Is it my verbal presentation or is it my handling skills ? It allways occur to me when say.. eg , you do a DL and u say, " ok Ill put the 6 of hearts on the table since its not your card. " Imm. my friends will reply.. Im sure thats not the 6 of hearts. Aurght ! how frustrating !!! So therefore Ive been trying other ways to fool those smart Aleks out there! whenever do something they must come and chap in and say or this this this. oh u did this oh i know that is not the card.. oh.. blah blah blah... irritating. So i was wondering whether the syle of my presentation should change or my hands.. are they too noisy? like they will go " I knew you did something i could hear something , but i dun know what u did.." - my magic friends also told me that before. What should I do ?

i think that handling plays a big part when you look normal doing your sleights they will be less suspicious so if u are loose and look normal with your sleights i dont think there is a problem there in handling. for the verbal part i'm not too sure but I always talk slowly and normal not like im in a rush to hide something.

oh ya and doing magic to your friends who know you well is a little difficult in my opinion. From my personal experience I also had problems like you but when i do magic for my friend's friend they are always blown away and they enjoy the magic. Try to do magic to some strangers and see if you get the same stuff.

I also have this problem!!! Ya.. I totally think that handling plays a very important part now.. After talking to some others.. Like the way u handle a normal card in a normal game, if u doing a DL, u have to do it the same way.. And being normal is very important.. I think abt this few pointers and start playing around wif the cards..

Dun know whether i did any improvement anot.. But trying to.. Another way is to beat them out of it.. Use a Dup*****e.. Then u DL it, Showing the Dup*****e, Then u turn over and put on the table.. If they say, i sure its not that card, u turn over the turn and throw onto their face.. Okie joking.. Then they will keep their mouth shut for a while.. Then u do a small ambitious routine.. Put the card into the deck, lost it and it appears to the top, and seriously they will be kick away.. Well, they might say, i think there is a dup*****e card, u can turn over and run through the deck,(take note of the dup*****e card though, run a few cards together when u are near it) and if they still not convinced and pester on.. Then i dun think its worth it to do anymore magic for them..

Juz my opinion and ideas.. Dun need to really follow my way of thinking..

My 2 cent thoughts..

Ok let a noob give you some advice if you believe I am a noob that is lol.. And its true I am.. so just take it with a pinch of salt..lol

1) Practice...

2) Showmanship...

3) Confident...

4) Be natural....

When doing magic you will always meet on smart alec and hecklers.. so you must always be prepare to handle things like this... Anway I did perfrom to my close friends and they enjoy it.. Magic is how you brings out the moods and how you handles your spec lol.. And you also must see when to perfrom it and not when you feel like it you perfrom it... If you do that when people is not in the mood to see your magic they will get piss if you force them to so they will heck you lol..

Presnetation amd misdirection is really important too.. I am still training on that lol... Style try to do it with your own style.. the style you feel comfortable with.. you do not need to follow excatly how the DVD teaches you to present the effect (Hope you know wat I mean).

When meet on this kind of suitation stay clam continue your perfromance and don't ... I repeat don't show signs that you fail the effect.. If you really fail try to make a joke out of it and do another effect.. :)

I think that is all the crap I have to say.. All I can say is practice till perfection and then perfrom it with confident and make it look natural lol... :D

Perhaps its your handling and presentation?

"The spectator will always disagree with what you say' -Greg Wilson

Well... perhaps you could just palce the card down nonchalantly and not make a big fuss outta it.

Another way is, once you place the card down, immediately move on to do something, misdirect them to the deck.

Pink Elephants.

By saying " ok Ill put the 6 of hearts on the table since its not your card. ", the mind automatically blocks out all negatives, and directs itself straightly to the idea of "the 6 of hearts IS the card"

Simple as that. Don't run when you're not being chased ;)

-Kev

yeah, try not to mention wat the card is too many times eg. This 6 of hearts is not ya card rite? ok watch watch...i will put the 6 of hearts down here".

I mean u can see that by mentioning the 6 of hearts down too many times, this will make the spectator think.... "man i know the card is the freaking 6 of hearts. i am not blind man." and he will start to be suspecious coz u mentioned it too many times. I mean they can already see it, so no need to mention...

i hope that helps. :)

MagicB

Personally, I never name the cards I show.

I go "Was this your card" rather than "Was the 6 of hearts your card". Its a subtle difference but it goes a LONG way.

hmm... thats true.. but i hate it hen i do my whatever routine half way and at mid point they ill just keep interrupting me. maybe i should tell them, let me finish my trick first.. but of course if u show it to a stranger, the reaction will definately be greater.. much greater ! in fact everytime even if i flip over a single card hey will think its a DL. that why im even trying to change my DL by not holding a break and just riffling to the top X cards from teh long side of teh deck so its less suspicious.. playing ard with diff ways

You have to understand that perfomring for friends is always different as to performing to a stranger. Friends will tend to interrupt during mid peformance and sometimes they may even spoil the effect.

That's why when a friend/colleague ask me to show them an effect, I don't usually perform for them.

Buaya gives pretty good advice on the patter used.

When performing for friends, the first time they hold u in awe, the second time, they try to look for your methods. from then on, its a downhill ride for you :P

Once, i tried to perform a mentalism effect. But due to the nature of its effect, i need to tell some grandfather story. In the middle of the presentation, they interrupted me:

"Hey jus show the effect. don't tell me story!!"

