Right now I’m on an airplane writing this post, and watching a movie about a plane disaster probably isn’t the best choice for a movie. The movie is about Pan Am 103, and at one point an FBI agent goes into a door and “center” was spelled “centre” which took me out of the story when I saw it. Clearly that sign was made by someone who is a UK based English speaker, and not one from the USA.
Why does that matter? It’s a prop that’s pretending to be something and while I have to suspend disbelief for the movie, it’s a moment that took me out of that suspension of disbelief.
When I watch magic shows, one thing that takes me out of the moment with the performer is when they take out a prop and say it’s something, let’s say a bucket. However, that bucket looks nothing like a bucket I’ve ever seen in my life. Sure, it has the elements of a bucket, but it’s not a bucket. It takes me out of the world the magician has created.
This is why I prefer tricks that use props where the method is created around a real-life item, instead of a trick where the item is created around the gimmick. A good example is my Take Out Box, the gimmick is built into a real take out box.
Take a look at your props, what pretend to be a real life item, but isn’t? Can you rebuild it so that it actually uses what it pretends to be?
-Louie