ok so ive been doing magic for a while now and i really like cards, i want to create my own card trick, but i just cant, ive never done it before but ive tried and failed, i figure if i had an idea i could find a way to do it, but, i just dont have any ideas, ive been thinking forever, but nothing really comes to me, i see this stuff other people have created and im like "hey thats cool" and i can figure out how its all done and everything, i just, can never come up with a good idea for myself, how do you guys do it?
How do you create a card trick?
- Thread starter Gary T.
- Start date
Try not to force yourself to come up with an effect.
This is something that has to be done naturally, so just give yourself a break and practice what you already know, watch other people perform different effects and wait for the creative juices to began flow
This is something that has to be done naturally, so just give yourself a break and practice what you already know, watch other people perform different effects and wait for the creative juices to began flow
in order to create, you must know whats out there, you must know methods...without it you will be lost....sometimes simple things can be put together to create a powerful piece of magic.....
for the most part....just keep performing...and it will come to you.....
sometimes to come up with card tricks you must know some coin methods...or other methods to totally different effect.....
very true...sometimes you have to take varaitions....of other effect...but really thats another lazy way out...thats me tho...thats not law...but also....i think seeing hwo people handle normal objects is key to creating.....use that and get your objective to look natural..then all the rest is up to you....
My main tip would be to watch loads of videos; take an idea that you like and adapt and change it. Take the new effect you have, and come up with original patter, that is not even faintly related to the starting trick. Now you have a new effect, tweak it, until any discrepancies or any bits you don't like are gone. By this point, the method and the presentation should both be completely different to the starting trick. Take your new, improved trick, and do it all again, until you have a variation of a variation of a trick. Keep refining and playing with the principles and ideas behind the effects until you have something new and original, which fits your style well.
Or some of my best ideas have literally just come from playing around with cards. Do this enough and you'll get your ideas eventually. I know this isn't helpful, but I think it's probably the best and most common way of creating new material.
Or some of my best ideas have literally just come from playing around with cards. Do this enough and you'll get your ideas eventually. I know this isn't helpful, but I think it's probably the best and most common way of creating new material.
For me I can never think of a new effect if I try to. It's just kind of something that happens when you least expect it. So my advice would be not to "try" to create one. Then once you get an idea apply you're favorite sleights and ones you are good at. Again this is just me
I keep plugging Whit Haydn's essay on originality whenever I can, but here is the link once again
http://www.timothywallace.com/magic/haydn.asp
Please read the essay and ask yourself why someone like Whit (who is both a great performer and creator of magic) has written such an article.
The main thing to take away from the essay is that not everyone can or should create original magic, and that is ok. Don't pressure yourself into trying to create before your fundamentals are strong. Learn as much as you can from the masters of the past. Practice your sleight of hand till you have a big array of tools at your disposal. If you want to make changes, try making small changes to published tricks and see how it goes. If you do all these things successfully, creating your own tricks might become easier. Remember, there is a lot of literature in card magic, so inventing something completely new is going to be very very hard.
I have to agree with most
There is not alot of room to make something totally new
For example, Cross roads.
Apparently the whos who did not know the basic premis was already done if that gives you an idea of how tough it can be to come up with something new.
Most likely, it might be a combination of ideas strung together that flow well.
Each separated, not very good, but strung together, very good.
Take a look at waht you do not like and see if you can streamline it to make it more direct and easier to perform that meets your style.
For example, Identity by Sanders. It kills, right?
I do not like wrist kill after wrist kill after wrist kill if you get my drift.
I see a valid reason in Sankey's snow storm to shake a card so how can I make Identity fit into what I want?
There is not alot of room to make something totally new
For example, Cross roads.
Apparently the whos who did not know the basic premis was already done if that gives you an idea of how tough it can be to come up with something new.
Most likely, it might be a combination of ideas strung together that flow well.
Each separated, not very good, but strung together, very good.
Take a look at waht you do not like and see if you can streamline it to make it more direct and easier to perform that meets your style.
For example, Identity by Sanders. It kills, right?
I do not like wrist kill after wrist kill after wrist kill if you get my drift.
I see a valid reason in Sankey's snow storm to shake a card so how can I make Identity fit into what I want?
just had an idea actually watching a video of a card trick someone made that failed and pretty much fell flat in a battle, the main problem was he revealed the card too fast, i thought, so i had an idea that im gonna try out, but i gotta get some money and make a trip to the magic shop first, i was honestly surprised because about 10 minutes before that i was thinking "im never gonna get an idea watching a video" then it smacked me in the face lol, still not completely original because i got the idea from another guys trick, but i changed the effect enough that i think i can count ti as mine, and i also completely changed the patter
I think that when new guys to magic try to come up with effects, it usually results in something that involves a lot of awkward handlings, and the effect really wasn't good in the first place. Believe me, I've created a few of these. But then you realize they're not very good, and you move on.
