By magic I mean conjuring skill and typical presentation, i.e. ACR with some remarkable story you make up, etc.

By psychology I mean suggestion, NLP skills, etc...

Just a casual poll, hope you guys respond... thanx...

It is easy to test this out, u try doing a magic trick to a person without any psychology push. He will end up, wow. Okie, u did it very fast.

If u do it to a person with good psychology, he will WOW, How u did it?

Magic doesn't happen in the hands, or the eyes... it all happens in the MIND.

-Kev

that's totally right kev. look at me signature. B)

3 votes on Psychology more than Magic?

are you guys sure you all understood what he was asking? Read the quote.

Hmm... 4 votes on more psychology than magic....

I think i confused you guys a little bit here...

Do you actually make use of psychological techniques in your magic? Do you actually make use of suggestion or "behavior reading" to enhance your audience reactions? Or you don't really rely on these skills to present your magic...

I think that will help you on the poll better...

If you look at the times that most of us posted, they were in the late hours of the night, or in my case, 3 in the morning. That doesn't leave for much room for a process most of us refer to as "careful scrutinization", hence the confusion. Sorry :P

Anywho, thanks for clearing that up, Ken. Now that I understand the topic question better, I would take back my vote and then... not vote. There's no "50-50" selection there :D. When I perform, I'm aware that I have real, THINKING people being involved in the magic. Being able to "read" these people might make that Classic force a lot easier. It might help me recognize a heckler on first sight. It might make them TEND to say "blue" when asked to name a color. It might even let you know if they're hitting on you :blink: But of course, if you do all these psychological shenanigans and it's not exactly presented in the fashion of magic... well, think Darren Brown. It's not exactly magic, and it's not pure mentalism either.

Brown kicks ass, but I prefer to be distinct as a "magician". Hence the 50-50.

-Kev

Yeah, i share the same sentiments. I'm voting for 50-50

Hey hey hey...

Thanks for the replies!! I am still tracking this topic so do poll if you havent do so yet and add your comments!!

i assumed misdirection and attention control is psychology...

Psychology is like influencing one's mind. I think misdirection is actually under magic. This is because magic is what you see whereas psychology is what you think. Misdirection falls in the former category.

I'll be just magic.... I don't have much materials on psychology....

However sometimes I'll use magic to achieve psychology effect....

Spread the cards, let them pick one.....instead of reading their mind and name the card I'll ask some "psychology" questions

" When you think of your card you think of what animal?"

"Now i have narrow it down to 3 cards.... 3 of hearts, 5 of hearts and 7 of hearts...... 3H... 5H...7H....."stare into their eyes and name the card..... "Your pupil moved abit when i named the card....."

It's quite fun actually..... :)