How many effects is too many?

[S3al]

Just wondering what you guys think about this. How many effects should you know? five?, 10?, 20?, 30?, when does it get to be to much? And how many should you know?

I think 8-9 is a good number, no more then 10. I got 3 down so far, its just so hard to pick other ones because there are just to many good effects.

 

[Magic2253711]

I personally think you shouldn't restrict yourself. Learn as many effects as you can. gain as much knowledge as possible, because you never know what situation you will be in when you might want to perform a trick. If you've only learned 10 and none of them fit that situation you would hate to pass up a performance opportunity. I would say learn as much as you can. don't limit yourself. The more you know the better.

-Tim Olsen

 

[silent]

I personally think you shouldn't restrict yourself. Learn as many effects as you can. gain as much knowledge as possible, because you never know what situation you will be in when you might want to perform a trick. If you've only learned 10 and none of them fit that situation you would hate to pass up a performance opportunity. I would say learn as much as you can. don't limit yourself. The more you know the better.

-Tim Olsen

I definetly agree, I hate being in a situation where I can't do any magic. Try not to limit your self to one genre of magic as well. I mean yes, have a base but branch off a little, cards is a great base for me, but I also do a little coin magic, the great thing about coins is that they're every where.

 

[Bladeken]

Perhaps instead of only knowing 10 tricks, perfect 10 tricks. Those could be your base tricks, something you include in nearly every routine. Then go and learn and get good every other trick you want/need to know. That way, like the others above me have said, when the situation arises, you could pull more out of your bag of tricks.

 

[MoonlightKnight]

Here's my opinion; watch and read all the magic you can and get a feel for what you could do. Then pick and choose. I've seen so much material on the Ambitious Card Routine, that, in the end, I just sat down and wrote out strings of material until I constructed what I felt was a routine that had good flow and was fun for the spectator. It's like writing a story, it has to have a great intro, some good filler, and a spectacular finish. I know 4 routines well. Two different version of the ACR, depending on the amount of people, one coin routine, and a miniature stage routine. That isn't to say I don't know any other routines, it's saying that those are the ones that I perform regularely. I know a lot of other stuff, that I could do on the wim of the moment all the time. Especially stuff off of The Real Secrets Of Magic and anything Jay Sankey has produced. I mean, there's all sorts of impromptu effects you can do; coin in sugar packet, sinful, stigmata... But that doesn't mean I'll walk up to people with a Soda and a quarter and say "Hey buddy, wanna see a trick?!" all day buying a new soda everytime. I guess, what I'm saying is it isn't bad to know a lot, but have routines you do on the street (if you do street) set in stone and be confident in those routines.

 

[nowis]

It is good to learn more tircks, but one problem that I encounter is that I keep forgetting my older tricks when I start to lean new one. How do you all solve this.. ?

 

[Magic2253711]

continue practicing, write stuff down too such as performance notes, dont limit yourself. always keep references handy. but mainly practice practice practice until u can do it in your sleep sorta speak.

 

[The Dark Angel]

I don't think that there shuld be a restriction on them, but that you shouldn't learn one, practice is rarely and think you have it down.
I practice every trick at least once a day, and even then I could be doing alot more to practice and learn tricks.

 

[MaxDeVill]

Too many effects is when you have a slew of effects that you can't do well. I learn one effect. Really learn it. Then I practice it a couple times a week for about 10 to 15 mins once I have it down already.

As for _knowing_ effects, you can never know too many. Knowledge on how things are done will only improve your own effects or allow you to alter other effects to make them better.

As those old GI Joe service announcements said, "...knowing is half the battle."

 

[MoonlightKnight]

One way to really remember effects is to TRUELY practice them. If you spend the time to learn all of the tricks the right way, then you shouldn't have a problem remembering them unless it's been a really long time... I'm talking REALLY long time. So, if that's your problem my advice is to keep a journal. Talk about your experiences with the trick, and comments and tips for yourself so you can look back on it. It helps me a lot.

