Hi guys, I have started practicing magic and i can actually do some of the tricks farely well. However, i have one main problem, I just can't seem to present the trick or misdirect the audience well. Please give me a few tips on how i can actually bring out a little humor and in my presentation.


Many Thanks. =O)

I have 3 words.
Book of Wonders. (Esp Vol 1) Get it and read it.



And you have to be a lot more specific about your question. Maybe tell us what effect exactly you having this problem with? Someone familiar with it might be able to help you.

And finally, come to our gatherings. B)

True, not much enough, we cant help much also.

Maybe, its because of the patter you using. Sometime, i find it uncomfortable to use the patter stated in the effect teaching. Eventually i thought of one myself and it works better.

Being able to present well isn't something that can be taught. It is through experience and lots of performing that you eventually get the hang of things. These include your patter, presentation style as well as audience management.

You did mention something about bringing a little humour into your magic. This too differs from each individual and also the setting in which you are performing. I have friends that try as hard as they might never seem to come forward as a funny character while others just naturally assume the role of a joker. Find out what exactly suits you best and work towards it :)

It's hard to pinpoint the direct cause, but, 1 tip would be to try and view your trick from the audience's perspective (which can solve many problems too).

Is something illogical effect-wise? Is something unnatural looking? Is the magician also paying attention to where the audience is supposed to?

I like Markiebeth's reply: I think all these stuff should be learnt from your own experience and performances. No one started out as a pro.

Not that I don't like Aloy's suggestion, but I always feel that if someone is TEACHING you how to present yourself, often he is teaching HIS own way of presentation and misdirection. There are a few tips you can find (e.g. from Mr Wonder) but would there be too many generalisations?

My advice is: Either perform more and learn more, or watch others perform and learn (and copy). Copying others when you just start out in magic is quite normal actually. Slowly find your own style and your methods of misdirection, ya?

cheers.

sherman, i used to use the lines that were taught by the magicians i learn from all the time. but i agree with most of them that it comes from experience that you're able to effectively present your trick and come up with a good patter.

try to be natural. bring up a topic that both of you and your audience can talk about for abit before you do whatever you don't want them to see you do. but again, first and foremost you've got to force yourself to relax and be natural because once they see you acting funny they'll probably realise something's up.

hope that helps. if not, i'll talk to you more about it in school aye?

I believe in absolutes, that there are determinate guidelines to follow for misdirection.

True, you might not want to learn the full patter and presentation, but you can definitely learn the techniques and psychology of misdirection (which are universal, at least, IMO). But of course, how you integrate those techniques into your magical effects is something you will have to discover yourself.

So, the first thing is to find out those methods of misdirection. Tommy Wonder is a good source to learn that, for he is great at it (especially his Cups and Balls act, which is my favourite!). Alternatively, you can check up magic theory books (eg. Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz).

Thanks Guys, Appreciated that. I think the advice given are worth implementing. The only misdirection i could think of actually is asking the spectator to look at his card and shows it to the other audience, which gives you ample time to do anything you want to in the deck.

For a cheaper book that has gold advice on misdirection, check out Henning Nelms' "Magic and Showmanship". Watch videos of Slydini performing his "Coins Through Table".

Or watch how some posts on this forum start out talking about one thing and end up talking about their recent trip to Mars with their mother-in-law.

Now that's misdirection.

(And I've done it here too! Can you spot it? Let's find Blue's Clues...)

I have that kinda problem before, but what i can share wit u are, be confident with ur talking so they will watch ur eyes when ur talking, if u wanna get away from palming i usually pause what im doing and just look up and make up a story or smtg...loosen up abit..so they wont think ur doing anything...n thats where the moves been done..hehe :rolleyes:

Hmmm... Actually, i have to disagree with Pan. Everyone will always learn through experience and mistakes to better your own unique style of performance and approach.

However, there are masters in magic who can give you specific pointers in their teaching materials, through their years of experience... hence the recommendations of books like Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz (which I strongly recommend anyone who is serious about magic to get), besides Magic and Showmanship and the 2 Tommy Wonder books...

Books and DVDs don't just teach you effects. Many good ones out there also give very interesting insights that you may not know. Some may be specificthings that you always pondered upon, not just a generalisation ^_^

And! I find it very important to develop your own sense of style. You can learn from DVDs and books but you're not supposed to copy, you're suppose to understand and adapt it into your personality. Darwin Ortiz mentions this in his book and gives very excellent examples.

