Most practical and powerful street magic effects?

[Enzo]

I started magic when I was 12 years old and I'm now 14. I perform 3 powerful effects daily. These are the effects that I perform in order:

1. Static by David Jade

2. Superman Coin Bend - I didn't follow the instructions. I perform with an unsigned version by borrowing a coin then switching it with my bent coin. And the effect happens on the spectator's hand. Then after the coin bends, I tell them to feel and touch the coin. Then they are shocked because of the combination of the electric touch.

I really want a signed version of the Coin Bend. I want the version that David Blaine did on his Dive of Death. Is that Quantum Bender 2.0? What is your comment about Quantum Bender 2.0?

3. Serial Biller by Rich Ferguson - I didn't follow the DVD again. The restoration happens in the spectator's hand.

These are other effects that I have performed many times and I believe they are powerful:

1. Factory Sealed

2. Bullet

3. Identity by Richard Sanders - The first time I watched this, I was disappointed because the performance wasn't as magical as the trailer. But now I believe this is a powerful effect if you take it to another level. I didn't follow the DVD. I was able to discover a method of writing the marks in front of the spectators. So here's how my presentation goes:

I ask a person to take a card then sign it and place it back anywhere. Then I tell the audience: every card symbolizes something. Then I draw marks on the top card. I ask them to watch then the marks suddenly vanishes. Then I spread the deck then the card with the marks is in the middle. I tell them: the marks found your card. Then I turn the card over and they are amazed. Then I tell them: Like I said before every card symbolizes something. Do you know what your card symbolizes? They say no. Then I shake it and the marks suddenly transforms to the word "DEATH". Your card symbolizes death. And they are shocked and scared.

4. Extreme Burn by Richard Sanders - I really love this effect and I've performed it many times and I got powerful reactions. I'm planning on buying Extreme Burn 2.0 because he said that he teaches the hand out methods there. Are the hand out methods very practical and casual?

5. Lit by Dan White and Dan Hauss - I'm really dying to perform this but I can't get the kind of match that is required to do the effect.

6. Tagged by Rich Ferguson - I also loved this effect but I can't perform it. I can't find the ink required to do the effect. Pls also help me here.

7. Watch Stop using the M5.

8. Coin Levitation using the M5.

These are also other effects that I'm planning to buy:

1. Fraud by Daniel Garcia - But I'm not yet sure because I'm worried if it will work on the money of the Philippines? Does it work with any money?

2. Flow by Dan Hauss - Does this work with any bottle?

3. Smoke – But I’m worried because I’m just 14 years old and it’s intended for 18.

Do you have suggestions of any other powerful effects?


I also want to learn about loops by Yigal Mesika. I don't know how to make my own loops.

I'm also dying to learn a powerful practical levitation on the streets. Is the F.L.Y Levitation the most practical angle proof or almost angle proof self levitation? But they say it's for 18 years old and there is a specific weight.

I hope you can help me with my questions and give me some tips. Thank you very much!

 

[Craig Browning]

None & ALL of the Above

IT'S NOT THE PROP/EFFECT that is "best" it's YOU as a performer that makes it so.

Just look at a standard bit like the Linking Rings and how clumsy the typical mage makes them look vs. those that have mastered the handling of just two or three rings... I still get all mushy when watching Richard Ross or John Penndragon doing their very simple, deliberate and beautiful versions of this magic classic because of the elegance behind their handling. At the same time I've watched people attempt to replicate such an act without realizing that it's not appropriate to them and how they are viewed by the public.

Look at how the typical magician of old presented a levitation on stage and then (if you can) find footage of Abb Dickson doing the Asrah in his old PRESTO show... Abb exploited the fact that he was rather rotund and not in the least capable of selling himself as anything "heavy" or as theatrically dramatic as Richiardi, for an example. So he LISTENED to those that had an eye for this kind of thing and created one of the best variants to the Asrah I've ever witnessed.

YOU can take the most basic of all techniques and make it a miracle when you decide to step away from "the norm" and actually become a "magician" vs. someone that presents tricks (there's a huge difference). If you lean upon the idea of the effects being what makes you great, you will never come to know greatness. Pete Pit used to call it "Hiding Behind the Prop"; he and others like Bev Bergeron, Karoll Fox and even Max Maven have all presented talks on how to be a solid showman first and the magician second. This is one of the most published "best kept secrets" in magic... but only because it's one of the most ignored truths of our industry (most all humans loathe the labor or actual thought but it would seem magic-buffs cling to this avoidance more than others)... it's far easier to either do an effect word for word to the script supplied or as we've seen it done in the past.