 

[-Ty]

While you're getting into magic, learn all you can. Learn heaps of routines, sleights, genres of magic, the lot. Experiment with it all.

Once you've got some experience performing, varying and learning magic, you can begin to pick and choose what will be your core routines. I wouldn't say more than ten for each genre (10 close-up, 10 parlour etc.) but this number varies depending on what your needs are. Maybe you want to work in a restaurant? Is that restaurant pretty small? If so, you might need several routines throughout the night. 3 effects - 3 routines gives you nine routines, and a couple of spares for the odd opportunity.

But really, while you're making you're way into magic, learn AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.

Me, personally I use around 12 close-up effects. 3 routines of 3 with some spares for spur of the moment situations. I also have several impromptu effects, as well as the "specials", the ones I bring out only when I really want to impress.

Ty

 

[Lionsden123]

I personally think you shouldn't restrict yourself. Learn as many effects as you can. gain as much knowledge as possible, because you never know what situation you will be in when you might want to perform a trick. If you've only learned 10 and none of them fit that situation you would hate to pass up a performance opportunity. I would say learn as much as you can. don't limit yourself. The more you know the better.

-Tim Olsen

Agreed! Learn as much as possible, that way you can do impromptu stuff, setup stuff, coin stuff, card stuff, mentalism, all of it!

I got distortion last night and was just thinking I'm gonna do a simple card transpo right beforehand (which I had thought of before I got the dvd, than he recommends it in the DVD!) which should lead well, because when I do it for my magician friends who know the general "Here then there" I'll do that then they can go "We know how it's done" Then I do it again as distortion, and the "WHOOOOOMPH" hits!

Thanks,
Evan

 

[Deceptor]

What I do is I try to learn all that I can, but perfect only about 3-5 tricks.
This way you gain knowledge, but you still leave the spectator dumbfounded
with the tricks that you have perfected.

 

[Samuel]

While you're getting into magic, learn all you can. Learn heaps of routines, sleights, genres of magic, the lot. Experiment with it all.

Once you've got some experience performing, varying and learning magic, you can begin to pick and choose what will be your core routines. I wouldn't say more than ten for each genre (10 close-up, 10 parlour etc.) but this number varies depending on what your needs are. Maybe you want to work in a restaurant? Is that restaurant pretty small? If so, you might need several routines throughout the night. 3 effects - 3 routines gives you nine routines, and a couple of spares for the odd opportunity.

But really, while you're making you're way into magic, learn AS MUCH AS YOU CAN.

Me, personally I use around 12 close-up effects. 3 routines of 3 with some spares for spur of the moment situations. I also have several impromptu effects, as well as the "specials", the ones I bring out only when I really want to impress.

Ty

What you said struck it big with me. I'm really glad I read this, the way you put it changed the way I have viewed this topic. Thanks for the opinion.

On the topic, I agree with everybody that you should learn as much as possible, and perfect a few. Keeping in mind that even if you don't have something perfect, as long as you're confident enough and have had some decent practice, you can probably get away with it in front of a laid back spectator. As for remembering and staying good at what you have perfected, my advice is to relearn it. Go back to where you got it from (book, dvd, mentor, etc) and revisit the teaching from beginning to end. Pay attention to everything that goes on, focus on what the teacher is doing as well as saying. Check for subtle things to pick up on that may improve the effect. Constantly think of how it could be better or different, more entertaining. That's what I try to do. I also try to think about how it could make more sense. You can't just cut the deck for no reason, or stick your hand in your pockets randomly after making something disappear.

All this advice is really good, and in my opinion the amount of effects you should know is completely up to you. How many would make you happy to have perfected? How perfect do you want them? and how many do you want to keep up with?

Peace

 

[-Ty]

Cheers!

The thing with magic is that it is very easy to become overwhelmed with all the material at your disposal. To pick several effects, really work them through, and then begin to structure several workable routines from these, are things that magicians shoudl really be working towards.

But don't get me wrong. I love working on new effects. But I also love working through my routines, making them as good as they can be and then sharing these with others.

Ty