Card "magic" tricks vs sleight of hand

Oct 15, 2008
826
0
Tennessee
Im not quit sure if the title makes any sense, but that's the only way i could think of explaining what i want to discuss.

I'm getting the best reactions i have ever gotten recently. I'm really starting to come into my own as a performer.
What i am wanting is a really magical card effect i can close out sets with. Something that really blurs the lines between magic, and sleight of hand.

If anyone has any ideas on books, or single effects that are have an extremely magical feeling with a deck of cards please share.

I hope this post was clear on what im looking for.
It's hard for me to explain what im thinking through text.
 
Dec 29, 2011
703
17
Angle Zero, for sure gets the most powerful reactions, and if done boldly enough, cannot be figured out.
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Time and again, people ask this question. What's the best? What's powerful? What gets reactions?

There is no answer to this question. The reactions come from you. They come from the performance. You've probably got a dozen tricks you could be using. Look through the material you already own and figure out something good.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
3
Back in Time
There is nothing wrong with a good card trick or stunt. Eugene Burger does a few quick tricks in his sets, even people seem to think he is all about making magic some deep thought provoking story. It is all about character and rapport with your audience.
 
Dec 29, 2011
703
17
Time and again, people ask this question. What's the best? What's powerful? What gets reactions?

There is no answer to this question. The reactions come from you. They come from the performance. You've probably got a dozen tricks you could be using. Look through the material you already own and figure out something good.

I'm sure someone who has been a member here for more than 4 years with 800+ posts knows this, and would have seen countless similar threads. There are legitimate reasons for just wanting to know a really good trick that you might not have seen before.
 
Feb 4, 2008
959
3
I think I get what you are talking about. Some people here seem to want to stick with the old line "It's all Performance," which I generally agree with. That said, if you are asking what I think you are asking, I agree that regardless of performance and presentation different effects have the potential of being perceived very differently but an audience.

Especially with card magic it is tough to break through the "Sleight of hand" barrier. That is why most of the greats tend to embrace the Sleight of hand artist title when performing with cards. That said I do think it is possible to give Magical performances with cards provided your character backs it up enough. One person mentioned the ACR. Now unless you have a really tight ACR I think you are fooling yourself if you think the audience will percieve such an effect as magic. The simple reason is that an ACR demonstrates control of a card. Most people regardless of magic fluency are aware that card cheats can do such a thing. A magical ACR is possible, though I think it requires two things. First off...it must be a no cut, no shuffle performance. People need to see the card cleanly inserted and rise to the top without any funny business. If you must have the deck shuffled, have the spectator do it. The second is that the final reveal must go beyond just one more rise to the top... and preferably more impossible than going to your wallet.

When I want to make a card performance more magical I tend to include deck vanishes or perhaps an Omni-deck. Deck vanishes can sort of go either way in terms of sleight of hand or magic depending on specific deck vanishing technique and the overall presentation. Omni-decks are killer though. They are so unexpected and thus "Magical." I strongly recommend them for anyone interested in making their card magic seem more magical.

A couple more honorable mentions are TnRs or DnRs(destroyed and restored)
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
You are going to get tons of varying responses. I like to close my close up show for adults with John Bannon's Twisted Sisters. It destroys when presented correctly.
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,395
8
37
Belgrade, Serbia
@eostresh: you're right, ACR can be magical, you just have to make sure of two things.
First of all, it needs to be move-less as in you show the card, put it in the middle and now it's on top, that's it, any extra moves and you're into sleight of hand. And second, it needs to build up to an amazing climax, as in every phase needs to be more impossible than previous and the ending has to be so magical/impossible, that it defies any explanation. So how can you make a move-less ACR progress and how do you finish, if every move is as clean as in you show a card, put it in the middle, and now it's on top?
Simple, you just don't do more than 2 phases of ACR, and third phase is your grand finale. I've been using ACR to close my sets for a very long time, and I use specific patter to justify every move including the last phase, and I use a gimmick for the last phase that makes everything impossible, and I haven't seen anyone use this gimmick at all, or at least not in this context.

@Rick: Interesting, I've been using his "Duplicity" effect for a very long time, and it's one of the strongest pieces ever if presented properly. I love doing it for couples, specially newly weds or couples who've been married for a very long time. Btw for those of you who don't know, Duplicity is exactly the same as Twisted Sisters, but everything is examinable in the end. Rick, I will just tell you that I use that trick as pure mentalism... think about it ;)

@jok3r: Invisible Deck is pretty much as close to real magic as you will get with a pack of cards, you just need to put time and effort into it to really make it a routine.
 
