The Essentials?
I’ve read comments and articles about the ‘essential’ things that a magician should learn before, but it always seems to exclusively focus on card magic.
Nothing wrong with that, obviously, and God knows I love my card tricks, but I am of the opinion that cards should just be a small part of what we are able to do as magicians.
Quite often when I was performing at table hopping gigs, I would remove a deck of cards only to be informed by a spectator ‘I have seen this one!’ or on doing two or three card tricks in a row, someone might comment ‘Do you do tricks with other things too?’.
However, when I do a couple of non-card tricks to open, I have never heard ‘Do you do any of those card tricks?’. So, variety being the spice of life, here are some of the things that I think you should learn, particularly if you are a beginner - these are tools that could serve you well for the rest of your life.
The Bill Switch.
I’m not going into the gimmick that you need to do the ‘100 Dollar Bill Switch', but if you have one sitting in a draw somewhere, dig it out and learn this technique! Changing a £10 to a £20 is always topical, often something that spectators will ask you to do themselves ‘Hey, can you change my £10 into a fifty?!’ and is actually open to a LOT more presentational possibilities than you might think.
Check out Jay Sankey’s work on the Bill Change, and there is even a big book on the subject of all kinds of techniques and routines called ‘Switch’ by John Lovick’. Well worth looking into, and whilst it is NOT an easy technique to pick up straight away, mastery will serve you well literally for ever.
A Good General Vanish.
Being able to pick up an item and then make it apparently vanish is one of the strongest things you can possibly do, particularly when the item reappears somewhere impossible. Plus, removing the coin from behind your child’s ear will make you popular forever!
Most people do the French Drop technique, and to be honest, it often looks naff.
Here’s some good rules for choosing a vanish.
Firstly, look for something that feels natural. The French Drop technique fails here for me, as the starting position looks positively cramped. Try just picking up a coin now, showing it, and placing it into your other hand, and then look for a technique that matches what you just did as closely as possible.
Secondly, be aware that there are two basic types of vanish, known as ‘put’ and ‘take’. With a ‘put’ vanish, a coin is picked up and apparently placed into the other hand, which is then shown empty. A ‘take’ vanish is when the item starts in one hand, and the other comes across and apparently takes the coin away.
The difference is mostly motivation, and as such, the ‘Take’ style is usually the more natural looking and deceptive, as it more closely simulates the actions that a spectator might make as they casually change hands with an item.
However, the ‘put’ style can also be greatly useful. Imagine you are holding a coin in your right hand, and you also want to remove a magic wand from your right hand pocket. It’s natural to apparently place the coin in your left hand, to free up your right. It’s this natural choreography that can be very deceptive.
Above all, don’t point to the hand that apparently has taken a coin, and try to keep everything loose and casual. Again, learning a good vanish is NOT an immediate thing. It takes time, and lots of it, but once you have it, you will probably be using the technique on an almost daily basis, even if you are just a hobbyist.
Bobo’s Coin Magic book is a great reference, and for a modest price contains a huge variety of techniques that you can experiment with until finding one that suits you, as well as many other techniques and tricks.
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/acatalog/MB_Modern_Coin_Magic_Bobo_Book_Dover.html
Equivoque
Learning Equivoque (or ‘The Magician’s Choice’) is a real must, and proper mastery of the technique will lead to being able to perform inexplicable predictions with literally anything at hand, and also greatly enhance a lot of your other tricks.
‘Free Will’ by Deddy Corbuzier is a great marketed trick that introduces the concept in a loose way, and also gives a real kicker. That’s a great place to get started with the idea of ‘thinking on your feet’ and limiting choices that your spectator will assume are free ones.
Later on, any serious student would be missing out without studying David Berlgas’s approaches. While not cheap, the book contains some dynamite material that offers hard earned but well worthy rewards.
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/acatalog/The-Berglas-Effect-by-Richard-Kaufman-and-David-Berglas-E506.html
Paddle Move.
Finally, the Paddle Move is much overlooked by the magic community, probably due to the fact that a lot of beginners kits contain the prop and explanation of the technique.
However, just because a move is available in the public domain, it is of course inaccurate to assume that the public knows anything about it.
Also, there are many more versions of the trick than the ones that might appear in magic sets, so learning the one move opens up a whole host of routines, including the colour changing knives, or even better, this recent release from Chad Long.
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/acatalog/Flash--Props-and-DVD--by-Chad-Long-E526.html
It is also a simple technique that you can perform with table knives, pens and other everyday items, and takes very little work to get great results.
Conclusion
So there you are - four techniques that I think will serve you well in your magical journey without having to pick up a deck of cards. Anything I have missed? Let us know your essential techniques!