I was like duh..not all effects are purely sleight of HAND and i WAS at THE EFFECT!!!

so i guess what you are facing is natural. Just change to another group if the one you are performing to becomes inpatient about your effects. ^_^

the problem raised is due to poor presentation.

too much attention is on that card and the presentation adds to it.

try to imagine that the situation is actually happening,

there will be feelings of shock (so u put on that expression), than a short time for analysis and trying to solve the problem (so u pause and think...), then u will speak (unnaturally, stammering...)

duplicate that! dont put too much attention on that card, put attention on the NEXT card.

"and i find your card, the 6 of hearts! no? this isnt ur card? um, i...i... (long pause, thinking and fidgeting) okok, erm, i, just give me another try, i'll get it this time, and i now find the 8 of spades that is your card! not again? this cant be... er... are u lying to me? no? what was your card then? the 4 of clubs? but... that was the first card i showed u! (reveal the first card to much laughter)"

performing for friends just takes MUCH more skill in audience management... friends are great as if u can get past them, u can get past practically anybody! kinda of a test/practice subject...

I totally agree to this.

And I want to mention something very important:
Not all effects suit your personality.

I'm sorry folks but this is true.

For example:

If this ever comes up, mentalism is not for you. Go for more direct stuff with less patter and more action.

The reason some things work on strangers and not to your friends is because the strangers do not know what your personality is like. Plus that to the fact that it is not polite to point out mistakes of someone you just met.

So the bottom line is this: If you don't have the personality, don't do it!

Personality influences your friends' specific behavioural reaction towards anything that you do.

ZzaG

BELIEVE that you are doing real magic, and not just a technical-sounding DL. You gotta believe that you are a magician, not a card technician.

Concerning DLs: 1st step, turn over one card, show it to yourself. Next, do a DL, show it to yourself. Now, ask yourself. "Do they look the SAME"? If no, please repeat the above procedure all over again. If you they look the same, why not try doing a TL? :g: On the technical side (at home and practising), you gotta be extremely critical on sleights. On the magical side (in front of friends), you gotta be natural. In the end, the above two points MUST work together.

Don't rely totally on patter. I personally use a lot of patter. But when used sparingly, in conjunction with proper body language, your act can and will carry you VERY far.

If you capture your audience's attention real well, maybe by garnishing an old trick with new presentation, they will not even think about how you did it.

Just one question. Are you doing the trick to amaze your friends, or to simply show off you technicality? If its the former, you have to amaze yourself in the first place. If its the 2nd, well, try being a card shark.. B)



Food for thought (man, this is becoming habitual!): Can you handle a crowd of 5? Can you introduce youself and talk about anything, non-stop for even 5mins? Can you tell a fairy tale that everyone has heard of, and yet, still capture EVERY SINGLE PERSON'S attention? Can you make everyone believe that it really happened a long long time ago?

If you can, patter is the thing for you. If you can't, then your sleights have to be super good, or you gonna have a tough time convincing your audience that it IS magic. You could try those stuff that do not require patter in the 1st place, or rely totally on body language.

P.S. Try substituting the word 'believe' for 'act' and vice versa for all the posts including mine. ;)

Wow guys, great posts coming from lots of people.

One thing though, I'd always choose a card effect with proper patter to one with just music/actions.

Yes I do enjoy SOME card effects with just music like Nique's IF competition routine, or Copperfield performing Grandpa Aces... but those have special settings.

For everything else, please use patter. For times when you need to switch out a card, create an offbeat moment, and execute it.

Here's a principle when presenting magic which I live by.

"Always statements, never questions."

Examples?

Don't
"The card is in the middle right? Is this fair?"
Do
"The card is lost in the deck and it doesn't get any fairer than this."


Don't
"Can you pick a card please?"
Do
"Please pick a card."


But yes ...there is a reverse application to this principle. How?

Gregory Wilson might have said "The spectator will always disagree with what you say."

I say "The spectator might not agree with you, but he will always agree with himself."

In other words, it's their self-confirmation which makes what you do convincing, not your hopeful plea after executing a bold move. Confusing eh? Read on.


Don't
"You just saw me put your card on the table right?"

Even if they did believe initially that there was no switch, your question compels them to DOUBLE CHECK. Thus you're screwed.

Do

-Show DL, turn it back face down.-

"What card was that again?" -Look up at them-

"Jack of hearts" -Place switched out card on table as they reply-

Continue with your routine.


It's non-chalance that creates these offbeat moments.

What are offbeat moments?
Moments of relaxation in a routine where all heat is taken off the magician.

These moments serve as the greatest misdirection... and thus allow the boldest of moves.

How are offbeat moments created?

Relaxation or a break in concentration.

Examples: When a routine appears to have ended, through laughter, a reaction after a strong effect.

Let's summarize.

Always statements never questions. Spectator self-confirmation, not magician's hopeful plea.

Remember, you do not have to report the obvious to them.
Reason being, the obvious does not have to be proven.

Huron

hey Huron, i learnt a few things there from what u said.. .. well im out to amaze my friends first.. and my DL looks exactly the same. maybe its just cos they know that everytime i flip over a card they wil smell a rat, but true enuff ill try not asking qns and by actually doing a DL, flip it back and the spectator what card that was and putting it down gives them a more convincing feeling that .. , " oh ya i saw the card.. im very sure i saw it.. and they back themselves up by mentioning it because u asked hem to.." makes sense due... ill give it a shot.. thanks for all your help guys.. BUYAKASHA !

yea. like others have said, dun name the card. What i usually do is something like this:

"And your card, is on top; the 6 of hearts."
"NOOOOOO..." giggles, thinking i screwed up
"It isnt? Ok... I'll put that card down first.."

There. Subtle change in verbal language.