Original Card Trick Battle

Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
Portillo...

I'm sorry to say that your video needs a lot of work. The sleight you came up with, if I'm to be perfectly honest, simply is not deceptive. You don't appear comfortable with the cards, and certainly not holding a double. You also again don't have a presentation. Whilst I like the idea of doing a one phase ACR, and would love to see a good one, this just wasn't it.

I think you need to work on your fundamentals - you need to get used to holding a deck of cards in your hand and just handling a deck of cards; otherwise, your magic just won't look natural. You need time and experience, which will come. I hope in time you'll also understand why the trick is relatively unimportant compared with the presentation and the theatrical aspect of magic.

Jack...

Your trick was stronger but still had some noticeable flaws. For one, I just watched you spend the first third of the video fidgeting with the cards. Then, I watched you spend the next third of the video trying to tear the corner of the card (ironically, and I think not coincidentally a jack), and acting like you were trying to tear down a brick wall. The effect itself was decent. Would also have liked to see a presentation.

Mitchell...

A very big no-no when coming up with presentations is insider references. Chances are your spectators don't know what a three card monte is. Don't tailor your tricks or your presentations to magicians (with few exceptions). I remember Draven posting a very good post asking people who performed with music why they performed with music. Do they plan on performing to the public with music, and if not, why are they putting a YouTube video up with music? It's a lazy alternative to coming up with the more difficult and far more important part of magic. Well, the same could be said for insider references. Unless you plan to only perform for magicians like Ponta the Smith, don't use them.

Also, please be careful of lighting when you shoot your video. I have no idea what happened at the start, even with you narrating what you're doing (another presentational no-no), because I struggled to see the cards throughout.

To your credit though, you know what I really liked? Apart from the fact that you were the only person to attempt a presentation, there was one thing you did, one thing you said that I really liked - "I don't know why that happens..."

Ah-ha!

I like this because for the first time, you are giving yourself PERSONALITY, which is more than has been shown with the other two videos. I honestly laughed a little bit and found it funny. I think you should run with it and not be afraid of that. Don't get me wrong - the idea isn't perfect, and the idea of watching you doing a gambling themed effect... Well, I don't quite buy it, but I do love that you attempted to give yourself a performing persona.

I didn't like your ending. You had a great trick, but you took too long to reveal it after it was set up! Nothing about this is a distraction, you may think it's still there, etc... Just reveal it! "This time, nothing happened to the 2... But the real question is, where did the Jokers go? I don't know why this happens!" That's it. And don't reveal the Jokers again. Don't mention a switch - it just takes away from a genuinely perplexing moment and reminds them that you did a trick, so leave that out.

And finally, your sleights are decent but not great. You handle the double a bit stiffly. Try and relax and handle them like single cards. Be careful with getting breaks and be careful with the KM move, you rushed to clean up too quickly. Slow it down, and make each action motivated and deliberate. If you pick the two up from the deck (to clean up the double), don't drop it on the table immediately. Use it to point to the two face down "jokers" - it gives the action a motivation (you're pointing at the cards but want to keep your distance to reinforce that you're not touching it).

Oh, and one more thing actually. When you put cards on the top, on the bottom, etc, do it cleaner. Don't spread the cards so much but be deliberate - insert the card from the front, so that the spectators in front of you can see (where spectators normally are) - putting it in from the side just looks dodgy. If you are using the spread to cover getting a break, learn the pinky count and/or buckle, they'll both serve you well and make it look better.

Overall I think your video showed the most potential and the most personality, which gives you a lot of points in my book.
 
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