i never perform a trick with out mastering it so when people ask me to perform i do subway, clipshift as colour change , meremortals by tony chang and some tricks i created but when i finish they tell me to do more of course i know many tricks but i dont do a trick if there is 1% possibility that someone will know it , from all tricks in theory11 , dan and dave i cant find a trick with these features any one know some tricks that no layman can know. its secret ? and must be impromptu i never use gimmicks or card tricks with any kind of setup
what do you do in this situation?
- Thread starter spade57
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To make sure I understand here.
You want a trick that no one has any chance of knowing about, requires no set up, and doesn't use any form of gimmick.
It really depends on what you're considering "unknown". Let me put it in a different perspective - Most card tricks fall into very few categories if you really break it down. Location, transformation, teleportation, production. Either you find a card that was previously lost, a card turns into a different card, a card goes from one place to another, or a card is produced from nowhere.
All the names we apply to those tricks are irrelevant to someone who isn't a magician. Search & Destroy is basically the same trick, to a laymen, as Sandwiches for Mere Mortals. Any trick where you lose a card and find it again - same. Names and methods do not matter to laymen. What they see is all that matters and it is human nature to categorize with what they already know. It's how we make sense of the world around us.
To make it more personal example (at least for me) - metal bending. My spectators see basically the same thing when I bend a coin, bottle cap, fork, spoon, knife, paperclip, whatever. It's all the same, even though they all use drastically different methods.
So I have to ask - why the need for obscurity? Are you trying to make sure they don't associate you with anyone else? 'Cause if that's the case, then it's not the tricks you do, it's the way you do them.
You want a trick that no one has any chance of knowing about, requires no set up, and doesn't use any form of gimmick.
It really depends on what you're considering "unknown". Let me put it in a different perspective - Most card tricks fall into very few categories if you really break it down. Location, transformation, teleportation, production. Either you find a card that was previously lost, a card turns into a different card, a card goes from one place to another, or a card is produced from nowhere.
All the names we apply to those tricks are irrelevant to someone who isn't a magician. Search & Destroy is basically the same trick, to a laymen, as Sandwiches for Mere Mortals. Any trick where you lose a card and find it again - same. Names and methods do not matter to laymen. What they see is all that matters and it is human nature to categorize with what they already know. It's how we make sense of the world around us.
To make it more personal example (at least for me) - metal bending. My spectators see basically the same thing when I bend a coin, bottle cap, fork, spoon, knife, paperclip, whatever. It's all the same, even though they all use drastically different methods.
So I have to ask - why the need for obscurity? Are you trying to make sure they don't associate you with anyone else? 'Cause if that's the case, then it's not the tricks you do, it's the way you do them.
As a quick note, perhaps look at the way you structure your close up act.
If you make sure it has a very definite finish; (i.e. someone doing a coin routine might finish with a jumbo coin. If you're doing cards, perhaps the deck vanishes as the finale... Maybe even a watch steal would work great...) you're less likely to get people hounding you for more tricks. If you make sure you have one or two effects that you can do as well as that, you have yourself a little encore.
If you're looking for effects with very well hidden methodology, you might want to explore some work outside of sleight of hand based magic. Often though, these effects will require some kind of set up, even if you do it on the fly. One effect on this site that's in that vein is Spidey's Out Of My Mind. This will teach you a very cool principle you can apply to many other things too.
To put your mind at ease though, you seem to be very worried that someone will catch you out, you should try not to have that kind of feeling towards your performances. You want people to warm to you, have a good time and if you practice your magic as hard as it sounds, You won't have any trouble.
Good luck with your future performances!
I almost always finish my card work with an ACR because at the end of mine, I vanish the deck except for their card. It gives a very solid end to the magic, because the prop I was using is now gone. If I'm feeling saucy, I can take their card back and expand it to the full deck again.
Mmmh, I know how the classic "Cups and Balls" (and many variants) routine works. It`s literally the oldest trick in the book. Yet I´m still amazed and fascinated when someone mastered this and shows it to me. If done well, it "fools" me.
What I wanted to say: You can do a well-known trick and still be able to fascinate people. I wouldn`t worry so much about it.
However if you want a trick that most don`t know and is not exposed somewhere in the internet, buy some books and avoid downloads and DVDs
What I wanted to say: You can do a well-known trick and still be able to fascinate people. I wouldn`t worry so much about it.
However if you want a trick that most don`t know and is not exposed somewhere in the internet, buy some books and avoid downloads and DVDs
There is also the fact that just because they ask for more doesn't mean you have to. I'm a big fan of only doing one or two effects to make the moment special, not a free half hour show. This is also why u;n a fan of making an effect your own. Your own patter your own take on the effect.
Here is an interesting thing you can try courtesy of richard wiseman. False transfer a coin in your hand, and then ask the people what they want to happen to the coin. about 53 percent of people will say "Make it disappear."
The reason I give this to you is that makes the effect, a simple coin vanish, a whole completely different level of astonishment, you won't need to do anything else.
Which is what I do if I either don't want to do a lot of effects, or time is running out. I will do an incredibly strong effect effect for them and leave them with it. At least, this works for me.
As well, I find the strongest effects to leave them with are effects that occur mostly in their head. Visual magic usually always leads my audiences to go "More, more". I think it's because they want to try and figure it out. Subconsciously it may seem like a "trick" to them. Effects that occur mostly in their head, for lack of a better term, shut them up. They freak out (if performed correctly), and you can leave.
Just some ideas for you mate.
The reason I give this to you is that makes the effect, a simple coin vanish, a whole completely different level of astonishment, you won't need to do anything else.
Which is what I do if I either don't want to do a lot of effects, or time is running out. I will do an incredibly strong effect effect for them and leave them with it. At least, this works for me.
As well, I find the strongest effects to leave them with are effects that occur mostly in their head. Visual magic usually always leads my audiences to go "More, more". I think it's because they want to try and figure it out. Subconsciously it may seem like a "trick" to them. Effects that occur mostly in their head, for lack of a better term, shut them up. They freak out (if performed correctly), and you can leave.
Just some ideas for you mate.
Along the lines of a deck vanish as a finale, I like to use a presentational gambit to signify that things are finished. In a selection divination card effect, have them shuffle the deck after you know the selection but have not revealed this information. Then have them put the deck back in the box. I then use the box as a "ouijia board" and claim to read the subtle movements of their hands as I say various pieces of information. When I finish with the reveal and get the reaction, I pocket the deck, which leads them away from asking for another (or at least gives me grounds to say that I am "finished").
People are going to figure out how you did something sooner or later. No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot fool/entertain EVERYBODY that is an impossible goal.
As for the other things.. Most things in magic require SOME sort of set up. You're just going to deal with it. I would also suggest learning how to walk away from the table IE: learn to say "No." to people.
As for the other things.. Most things in magic require SOME sort of set up. You're just going to deal with it. I would also suggest learning how to walk away from the table IE: learn to say "No." to people.
I agree with Randy. Using no set-up whatsoever really limits you. I would recommend learning the spread cull, because then you can accomplish any small set-up very quickly, whether it's four aces on the top or something else. It opens up a whole new dimension.