My Repertoire

[notsoltd]

So, I have been looking into threads about what your arsenal should be like. I wanted to post my arsenal and see what you guys think as far as variety, props, what effects could be taken away and what types of effects could be added. Here we go:

Cards

• Biddle Trick
• Back in Time
• Evidence (perfectly compliments "Back in Time")
• Ace Routine
• Paper Clipped
• ACR
• Card to Mouth
• Bigger Finish
• Fish Bowl
• The Main Attraction
• Blindsided
• Inivisible Deck

Coins

• 3 Coins Across
• Smashed
• Fresh Scent
• Heist
• Wrapture
• Slow Motion Coins

Ordinary Objects

• Raw Linkage (rubber bands)
• Stairway (rubber bands/dollar bill)
• Border Crossing (postcard and golf ball)
• Exit Strategy (Finger ring and straws)
• Spiral (notepad and dollar bill)
• Entranced (tic tacs)
• Babylon Band (rubber band)
• Signature Transpo (slips of paper)
• Dough (pencil and dollar bill)
• TNR Dollar Bill
• The coin in tic tac box on FIVE (cant think of the name)

Anyhow, can I get your thoughts on my repertoire?

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Blindside462]

Any kind of trick is fine really. Those are all powerful.. Now that you have a list, categorize them in this fashion:

Opener-

Filler-

Closer-

Once you start doing that put a list together of 3-4 tricks for a SET. Then practice that SET over and over so it flows.

I wish I knew this once I knew a whole bunch of tricks. So when you're asked to perform you are really never caught off guard and you basically have a scripted set ready to go without even thinking about it.

 

[joshrobarts]

filler is a bad label. a better way to look at it would be

Opener- quick flashy, grabs attention

Body- More in depth, building upon previous, working towards a climax,

Closer- Powerful, hits deep, leaves them wanting more but not sure they can handle it. Also always explore openers as closers and vice versa.

 

[chriswiehl]

not a bad rep. what you want to order them in is what they said above. openers. body and closers.
i dont know all the effects and what they are, but looks like a bunch of sankey things. which are great workers. so thats great (i know u were talking about resturaunt magic) so those are things to keep.
next thing to think about is pocket management. get things where you wont be wondering what pocket everything is in.

i have a very free list of tricks to do as closers and openers and fillers. i sometimes mix them up here and there as i feel fit.
Openers: sponge balls, flash paper to deck, zero gravity, pick a card loose a card kind of trick,
middle: biddle, sponge balls, rabbit from hat, static, card to mouth, lemon production, coin bend
end, fork bending, rubik remembered, identity, wow, coin/card in lemon, braid bill.

so you can mix those and add or subtract things.
but try to order them like that.

 

[notsoltd]

Ok cool I will look over everything and see what I can do! And yes, a lot of it is Sankey stuff! lol

Btw thanks guys!

 

[Rneogy]

I see you like Sankey, especially Hardcore...

 

[notsoltd]

Yes I am a huge Sankey fan! Hardcore is sick! But, the things I am looking at to get for christmas consist of no Sankey material

 

[Steerpike]

I'm more interested in what you do with all this.

 

[ChrisWiens]

I wanted to post my arsenal and see what you guys think as far as variety, props, what effects could be taken away and what types of effects could be added. Here we go:

I wouldn´t recommend to build your repertoire by recommendations of other magicians. The perspective of a magician is different from a layman´s perspective.
They may estimate whether a trick works for them/their audience or not, but they can´t tell you whether it`ll work for you/your audience.
First see if the material fits your character and act. You have to aks yourself: Does that trick fit to my act? Is it placed at the right 'position'. Does it flow nicely with my other parts? And many more questions...That´s not as easy as it may sound, but with a little bit of hard work, you´ll get a feeling of what works for you. It´s a kind of preselection.
Second step is to perform the material (you´ve preselected) under real conditions for real people. Laymen are the best indicators you´ll ever get. Who´s a better indicator than people you´re doing magic for ?
If there´s something confusing or something that just doesn´t play well, you´ll notice. Make notes, talk to them at the end to get some important feedback and constantly think about why something works or doesn´t.
Don´t hesitate to throw things out of your repertoire, even if you love these effects.



I´m a Sankey fan, too. Really good thinker, teacher and a very funny and friendly guy with a weird sense of humor. His effects are generally practical and effective to lay people. I´m very picky and critical about my magic purchases (is there anyone in the magic world who has more releases than Jay Sankey?), but I can honestly say the Sankey material I have was more than worth the money I paid.

