I have the Encyclopedia Of Cigarette Magic by Keith Clark. I am having trouble though just figuring what to start with. There are so many different throws, vanishes, etc. Anyone got any suggestions? Which are the best moves to start with? Also, since it is an old book, do filtered cigarettes make manipulation much harder? Would some things in the book not work right with a filtered cigarette or even a 100? Thanks.

It is all going to depend on what fits you best. Majority of everyone start from the first page and carry on. It might better for you to try each move, then stay with the ones you have more confidence in. When you get the easier ones together, come back on the harder ones. If you can already figure out a routine, practice only the moves that you will need in the routine.

Watch different performers on "Youtube" who do cigarette magic. It can help you stay inspired and learn more routines. Here is one by Cyril: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z4YHgPPFYc&NR=1

Start off with non-filtered cigarettes because you will not have to worry if the filter is in the right position or not. When you get in going, practice with filters too. Start off with the regular size. After that change to the 100's if your hands are the right size.

Tom Mullica DVDs teaches a lot of cigarette tricks: http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php?productid=8564

Roll paper around a pencil, glue it into a tube and slide it off the pencil... instant fake cigarette. Use these to practice new moves before switching to real cigarettes (except when you absolutely need them to be lit). Cigarettes are expensive these days and they break easily when learning new moves. Make the fakes in different lengths to simulate the real thing in use.

The EoCM has so many different sleights that accomplish basically the same things, that you should at least try them all and figure out which come easily to you. Develop them first. In the long run, you will only need a few sleights anyway. Like other forms of manipulation, it is very easy to get caught in the trap of doing every move you know, just because you can.

A couple of good steals, productions, vanishes, acquitments, and switches will work together to build a really nice routine.

By all means try them all (that's part of the fun), but you won't need them all. Develop the ones that accomplish the need.

~michael

Thanks for the responses. I know, for example, there are many standard coin and card moves, i.e. a French Drop or a Double Lift. What in the Enyclopedia would you consider "must know" sleights?

I no longer have that book here, so I would not be able name any particular sleights by the book's name for it. This would really be dictated by the routine you plan to present. But, the "types" of sleights you would do well to learn, I named above.

I also suggested that you try them all (part of the fun of learning magic), and settle on the ones that come easily to you. Pick one from each of the categories I named and you will have enough to build a good routine.

Learn the various palms and concealments, for a single cigarette, and also for multiple cigarettes. Learn how to shift a cigarette from one of those positions to another. Learn how to do a good false transfer. Learn how to show the hand(s) empty without going through some notorious hand washing gyrations. Learn how to apparently throw a cigarette away while actually retaining it and tossing away a dummy. Learn how to reproduce a cigarette. Learn how to steal a cigarette, or a bunch of cigarettes. Learn how to do all of these with a justified purpose.

But, most importantly... (are you listening?)... decide first how you want the routine to look to the audience, step-by-step. Think about what you are doing, why you are doing it, and what you want the audience to experience from this. Think about the character you portray on stage. Why does this character have cigarettes, and why are the magical things happening? Once you have this defined in your mind, the sleights needed to pull it off will become apparent. You know what effect is supposed to happen and the plot that bring you to that point. You will then be able to find a sleight that fits that particular situation from your group of sleights that you have learned (from that list of "types" of sleights).

The worst thing you can do is learn a sleight and use it in a routine, just because you can do the sleight. If there is no purpose to what you are doing, it all becomes pointless.

There is no such thing as a "must know" sleight, if it has no purpose in your routine.

~michael

I would suggest that you use normal filter cigarettes (like Camel, Marlboro, etc.) right from the beginning. It will help you get used to handling real cigarettes so there won't be any hardships when you switch from a fake to a real one. If you have problems with them breaking you can wrap a cigarette paper around it. That will make it last a little bit longer.

Here is a cigarette routine I but together a little while ago.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6l1rJA6ZxA

Good luck and keep practicing.

Very nice Patrick.

Thanks, I appreciate the comment.

Just my five cents' worth (that's two cents adjusted for inflation)...

Cigarette tricks are probably passe in the U.S. nowadays. Besides the fact that so many states, clubs, and so forth are prohibiting smoking, there's also the whole issue of smoke-related health issues, which more and more people are taking seriously. And then, if you're using lit cigarettes, there are the ever-more-strict fire laws to consider. Which is all a way of saying that the venues where the audience will appreciate cigarette routines, at least in the U.S., is getting smaller.

Cigarette routines were very appropriate back in the days when smoking was considered sophisticated and people smoked everywhere. They could relate to these things, they knew what happened if you touched a lit one to your finger, and so forth. The performers were using an object that was in common use and was felt to be cool, so therefore the performers were cool too. That's not the case nowadays.

Nowadays, there are so many other things you can use for manipulation, that audiences can relate to, and that can be considered "cool," that it's probably time to re-think cigarette routines.

Having said all that, if you want to perform this material in places where people are still allowed to smoke, then that's okay. It just seems like putting a lot of work into a routine with a limited audience.

I understand your sentiments,however I feel cigarette magic will be around forever. Unfortunately smoking in this country is on the rise again among the youth. In spite of new smoking laws smokers are everywhere and the cig remains a common object in most of this country.
While there may be fewer formal settings cig magic may be performed in, casual settings abound.
Keith Clarks book is full of wonderfull observations which can be applied to all magic.
Jim

If you are really into cigarette magic, don't forget to check Tony Slydini's books!

He taught his students to use a TT with many of the same moves. That way when you give up cigarette magic, it still works for other things.

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I use wooden cigarettes and wooden cigars for my safety shows. The best woodies are from John Rogers. He also has a DVD - not of the best quality, but very informative. The Clark book is an old classic, but a bit too much for me.