Hi all,

I remember back then, when I had never touched magic before... I dropped by this little shop in Sunway... and the person there (which I found out afterwards, his name is Joe! ^_^ ) showed me and my friends some tricks.

I will never forget the moment when I saw him do the sponge balls... It was a really weird feeling... Part of my mind was trying to figure out how he split one ball into two (I thought one of the balls had a secret compartment! Silly me :) )
, but another part of my mind, was like... I can't describe it, but I sort of experienced 'real' magic in that one single moment... And that's what got me started in magic...

I always try to recreate that special moment for my spectators... But somehow I feel like, something's bloody missing... :( ... So... if anyone could contribute... Just give your thoughts on how to create that one special 'moment' for your spectators. Coz I really miss that feeling, and I sure as hell wanna share it with everyone in the world... Have a loooooong way to go though... Seems like everything I do nowadays degenerates into a mere puzzle :( And it's what I've been trying to avoid!!! Would like to know everyone's thoughts on this...

Regards,
Shan

rubberband magic like crazy man handcuff is superb on laymen. the rubberband just melts thru each other. other things u can do to give a complete laymen a "real magic" moment is card transposition, say to his pocket or jacket. acutally there's quite a list u can do to impress laymen.

even bringing a dead fly back to life will make them go "Wow!"...

MagicB

Perhaphs it seems to the spectator that what you are doing is more of a puzzle then magic?ie: although they see the face of a card change, it doesn't hit them as hard?

IMO, there's be a clear and simple plot behind most tricks, and most trick originators have one in hand everytime they give explaination in books.....
try to lead your audience through this plot, make sure they understand what is going to happen, or what isn't. learn more subtleties. Analyze the moves that you execute in creating the effect. While sleights may help you achieve a move, it may also give the trick away; of the many countless sleights out there, each one complements each other differently when used together. Condition the spectators mind, and slowly build up the suspense. Bulding up the trick in phases can also disallow your audience from back tracking to suspect how it was done while makes it look like an impossiblity. Pace your trick so to allow time for the audience to absorb what is happening, Im sure most of you are aware of the above. anyway..Whenever I perform, I find being able to insert appropriate subtleties with near logical reasons for why I cut the deck and deal and so helps quite bit. "what the mind thinks, the eyes see" doug henning
but thats the reason why there exist a copy strong magic by darwin ortiz.

or look up the free-essay on www.card-fictions.com by pit hartling on inducing challenges. Or just pick up his book as well.


any otherthing I could think of is to select your appropriate audience/time to perform with appropriate tricks. Begin your performance with something simple, funny yet eye catching and teasing to the mind perhaphs?

regards

dam0n has good points.

One thing I wanna add is how you as a magician emphasize the points in an effect (or routine). Make sure your audience remember that they see FOUR OF HEARTS, instead of just a red heart card with few pips on it, so when they SEE it changes to another you'll know that they just witness some crazy stuff. Just like the sponge balls, I shared your experience too :) I was gobsmacked when I got 5 balls in my hand when I saw he just put one. I believe because before he put the balls in my hands, he emphasized it enough that he put one ball in.

Yet, do not over emphasize. Blaine's idea of saying "watch watch watch watch" sometime would get your audience on guard thus making them expect that something is going to happen. Often enough, based on some of the tricks that I do, the "real" magic happens when the least you expect it ;)

As far as subtelties go, it has to be used just as much or as few the emphasis on whatever points your showing. And a good example of this is the Elmsley Count (which I hope you know how).

I hope that could help you a little, buddy ^_^

real magic ...for me was when the guy at Summit did a bill switch for me.
that got me hooked into magic ...

maybe one of the reasons we fail to duplicate "real magic" feeling when we perform (i'm speaking about myself) is :-
1) i suck
2) people who i perform for already know me before i started magic. They know magic is my hobby , so if i can perform it, it can be solved.


Blaine dumped the coat tails, the top hat, stage and props. he adopted the "urban shaman" character, and that was something not seen at that time.

he also challenged the viewer to believe by using the dunninger quote " for those who believe etc etc etc" which served as a sort of misdirection. something like the emperor's new clothes theory.

well said dammon but i think its also the perception that when it comes to magic, its the cards that always draw the most attention instead of the coins and rope. i think the mind set here has always been " hey he's doing coins, oh yeah, he's just hiding coins behind his hand. nothing too fancy" but when it comes to cards, it somehow comes with more variations and mind tickling than coins. :ph43r:

Shan is into coins but i think if u do some fusion with cards as well together with coins, it will draw the attention of the spectator to your rountine even if u only show them the coin routine after that. Or if u can somehow do a crazy routine that gives the same effect as the cards, maybe u will be the first person to change the whole mind set thinging. How about putting 50cents malaysian coins into your palm, roll up your fingers and then its turns into silver dust?? :blink:

I think u are quite good at cards as well and love your cardini single palm production. FLAWLESS and REALLY FAST!! :wacko: anyone else other than me have seen this trick of his??? :!!:

i agree with kenningst, shan is awesome with coins. and i think he did well when we performed for the starbucks staff in klang parade. so don't wory about it, dude, all u need is more confidence! have fun and relax while doing magic, it will definitely help your audience relax too.