 

[notsoltd]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Man, I have been a Sankey fan for a long time, but the more I watch Hardcore, the more I grow away from it. A lot of the effects just don't seem practical to me. With the effect climber, IMHO, the gimmick doesn't even look convincing. It did in the video but I made it and see it and I just think "How in the hell is this going to work..." I guess I'll just have to try it. Smashed seemed cool, but I don't think it is very convincing. I almost feel that it would make the spec. almost immediately want to say "Where is the other coin?"

Bigger Finish, Babylon Band, Dough, Wrapture, Exit Strategy, Entranced, Spiral, Fishbowl, Heist, Main Attraction, and Border Crossing I can see myself DEFINITELY using!

I have kind of decided that I like to do magic with spongeballs, cards, coins, and ordinary objects.

I am also really wanting to work restaurants - I'm thinking for christmas picking up Strong Magic and David Stones The Real Secrets of Magic vol. 1 and 2.

 

[Luis Vega]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Man, I have been a Sankey fan for a long time, but the more I watch Hardcore, the more I grow away from it. A lot of the effects just don't seem practical to me. With the effect climber, IMHO, the gimmick doesn't even look convincing. It did in the video but I made it and see it and I just think "How in the hell is this going to work..." I guess I'll just have to try it. Smashed seemed cool, but I don't think it is very convincing. I almost feel that it would make the spec. almost immediately want to say "Where is the other coin?"

Bigger Finish, Babylon Band, Dough, Wrapture, Exit Strategy, Entranced, Spiral, Fishbowl, Heist, Main Attraction, and Border Crossing I can see myself DEFINITELY using!

I have kind of decided that I like to do magic with spongeballs, cards, coins, and ordinary objects.

I am also really wanting to work restaurants - I'm thinking for christmas picking up Strong Magic and David Stones The Real Secrets of Magic vol. 1 and 2.

I think you are still young in magic...I wouldn´t recomend to work in restaurants yet...from your posts I can see you are not ready, my advice would be to keep performing and in some time maybe busk in some places to get yourself some tips...I would call this an advancement before actually working for a pay in a restaurant...

...and of course watch and see The Real Secrets of Magic, also check the restaurant workers forums in The Magic Cafe.....

 

[notsoltd]

It will surely be a while before I can work! I am really starting to learn to analyze what I have and routine the stuff! I will probably watch The Real Secrets, take notes on the info, learn what effects I like and what effects work and then go from there! I know quite a bit of stuff with ordinary objects and I really like things that are flashy and visual. Metal is another thing I am getting - I am decent with coins thanks to Bobo's but I want to advance what I already know and learn more so, my girlfriend ordered me Metal.

I also haven't decided if I want to add any mentalism to my repertoire - I do I.D. and Paperclipped...that is about as far as my "mentalism" goes

 

[Luis Vega]

It will surely be a while before I can work! I am really starting to learn to analyze what I have and routine the stuff! I will probably watch The Real Secrets, take notes on the info, learn what effects I like and what effects work and then go from there! I know quite a bit of stuff with ordinary objects and I really like things that are flashy and visual. Metal is another thing I am getting - I am decent with coins thanks to Bobo's but I want to advance what I already know and learn more so, my girlfriend ordered me Metal.

I also haven't decided if I want to add any mentalism to my repertoire - I do I.D. and Paperclipped...that is about as far as my "mentalism" goes

Restaurant work is much more than the tricks you do....the repertoire is just a little part of it...PM if you are interested about restaurant work...

 

[Randy]

If you really want to know how to do restaurant magic, I'd suggest you start scripting a solid act and also do some research on marketing and other stuff. Because like Luis said, it's more than just doing a bunch of tricks and then moving on. You have to know how to market yourself AND the restaurant as well. You also have to know how to present yourself to the managers and a bunch of other things as well.

 

[RealityOne]

I'm more interested in what you do with all this.

That is my question too. What is your patter? How do you routine the effects?

 

[notsoltd]

That is why I posted this thread! To get some thoughts on what I have and some help routining! I am working on making 3 solid routines!

 

[Toby]

That is why I posted this thread! To get some thoughts on what I have and some help routining! I am working on making 3 solid routines!

I think what Steer and R1 are trying to say is, if you give us your presentation of each effect, and how you perform them, we can than help you put them in a nice flowing routine.

