Your effects - Simplicity?

[spades]

Hey guys

So I havn't been doing magic all that long, but I'm sure most of you have, and you have your own effects.

Well today I created a sandwhich effect, incredibly simple, basically just involving a pass; to a magician it would be blindingly obvious.

So basically: Are some of your effects simple?
Is simple ok/a good starting point?
Is there anyway of knowing this is original?

Cheers in advance guys.

 

[holo]

I haven't been doing magic extremely long, but i do do street magic in NYC and i find the simpler the better. Cool effect, hard to catch moves. This is what works best for me. That might just be the case in street magic, but i guess in walk around, you can go a little more complex. In the end, I would still say that simpler is better.

 

[forane]

oh my god yeah. Simple is what really hits if you think about it. I mean, probably the two most overused effects in my routine are the simple ace catch technique and the froot loops pop up move like you see in the acr. These just require some of the most simplistic moves in magic but they hit so hard. Complex doesnt mean good. Just practice and practice until you make your moves fluid and also remember that performance is key. Best of luck, and keep practicing. Hope this helped.

 

[holo]

Absolutely, I mean have you watched Indecent? He changed the routine from several phases to one phase, and then his reactions doubled. So, what i like to do, is learn a trick, and then reduce sleights. The only times I am truly called out on tricks is when there are soo many sleights and people detect them. SIMPLE IS GOOD

 

[Antney1234]

An effect can be simple but hard hitting. An effect doesn't have to be difficult to be amazing. What i would do is search around youtube for professinal magcians doing sandwich routines then see if your effect is similar. I think i remember Lee Asher saying this in a video.'' Put the effect away for about a year then go back to it and see if there are any changes that can be made or if it is still as good as it is before''.


Hope that helped

 

[holo]

I agree 100% Antney1234. Also, people tend to get annoyed if they're waiting for minutes to see the peak of the effect. Deliver quickly, and they will be back for more.

 

[tsarothpaco]

My effects are simple or not, I don't make them simple or not they jsut happen

When I discover an effect I try to refine it to a simpler method, though not a ridiculously simple aka obvious one.

My effects personally are simpl...ish. Some moves may be knacky but they are relatively easy, if not just a long routine.

In my opinion simple is great, just make sure it still retains a mysterious and magical aura to it.

As for finding if your effect is original, ask on the forums (provide a performance of it in video) or research. It may or may not be tough, if its not original its not hard to find out, if truly it is, you may be searching for no reason

~PaCo

 

[SVillanueva]

simple = kick ass ... thats my style .. even tho i know a lot of tricks involving so many sleights .... i really like performing simple and visual tricks ... thats the way to go .... simple = magic

Here are my vids (I only have 2 but ill b posting more)
SVillanueva's YouTube

 

[quick_trick]

Dai Vernon had a principle you should apply to every effect. To improve a trick you need to strip away as many sleights as possible, so many that if you removed one more the trick would fall apart. Once a trick is at that stage you can truly out weigh the slights with your perfomance. Remember your ability as a magician is not defined by the most complicated sleights you can master but your ability to perform and sell your effect to your spectator. See if you can conrtol a lot of cards through out the deck and do fancy flourishes through out the trick - cool. But the tricks people really feel and remember are the ones where spectators react like, "Oh my god, he didn't even touch the deck!" and the likes. You can only really accomplish reactions like that with simple tricks with only 1 or 2 sleights (usually).

so yes, simple method + good effect = awesome trick

 

[c.ronaldo]

Oh yeah the simple effects is what laymens want. I remember showing my friend transpositioning by Jordan Lapping and they were like...is that it?
So i figured the tricks us magicians love is what laymen audience seem as ok and think of it as nothing special. So yeah the more simple tricks you learn the better reponse you will be receiving from your audience.

 

[adjones]

To me, simple= awesome. Why? Gives me plenty of time to spend rehearsing my presentation and fine tuning it instead of practicing knuckle-busting sleights. It seems many people learn difficult tricks just to impress other magicians; this is not the case for me. A compliment on my performance would make me feel a million times better than a compliment on my technical skills would. Last year, after I performed my ACR for my first time, my Grandpa told me my presentation was improving a lot (he's not a magician!), and that comment makes me immensely proud even to this day. Just my two cents...

 

[spades]

Wow, thanks for all the responses guys.

It's really good to hear all this.
I've had a quick look on youtube and not seen anything the same so far.
Once I've made this a little more fluid I think I'll start performing it then

Cheers, everyone.

 

[Medifro]

Are some of your effects simple? -- > Yes.
Is simple ok/a good starting point? --> Yes.
Is there anyway of knowing this is original? --> Yes, show it to a knowledgble magician.

The magician is the one making the effect simple looking. Unlike whats said above, its not the trick with less sleights is the good one, but the one with the direct method.

Should you ignore the harder stuff? Of course not, unless you want to. The bottom line is entertaining the spectator, some GREAT magic needs harder sleights like the Faro and the pass. As you go in magic more you'll find out the things you like.

 

[spades]

Again thanks for all the responses, very useful

I practised this a fair ammount, and performed it once or twice, and great reactions so far