Hey guys,
I was thinking about developing patter for a small card routine the other day, and a thought hit me. And it's this thought that I want to share and discuss with you.
As I began to develop this patter, I decided to take on the mindset of a layperson. I videoed my performance of this piece, and then sat and thought; "What kind of dialogue would make this convincing?".
And I found that as I did each 'move', I didn't want myself to talk about how much more special the Aces are than other cards. This isn't justifying why I'm covering the deck from view (for example).
Gradually, the idea came to me that the moves you do in your magic must be justified. Don't jump to any conclusions just yet, let me explain in a little more detail.
Picture it yourself. A magician comes up to you, and after the small talk, he begins an Ambitious Card Routine. He says;
"Now, it's interesting you picked the Six of hearts..." He takes the card, and inserts it into the deck. "I'll take it, and put it into the deck". As he finishes his sentence, his palms shoot upwards as he executes a pass. "And now, watch... I click my fingers - and it's back at the top of the deck!"
This'll probably generate mediocre reactions.
If we take the same small routine, and really justify the sleights and actions you're doing, we get a much more powerful piece of magic. Let me explain again with an example of what the modified script would look like.
"Now, watch closely. This is your card, yes? Which you chose completely freely from the deck? Well, I asked you to do that for a reason, and it's because I want to show you something interesting I discovered not long ago. Let me explain. If I take your card, like this, and I bury it into the pack - about half way down - it's now clear it's physically impossible for the top card to be yours. Now, watch, if I wave my hands a bit like this... your card travels - inconceivably - through not just one, but twenty six cards, melting through them until it reaches the top of the deck. A miracle, it seems."
This is just a small example. By giving reasons for what you are doing, it eliminates that doubt in your spectator's mind that your actions are suspicious.
However, this type of convincing will only work well if you're confident. You really have to make the spectator believe your lie, and when you do, it really pays off.
I soon intend to film two separate videos with separate spectators, one using basic patter and another using what I've just mentioned, as a more visual demonstration. They should both be up by the end of the week - I just feel that text on its own makes it difficult to explain something like this.
I'm interested on your thoughts on this, please, don't hesitate to reply.
Thanks,
-Sam H
I was thinking about developing patter for a small card routine the other day, and a thought hit me. And it's this thought that I want to share and discuss with you.
As I began to develop this patter, I decided to take on the mindset of a layperson. I videoed my performance of this piece, and then sat and thought; "What kind of dialogue would make this convincing?".
And I found that as I did each 'move', I didn't want myself to talk about how much more special the Aces are than other cards. This isn't justifying why I'm covering the deck from view (for example).
Gradually, the idea came to me that the moves you do in your magic must be justified. Don't jump to any conclusions just yet, let me explain in a little more detail.
Picture it yourself. A magician comes up to you, and after the small talk, he begins an Ambitious Card Routine. He says;
"Now, it's interesting you picked the Six of hearts..." He takes the card, and inserts it into the deck. "I'll take it, and put it into the deck". As he finishes his sentence, his palms shoot upwards as he executes a pass. "And now, watch... I click my fingers - and it's back at the top of the deck!"
This'll probably generate mediocre reactions.
If we take the same small routine, and really justify the sleights and actions you're doing, we get a much more powerful piece of magic. Let me explain again with an example of what the modified script would look like.
"Now, watch closely. This is your card, yes? Which you chose completely freely from the deck? Well, I asked you to do that for a reason, and it's because I want to show you something interesting I discovered not long ago. Let me explain. If I take your card, like this, and I bury it into the pack - about half way down - it's now clear it's physically impossible for the top card to be yours. Now, watch, if I wave my hands a bit like this... your card travels - inconceivably - through not just one, but twenty six cards, melting through them until it reaches the top of the deck. A miracle, it seems."
This is just a small example. By giving reasons for what you are doing, it eliminates that doubt in your spectator's mind that your actions are suspicious.
However, this type of convincing will only work well if you're confident. You really have to make the spectator believe your lie, and when you do, it really pays off.
I soon intend to film two separate videos with separate spectators, one using basic patter and another using what I've just mentioned, as a more visual demonstration. They should both be up by the end of the week - I just feel that text on its own makes it difficult to explain something like this.
I'm interested on your thoughts on this, please, don't hesitate to reply.
Thanks,
-Sam H