa$, with a dollar sign
It’s not about “fooling” and audience. That’s the wrong way of looking at it.

It’s more about how entertaining you can be. In which, it absolutely depends on your presentation and character going into it.

The only time you’d be in a situation where you’re more inclined to “fool” anyone would be magicians in SAM/IBM/FISM/Fool Us.

And even then, it’s more about how entertaining you are (IIRC, some people who didn’t fool P&T still got to open in some of their shows).

No audwince in the world is going to look at your routine and go, “I thought he was going to do an ‘Ambitious Card’ routine, but they ended up doing a wicked ‘Ambitious Riser’ into a ‘Double Side Steal’! Bloke is an absolute unit!”

The parts we want the audience to appreciate are the parts we don’t want them to know about.

Focus more on being entertaining for your audience and you’ll progress further than trying to fool them with things they aren’t meant to understand anyway.

Plus, purely trying to fool an audience will prompt them to look more at what you’re doing as a puzzle and try to come to their own co valuation of Howe it’s done—whether they are correct or not.

Not what you want.
 
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