Where Are You Now - Magic Performance

[SilverMagicAddict]

Hey guys!
Here's my routine of the Ambitious Card with the disappear/appear card trick!
I would like you to watch and coment... i think i have a couple of mistakes... Still i really enjoyed doing this video!
I hope you like it too! Give some feedback pls! It's always good to learn more!
Cheers!

 

[Lindel]

Not bad, not bad! I don't love the Marlo Tilt, personally. I think it looks odd, I'd do something else there. Your double lift is a bit awkward. Rather than holding the card up and displaying it like that, I'd just turn the card face up on top of the deck. You can simply do a thumb count to pick it back up, or, if you'd rather, go ahead and maintain a pinky break under the cards the whole time. If you feel the need to show it separate from the deck, just hold it with one hand. There's a flourishy little move that you could use to easily set up for that, where hold the cards between the base of your left thumb and middle finger and kinda spin them face up as one. Not sure what it's called. But in my experience laymen are rarely suspicious if you just turn the card over, as long as it's well executed and you're not self-conscious about it. You could learn the KM move, if you haven't already, just in case someone calls you out.

I would add a bit more variety to the routine. Some classic ways to switch things up are a phase where you seem to show them the card clearly sticking out of the deck before sliding it in, have them tap the card in themselves, hand them some of the cards and have it jump from your packet to theirs, and so on. Not too many, just find three or four, maybe five variations that you like and stick with those. The pop-up move is a classic, and can be powerful when done well. Also, with a bit of forethought, adding a double backed card in somewhere can work wonders. Cheers!

PS - Maybe I just wasn't watching closely, but it didn't look like the last phase could actually be done with a free choice and signed card?

 

[RealityOne]

Generally, your grip on the cards is too deep. The deck should float above you palm and the edges of your fingers should be even with the deck. It is very subtle, but holding the deck more openly makes it seem that you have less to hide.

I don't like the face up selection from a spread because it can't be replicated with a spectator. I understand that you are showing that the deck isn't all the same card, but there are more subtle ways of doing that.

The first shuffling sequence is a bit strange because you do two overhand shuffles and then a riffle shuffle. Even to a lay person, they are going to think "he did something so the card was on top." It also takes a long time without anything magical happening. Instead, how about a top change and having the spectator put the card in the middle of the deck? Then the card comes to the top without you doing anything.

What @Lindel said about your doubles needing to be kept square with the deck is correct. Most of the time cards will have a sleight warp in them and a overturned double will be able to be picked up from the deck easily. Quickly taking the deck out of view when you show the card looks suspicious. I would only take the deck out of view when you have to and do it very slowly and casually as if is a natural action as your other hand moves toward the center of the "frame" with a card.

The Charles Aste, Jr. / Howie Schwartzman subtlety with the Marlo Tilt / Vernon Depth Illusion / Who Knows Who Really Invented That Move is overdone. The card should only come out a little bit and you should reinsert the selected card immediately. Also, the tilt should have the card level, not curved.

I don't like the snapping and "wrist spasm" that apparently causes the card to go to the top. It isn't very magical. Try just hovering your hand over the deck, spreading your fingers, pausing for a second as you stare at the deck and then moving your hand away. Also, you need to slow the tempo down in general, your moves are too fast and easily can lead the audience to attribute the magic to "fast hands."

Whatever you are doing from 1:10 to 1:33 looks very strange and unnatural. When you spread the deck out face down, I remember the face up deck from the beginning and really want to reach in and turn it over.

The card to phone doesn't really excite me. I really felt as if the card is on the table and you had a duplicate in your pocket. Remember, if there is an easy solution, a spectator will latch on to it regardless of whether it has any basis in reality.

 

[Vazz]

Everything was great.. except for your Marlo Tilt, as soon as I saw you push that small packet out I knew something fishy was going on. Try having the deck slightly cut in half and put one card back so when you put your actual card on second from top you push the other in. A lot more convincing.

 

[Lindel]

Everything was great.. except for your Marlo Tilt, as soon as I saw you push that small packet out I knew something fishy was going on. Try having the deck slightly cut in half and put one card back so when you put your actual card on second from top you push the other in. A lot more convincing.

Well, @RealityOne is right, if that part is done subtly, and as long as the card is flat, not curved, it's very effective. I don't use a Marlo Tilt in my current ACR, but that's mainly because I haven't yet put in the time to master it myself.

 

[ChrisJGJ]

I'll try to give advice without changing too much.

If you plan to use this on a spectator, master the classic force and have an "out" finale in case you mess up.

