Hey I need advise. How do you know what tricks to do throughout the day. For example you obviously cant carry every gimmick you have so do you like choose a couplem to take at the beginning of the day? Or like trick wise, do you have a certain like 5 tricks that you always perform?
Any street Magicians that can answer this?
- Thread starter Turbay_Travis
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careful with the gimmicks.
from my past experiences with street magic, and magic in general. keep as little gimmicks on you as possible. I'm always prepared for my 30 minute routine (which i preform in shows and birthday parties.) i carry 4 to 6
rubber-bands with 2 paperclips on one of the bands. 3 to 5 balloons. 2 decks. one deck has a few duplicates, and the other is a normal deck. a few set up prediction papers (one of the only gimmicks i carry would be these papers) and a lighter. and guess what. i have my entire show right here! keep everyday objects on you when you preform magic. the less stuff you have. the better off you'll be friend. a piece of advice for you friend. stay away from the gimmicks as much as you can. with gimmicks you may be able to do some amazing things. but when they break. you have nothing until you buy/make that gimmick again. if you just carry around a pack or two of cards. and they fall in water or whatever. you can easily acquire a deck relatively quickly. if you do magic with just rubber-bands and paperclips. those are practically everywhere. so if those break you can find some more very easily. stick with the basic stuff. you'll go so much further with these objects. my 5 main tricks that i preform all the time (with a regular deck) would be. 1 Triumphant twist. my version of triumph. 2. aces places (another trick i made) 3. a 2 card pop out routine (Can't remember the name at the moment) 4. a flashy trick with the Hot Shot. (i just make there selected card shoot out from the middle of the deck) and 5. the David Blaine 2 card Monte. hopefully this helps my friend! keep up the good work.
from my past experiences with street magic, and magic in general. keep as little gimmicks on you as possible. I'm always prepared for my 30 minute routine (which i preform in shows and birthday parties.) i carry 4 to 6
rubber-bands with 2 paperclips on one of the bands. 3 to 5 balloons. 2 decks. one deck has a few duplicates, and the other is a normal deck. a few set up prediction papers (one of the only gimmicks i carry would be these papers) and a lighter. and guess what. i have my entire show right here! keep everyday objects on you when you preform magic. the less stuff you have. the better off you'll be friend. a piece of advice for you friend. stay away from the gimmicks as much as you can. with gimmicks you may be able to do some amazing things. but when they break. you have nothing until you buy/make that gimmick again. if you just carry around a pack or two of cards. and they fall in water or whatever. you can easily acquire a deck relatively quickly. if you do magic with just rubber-bands and paperclips. those are practically everywhere. so if those break you can find some more very easily. stick with the basic stuff. you'll go so much further with these objects. my 5 main tricks that i preform all the time (with a regular deck) would be. 1 Triumphant twist. my version of triumph. 2. aces places (another trick i made) 3. a 2 card pop out routine (Can't remember the name at the moment) 4. a flashy trick with the Hot Shot. (i just make there selected card shoot out from the middle of the deck) and 5. the David Blaine 2 card Monte. hopefully this helps my friend! keep up the good work.
Do you mean 'busking'? If so, I do a 20-30 minute show in which I perform five to six routines, and repeat it until i feel like leaving.
Not sure who to credit the quote to but "a professional does the same tricks to different people - an amateur does different tricks to the same people."
It's only through repetition that routines really shine in your hands. Only by performing a routine a lot of times before a real audience will you see what works well, what could be improved, what lines work well, what ones should be rewritten, etc. My advice is to put together a set of your best stuff and work it until you cannot improve it further, or until everyone in your hometown has seen it. Then make another set.
Not sure who to credit the quote to but "a professional does the same tricks to different people - an amateur does different tricks to the same people."
It's only through repetition that routines really shine in your hands. Only by performing a routine a lot of times before a real audience will you see what works well, what could be improved, what lines work well, what ones should be rewritten, etc. My advice is to put together a set of your best stuff and work it until you cannot improve it further, or until everyone in your hometown has seen it. Then make another set.
On a daily basis this is what I have ready:
I keep 3 decks on me. All standard. 2 of the same so I have back ups and doubles for making on the fly gimmicked cards. Also, this allows me to keep track of what cards have been signed and I can replace them so I keep a full deck at all times. The other is a back up just in case something were to happen to them. If I were to pick a certain 5 effects it would be:
1. French Kiss by Wayne Houchin aka SWAK from Jarek 1:20
2. Ambitious Card
3. Branded by Tim Torono
4. Sloppy Shuffle Triumph by Chris Kenner
5. This would be a tie between Mercury Aces by David Kong and Back Up Plan by Adam Wilbur
Hope this helps! If I have a chance to carry my messenger bag with me I'll also bring balloons for Pressure, forks for Liquid Metal, and some rubber bands ( I have big wrists so I don't wear them)
I keep 3 decks on me. All standard. 2 of the same so I have back ups and doubles for making on the fly gimmicked cards. Also, this allows me to keep track of what cards have been signed and I can replace them so I keep a full deck at all times. The other is a back up just in case something were to happen to them. If I were to pick a certain 5 effects it would be:
1. French Kiss by Wayne Houchin aka SWAK from Jarek 1:20
2. Ambitious Card
3. Branded by Tim Torono
4. Sloppy Shuffle Triumph by Chris Kenner
5. This would be a tie between Mercury Aces by David Kong and Back Up Plan by Adam Wilbur
Hope this helps! If I have a chance to carry my messenger bag with me I'll also bring balloons for Pressure, forks for Liquid Metal, and some rubber bands ( I have big wrists so I don't wear them)
Pressing all the juice out.
