I have an idea. What if we create a thread where magicians can post stories about there ''mess up and fix'' trick situations? It would be a good source for motivation. If someone is looking for what to say in these cases, he could post his question on the forum, and maybe get some good answers. What do you think?
Is this a good idea?
- Thread starter TheYoungMagician
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I've found that if you are open to the idea of improvising when you perform, rather than displaying your nervousness about something going wrong, then you will naturally move in that sort of direction. So when something goes wrong, if you perhaps spend a second or two considering what you could do rather than apologising, you'll strike gold at one point, if you do it a lot, your experience will fill the gaps and it will become second nature and seamless. Sometimes this even creates better moments, for example recently I was doing magic at a party and while I held out the deck for the spec to place their card into, another spectator put the card he was still holding from previously on top of it, as I had my head turned I didn't notice at the time.
So I continued on with the effect and at one point near the end, out of guilt I guess one of the spectators told me what happened, I guess they could tell it was reaching a peak and didn't want to embarrass me, I don't know. But without skipping a beat I realised that because of the control I used, the card they placed into the deck while I didn't know, was face up in the deck one spec had been holding the whole time, and the other selected card I was holding in my hand, I knew the locations of the cards and revealed them with a bit of flair and it actually enhanced the reactions I think because they were expecting me to fail, but rather I seemed, to them, effortlessly overcome the issue using magic.
That is one particularly lucky moment where all the moons happened to align for me, but if you are open to it, you can create some truly awesome, and even more impossible moments. Even as simple as if you do multiple effects in a row, with different cards, at one point they will select the same card twice, completely fairly, play it off, gets a great reaction, I've had this happen 4 or 5 times before.
So I continued on with the effect and at one point near the end, out of guilt I guess one of the spectators told me what happened, I guess they could tell it was reaching a peak and didn't want to embarrass me, I don't know. But without skipping a beat I realised that because of the control I used, the card they placed into the deck while I didn't know, was face up in the deck one spec had been holding the whole time, and the other selected card I was holding in my hand, I knew the locations of the cards and revealed them with a bit of flair and it actually enhanced the reactions I think because they were expecting me to fail, but rather I seemed, to them, effortlessly overcome the issue using magic.
That is one particularly lucky moment where all the moons happened to align for me, but if you are open to it, you can create some truly awesome, and even more impossible moments. Even as simple as if you do multiple effects in a row, with different cards, at one point they will select the same card twice, completely fairly, play it off, gets a great reaction, I've had this happen 4 or 5 times before.
I really appreciate your fight till the end. Yes you are correct, nervousness mess the picture. holding on tight till last moment can gift you outstanding results that what have happened in this case. Thanks for sharing your story.
I was once performing the Si Steben's stack one time, and the spectator completely ruined the stack through the wrong cutting sequence. Unfortunately she already selected and remembered her card. But I monologued a bit to make her forget her card, and even remembering she selected one! So anyway, as I was giving a ''speech'', I caught a glimpse of a card, remembered it, then forced it on her and continued the trick. I got a better reaction than what I originally planed it to be. I stayed positive through the whole thing. That was what gave me my advantage I believe.
What usually works for me is more of a "Daniel Garcia" method (if that exists 
).
Last week I had a spectator flash me when doing a double lift during an ACR, saying "Hey, I know how you did that, you had two cards !". I just answered jokingly : "Aw, just when I thought I really had magic powers. Damn !". After that I continued the routine as usual, finishing up with a deck vanish. And that guy who tried to bully me finished up being blown away by the trick !
I also remember one time where I really messed up a card revelation, with a folded card in an impossible location. The thing is, I missed my control from the very beginning and ended up with the wrong, unsigned card being revealed.
I just went "Alright, that's not your card ? You know, you should have picked this one, the trick would have worked ! ... No change of mind ? I'll give you five euros. ". I got quite a laugh at the table, and I used the misdirection to cut at his card and continue the trick with another finish.
I guess recovering from failure is more about showmanship than anything. Just one advice : never say you're sorry. You're here to entertain, so do it !
).Last week I had a spectator flash me when doing a double lift during an ACR, saying "Hey, I know how you did that, you had two cards !". I just answered jokingly : "Aw, just when I thought I really had magic powers. Damn !". After that I continued the routine as usual, finishing up with a deck vanish. And that guy who tried to bully me finished up being blown away by the trick !
I also remember one time where I really messed up a card revelation, with a folded card in an impossible location. The thing is, I missed my control from the very beginning and ended up with the wrong, unsigned card being revealed.
I just went "Alright, that's not your card ? You know, you should have picked this one, the trick would have worked ! ... No change of mind ? I'll give you five euros. ". I got quite a laugh at the table, and I used the misdirection to cut at his card and continue the trick with another finish.
I guess recovering from failure is more about showmanship than anything. Just one advice : never say you're sorry. You're here to entertain, so do it !
I had my stand fall apart last Saturday. I have a stand for Jumbo Twisted Sisters, and one side broke on me during the performance and all the cards one one side fluttered to the ground. They saw the jokers early ruining the build up and climax. It still went fine because of the other reveals, but so frustrating.
I also had a ring get stuck while performing Interlace. At the time I had no out, and ended up having to fish it out. Horrible. No I have an out for that situation.
I also had a ring get stuck while performing Interlace. At the time I had no out, and ended up having to fish it out. Horrible. No I have an out for that situation.
Reading these make me think [and I'm sure other people thought], ''What if my favorite trick goes wrong [which is crazy man's handcuffs, and pulse, with an impromtu phantom card]? I need an out.''. I came up with one for Crazy Man's Handcuffs after having this happen:
When I was pulling the bands and getting into the sleight, I tried to catch it a bit early, but it seemed that that went wrong. The spectator jumped right up and said [because she was holding the bands between her two index fingers], ''I saw what you did there!''. I then turned it around and said, ''Okay. Let me show you how it's done since you ''think [and I stressed think]'' you caught me. I then said, ''You take the rubberbands and just rub them together like this [I did it slowly while saying that and moving a bit to cause misdirection]...............and they pull apart easy.". She then looked at me with amazement because she was watching me do it slowly and did not see what I did [which actually she did the first time].
When I was pulling the bands and getting into the sleight, I tried to catch it a bit early, but it seemed that that went wrong. The spectator jumped right up and said [because she was holding the bands between her two index fingers], ''I saw what you did there!''. I then turned it around and said, ''Okay. Let me show you how it's done since you ''think [and I stressed think]'' you caught me. I then said, ''You take the rubberbands and just rub them together like this [I did it slowly while saying that and moving a bit to cause misdirection]...............and they pull apart easy.". She then looked at me with amazement because she was watching me do it slowly and did not see what I did [which actually she did the first time].
I'll add on to what people have already said earlier in this thread, but it helps to have at least one out. I mainly work with cards, so in my case I tend to have multiple outs depending on the effect, but more than one isn't really necessary. Never ever ever apologize for anything, though...you're the entertainment, so make it entertaining. Even if there is absolutely no way to salvage the trick (and trust me, there's been times when I thought that was the case) push through and at least make an attempt to make it funny. If you can't wow them with the magical side of things, but you can make them laugh, you've still achieved your goal of keeping them entertained. Just press on with whatever else you have available and most people won't even remember that anything untoward happened at all.
You said it like it is. I believe the same. I work with cards mostly as well. But I am just wanting to know more of a variety of tricks with different stuff.
I miss every now and then with my final trick which is usually a 4 card revelation. I just ask what the card is, control it then colour change it or pocket load it. Honestly the most impressive thing Ive done is go wrong and then pull their card out of my pocket!
Simon_Magic
Simon_Magic
