How to come up with card tricks
- Thread starter Magico96
- Start date
You prolly have got loads of sound advice and I dunno if someone suggested this, but here's my two cents...
1st cent:-Get a clear idea in your mind about what the effect is and what sleights are you strong with AND what sleights you wanna learn. Some sleights make such an amazing effect that it is worth it to learnthe sleight for just one trick.
2nd cent:-Don't become creative...
Become mad.
I've never created a trick with the intention of creating it. It happens spontaneously. I sometimes find myself playing around with different techniques or maybe finding a plot in a book that sparks an idea and in that way come up something I've never seen before. Sometimes you'll end up with a trick you'll perform often, and sometimes its a total bomb (I've been down that road so often it's practically named after me). Often you'll find that the idea you thought was original actually ended up already being created and published. Don't be discouraged, you're in good company.
My suggestion, like many, is to read and learn as much as possible. Once you have some techniques and concepts under your belt, read the description of an effect and then close the book. Try and come up with a method of your own to accomplish the effect you just read and then write it down. You may end up some interesting ideas and sometimes you'll just end up with trash or nothing. This is more than an exercise to get your creative juices flowing.
Have a clear, simple to follow trick. You want your trick to be easy to describe.
-"The deck changed color."
-"I named a number and my card was at that number."
-"I cut the deck myself into 4 packets and cut to the 4 aces."
These are easy to describe plots and are therefore easy to follow and remember. Of course, some tricks are enhanced by kicker endings, though some may disagree. You can decide if a trick you come up with requires one and if that's something that interests you then look into Paul Harris or Derek Dingle for their tricks that use kicker endings (Overkill and Turn Over Aces are my suggestions).
My last tip: Keep your sleights to a minimum. Aaron Fisher has a very amusing story about Vernon and Jennings in which Vernon heavily criticizes Larry for doing the worst trick he ever saw. It's a bit of hyperbole but it's because it's hard to have a good looking trick that utilizes 6 passes in a row. With this, I suggest getting Aarons Penguin Live lecture, and also John Bannon's Move Zero Vol. 1. The lecture is great because Aaron is one of the best magic teachers out there, and the DVD is fantastic because it is full of excellent self-working tricks. But the real gold is learning how John Bannon approaches these tricks.
I hope this enough to get you started.
Recommended:
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-r...ugard_frederick-braue/341758/#isbn=0486408434
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/exper...ugard_frederick-braue/288099/#isbn=0486217558
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/3493
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S21092
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/scarne-on-card-tricks_john-scarne/527439/#isbn=0486427358
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-m...d-magic_harry-lorayne/314963/#isbn=0399119566
Roll Over Aces:
Overkill:
My suggestion, like many, is to read and learn as much as possible. Once you have some techniques and concepts under your belt, read the description of an effect and then close the book. Try and come up with a method of your own to accomplish the effect you just read and then write it down. You may end up some interesting ideas and sometimes you'll just end up with trash or nothing. This is more than an exercise to get your creative juices flowing.
Have a clear, simple to follow trick. You want your trick to be easy to describe.
-"The deck changed color."
-"I named a number and my card was at that number."
-"I cut the deck myself into 4 packets and cut to the 4 aces."
These are easy to describe plots and are therefore easy to follow and remember. Of course, some tricks are enhanced by kicker endings, though some may disagree. You can decide if a trick you come up with requires one and if that's something that interests you then look into Paul Harris or Derek Dingle for their tricks that use kicker endings (Overkill and Turn Over Aces are my suggestions).
My last tip: Keep your sleights to a minimum. Aaron Fisher has a very amusing story about Vernon and Jennings in which Vernon heavily criticizes Larry for doing the worst trick he ever saw. It's a bit of hyperbole but it's because it's hard to have a good looking trick that utilizes 6 passes in a row. With this, I suggest getting Aarons Penguin Live lecture, and also John Bannon's Move Zero Vol. 1. The lecture is great because Aaron is one of the best magic teachers out there, and the DVD is fantastic because it is full of excellent self-working tricks. But the real gold is learning how John Bannon approaches these tricks.
I hope this enough to get you started.
Recommended:
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-r...ugard_frederick-braue/341758/#isbn=0486408434
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/exper...ugard_frederick-braue/288099/#isbn=0486217558
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/3493
http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/S21092
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/scarne-on-card-tricks_john-scarne/527439/#isbn=0486427358
https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/the-m...d-magic_harry-lorayne/314963/#isbn=0399119566
Roll Over Aces:
