Talent Show

Sep 23, 2008
74
0
Selma, NC
There is a talent show coming up at my shcool. And so far my school has had a talent show and an open mic night both of which I performed at. Both I just blended cards and coins into a routine, but a different routine. Anyways, I want do some type of stage effect, or mental effect, and I have 20 dollars to spend. Does anyone have any ideas. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
You aren't going to get much for 20 bucks.

Maybe you could do a rope trick routine.
Spongeballs with a giant ball at the end.
A change bag routine.
Thumb tip and silk routine.
A tossed out deck routine would play big.

Those are just a few off of the top of my head that wouldn't cost much.
 
good luck

I would say do some kinda challenge escape or something. Like the 100 foot rope or something... its simple yet looks great and its always fun to do an escape. Other than that i would say if you can get like 10 mor dollars or so you could pick up luke j's emotional Intelligence. Its a great effect and always gets spectators.
 
May 3, 2008
1,146
4
Hong Kong
Mentalism is the way to go man.
Really depends on how much time you have.
I would suggest a tossed out deck.
or maybe Smart Ass by Bill Abbot.
Collard by John Archer
Russian Roullete always gets good results
Razorblade/ needle eating...
you could perform Sick... but its kinda small.
Mongolian Pop Knot should work nicely. Only if presented right.
I would go for Comedy Mentalism. Very straightforward. Always gets a good reaction. Everyone experiences it.
Check out material by Andy Nyman or John Archer (this one more).
haha
 
Jun 10, 2008
1,277
0
You little stalker!
Get an Invisible deck. It's less than $20 and it's quite easy to do. You can do a version where you pick a person, have them name a color, have another person name a suit, have another person name a number, and then show that's the only face down card in the deck.

You can even have a person choose spot or court cards, or high and low cards. You can really milk this trick as much as you want.
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
Bingo...Magic Shadow hit the nail on the head. Do that or come up with your own invisible deck routine and make it seem impossible. You can get an ID for about 7 or 8 bucks on the net.

Look at the routine the guy did on Master's of Illusion last night with the Shaker / Bar routine. That was an invisible deck and it played out well for a huge crowd.
 
May 3, 2008
618
1
Bingo...Magic Shadow hit the nail on the head. Do that or come up with your own invisible deck routine and make it seem impossible. You can get an ID for about 7 or 8 bucks on the net.

Look at the routine the guy did on Master's of Illusion last night with the Shaker / Bar routine. That was an invisible deck and it played out well for a huge crowd.
That was Eric Mead. He actually fooled me with it until I realized what it was. I felt so stupid. His presentation was awesome.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm doing a book test for my talent show this year. Specifically the Brook Test. Which is a fantastic product and for those of you who don't know, it's a book test that allows you to have an any ungimmicked book opened to any page BY A SPECTATOR, have them THINK of any word on the page, and without ANY questions or writing down or anything, you tell them their thought-of word, with you being 10+ feet away. Needless to say, yesterday at the auditions I got a HUGE gasp. Like the teacher couldn't-even-talk type gasp. I just started smiling at the INSANE reactions.

I cannot wait to perform it for my talent show!

P.S. Here is the link for the Brook Test http://www.paulbrook.co.uk/heknows/brooktest.htm.

EDIT-I am not saying that you should perform that for your talent show, because obviously it is more than $20 and you wouldn't have enough time to prepare for it either. I was just saying that that is what I am doing for MY talent show.
 
Mar 2, 2008
412
0
My school has a talent show and a open mic night also.

I'm doing a escape for the open mic night next year im still planning on the talent show.

I say tossed out deck or invisible deck if you want to focus on cards.
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
Again...go with the Tossed out Deck or Invisible Deck Routine. Both are cheap and you can really play it up huge.

Get some spectators involved and get an emotional hook. Don't just get up and do the standard ID routine and be done. Make it fun and exciting. Throw in a few laughs. Smile and have fun.

Now is not the time to go buy something new and challenging to try and "WOW" the crowd.

Both of these effects are plenty easy and are going to allow you to create your character and routine.

Let us know how it turns out.
 
Sep 23, 2008
74
0
Selma, NC
Thanks

I appreciate all of your replies. I think this will help me greatly. Sadly, I have already done an invisible deck routine last semester, and I have been practicing most of the sleights that are in Dan Sperry's manipulation series for a little over a year.

I will probably do

1) Tossed out Deck.
2) The book test is just a little over 20 dollars so I might be able to make more money to get it.
3)Russian Roulette
4) Card Manipulation

I greatly appreciate all of your suggestions.
 
May 18, 2008
807
0
I don't know, but Andrew Mayne has some AWESOME stuff for stage in that price range.

My advise would be to buy on of Jay Sankey's DVDs. Either Hemispheres or 22 Blows to the Head. Both have AWESOME stand up routines and close up routines on them, and are EASILY adaptable for parlour.

One method that I use before performances is I think of an old routine (This and That, Doc Daley's Last Trick, stuff like that) and think about the ways I could turn it into a stage routine and add extra stuff. I think about it like a Snowman. I could, stick with the little mini snowball that a few people could see.

Or, I could make it bigger, to where more could see with just a little more thinking and effort. You have to be careful to make it proportunate so that it doesn't topple over on itself though.

But you can always add more padding to it that could help. Hope that helps!
 
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results