How many dupes?

Jun 19, 2014
32
0
So, some exciting news! I got booked for a 2 hour walk around gig with a big insurance company for Nov 19th!....

Now, most of my work has been doing kids shows and the occasional restaurant (a coffee shop every so often) so i just had a couple of questions....

1. Should I be concerned if there are only going to be about 50 people in the hall during those two hours... I was told that people would be coming and going and walking all around and when i asked how many people he said about 40 or 50 ... I'm not sure if he thought he was reassuring me by giving me a low number, but if it is true I hope that I wont have to repeat tricks.

2. In my set i have ACR and a trick by Dave Williamson (the name escapes me but its from his LIVE Lecture on Pegnuin) that uses and destroys two duplicate cards .... how many extra dupes should I bring to the gig? I dont really know how often ill get to the third set and have to use those two dupes for the trick ... but im sure ACR will burn up my cards as well...


THANKS!
Also, i dont know if any of you are interested but i can list the sets i plan on using through out the night if you'd like...
 
Dec 5, 2013
146
2
Boston
Just for some context, I was doing a fundraiser pretty recently and by the end my deck of cards was about half the size (not joke) because I was doing folded card to wallet for pretty much every group. Just bring more than you think you will need and you can refill on an off moment.

Also, what do you mean by not wanting to repeat tricks?

Are you thinking of Williamson's Torn and Restored Transpo?
 
Jun 19, 2014
32
0
Just for some context, I was doing a fundraiser pretty recently and by the end my deck of cards was about half the size (not joke) because I was doing folded card to wallet for pretty much every group. Just bring more than you think you will need and you can refill on an off moment.

Also, what do you mean by not wanting to repeat tricks?

Are you thinking of Williamson's Torn and Restored Transpo?

As in not doing the same trick for the same group..
I have 3 sets of 3 and a bunch of tricks i can throw in anytime.... but im not sure how much two hours will entail if there really is only 50 people

The torn and restored transpo is the one !
 
well think about it, how long is your set? how many groups will you perform for? generally i believe you can get through 50 people in an hour. So you could double your set time, half the group size, or just talk to whoever hired you saying an hour and a half is enough time to get to everybody
 

Justin.Morris

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2007
2,793
888
Canada
www.morrismagic.ca
It's really important to time your sets. For me, I estimate based on 7 minutes per table. My sets are five minutes, plus physically going from one table to the next, breaks, any resets I might need, or if I'm just having some extra fun with a table. It's all worked into that 7 minutes.

That's when I need to fly through the room at large events. I have a gig coming up for 4hours of walk-around and they expect 75 people. I tried to actually sell them less time, but they want me there the whole time. So I will work the room multiple times and make my sets longer to accommodate.

The point is that it is super helpful for you to time your sets so you know.

As for supplies, it is helpful to divide the amount of people by an estimated (average) table size of 8. If there are 50 people expected, that's about 7 tables. Which means that if you planned to do that trick for every table, then you need 7 sets of supplies. If you plan on mixing sets, then you bring less.

If the group is mingling and not sitting, you will not likely do the trick more than at tables. People mix and mill around and you likely won't be able to do the same tricks as frequently with that size group.

As a good rule of thumb, and since it's not really a hassle, I would prepare for an extra 50% for my own peace of mind. So instead of bringing 7 sets of dupes, I would bring 11 or 12. You won't need them (most likely), but it makes you feel more secure - which is an important step in reducing your nerves so you can focus on doing what you love.

I hope that helps you get an idea of how to estimate that sort of thing.

On a side note, a great way to introduce dupes or gimmicks is using the TKO. So great. Worth the money!

Best of luck. How did you get the gig?
 
Jun 19, 2014
32
0
Thank you .. I'll try my best to carry as much as I can and then leave the rest in my bag.

As far as how i got the gig it really comes down to performing EVERYWHERE i go.. The man who hired me happened to come by when i was performing for a friend and he was friend of that friend and then it all kinda came up when doing the invisible deck and he was the one to reveal the card on his mind....
 
May 21, 2014
127
6
Staunton, VA

Do you have room for 3 decks? One normal and two to harvest dupes from? That should get you through almost anything. You might not have room, though, since you tend to wear a suit. I've got that belt pouch, so I can carry a whole 30-minute show around my waist.

Also, it doesn't seem like 50 people for 2 hours is that difficult. You won't have to do the same trick for the same group, but you may have some floaters/followers that move between groups depending on what kind of event it is, so you may wind up showing some people the same thing more than once. I wouldn't sweat it unless it turns into a heckling situation, and I think that's it's unlikely (though obviously not unheard of) for it to get that far since the event coordinator paid to have you there.
 
Jan 1, 2009
2,241
3
Back in Time
Honestly I wouldn't do Torn and Restored transpo or ACR at a gig like that, because you are likely to quickly run out of cards. Most smart performer's usually stick to things like Sponge balls, Coin magic and possibly maybe one or two solid card routines that reset near instantly. Because when you are strolling around it's going to become a major pain in the ass to have to go to the bathroom after each performance and reset the deck. Usually when doing strolling you want to treat it like you are the unstoppable force, you just keep rolling forward and gaining momentum with each performance.

