Can You Sign the Card Right Across the Face? An Essay On Proving Your Magic.

TKH

Aug 31, 2007
491
0
Wisconsin
In my opinion i dont think people nowadays think that magic really exist. If you take card magic for an example. I dont really think that laymen really think that you made the card jump to the top of the deck or that you really made it dissapear. In their minds they think that you are really skilled and you did something that their eye could not detect. Dont get me wrong i would really love for people to really belive in magic again, I do but the faq of the mather is that as time goes by we humans get smarter, atleast some of us.

Thats why we need singed cards, coins etc. To make it more convinceble. An illusion can only get better if the chances of you cheating is minimal. Thats why i love singed cards and coins. I dont really stress the mather of an card getting destroyed because of an signed card. And I think if thats whats keeping you from singing cards I think that you should take a look over your economy. Becasue decks arent that expensive. The best tricks that i perform are the ones that you really show the spectator that there really is their singed card/coin. It gives it that little extra touch that something might confuse them so much that there really is true magic. And is that not what we all strife for?
If we can just give them that 1 second of doupt then we have prevailed. That my opinion.

My main point was that people should not think less of an effect because it can not be signed or inspected, or you don't end clean. Work what you can do to your advantage.

I was just throwing out something why I tend not to have people sign cards, because of the deck thing. I get attached to a deck of cards., and tend not to use the performing one for any topological card effects.
 
Sep 9, 2007
512
0
I did not meant owrite 1,000 I meant more then that, and I was referring to david blaine's card through window

obviously scale my example up, and realize it's just a generalization. exactly 990 might not like it. it may be 991, 989.......

the point i was trying to make is: all parts of presentation equal, a more impossible effect will eliminate more doubt in more people that what you did is real. be smarter than your audience.
 

Bizzaro

Elite Member
Sep 1, 2007
464
10
Vegas
www.smappdooda.com
Yay thought provoking text!!

Over the summer I performed magic as a pirate for the local six flags. I could not have the cards signed as markers and pens would have been EXTREMELY out of character. I still did the same magic I normally do (Card on floor, dollar transpo, etc) without the usual signatures. They got the same responses as normal.

People don't think in the same lines we do. They trust us (And those who don't have a reason not to). If your conviction is strong enuff, seldom will they question you. I have been doing card to wallet for I dunno how long now (Unsigned version). Showing it no longer in the deck and then in the wallet is enuff proof for them. I have a signed version I can do as well if necessary, but it hasn't presented itself thus far.

Michael Close had an essay in his workers series about how people don't take into account the amount of prep we as magicians are willing to put into something. They don't think we'd have three outs to a trick in our wallets (Thank you David Regal), they don't even KNOW double backed cards exist, and if you have a confederate with a duplicate card somewhere ready to go, well then forget about it.

I will admit, there are some effects I would NEVER do without a signature... however it adds to the performance. It's not just there for the sake of it's own magnificence.

People believe us because we tell them to. This is why magic works the way it does and also why people like the Asshat and Criss Fishing Rod are on TV still.

On ending clean, I have learned that, sometimes, it's just not necessary. We have a habit of trying to get our hands empty ASAP if we hold out at the end. A good example of this is Perkins' In Your Face Change. I have been doing it for people and it has such a STRONG slap in the face impact, that they can't reconstruct backwards cuz' their brain shut down on them. If your magic can be that strong (Not confusing. "Confusion isn't magic" - Dai Vernon) then you can hold out as long as you want and clean up later down the road.

It's all relative... so ask yer relatives this Holiday season.
 
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One thing I hate is when people say something is "more impossible". How can something be MORE impossible? That just doesn't make any sense. Yes, signing a card or coin CAN enhance the magic, yet none of the coin in bottle routines I perform use a signed coin... It's already spectacular that I made a coin penetrate a sealed bottle, signing the coin isn't exactly necessary. It might make their suspicions less prevalent, yet with the right presentation your spectators SHOULDN'T have any suspicions.

Mitchell
 

TKH

Aug 31, 2007
491
0
Wisconsin
Thank you Mitchell and BIzarro for backing me up. I thought I picked the wrong battle for a second there.

Uhhh.... The thing you said about the math, 99.9% of people do not know of duplicates. I encourage you to show people clips of david blaine doing his card through window. And asking them what they thought, not about the method. I doubt they will say duplicate card. And don't ask your parents, if you are a minor, because they have more magic knowledge then you credit them for.
 
Sep 2, 2007
55
0
Stockholm Sweden
My main point was that people should not think less of an effect because it can not be signed or inspected, or you don't end clean. Work what you can do to your advantage.

I was just throwing out something why I tend not to have people sign cards, because of the deck thing. I get attached to a deck of cards., and tend not to use the performing one for any topological card effects.

