I have never ever heard any sort of "sound" either when performing, or watching someone perform CMH with our local red rubberbands. What kind of sound are we talking about? The move doesn't give way to anything that should cause any noise.

In any case, try avoid looking suspicious items when you're performing locally. This includes different looking rubberbands, foreign currency, etc. Even if its completely sleight of hand, the audience will think there's some trick with the prop.

That would mean we have to use MaMa shop cards. Since Bikes or Tallys aren't common here. Which reminds me, I saw a brand called Motorbikes with the same design as league backs except a motorbike is printed instead of a bicyle.

If your a purist who does only sleight of hand, won't handing out your props for examination convince them that there are normal even if suspicion occurs earlier on?

I believe some laymen think that whenever a magician brings out a deck, they are screaming "gimmicked cards! I seen them before!"

Actually that's being a little anal.....haha.

Cards aren't so suspect because many brands exist with different back designs. If your effect is purely sleight of hand or self-working, then it doesn't matter what kind of deck you use. But nobody has ever questioned the deck I'm using.

People however, will definitely ask why you are carrying around an American half dollar. Whatever reason you give, and no matter how legit it is, there is already unnecessary focus placed on the object.

I also never hand out anything for examination unless they ask for it. And usually they don't. They might reach over just to touch, but very few actually want to see it and jiggle with it.

Handing it out as part of your routine makes you appear a little too eager to show them "LOOK, it's DEFINITELY NOT THE PROP". That detracts from the bubble of wonder you've just created wih your performance.

This is all my opinion of course.

Just a thought.

- Raoul

Coin workers have a preference for 64 Kennedys or Walking Liberties, Morgans or Barbers. Those are out of circulation. No one questions "Hey why don't you use quarters or coins in circulation?"

Introducting an oddity in magic is very common. You need that something to make something out of nothing. The motivation behind having a wand is to show the reason for the magic ocurring is due to the tapping of the wand for eg in a cups and balls routine. Even a deck of cards is an oddity. Who seriously carries a pack or 2 around where ever they go. The moment you fish them out, people know your going to do a card trick.

1/2 dollars or dollar coins are bigger and more people can actually see the magic happen. Its clearer and the coins sound much nicer especially the silver ones.

Handling out stuff for examination is a very subjective issue. There isn't the need to run when you aren't being chased. However, examinability is sometimes what magicians are always looking towards when either purchasing an effect or producing one. See all those ads saying "Everything is examinbable at the end".

Being dirty is ok but the heat is best to be away from the gimmick at the end.

When you perform magic, either in a show, gig or just for friends. They know what they are expecting to see. Magic effects. So even with the addition of foreign currency, unusual looking props they know its part of the show and they would love to see the entire act. Its how you make use of props, oddities and your presentation that makes the show truely magical. Look at stage illusions. Do they make any sense?
Zig-Zag Lady or Sawing in Half illusion. Those are props to assist in making the impossible possible.

This is of course my personal opinion and in no way flaming anyone.

Good points all around. My personal opinion is that magic done with borrowed objects is the strongest kind of magic.

I don't think it's really necessary for EVERY magician to do magic with local stuff, but I think it's more impressive.

Mr Farid,

I was a little surprised to see I had made a new topic in this section. I thought I never used the internet while drunk, so how could I forget making a new thread? :P But thanks for cleaving out the discussion. Aloy, your mods are working hard monitoring every single thread! :D

Exo,

The wand is a nice oddity because people EXPECT us to have wands. It's what they've come to expect growing up and witnessing magicians. The wand HAS to be around. Few people question it now, they just take it for granted that it SHOULD be there. Us magicians however still run with it using it as a tool for misdirection. Our use hasn't changed, but the audience's perception has.

Way back when, people used to wonder about the wand. Why is it there? Because it assists in the magic. But how? It's only a stick. So therefore it is a stick that has magical properties.

Has anyone ever asked to examine the wand?

Never in my experience.

This excuse sounds valid, but I've always thought it was weak. My opninion, but I always felt it wasn't a good fullstop to the question they ask themselves. That's why I stick with local coins only.

Besides, how many people are we performing for? A shiny 50 cent piece is quite visible to even the most extreme cases of close-up, or even parlour.

True, because their main concern is performing for magicians. Debatable maybe, but in my opinion laymen don't give a hoot about examinability as long as their experience has been logical and clean.

If you use a Tenyo paddle or Hot Rod, you can always have them end clean, but because they look like some science fiction weapons people will always have a nagging doubt about them. We can definitely let them bring the items home to keep checking, and maybe in a few weeks they might realise that yes, there is no hidden button, but we can't do that in real life when we have to take away the props, or keep them in preparation for another effect or another audience.

I've always felt that when structuring routines, along the way you do subtle things to eliminate the possible explanations one by one.

Example: in Card Warp, I make them choose a card first. I get them to fold a card. I do the turnover bit with a plausible "oopsie" moment on my part. They feel the card, before, during and after the change. After I "trap the change". I open my hands palm up with all the pieces in them.

