Magic and Flourishing

Sep 20, 2008
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Would it be better to go up to an audience and perform magic, or would it be more beneficial for you (as the magician) to dazzle them with XCM first before going onto a routine?


seems like an easy question, but it gets a lot harder-

I think the whole point of magic is to convey seemingly impossible things out of ordinary things (such as a pack of cards)

Manipulating them (Xcm) *such as displays, Sybils, arm spreads etc* then gives the audience an idea that there is a lot of sleight of hand involved in the routine, therefore making the 'magic' part a bit weak.

what do you guys think?
 
May 19, 2008
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manchester
I think you can do xcm before you do the magic, when you do the magic dont do flashy stuff (unless thats your style), do stuff like coin magic and rubberband magic...
 
Sep 20, 2008
1,112
3
what i mean to say is, would holding a pack of cards and seemingly creating these 'miracles' with them would have a greater effect rather than flashing them in XCM, then creating the 'miracles'.?

There's a lot of training involved in XCM, and the spectators can tell that by how smooth you do your cuts (or fancy shuffling as they call it)
 
Oct 28, 2007
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i do my flourishes within the magic because i feel it helps establish credibility
 
When spectators see you do magic first, they are impressed, then see you do flourishes, it's like, look what else he can do!
If flourishes are done first, then they think doing advanced sleight of hand and doing tricks must be no challenge, and it downgrades the amazingness of it.
I try to only do flourishes first when I'm trying to get attention to show a trick to somebody.
 
Feb 27, 2008
2,342
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Grand prairie TX
Through my experiences spectators,most of the time,wont be that impressed with your magic(with cards) after seeing you flourish.
Because when they see you do that they'll say things like"oh well,if he can do all that then it should be easy to find my card".
I almost never flourish in front of my spectators and when i do its after the magic.
 
Sep 30, 2008
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Pittsburgh
Well this is what I think.

If a person's never met you, don't go showing off with your cards to them. Show them something short and sweet, then long and jaw dropping. Then, once you finish your routine, start showing off. From my experience, it seems to give your spectators a certain level of respect for you. That you know what you're doing and you're not just some punk kid.

-Kevin
 
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
If you're gonna approach people on the street and ask to show them something, I wouldn't start off with flourishing. That said, if you want to try and get people to come to you, by all means, use flourishing. I've used flourishing to attract attention quite successfully and I don't believe it has taken away from my magic. It's by no means impossible to change from dexterity to impossibility; in fact, if anything, the former complements the latter by establishing credibility and interest. Of course, you still do need the magic skills to back this up. If your flourishing is far stronger than your magic, yes of course, your magic will suffer.
 
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