I can agree with you on that point. But like some of the people here say that some tricks get better with a singning.
I too get attached to a deck of cards. I hate it when laymen wants to show ME a trick after seeing mine and asks if they can borrow my deck. Moist hands and bad card controll, bending the cards to total destruction. But when it comes to signing it doesnt really get to me. I mean you can still use the deck of cards even if its only 51 cards left in the deck.

But like i said i totaly agree with you on the whole, dont think less of and effect just because its not signable.
 
Nov 20, 2007
71
0
Another way of looking at it

:)I like your point (TKH original post). I remember, back in the day, (like 14 years ago, I was ten) a time when I was doing a show for my family and friends. Anyways I did a trick that I designed (multiple card to impossible location, very clean and fair) and my Dad really liked it. After the show he was telling me so and I told him that I had found a way to make it better by letting every participant sign the cards making it even more impossible. And he looked at me and said “how would signing the cards make it more impossible your trick was great. I never once thought you would have switched the cards as the cards where gone from the deck at the end of the trick”. It took me awhile to realize just how important this type of thinking can to creating a good show, a balanced show. A show that has enough proof that the audience can, in fact trust that some of things you are doing, too just there eyes and the similar perceptions of those around them will then amplify there belief without direct proof. This way you don’t have to let everyone have a hand in the inspections. I don’t know about you but I don’t have enough time in my show to let everyone inspect my props, unless they are the Deal or no Deal girls. I believe most of the arguments made here are valid, but you cant have every card signed or (as a man who only performs with a deck) I believe you cant steer away completely from a signed card because it can definitely make the effect impossible, increase reactions, and cause total breakdowns, while at the same time strengthening everything else you did before and after. I would love to continue (I would Really) but my deck is getting jealous of my keyboard…we have a love hate relationship that borders on obsession.
 
I was breifly scanning through the points presented here so if I did miss it then my bad, but why doesn't audience participation come out?

I agree, that signed items in magic does get worn out if done too often in a routine. Please view the Cyril Takayama special :p And as it has been said, if the audience doesn't think about it one does not need to draw attention to it. (Garcia said something about that but I can't remember specifically what he said)

But that said, they are occasions where one would like to use a signed item to further increase the appreciation and the entertainment factor. It really does add a personal touch to a routine. Think of it from the audiences prespective. Compare ACR since it has been brought up in this already. A magician shows you an ACR without the audience being signed. Flawless performance, and very magical. It is a good job, but its just like displaying ones skill. With something signed, imagine you hand the audience the card you let them hold it and sign it with their name. It doesn't get much more personal than having someones name used in a routine.

An added bonus is they get to keep the card later as a souvenier. So do not just think the purpose of the signature is to prove that your magic is 'real'. If it isn't questioned don't draw attention to it. They are more than one reason for using it.
 
Sep 9, 2007
512
0
One thing I hate is when people say something is "more impossible". How can something be MORE impossible? That just doesn't make any sense.

There's a ton of things that we once thought were impossible that are now reality.

the four minute mile: http://www.sptimes.com/News/121799/Sports/Bannister_stuns_world.shtml

is a great example. something is impossible until we can prove it is possible, thus something is "more impossible" if it's harder to prove to be possible.

What that means in magic is that a trick that covers more possible angles in terms of possible explanations is "more impossible" than one that leaves possible explanations open to the spectator as to how it happened.


Thank you Mitchell and BIzarro for backing me up. I thought I picked the wrong battle for a second there.

Uhhh.... The thing you said about the math, 99.9% of people do not know of duplicates. I encourage you to show people clips of david blaine doing his card through window. And asking them what they thought, not about the method. I doubt they will say duplicate card. And don't ask your parents, if you are a minor, because they have more magic knowledge then you credit them for.

Maybe I just roll with a different crowd. I'm university educated and work in advertising. I head out to upscale venues. I hang out with people who are inquisitive and try to figure things out for the sake of knowing.

So when doing magic for them, my presentation has to be on point, and having little extras like a signed card, or other forms of proof make it harder for them to figure out.

I'm not saying it has to be done all the time. I do stuff on the street sometimes for my own enjoyment, and I don't have to go as hard to get the reaction. It's all about calibration to your audience. Recognize that some people you encounter WILL be difficult and having the option to make a trick appear to have less possible explanations (other than "it's magic", of course) may sometimes be required.


TKH said:
I was just throwing out something why I tend not to have people sign cards, because of the deck thing. I get attached to a deck of cards., and tend not to use the performing one for any topological card effects.

I sort of feel the same way, but now i just buy two or more of the same decks and use one deck to replace the card they signed. You can ensure even use of the deck by forcing a different preplanned card each time.
 

TKH

Aug 31, 2007
491
0
Wisconsin
Suit yourself, cas I said if it fits your style. Go for it. THey just aren't needed. You are doing magic, they believe you.
 
Sep 1, 2007
209
0
If someone asks if they can sign a coin, I say "I don't have a pen, and it's illegal". They will believe you.
 
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