"How did you do that?" Responses:

[E/caulfield]

Depending on the intimacy of the situation (whether I'm performing a hard hitting, drawn out effect or some quick, D&D style eye candy) I'll reply, respectively, with ignoring the question or leaning towards them and pointing at the deck and saying, "Well first I take the deck and - just kidding, I'm not telling you" and continue.

 

[Mike.Hankins]

i dont know if anybody will back me on this, but, i personally see the "how did you do that" as a sub-par performance.

That raises an eyebrow here...

I can remember sitting through one of Mac King's shows in Las Vegas, right next to this older couple. I can also remember hearing that same couple muttering to themselves "wait, how did he just do that?" And as far as I can remember, Mac King has NEVER put on a sub-par performance since being in Las Vegas. As a matter of fact, he probably has one of the best magic shows out there...

If I remember correctly, even Mr. David Blaine himself had quite a few "How did you do that" reactions as well.

We can try all we want to, but we can no longer think like laymen. We no longer respond with "how did you do that" to an effect that fools us. Rather, we tend to laugh or curse...or do a laughing curse. We also ask the fellow magi to "wait, show me that one more time?" And guess what? The magi will. Because we are magicians too. And then we will buy the book or DVD that shows us how it was done and then we will do it for someone else who will then say, "How did you do that."

Laymen don't really know what to say when they get their minds blown away. "Do that again", "How did you do that", "No WAY", "Shut your damn mouth" are just some of the few responses we SHOULD be getting. If not, then maybe it wasn't that good of a performance.

As far as WHAT to say? I am a big fan of not using the same one-liner over and over to different people. Why? Because different people will react differently to the same line you try to use on them. Hell, even the "David Blaine-silent treatment" can make you look just plain rude. Especially if you aren't portraying the character of someone who speaks very little. For anyone who talks a lot, jokes with their spectators a lot and carries on mindless conversation full of one-liners and sight gags, I say not to get all mysterious and spooky when someone asks, "How did you do that". Why? Because it will just make you look like an idiot.

I am a firm believer in playing out the part all the way through. So that means you need to analyze the character you have created, and figure out what HE/SHE would say, not what YOU would say. This in turn will help you create your OWN one-liners and sight gags that you can have in your arsenal.

When someone asks me how I did an effect...I flat out tell them. Start to finish until they tell me to shut up. I mean I use all the terms and everything. "Oh, well see, what I did was culled your card to the bottom and then used an original sleight called the ClipSpin Control to bring the card to the top. See, THEN I utilized a side steal..." etc etc. They end up so confused that they tell me nevermind. 9 times out of 10, they don't ask me when they see me again.

Either that, or I leave them with something sooooo random, they leave scratching their heads at both my magic as well as what I just told them. Something like, "Well sir/maam, all I can say is: A can of Tuna Fish, some double stick tape and Season 6 of The Cosby Show." Once again, they tend not to be repeat askers.

Mike

 

[Sk8r_St3v3]

I think you pretty much hit the nail on ther head there Mike.

Although i am not very experienced in magic, I have noticed that the "How did you do that" response is sometimes distorted into many different reactions that people use as a similar way of asking that question but without doing so. Like asking to look through the deck of cards say, to try and find the answer instead of just ask.

I guess it really depends on the spectators personality, a lively, bubbly character would be the kind to want to look at the deck, an average "i-just-want-tobe-entertained" type would be most likely to ask how you did it as an automated human response, and then a quiet, scientific/inquisitive person would press you to reveal the trick or ask more specific questions about it rather than "how did you do it."

Anyhow, i also agree that in no way does the asking of said question mean a sub-par performance, but moreso just the kind of person your spectator(s) are. Like you said Mike, sometimes people just ask it because they have no other way of expressing their astonishment at the time.

Steve

 

[Andrei]

I say...

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW!" or "I sold my soul to the devil... and this is what I got" LAME, I make for a bad magician/comedian.
Although I can just imagine a Mike Hankins explanation, I bet its awesome.

-AJ

 

[TheatreHead]

i dont know if anybody will back me on this, but, i personally see the "how did you do that" as a sub-par performance.

agreed. I'll have to quote Simon Aronson here.


"There is a world of difference between a spectator’s not knowing how something’s done versus his knowing that it can’t be done."
-Shuffle-Bored, 1980

My aim in magic is to present them with something so "magical" that there is no possible explanation for what just happened. Only that is what I consider to be true magic.
If they ask, "How did you do that?" as a serious question, and not as a reflex, then they obviously believe there is a way for it to be done.

The responses where I feel like I've absolutely nailed it is: "There's no way", or just silence. If they really do believe that there is no way that you could have done what you just did, then you just made magic happen.

 

[praetoritevong]

"Satanism."

