Another great idea from Gregg Webb.

Many overuse the phrase "this is awesome" or "awesome" . (when all occurrences or interactions between people are equally proclaimed as "awesome" , then what is truly awesome or awe-inspiring ?)

I cringe when I hear magicians say this! Yikes!!!

I seem to remember Eugene Burger being early-on an important voice in trying to make magic more interesting for the viewers. At the time, magicians thought they were being entertaining if they said. "Hold out your hand. I meant the clean one". Or equally in use was just saying the exact patter supplied with the instruction sheet that came with a trick or was written in a magic book. There are supposedly 7 stories. We could learn those and then try to apply one to a magic trick we like.

I just re-read this entire thread (I know... I know...) and what struck me was that so many of these phrases were in common use when I was starting out back in the late 60s. The clean hand, the trap door, the how do you know it's me, the ordinary this or that, were used all the time by the guys at the magic club. And here we are, all these years later, still using them.

I don't want to sound like a fuddy-duddy geezer, but I think it's swell and it cracks me up.

[edit] While I'm at it, I used to say "Here we have an ordinary silk" all the time when I was starting out, until someone yelled out, "That's not a silk, that's a scarf." Did me a huge favor.

"And with a snap of my fingers...."

"pick a card"

Spectator picks a card

"Amazing!"

We have never met before… correct?

Nothing has been set up right?

LOL

It's in this hand

or my fave

This is an ordinary deck of cards 52 in total