Do you click/snap your fingers?

[SomeRandom]

I've been wondering whether people still click or snap their fingers while performing magic.
Personally I don't but I see many performers clicking their fingers in some tricks and routines, e.g. the ambitious card routine.
So just wondering, do you click/snap your fingers?

 

[joshrobarts]

occasionally, not always. I play around with a lot of different things. The idea being that it gives a definable magic moment in the mind of the spectator and focuses the tension and attention on one point in time and space. Some people prefer to wave over things, snap, or do something else. its personal preference.

 

[praetoritevong]

Although I don't really perform Card Magic these days, I didn't do that sort of motion, unless it was with the express purpose of making fun of the move (In the Greg Wilson vein of "Watch, as I snap my fingers - and nothing happens. Not a thing. But it looks good, doesn't it?").

 

[JButterfield]

I usually do something to account for the magic. Throughout literature, mythology and history, people had to do something to account for the magic - they have to say the magic words, or go to the magic place, or use the magic object, or do the magic gesture.

I do mostly coin magic, and snapping the fingers has the added bonus of implying that the hand is empty.

 

[willabbotsm]

I usually do something to account for the magic. Throughout literature, mythology and history, people had to do something to account for the magic - they have to say the magic words, or go to the magic place, or use the magic object, or do the magic gesture.

I do mostly coin magic, and snapping the fingers has the added bonus of implying that the hand is empty.

I agree wholeheartedly. If there is no defined "magic moment", people won't see it as magic. They'll think, "how did he get that card in his pocket while I wasn't looking", rather than "how did that card appear in his pocket when he snapped his fingers?"

It may seem mundane, but a defined moment where the magic happens is very, very important.

 

[praetoritevong]

I usually do something to account for the magic. Throughout literature, mythology and history, people had to do something to account for the magic - they have to say the magic words, or go to the magic place, or use the magic object, or do the magic gesture.

I do mostly coin magic, and snapping the fingers has the added bonus of implying that the hand is empty.

I agree wholeheartedly. If there is no defined "magic moment", people won't see it as magic. They'll think, "how did he get that card in his pocket while I wasn't looking", rather than "how did that card appear in his pocket when he snapped his fingers?"

It may seem mundane, but a defined moment where the magic happens is very, very important.

No-one said that not clicking = not defining the magical moment...

The absence of one method of definition does not exclude definition in its entirety.

At its core, belief in magic is about emotional belief, not logical belief. I think that snapping one's fingers suggests the latter, although very few people believe what we're doing is real magic.

 

[Mat La Vore]

I like to punctuate the magical moment, but I try to avoid doing it by snapping my fingers. I think it can work sometimes, but I think most of the time it comes across a bit hokey.