Can you do it again?

[etherealictrinity]

When ever i preform to people wherever i am i usually get asked a few questions after wards and i think it would be fun to hear the most asked question for you guys and how you answer it. The question i get asked most often is a tie between "Where do you learn all this stuff?' and " Can you do it again?". My answer for the first is "online magic communities" and my answer for the latter is "Look! a distraction * i then vanish into thin air*"

 

[JButterfield]

"Again? I barely got through it the first time."
"Once is a show, twice is a lesson. Lessons cost money."
"Let me show you something different instead."
"A good magician never repeats a trick. A bad one doesn't either, so you're out of luck."
"Nope, that's my show, thanks for coming, goodnight and drive safely!"
"Best to let that live on in memory, rather than sully it with repetition."
"No, it's like a joke - it only works the first time."

Use any or all that you like.

 

[joshrobarts]

i usually answer that i learned it around, books and such, or make a joke about a pact with the devil. As for doing it again my favorite responses are
"Yes but only the first time's free"
"Yes i can" and then just continue with something else
"No, sadly i can only perform each trick once......forever..."
"Why weren't you watching?"

or simply do it with another method or a similar themed trick. Most layman dont know the difference between similar effects. For instance Doc Dayleys last trick and Eddie Fechter's "BE honest what is it" are very VERY similar in their mind, although to us completely different. I often will follow Be Honest what is it with Doc Dayley's, with the condition of using only 4 cards instead of the whole deck. It seems like im repeating the same trick to them, just making it harder for myself.

 

[Craig Browning]

Here's one for you. . .

LEARN OTHER METHODS THAT ALLOW YOU TO DO IT AGAIN

There's always more than one way to accomplish the same basic effect.

Long ago I ran into a situation in which the L.A. Times did a big article on Johnson Products complete with a full color photo of their Cigarette thru Quarter gimmick (full exposure). . . an effect I was known for and was slated to do in the close-up room of the Magic Castle the following week.

With the help of Tom Ogden we worked out a complete 6+ minute routine based on a borrowed quarter through which I shove a cigarette in order to create an actual hole. I ended up doing about five or so different effects, ending with the restoration of the coin (the very visible "healing") and as I tossed the coin onto the table I pointed to the photo in the paper and asked the audience "How could anyone do what you just saw, using something that clunky?" (and it was damn hard not to bust up laughing at that point)

Learning to create alternative methods for doing your favorite routines is what transforms you from being some hobbyist that just wants to learn tricks, to being an actual Magician that's earned the title by getting resourceful and creative in how he/she uses the techniques and resources we have available to us. . . I can't tell you how many card guys I've stumped by ringing in a Svengali deck without their notice, or a forcing deck.

I can't recall the name of the Spanish gent; he's known for a routine known as "Bread Crumbs" and a card routine in which he repeats the process several times. The dude can only use one hand due to a stroke and yet, he'll blow your mind. I'll try to find a video of him and the card trick. In the meantime, look up the Doug Henning special with Ricky Jay doing Assembling Aces, it's a routine that proves what I'm saying here.

 

[JButterfield]

I can't recall the name of the Spanish gent; he's known for a routine known as "Bread Crumbs"

Rene Lavand, from Argentina. Bread Crumbs is great.

 

[Sam Hindrichs]

or simply do it with another method or a similar themed trick. Most layman dont know the difference between similar effects. For instance Doc Dayleys last trick and Eddie Fechter's "BE honest what is it" are very VERY similar in their mind, although to us completely different. I often will follow Be Honest what is it with Doc Dayley's, with the condition of using only 4 cards instead of the whole deck. It seems like im repeating the same trick to them, just making it harder for myself.

Agreed. If you watch David Blaine perform on his street magic TV special he performs 2 Card Monte on Emmit Smith. Later in the show Emmit asks Blaine to "do the trick with the 2 queens again" so Blaine performs a 2 card transpo that uses the same "in the spectators hands" technique that 2 Card Monte uses. Both tricks look similar as far as one card(s) transposing with another card(s), but the methods are completely different.

