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jason ladanye Loyal user 254 Posts |
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Harry Lorayne 1926 - 2023 New York City 8558 Posts |
Jason: Read your words at above link - so true. But as I read the thought kept creeping into my mind - kinda' obvious to me - card tricks aren't boring - the people doing the card tricks are boring!
Like you, Jason, I do only card stuff when doing magic for laymen(yeah; I , asmight do my Snap! - broken/restored rubber band, if one is lying around, as a throw-away - or Ear It is! - but basically all card stuff. And I've been known to do a full hour, or more, of JUST FOUR-ACE/ROYAL FLUSH effects/routines. And, so far, I've never, ever, been accused of being boring. I'm usually asked "for more" when I stop.
[email]harrylorayne@earthlink.net[/email]
http://www.harrylorayne.com http://www.harryloraynemagic.com |
jason ladanye Loyal user 254 Posts |
YES! I've only ever heard magicians say card tricks are boring! The material we do KILLS audiences and leaves them wanting more:)
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Ed Oschmann Inner circle Lake Worth FL 1011 Posts |
Well, hopefully at one point or another we no longer need to lean on a deck of cards to be interesting. I think, that many of us, including myself have used magic as a crutch to overcome personality deficiencies. I don't think that there's anything wrong with this, as it can bring us out of our shells. I know that Harry can attest to this. Creating a character, whether it is a smooth as silk card sharp, or a forgetful, easily distracted, bespectacled nerd 😉 is yet another bridge to help ourselves be bigger than who we really are ( or a more inflated version of ourselves).
The other point that you bring up something that I would call texture. Doing "pick a card tricks" one after another lacks texture. This is why many of us use different props besides cards. But like you said, if you can create an interesting context, a variety of plots then it is immaterial what you bring to the table. Magic is magic. Interesting post Jason. |
warren Inner circle uk 4138 Posts |
Personally I mix things up myself as I love all forms of close up magic but I agree with Harry, it's down to the performer as Paul Gordon earns his living doing nothing but card magic.
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smullins Special user United States 678 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 4, 2018, Ed Oschmann wrote: Ed... <3 you man |
sirbrad Inner circle PA 2096 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 4, 2018, Harry Lorayne wrote: card tricks aren't boring - the people doing the card tricks are boring! Exactly. It is up to the performer to make any prop entertaining, items in themselves are not boring nor entertaining it is the performer's job to make them come to life. The only "boring card tricks" that I see are when amateurs and professionals are doing one trick after the other, seemingly trying to impress themselves instead of entertaining the audience. Some have great skill yet are still boring, some do not have great skill but have great presentations. Those are usually liked much more by the audience than just sheer skill with no presentation. But either way ultimately it is the performer who is responsible not the prop.
The great trouble with magicians is the fact that they believe when they have bought a certain trick or piece of apparatus, and know the method or procedure, that they are full-fledged mystifiers. -- Harry Houdini
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jason ladanye Loyal user 254 Posts |
Yes, we all know that a solid performer makes the trick successful. The post is about being sure to change the effect so you don't just do pick-a-card tricks over and over in the same show.
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Huzzah New user 53 Posts |
Jason, what do you think of the study that Joshua Jay published in Magic magazine? He talked about how although audiences may enjoy card tricks, they have a hard time remembering the specifics later, a whole section on cards just blends together as "card tricks" in their minds. I've been thinking about this a lot recently and how to avoid doing tricks that are too similar. I think the color changing deck is the kind of thing that stands out among triumphs, selection tricks, and transpositions/assemblies for example. Same thing with using an Omni deck because of the uniqueness of the prop. Is there anything in particular that you keep in mind when putting together a show to make certain effects stand out? I'd love to hear your input as well, Harry!
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jason ladanye Loyal user 254 Posts |
I think any trick (card or other) can either have a simple plot or a very convoluted plot. (You find their thought of card in your pocket, the deck then changes color, and then all the cards are blank followed by the deck turning into a piece of plastic... except the Aces.) No way they can unpack all that. If your premise has clarity I don't think you'll have a problem with lay audiences remembering the plot. After doing Triumph, I believe a spectator would think: "The cards were shuffled faces into backs and he not only straightened out the cards, he found my card, too!"
Or these examples: https://youtu.be/6x8xq6sXhjQ "He stacked Queens, Kings, and Aces." https://youtu.be/dt81NUuYJUo "He moved my writing to another card." Clarity is key. |
sirbrad Inner circle PA 2096 Posts |
Well your title said "Card Tricks Are Boring" which would imply that all card tricks are boring. It did not say "Pick A Card Tricks Are Boring". But some still make a living doing just those. Personally I think laymen should be the ones deciding what is boring as they are the ones who write your check, not other magicians. Also the entire post could have been posted here, but I know it was posted that way purposely as "click-bait" for your website, blog, FB, and YouTube. Content should be posted here not external links forcing you to go elsewhere. That is simply using the Café as a middleman for advertising. To me that is also "boring" and overdone.
The great trouble with magicians is the fact that they believe when they have bought a certain trick or piece of apparatus, and know the method or procedure, that they are full-fledged mystifiers. -- Harry Houdini
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