Lying is spectacular!

[Ben Long]

I performed today for a couple of German exchange students and some not German exchange students (this has nothing to do with anything, just FYI). They kept hammering me with questions: How do I do this, how does the card change, how do you make this disappear, etc.

I lied. I told them with a completely straight face absolute lies about how I was doing what I was doing. I showed them the simple switch, lied about that, did a mind reading trick, lied about it, did some card changes and meticulously explained about the properties of inks in cards. What was great was after I did each effect, I could follow it up with another acting as the explanation. I did this in my ACR with the simple switch, did some slower color changes after some quicker ones, etc.

They believed all of it. Each and every word. And this isn't the only occasion on which this has happened. I now deliberately structure my routine to have the "explanations" included after each effect.

It's kind of a win-win situation.

 

[Johnlawl]

If you're a magician of course you lie. I did the muscle pass to my friend and I told him the coin is magnetic and I'm wearing a magnetic wristband.

 

[Ben Long]

It just never occurred to me before that I love to lie. Magic is great! It condones lying to people (for me, at least).

 

[David Rysin]

I forget who said it, and I forget the exact words...but the saying goes something like this:

"Once your spectators have come up with a solution to an effect, whether the explanation is correct or not, the magic is then gone from their minds, for that effect, forever."

Something for ya'll to ponder 'bout,
~David Rysin

 

[TeeDee]

I forget who said it, and I forget the exact words...but the saying goes something like this:

"Once your spectators have come up with a solution to an effect, whether the explanation is correct or not, the magic is then gone from their minds, for that effect, forever."

Something for ya'll to ponder 'bout,
~David Rysin

The thing is, I don't believe magic lies in not understanding how something is achieved. As long as the explanation is impressive enough then that becomes the amazing effect, the actual "trick" being merely a demonstration of some amazing ability. Hundreds of years ago, in Reginald Scot's era, spectators were convinced they knew how tricks were done: it was witchcraft. This is the era when magic was strongest, and magicians were genuinely regarded as being able to harness some supernatural force.

The absolute strongest thing I do is force a card then spend three or four minutes reading the spectator's reactions and body language. They can see what I'm doing...I'm reading their tiny facial movements and eye flickers, and it becomes a challenge. The point is, they have an explanation which is not only plausible, but which they really believe is the truth and they have bought into 100%. But, it's still amazing to them that such a thing is possible.

If an audience has no explanation, they will make one up for themselves, and it's usually one that doesn't show the performer in the best light. It may be "He had a trick prop", or "He did it when I wasn't looking", or even "It's just sleight-of-hand, anyone can learn that." To my mind, to create that moment of magic in the modern day you have to do as the wizards of old did....profess some incredible ability and use your magical effects to demonstrate that ability, whether it be a superhuman memory, fantastic body-language reading, or unbelievably fast hands (and, by the way, a well-executed classic pass is an ideal way to convince people that your hands are quicker than they believe could be possible).

Basically, what I'm saying is, to make magic as strong as it can be, the audience needs to have a solution, whether it be true or false. It just needs to be convincing.

 

[Deleted member 2755]

I disagree with lying. You shouldn't even give a fake explanation (unless you are like me and make an explanation where the spectators know you are joking to make them think harder). That's what will make the magic magical. Just be like me and make up lies.

Earlier today I was performing Panic....
--------------------------------------------------------
"If all I do is square the cards" -me
*Squares cards*
"The whole deck vanishes." -me
*Lifts up the 4 kings and flicks them (I like doing that for extra effect whenever revealing a card or cards)*
"WHOAH!" -all 3 spectators
"Now wait, where is the rest of the deck?" -me
"In your pocket!"-spectator 1
*I slowly reach in and pull out the deck*
"WHOAH!" -all 3 spectators
*dribbles the cards on the table*
"How did you do that?!" -spectator 2
"Well it's actually quite simple. As I square the deck, I push down really hard on the cards. When I push really hard, the friction causes the cards to fling into my pocket at an incredible speed which catapults the four kings back into my hands."
*spectators think for a second then laugh and talk about how amazing it was*
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I'll be writing a review for Panic soon. Anyway, I like jokes. However, people like my freak bizarre magic more like Stigmata which I like more myself. I love performing Stigmata.

-Doug

 

[ThrallMind]

I disagree with lying. You shouldn't even give a fake explanation (unless you are like me and make an explanation where the spectators know you are joking to make them think harder). That's what will make the magic magical. Just be like me and make up lies.
-Doug

"You see, I made the coin float up by dropping the coin, then playing the tape for you backwards." See how long it takes them... ;P

-ThrallMind