I like gimmicks but I don't like the self-working ones. I like the hybrid tricks. The ones that use slight of hand and gimmicks to make a perfect trick.
Anybody else dislike gimmicks?
- Thread starter The Tumbleweed
- Start date
Why does it matter if it does all the work for you? Magic is not about showing your skills its about entertaining.
I will go even further and say it needs more skill as a good performer and magician to use gimmicks then sleight of hand. Its hard to get away with using gimmicks without people wanting them to cheek them out and not to flash and get questioned about them.
I will go even further and say it needs more skill as a good performer and magician to use gimmicks then sleight of hand. Its hard to get away with using gimmicks without people wanting them to cheek them out and not to flash and get questioned about them.
I don't like em because you might get caught. Like my Coin bite, my friend was behind me and he was smiling and I was like *****
The ONLY gimmicks I use now are stoff from FOUR, double backers, STS, and EZ money.
The ONLY gimmicks I use now are stoff from FOUR, double backers, STS, and EZ money.
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I call bullcrap. Do you know how much time in an average week I spend practicing with my thumbtip?
This exemplifies a theory I've been working at that seems to be a universal constant among artists. We all go through a series of phases in our development toward mastery of our art and skills.
1. The beginning. We start with the promises of easy results and instant gratification, usually going with what we believe will make the biggest splash. Guitarists play nothing but pop singles, filmmakers screw around with special effects endlessly, and magicians rely almost entirely on gimmicks.
2. The first plateau. We begin to see the amateurish mistakes we were making and usually feel a little embarassed. We now have more life experiences to talk about. In our effort to distance ourselves from our past mistakes, we go to the opposite extreme. In the case of magicians, we become sleight of hand purists.
3. The plateau to mastery. Eventually, we hit a brick wall and don't seem to improve at all. After much frustration, we finally come to embrace our past and present and incorporate a seemless whole of the techniques learned in our early days and the more advanced material we used more recently. A magician at this level deftly uses the most basic and elementary gimmick with the same style, aplomb, and ease as he does the most cunning knucklebusting sleights.
i agree 100% i like gimmicks like prophet, because even though there's a gimmick, you have to practice a lot, because it's not self-working. I don't like gimmicks like the raven (i have it, i've never publically performed it) because they are self-working
I LOVE my thumb tip. The amount of work that goes into the misdirection of it alone can be considered the same amount of work that purists spend getting that one sleight just right. I forgot which, but did you know one of our founding fathers of magic dipped his thumb tip in black paint and would perform that way? Imagine the amount of time he spent so no one would see his thumb through an entire performance!
Secondly, as has also been said, gimmicks do not make you lazy. Here's how I look at it, because this is what's been irritating me recently about new magicians. The whole point of magic is to amaze audiences. Not to fool other magicians. Not to be able to pull of a knuckle busting sleight so you will be looked at as elite. It's to, if even for a short few minutes, allow someone to enjoy that moment. How you go about achieving this is irrelevant!
Gimmicks, while also making your magic look like actual magic, also have the added bonus of allowing you to work on patter and performance more, since your time doesn't have to be on getting the finger placement just right and pulling off a certain move invisibly. I've gotten some of the best reactions from my bubble trick (blow bubbles, then grab one out of the air, solidifying it) then from almost any other effect in my repertoire.
Remember, sleights are meant to be invisible. Gimmicks are also meant to be invisible. The audience will never know the difference if you do either correctly. However, it doesn't matter if you actually pulled off a sleight, it wont stop the audience from thinking you used a gimmick. Once the audience thinks of a way the effect can be done, it doesn't matter if its correct, thats the way it's done to them.
Just my really large bowl of .02
-ThrallMind
This is why I love flourishes, actually takes skill.
