I agree, it's a puzzle. Entertainment, magic should be about an emotional experience for the audience, not just tricks and puzzles. This is not entertainment.

[quote]On Sep 17, 2014, Mindpro wrote:


I agree... But, If a psychic duck isn't entertaining then somebody is doing something wrong.

Has anybody else noticed the dead horse?

I think it's still not 'wise' to buy an effect/method while you don't have any application for it.
Then asking others to come up with ideas....
@Topicstarter; Quit thinking like it's a trick. When performed correctly it isn't. Also don't force it into a magic show. It should blend with the rest of your act/persona to make it believable.
@Richard Osterlind, Thanks for the additional ideas, really like it.

If you believe you are performing a trick they will believe you are doing a trick. One thing that mentalists do that many magicians fail to do is suspend their own disbelief. As a mentalist it is important, at least for the duration of your performance, that you believe that what you are doing is at least possible. If you can allow yourself to believe that you are really reading thoughts rather than billets your performance will be far more congruent.

Magic is no different, well actually it is, at least with mentalism they may already believe in it, with magic you need to use your own belief as a catalyst to encourage them to suspend their disbelief. During the performance you need to forget the mechanics, you need to believe that the card is genuinely lost in the deck even when it's already in your wallet. For the duration of your performance you need to believe that magic is real, that is the gift that you are giving to your audience, give anything less and you are simply tricking them and they deserve better than that.

Mark

It's funny this is not about the differences of magic and mentalism any longer, but rather how magic is perceived and executed by the performer and is accepted by an audience. It shows how some take their magic to a much deeper level of execution, and to others it's simply fun tricks or undefined challenges on a more surface level. Interesting.

I think it is that difference, or more specifically, the predominance of fun tricks or undefined challenges on a more surface level, that has reduced magic from a respected and valued art to almost joke like status. There was a time when the phrase "I am a magician" was something to be proud of and was met with intrigue, wonder and respect.

These days it is often met with rolling eyes and the phrase "I hate magicians". The truth is that many people have seen somebody doing tricks, not many have watched a magician. I remember getting goose bumps the first time I watched Richard Ross perform his act, sheer poetry.

Mark

I don't see what's so bad about admitting to one's audience that you are only doing tricks. Then after you do the tricks, if they question to themselves whether you were lying, you have done your job.

If you were lucky enough to watch somebody performing magic you would understand the difference, one is simply a puzzle, the other is a thing of beauty. Many moons ago a young kid named John Carey asked if I would teach him to be a magician.

Apart from a couple of card tricks and a decent DL, the only thing I taught him was to respect the art and to strive to make magic rather than just perform tricks. I taught him to question every single premise and every single action. John originally came to me asking how, but instead the only thing I taught him was to keep asking why. He understood that part very quickly and ceased to be my pupil and became my dear friend. It was John's deep love of the art and desire to create magic that allowed him to put in the work that has got him to the level he is today.

When you have truly done your job the audience stops questioning what you are doing and simply enjoys the experience.

Mark

"When you have truly done your job the audience stops questioning what you are doing and simply enjoys the experience."

As soon as the audience stops questioning whether it's real, the magic becomes indistinguishable from an LSD trip. I don't want this to happen to my audience.

That's part of the point, audience already know you're doing tricks, they then focus on trying to figure out how it is done. Those are the only two dimensions to it. Now if your are actually performing and entertaining rather than just doing tricks additional levels, emotions, rsponses are added. It then does not become about the puzzles.

To me this is a huge problem with magic. Magician's today primarily entertain themselves. These guys are not performers, they are not entertainers, they simply execute tricks. This is not magic, and this is not entertainment.

Magician's used to be entertainers who used magic as their instrument or tools. Their whole existence and foundation was based on the audience, iliciting specific responses and creating an emotional journey from them that includes amazement, fascination, wanting more, and getting them psychologically to the level of endorphans release though entertainment. Again, not doing doing or executing tricks. That only impresses the so-called magician.

Marck C.'s descriptions and observations are spot on. Many could and should learn form this.

This is the problems with magic losing it "secretness" and "sacredness." It's to readily available to anyone. It's becoming like Karaoke - it is for anyone, and being good is not a concern or requirement.

Where's parmenion? That would liven this up some more.

He's around lol

Enough has ben written on this so I don't want to go on, but I wanted to confirm adamantly that this should NOT be done as a trick, and certainly not as a demonstration of 'seeing through metal.' If this was indeed you aim, I would do away completely with the blindfold and set up a metal wall, and present it that way (although I wouldn't even do that as it still seems like a trick)

The premise is the key. The blindfold is not the 'trick', it is a tool to establish whatever claim you are using as your presentation. ESP, seeing with fingertips, heightened awareness, whatever. Work in that aspect first, and then see if a blindfold can assist the presentation

I would also add, as an aside, that raising arms and predicting how May can be effective, if as a 'warm up' or build in to a more impressive feat. I certainly wouldn't do it as a stand alone piece. The blindfold should be part of a larger routine, building to an impressive climax. I would also add, very importantly, that you use some effects in a blindfold where you can face away completely and still reform an effect where you don't have to see. This will add as a further layer of deception to the routine.

I'm done.

Simon

I just bought a blindfold and also ;earned the tinfoil blindfold . I have an Idea were I will be seperating the black cards from the red cards then a pile for the aces ! the cards will be dealt face down !

I meant to write learned the tinfoil blindfold ....

It's not a new method. You can find the same method in Will Dexter's Sealed Vision that was published in 1956.
Mentalist used the same method with a newspaper over the eyes.