theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

Repeating A Trick

magical_moss812

magical_moss812

Jun 27, 2009
3
0
Hi guys
I've been hackled to repeat tricks and i just either say something lame like "I cant repeat a trick Magicians conduct" or " Gimme $20 and i'll do it , but i'll do this one for FREE" both in which i've overused or "killed" if you will

Please tell me what you say to spectators.
 
Learn more material, offer to show them something better than the last trick, and hence for a routine that escalates from one trick to another, only to have the spectator more dazed by the next trick, and forget about wanting to see the last one again.
 
Say " A trick is like a joke..... it's not as good, twice! " - David Stone

Or like above, if someone wants to see the same trick, I often pretend to start it, and go into something better.

So if they want to see the Ambitious card phase where they put it in, and it's on top again, I let them think we are doing the same one, and do card to mouth. Thus making it more amazing.

Good luck.

Geraint
 
Slow down.

This is the biggest piece of advice that I can give to anyone. Most spectators usually only ask for you to repeat a trick if they feel like they missed something. By slowing down they get a clear idea about what is happening and also they feel like you are not doing something underhanded as they know that sleight of hand is usually fast but by slowing it down they don't feel cheated.
 
D ICE R said:
Slow down.

This is the biggest piece of advice that I can give to anyone. Most spectators usually only ask for you to repeat a trick if they feel like they missed something. By slowing down they get a clear idea about what is happening and also they feel like you are not doing something underhanded as they know that sleight of hand is usually fast but by slowing it down they don't feel cheated.
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That's great advice I totally agree take the trick slow so that they can really appreciate the trick in full. If you are asked to repeat trick simply do another trick that is equally as great.
 
"I'll show you something better", and then show them another trick. That way it sparks their interest and they're not looking for a method, but are more interested in what you're about to show them. Also it sets up in their mind that whatever you show them is going to be better/more magical which is a good state of mind to have your audience in.
 
Geraint2k2 said:
I disagree.
Most spectators ask you to do it again either because they want you to show one of their friends, try and work it out, or to re-live the amazement one more time.

If you watch a Blaine special he's got people shouting. " DO THAT AGAIN " :O
....but he is slow.
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Well in your statement, two of the three things reasons for requesting a repeat of trick the spectators feel like they did in fact miss something.

With the Blaine comment there is a difference between saying do that again, and when they actually mean it.
 
Sherlock said:
If they are asking to see it again then it's most likely to try to catch you. Which means you need to slow it down and perform it better. I rarely have people ask me to repeat it since there was nothing to see in the first place.
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I second this, in my opinion there are two mainly reasons of why this happens:

*They were amased and they want to see it again, because the trick that you just did just defies every logical explanation they had and they want to see it a second time to either try to get a logical explanation, or to try to catch all the little details they may have missed. This also includes the tipical "could you do this trick for a friend"

or

* They have a logical explanation or they actually have a hint of how you did it, take card to mouth for example, they were highly amased when they saw it ofr the first time, but after the feeling of astonishment goes away, the logical part of them kicks in and goes like " I was watching the deck! I should watch his mouth the whole time to see how the card ends there" so there you have it.

Actually those two reasons are somewht linked toguether, but they have their differences, it's not the trick that's failing, neither the spectators. AS previously stated, there is something wrong with either your presentation or technique.
 
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D ICE R said:
Well in your statement, two of the three things reasons for requesting a repeat of trick the spectators feel like they did in fact miss something.

With the Blaine comment there is a difference between saying do that again, and when they actually mean it.
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Sometimes it is because they weren't paying attention, or you went too fast, but a lot of times it's like: "Woah, holy crap! There's no way. I wanna see that again!" Sometimes they just want an instant replay.
 
I'd consider the tone maybe but the bottom line is they want to see you perform more. If its an excited 'do it again' I think its as simple as they liked what they saw and just want you to do -something- again. So an excited 'do it again'='do some more magic'. In that case just say 'sure thing, check this out' and go into something else.

If it sounds skeptical, maybe defensive, its more likely they actually want to see that trick again. I think in that case its not worth doing anything for them because they just want to catch you out. You shook up their fragile reality and they want to see you mess up so they can cram you back into their little framework with the rest of the world. You don't have an entente cordiale with them instead its this contest where you have to baffle them completely or they have to catch you out and call you a big phony ie. someone has to feel stupid. Why bother? Just end your trick there. Be polite and just say "Sorry, as a rule I only do one trick per person. Thank you for letting me practice. I appreciate it" and then kick rocks on out of there.
 
I get this all the time. It's great to just sit there and smile at them. Then they get mad because they can't figure it out.

If someone wants you to repeat a trick for a friend - try doing a variation of the same trick using different methods to accomplish it. Then they will both be amazed and the original spectator will hopefully be more astonished than before.

You can usually pick up on people that are going to ask the question too. So be sure to be prepared for the question.
 
Don't get the audience mad at you!

When asked to repeat a trick, simply say, "Once is a performance, twice is a lesson ---- and I charge for lessons."

Or just go on to something else, saying, "You don't want to see that again; let me show you something better."
 
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