My Challenge would be for any aspiring performer to take a sabbatical from buying more magic (effects/videos) and simply invest the next year or two into LEARNING what they already have on the book shelf and how to take what they have scanned in this or that tome, and make it "their own"... learn how to create YOUR OWN magic instead of being the same thing that can be found everywhere on the planet, in the form of the wannabe...

 

[praetoritevong]

What makes a magic trick strong?

Is it the trick? It can't be. You know that people can perform tricks well, and they can perform them badly. So tricks aren't inherently strong. What then makes a trick strong?

When a person performs a strong trick, why is it strong?

I'll give you a clue - it has very little to do with a trick. I realise that this advice, although I post it reasonably often, sometimes may come across as unhelpful. That's not the intention.

But here's an idea. Look for them yourself, find the ones that work for yourself, and make them "hard hitting"! In all honestly, looking for the shortcut by asking for "best of" effects isn't gonna do you any favours, and 95% of the time will not get you the most hard-hitting effects you can perform. That's right, asking for good tricks will actually, the majority of the time, get you tricks that, when performed by you, will be second rate and common. So you'll be performing the same old stuff and probably not as well as you could be.

Rather than ask "Where can I find the best effect", ask "Where can I find effects (possibly of x plot or from x magician)", go out, look through everything, and find what works for you. You want average material, ask for "the best" effects. And if you're satisfied with decent, go ahead. Some people are happy with being decent, and that's fine. But if you want to be better than that, with the best material and the highest possible impact? You'll have to work harder than that.

The main reason for this is that the strongest effect in my arsenal, in all honestly, would probably not work at all for you. This is due to many reasons - personality, presentation, and just the effect in general. So why would I give that to you? Why would I a) give out something that will probably be inferior for you and b) give out what I've been working on for two years plus? Many, many people for example list Stigmata as their strongest effect, and many people buy it. You wanna know the truth, 95% of people's presentation of Stigmata is ****. Stigmata could be so, so much more. but no, they rely on the effect, rather than relying on themselves as a performer, and this separates the chaff from the wheat. I read a thread just yesterday of a Stigmata performance which was terrible!

If you really want strong effects, you need to tell us what you're interested in, specifically, a plot or an author. Then you need to go look at everything by that author or on that plot, and decide what works for you, use that knowledge to mix the effects together, and base a presentation on what appeals to you, not what appeals to us. My favourite effect happens to be Zamiel's Rose, and yet I barely know anyone who has the personality to pull it off, so I never suggest it, it would be a travesty, the epitome of ruining magic. I mean what do you want me to say - follow your instructions exactly, and give you an effect that won't suit you and you won't be able to make the most of? I'd rather say this, the truth.

See, ultimately, if you're told that in this book, there are three tricks that are good, then you'll (hopefully) buy the book, and go straight for those three tricks. In doing so, you are undermining your own search because you are going by what other people's standards! Instead, if you open a magic book, with absolutely no recommendations, then you are forced to evaluate, for yourself, each and every entry in that book.

This is not to say we (or I) don't want to help. This is to say, rather, that it should be the right help, if you really want the best magic.

Take for example Deezy's post, recommending Pressure. You decide to look into Pressure.

What you've done is said, "This works for Deezy. Therefore I'm going to check it out."

Are you Deezy? If not, why do you expect this to be an effective way of looking for tricks?

Go buy a book or something, that's where the good stuff is.

 

[William Draven]

I'll echo what Craig is saying. It's not the trick, it's the performance/r. Frankly, I've seen street hucksters hawking the UFO card who only know how to do one effect, but they do it so god damn well they make a mint each day they're out there, and from a magicians point of view you know how common and over sold that effect is.

You said you only perform 3 killer effects daily, but you listed like 10 others. To me it sounds like you have enough magic to keep you going for a while. I would spend some time in the think tank answering the following questions.

1) WHO are you as a performer?
2) WHY do you do the things you do?
3) HOW are you able to do these miracles? Is it because you're a god, a scam artist, a mutated freak, etc?
4) WHAT is your character? I can sum up any famous performing magician in just a few short words, can you say the same about yourself?

And the most important question of all....

5) WHY should the audience care about you as a performer or the magic your performing?

If you fail to understand the motivation behind these questions (and thusly your act) you're doomed to become just another one of those teen magicians doing hack lines and stock effects trying to copy their TV idols like Blaine and Angel.

