Where did the deck go?

[Vinsanity]

Ok I've had david stone's real secrets to magic volume 1, for about 2 years now, and I have a question about the effect: Ghost. Where the whole deck disappears except for their card, and the others like their card. People usually say, "Where'd the deck go?" how do I reply to this in the best way.

I appreciate any response unless anyone of these respones are about my mom in a sexual manner. If so, I WILL kill you.

 

[romeo sierra]

Spectators don't really want you to answer that question at all. It's more of just an instinctive question, an initial reaction. If you want my opinion, you should play with the David Blaine stare and just let the moment milk itself. Ha. Seriously. Don't distract the spectator from having an in-depth response to that effect. It's as startling as a card effect can go and has the potential for making people really question what they think and believe. Really. The reaction will build up to something much more analytical and emotional. I would just remain quiet and smile and wait for the spectator to have an internal dialogue with himself; you'll appreciate the way the spectator thinks when he verbally questions and responds to the effect.

If you really want a response though, I find that "Wouldn't you like to know..." is pretty effective after the reaction builds up and dies down. It's playful and lighthearted and typically gets people more interested in what you do.

RS.

 

[praetoritevong]

Vinsanity,

As romeo correctly said, they usually don't really require an answer.

However, if they are specifically asking you in a way that is not in awe but rather, in actual curiosity, then you have a problem.

It would then sound like you're having a presentational issue on two levels. Firstly: a deck vanishing is an amazing thing, so reactions ideally should be more of an exclamation than a question. The fact that the question is asked, and that they expect an answer, suggests that your routine isn't justified well enough. Or, more specifically, why is the deck vanishing?

This is a problem I feel which is inherent in a lot of magicians' magic, and often their justification is, "Because I can" - which sometimes works, but sometimes, like now, it doesn't. If the magic is justified, and everything makes relative sense, then that question shouldn't be asked, they should simply focus on the moment, which brings me to my next point...

The second idea is this: a deck vanish is inherently problematic because it never appears again in this instance. Therefore, you have to make sure that your presentation builds up the effect well enough that the deck vanish is understood to be the climax, rather than a penultimate stage.

Again, you shouldn't be looking to answer the question, though.

 

[Davejusttyped]

Stupid questions get stupid answers in my performances...

...my personal favorite being, "Magic "

You can feel free to add a "duhhhh" afterwards. I save the "duhhh" for special occasions though haha

 

[chriswiehl]

make some patter or tell a story. so its like. Oh the deck dissapears.
so in the end if the deck vanishes, then the audience will be responding to your story,like Omg i knew he was going to leave once the kid was born. idk be creative with it.
or you can tell a man to check is wallet. when he goes for the wallet be like. just kidding, but now i know where your wallet is

 

[KeoSilver]

Don't say its Magic like two others stated before this post just let the magic work itself in the spectator. I have noticed that most magic takes place in the spectators head.

I would just smile at them and change my body language to project that there is no answer to that question.

 

[Althor]

my favorite is, "You know, I've been doing this trick for years, and that's the one part I haven't figured out."

 

[Vinsanity]

Thanks everybody. This helped a lot.

 

[William Draven]

"What deck?"
Then look puzzled like they just got done passing the pipe. It will drive them nuts.