The overhand shuffle control you use is the least effective one when creating the illusion of losing the card. Top to bottom and bottom to top is easy to follow. Injog overhand shuffle control and a cut is way more believable. The benefit of this is that you also get to control the card to anywhere. So if you insist on showing them that their card is not on top, you could control it 4th to top and show the top 3 cards and bottom cards to reinforce that their card truly is some where in the middle. It's the first thing you learn in RoyalRoad.

You can cut out the riffle shuffle if you follow the above method.

Lookup a double turnover and find one that looks natural and practice that.

I love the tilt, but I always felt weird about that subtlety that you used at :40 where you push the cards out a little. I find that to be HIGHLY unnecessary. Lets pretend you weren't doing a tilt and you were actually putting the card in the middle like that. Why is it such a struggle to put a card in the center? We are magicians with countless hours invested in our craft and we stumble on such a simple task that a layman could do easily? And to make matters worse at :52 you place the card into the center of the deck extremely easily. The way it SHOULD look when we place cards in the center. Which leads me to another note: if you are going to use the tilt and "place the card in the center" from the back, then you should also be placing the card in the center from the back again at :52. Stay consistent.

I don't know what I am looking at at 1:10 and beyond and honestly I'm getting a little bored at this point watching you go through the whole deck. This may be more effective in person when you're talking and explaining, but in the context of this kind of video it doesn't work. I agree with RealityOne a little bit in regards to the phone trick. A classic force would help make it more believable because they "freely" chose a card, but unless it is a signed card it still isn't as powerful as it could be. It's a modern element to a classic effect so I like the direction.

If you want to see my ACR to get some examples I wouldn't mind posting it later if you like.

 

[RealityOne]

I love the tilt, but I always felt weird about that subtlety that you used at :40 where you push the cards out a little. I find that to be HIGHLY unnecessary. Lets pretend you weren't doing a tilt and you were actually putting the card in the middle like that. Why is it such a struggle to put a card in the center? We are magicians with countless hours invested in our craft and we stumble on such a simple task that a layman could do easily?

Done correctly, the subtlety is that you actually start to put the card in the deck in the middle of the deck, pause, say or do something and then reinsert the card. Done right, you wouldn't really notice it because it would look natural in the context of the effect.

 

[SilverMagicAddict]

Hello guys!

First i have to thank you all for your amazing replies and also your critics!
I would like to say that i have read them all but my computer broke so i just have my phone to reply back and its hard to reply to you all with this phone.
I promise and that i will reply you one by one as soon as i get my computer back.
Once again thank you all for your amazing critics!
Cheers,

SMA

 

[SilverMagicAddict]

Not bad, not bad! I don't love the Marlo Tilt, personally. I think it looks odd, I'd do something else there. Your double lift is a bit awkward. Rather than holding the card up and displaying it like that, I'd just turn the card face up on top of the deck. You can simply do a thumb count to pick it back up, or, if you'd rather, go ahead and maintain a pinky break under the cards the whole time. If you feel the need to show it separate from the deck, just hold it with one hand. There's a flourishy little move that you could use to easily set up for that, where hold the cards between the base of your left thumb and middle finger and kinda spin them face up as one. Not sure what it's called. But in my experience laymen are rarely suspicious if you just turn the card over, as long as it's well executed and you're not self-conscious about it. You could learn the KM move, if you haven't already, just in case someone calls you out.

I would add a bit more variety to the routine. Some classic ways to switch things up are a phase where you seem to show them the card clearly sticking out of the deck before sliding it in, have them tap the card in themselves, hand them some of the cards and have it jump from your packet to theirs, and so on. Not too many, just find three or four, maybe five variations that you like and stick with those. The pop-up move is a classic, and can be powerful when done well. Also, with a bit of forethought, adding a double backed card in somewhere can work wonders. Cheers!

PS - Maybe I just wasn't watching closely, but it didn't look like the last phase could actually be done with a free choice and signed card?

Well first of all thank you very much for your time!
About the Marlot Tilt.... I have been doing it on the streets now and i'm having reactions like "it was in the middle of the deck, i saw it...how?!" So I think its still good very this kind of things... But about the double lift i agree with you cuz i do it like this just to protect myself from failing and to be faster and try to look more natural...
About the free choice.... I think it can be done... and i already tried it and it worked... i palmed the card to the phone!
Once again, thank you very much!

 

[SilverMagicAddict]

Generally, your grip on the cards is too deep. The deck should float above you palm and the edges of your fingers should be even with the deck. It is very subtle, but holding the deck more openly makes it seem that you have less to hide.

I don't like the face up selection from a spread because it can't be replicated with a spectator. I understand that you are showing that the deck isn't all the same card, but there are more subtle ways of doing that.

The first shuffling sequence is a bit strange because you do two overhand shuffles and then a riffle shuffle. Even to a lay person, they are going to think "he did something so the card was on top." It also takes a long time without anything magical happening. Instead, how about a top change and having the spectator put the card in the middle of the deck? Then the card comes to the top without you doing anything.

