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dboeren New user Atlanta, GA 16 Posts |
Hey, I've been doing card magic for about a month now and I've got a tip for the rest of you beginners.
Books, videos, and packaged tricks are all great. But if you want to get your magic looking GOOD, invest in a folding close-up mirror. Most magic stores have these, they cost around $35. It's 3 mirrors, 12x12", 12x18", 12x12" with hinges between them. They're made of plastic, not glass, so they can't break. If you're really cheap, you can make your own with some mirror tiles from Home Depot and duct tape for hinges. You can fold it down to pack up, and set it up on any table you want to practice at. By doing this, you get a great front and sides view of how your hands look to someone who is watching your trick. This is especially good for close up magic like cards and coins, but be prepared to be stunned at how the moves you thought looked pretty good turn out to actually be exposing your sleights! Ack! |
Desmanthus New user Frankfort, MI 51 Posts |
Hey that sounds like a good idea! I've been practicing in front of a regular mirror but it would be great to see how it looks from a few different angles at once.
Thanks for the tip!
Sincerely Yours,
Desmanthus "That is not dead which can eternal lie, for with strange aeons even death may die." H.P. Lovecraft |
Dan Watkins Inner circle PA 3028 Posts |
Try shooting some video of yourself if you have a camera. Then you really get to see how your stuff looks from a 3rd person perspective.
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Brian Proctor Inner circle Somewhere 2323 Posts |
I made the duct tape mirrors about 8 months ago. Work like a charm. Cheap and easy to do. Just be careful not to cut yourself! Take care.
Brian Dan's tip is really useful too. |
Jim Morton Veteran user 361 Posts |
I went to Tap Plastics here in San Francisco and bought a piece of mirror plastic the size of my smaller close-up pad (11"x16"), and two pieces half that size (8"x11"). I taped these together with duct tape leaving a 1/4" gap between them. Now I have a practice mirror that doubles as a case for the pad. I keep the mirror and pad in my briefcase and use them to practice everyday. Total cost: $12 + some duct tape.
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BenSchwartz Elite user Southern California 499 Posts |
I agree with Dan Watkins... try the video camera... because little do you know that most likely you will have people on the sides and ABOVE you. which can be hard... even sometimes you have people that are below. the mirror is great but doesn't serve it's full purpose.
Ben Schwartz
"The experience of astonishment is the experience of a clear, primal state of mind that they associate with a child's state of mind." ---- Paul Harris
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Xaero New user 50 Posts |
Having a friend burn your hands is another good way to see if you're flashing or not, if you're running short on cash.
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TonyTax New user Surrey, UK 16 Posts |
Great ideas here. I currently practice in front of 3 of the full length mirrored doors on our wardrobe - this gives me about 270 degrees of coverage. To start with it was a bit daunting seeing yourself from 3 angles - but it helped to show where the bad angles were. I now have a camera attached to my PC which is great for the action replays.
I love the idea of the mirror tiles and duct tape for a more portable approach to practicing. Regards TonyTax
Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.(Albert Szent-Gyorgy.)
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magiciandude New user Utah 67 Posts |
Personally I like to use a video camera because you can focus entirely on your trick and you dont have to worry about how the trick looks from a spectators point of veiw until you reveiw the tape.
Hope my words were of help! Lance R. Wilson
Magic is the psychology of the audience.
-Lance Wilson |
tglund Regular user Broomfield, CO, USA 115 Posts |
Quote:
On 2002-08-20 03:33, magiciandude wrote: I agree with this, as you can also tell if you are giving anything away with your eyes or other facial expressions which when you practice in front of a mirror you are altering your normal performance as you are now concentrating on staring into a mirror while you perform the effect. |
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