(NB: I'm not claiming ownership of what is obviously not mine - but if you don't know who this is from... You should find it out for yourself, in time. When you stumble across it - it's priceless.)

On a more serious note, keep in mind that there are different types of how did you do that's.

There's a how did you do that? - I know you did something. And there's the how did you do that? - I don't know what else to say. And they're very different.

 

[Sidekick]

Tough topic, I personally don't like leaving the audience to think what ever they want to think. Its just a personal preference.

So sometimes if I have a gig or party before I perform I just tell everyone I am a magician, everything you see is done by devious methods that you will not see or notice and you (spectators) should just enjoy the show and stop trying to google how I did my tricks

Get a couple of laughs, set some points straight and just introducing my self as the performer of the party/gig. Then when people ask how they did that, their friends would go " SLEIGHT OF HAND, S***head" I have seen it done before at one of my party gigs, or they would realize it them selves and just enjoy the damn show.

Once I did go the old fashioned way that was described in Magic & showmanship and it is you say what you do is complete MAGIC but as you are about to leave or move on you say something like " it was all done with mirrors" etc.
To leave the audience thinking how a pulse stop could have been done with mirrors. But I felt that is was not me and my character.

But I would rather see some one say they did a trick by psychic powers or super natural powers then just not say anything or say something cheesy.

Again just personal opinion.

 

[SlipperyPete]

You wanna know how?

I could tell you but then I would have to KISS you!! (obviously to girls)

 

[D ICE R]

Why not attack the problem at both ends. The perfect example of this is Derren he flat out tells you how he is doing it, within his logical premise. However the real method is nothing like the pseudo method he claims. An other perfect example is David Williamson's ACR or even Whit Hayden's ACR for that matter.

 

[Sidekick]

Why not attack the problem at both ends. The perfect example of this is Derren he flat out tells you how he is doing it, within his logical premise. However the real method is nothing like the pseudo method he claims. An other perfect example is David Williamson's ACR or even Whit Hayden's ACR for that matter.

Thats exactly what I do for my own mentalism, but recently I saw this podcast by Penn Jillette (Penn says) and he was saying how his wife saw this mentalist who did The Amazing Memory Test and a couple of predictions all under the title of reading body language and perfect memory. When she came back she believed you can tell accurately what a person is thinking by reading body language. So Penn argues the fact that a lot of people say its wrong to make some one think you have powers but Penn feels its also wrong to make some one believe they can do something like reading body language. When its just a trick disguised as body language reading.

This to is like one of those moments when you think "Yeah you are right but what other way is there to doing it"

I don't know but ever since I have not been doing mentalism as such, just thinking.

I have been looking for that episode of Penn Says but no luck.
If you find it watch it...WATCH EVERY EPISODE!!!

 

[KeoSilver]

Thats exactly what I do for my own mentalism, but recently I saw this podcast by Penn Jillette (Penn says) and he was saying how his wife saw this mentalist who did The Amazing Memory Test and a couple of predictions all under the title of reading body language and perfect memory. When she came back she believed you can tell accurately what a person is thinking by reading body language. So Penn argues the fact that a lot of people say its wrong to make some one think you have powers but Penn feels its also wrong to make some one believe they can do something like reading body language. When its just a trick disguised as body language reading.

This to is like one of those moments when you think "Yeah you are right but what other way is there to doing it"

I don't know but ever since I have not been doing mentalism as such, just thinking.

I have been looking for that episode of Penn Says but no luck.
If you find it watch it...WATCH EVERY EPISODE!!!

You can't please everyone, but I agree with both parties ie Penn and the people who insist on telling their audience that they are using psychology and what not and the reasons behind why they chose to do what they do.

Personally I would not guide them to believe anything. I would simply say nothing and let my audience decide for themselves.I guess I am kind of taking a horror writers approach to the situation, the reader's imagination is much stronger then any written word.

 

[danwhite]

Look at the spectator, then look up at the sky for a while, then look back at them. They'll get it.

 

[Sk8r_St3v3]

Theres a very interesting video of a show by Eric Mead, on the Thoughts on Magic part of the media section, in which he addresses the very question we are talking about, and what he percieves that response to mean.

Most of it is at the beginning regarding the 'How did you do that' response but the rest of his presentation is also very interesting and kind of ties in with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg0AoCXxwBs&feature=player_embedded#

Give it a watch,
Steve

 

[CorbinB]

I say "If I told you how, you would only be disappointed." Or I just walk away.

 

[worldwideme]

sorry i forgot to check back in on this thread.


you guys are right, there are different ways to ask 'how did you do that' but theatrehead pretty much stated my outlook on it.

my favorite reactions are the "theres no F***** way!!" or the people who are like "daaaaaannnnggg" those kind of reactions are what i see as par/birdie

or course just dead silent complete lack of any kind of outward emotion 'dumbfounded' those are the eagle/hole in one performances that i long for and cherish