Hello, this is going to be a quick thread in which I ask questions, that don't really have an answer. Obviously You don't respond to them, but just something to think about. (obviously many of these are not my opinion, just things to think about.)
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Questions to ponder
- Thread starter 010rusty
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Are levitation really that impressive? All spectators know, Magnets and strings. Do you get better reactions with Animations or levitation?
Was Dai Vernon approving camera effects and stooges? He states that the effect on the AUDIENCE (which is the people at home on their TVs and Computers) is the most important. If Dai was alive today would he approve of Mindfreak?
If the spectators know how you did it, does it really matter if they are smiling? Your goal was to entertain them. By discovering your secret, you made them happy. Even if you do not like it, but they do, is their really a problem?
What I'm wondering is, would he approve of Jibrizy and Paul Vu? At what point does stooging and tricking the camera go too far?
My opinion is that stooging is okay as long as it compliments/builds the method rather than becoming the entire effect itself.
Levitating a card is still the one trick that gets the most over the top reaction. They assume magnets or strings or whatever but they can't see it, all they see if the levitation and it freaks people out in a good way.
I personally don't like to do it because it requires very little skill for what I personally do and that's not always that fun for me BUT if who ever I am showing loves it then why shouldn't I keep doing it.
I think there's sort of an art to levitations. Everyone knows it somehow uses strings so it's our job to convince them "maybe it isn't, but it has to be..."
At least I know that's how I feel when I see David Copperfield's flight illusion. I know there are wires but he does a damn good job convincing me that maybe there aren't.
If that makes sense.
I never liked levitations that much tbh...because spectators think their are strings involved and well...most of the time, there ARE...
I'd much rather use strings and stuff where there usage is kinda hidden, and it makes things look a bit haunted, if you know what I mean.
Aka anamationsI'd much rather use strings and stuff where there usage is kinda hidden, and it makes things look a bit haunted, if you know what I mean.
THIS!
The spectator KNOWS there is something because obviously people don't have magical powers but they can't see it so it leaves that doubt in the back of their mind.
If "presentation makes a trick, not the trick" Is it possible for the effect above to become a crowd stunner under the right context and presentation? Could it be more than just a gag?
If "presentation makes a trick, not the trick" Is it possible for the effect above to become a crowd stunner under the right context and presentation? Could it be more than just a gag?
I have seen Garrett Thomas do this in his act at the castle and it gets legitimate reactions because he does it with such intensity and so well it looks real!
What makes magic different from similar performance arts? Like comedy, and acting.
That we have to keep certain parts of the performance a secret.
It arouses wonder in us, which is one of the most difficult tasks to do in 21st century, where more often than not, we wonder at the silliest of things just because we don't know what it is to experience genuine wonder. Ffor example, we wonder when someone reaches level 1895 in candy crush or when batman successfully defeats superman or when Trump...anyways, you get the idea.
Magic makes us want to laugh out loud at the most unfunny things ever. Like, when I vanish a coin, some will start laughing. Why? Did I tell a joke? Nope. It's just that they are introduced AGAIN to the wonder they felt as children when they saw a balloon.
It is pure glee.
HOWEVER, there is ONE art I feel moves really close (sometimes even higher) to the feeling of magic. That is, music.
Not a performance art specifically but, just my thoughts.
I have a question to ponder about actually...credit to @Antonio Diavolo for making me think about this...
Why does the term self-working even exist? What ARE self-working tricks?
I mean, all tricks require you to do SOMEthing. Now what you need to do may differ.
For some tricks you may need to count 7 cards off the deck, for some you may need to remember the third card from top, for some you may need to execute a DL, for some a force, for some a second deal.
I don't think there is any trick that's really Self-working...
So isn't the idea of self-working tricks wrongly labelling tricks which require more performance skills than sleight-of-hand-skills?
Isn't that what makes self-working tricks kinda notorious among beginners at least? They either avoid perfectly great ''self-working'' tricks thinking that they want to perform magic and not self-working stuff OR they feel since it is ''self-working'', it need not be practised.
Why does the term self-working even exist? What ARE self-working tricks?
I mean, all tricks require you to do SOMEthing. Now what you need to do may differ.
For some tricks you may need to count 7 cards off the deck, for some you may need to remember the third card from top, for some you may need to execute a DL, for some a force, for some a second deal.
I don't think there is any trick that's really Self-working...
So isn't the idea of self-working tricks wrongly labelling tricks which require more performance skills than sleight-of-hand-skills?
Isn't that what makes self-working tricks kinda notorious among beginners at least? They either avoid perfectly great ''self-working'' tricks thinking that they want to perform magic and not self-working stuff OR they feel since it is ''self-working'', it need not be practised.
Bannon hits on this in his Move Zero series where he talks about the definition of self-working tricks. Self-working really means, to him at least and I am in agreement with, a trick that doesn't require a move.
Sure, you can say that "no trick is self-working because you need a magician to do the trick" but doesn't really accomplish anything. At the end of the day, "self-working" is just a term of art for magicians that means a trick with no sleight of hand.
This should in no way be considered a bad thing for newer magicians. Some of the best tricks, in my opinion, are self-working.