But I think the audience can tell when a gimmick is being used. Everytime I use a gimmick they ask to see the deck, but that has never happened doing card in hand or stigmata. Just thought it deserved a mention
Its all in how you handle the gimmick if you hold the gimmicked, card, coin, ect.
like there is somthing to hide, your spectators will realize that somthing is up, "don't run it your not being chased".
And also just becuse you can do some sleight is extremely difficult to pull off doesn't mean it will impress your spectator.
If you don't use gimmicks, you're limiting yourself. It all looks the same to the spectator (when done properly), but gimmicks allow you to do things even more mind-blowing and impossible than with sleight of hand alone - things that truly make the spectator question reality. When used wisely and sparingly, they can bring your magic to an entirely new level.
Gimmicks aren't just there to make things easier, they are there to make things possible that might not be otherwise. A lot of the time, gimmicks can even make things harder, so I don't think it's fair to say that gimmicks should be avoided because they require no skill. It seems to me a lot of the time that people use this as an excuse to avoid gimmicks because they'd rather stick to their basic sleight of hand and call it skill, rather than becoming skilled enough to correctly use a gimmick.
Also, gimmicks vary so much in shape, size, mechanism and practicality in so many ways. There is no absolute definition of what a gimmick is, it could be anything, so I don't see how anybody can say they dislike all gimmicks.
For me, whether an effect is gimmicked or not really makes no difference at all. Sometimes gimmicks can be impractical, yes, but you could say the same for certain sleights. You need to weigh up the practicality with the strength of the effect, and the extent of the reactions you are able to achieve with it.
Huruey
Also, gimmicks vary so much in shape, size, mechanism and practicality in so many ways. There is no absolute definition of what a gimmick is, it could be anything, so I don't see how anybody can say they dislike all gimmicks.
For me, whether an effect is gimmicked or not really makes no difference at all. Sometimes gimmicks can be impractical, yes, but you could say the same for certain sleights. You need to weigh up the practicality with the strength of the effect, and the extent of the reactions you are able to achieve with it.
Huruey
Have not read the whole thread, but wanted to throwthis out here:
Should it matter what "WE" like? Shouldn't we really be focussed on doing whatever it takes to provide the most magical experience for our audiences?
Brad Henderson
Should it matter what "WE" like? Shouldn't we really be focussed on doing whatever it takes to provide the most magical experience for our audiences?
Brad Henderson
This is very true. However, I think we must realize that there are many people posting here who don't actually perform for people. It's actually pretty obvious if you read between the lines. A lot of guys just do card tricks simply to entertain themselves. They just like practicing moves. There's nothing wrong with that. I just wish more people would admit it and stop claiming that they are out there performing magic for other humans.
I bet it ate you up so bad inside you even told someone behind his back in that group "Yea but he uses a fake deck". Im right thats what you did ,you just could not take the fact that this "friend" is stealing your spot light with "NO real skill"tricks with a poor presentation.... right? your a heckler Tumbleweed arnt you? you told someone he uses a trick deck and you on the other hand dont need to. your a Heckler of the worst kind.
bahahaa... no I'm not. Though I'm not sure if you're serious or not. Don't worry, he stopped performing long ago... yeah he's one of those guys who gets "sick of it". BLEH
well I feel welcomed in this thread...lol...
yea I REALLY HATE GIMMICKS...that I've bought so far...starting with the Black Widow...and Superman coing bend....
TOO BIG OF A GIMMICK!!!
yea I REALLY HATE GIMMICKS...that I've bought so far...starting with the Black Widow...and Superman coing bend....
TOO BIG OF A GIMMICK!!!
I dont even know you Tumble my friend ,I wasnt serious.
I love my fales shuffles
I love me forces (all 3)
I love my top change
I love my "In a Flash "by Jay Sankey. http://www.sankeymagic.com/detail.aspx?ID=48025
Im out to blow minds I dont care how I do it,but if you can find a slight of hand only version of this i love to see it. Its a great way to "Destroy" your cards so logically you have to go right into coins or whatever you do next.