original magic – MagicShow.Tips

What Makes a “New” Trick?

This morning I was thinking about what makes a trick different from what has come before it. Especially if it’s derivative trick, build off of an existing effect. I think it was Greg Wilson in a interview said he had a three categories:
Effect – Method – Routine

For a trick to be new, it needs to have changed two of the three of these. I think that’s a good baseline, however things definitely can get murky. Let’s talk about David Roth’s Karate Coin trick. The effect is that you throw a coin in the air and as it falls, you stab your finger through it, leaving it impaled on your finger.

The original version used a coin that had a hole punched out in it. Then at some point Gary Oulette put out the New Karate Coin that hand a coin that hand the center that looked like someone had shot a bullet through it. This only changed the prop and very slightly, the method and routine are unchanged. I will say that this prop is an improvement on the original coin used in the Roth routine, which was simply a coin with hole in it. At the end of the original trick you end up with a coin that magically has no center. The New Karate Coin addresses this, but I’m not sure it makes it a new trick. I guess it’s more like a new prop for an existing trick?

Now, let’s get to another version of the trick which is Doug Bennett’s Lickity Split. The effect and method are the same, the prop has changed. Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Heads or tails? #coin #halfdollar #coinmagic #cointrick #magic #magician #louiefoxx #licketysplit #dougbennett #headsortails ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

Is this a new trick because they coin has been impaled sideways, or an new prop for an existing trick?

Honestly I don’t know the answer, I think Doug’s version is very slightly a different trick than Gary’s version. It’s very slight, like you would add a word or two to the description, but don’t think it makes it a new trick.

All of that said, I personally think that both of the versions of the Karate Coin are improvements over the original and have merit, I’m just not sure how to categorize them.

-Louie

Week 8 of the Artist’s Way…

It’s been two months and I’m still going through the book The Artist’s Way. I will say the book is a bit “hippie” for my taste, but if you can get past that, it’s a great book. I honestly think the last eight weeks (the whole book is twelve weeks) have been a very creative time. I’ve really ramped up my creative output of the material in my show.

If you decide to get the book, commit to it. There’s some spiritual stuff that I’m not a fan of, and I just plow through that and do the work. I also feel it’s not written for someone who is out there actively doing their “art” for a living. A lot of the book addresses things that block you from showing people your art. Do the exercises anyway, you may learn a little bit about yourself.

As for creating magic, I find that I’m doing a lot more brainstorming with myself than I used to do. I’m essentially having a morning magic jam in a notebook. It’s great!

Despite all of things I don’t like about the book, the things that I like outweigh them, and I really recommend it!
-Louie

Original Magic!

I found the trailer for the upcoming season of Masters of Illusion and you get to see a trick I invented at the 27 second mark:

One of the great things about creating original material, not just presentations is that when you are pitching acts to a TV show you don’t have to worry if something has been done before. This applies to more than just TV, it’s a huge advantage for variety shows as well. You don’t need to fight over who gets to do what trick.

Original content is king!

Do Something Different

I just got back from a conference in Montana that was full of people that book acts. There were a ton of magician’s there, all trying to get booked. So how did I make myself stand out? Simple, I do fairly unique tricks…well, to put it better I do tricks that have unique … Continue reading “Do Something Different”

I just got back from a conference in Montana that was full of people that book acts. There were a ton of magician’s there, all trying to get booked.

So how did I make myself stand out?

Simple, I do fairly unique tricks…well, to put it better I do tricks that have unique visuals. This gives the feeling of a unique trick. For example my “Tossed Out Deck” uses an original method which allows me to know who picked what card, however at it’s core it’s still a tossed out deck. Then I use an original way to reveal the cards, and like magic, I have a trick that no one else is doing.

You don’t need to completely create a trick. In my “Tossed Out Deck” I started with the standard frame work and then started changing things. This is also an easy way to create new tricks. Take a standard trick, change the method, then change the presentation. The nice thing about this is I can now do my version of this trick in a show where someone does the classic version and it won’t feel like a duplicated trick.

Louie