The Importance of Timing

[RickEverhart]

Upon reading chapter sixteen of "Strong Magic" I found myself beginning to think more a bit about my timing in my routines.

Timing is perhaps one of the most important subjects in magic. Many moves depend on timing and misdirection or the moment of relaxation. Timing is not an easy skill to develop and requires many performance to learn.

Most amateur magicians simply have not performed for enough audiences to acquire great timing.

I would like to hear more thoughts on this subject. There is timing in misdirection and timing in patter as well.

Definition: Timing is the time relationship between two different things.

 

[Wallmott]

In close up magic i think that timing and tenssion is the two most important things.

If moves are done at the wrong time and with too much tenssion even the most flawless technique may easily be spotted.

 

[RickEverhart]

Ahhh yes...good point. Too much tension or forced movement maybe. I agree.

 

[shinichikudo992000]

I would like to add 1 more point into this.

In close up, it is important that the performers know and understand the property of MISDIRECTION, TIMING, AND TENSION.

In the past months, I'm studying Slydini. He stated that he can teaches you how to vanish any object, as long as it fit in your hand with a little to no tension, but you'll need misdirection.

 

[Mr.MadMan]

Okay why is everyone talking about Close-Up ?

Timing is crucial in every magic situation. Timing starting from when to execute a sleight to when to be serious or when to be funny. Timing to some degree is learnable but to totally demolish with it you need to be born with it.

But looking at David Stone you can go really far with hard work!
But timing is an overall word to me but it is one of the most important ones, besides theatrics and rapport.

M.

 

[descartes]

Upon reading chapter sixteen of "Strong Magic" I found myself beginning to think more a bit about my timing in my routines.

Timing is perhaps one of the most important subjects in magic. Many moves depend on timing and misdirection or the moment of relaxation. Timing is not an easy skill to develop and requires many performance to learn.

Most amateur magicians simply have not performed for enough audiences to acquire great timing.

I would like to hear more thoughts on this subject. There is timing in misdirection and timing in patter as well.

Definition: Timing is the time relationship between two different things.

Timing is important to all kinds of magic, but I think there are some particular things to focus on with respect to close up.

First of all, anyone who is interested in learning how timing and choreography can be used to dramatically improve one's magic should read up Slydini's magic.

Slydini's magic is highly dependent on timing and choreography of sleights and less on the burnability of the sleights themselves. I'm also going to go out on a limb here and say that if you master his ideas and methods, you can get away with a lot of stuff that you cannot do with just a mechanical mastery of sleight of hand. This is a concept that I'm still grappling with and it is not easy to understand for the novice magician.

I may put down my thoughts on this in more detail some time later, but anyone who has systematically studied Slydini's magic will be able to expand greatly on these ideas.

EDIT: Many people refer to Slydini as a master of misdirection. While that is true, you can find lessons about misdirection in many places. There are very few sources for learning timing within the context of close up and Slydini is a must for the serious student.

 

[shinichikudo992000]

This subject is kinda hard to put into words.

In my opinion, Timing is all in your experience. As you progress your skill, you will know when is proper time to execute a move or input a joke, etc. Its different in every situation.

On the other hand, Tension is just practice. The more practice, the less tension when you are performing.

Last, Misdirection. Misdirection based on the divided mind of the spectator. Such as talking and moving at the same time, that is one of the most basic of misdirection. The advance misdirection the choreograph of the body, mixes with you talking, moving, and believing. Believing is like when you are fake transfer an object, and you are believing that you have that object in your hand but in the reality its not.

Avoid doing things fast, because it ruin the purposed of Timing, Misdirection, and tension.

 

[Sk8r_St3v3]

Take David Copperfields masterpieces as an example, some of the largest ones he has done take incredible timing and planning. Some solely rely on timing to create the desired illusion to full effect.

I think people rush magic, especially close up, a lot nowadays. From what i have seen of performances from both contemporary amateur and professional magicians, everything is sped up, and rushed. I think people are more focused on getting to the end of the trick and garnering the reactions, than they are on the trick itself.

This leads to them rushing certain crucial stages that bring down whole performances, or at least stunt their impact.

Go back one hundred years with magic and you'll see magicians panning out tricks to sometimes double the length that we do nowadays, even with simple, short tricks.

Timing is one of the most overlooked aspects of magics in our current day and age.

 

[Chicken]

To confuse things a little, there are two types of tension.

Mechanical tension, and dramatic tension.

The first type is like a tension in your palm, when beginners learn to palm coins-

And the second type is a theatrical tool. In performance, there are basically two "modes" you can be in. Tension, which is the concentration of attention, or relaxation, which is the release of tension.

 

[worldwideme]

i just read that chapter to!

i feel that timing can be learned channeled and focused to a point...but theres no substitution to performance hours where one will slowly develop a more natural sense of timing.