Good Magical Advice

[Brown]

The purpose of this thread is to collect tidbits of wisdom that conjurors--whether they be beginners, intermediates or pros--can use in making a strong performance. Although these are sometimes called the "real secrets" of magic, this thread is not for the purpose of discussing the technical or trade secrets of the art.

For purposes of this thread, it is not important to identify a source of the wisdom, although feel free to do so if you wish. It is more important to recognize what is good advice than to recognize who said it first. It is also not important to provide an exact quote, although you may do so if you wish.

Also, feel free to provide a discussion of the advice as it may have applied to you.

Card tricks are much more effective if you use a borrowed deck. This adage, in different forms, is one of the oft-repeated sayings of Harry Lorayne, but other performers have stressed it as well. Sometimes Lorayne phrases the idea from the opposite perspective, that a performer loses a huge percentage of the impact of a card trick if he uses his own cards.

I was recently called upon to perform some impromptu tricks with a borrowed deck. The fact that the deck was not my own removed any notion of cards being marked or otherwise rigged, and so the impact of the trick was magnified in comparison to times when I'd done the trick with my own deck.

People are not amazed by what they see; they are amazed by what they think they see. Again, this is one of Lorayne's mantras, but many others have expressed similar ideas (e.g., "Magic takes place in the mind of the spectator.")

Sometimes the best effects can be achieved not by skillful sleights or fancy apparatus, but by a simple move that makes the spectator think he saw something he actually didn't see. Psychological impact upon the spectator can be more impressive than technical skill.

Never underestimate the power of the patter. This is related to the previous adage. Technical moves and sleights are one thing, but a tremendous amount of amazement can be achieved by the words used during performance. In an extreme example, there is a trick that I do in which I perform a little stunt right out in the open, slowly, with no fancy moves, describing what I am doing the entire time. When I ask the spectator to repeat what I did, the spectator can't do it. I'll repeat the stunt again and again, very slowly, and when the spectator tries to repeat it, he still can't do it. The secret to the trick is almost entirely in the patter: when I describe what I'm doing, I describe it incorrectly, and the spectator focuses more upon what he hears me say than what he sees me do.

[Bob Klase]

Dai Vernon: Confusion is not magic. A simple example would be if you place two cards face down on the table and the spectators aren't sure which card is where. It's not going to be magic when they change places.

Me: Never read (or read about) Rick Johnsson's until you've been in magic at least 10 years. And when you do, play close attention to the last sentence: it is worth mentioning for the sake of completeness, that there is another approach. You eliminate all possible solutions... But an easier approach is to make the trick imperfect.

Then go read Michael Close's thoughts on the subject in Workers.

[Garrette]

Me: (related to Brown's never underestimate the power of patter):

Talk for the sake of talk is not productive. Story for the sake of story is not effective. When in doubt, talk less.

[Bob Klase]

Me: Never read (or read about) Rick Johnsson's until you've been in magic at least 10 years.

That should have read "Rick Johnsson's Too Perfect Theory".

[wert]

I cringe every time I hear the word "patter" used.

[Rufo]

Shamelessly but subtly use people's courtesy for misdirection.

If you look at someone's face, talking to them, no matter how determined they are to look at something else, they will look back. If ever so briefly, they will look back. They can have seen the trick before, be totally aware which object is manipulated and determined to see what's happening to it - don't ask me why I put myself in such a stupid situation that I know - nevertheless, looking at someone when talking to them, especially when answering a question, is so natural that they'll do it almost by reflex and possibly even forget they did. The same principle applies when you ask someone to get something for you (provided it's closer to them than to you, so the request makes sense) they'll do it - even if they have to detract attention from what you're doing or even turn their back.

[kittynh]

If you are not a good magician (like myself), learn to do a few tricks really well. Don't try to do 20 tricks poorly. I have one trick I am the master at. I have a few others (thanks to Brown) that I'm pretty darn good at.

3 good tricks seems to be able to get me through life. And I improve upon the "patter" every time. I've refined the patter with my best trick ever since I first learned it, at age 11!

I recently did it for a little talent contest at school. The kids were like, "wow you are a good magician" I was like, "thank you" but I really knew I'm just GOOD, really GOOD at that one trick.

[Brown]

If you are not a good magician (like myself), learn to do a few tricks really well. Some say this adage goes for the pros as well. There are some performers who are really good at performing with rings and ropes, for example, but are no better than amateurs when it comes to card tricks.

