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Uli Weigel Inner circle Berlin, Germany 1478 Posts |
Often magicians use magician terminology thoughtlessly in front of lay audiences, which can have a variety of unwanted effects from confusing to alienating, depending on the context. Words like silk, trick, move, misdirection, routine, patter come to mind. Since I'm from Germany, I don't feel qualified to provide more examples, but I'm sure you can come up with many more.
I can assure you, we have more or less the same problem in Germany. In german for example the technical terms for face-down cards and face-up cards can be slightly unclear, and we are well advised to use the german words for "front side" and "back side" to avoid confusion. |
Jaz Inner circle NJ, U.S. 6111 Posts |
Why would terms like move, misdirection, routine, and patter would ever be used in front of an audience?
I honestly can't think of and magic terminology that I would use in a show. |
The Burnaby Kid Inner circle St. John's, Canada 3158 Posts |
I've seen the terms used, either to expose something or else to send them down the garden path.
Part of the key is whether or not you want to use the same language that the audience might use to describe what's going on. There are benefits and hazards either way.
JACK, the Jolly Almanac of Card Knavery, a free card magic resource for beginners.
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samuwel New user 60 Posts |
Although some of the terms mentioned can confuse a spectator, the confusion is not exclusively limited to such technical terms. There are terms which are commonplace among the magic community (as an international body) that, although taken for granted by many as a well known expression throughout the world, may not actually be used in some localities. For example "Face Card" is a phrase I'd never heard before getting into magic (and was genuinely confused when I first read it in an explaination). It is decidedly easy to let this sort of expression slip into a routine.
Slightly off topic, but I've seen a lot of gambling routines which use jokes based around faux-explainations of some technical terms for example: glimpse -> a blatant look at a card, which, despite getting a cheap laugh, gives a little bit of exposure of a method for another effect, which laymen could easily go home and type into a search engine. (Generally agreed to be a bad thing I believe ) |
Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-08-15 17:05, Uli Weigel wrote: You are genau richtig, Uli, I believe the words for up and down are, "auf" and "ab". I used to speak fluent German. That was in 1974, so I'm a bit rusty. Yes, I can see the confusion. In German, I believe front side is, "Vorderseite", and back side is, "Rückseite", I may be wrong...up and down may have different meanings when describing cards, but I'm getting off topic... Very interesting thread. This is very educational Doug |
Uli Weigel Inner circle Berlin, Germany 1478 Posts |
Yes Doug, "Vorderseite" and "Rückseite" is normal layman language, "bildoben" and "bildunten" magician language.
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Wow...been a long time. Wish I could visit Germany again. I lived in Bad Kreuznach for two years. Had a girlfriend in Bad Muenster. What wonderful towns. I miss it.
Doug |
panlives Inner circle 2087 Posts |
Ricky Jay incorporates technical/insider jargon precisely as Andrew explains - to lead the audience down a path of cognitive assumptions.
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
MagicJuggler Inner circle Anchorage, AK 1161 Posts |
I think it's not so much using technical terms that's the problem, but using technical terms that serve no purpose. A discussion of misdirection that is used to misguide the audience and strengthen the effect might be appropriate, but throwing out jargon and speaking to the audience as you would another magician is not.
Matthew Olsen
I heard from a friend that anecdotal evidence is actually quite reliable. |
panlives Inner circle 2087 Posts |
I think the distinction between “shuffling” and “mixing” the cards has been papered up by some deep thinkers in the mentalism forum.
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
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