When I try and create an effect, I look for something as close to a miracle as possible. I don't want to come up with a sandwich trick, because those are pretty lame. I want to do something that wouldn't ever be a coincidence, and has no possible solution, or couldn't have happened by chance. I also like to keep effects simple. Confusion is the death of magic, as Darwin Ortiz says. You want magic that is simple, and the specs can recite in two sentences or less. Because if it's too long or confusing, they forget things, and it loses it's impact.
Having said that, effects like 2CM, Open Prediciton, Out of this world, anything with a vanishing deck or using the advocate, are my favorite kinds. I suggest you just learn as many effects and sleights as you can, and soon some great ideas will hit you. Just give it time, my friend.
Will
When I try and create an effect, I look for something as close to a miracle as possible. I don't want to come up with a sandwich trick, because those are pretty lame. I want to do something that wouldn't ever be a coincidence, and has no possible solution, or couldn't have happened by chance. I also like to keep effects simple. Confusion is the death of magic, as Darwin Ortiz says. You want magic that is simple, and the specs can recite in two sentences or less. Because if it's too long or confusing, they forget things, and it loses it's impact.
Having said that, effects like 2CM, Open Prediciton, Out of this world, anything with a vanishing deck or using the advocate, are my favorite kinds. I suggest you just learn as many effects and sleights as you can, and soon some great ideas will hit you. Just give it time, my friend.
Will
check out some of dan and daves stuff...they do a lot of taking sleights, repackaging them, putting them together and making something great...and they are awesome at what they do!
for me at least, sometimes i'll have an idea, which i absolutely cant do...other times i can do said idea, so i think of different sleights that could be used to complete this (forces, controls, vanishes, palms) and then after trial and error i come up with something plausible, and then i work on it from there, workin out the kinks...its all about experimentation
hope this helps
max
for me at least, sometimes i'll have an idea, which i absolutely cant do...other times i can do said idea, so i think of different sleights that could be used to complete this (forces, controls, vanishes, palms) and then after trial and error i come up with something plausible, and then i work on it from there, workin out the kinks...its all about experimentation
hope this helps
max
First, think of the desired effect you want create. Make it simple, straightforward and miraculous. Remember, most specs dont appreciate sleight of hand, they appreciate the EXPERIENCE that your magic creates. If it is confusing, or at least NOT straight forward, that will detract from the experience. Next, you should figure out all the different conditions you want from your effect. For example, if you wanted to create a new coin vanish, and you wanted to show the hands completely empty after, that would be a condition. Maybe the conditions would involve what angles it works from, if it leaves you clean, etc. Ideally, think like a spectator and decide what the effect would need to look like to convince you as a laymen, then try to build methods around those conditions. Once you have a workable method, try it out on friends and peers for feedback, then refine your method and try it out again, repeating this process til you are satisfied that your trick meets all the conditions you set out at the beginning without sacrificing the effect.
Remember, as John Born says in his book (which is where i learnt this thinking behind creating magic) "A trickster has his bag of tricks and creates moments of entertainment. A magician needs nothing and creates legends."
Remember, as John Born says in his book (which is where i learnt this thinking behind creating magic) "A trickster has his bag of tricks and creates moments of entertainment. A magician needs nothing and creates legends."
Just be like Larry Jennings and get really drunk, and then have people show you tricks, write them down, and then go back to them when you are sober and think that you created them, and then write a book and publish your ideas.
My best tip on making a new effect is to just do other peoples effects first. take time to learn as much as you can. Then if an idea pops into your head make sure it hasn't been made. then go from there in creating the effect.
The same thing has happened to me. I've created a few different effects. one i perform a lot is called Indentation. its not quite original the coin bend has been around for a while. But i also put some of my ideas with a coin bend and created something that was semi original. and two others that im still designing and testing.
So if you want to create an effect wait until you get an idea then work from there.
The same thing has happened to me. I've created a few different effects. one i perform a lot is called Indentation. its not quite original the coin bend has been around for a while. But i also put some of my ideas with a coin bend and created something that was semi original. and two others that im still designing and testing.
So if you want to create an effect wait until you get an idea then work from there.
Basically, everything that's been said here (and probably will be said) can be distilled into these three steps.
1. What do you want the audience to think you did? Be specific!
2. What is the minimum amount of "shadiness" needed to achieve the effect? Fewer moves the better.
3. Mull over 2 for a while.
What you're likely to read is just convoluted wording, or just incorrect assumptions, from these three steps.
1. What do you want the audience to think you did? Be specific!
2. What is the minimum amount of "shadiness" needed to achieve the effect? Fewer moves the better.
3. Mull over 2 for a while.
What you're likely to read is just convoluted wording, or just incorrect assumptions, from these three steps.
I disagree with this actually. Yes, if you want to create a trick to market, making sure it hasn't been done is important. However if you just want to create for the sake of creating a trick, I wouldn't worry too much about making sure nobody's done it before. When you first start to create tricks, just being able to think of an effect and find a method for it is important, and this only comes with practice.