How much is too much?

[Sherlock]

I was talking with a fellow forum member and discussing some mentalism. Explained an effect with playing cards and had the discussion about adding phases and risk vs. reward.

Basic effect is having them choose any card and they choose four random cards to add to the pile. Through body language presentation I decipher which card is theirs and do a revelation. Now his question was simply why not just do a reveal, and the risk if the spectator wanted to change their card after adding the cards. They shouldn't have to tell you since you can supposedly "read their mind" in some sort of fashion and could take away from the effect. I haven't had anybody change their mind but everybody is different and can happen as easily as I snap my finger.

So my question is how much is to much and risk vs. reward for effects. This not only goes for mentalism but for magic also. Ex. A sandwhich effect then turns into an ACR sandwhich which turns into a ACR sandwhich where the back of the card turns into a different from the rest.

 

[visualartist]

The best effects are the simplest ones in the laymens eyes.
The most memorable things are when they say "it changed into a.." "he/she floated!".
Things of that nature.
Of course you can have a little complexity in your magic. I advise for it.
But dont drown them.

 

[praetoritevong]

I was talking with a fellow forum member and discussing some mentalism. Explained an effect with playing cards and had the discussion about adding phases and risk vs. reward.

Basic effect is having them choose any card and they choose four random cards to add to the pile. Through body language presentation I decipher which card is theirs and do a revelation. Now his question was simply why not just do a reveal, and the risk if the spectator wanted to change their card after adding the cards. They shouldn't have to tell you since you can supposedly "read their mind" in some sort of fashion and could take away from the effect. I haven't had anybody change their mind but everybody is different and can happen as easily as I snap my finger.

So my question is how much is to much and risk vs. reward for effects. This not only goes for mentalism but for magic also. Ex. A sandwhich effect then turns into an ACR sandwhich which turns into a ACR sandwhich where the back of the card turns into a different from the rest.

I was playing with an idea yesterday, namely, riffle shuffling the deck whilst preserving a key card location within the deck. The pair of cards start at the top of the deck, so it's a simple matter of ensuring the two fall together (I preferred to have the top card change though, so they'd end up together but near the top).

I did this successfully about half a dozen times, before I realised something startling: The key card pair was not on top of the deck. It was actually in the middle, I just had a brain freeze and didn't realise it.

Nonetheless, the key card had survived genuine six riffle shuffles!

That definitely surprised me. Of course, in mentalism, there is the very old concept of overhand shuffling a key card. The great majority of the time, the cards will stay together - you have to be unlucky for them to separate.

So the question is: When does the risk of the shuffle become greater than the reward?

Well, it depends on the circumstance. If you're performing an effect which requires a shuffle, then take the risk. If it would be nice, consider taking the risk. Some effects benefit greatly from taking risks - key card effects are prime examples. In others, risks are simply gratuitous.

I will say this, however. Don't be afraid of failing. Failure is only bad, if you think of it as a negative outcome. If failing doesn't matter, then failure is not bad, then there is no reason not to take the risk.

 

[Sherlock]

I agree although I may not always like it I do realize failure does happen and I try to learn. Sometimes you really need to fail bad before you understand what you need to change to make your effect/performance even better.