Tricks that you REFUSE to use

[Josh Burch]

There's a lot of magic that I wont perform because it doesn't fit my character, that doesn't mean that I'll NEVER perform it but...

I try to avoid magic that is too "classic" in the public's eye. I market myself as an adult performer for weddings and such. I try to avoid linking rings, and sponge bunnies not because I dislike them as tricks but at least to those who hire me I want the magic to feel different.

 

[RealityOne]

I refuse to do things that strike me as trivial. Which is the vast majority of what's for sale.

All tricks are trivial. It is the performer that gives them meaning.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Yes, you are correct and we have had this conversation before

What I mean is, I refuse to perform anything which I cannot find a way to turn into a profound experience for my audience. And if I'm watching the demo video, and I think, "What's the point of this, then?" - I close the tab and move on.

Sheesh .. leave it to a lawyer to nit pick ...

 

[Rev]

All tricks are trivial. It is the performer that gives them meaning.

Ah, but didn't Max Maven once say that magic is inherently profound, but that most performers render it trivial?

Rev

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

It goes both ways. The tricks are just tools. Much like a skilled painter can take a brush and paint and create beautiful works, someone without skill can take the same tools and create utter junk.

Many magicians take something which has the potential to be a profound experience for their audience and turn it into the magician showing off on stage. At best, brain candy.

 

[RealityOne]

Yes, you are correct and we have had this conversation before

Sheesh .. leave it to a lawyer to nit pick ...

We have had that conversation before. You tend to focus on having the meaning intrinsic to the effect where I tend to focus on the meaning being complimentary to the effect in the presentation.

Oh, by the way, I get paid by the nit.

There's a lot of magic that I wont perform because it doesn't fit my character, that doesn't mean that I'll NEVER perform it but...

I try to avoid magic that is too "classic" in the public's eye. I market myself as an adult performer for weddings and such. I try to avoid linking rings, and sponge bunnies not because I dislike them as tricks but at least to those who hire me I want the magic to feel different.

Interesting. I love the classics. I think that I elevate the performance of those effects to a different level. That being said, I also perform routines that I've never seen performed by another magician.

I do cringe every time I see a magician start with the hand gag, perform Kevin James bowling ball or dance with Losander's floating table. I would avoid those effects because they are overdone and usually done poorly.

 

[Josh Burch]

Interesting. I love the classics. I think that I elevate the performance of those effects to a different level. That being said, I also perform routines that I've never seen performed by another magician.

Maybe classic was the wrong word, I personally love the classics. I try to avoid the cliches that the public has of magicians. There are a lot of classic magicians in my area, including my mentor Richard Hatch. He does the best linking ring routine I've ever see. We perform at the same venues from time to time. I don't want to replicate his material, and I want it to look like something new when I do a magic effect.

On the subject of the classics, there are many magic effects that the public sees as a cliche, like the rabbit from a hat or cut and restored tie, that are rarely seen in actual magic performances. There are also bonified classics that much of the public has never seen. Psychometry or the tossed out deck are classics but the lay public are not familiar with them.

 

[Levent Suberk]

I do not want to perform any p_rn_graphic trick.

 

[mclintock]

I do not want to perform any p_rn_graphic trick.

The one thing on this forum I wish I had never read.

 

[Moniker]

The one thing on this forum I wish I had never read.

Yet to this day I have no idea what a "Z-bomb" is..

 

[Luis Vega]

ALL AND I MEAN ALL ROPE TRICKS!!! they don´t make any sense to me... since the basic concept from where I base all my magic is that what I do is real (or at least looks real)...so I could never do rope magic for the simple reason that normal people don´t see rope in their lives to often..

 

[mclintock]

ALL AND I MEAN ALL ROPE TRICKS!!! they don´t make any sense to me... since the basic concept from where I base all my magic is that what I do is real (or at least looks real)...so I could never do rope magic for the simple reason that normal people don´t see rope in their lives to often..

Step 1. Build a time machine, or alternatively give the illusion that you built a time machine.
Step 2. Go back to the old west where hangings were common.
There now people are used to seeing rope, and your live performances would probably offend Penn Jillette.

 

[Moniker]

alternatively give the illusion that you built a time machine

I didn't see that coming. I need to figure out how do to that!