The adage can also be generalized to sleights: You don't need to be able to do all of the sleights, as long as you can perform some of sleights really well.

It's been said that one of the greatest card performers in history had mastered only a small handful of moves, but he could perform them so well that his repertoire seemed much larger than it actually was.

Another fairly well-known performer has said something like, "I can do a good palm, a good force, and a good double-lift. That's all I need." And it's basically true: if you've seen him perform, these are (essentially) the only moves he uses. No false shuffles, no passes, no glides, no vanishes. He builds his entire routine around a handful of moves that he does well, and mixes them all with an entertaining personality to produce an entertaining show.

[Garrette]

I think kittynh is right, but I would question whether she isn't a good magician.

Long ago someone asked me to tell them when they became a 'real' magician. After some thought, I came up with this, which I still like, though I admit it's not really complete:

You're a real magician when you can screw up the trick and nobody knows it.

[fuelair]

Never try street magic on a loose demon. (Trust me on this one)

[Spidey13]

I think kittynh is right, but I would question whether she isn't a good magician.

Long ago someone asked me to tell them when they became a 'real' magician. After some thought, I came up with this, which I still like, though I admit it's not really complete:

You're a real magician when you can screw up the trick and nobody knows it.

I came up with something like this while performing in college theatre. Somebody told me they would be too scared to be in a play for fear of forgetting their lines. I told them that it happens all the time but, if you're good, the audience never knows it.

Why the hell am I in the conjurors' forum? I can't do any magic tricks worth crap. :boggled:

[Cain]

For Magic Theory I like Ortiz and Close.

The thing with learning lots of effects is this: amateurs tend to perform lots of different tricks for the same audience (friends and family), while professionals have the luxury ( :) ) of performing the same core rotuine for a rotating crowd.

Following off Brown/Lorayne's comments, I think knowing FASDIU effects (that is, From A Shuffled Deck In Use) is without question the most useful as far as card tricks are concerned. I tend to agree with others who say an "impromptu card trick" is something of a contradiction. For this reason I do try to allow spectators to shuffle the cards at the outset as much as they please (but this many times still isn't good enough).

If you have a reputation of doing magic, and someone mentions it to someone else, who then asks you to do a trick (and you feel like performing) then have a go to effect. The trick that you always do first (under ordinary circumstances). If you do cards, then know exactly what your first card trick so that there's not a moment of hestitation.

Here's a list of quotes I once came across and saved to my searchable Gmail account (along with anything else interesting that passes my way). It's from an old thread on the Magic Cafe. A lot of overstatement here in my opinion (rhetorical flourish), but worth reading nonetheless:

"A conjurer is not a juggler, he is an actor playing the part of a magician"
Robert Houdin

"Remember, your not your props, create the magic."
Harry Blackstone Jr.

"...there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants."
Derren Brown (Absolute Magic)

"Be natural"
Dai Vernon

"The most important thing is presentation"
David Copperfield.

“It is better for a man to honor his profession than to be honored by it.”
Robert Houdin

"Grunt, foam at the mouth, and otherwise get psychic"
Theodore Annemann (Practical Mental Effects)

“Never tell the auidience how good you are, they will soon find out for themselves.”
Harry Houdini

“There is nothing worse than good magic at the wrong time.”
David Roth

“Never apologize, it’s all part of the trick.”
Harry Lorayne

“Don’t run when your not being chased.”
Dai Vernon (also credited to Al Baker)

“Good timing is invisible. Bad timing sticks out a mile.”
Tony Corinda

“Methods may vary, but principles never change.”
Ron Bauer

“The worst reason to do magic is the desire to display your superiority to your fellow humans.”
Roberto Giobbi

"For those who believe no explanation is necessary, for those who do not, none will suffice."
Joe Dunninger

"Look for all the world like you're counting the brain cells in his cranium."
Theodore Annemann (Practical Mental Effects)

"At the finish of the effect look at the audience: if they have gone white in the face, froth at the mouth with excitement,shake at the knees or get down on the floor and salaam you-it is quite a fair trick."
Tony Corinda

"How are you coming into the effect? How are you getting out?"
Dai Vernon

“Conjuring is a profession in which no one errs through excess of modesty.”
Robert Houdin

“The personality must be bigger than the prop.”
Harry Blackstone Sr.

