Best Magic Effects?

[Enzo]

Hello people! I'm only 15 years old and I started magic when I was about 13.

What are the best powerful effects you can suggest to me?

For now these are the best favorite powerful effects that I perform:


1. Serial Biller - Borrow a bill. Have the serial numbers written down. Ask them to tear the bill. Place the torn bill in the spectator's hand. Ask him/her to squeeze tight. Then ask the person to open his/her hand and the torn bill restores in his/her own hand. Ask them to verify the serial numbers.


2. Extreme Burn - You could borrow the bills. Let's say you borrowed five 1 dollar bills. Count and show them one at a time. Then the bills changed to $100 let's say and give it to them.


3. Self Tying Shoelace - Someone will say that your shoelace is untied. Tell everyone to watch closely. You start kicking and as you continue kicking the shoelace visually tied without you touching it.


4. Coin Bite - Borrow a coin. Ask the spectator to sign his/her initials. You bite the coin and they see that it's now only in half. You spit and the coin restored to original form.


5. Coin to Bottle - Borrow a bottle. Borrow a coin. Ask the spectator to sign his/her initial on the coin. You take the bottle and the coin. Ask them to watch closely. You slap the coin hard under the bottle and it is now inside the bottle.


6. Watermark - You take or could borrow a napkin. Ask the spectator to think of a number and focus on it. Borrow a bottle of water. Ask the spectator to sprinkle water on the napkin. And the thought of number visually appears on the napkin.


7. Thread - Borrow or take a thread. Swallow it and pull it from your eye.


8. Wizard's Phone - Ask a person to think of a number from 1 - 100. Borrow a cell phone and call someone. Put the cell phone on microphone mode so that everyone can hear. Ask the person you are talking to think of a number from 1 - 100. And the number your spectator and the person you are talking to match exactly.


9. On the line - Borrow a huge amount of bill. Let's say $100. Ask the spectator to sign his/her name or just write the serial numbers down. Then ask another person to put the $100 to anyone's wallet while you are not looking. Then tell them, if I can't find the person who has the $100, it's his/her. Then you eliminate one person at a time until you are left with only one person. Then ask the person to open his/her wallet and the $100 bill that can be signed is in his/her wallet.


10. Tagged - Ask a person to think of a word. And the word materializes on his/her arm.


11. Floating Bill - Borrow a bill. Have it signed if you want. You place the bill in your hand. Then it floats. I usually just make it float for 2 seconds only then I give the bill back.


I wanted to include SAW but I'm afraid that the people will see that special thing. I love Dan Sperry's performance of this. It's just flawless. And that special thing is very invisible. I wonder how?


I also wanted to include Fraud but I'm so sad that I can't perform it because I lived in the Philippines and it will not work with our bills. Anyone who was able to perform Fraud using a different bill?


These are the effects that I'm saving on and plan on buying them:


Flow by Dan Hauss
Trick Sharpie
Quantum Bender 2.0

What do you think?


Any other powerful effects that you people can suggest to me?

I also want to do a very practical almost angle proof self levitation. What is the best self levitation?


Thanks to all tips and advices.



- Enzo -

 

[Phenomena]

5 speed
invisible deck

all you need

 

[Elite Prestidigitation]

OP cant handle a deck of cards?

 

[Naz]

Swami Gimmick
Cold- The telesthesia cards from Proximity Effects book
Diplopia by Paul Vigil

 

[SebaMan]

what about a book? really...

 

[Naz]

what about a book? really...

You mean about Proximity Effects?

 

[RickEverhart]

I have said this time and time again, but I'll say it again. It is NOT the gimmick / trick that creates that magical moment for your audience. It goes way beyond what prop you are using. I have seen a well seasoned veteran take a plastic vase and ball set and create a miracle and on the contrary I have seen an amateur screw up a $400 illusion that was purchased to "kill" his audience.

I know it is hard for some of you new guys to understand but the value and strength of an effect does not have anything to do with the price tag of the said item.

 

[TheatreHead]

we should seriously have a sticky for threads like these, they come up so damn often.

 

[SebaMan]

You mean about Proximity Effects?

No, a book like "Strong Magic" or "Pure Effect"

 

[Craig Browning]

Let's repeat that again, nice and loud for everyone to hear... IT'S NOT THE BLOODY TRICK THAT COUNTS, IT'S THE (wannabe) MAGICIAN BEHIND IT!

Just because you own a couple of books on the subject, have a few props in your collection DOES NOT mean you are a "magician", you're just a fool with some tricks and the desire to fool others. I'd go so far to say that most do this at first, simply to prove themselves superior to mere mortals... at least, that's one of the psychological profiles that exists around those of us that do this stuff.

I've purchased props that cost thousands of dollars that simply didn't work in my shows. Not because it was a bad illusion but because I wasn't able to "sell" the effect in a way that generated an audience reaction. But guess what... Dante, Blackstone and all the other legends in this business had similar experiences in their careers. I've owned a few of their rejects and was able to approach them in a way that made them a solid piece of business such as they were not able to see originally.. .they were too caught up in the original idea as to what the trick was "supposed" to be.

I also noticed that some of the others were suggesting a Mentalism piece right next to a magic trick... NOT! If you want to maximize your effectiveness as a Mentalist THEN BE ONE! Stop halfassing things by doing a card trick one minute and reaching for your swami gimmick the next! Whether you are going to be a solid close-up worker, master manipulator, stage illusionists or Mentalists YOU MUST BECOME YOUR CHARACTER and in so doing YOU MUST DO MATERIAL THAT DEFINES THAT ENTITY... otherwise, you will not see optimum advantage when you present an effect.

