Putting together my routine...

[Joppa]

Hi

It's been a while since I preformed magic, but now I've decided to start again. The only thing I worry about is my routine. I mostly do card tricks, I know a few coin sleights but it's nothing worth showing people. The tricks I know is Ambitious card, Biddle trick, out of this world, brainwave deck, sucker punch ( from Tim David www.themagicteacher.com), The 2 card monte that david blaine does, and one trick that I came up with my self involving a pass and a color change. ( I may have missed some tricks, just ask if I know it if u come up with any good one)

Now what I need help with is chosing which of the tricks to do, I will mostly do street magic.

One Idea I have is that I can do a "pick a card"-trick and then do the ambitious card with the same card or something. I am really bad at this so I will really need some help.

Thanks
~Joppa

 

[Big George]

Joppa,
1. You said you "know" certain routines. Get these completely mastered first.

2. When you plan your overall routine, start with a quick routine that hits hard. I use card to mouth as it takes a few seconds and really establishes your credibility. Finish with the strongest effect you have. The routines in the middle need to build in strength.

3. If you are doing street magic i assume you will be doing the Blainesque type rather than getting a traditional pitch and a table. If you are doing the former then you routines will need to be done without a table so out of this world might not work.

4. As you are going to working with an unsuspecting public, you might want to think about how you are going to work the crowd. There is a huge list of considerations here: location, group size, your approach, dealing with trouble makers etc. Some of this you dont really know utill you start but a little planning goes a long way.

 

[Joppa]

2. When you plan your overall routine, start with a quick routine that hits hard. I use card to mouth as it takes a few seconds and really establishes your credibility. Finish with the strongest effect you have. The routines in the middle need to build in strength.

The Brainwave is a really strong effect, but it's quick too, should I start with it or save it for the end? And, what is the card to mouth effect that you use? I know one card to mouth effect myself but its a part of my ambitious card routine so I can't use it.

Thanks
~Joppa

 

[Addy]

I'd say start with 2CM, as it is quick and involves the spectators. Then do the Biddle trick, then use the same card and close with Ambitious Card. You say you like to perform street magic, so you can't perform OTW, and I don't know sucker punch so I can't say much bout that.

I'd say leave the Brainwave deck out and just perform it as a standalone, but honestly I prefer the Invisible Deck. I feel the different color doesn't add much to the effect. Being upside down already makes the card different enough, why have it a different color? Also, half the time you pull a blue deck out of a red box, which looks really goofy.

 

[Joppa]

I'd say leave the Brainwave deck out and just perform it as a standalone, but honestly I prefer the Invisible Deck. I feel the different color doesn't add much to the effect. Being upside down already makes the card different enough, why have it a different color? Also, half the time you pull a blue deck out of a red box, which looks really goofy.

I have a box which is white for my brainwave deck, it look natural to both the red and the blue deck. And about the different color;

"The Brainwave deck is similar to the Invisible deck and performed in exactly the same way; however, to locate the selected card the deck is spread face-down and the named card is the only one that's face-up. As a second climax to the trick, this card is turned face-down and shown that its back color is different from that of the rest of the deck, thus proving that that the magician really did know what the spectator would say in advance and didn't just secretly turn the card over."
- Copied from wikipedia, they explain it better then me xD

Thanks
~Joppa

 

[Big George]

It’s a nice idea using brainwave first but you are going to have to change deck as soon as you have done the routine. It might slow things down early in your act.

Also, early on in an act, people tend to say, "let me see those cards". If it does happen when you have the brainwave deck, you got some problems (although there are ways around this).

When I do card to mouth I use the patter line that "I am about to do the quickest card trick in the world" which generates a lot of interest. This gets more interest that saying just "pick a card and I will find it". It also hints of a challenge but not too much. Just my thoughts and let us know how you get on.