“Let art conceal art”
T. Nelson Downs (Art of Magic)

“Most magicians consider the palm an easy move to make. They are inclined to believe that they are ‘getting away with it,’ when they are in fact fortunate enough to have a polite audience.”
Dai Vernon

"Caught in the difficulty of mystifying, magicians often forget that the first role of the artist is to communicate a beautiful idea."
Raymond Teller of Penn & Teller

"Audiences are far from being as dumb as some performers seem to think."
Theodore Annemann

"It wasn't just about doing tricks. It's about taking an audience to another place, a special place, so they can really suspend their disbelief. Its about amazing the audience as well as moving them."
David Copperfield.

“Make them think they’ve been fooled by a gentlemen.”
Howard Thurston

“Comedy born of bewilderment is the only comedy that should be in magic.”
Dai Vernon

“A good general chooses his battlefield.”
Tony Slydini

“Misdirect ALL the time.”
Fred Kaps

"People like being fooled by a gentleman."
Nate Leipzig

“A fundamental understanding of the human psyche is the essential key to successful magic.”
Robert Houdin

“Be yourself.”
Dai Vernon

“The very best method for a trick is the easiest method, and it is the method that should be used.”
Hugard and Braue

"The art of a magician is to create wonder. If we all live with a sense of wonder, our lives will become filled with joy."
The Great Doug Henning

"If you want to hide it, Paint it red"
Brad Henderson

"Without proper presentation, the best sleight of hand is nothing more than a feat of juggling."
Nate Leipzig

"Magic is not tricks; it is a way."
Tenkai Ishida

"Perform as many times as you can in front of people you don't know."
Lance Burton

"Eye's follow energy more than motion."
Brad Henderson

"There are no good or bad tricks. There are only well and badly presented tricks."
Raynaly (A French magician)

"If you labor like a mouse, and give birth to an elephant, that's magic; but if you labor like an elephant and give birth to a mouse, that's tragic."
Sol Stone

"Those who think that magic consists of doing tricks are strangers to magic. Tricks are only the crude residue from which the lifeblood of magic has been drained."
- S.H. Sharpe

"Whenever you perform magic, always think you are the best magician in the world... but know that you're not." - Jon Allen's favorite quote

Not really on topic, but I saw it and it made me laugh:

Harry Blackstone, Jr. when performing the floating light bulb became incensed when an audience member swatted the bulb to the floor.
Blackstone shouted at the man, "You dumb son of a b****!"
After Harry calmed down he apologized humbly, "Sir, please forgive me for calling you a dumb son of a b**** , but, you are."

Edited to add:

Also, Vernon was fond of saying, "It's a poor artist who blames the brushes." I've heard Ammar quoting him on that.

Then there's also. "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." But I tend to think "perfect" is a nonsense word anyway.

[Garrette]

I came up with something like this while performing in college theatre. Somebody told me they would be too scared to be in a play for fear of forgetting their lines. I told them that it happens all the time but, if you're good, the audience never knows it.

Why the hell am I in the conjurors' forum? I can't do any magic tricks worth crap. :boggled:
'salright. I've done a bit of theatre myself, and I agree with you.

[kittynh]

wow. I would also say that with the few tricks I do, it's the same as a borrowed deck of cards.

I use some props, that it is always better if someone else gets the props. IT's stuff easily found, so I try to NOT bring the stuff I need if I know someone can get it easily for me where I am "performing". The few times I have brought my own stuff I get the, "oh that's special trick rope". Trick rope? well, they have a point, it might be!

But usually someone can find some rope of some sort. (thought I bring an assortment just in case and let my volunteer decide from among my "ropes" which to use).

[kittynh]

mind you, my disappearing shoes trick is more comedy than magic trick. But the other stuff is REALLY magic.

[Garrette]

mind you, my disappearing shoes trick is more comedy than magic trick. But the other stuff is REALLY magic.
Add disappearing feet to that and you'll have a career and riches.

[kittynh]

I end with the shoe trick always. It brings down the house....

[Brown]

I end with the shoe trick always. It brings down the house....

Try working on a "Vanishing Weight-Bearing Wall" trick. That will REALLY bring down the house!

[kittynh]

I like my audience to leave alive thank you Brown!

Oh and just a note, Brown is a great teacher!