What @Lindel said about your doubles needing to be kept square with the deck is correct. Most of the time cards will have a sleight warp in them and a overturned double will be able to be picked up from the deck easily. Quickly taking the deck out of view when you show the card looks suspicious. I would only take the deck out of view when you have to and do it very slowly and casually as if is a natural action as your other hand moves toward the center of the "frame" with a card.

The Charles Aste, Jr. / Howie Schwartzman subtlety with the Marlo Tilt / Vernon Depth Illusion / Who Knows Who Really Invented That Move is overdone. The card should only come out a little bit and you should reinsert the selected card immediately. Also, the tilt should have the card level, not curved.

I don't like the snapping and "wrist spasm" that apparently causes the card to go to the top. It isn't very magical. Try just hovering your hand over the deck, spreading your fingers, pausing for a second as you stare at the deck and then moving your hand away. Also, you need to slow the tempo down in general, your moves are too fast and easily can lead the audience to attribute the magic to "fast hands."

Whatever you are doing from 1:10 to 1:33 looks very strange and unnatural. When you spread the deck out face down, I remember the face up deck from the beginning and really want to reach in and turn it over.

The card to phone doesn't really excite me. I really felt as if the card is on the table and you had a duplicate in your pocket. Remember, if there is an easy solution, a spectator will latch on to it regardless of whether it has any basis in reality.

Once again thank you very much for your time!
I was reading your coment once again and i can't disagree with you even though im trying to!
I think i've said already but i entered in this magic world almost a year ago... I understand all of your critics but the message that i get from the lay person is really diferent... they want to see it in front of them cuz they dont believe their eyes (and they shouldnt) but its possible to show, cuz most of them dont know whats happening... One year ago i didnt knew what a double lift was!
Of course its hard to impress other magicians... If we show our right hand magicians will look to the left... cuz they know!
So i think i can't excuse myself of course but i can thank you! Cuz i want to be better and you helped me with that.
Btw... this trick is possible without the duplicate

 

[SilverMagicAddict]

I'll try to give advice without changing too much.

If you plan to use this on a spectator, master the classic force and have an "out" finale in case you mess up.

The overhand shuffle control you use is the least effective one when creating the illusion of losing the card. Top to bottom and bottom to top is easy to follow. Injog overhand shuffle control and a cut is way more believable. The benefit of this is that you also get to control the card to anywhere. So if you insist on showing them that their card is not on top, you could control it 4th to top and show the top 3 cards and bottom cards to reinforce that their card truly is some where in the middle. It's the first thing you learn in RoyalRoad.

You can cut out the riffle shuffle if you follow the above method.

Lookup a double turnover and find one that looks natural and practice that.

I love the tilt, but I always felt weird about that subtlety that you used at :40 where you push the cards out a little. I find that to be HIGHLY unnecessary. Lets pretend you weren't doing a tilt and you were actually putting the card in the middle like that. Why is it such a struggle to put a card in the center? We are magicians with countless hours invested in our craft and we stumble on such a simple task that a layman could do easily? And to make matters worse at :52 you place the card into the center of the deck extremely easily. The way it SHOULD look when we place cards in the center. Which leads me to another note: if you are going to use the tilt and "place the card in the center" from the back, then you should also be placing the card in the center from the back again at :52. Stay consistent.

I don't know what I am looking at at 1:10 and beyond and honestly I'm getting a little bored at this point watching you go through the whole deck. This may be more effective in person when you're talking and explaining, but in the context of this kind of video it doesn't work. I agree with RealityOne a little bit in regards to the phone trick. A classic force would help make it more believable because they "freely" chose a card, but unless it is a signed card it still isn't as powerful as it could be. It's a modern element to a classic effect so I like the direction.

If you want to see my ACR to get some examples I wouldn't mind posting it later if you like.

Once again thank you very much for your coment!!
The Marlot it's going to be always the Tilt for me, i understand what you are saying... but remember we are trying to do an illusion that the card is the middle... When you are doing your magic to one person, the person is not think "oh, why isnt he capable to put it in?" but simply thinks "ok, card is the middle, cuz the cards moved forward"... Of course some will think how you did it after you do your magic and they will find wierd the Marlot... but even though its a video or a live perfomance my opinion is that people enjoy first and then i try to figure it out and of course you ll have some judgement ahaha
I would you to share please
Thank you very much!

 

[SilverMagicAddict]

Everything was great.. except for your Marlo Tilt, as soon as I saw you push that small packet out I knew something fishy was going on. Try having the deck slightly cut in half and put one card back so when you put your actual card on second from top you push the other in. A lot more convincing.

Thanks man!