Impromptu Magic - Help Me Build My Repertoire

Mar 12, 2008
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I haven't done magic in about two years. I used to really enjoy performing, developing a unique patter for each trick, or coming up with a suitable one on the spot. I realize now that I liked the psychological aspects more than the actual tricks and the sleight of hand. Not that I didn't enjoy those at all, I just really liked being able to use misdirection, suggestion, repetition, etc. to guide the audience's attention where I wanted to. And I still use these methods, to a lesser degree, in my everyday life.

Still, I somehow lost interest; and now two years later I realized why. I just read the excellent article "Mastering Ten Tricks", and was surprised how close to home it hit.

I want to start doing magic again. I'd like to find two or three tricks that I can do on the spot, with no preparation necessary. I think magic is much more effective when you use what's at hand, doing extraordinary things with ordinary objects. Borrowing coins, napkins, bills, pens, etc.

TL;DR: If you think you can help me out, please recommend your favorite impromptu magic tricks. I know there's a bit of confusion with the word "impromptu", so for clarity I mean "no setup, no carrying around props, no gimmicks".

I'm already reading Bobo's Modern Coin Magic. I'm not sure I want to get into mentalism, which looks like a completely different beast. I'm perfectly okay with mental magic, though.

Thanks for your help guys!
 
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Jun 13, 2013
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What I use and Recommend are :
-If I got a Pack of cards I do "Card to mouth" or an effect with a forced card and a cool presentation.
-With your own hands I recommend "freaked" were you bend your little finger in a weird and TOTALLY IMPROMPTU WAY!!
-With rubber band "crazy mans handcuffs" and "stairway"

Theres loads of impromptu card tricks on "Essential Card magic" by Vicente Canuto.
And of course like you said the "BOBO" is the bible of coin magic!!
Hope that helped
 
Mar 12, 2008
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Thanks for the advice. I love Freaked, it's a cool party trick and I do it all the time. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for, something you can do on the spot with as little as possible.

I considered rubber bands, but I never really find myself in a situation where there are rubber band lying around. Also, they feel a little... "cliche", in my opinion. I know there's some really awesome and clever stuff aout there with rubber bands, but it feels a bit too "magician-y", if that makes sense.

I feel comfortable enough with a deck of cards that I'm sure I can improvise a cool trick on the spot. It's amazing what you can do with a couple of forces, false shuffles, and double lifts. Unfortunately, like the rubber bands, I really don't want to carry around props with me. I think magic is at it's best when it feels improvised, even if it's not. If you walk around with sponge balls and silver dollar coins in your pocket, it has a completely different mood. Not that it's bad, necessarily, just not what I'm looking for.


Thanks for reminding me about freaked, though! That'll definitely help.
 
Jun 13, 2013
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Oh I forgot...
If you like effects with just your body for example I would recommend you some "false hypnosis" effects. Like the one were you ask someone to lift you and you "take their strenght" so they cant. Or the one were you "hipnotise" a person and lay him down balancing in two chairs and you stand on their chest like in this video [video=youtube;tEdQ_cX9_x8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEdQ_cX9_x8[/video]
 
Dec 29, 2011
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Anytime Anywhere by Jay Sankey is a DVD full of exactly what you're looking for, cards, coins, bills, straws, Rubber bands, pens etc. All totally impromptu.
 
Dec 18, 2007
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Northampton, MA - USA
I'm not sure I want to get into mentalism, which looks like a completely different beast. I'm perfectly okay with mental magic, though.

Bless You!

The question is however, do you know the difference between the two? Secondly, why would you want to "taint" a persona that does MAGIC at the drop of a hat using most anything that's about, by stooping to effects that are so abundant and popular at present?

You need to talk with Bill Malone, he was the sort of mage you seem to want to become long ago when he was at least 100 lbs lighter and had an afro that went on for miles. . . (Bill and I were both skinny kids at one point). I used to stand in awe of Bill's ability to do magic with nearly anything handed to him. But he's certainly not the only person with this knack it just takes studying and more so "Playing" with what you learn, challenging yourself to apply basic to advanced slights to a wide variety of things, ultimately developing your own spin to old ideas & routines.

Steven's Magic used to have some VHS video on Bar Magic and Impromptu bits featuring Bill and a number of other notables. I'd suggest you contact Mark Stevens and see if those have been digitized and put on DVD as of yet (or find a VHS Player, you won't regret it).

Another person you may want to track down is Dale Salwack I think he's the last of the old Chavez School of Magic instructors that still teaches, Norm Nielsen is part of that group but he's moved on to other things.
 
Aug 31, 2007
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Craig at the call yet again with awesome advice - where were you when I was buying three different pen-through-dollar gimmicks when I was 12? You could've told me to stop :p

There is some great stuff in Art of Astonishment and also Life Savers by Michael Webber. Though a good amount of Michael's tricks 'appear' impromptu to the spectator, rather than truly being impromptu. I personally love rubberband magic, and if you're interested in looking into it, I'm a big fan of 'FIVE' by Danny Garcia and Marcus Eddie.

Also - 'Splinter' on The Wire by Marcus Eddie is the trick I do most often besides cards. It's as impromptu as it gets, because you don't need to present it as a trick. You'll be doing it every time you go to a restaurant ;)
 
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