I suppose this would be the appropriate place for this. I, Ron, am not new to magic in any way shape or form. However, I have been absent from the magic scene for a couple years. Iv'e been researching new effects since Ive been gone and even some old things that I was interested in when I stopped. Basically, my scenerio is this: I used to be deeply in to card magic and such. I still enjoy doing them but if it doesn't hit big, I don't see the point anymore. Im a college student, and I hit the bar scene often. What I'm lookin to do is come up with effects that would be suitable for a bar, without saying, This guy came here to do magic. I don't even like the word magic, I think of it as entertainment and nothing more. Anyway, Ill be straight up, I'm looking for impromptu magic, that doesn't take a lot of hard work, and seems like the magician is practically doing nothing: fitting the bar scene of course. I know I know, some kid who doesn't wanna take risks and wants everything to be done for him...Well..perhaps..but in all honestly, I did the magic thing a while ago..it was fun but it didn't fit me...i don't wanna just do another pick a card trick and have oo's and ahh's. To get to the point of the post...In my return ive been researching items that I would find suitable for bar magic, I ve come up with:

Vanishing Sunglasses
Thumb Tip
Penomenon
Counterweight(with cell phone, very hot these days)
Coin in soda can ( mindfreak thingamajigg)
Hundy 500
Misleading Misled
Ghost Lighter
Extreme Rubber band magic dvd

Ok, I don't really want card magic, because bringing a deck of cards to a bar is screaming,setup, we have a magician here ( please don't take me wrong...i love magic and what not, but with my new attitude toward this, I don't wanna be known as a magician, I just want ordinary effects that will impress). However, I would like a single card effect close to Cerimony of the Immorals, pretty much..when I turn my back or can be out of the room when things are happening. If you have any other suggestions for card effects of mentalism that are similar please reply, that's my first objective.

Secondly, the effects I listed above, ive done searches and found the pros and cons of each..as much as I could anyway...if you read this and have any contribution what so ever please reply..this could be a "don't buy that effect" or "buy this effect instead" or any recommendations for my situation. Remember, bar scene, tricks that work themselves or somewhat. DVD's would also be helpful, such as impromptu magic that would fit a bar scene:

straw tricks
napkin tricks
coins
beer bottles
beer glasses ( for penetrations)
PK effect ( objects moving by mear mentalism) Ghost lighter, penomenon
Dollar bill tricks

I hope this sums up what Im looking for, I'm gonna enter into the magic scene again with a new approach and see how it goes. Thanks for all that will respond.

Ron Slater

Doc Easton's Bar Magic DVD's are right up your alley.

Ron, If you perform the above effects, you will be known as a magician. Perhaps you don't want to be seen as forcing your material on people, or maybe you want to avoid some perceived traditional view of magician, but I believe people will call you one, nevertheless. This is not a bad thing. It's a bit shorter title than "Ron the guy who makes sunglasses and napkins disappear, transforms $1 bills into $100 bills and can move objects with his mind". Also, I think most people think of magic as entertainment as well, and unless you are around people who have some type of religious opposition to "magic", which you probably will not find hanging out in your college bars, I think you've got little to deal with. It sounds to me like you are looking for more "hip" effects which will help you blend into the college environment. This is great, and what every magician (and you are one) should do. I am not familiar with all of the above effects, but can offer some comments: The sunglasses don't make sense. Not many people wear them at night when going out to bars. Thumb tip - great. Coin in soda can - can you get cans at bars anymore? Hundy 500 - excellent. PK effects - great. Money magic is great. I'm not a big fan of rubber band magic, but some love it. I'd also think about some levitations with IT or loops. Good luck.

Chris

P.S. Bill Palmer has a good thread in the Wizard's Cave forum on Writing the Right word. A few posts down, he discusses different words for "magician". Perhaps you could find an acceptable alternative
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......71&3

Hi Ron!

I agree to Magical_Mystifier! I also think you'll always be recogized as the magician... and floating stuff like bills will always be top.

I worked about 200 barshows for a liquor-company in Switzerland. Not everything I did is of the idea your looking for but I think I got 3 nice effects for you that might fit and have a tremendous impact on your spectators.

1. You're standing at the bar, nothing in your hands. You reach in the air (or any place you like) and produce a cigarette-lighter. With the other hand you reach out to the buttonhole of your collar (you will have to wear a jacket)and pull out a short flashstring with your thumb and forfinger. Now you enlight the string and in a flash of fire it magically transforms into a cigarette, short straw or coffee-stirrer for your drink.

2. David Harkey once showed me a mean little thing. You put a coin onto the palm of your hand. Take a sugarpack and throw it onto the coin. When you turn your hand to let the sugarpack fall onto the bar or table, the coin has vanished. Take the pack from the table and knock it onto the surface. You now can hear the coin inside the sugarpack. Break and tear it open so that everyone can see that you reproduce the coin out of it.