 

[Zac Eckstein]

Despite everyones post, I don't feel like getting into methodology about being a magician today, so i'll just give you some effects.

Pressure - Dan White & Daniel Garcia
Stigmata - Wayne Houchin
Water Mark - Mathew Bich

Buy some books if you want to find something no one else does.

 

[XabierL]

Enzo, Im also 14 and Im thinking to buy Smoke, but I already have Warning (Daniel Garcia) and is 100% impromptu, safe and easy to do. However I think that isnt available now, im sorry.
Fraud only works on USA Dollars, since it requires the insignia the bills have printed. If there is any other bill that have those letters... it could work.
Talking about Flow... is very easy to do, and requires very little setup (10 - 30 seconds...). The gimmick is... well I cant tell it, but I can say that you can carry it with you anywhere you go. In addition, you can use ANY PLASTIC BOTTLE (it doesnt work on glass bottles): soda, water, tea... It comes with a couple of bonus tricks: coin flow (which I think that is much better than Factory Sealed) and Snow Flow (Water that turns into ice, REALLY STRONG). In my opinion the basic routine + toothpick is the best one... Dan Hauss is a fantastic teacher and will explain the method in detail!
Since I think that you like gimmicks, due to the tricks you perform, so I think that youll love 5x Speed, taught by chris kenner. I also recommend you the KING RISING LEVITATION, as well as RIOT (T11).

I hope you like the advice I´ve given you!

 

[Blindside462]

Honestly I think it would be silly for a 14 year old to buy Smoke.

Flow uses any bottle, can't be a borrowed bottle but it's worth it.

David Blaine used the Quantum Bender 2.0 in his show which is about 500 dollars.

Buy a book on presentation and learn sleight of hand well.

 

[William Draven]

Honestly I think it would be silly for a 14 year old to buy Smoke.

I don't own the effect, but after watching the video I can only guess that any minor being caught exhaling plumes of smoke, regardless of it being magic or not, is in for no end of trouble from authority figures at school or other wise.

I'm sure they'd try to nail you for smoking cigarettes or something. I'd pass on smoke if I were you.

 

[Randy]

I also wouldn't consider Smoke a "Street Magic" effect either. It seems more like something you'd do for a "Special" gig and not something randomly on the streets.

Also what are you trying to accomplish from this Street Performing? Is it just so you can get some experience performing for strangers, or is it something else. Because, honestly I can't see many people taking a 14 year old on the streets seriously. As with what Will said, I'd suggest you stay away from Smoke till you're old enough to buy cigarettes legally.

 

[Craig Browning]

SMOKE is an awesome piece to use in echo of my previous post... it's a very neat SPECIAL EFFECT

Think about what I just said and consider why I'd use that term "Special Effect"

Why would a 14 year old do this piece? Why would any street performer want it?

Sure, it's cool and different BUT what is its purpose?

When I first saw the video I knew exactly how I'd use it in that I do tons of work pandering to the ghost hunters and seance junkies and thus, having this rolling plume of smoke issue from my mouth during a channeling session or shortly after we've located a "presence"... it becomes far more than a magic trick... it IS a punctuation because it is a Special Effect.

Look at your magic and why you do it and how to "choreograph" this and that bit together in ways that compliment one another or, such as this example, how to get the biggest possible bang for the dollar ventured. SMOKE as I see it, is a neat but weak stand alone piece but when placed in the right psychological setting, it's a bloody miracle. When you learn to see such things with each effect you invest in, you start becoming a "Magician" and not just another "kid" doing tricks that mimic some strange dude on TV.

AND PLEASE... let's not have 101 people out there adopting my idea around how to use SMOKE... find ways of your own that allow such a piece or any piece FIT YOU!

Eugene Burger said many years ago, that you only need to know 6 tricks... I've expanded on that idea a bit encouraging my students to learn 6 primary routines around any 6 techniques of their choosing. That is to say, if you enjoy working with billets then learn 6 complimentary methods for stealing out your "hot" billet & copping the read + ending clean. Create 6 different presentations in which billets are a part, etc. The very same formula applies to cards, coins, sponge, dice... you name it! If you can hold to the discipline of 6 you will have more than you'll ever need in a lifetime when it comes to magic and performance... but then you could look at 6 another way...

Limiting yourself to 6 new effects each year or 6 new books, etc. (I do not recommend listing 6 new videos or DVD collections, especially if each disc is just a few effects, in that books will give you far more for the dollar ventured. For performers on a budget that point of logic should prove inspiration).

Hope this makes some sense to you all...