Great episode! I love storytelling! I don’t do enough of it with my magic, but you have reminded me that I should. Speaking of conventions I just filled out a survey for Magifest. I’m getting excited. It makes the slowest month of the year so much fun.
I have been working on one card trick for five years. It started as a exploration of faro-s and just this morning moved into a possible stage production. The quest was to reduce the number of moves to the bare bones. Get it to the point where you can hand the deck to someone and with a few instructions they can execute the magic. Creating something new presents the problem of knowing if your really making something of value. To produce a single reveal with a deck is two million to one. To produce a reveal of a single order of a deck is 8.4 to ten to 63rd. That is delivering the impossible. It worries me that might just not be enough.
It's not even about the real odds of the miraculous. It's the perception of the impossible. A 50/50 proposition can rivet an audience to the edge of their seats if the consequences of that choice are high enough.
@jeff, this is exactly what my book Authentic Fabrications is about, and I love that you're talking about this subject. I became a much better magician when I started showing who I am as a person on stage.
Oh no,I luv card magic because it’s beautiful ( for me) Cards are cheap,a close up trick with cards can be wondrous.But for bigger performers ( stage)maybe bigger illusions are better for the genre.As I am a hobbyist cards suit me to the ground and I definitely don’t do them just because there is a Hugh amount of literature of card magic but because card magic done well is truly amazing.Ive tried a lot of other stuff like ring on a string,coin,mentalism which I find on the slow side etc but it just doesn’t suit me but hey,everyone to their own.Never done big stage magic like Copperfield because the apparatus is going to cost an arm and a leg and it doesn’t do it for me.But I luv and appreciate all types of magic.Interesting topic and for working performers,something to think about definitely.Luved it.Cheers.
@@EruditeMagic Impossible to give a favourite trick but four authors stand out for me.Bannon,Giobbi,Trost and Paul Gordon.If you get most of the books by these guys then you will have card tricks for 100 lifetimes!!!!!!!
My problem with this kind of thinking is that if magic was real I would stop performing immediately and just begin wandering the world conjuring food to eat and a bed to sleep in wherever I went. The last thing on my mind would be anything to do with performing for people. Put back in the real world where magic isn't real, I like cards. They're basically the only part of magic that's fun for me. I've tried to learn coins and I've tried looking into other things, but all of that just feels like I'm banging my head against a wall forcing myself to do something I don't want to do because I think others might enjoy it. But cards by themselves, are just fun for me. Whether I'm performing for people, practicing, or just messing around with them like a juggler... I'm actively enjoying it. Also, cards are the most versatile tool in all of magic. Using cards, you can do illusions, gambling demonstrations, classic magic tricks, theatrical stage shows, close up, etcetera.... I don't think there's too many other tools without one tool let you do everything. And since the skills are all transferable then your entire act gets better anytime you practice or improve any part of it. But if I open with one tool, my second trick is with a different tool, my third trick is with a different tool, and so on down the line... Then you have to learn an entirely new set of skills from the ground up for every single trick you do. There's no secret why the greatest card manipulators pretty much exclusively only used cards, the greatest invisible thread magicians pretty much only use invisible thread, and so on.
A reasonable approach, but I disagree in that the question can be very valuable, even if you wouldn't do "magic tricks" as a result. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
@@EruditeMagic One way I actually do like this question and a good way to apply it is to use it not as a "trick picker" but as a "trick cleaner" For example, for my TnR. I asked myself, "if I didn't have to fold this card a specific way for the sake of the technique, how you I naturally fold this card without thought?" And then I took that and considered how I can adjust the technique to fit that new handling. Definitely made it better, and can do that for almost any trick out there.
I reckon if I was in a world where people can make objects vanish or teleport, with a flash of light or a puff of glitter, I would still be mesmerized by someone who can sink the 8 from across the pool table, and astonished by someone who can unshuffle a deck without a glimmer of sorcery. I think that the specialty of sleight of hand is the fact that it’s between worlds. It’ll make someone in a mundane world question what they knew about their existence, and it’ll also make reality seem unreal to someone who deals in the impossible. Penn & Teller Cups and Balls type stuff. Granted, that’s also probably not the question.
I believe card magic is at it’s most powerful when placed in a context where playing cards are actually used, whether that be gambling, con games, bar bets, or fortune telling. If I did possess magical powers, I doubt I’d be tearing up cards only to restore them, or making them teleport to my wallet, but I might be tempted to use my powers to gain an unfair advantage at the poker table, or to maybe earn a free beer after a game of three card monte I could never lose.
Movement away from card magic is both a push and a pull toward a more abstract representation of extra-sensory ability...on the other hand, where else can you find 52 assistants so easily?
This is exactly what I've been saying all along -- ALL of card magic is inherently a compromise. There is no reason for any of it, beyond contrived things like "let me show you an experiment in pure chance, using the purest chance of all (if you can believe it) a deck of common playing cards!" You're kidding yourself if you think audiences don't recognize this as a card trick. The sole exception is a gambling-themed presentation, which is what playing cards are actually used for. The people who like card tricks the most are magicians, and most of us lose sight of how uninteresting most card magic is.
The reason I left card magic all together was because I wanted to reach more people and I started coin magic as my speciality. And now I need some advice because I want to publish some of my coin magic routine and ideas in some kind of monthly magazine or pamplet.
@@EruditeMagic ...i'm 83, and this was in nyc in the forties. a family friend who taught me a few tricks was orson welles - i performed with orm mcgill as well. been fun.
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Great episode! I love storytelling! I don’t do enough of it with my magic, but you have reminded me that I should.
