Right now there’s a lot of interest in interactive magic tricks, where someone can follow along from their home, and the magic happens to them. There a principle that I was first introduced to in the trick Fingertip Mentalism from the book Nothing But Mystery by Jim Steinmeyer. Then I found the book Body Mentalism by Juan Pablo explains and explores the principle much more in depth.
Here’s a video I recently made using the principle:
Personally I like the idea of having people post a pic in the comments much more interactive than simply revealing where they are. Also I find a lot of humor in them posting their middle finger, but in my soul, I’m still a 12 year old boy.
Once you know how to do the math, it’s something that you can do anytime. What I like about it is the principle isn’t limited to “do as I do” type tricks. It’s handy to know things like this, it allows you to do some impromptu magic when you have nothing!
One of the easiest ways to be creative is to make tricks based on an upcoming holiday. If there’s not a big holiday like Thanksgiving on the horizon, look up the different “national days”. These are things like, National Hotdog Day. Once you have a theme, it’s much easier to come up with tricks. Here’s … Continue reading “Easy Way To Be Creative…”
One of the easiest ways to be creative is to make tricks based on an upcoming holiday. If there’s not a big holiday like Thanksgiving on the horizon, look up the different “national days”. These are things like, National Hotdog Day. Once you have a theme, it’s much easier to come up with tricks.
Here’s a trick I did for Thanksgiving a few years ago:
This is a trick I read in a Jim Steinmeyer book that used your hand. I found it lent itself to using a turkey hand really well. This makes it a great themed trick for Thanksgiving.
Here’s one that I did for for National Light Bulb Day a long time ago:
Putting a box around creating makes it so much easier to come up with ideas. Trying to come up with ideas without any parameters is incredibly difficult!
I love magic, and I love supporting magic. I support magic wherever I go, by going to see shows, visiting magic clubs, visiting with magicians, and doing good magic. One thing that gets me about magic clubs is a lot of the “old guard” are so set in their ways they can’t see past their … Continue reading “Magic Clubs and Newer Magicians…”
I love magic, and I love supporting magic. I support magic wherever I go, by going to see shows, visiting magic clubs, visiting with magicians, and doing good magic.
One thing that gets me about magic clubs is a lot of the “old guard” are so set in their ways they can’t see past their own biases. This isn’t good for people newer into magic. Frequently at one of the magic clubs in my area (there are three) when someone does a card trick an older magician will say “oh god, another card trick…” outloud for every one to hear.
This isn’t good for magic. People get into magic for a lot of reasons, and to tell them their reason is wrong hurts magic. It makes it less welcoming for new people.
Also, the advice that is given to newer magicians is horrible. One of the worst pieces of advice when someone tries something new is, “stick to the classics, they are classics for a reason…” Whenever I hear that I want to ask them to take out their phone and tell me what kind of music is on it…is it classical? Do they use a Acomputer…or stone a chisel (the classic method)?
This book should be required reading for all leadership and pretty much anyone giving advice about magic at a magic club. They should also read Joshua Jay’s article from Magic Magazine called What Do Audiences Really Think.
Jim and Joshua’s writings confirm and back up with data why 90% of advice given at most magic clubs is wrong. Magicians need to be out there doing what they love, and innovating, not living in the 1970’s. We also need to be positive to newer magicians and tell them what they are doing right, not what we like or don’t like.
On the internet I see magicians giving other magicians some of the worst advice ever. It’s also interesting when you look at the websites/promo of the people giving the advice, they really aren’t performers you should be taking advice from. One of my favorite pieces of bad advice to beginners is “learn 7 tricks”. The … Continue reading “Bad Advice…”
On the internet I see magicians giving other magicians some of the worst advice ever. It’s also interesting when you look at the websites/promo of the people giving the advice, they really aren’t performers you should be taking advice from.
One of my favorite pieces of bad advice to beginners is “learn 7 tricks”. The idea behind the advice is good, and that’s to spend time to understand the tricks that you do. However the messenger in the form of only learning 7 tricks is very misleading. How do you pick the 7 tricks, if that’s all you can learn? If we all picked 7 tricks when we got started we’d all be doing pretty much the same shows and there would be no innovation.
The saying about learning 7 tricks came out of vaudeville, the story goes: A kid meets the magician after the show and tells him he knows 150 different tricks. The magician tells the kid he knows 7 tricks, but knows them inside and out.
The main problem with the story to be advice for a modern magician is that it came out of vaudeville. Most of the magicians were doing an act, not a show. Their were doing 5-15 minutes, not a modernn 45-60 minutes. In 15 minutes you could do less than 7 tricks and you didn’t have things like TV or the internet burning your material. Look at any modern show and just within that show count the number of tricks…it’s going to be more than seven.
The other thing is that if you only learn 7 tricks and that’s all you spend your time on, then you aren’t a student of magic. Personally I learn all I can about magic, I love it and if I could only spend my time on 7 tricks I’d quit and do something else.
The moral of this post is 99% of advice you are given by other magicians sucks.