3. Last one is a card trick (sorry), but I find it nearly unbeatable for barmagic. Have a card chosen and signed. Ask your participant to put it back and have the deck shuffled. Try to find the card and fail once or twice. Throw the whole deck into the direction of the bar. Tell the participant to have a closer look and reveal the signed card now sticking in the neck of a closed bottle on the bar. That will finish them off...

For closer information send me a PM.


Magical greetz

This may help.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......2&17

The list was meant to be about common looking or unseen gimmicks and gaffs,
not necessary the effects themselves.

Visit Jaxon's site, he's a member here.
http://www.magicjax.com/bartab.html

Coin to Bottle.
Coins to Glass.
Chink-a-chink w/ bottle caps.
Bent coin.
"Florida Keys" by Gregory Wilson.
"Ghost Bills" by Andrew Mayne.

There's two effects in "The Collected Almanac", 'Iced' and I think an effect called 'Cocktail Time' That's good.

Drill swizzle stick and cigarette sized holes in various coins and do penetrations.

I'll PM you.

One way you can get away from the "Let me show you a magic trick" line is to just work your effects into conversations. While you are talking about this or that use magic to act as a visual representation of your subject matter.

Also you said you already have a magician. Does the magician work that bar? Will there be a conflict? Ethics are not much used in magic anymore, but if I know that there is a magician that works that restaurant or bar I DON'T do any magic there. It's just bad form. Of course that's just me (I come from a different time).

Dan Harlan put out 4 videos called Mind Booglers you might check out.

"Perhaps you don't want to be seen as forcing your material on people"

This would more or less sum up what I was getting at thanks magicalmystifier. Yeah certainly, when I do "magic" of course people are going to consider me a magician. I was more or less saying the above, I don't want it too look like I went in the bar prepared in any way to do magic. Some of my friends know I do, or used to do magic, and still often request it sometimes. Id like to be able to do some things impromptu using ordinary object as I listed above. Nightmare Weaver, thanks for the reply and yes your right, that is how I like to go about my entertaining a crowd of people, by working it into ordinary talk.

MagicalMystifier, I also want to clarify a few things up, sorry I should have been more specific first hand. I like the majority of my effects to be for the bar scene but I meant party situations as well. So beer and soda cans would be applicable. As for the sunglasses bit, I meant Pittmans vanishing sunglasses in which you can borrow any pair of glasses I beleive.

All in all, you guys have been very helpful in understanding what Im trying to acheive. I am looking into each effect you have recommended and I will post my thoughts on them when I learn more. PLease keep the posts coming I am taking a long time in finding pros and cons of various effects in hopes to establish the perfect routines that fit me.

Ron Slater

If handling a deck of cadrds screams "setup", it's the magician.
it's the body language. it's the wierd pauses that should not be there.
it's both hands coming together when they should not be.
it's the lack of eye contact.
it's the staring at the cards.
it's the lack of the ability to conversate.
it's the bizzare way the spectators are not invited to shuffle.
it's the same way the cards are cut each time.
it's the same way the card is returned to the deck each time followed by a double undercut.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.
It's not the cards.

It's not my cards.

I have to agree brother . I am military which is basically college with guns and when we go to the bars we play hard. and I always end up doing some thing that amaze some without cards but a lot with cards. If you don't want to be looked as a magician, what would you want ot seen as? Just curious..my advice is if you don't want to be seen like that then don't do that. go the scientific route, I mean learn some things with lime and lemon wedges and matches and Betchas but anything short of that you will be seen as a magician or at the very least "the guy who does tricks" Best of luck.

I would go with "On the Spot"

Hey guys...scratch the whole don't want to be seen as a magician thing, I was affraid some would take that the wrong way. Not saying anyone has, but perhaps I should chose my words wisely. I could care less what people refer to me as, that's not a big deal. As I said before, basically its the approach that Id like to change. By the way, I love card tricks, Ive been doing card magic for about 10 years, so everything Frank replied is not my concern, thanks for the input though. Back to the topic, my approach. In bars here, college bars that is, people don't walk around shuffling cards or sit at a table and play cards, which is why I wanted to aim away from those if possible. Thus, bringing a deck to a bar would limit me to, pretty much no way of presenting an effect, without taking them out and saying, let me show you something.Card effects I keep for other occasions I feel more fit. This is why I was thinking more along the terms of a lighter, straw, coins, bills, PK effects, as mentioned in the original post. With all that said, I thank you guys for your posts and if you have more to contribute at this moment I would love to hear more. Thanks

Ron Slater