Recently, on a snowboarding trip, my girlfriend and I took a break in the lodge at the summit of the mountain. Being in the mood to perform some cool impromptu magic, I performed the effect where the quarter penetrates the sugar packet (as taught on Ellusionist's 'Street Magic' DVD). It completely stumped her, as the trick had with others that I've performed it on. It's a great effect, given that it can be done on the spot with borrowed sugar packets and coins (with the sugar packets being readily available at the condiment bar).
I then went on to perform Daniel Garcia's 'Void,' which is a routine in which a drinking straw penetrates a dollar bill in three phases. This is something that I've put a great deal of practice into. I went on two perform only the first two phases of the routine. With the conclusion of this, I asked her what she thought.
Without much hesitation, she said proceeded to tell me how it was done. She explained that there was "no way that a straw could break through the dollar", "it's just not that convincing," and she then revealed part of the method to me.
I was definitely disappointed, as I'm sure anybody would have been. I knew that I didn't flash anything or botch anything..the mechanics went smoothly.
This really made me question the nature of certain effects. In her eyes, the answer was clear, whereas in the case of the sugar packet, she was stumped.
This leads me to ask this question: Are some effects just not convincing, no matter how smoothly you may perform them? I don't want anybody to think that I'm bashing 'Void' or any of Daniel Garcia's work; I'm a huge fan of his and perform a handful of his other effects that are nothing short of phenomenal!
When assessing what happened, I can see how she may not be convinced by the effect, given the nature of it.
Any input?
I then went on to perform Daniel Garcia's 'Void,' which is a routine in which a drinking straw penetrates a dollar bill in three phases. This is something that I've put a great deal of practice into. I went on two perform only the first two phases of the routine. With the conclusion of this, I asked her what she thought.
Without much hesitation, she said proceeded to tell me how it was done. She explained that there was "no way that a straw could break through the dollar", "it's just not that convincing," and she then revealed part of the method to me.
I was definitely disappointed, as I'm sure anybody would have been. I knew that I didn't flash anything or botch anything..the mechanics went smoothly.
This really made me question the nature of certain effects. In her eyes, the answer was clear, whereas in the case of the sugar packet, she was stumped.
This leads me to ask this question: Are some effects just not convincing, no matter how smoothly you may perform them? I don't want anybody to think that I'm bashing 'Void' or any of Daniel Garcia's work; I'm a huge fan of his and perform a handful of his other effects that are nothing short of phenomenal!
When assessing what happened, I can see how she may not be convinced by the effect, given the nature of it.
Any input?