Nothing wrong with that, obviously, and God knows I love my card tricks, but I am of the opinion that cards should just be a small part of what we are able to do as magicians.
Quite often when I was performing at table hopping gigs, I would remove a deck of cards only to be informed by a spectator ‘I have seen this one!’ or on doing two or three card tricks in a row, someone might comment ‘Do you do tricks with other things too?’.
However, when I do a couple of non-card tricks to open, I have never heard ‘Do you do any of those card tricks?’. So, variety being the spice of life, here are some of the things that I think you should learn, particularly if you are a beginner - these are tools that could serve you well for the rest of your life.
The Bill Switch.
I’m not going into the gimmick that you need to do the ‘100 Dollar Bill Switch', but if you have one sitting in a draw somewhere, dig it out and learn this technique! Changing a £10 to a £20 is always topical, often something that spectators will ask you to do themselves ‘Hey, can you change my £10 into a fifty?!’ and is actually open to a LOT more presentational possibilities than you might think.
Check out Jay Sankey’s work on the Bill Change, and there is even a big book on the subject of all kinds of techniques and routines called ‘Switch’ by John Lovick’. Well worth looking into, and whilst it is NOT an easy technique to pick up straight away, mastery will serve you well literally for ever.
A Good General Vanish.
Being able to pick up an item and then make it apparently vanish is one of the strongest things you can possibly do, particularly when the item reappears somewhere impossible. Plus, removing the coin from behind your child’s ear will make you popular forever!
Most people do the French Drop technique, and to be honest, it often looks naff.
Here’s some good rules for choosing a vanish.
Firstly, look for something that feels natural. The French Drop technique fails here for me, as the starting position looks positively cramped. Try just picking up a coin now, showing it, and placing it into your other hand, and then look for a technique that matches what you just did as closely as possible.
Secondly, be aware that there are two basic types of vanish, known as ‘put’ and ‘take’. With a ‘put’ vanish, a coin is picked up and apparently placed into the other hand, which is then shown empty. A ‘take’ vanish is when the item starts in one hand, and the other comes across and apparently takes the coin away.
The difference is mostly motivation, and as such, the ‘Take’ style is usually the more natural looking and deceptive, as it more closely simulates the actions that a spectator might make as they casually change hands with an item.
However, the ‘put’ style can also be greatly useful. Imagine you are holding a coin in your right hand, and you also want to remove a magic wand from your right hand pocket. It’s natural to apparently place the coin in your left hand, to free up your right. It’s this natural choreography that can be very deceptive.
Above all, don’t point to the hand that apparently has taken a coin, and try to keep everything loose and casual. Again, learning a good vanish is NOT an immediate thing. It takes time, and lots of it, but once you have it, you will probably be using the technique on an almost daily basis, even if you are just a hobbyist.
Bobo’s Coin Magic book is a great reference, and for a modest price contains a huge variety of techniques that you can experiment with until finding one that suits you, as well as many other techniques and tricks.
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/acatalog/MB_Modern_Coin_Magic_Bobo_Book_Dover.html
Equivoque
Learning Equivoque (or ‘The Magician’s Choice’) is a real must, and proper mastery of the technique will lead to being able to perform inexplicable predictions with literally anything at hand, and also greatly enhance a lot of your other tricks.
‘Free Will’ by Deddy Corbuzier is a great marketed trick that introduces the concept in a loose way, and also gives a real kicker. That’s a great place to get started with the idea of ‘thinking on your feet’ and limiting choices that your spectator will assume are free ones.
Later on, any serious student would be missing out without studying David Berlgas’s approaches. While not cheap, the book contains some dynamite material that offers hard earned but well worthy rewards.
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/acatalog/The-Berglas-Effect-by-Richard-Kaufman-and-David-Berglas-E506.html
Paddle Move.
Finally, the Paddle Move is much overlooked by the magic community, probably due to the fact that a lot of beginners kits contain the prop and explanation of the technique.
However, just because a move is available in the public domain, it is of course inaccurate to assume that the public knows anything about it.
Also, there are many more versions of the trick than the ones that might appear in magic sets, so learning the one move opens up a whole host of routines, including the colour changing knives, or even better, this recent release from Chad Long.
http://www.dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk/acatalog/Flash--Props-and-DVD--by-Chad-Long-E526.html
It is also a simple technique that you can perform with table knives, pens and other everyday items, and takes very little work to get great results.
Conclusion
So there you are - four techniques that I think will serve you well in your magical journey without having to pick up a deck of cards. Anything I have missed? Let us know your essential techniques!
Until next time,
Liam
Montier for dudethatscoolmagic.co.uk
Click here to visit our online magic shop
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