Yes, I'm fully aware of that faction of recovering magicians that can't give up their sponge bunnies and deck of cards who want to cash in on the Mentalism/Bizarre Magick TREND... they will argue tooth & nail against what I've just told you, but which one of us has viable experience doing both things, that would know the diffinative difference? I only did grand illusions & stage magic for 17+ years before moving into Psychic Entertainment full time; I know from first hand experience that FOCUS is paramount regardless your choice.

So, to answer your question -- YOU are the best Gimmick for when it comes to mind blowing, mega-powerful magic!

I have said this time and time again, but I'll say it again. It is NOT the gimmick / trick that creates that magical moment for your audience. It goes way beyond what prop you are using. I have seen a well seasoned veteran take a plastic vase and ball set and create a miracle and on the contrary I have seen an amateur screw up a $400 illusion that was purchased to "kill" his audience.

I know it is hard for some of you new guys to understand but the value and strength of an effect does not have anything to do with the price tag of the said item.

 

[Justin.Morris]

I agree that the magician needs to do a good job presenting whatever he is doing. But one still needs to do magic that is good. The first chapter of Strong Magic talks about this. He says it's not just about a good personality, its about using strong magic as well.

I believe the OP is asking about effects.

 

[Steerpike]

I believe the OP is asking about effects.

No kidding? I thought he was talking about pizza. I'm going to be a bit of a hardass and break this down.

Serial Biller: Do you have a motivation for doing this?
Extreme Burn: Do you have a good reason for doing this?
Self-Tying Shoelace Are you David Blaine? No? Then why are you doing his presentation?
Coin Bite: Point?
Coin to Bottle: Point?
Watermark: This accomplishes or proves what?
Thread: How is this a magic trick?
Wizard's Phone: Trying to mix mentalism with the above is a mistake.
On the Line: See above.
Tagged: Point?
Floating Bill: This is probably better than anything else you've said because you explained that it only floats for a second or two. Longer than that and nobody's thinking, "Wow, it moved!" They're thinking, "Wow, that is some really good thread he's using. I can't even see it."

You want advice? Get a copy of Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic and figure out where you want to go with this. Because right now there is nothing tying any of this together.

 

[Aaron.Williams]

No kidding? I thought he was talking about pizza. I'm going to be a bit of a hardass and break this down.

Serial Biller: Do you have a motivation for doing this?
Extreme Burn: Do you have a good reason for doing this?
Self-Tying Shoelace Are you David Blaine? No? Then why are you doing his presentation?
Coin Bite: Point?
Coin to Bottle: Point?
Watermark: This accomplishes or proves what?
Thread: How is this a magic trick?
Wizard's Phone: Trying to mix mentalism with the above is a mistake.
On the Line: See above.
Tagged: Point?
Floating Bill: This is probably better than anything else you've said because you explained that it only floats for a second or two. Longer than that and nobody's thinking, "Wow, it moved!" They're thinking, "Wow, that is some really good thread he's using. I can't even see it."

You want advice? Get a copy of Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic and figure out where you want to go with this. Because right now there is nothing tying any of this together.

I don't understand this post. For most of the tricks you said, "What's the point/motivation for doing this?" You could really say the same thing about any magic trick really, "What's the point of doing a sandwich effect?"
That's kind of sounds like a person's reason for NOT liking magic.
And Extreme Burn has a very obvious reason to it: Make money worth more, who doesn't want to do that?

To the OP: I'm 13 and I've been doing magic since I was 8 and I completely agree with just about everyone else, the trick doesn't matter, as long as it suits you and your performance style, then any trick can be great. And that's a pretty good lineup of tricks there, you should probably learn a couple of card tricks, you don't have to do them all the time but you'll have that option if someone gives you a deck of cards and says, "do a trick.". but I think it's your performance that you need to improve, not the tricks.

 

[Steerpike]

I don't understand this post. For most of the tricks you said, "What's the point/motivation for doing this?" You could really say the same thing about any magic trick really, "What's the point of doing a sandwich effect?"
That's kind of sounds like a person's reason for NOT liking magic.

Exactly. Think about that for a minute.

 

[Aaron.Williams]

Exactly. Think about that for a minute.

Still don't get it. Please explain.

Edit: I think I somewhat understand, but I still don't see how this has anything to do with the thread.

 

[Steerpike]

(sigh) That's not the answer I had hoped for.

Put it another way... Have you ever actually stopped to think about why you consider the effects you use to be good?

 

[Aaron.Williams]

(sigh) That's not the answer I had hoped for.

Put it another way... Have you ever actually stopped to think about why you consider the effects you use to be good?

I think I know where you're going with this, but, now that I really think about it, I have never really stopped to think about why I consider the effects I use to be good. I really don't know. I guess there are really just certain things I'm drawn to...

 

[Steerpike]

And what about everyone else? Why should they care? What does this do for them? What does it communicate to them? What point do they see in it, if any at all?

 

[CaseyRudd]

And what about everyone else? Why should they care? What does this do for them? What does it communicate to them? What point do they see in it, if any at all?

That, i believe is where your presentation comes in. Make them believe what you are doing is important without forcing it on them. Do something that can relate to everyday people (for example using pop culture that's been culturally diffused with everyone). When I choose effects I think about how I would make the spectator care about what I'm doing and if they will like it. It's not really about what I want to see, more if they would think what they saw was pure magic.

-Casey

 

[Aaron.Williams]

That, i believe is where your presentation comes in. Make them believe what you are doing is important without forcing it on them. Do something that can relate to everyday people (for example using pop culture that's been culturally diffused with everyone). When I choose effects I think about how I would make the spectator care about what I'm doing and if they will like it. It's not really about what I want to see, more if they would think what they saw was pure magic.

-Casey

Couldn't have said it better. Seriously.