 

[notsoltd]

Cards

• Biddle Trick (I like to perform this like a mental magic trick i.e. I pull out 5 cards from the deck hoping one is theirs and I find out which one is theirs by making it vanish and go to the deck)
• Back in Time (I like to do evidence, then really mix up the deck and follow it with this)
• Evidence (perfectly compliments "Back in Time")
• Ace Routine (I start this one off with a 4-for-4 switch making the spec choose the aces, then I put the aces back into the pack. Then, only they touch the cards, I never do, but they still find the 4 aces. Then I do Doc Daley's Last Trick, and sometimes I will follow up with Mercury cards where the aces turn over one by one and then change into 4 other cards)
• Paper Clipped (I perform this like I predicted a card the day before and it turns out to be their signed card)
• ACR (Don't really have a presentation for this. Kinda just let the magic speak for itself)
• Card to Mouth (I end my ACR with this)
• Bigger Finish (I usually have the spec choose the card and put it in the pack. I say if I could find it, that would be awesome. But it would be even more awesome if they found it. I say since they aren't a magician I will give them 4 chances.....)
• Fish Bowl (Sometimes I will use this to finish my ACR but haven't done it much because I am self conscious about one sleight. I will usually explain that nobody trusts magicians hands so we are going to bind up one of them to make it even more impossible.)
• The Main Attraction (Cardboard magnets)
• Blindsided (I present this like I am trying to cut to the specs card only by touching and feeling where it is in the pack)
• Inivisible Deck (It is fun to present this as a dream like I had a dream of a card and when I woke up I turned it over in the pack. I ask the spec to name the card that I turned over...)
• In the OP I also forgot to add my new favorite, Con Cam Coincidencia
• Cards Across (I have both specs count and make sure that they have 10 cards. I tell one of them to imagine one card turning invisible, floating out of her hand, across the room, and into the other specs hand. I play this up really big 3 times for 3 cards and then finish with 7 in her hand and 13 cards in the other's hand)

Coins

• 3 Coins Across (Present it like teleportation. If I do it for girls, I tell them that Mr. Kennedy keeps jumping closer to them to get a better look)
• Smashed (Haven't performed yet, I don't feel comfortable with it)
• Fresh Scent (Don't say much here, just let the magic talk)
• Heist (I present this by talking about larger stage illusions and tell how this is the same thing but in a smaller, up close scale)
• Wrapture (I talk about how coins get soft when you warm them up and then no talking during the EPIC bend)
• Slow Motion Coins (I don't say much here. I just make sure that they are sure that they see all the coins go into my hands)

Ordinary Objects

• Raw Linkage (rubber bands) (Present this like in the DVD that it is linking rings with rubber bands)
• Stairway (rubber bands/dollar bill) (Almost no talking. I let the magic do the work here)
• Border Crossing (postcard and golf ball) (Haven't performed it yet but I want to)
• Exit Strategy (Finger ring and straws) (Tell them how the straws are strong plastic but I still do the penetrations)
• Spiral (notepad and dollar bill) (Almost no talking other than explaining the tear of the bill and giving them the wand)
• Entranced (tic tacs) (Haven't performed this but I may just tear a corner off a card and make it melt into the tic tac box)
• Babylon Band (rubber band) (I really like this but don't know if I can use it - the ink keeps fading on my rubber band. Won't stay on more than a few hours)
• Signature Transpo (slips of paper) (Explain how I hope for my signature to be famous one day so I want to give it to them. Then say how awesome of a spectator they were, I want their sig. too. Then they switch places)
• Dough (pencil and dollar bill) (I like the patter about why they call money "dough")
• TNR Dollar Bill (catch them off guard by tearing their dollar bill. Once that happens I apologize and tell them I owe them a dollar. Instead of giving them another one, I restore theirs.)

Anyhow, can I get your thoughts on my repertoire?

Thanks,
Rob

This is my OP, I added 2 card tricks I left out originally, and I put my presentation in italics next to each effect!

I hope that is what you guys were asking for! Thanks for all the help everyone!

 

[Toby]

This is my OP, I added 2 card tricks I left out originally, and I put my presentation in italics next to each effect!

I hope that is what you guys were asking for! Thanks for all the help everyone!

Those are all pretty much generic performances, and they are really all over the place. No wonder you cannot come up with a routine. Check this thread out http://forums.theory11.com/showthread.php?23354-Which-group-are-you-in , from Morgan B, and you will realize that you are the fourth group of performers.

One thing that you need the most right now is the actuall REASON for doing each effect. Once you have a reason, presentation will come easier, and than routine will write itself.

 

[notsoltd]

Ok I see what you are saying. I'm not saying I want to routine them all together. That is just how I would perform them if I was asked to see a trick and I did that trick. I want to find what goes good together and rework my presentation to roll them together.

I just thought of this:

Start with Raw Linkage. Tell them that I always liked the idea of the big linking rings but I would rather do the magic close up where they can really see it. Do Raw Linkage.

Then have someone lend you a bill - tell them that the difference between stage and close up not only is that they are involved but that it's also easier for them to hand you money and act like you are going to put it in your pocket lol. Then, do Stairway. Tell them how strong a bill is and that it is able to move thru solid objects without any harm.

To finish, you prove how strong a dollar bill is by tearing it, folding it into a small rectangle, and restoring it.