Well, I have been working on card tricks and flourishes for about 2.5 months. I haven't performed the tricks to a whole lot of people until this weekend. In large part, because I'd practice a sleight over and over. Then do it in the mirror till it looks perfect. Then I'd I perform the trick for someone and my hands would shake and I'd start fumbling the cards.
I was at a conference with a lot of people I've known for years. I set out to perform a lot of card tricks, so I could get over being nervous and get in a lot of experience.
I had planned out the tricks in tiers. I'd start with some easy ones and work my way up. The first tier was two from How to Do Street Magic. I think they are called trick switch and trace unseen. My second tier was waving aces, biddle trick, and haunted deck with a loop. Then I planed to try the bluff pass with a shapeshifter reveal and Wayne Houchin's French Kiss.
It ended up working perfectly. Because I would do a trick for someone, and they'd come back later with another person or two and say do that for so and so. I didn't want to do the same tricks in front of the same people. So I'd say ok sure, and then do an even harder trick. The original person would be impressed all over again.
One thing that I've listened to Houchin and Brad Christian talk about is how people will remember tricks even better than they really were. I couldn't really picture that happened to me. But it did with the Haunted Deck trick big time.
I did it for two people. A 19 year old girl and a 22 year old guy I was sharing a room with. The 19 year old girl described the trick to some other people as "the deck split in half and both sides went it two different directions." The dude told people, and this is his exact words "The entire deck exploded!" I heard him say these exact words to multiple people. He had a bunch of other people wanting so see it. Well, I couldn't do the trick after his over the top description. So I played it cool. I said, "I'll do it again at the November board meeting and it will be even better." Then I would just go into a different trick.
I even had a random hotel guest actually get angry because I wouldn't tell him how I did the biddle trick! He oerheard a girl ask me for one of my decks to play a game. He was trying to hit on this girl and she told him about my tricks. Well later at the bar he comes up to me and says "I know this awesome card trick that will stump anyone." So he proceeds to show me the most moronic lame, drawn out card trick I've ever seen and it required an accomplish to perform!
Then he goes, so what kind of tricks can you do? I do the biddle trick on him and he has a look of just total shock and goes, "you have got to teach me that." Well, I refused and he actually got pissed off and angry about it.
I had done the waving aces trick on a few guys and got a great reaction. The one guy has a drop dead smoking hot wife named Dani. He goes, you have to do that for Dani. So about an hour later he comes over with his wife and some other guys and says, do that that trick again. I go into the full french kiss routine. (I had done the trick on some guys to get practice, without doing the french kiss routine. This was my first time doing Wayne's actual routine.) The reaction I got exceeded anything even on the Art of Magic DVD.
The girl screams "open your mouth! where is the real card!" She actually thought I had forged her signature on a duplicate card and had hidden it in my mouth before the trick started! Then she goes "so what the hell is this card .. Oh my god!!!" and everyone else explodes into laughter and is heaping praise on my abilities.
I had some humorous reactions, one guy asked me how did I stick a card in my sleeve and then pull it back out so fast. At least three other people said something to the effort, "wow that was cool, where did you get a trick deck that can do that!" Then I'd just hand them the whole deck and they'd have a much bigger reaction when it sunk in that it wasn't a gimmicked deck.
Anyway, the reaction I had to French Kiss alone was enough to motivate me to continue further into card magic and keep going. Sorry this post took so long to get to the point.
I was at a conference with a lot of people I've known for years. I set out to perform a lot of card tricks, so I could get over being nervous and get in a lot of experience.
I had planned out the tricks in tiers. I'd start with some easy ones and work my way up. The first tier was two from How to Do Street Magic. I think they are called trick switch and trace unseen. My second tier was waving aces, biddle trick, and haunted deck with a loop. Then I planed to try the bluff pass with a shapeshifter reveal and Wayne Houchin's French Kiss.
It ended up working perfectly. Because I would do a trick for someone, and they'd come back later with another person or two and say do that for so and so. I didn't want to do the same tricks in front of the same people. So I'd say ok sure, and then do an even harder trick. The original person would be impressed all over again.
One thing that I've listened to Houchin and Brad Christian talk about is how people will remember tricks even better than they really were. I couldn't really picture that happened to me. But it did with the Haunted Deck trick big time.
I did it for two people. A 19 year old girl and a 22 year old guy I was sharing a room with. The 19 year old girl described the trick to some other people as "the deck split in half and both sides went it two different directions." The dude told people, and this is his exact words "The entire deck exploded!" I heard him say these exact words to multiple people. He had a bunch of other people wanting so see it. Well, I couldn't do the trick after his over the top description. So I played it cool. I said, "I'll do it again at the November board meeting and it will be even better." Then I would just go into a different trick.
I even had a random hotel guest actually get angry because I wouldn't tell him how I did the biddle trick! He oerheard a girl ask me for one of my decks to play a game. He was trying to hit on this girl and she told him about my tricks. Well later at the bar he comes up to me and says "I know this awesome card trick that will stump anyone." So he proceeds to show me the most moronic lame, drawn out card trick I've ever seen and it required an accomplish to perform!
Then he goes, so what kind of tricks can you do? I do the biddle trick on him and he has a look of just total shock and goes, "you have got to teach me that." Well, I refused and he actually got pissed off and angry about it.
I had done the waving aces trick on a few guys and got a great reaction. The one guy has a drop dead smoking hot wife named Dani. He goes, you have to do that for Dani. So about an hour later he comes over with his wife and some other guys and says, do that that trick again. I go into the full french kiss routine. (I had done the trick on some guys to get practice, without doing the french kiss routine. This was my first time doing Wayne's actual routine.) The reaction I got exceeded anything even on the Art of Magic DVD.
The girl screams "open your mouth! where is the real card!" She actually thought I had forged her signature on a duplicate card and had hidden it in my mouth before the trick started! Then she goes "so what the hell is this card .. Oh my god!!!" and everyone else explodes into laughter and is heaping praise on my abilities.
I had some humorous reactions, one guy asked me how did I stick a card in my sleeve and then pull it back out so fast. At least three other people said something to the effort, "wow that was cool, where did you get a trick deck that can do that!" Then I'd just hand them the whole deck and they'd have a much bigger reaction when it sunk in that it wasn't a gimmicked deck.
Anyway, the reaction I had to French Kiss alone was enough to motivate me to continue further into card magic and keep going. Sorry this post took so long to get to the point.
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