New Guy Here

[holo]

Hey guys,
I've actually been doing magic for a while, but i recently decided to join the theory11 forums. I would like some advice on card tricks i should do because i am currently working on improving my sleight of hand.
Here are the tricks(that have names) that I do:
Blindsided
Indecent
Witness
ACR
A bunch of Ellusionist Stuff
Nemesis
Ultimate Ace Assembly
Believe
WOW
McCombical Prediction
Invisible Deck
Asher Twist
Synergy
Two card monte
Biddle Trick
Ultimate transpo
Subway
Fan control
Scwhing
Commercial
Strange travelers
Working on: Genesis

Don' worry ive borrowed most of this from friends, and this is just the stuff ive been doing. I know many more, but these are the card effects I do most. Please Respond.

-Holo

 

[TeeDee]

My advice would be to stop learning tricks for the moment. You know more than enough to impress a lay audience. I would say the two things to do are to work on the presentation of each effect and to work on individual moves.

For example, in your repertoire, you have an Ambitious Card routine, and Invisible Deck. With an Ambitious Card routine, you can make yourself appear to be a master of sleight-of-hand and card control and leave your audience with the impression you could walk into any poker game, pick up the deck, and deal yourself any hand you like. With Invisible Deck, you can make your audience believe you are a master of psychological influence. This is purely down to presentation. There are some very good books on the subject of presentation and showmanship which can help you turn your current effects into miracles for your spectators and boost your reputation as a magician without you having to learn any more routines.

Regarding sleight-of-hand, as I said, I'd recommend working towards perfecting the individual moves. And by that, I mean trying to make them genuinely perfect, not just passable. While you're doing that, pick up some more moves from books or DVDs. You'll never learn every single move, but familiarity with a multitude of techniques will allow you to choose the ones that suit you best for any given situation, and to develop your own routines.

I hope that's helpful.

By the way, what do you mean when you say you've "borrowed most of this from friends"? Do you ever buy magic books or DVDs? I think it's almost essential to have resources you can return to over and over again to examine details.

 

[holo]

I agree. What i did was when i first started magic was i got my hands on tons of tricks and stuff online, but recently i have stopped and started practicing and narrowed that list down to maybe 5 effects that i do. I just believe that it is time to introduce something new. The only reason I listed so many is that i don't want people to say stuff that i have and will at some point go back to. But like i said i mostly do extremely simple tricks and i rarely do most of the tricks here.
EDIT: here are the tricks I do (In order if someone wants to see a trick):
1. A trick similar to ambitious card
2. Sandwich
3. Fan Control
4. Subway
5. Very basic Card to Pocket

 

[DavidMisner]

Like everyone else said, cut back on what you are learning. Many new magicians succumb to marketing and buy up as much as they possibly can, but never take the time to master any of their effects.

An experienced magician knows to practice an effect until he can't get it wrong, and many new magicians practice until they get the effect right. There's a difference.

If you are trying to improve your sleight of hand, get the basics down. The Double Lift, maybe a Pass, false shuffles, color changes. Then, instead of purchasing more tricks, create your own using the sleights you already know.

Dan and Dave's Trilogy is a great place to get inspiration for effects, and the majority of their effects will help you get some more advanced sleights down. I see you perform Subway, so I'll assume you own the Trilogy.

If you want somebody to give you a routine out of what you have, I guess I can give it a shot, but it really depends on your style and what you're most comfortable with. Here's what I would do:

ACR with an elevator to end it (Fallen, Raise Rise, etc)/ Biddle Trick
Two Card Monte
Subway
Asher Twist
For a closer, you could use Believe, Indecent, Witness, or the Invisible Deck.

Hope this helps. Remember, go out and experiment on what works and what doesn't.

David

 

[tsarothpaco]

I agree. What i did was when i first started magic was i got my hands on tons of tricks and stuff online, but recently i have stopped and started practicing and narrowed that list down to maybe 5 effects that i do. I just believe that it is time to introduce something new. The only reason I listed so many is that i don't want people to say stuff that i have and will at some point go back to. But like i said i mostly do extremely simple tricks and i rarely do most of the tricks here.
EDIT: here are the tricks I do (In order if someone wants to see a trick):
1. A trick similar to ambitious card
2. Sandwich
3. Fan Control
4. Subway
5. Very basic Card to Pocket

Fan Control isn't really a trick, add that to another routine Ex. An ACR opener or ender depending how you present it.
As for effects you should do, to improve sleight of hand as you mentioned, refine an ACR routine to perfection. Your hands will be battered through this process but in a manner of practice and you will have a great effect in the end.

~PaCo

 

[holo]

Thank you for the input. I think that is great when i need to do a trick on the spot. Although, I don't quite agree with your closing ideas because i mostly perform street, but i would love doing indecent or the invisible deck in a walk around situation. Thanks for the advice, now I'll go practice those tricks until my fingers are numb

 

[Dylan P.]

You know way to much right now. It is better to know 1 trick inside an dout than knoing 15 tricks OK. It would be wise of you if you sttled down for a bit and picked 2 or three tricks that you want to perfect. After, perfecting the tricks you should then try to modify and tweek the routine to suit yourself and make it look better. Make your own variations and add a unique twist. This would be all the advice I could offer here.

Dylan P.

 

[adjones]

Are you a collector, or a magician?

A young magician once walked up to David Devant and said, "David, I know about 300 card tricks... how many do you know?" To which Mr. Devant replied, "Oh, about eight."

The point of that is that it doesn't matter the amount of effects you perform... it's how you perform the effects that you do. Quality over quantity, bud.

I also suggest broadening out from card tricks. Learn stuff with coins, stuff lying around the dinner table or the house. People get bored with constant cards. Now don't get me wrong, I deal mostly with cards, but after a while of performing card tricks constantly, I kept getting the question, "Do you know anything other than card tricks?" So I started learning a few magic tricks with other things, and I saw that I became a much better performer. Try it and see what happens.

 

[holo]

i undeerstand, at first i was basically a collector, but i have concentrated on a select few, i just didnt want ppl to recommend stuff i already had. But do not worry i onyl perform maybe 7 card effects tops
Oh, and also i was a member of a forum where ppl posted illegal copies of the vids and thats y i no the methods of so many. I have done like 10 of them in the last month and about 7 i perform.. dont worry, you guys dont ned to lecture me on that. ive changed my ways ever since i started performing on the street (about two months ago when i started to improve my sleights and concentrate on a few tricks.)
so yeah, basically the advice u have given was given to me before and i took it, but thanks for the concern. I guess since these videos were available to me, i wanted to learn the method so in case i was ever interested to back to it i could do it. But just so were clear, i only perform the list that you guys gave to me(for the most part.)

 

[adjones]

Another piece of advice is instead of working on extremely hard sleights to fool fellow magicians with, spend that time working on your presentation. Read a few of my thoughts on simplicity and presentation here.