For instance, the character of Dracula... we all know what the vampire is supposed to be, but different actors who took up the role (Bela Lugosi, Christopher Lee, Gary Oldman, even Leslie Nielsen!) all recreated it and injected a different personality into the Count in their various plays and movies ;) Get the idea?

So besides practising magic and studying new material, you just got to perform more as well. And reflect on things like your stage personality (don't just 'be yourself' - there's so many sides to you!) and you'd be able to handle misdirection and presenation much better with performance maturity. My 2cents worth :lol:

ning

Ning, Brilliant!

All, There is something worth mentioning about Darwin Ortiz, especially given the current references to him, both here and in a product review thread. While his performance is both engaging and entertaining, he does it in the most laid back, even toned manner you can imagine. Many performers rely on extremes to provide texture (sometimes with a result that is worse than not texture at all) while Darwin does it through subtlety. This is something worth considering.

Ning, Let's not forget Jonathan Frid. (Albiet not *the* count.)

I swear this is the 1st time i see Ning likes a magic book this much... :lol:

She reads, but usually because the stuff she's looking for can only been found in books. And she usually she goes for the pure technical bits. :lol:
Now she's reading the book happily and making references to it somemore....

That really tells you something about this book doesn't it? ;)

LOL... because it's honestly good! :lol:

I've put my T.A Water's book (Mind, Myth & Magick) on hold... still hogging the copy of Strong Magic By Darwin Ortiz I supposedly bought to give Aloy. *sheepish grin* Aloy's promised book review will come a bit later than expected, methinks... Heh.

ning

I agree "Strong Magic" is ze best evar! But it's expensive and people might get turned off from it because of the price. Still it's honestly a "must-get".

Henning Nelms on the other hand, is cheap. My copy was about $20.

And Darwin Ortiz refers to him in "Strong Magic" rather frequently so that tells you something about Nelms eh? Plus what he says is more general and can be applied to more fields. Ortiz does tend to talk mostly about card effects when preaching his principles.

But for starters, here's what you can try to do. Take the tricks that you perform regularly now and write "scripts" for them. Patter scripts that is, which means everything you plan on saying while performing the trick, including any jokes or side remarks. Then revise the script till there are no extraneous stuff in it. As interesting as your story about the time you met a monkey with 7 moles on its left foot may be, it has no place in the effect (unless the effect is you produce said monkey).

After the merciless editing, memorise it. Commit it to memory till you can say it auto-pilot. It's somewhat like how an actor learns his lines, or how literature students learn to quote Shakespeare... "Oh she doth teach torches to burn bright. It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night. Like a rich jewel on an Ethiope's ear, beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear. And so shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, as yonder lady o'er her fellows shows. And blah and blah and blah and blah and blah."

Never mind about intonation and inflexion and emotion for now. Just commit it to memory first, you can add all the rest of the vocal modulation and stressing later when you are actually performing it.

Now rehearse the trick with the memorised patter over and over. After that, go out and perform!

The advantage is that since your patter was written beforehand, you can put in bits to misdirect (look! flying fish!), or jokes to liven up the trick and make it more interesting (look! flying fish!).

I think the most important thing to remember and keep in mind while practicing, rehearsing, or performing is what Houdini once said, "The magician is acting magic."

How much does these books cost generally? Oh yea, and when can i get those books? you mean just from any normal bookshops?(borders, Mph)

"Strong Magic" is about US$45.
"Books of Wonder" vol 1 is also about US$45.
"Magic and Showmanship" is roughly US$10.

You can't get them from local bookshops, but you can go through the number of online dealers here in SMC, of which Ning is one of them.

Hope this helps.

Eh... actually my views are quite simple:

1. Observe (others' presentation) more.

2. Perform (in front of people) more.

Experience makes all the difference.

Or if you are a bit nervous, you can find somebody to jam with do some role-play. Hope that helps too.

Perhaps I'll just add on to what maddened has said.

Not just script your patter, but also do silent scripting, which is scripting all your moves and gestures (which are very important in misdirection).

finally...
Practice, Rehearse, Perform

Mis-quote here. Not a terribly important point, but it does reflect on the wisdom of the ages. *koff*

The actual quote and the real great magician who said it :

"A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician." ...Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin


Thanks to Bob (mgshn) for the correction. B)