This is kind of depressing for me. Not trying to change you're mind. For me, its just different. "Magicians are storytellers. Focus on telling the best story you can with whoever you want. There are enough rules in magic." You are probably not a business major, you are a guy that can change an emotion. Which is more powerful than being a professional. Also this kind of thought is why magic isn't breaking the boundaries, like almost every other art form.
If 50% of all magicians use the same kind of trick in a 10 minute act. (Think ACR or Two card transpos back in 2003 or so.) There isn't an attempt to push past pain and create greatness. Pushing past pain is the only way you can live with endless pleasure. I know MANY people will disagree with me. But to those people I will leave you with two last quote. "If you are following logic, you are living in fear." The fear is implied, to me, to mean the fear of being a leader/trailblazer/sticking out. "You don't need charisma to be a leader. Leading gives you the charisma. Just start." <<that one is from my distant mentor Seth Godin.
This is kind of depressing for me. Not trying to change you're mind. For me, its just different. "Magicians are storytellers. Focus on telling the best story you can with whoever you want. There are enough rules in magic." You are probably not a business major, you are a guy that can change an emotion. Which is more powerful than being a professional. Also this kind of thought is why magic isn't breaking the boundaries, like almost every other art form.
If 50% of all magicians use the same kind of trick in a 10 minute act. (Think ACR or Two card transpos back in 2003 or so.) There isn't an attempt to push past pain and create greatness. Pushing past pain is the only way you can live with endless pleasure. I know MANY people will disagree with me. But to those people I will leave you with two last quote. "If you are following logic, you are living in fear." The fear is implied, to me, to mean the fear of being a leader/trailblazer/sticking out. "You don't need charisma to be a leader. Leading gives you the charisma. Just start." <<that one is from my distant mentor Seth Godin.
You know this refers to a professional magician, right?
I think that magic isn't "breaking any boundaries like almost any other art form" because of the generally low level of craft. And that, I feel, is because people keep performing new material before it's been really mastered, and not working things until they achieve some level of mastery. The best story is one that practised, and perfected through repeated performance. There's a need for instant gratification these days, and that runs counter to the need for magic to be practiced to a high level before being performed.
How often do you figure that Gazzo or Kozmo or Jimmy Talksalot change their acts? Rarely if ever. You can look at pretty much any clip of Gazzo doing the cups and balls, and i'd be surprised if more than a half-dozen lines change from performance to performance. And it kills - because it's tight, the patter is as good as it can be, and he performs it really well. That's just not possible when you do something new all the time. You can learn something from every performance.
Any band that tours plays pretty much the same songs from one concert to the next, any stage actor says the same lines in the same play for a long run, a comedian does the same routine night after night, and it's through that honing of skill through performance that greatness is really brought forth. Why should we be any different? Gregory Wilson said something along the lines of not wanting to see someone's newest trick, he wants to see the one they've done 1,000 times.
So if we do not use the science that investigates the principles governing correct or reliable inference, we live in fear? It does not follow.
Even more so look at Ricky Jay. He has done the same effects for at least forty years now. Look at video of him from the 70's on SNL or Merv Griffin and it is the same four card assebmly and other things. But he has mastered the effects timing script and everything else about those handful of effects.
Gazzo only changed his act when people copied him so much he got mad. Kozmo's been doing the same act pretty much his whole career. The methods have evolved, but the act is the same.
Look at Penn & Teller - they change their act maybe 3 times a year. And when doing so, they rotate out one trick, and add another which has been honed already. Teller worked on The Red Ball trick for like 10 years before it went into the act.
Look at Penn & Teller - they change their act maybe 3 times a year. And when doing so, they rotate out one trick, and add another which has been honed already. Teller worked on The Red Ball trick for like 10 years before it went into the act.
You are neglecting to think of the reality of things. If you are constantly performing for the same group of people, then it's fine to constantly change your act and constantly add new material.
The problem with that, is that you run the risk of not improving on the current set you are working on. Many, pro's who do stage shows, parlor magic, and even close up magic. Have been using the same exact routines for the majority of their career. Yes, they learn new things here and there, and maybe change the method around or the order that things are performed in. But a good majority of the smart ones will use the same sets for many years. You get better at those sets by constantly performing for different audiences.
Plus, you do realize that it's going to become a pain in the ass to try to get better at new stuff all the time. Right?
Credit goes to David Devant. If anyone doesn't know who he is read Jim Steinmeyer's Hiding the Elephant. Then read Our Magic.
I'm pretty sure I would disagree with you if I could figure out what you are trying to say.
I agree with slick sleights on this one. The majority if not all art should always be about self expression and pushing ones one boundaries, whether its skill or competing against yourself to create something better than before. If you don't push the boundaries, we can never move forward. I don't think its right to say that every other art form doesn't push the boundaries. They do. Look at Sgt. Pepper, Dark Side of the Moon, Thriller. The greats all pushed themselves to do something different and in turn, they created something everyone stood in awe of. If you lose the drive to improve and push the boundaries of yourself and your art you have just lost the very magic that made you become an artist in the first place.