Hey guys. For the longest time my magic has been confined to constantly trying new decks of cards and buying every cheap gimmick out there. The part thats even worse is that i have never performed for anyone that wasnt a family member or friend. Im going to a little town in NY next month called ithaca. They have an AMAZINGLY exciting and bustling place called the commins wich is a small strip of stores. Their is such a large variety of people there and i cannot think of a better place for street magicians. To actually start getting someyhing out of my magic, i want to pick one very visual trick or routine, practice it everyday for the next month, and perform it for some spectators at the commins. I cqnt decide what effect to buy though. Or maybe i should just go with a classic. I was thinking of calen morellis f9 as the whole dvd can be put together in a very visual routine. Any ideas on the trick i should perform in ithaca?
That one trick
- Thread starter Cardmaagix
- Start date
If you've only performed your current material for family and friends then why do you need to buy something new? Why not just get out there and master the stuff you already sort of know? If you've never performed for strangers then you haven't really had a chance to get to know the routines you have.
My advice is: Don't buy anything new. Pick your favourite three tricks you already know/have and do those. Then, as you put it, you will really start to 'get something out of your magic,' rather than just continuing the swirling spiral of buying disappointing effects which you already seem to be getting fed up with.
Also, just per way of an example, I've been doing magic for at least 15 years now. One of the first things I learnt was 'The Fantastic Five' from Mark Wilson's complete course in magic (Sold on T11 as 'Invisible Reverse'). Now, this is not a difficult trick, but all these years later I still regularly use it as my opener. Why? Because it is moveless, so is good if I'm feeling nervous, it's magical and it leaves me with the four aces out of the deck. This means I can very easily go into Twisting the Aces, Dr Daley's Last trick or an Ace Cutting routine.
The point I am trying to make is, don't fob off what you already know for the sake of getting the latest 'visual' (god I hate that word) trick. That is not the way to move forward with your magic. Take what you know and run with it, think about it, try and routine a few things together, and don't be scared of the classics (and by that I mean the REAL classics, not stuff like 'Pressure'). Just because we've all seen Twisting the Aces seven billion times doesn't mean your audience have!
Hope it all goes well for you anyway. Sorry if the above seems a bit ranty, but I do think it's good advice. Just wish it hadn't taken me so long to realise it myself!
Rev
My advice is: Don't buy anything new. Pick your favourite three tricks you already know/have and do those. Then, as you put it, you will really start to 'get something out of your magic,' rather than just continuing the swirling spiral of buying disappointing effects which you already seem to be getting fed up with.
Also, just per way of an example, I've been doing magic for at least 15 years now. One of the first things I learnt was 'The Fantastic Five' from Mark Wilson's complete course in magic (Sold on T11 as 'Invisible Reverse'). Now, this is not a difficult trick, but all these years later I still regularly use it as my opener. Why? Because it is moveless, so is good if I'm feeling nervous, it's magical and it leaves me with the four aces out of the deck. This means I can very easily go into Twisting the Aces, Dr Daley's Last trick or an Ace Cutting routine.
The point I am trying to make is, don't fob off what you already know for the sake of getting the latest 'visual' (god I hate that word) trick. That is not the way to move forward with your magic. Take what you know and run with it, think about it, try and routine a few things together, and don't be scared of the classics (and by that I mean the REAL classics, not stuff like 'Pressure'). Just because we've all seen Twisting the Aces seven billion times doesn't mean your audience have!
Hope it all goes well for you anyway. Sorry if the above seems a bit ranty, but I do think it's good advice. Just wish it hadn't taken me so long to realise it myself!
Rev
Last edited by a moderator:
That wasnt good advice. It was GREAT. The only pet peeve i have is that i dont really know a lot of good tricks. I can barely do a pass even though i have tons of books that teach them so i kind of wanted to like just find one effect that i really like and start as if i had never done magic before. I am very fond of paul lepauls gymnastic aces. And as you said from their i could move onto twisting the aces
You do not need to know a pass to perform good card magic. All the pass does is control the card (or packet) to the top of the deck.
One magician performed a pass just inches from my face so expertly that I neither saw it nor heard it. Other magicians, just as good as the first, have performed the pass while I sat in the gigantic "bad angle" zone. I'll just say I didn't hear those either.
So, please don't do that to yourself. Don't think you need to know how to perform a pass in that environment. By all means, do work on your pass if it is something you wish to learn. I committed a great deal of resources to it entirely to prove something to myself and myself alone. Just remember that other techniques to control the card do not leave a gigantic bad angle.
But as for what you perform, any effect that you can perform well will trump the ones you have not had the time to master. Don't worry how simple or complicated it is. If there is anything you can perform mechanically on "auto-pilot" while calculating a 17% tip in your head then make those effects your working effects.
One magician performed a pass just inches from my face so expertly that I neither saw it nor heard it. Other magicians, just as good as the first, have performed the pass while I sat in the gigantic "bad angle" zone. I'll just say I didn't hear those either.
So, please don't do that to yourself. Don't think you need to know how to perform a pass in that environment. By all means, do work on your pass if it is something you wish to learn. I committed a great deal of resources to it entirely to prove something to myself and myself alone. Just remember that other techniques to control the card do not leave a gigantic bad angle.
But as for what you perform, any effect that you can perform well will trump the ones you have not had the time to master. Don't worry how simple or complicated it is. If there is anything you can perform mechanically on "auto-pilot" while calculating a 17% tip in your head then make those effects your working effects.
I find it very hard to believe that you don't know a lot of good tricks, especially if you do indeed have tons of books.
Take a trick you like, and make it good. I hate The Biddle Trick. I can't perform it for the life of me because I hate the darn thing so much. In my hands, it's pretty much the worst trick ever. Find something that you like, and make something of it.
Take a trick you like, and make it good. I hate The Biddle Trick. I can't perform it for the life of me because I hate the darn thing so much. In my hands, it's pretty much the worst trick ever. Find something that you like, and make something of it.
Wow guys. Thanks for wll the great hints. I know that the pass isnt a necesity i was just saying that its kind of a right of passage for card magicians so i didnt feel confident in my skills. I mapped out two pretty good routines thogh. Tell me what you think. For the card routine i will do the ultragaff trick (wich i cannot remember the nemae of for the life of me) where one side sees the ten of spades and the other the six of diamonds. Then if they wish to see more i will go into gymnastic aces by lepaul but use four selectioons instead of the aces. Then ill make it a bit interesting and make it interesting and make a small bet during a simple key card effect. I also am in love with rubberband magic so that routine will probably go as this. I will start with a simple crazy mans handcuffs and naturally they will ask to see it again so then i will do it in THEIR hands. I just ordered calen morellis function nine so i plan to continue with transit. I will finish it off with a performance of danny garcias, stretch.
I only dont know a lot of tricks because i never commited myself to the books. The tricks always seemed too complicated to take on just yet or they used some stupid mathematical system wich i think is the worst method of performing a magic trick possible
No, the worst method ever is some massively unpractical and contrived method that will seem exciting for the first few seconds before you realise there is absolutely no-where you can use it *cough*Rizer*cough*
Don't disregard mathematical/dealing tricks. People like Harry Lorayne, Simon Aronson and John Bannon have been using them to entertain people for longer than you or I have been alive. Personally, as I have progressed through magic, I have started to gravitate more towards these sort of effects, as they make me really think about my magic, and often you need to think quickly when performing them, so they keep me on my toes, much more so than a classic pass ever would.
Remember: Magic is all in the effect and presentation, not in the method.
Rev