cellphone magic

[ninjabennie]

i was just wondering how many of you use your cell phone in your routines and how has it inpacted your magic as well as your audiences. i have found my cell can do a great many things and it is awesome!

 

[JFergz]

I do a lot of things with my phone such as iForce by Greg Rostami, iPhone Calculator Prediction which Dynamo performed on his TV special, and Cell by David Stone. I believe magic with our phones should only be limited to what our spectators are familiar with such as the calculator app and something that isn't too out of the ordinary such as the doodle app which is incorporated into iForce. Apps specifically made for a magic routine such as Chris Kenner's Rising Card app (which is good!) can push the idea of some form of gimmicky trickery onto our spectators because it's specifically tailored for a magic trick which the spectators can clearly see. So what I'm trying to argue here is that magic with your cellphone can be awesome because it fits right in your pocket and you won't leave the house without it. But I believe routines with cellphones are only strong depending on what you choose to do with them. If you decide to download cheesy magic trick apps anyone can get on the app store or the android market, no one will be impressed let alone be fooled. But if the trickery mechanics behind the trick hide in plain sight, almost like sleight of hand, can leave a lasting impression on the spectator because your doing the magic with something organic instead of a pack of cards.

With this said, magic involving my phone have been proven to me as true crowd pleasers which have been friendly to me, the magician as my phone fits in my pocket and I can do routines with it right on the spot if someone asks me to do a trick and I don't have anything else on me (which nearly every magician has experienced once now and again)

 

[Chr!s]

A mobile phone is one of the most organic props to use for magic in this day and age. I wish there was a bigger range of products available utilising phones. I use a few bits and pieces, including a really simple number force using the dial screen I came up with, not sure on how original/creative it actually is but it seems to do the trick, so to speak.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I rarely use anything technological in my magic. I'll use iForce and I'll use the calculator, but other than that I don't like having a phone involved. To me, it doesn't feel magical and if it doesn't feel magical to me I can't really put the presentation into it that will make it good. Others can, I can't. My main objections are that a) It provides an explanation by default. "The phone/app/whatever did it" and b) it just doesn't fit the style of magic I perform.

 

[Randy]

I rarely use anything technological in my magic. I'll use iForce and I'll use the calculator, but other than that I don't like having a phone involved. To me, it doesn't feel magical and if it doesn't feel magical to me I can't really put the presentation into it that will make it good. Others can, I can't. My main objections are that a) It provides an explanation by default. "The phone/app/whatever did it" and b) it just doesn't fit the style of magic I perform.

Kind of my problem with Iphone magic as well, unless you do something like pull a signed playing card OUT of the touch screen or something like that. I'd rather get most of the credit for what happened, rather than allow them to give the phone credit because than it goes from "OMG that was impossible, WoW!" to "neat, where I can download that?"

 

[Josh Burch]

I think we're getting away from the downloads in modern cell phone magic. I made a list a little while ago of a handful of cell phone magic on the wire.

Cell phone magic on the Wire

 

[ninjabennie]

i have no downloads on my cell and its over 3 years old but i have found that cards used with pictures on my cell does great