Color changes, different reactions...

Aug 29, 2017
16
5
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Long story short, whenever i do something like a bertram change, people arent really amused or impressed, but whenever i do something simple like having a double lift in my right hand (i lower the deck on a table) and moving the bottom card to the top using a palm, people freak out (i dont do this move very often/at all, i always end it with a KM move)...
Why is that though, the bertram change is something that requires solid knowledge of the tenkai palm (which is an amazing palm that i love) and solid knowledge of angles, but the other change is something that someone could do with little to no practice... (i dont perform that often, the last time i performed to someone was 4 months ago, p.s. if i was already gonna do a color change it would be the clip steal, or something envolving the pass)
Its not just with color changes, it also happens in some very specific situations/scenarios with other things...
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
Spectators react that way because they don't know the names and difficulty of the moves you are doing. However, if they sense you are doing a "move" it loses its magic. Sometimes, simple moves are more invisible and therefore more inexplicable.

Additionally, reactions depend on context and context depends on presentation. What you do and say before the move establishes why the audience should care and establishes the impossibility of what they are about to see.

Finally, view your magic from the audience's perspective -- what do they see, what don't they see, what do they expect and what do the get?
 
Aug 29, 2017
16
5
Bosnia And Herzegovina
wow... gee, thanks... this helped a lot... P.s. Do you think that the KM move would be viable for a color change?, for example, flip one card, do a 2 card pushover grabbing the card under it, use those two cards to turn over the next one and leave it on the deck, and KM move the selected card from the double?, presentation wise, pass it off as "scanning" the card with the one in your hand?, basically a backwards paintbrush change... Its an idea that came to me yesterday...
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
People have always preferred simplicity. It's easier for them to understand what is supposed to be happening and why they should be amazed if the trick is simple. Also: simple, efficient methods allow the performer to focus on presentation, rather than having to worry about knuckle busting sleights.

Presentation is all the audience cares about. They don't know what moves you're doing and even if they did, unless they are magicians, they won't care about them because they don't understand the skill involved in them.

I understand the desire to master difficult skills, but you need to understand that you are going to be putting a vastly larger amount of effort into mastering what you described above, and you will almost certainly not make a more deceptive change that those that are much easier.
 
Aug 25, 2017
172
93
Pittsburgh, PA
It's already been said above, but just to re-iterate...Spectators do not see magic the way you do as a performer. They see it the way you used to see it... They don't really care how much work goes into a move or sleight. They only care about how astounding the effect looks overall. At the same time, it may be that you've put so much work into a sleight, that you begin to feel that performing the sleight should be impressive. Many fall victim to this mindset. What happens is that you feel the sleight itself is impressive enough that you don't feel the need to add much of a build up or performance to it. This can make an effect less than "amazing" to the person watching.
 
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Reactions: ChrisJGJ
Aug 29, 2017
16
5
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Wow, people finding time to acknowledge and even reply to me on this forum and to others especially this soon and fast gives me a whole new level of respect for everyone, thank you, for everything guys... I was making a routine that envoled lots of moves, but ill just skip to the main part and tenkai palm their selection to their pocket etc... (should work, depends on pants)
 
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Reactions: DisasterTheory
Aug 25, 2017
172
93
Pittsburgh, PA
Just remember that no matter how difficult a sleight is, the spectator won't respect the level of work you've put into it, simply because they aren't supposed to see it anyway.

I actually remember when I first got into magic about 20 years ago and I did my first triple swing cut. I was looking for a "wow" from that because it took me a while to practice it smoothly. No one cared. Granted, I did get a few "well I won't be playing cards with him" but aside from that, it taught me that the sleights meant nothing to them. The end result meant everything. Keep it simple for your own benefit and add delays and pauses to allow them take in the mystery of what's about to happen. Keeping it simple allows you to perform the effect without much thought and it allows you to perform the effect without worrying if you're going to flash something. In other words, it lowers your own stress level and allows you to focus on amazing the spectator. If you do a sleight, regardless of how difficult that move was...never draw attention to it. Act as though you've done nothing at all.
 
Aug 29, 2017
16
5
Bosnia And Herzegovina
Just remember that no matter how difficult a sleight is, the spectator won't respect the level of work you've put into it, simply because they aren't supposed to see it anyway.

I actually remember when I first got into magic about 20 years ago and I did my first triple swing cut. I was looking for a "wow" from that because it took me a while to practice it smoothly. No one cared. Granted, I did get a few "well I won't be playing cards with him" but aside from that, it taught me that the sleights meant nothing to them. The end result meant everything. Keep it simple for your own benefit and add delays and pauses to allow them take in the mystery of what's about to happen. Keeping it simple allows you to perform the effect without much thought and it allows you to perform the effect without worrying if you're going to flash something. In other words, it lowers your own stress level and allows you to focus on amazing the spectator. If you do a sleight, regardless of how difficult that move was...never draw attention to it. Act as though you've done nothing at all.

Man, thank you, where do you get the freetime to even reply?!, again, thanks a lot
 
  • Like
Reactions: DisasterTheory
Aug 25, 2017
172
93
Pittsburgh, PA
Man, thank you, where do you get the freetime to even reply?!, again, thanks a lot
I run my own company (skateboard and apparel brand). So I have a ton of free time. More recently I've devoted more of that free time back into magic and trying to help others in the magic community whenever and wherever I can.
 
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