That's just my thoughts on performing, because it tends to look silly if you have to constantly go to the tool shed each time.
 
Jun 19, 2014
32
0
Honestly I wouldn't do Torn and Restored transpo or ACR at a gig like that, because you are likely to quickly run out of cards. Most smart performer's usually stick to things like Sponge balls, Coin magic and possibly maybe one or two solid card routines that reset near instantly. Because when you are strolling around it's going to become a major pain in the ass to have to go to the bathroom after each performance and reset the deck. Usually when doing strolling you want to treat it like you are the unstoppable force, you just keep rolling forward and gaining momentum with each performance.

That's just my thoughts on performing, because it tends to look silly if you have to constantly go to the tool shed each time.

The idea is to have a pocket full of duplicate cards and i can just reach into my pocket a grab the top two cards and slap them on the top of the deck
 
May 21, 2014
127
6
Staunton, VA

I don't really do a lot of card-destroying effects in general these days, and I don't get the card signed for my ACR. I do the card bend pop-up thing long about the 4th phase, and I only bend one card when I do it, so at that point it's really clear that there's only one of the chosen card. I also find subtle ways to emphasize that the deck is normal without calling direct attention to it.

The only one I do use every so often is WarpOne by David Ren Jenkins. It's an inside-out card effect that happens in the bare hands with no cover card, and it's absolutely beautiful. It only destroys one card, unless you use it as a torn and restored effect (which I find unnecessary).

I do use Liquid Metal a good bit in my close-up work, and that destroys a fork pretty much every time you do it. Aside from that, my business card magic, and the occasional WarpOne performance, I only do tricks in my walk-around that reset fast and don't use up resources. Randy is pretty much right about that. I tend to save things like TnR and souvenir effects for shows and special performances.
 
Jun 19, 2014
32
0

I don't really do a lot of card-destroying effects in general these days, and I don't get the card signed for my ACR. I do the card bend pop-up thing long about the 4th phase, and I only bend one card when I do it, so at that point it's really clear that there's only one of the chosen card. I also find subtle ways to emphasize that the deck is normal without calling direct attention to it.

The only one I do use every so often is WarpOne by David Ren Jenkins. It's an inside-out card effect that happens in the bare hands with no cover card, and it's absolutely beautiful. It only destroys one card, unless you use it as a torn and restored effect (which I find unnecessary).

I do use Liquid Metal a good bit in my close-up work, and that destroys a fork pretty much every time you do it. Aside from that, my business card magic, and the occasional WarpOne performance, I only do tricks in my walk-around that reset fast and don't use up resources. Randy is pretty much right about that. I tend to save things like TnR and souvenir effects for shows and special performances.

I'll have to check out my stuff then .. i also found that i have alot of card effects

do you thunk chocolate coin would be a good walk around effect?
its just so quick, yet staggering .... a good opener but it wouldnt burn any time
 
Jan 28, 2014
12
1
when I need a deck of dupes I usually will take two new decks and switch a whole suit between them. so then I would have a deck with two full sets of one suit and two suits of indifferent cards and another deck with a similar setup with a different suit, that way, the value of the dupe changes every time the trick is performed and you won't need to reset until you use it 13 times.

this leaves the deck more or less examinable, and can even be displayed in a "new deck order" position with the duped suits separated by the indifferent suits.

in the case of needing to kill two dupes you could exchange two suits from fresh decks to make a spade/heart and club/diamond deck respectively, allowing dupes to be taken from any value in the two suits. the deck is still inspectable and only the sharpest, eagle eyed spectator will have any chance of noticing.
 
Nov 4, 2014
24
0
Alberta, Canada

I don't really do a lot of card-destroying effects in general these days, and I don't get the card signed for my ACR. I do the card bend pop-up thing long about the 4th phase, and I only bend one card when I do it, so at that point it's really clear that there's only one of the chosen card. I also find subtle ways to emphasize that the deck is normal without calling direct attention to it.
You do the pop-up with only one bent card? Interesting. I've always felt that the visual of the deck flattening out the bent card in the middle is what drives that effect home. Do you retain that visual? I'd love to see a video of your delivery of the pop-up.

(Sorry to go on a bit of a tangent here...)
 
As a worker, I don't destroy anything other than balloons for pressure. And even then if I didn't have to I wouldn't and that doesn't get done too often either.

I'm quite a forgetful person so I know as long as I have a deck of cards and some spoons, I can do a good 5-7 minute set, if not longer. I try not to do sponge balls just because I hate it, despite the fact I do actually do it. Hate to admit it but it works.

Because of this and because I'm a cheapskate, if I did destroy things during performance then my personal costs would go way up and also there's the chance I'd forget I've got a deck in my pocket full of signatures and to me that just doesn't look professional. Even the spoon bending routine I do is resettable in a second.

We all learn our different and preferred styles though, this is just mine :)

Simon_Magic
 
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results