Just because a spectator says they want to see a certain trick again does NOT mean you have to show them the same trick again. Chances are they don't even remember the trick they just remember the way the trick ends. As long as you have another trick in your repertoire that is similar you are set.

 

[formula]

Even though I rarely read books anymore I always say I learn from books, videos and other magicians. I think saying books and other magicians keeps the secrecy and mysteriousness alive, people imagine reading old books and secret clubs. I would never say "online communities".

When people ask me to do it again, if I have any doubt they might be able to figure it out I tell them more than once is teaching and that costs extra then go on to the next.

 

[The Tumbleweed]

One time I performed an effect using the mnemonica stack, and afterward I was asked to perform it again. Obviously, I couldn't, but I said "Yeah, ok." and I went on to perform a coin bending routine. No one questioned it.

 

[Schism169]

Normally when someone ask me that question I say,

"Yes" and I would show them a completely different trick, or show a variation of the trick.
"Ya, but let me show you something else first" and do a different trick.

After they say "can you show me the trick again?"
"You sure you want to see it agian?" -me
"Yes" - them
"Ya, well... So do I, but we both know that isn't going to happen" then I laugh. =)

 

[Luis Vega]

"Sorry...I am out of MANA"

I love that one..specially for geeks..

 

[Goldmos]

"Sorry...I am out of MANA"

I love that one..specially for geeks..

Me so love this one!

 

[etherealictrinity]

i like the responses but i wasnt asking how to deal with laymen and rather just sharing experiences

 

[Sam Hindrichs]

i like the responses but i wasnt asking how to deal with laymen and rather just sharing experiences

i think it would be fun to hear the most asked question for you guys and how you answer it.

^^^ CONTRADICTION ^^^

If you were asking how we answer our most asked questions then you were asking how we "deal" with laymen, unless we only perform for magicians which I don't. You can't begin to understand how to answer a question laymen would ask if you don't know how to "deal" with them. I'm just sayin'.

 

[Goldmos]

If you were asking how we answer our most asked questions then you were asking how we "deal" with laymen, unless we only perform for magicians which I don't. You can't begin to understand how to answer a question laymen would ask if you don't know how to "deal" with them. I'm just sayin'.

I think that what he meant is he didn't want an answer for him. Some magician answered the question as if they give to the original poster something to say. I think he wants the magician to share their experience like: "Well, one time a guy in a bar ask me to redo my ACR routine, I simply answered...".

 

[Sam Hindrichs]

I think that what he meant is he didn't want an answer for him. Some magician answered the question as if they give to the original poster something to say. I think he wants the magician to share their experience like: "Well, one time a guy in a bar ask me to redo my ACR routine, I simply answered...".

[SARCASM] Thank you so much for clearing that up for me. I don't know why I ever thought the OP would want us to explain how to "deal" with a spec, when in his original post he asked us how we answer them when asked to repeat a trick. [/SARCASM]

 

[blakehensley]

[SARCASM] Thank you so much for clearing that up for me. I don't know why I ever thought the OP would want us to explain how to "deal" with a spec, when in his original post he asked us how we answer them when asked to repeat a trick. [/SARCASM]

Hey guys, just chill out. There doesn't need to be an argument over something dumb.
Lets all get along, shall we?

 

[Goldmos]

Hey guys, just chill out. There doesn't need to be an argument over something dumb.
Lets all get along, shall we?

It doesn't bother me you know, my english isn't quite good so maybe I didn't express myself correctly. It's all ok. I don't perform yet so I don't have any related experience to share.

 

[JDENredden]

I usually reply with my middle finger point high into the sky.

Nuh, I get asked to do it again for their friend, or where do you learn these things.

And to both, I act like the magic never happened like; 'Do what, I didnt do anything' etc etc.

J.

 

[=Psephopaiktes=]

Luis Vega: Such a humor for a gamer like me!! nice one sir!! Thanks!

 

[Luis Vega]

Luis Vega: Such a humor for a gamer like me!! nice one sir!! Thanks!

Thanks Man!! I was so waiting for the right thread to share it...