Dec 29, 2012
16
0
if you are performing for normal spectators simple tricks will work great, you just have to present it well. I get the best reactions with out of this world, the biddle trick, the invisble deck and the simplest card to wallet routine you could think of with a duplicat card and a force.
 
Oct 15, 2008
826
0
Tennessee
Thanks guys for the responses. Alot of good advice here. I think my question was more towards what "type" of effects with cards seem more magical. I wasn't asking for a big list of tricks that i can go buy. Sorry if i didn't make that clear.

Maybe we could talk about how to turn a simple card trick into something more magical!
I would love to hear what you guys think about this.
 

formula

Elite Member
Jan 8, 2010
968
5
It also depends who you're performing for. The poor, working class, middle class and upper class all react differently to some tricks. So with that and other comments people have made I think it's hard to suggest something for you. That being said, people generally love the classic card on ceiling but it's not one of those really magical ones that blurs any lines.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
3
Back in Time
You are going to have to come to realization that some really good plots in magic don't have to "Blur the line" a lot of times it's just a neat, fun thing to show people. The only thing I would say that you steer clear from is any type of plot or effect that comes off like a puzzle.
 
May 6, 2012
75
0
You forgot to consider "Geeky magic" performing stunts that are related to magic or super powers, etc. Stigmata is just awesome if you want spectators to think you as someone "magical" or even freaky
 
Oct 15, 2008
826
0
Tennessee
You are going to have to come to realization that some really good plots in magic don't have to "Blur the line" a lot of times it's just a neat, fun thing to show people. The only thing I would say that you steer clear from is any type of plot or effect that comes off like a puzzle.

Maybe blurring the lines is not a good way to put it.
but i see what you are saying
 
Dec 29, 2012
16
0
i think something gets more magical, if the things you do and your hopefully well performance and presentation make sence.
And of course its more magical if your doing less(or they will just think you have fast hands ). so try to avoid "much ado about nothing" as shakespeare would say. also magic in the spectators hand is much stronger.

I hope this is what you want
 
Feb 4, 2008
959
3
Thanks guys for the responses. Alot of good advice here. I think my question was more towards what "type" of effects with cards seem more magical. I wasn't asking for a big list of tricks that i can go buy. Sorry if i didn't make that clear.
I believe Toby and I, and a few others, did give you types of effects that make card magic seem more magical. We just also backed up our thoughts with a few examples.

So to reiterate, moveless card magic. When you do moves, like shuffling or cutting, you start to introduce the idea of skill with a deck of cards. If there are moves to be done with a deck then have it be the type of effects that the spectator does him or her self.

The second suggestion was to do transformations or transpositions that don't necessarily relate to cards themselves. So card to impossible location* , Restoration plots are not card specific and thus seem less like a card trick, Vanishing deck plots are on the margin because it seems less likely that you can make a deck disappear with sleight of hand.

I think the best way to put it is to ask yourself if this effect would be magical if it were done with another object. If you tore a corner of a napkin that a spectator had signed and then either the corner or the napkin showed up in your spectators pocket....would it be magical? Yes. If you then restored that napkin would it be magical? yes. If you made the napkin holder on the table disappear would that be magical? Yes. If you shuffled a bunch of napkins together and one specific napkin rose to the top...would that be magical? I have no idea but it would be illogical chaos!



(* My exception to this is that cards to pockets and card to wallet routines seem like sleight of hand to most. Merely because the cards travel to a location on your body. The impossible location is only really impossible if you seemingly have no control or access to the location)
 
Sep 1, 2007
1,395
8
37
Belgrade, Serbia
It also depends who you're performing for. The poor, working class, middle class and upper class all react differently to some tricks. So with that and other comments people have made I think it's hard to suggest something for you. That being said, people generally love the classic card on ceiling but it's not one of those really magical ones that blurs any lines.

This is true. Reaction you're getting depend on sooo many things. The type of people you perform for, the type of trick you do, the type of character you are, the type of venue you're performing at, how many people are there in the group, what time of day it is, what day in a week it is, etc. you get the point. Let me put it this way, you can perform the same trick for same people just different day, or different environment, and get completely different reactions.

But to kind of answer your question more specifically, I think turning and entire deck blank (or use any routine that uses blank deck), or color changing deck, is always a good closer. It's very visual and very unexpected.
 
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