98% of my specs never touch the cards. It's an open invitation, but they don't. Those that do just finger the pieces gingerly for half a second before pulling away looking baffled. I feel that the handling has eliminated any cause of doubt that trick cards were used. The experience has been logical and clean. So logical result: Bewilderment. :D

I suppose it comes down to how you want to present your magic. I like the idea of doing cool things with "normal" items. This is perhaps a subdued version of Blaine's style. Nothing fancy, just simple items in amazing situations. I dislike props, and I don't like it when I cannot ease my own questions about something. I might be paranoid, but my specs might be even more so.

I also like to be ready impromptu. If I am used to half dollars and #19 rubberbands, then I won't be as ready to use the 50 cent pieces I got as change and the red rubberbands I just pulled off my chicken rice packet.

Just some thoughts.

- Raoul

As a kid, I always have the perception that magicians are equipped coins, cards and wands. And maybe a top hat with a bunny in it. Perhaps laymen also expect magicians to have coins and cards on them as well.

The validity of using foreign coins as stated were not excuses but opinions of mine. Perhaps your excuses but not mine. Excuses of not using that is.

I have to say I like [ work due to the added cleanliness and lesser moves to accomplish the same effect for eg coins across. That could be a reason I use half dollars. Maybe I would switch to 50cents when I have enough cashflow to get Lassen to make me a set in local currency.

For the record, I have never been asked why I don't use local coins. Maybe they were being polite but no one knows for sure. They do ask to see the coins before or after the effect just to admire them out of curiosity. Giving them the chance to feel them eliminates most thoughts of any gimmicks.

Laymen are smarter than we perceive at times. They do know about svengalis or TT and even IT. As for [ , I believe its still a well kept secret. Correct me if I am wrong on this.


On the issue of examinability:

Perhaps you have nice audience but I have faced with grabby people. Yes you may point out its all down to audience management but you know the chance of someone grabbing is still there. I believe knowing your stuff is examinable gives you that extra boost in confidence when performing.

Its true magicians are the people who care more about the examinability because a once unexaminable effect being marketed with a new method and having it examinable attracts us to have a look or even purchase it. That could just be a marketing strategy to create hype.

I have asked some close friends of mine after I done an effect. Would leaving the props down after performance for examination add to the strength of a routine. Most of them replied with a yes. They were laymen mind you. Not intentionally but just leaving them down instead of keeping them and proceeding on.

Since you mentioned about paddles, I have always marvelled at Porper's paddles. They look great and they pack a punch in that small little paddle stick. Paddles are fun in the right situations perhaps not in formal shows but definitely fun at an off beat moment or as a quickie.

Your entitled to your opinion and I am entitled to mine. Every magician has different approaches to an effect. It is what makes them unique. The kind of audience magicians work with differ as well. There are those who do it for celebs and royalty and there are those who do it for family gatherings and friends. It boils down to personal preference on whether you choose to use gimmicks and oddites. Its a love or hate thingy.

At the end of the day, its the reactions that you get and the satisfaction you derive that matters most. Use what works best for you in a real life situation.

I respect your choices and I believe they have served you well.

Cheers.

Whether its a prop, gimmick or something not usually found around us like cards will bring out a certain level of suspious. The audience may not show it by examining it but i think that it sort of plays down the effect.

This happens to us magicians as well. If you are those who watch demo videos from magic dealer on the net, and if you don't have a clue on how the trick was done, you tend to get amazed by tricks done with ordinary items. You are even more amazed by the product if the description goes like that "it is gimmickless and can be borrowed." In contrast should you see a odd items like the paddle rod or something you know its gimmick and hey, nothing special, just buy it and u got the secrets. Nothing really special and amazing. Cards too lies in this section, there are too many layman out there who know cards can be manipulate with sleights of hand, just not the methods.

Gimmicks are required to achieve something that sleights of hand and methods cannot accomplish. But as such, i feel that a gimmick that is in disguise of normal objects or totally concealed from the audience really plays up the effect from the audience.

For magicians i think we uses whatever we can in every possible ways to decieve the mind and no methods/gimmicks/props are bad. Its just a question of bringing out the best effect from the audience as that is what differentiate a good magician from an amatuer.

ANyway.. thats just my personal view on the topic.

Well, one can easily say that we're all entitled to our own opinions. But where's the fun in that? ;)

Anyway, I think that for coins, it's better if you use local currency. Why? Because my style of magic is using stuff that the audience can relate to. E.g. paddle tricks - the only one that I would seriously use is Daryl's colour changing knives. The rest of the paddles don't make sense at all. And I NEED my routines to make sense, so that the next time the bugger sees a pocket knife, he'll remember me. He'll then call me up and book me for a $300 show.

Like exo said, laymen ARE smarter nowadays - especially concerning TTs and ITs. The way out is to invent smarter applications or use something else totally. That's not so hard. Singapore has the brightest kids in this region eh?

On the issue of examinability, I have these to say: If the audience does not want to examine the stuff that I'm using, then that means I didn't do the job well. One reason why the spec wants to examine the stuff I use is that there could be no other explanation for what just happened, EXCEPT that the stuff is gimmicked.

I won't leave the stuff lying around after the effect. I'll just slowly return them to their pockets. If I did the trick well, they'll say,"Let me see that, you handsome prestidigitator you!" If they don't care, then my ego has been sufficiently punctured.

Knives are considered as weapons and you could get into trouble.

Is that all you can say to my long post dude? <_<

Just kidding. The perceived or real danger that the knives present weren't really my point, if you get what I mean.

One liners can mean alot. ;)

True.