[Brown]

When one learns a new trick, it is not uncommon to be disappointed in the secret. On that issue, consider this passage from "Shattering Illusions" by Jamy Ian Swiss:Dad took me home and taught me the secret of the Color Vision Box that night, far from the prying eyes of witnesses--like my mother. At the moment he revealed it to me, I felt a stunning sense of disappointment--the secret, far from being diabolically clever or inscrutably complex, was so simple as to be simple-minded. I was momentarily shaken. How could I ever fool anyone like that? I would be caught, exposed--my performance would be a crashing failure! But then came my Dad's special genius, for he said, "Wait! Remember how it fooled you when I performed it for you? Remember how the magic felt?" And that restored my faith. There's more to the story. Jamy recounts how he had a crush on a girl, and she asked him how he did the cube trick. He told her. He showed her the apparatus and how it worked, thinking this to be "this most tender and cherished of gifts, the most precious sacrifice of which this twelve-year-old romantic could conceive." And he watched her eyes:I watched her eyes grow dark, as if their neon signs had gone from green to red, flashing the accusation at me from within their glowing depths, "Is that all there is?" And in that instant I learned the real reason we don't tell them how it's done: It isn't about professional oaths or secrecy. It isn't about morality. It's about the theater of it, the illusion of it. It's about how disappointed they would be to have that illusion torn away from them--only to be replaced by the blunt, prosaic truth of reality.Once you see the secret, Jamy explained, it is hard to re-capture the original sensation: "Remember how the magic felt?"

[BPScooter]

This isn't related to anything particular here so far, maybe the idea of learning a few things really well. I spent hour upon hour as a teenager with a deck in my hands, just going over and over certain card-control basics, and checking in a mirror now and then for the angles and listening for odd sounds.. just ironing out a couple things I learned from some of the basic books. I didn't return to the hobby for... eek... 25 years and have started to try to learn a few new things. Imagine my surprise when I discover all the great effects that I can pull off with my basics! It's to the point where I just instinctively "feel" where things are with them, new moves are much more self-conscious and awkward, and I don't tend to trust myself to do them yet.

It's maybe the point that your "false" shuffle has to seem to you as natural as your "real" shuffle. You need to believe it! Sometimes I forget what I actually did if I'm just playing Go Fish with my kid... not trying to fool, but accidentally mixing the two. A lot of hours spent a long time ago somehow got wired deep into my brain. :-)

[grunion]

As a non-magician, I simply wanted to add, based upon my experience trying to do a magic show with my sister as my "assistant" when I was five years old -

If you are going to do a "saw the girl in half" illusion be sure that there really is some planned illusion there and don't just guess that it will simply happen right during your performance.

[Brown]

The following basic idea comes from many sources, including Joseph Dunninger, Theodore Annemann, Jamy Ian Swiss, Richard Osterlind and our bud, Banachek....

An audience does not hold a "mentalist" to the same standard as a "magician." When performing "mentalism," you can get away with all sorts of shenanigans that an audience would spot if you were performing "magic."

In addition, if you are a "mentalist," your tricks don't always have to work... and it can actually enhance your stature if you foul up from time to time.

[Brown]

I recently learned a few new tricks, and I tested three of them out on my parents. My parents were amazed by all three tricks. However....

At one point, I became aware that their attention was attracted to a motion that is not supposed to attract attention. In other words, I saw them watching me do "a move" that is supposed to be unnoticed. Fortunately, I performed the move well enough that I did not get caught even when the heat was on, but I would prefer that the entire move not be noticed at all.

I suspect that the problem was that I failed to apply the following maxim, which comes from several sources: An audience's attention will be attracted to that which attracts your attention. I failed to direct my attention sufficiently elsewhere, and consequently did not get the degree of misdirection I'd have liked. I've since altered my performance by practicing the trick by more overtly directing the my and the audience's attention to my left, while I do the move with my right hand. The right-side motion is still there, but I've built some expectation toward the left side, and have made the move look like sort of an unimportant afterthought.

Part of the reason my attention (and my audience's attention) was attracted to my right side was because the move is difficult to do by mere feel, and one almost feels compelled to glance to the right to be sure that there is no fumbling or flashing. I've decided to modify the move slightly, along with the patter, to make it a move that can be done almost completely blind. I can now devote my attention to my left side, and hopefully the audience will have its attention drawn that way as well.