Speaking of conventions I just filled out a survey for Magifest. I’m getting excited. It makes the slowest month of the year so much fun.
Thank you for the comment, Scott. Looking forward to MagiFest, too! See you there.
I have been working on one card trick for five years. It started as a exploration of faro-s and just this morning moved into a possible stage production. The quest was to reduce the number of moves to the bare bones. Get it to the point where you can hand the deck to someone and with a few instructions they can execute the magic. Creating something new presents the problem of knowing if your really making something of value. To produce a single reveal with a deck is two million to one. To produce a reveal of a single order of a deck is 8.4 to ten to 63rd. That is delivering the impossible. It worries me that might just not be enough.
It's not even about the real odds of the miraculous. It's the perception of the impossible. A 50/50 proposition can rivet an audience to the edge of their seats if the consequences of that choice are high enough.
@jeff, this is exactly what my book Authentic Fabrications is about, and I love that you're talking about this subject. I became a much better magician when I started showing who I am as a person on stage.
That's so great! Thanks for the encouragement.
Yup.
Oh no,I luv card magic because it’s beautiful ( for me) Cards are cheap,a close up trick with cards can be wondrous.But for bigger performers ( stage)maybe bigger illusions are better for the genre.As I am a hobbyist cards suit me to the ground and I definitely don’t do them just because there is a Hugh amount of literature of card magic but because card magic done well is truly amazing.Ive tried a lot of other stuff like ring on a string,coin,mentalism which I find on the slow side etc but it just doesn’t suit me but hey,everyone to their own.Never done big stage magic like Copperfield because the apparatus is going to cost an arm and a leg and it doesn’t do it for me.But I luv and appreciate all types of magic.Interesting topic and for working performers,something to think about definitely.Luved it.Cheers.
I love and appreciate all kinds of magic, too, Kalvin. What's your favorite piece of beautiful card magic?
@@EruditeMagic Impossible to give a favourite trick but four authors stand out for me.Bannon,Giobbi,Trost and Paul Gordon.If you get most of the books by these guys then you will have card tricks for 100 lifetimes!!!!!!!
My problem with this kind of thinking is that if magic was real I would stop performing immediately and just begin wandering the world conjuring food to eat and a bed to sleep in wherever I went.
The last thing on my mind would be anything to do with performing for people.
Put back in the real world where magic isn't real, I like cards. They're basically the only part of magic that's fun for me. I've tried to learn coins and I've tried looking into other things, but all of that just feels like I'm banging my head against a wall forcing myself to do something I don't want to do because I think others might enjoy it.
But cards by themselves, are just fun for me. Whether I'm performing for people, practicing, or just messing around with them like a juggler... I'm actively enjoying it.
Also, cards are the most versatile tool in all of magic. Using cards, you can do illusions, gambling demonstrations, classic magic tricks, theatrical stage shows, close up, etcetera....
I don't think there's too many other tools without one tool let you do everything. And since the skills are all transferable then your entire act gets better anytime you practice or improve any part of it.
But if I open with one tool, my second trick is with a different tool, my third trick is with a different tool, and so on down the line... Then you have to learn an entirely new set of skills from the ground up for every single trick you do.
There's no secret why the greatest card manipulators pretty much exclusively only used cards, the greatest invisible thread magicians pretty much only use invisible thread, and so on.
A reasonable approach, but I disagree in that the question can be very valuable, even if you wouldn't do "magic tricks" as a result. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
@@EruditeMagic One way I actually do like this question and a good way to apply it is to use it not as a "trick picker" but as a "trick cleaner"
For example, for my TnR. I asked myself, "if I didn't have to fold this card a specific way for the sake of the technique, how you I naturally fold this card without thought?"
And then I took that and considered how I can adjust the technique to fit that new handling.
Definitely made it better, and can do that for almost any trick out there.
I reckon if I was in a world where people can make objects vanish or teleport, with a flash of light or a puff of glitter, I would still be mesmerized by someone who can sink the 8 from across the pool table, and astonished by someone who can unshuffle a deck without a glimmer of sorcery.
I think that the specialty of sleight of hand is the fact that it’s between worlds.
It’ll make someone in a mundane world question what they knew about their existence, and it’ll also make reality seem unreal to someone who deals in the impossible. Penn & Teller Cups and Balls type stuff.
Granted, that’s also probably not the question.
Fair enough - thanks for sharing!
I believe card magic is at it’s most powerful when placed in a context where playing cards are actually used, whether that be gambling, con games, bar bets, or fortune telling. If I did possess magical powers, I doubt I’d be tearing up cards only to restore them, or making them teleport to my wallet, but I might be tempted to use my powers to gain an unfair advantage at the poker table, or to maybe earn a free beer after a game of three card monte I could never lose.
A reasonable assumption!
Great video !! Thank you Jeff 😃
Appreciate it, Maxime
Movement away from card magic is both a push and a pull toward a more abstract representation of extra-sensory ability...on the other hand, where else can you find 52 assistants so easily?
As I mentioned, I think it's definitely an issue of accessibility. What did magicians do before cards were invented?? 😄
@@EruditeMagic The short answer is Medicine
This is exactly what I've been saying all along -- ALL of card magic is inherently a compromise. There is no reason for any of it, beyond contrived things like "let me show you an experiment in pure chance, using the purest chance of all (if you can believe it) a deck of common playing cards!" You're kidding yourself if you think audiences don't recognize this as a card trick. The sole exception is a gambling-themed presentation, which is what playing cards are actually used for. The people who like card tricks the most are magicians, and most of us lose sight of how uninteresting most card magic is.
It doesn't make it wrong, but it certainly makes you think, which was my whole goal with this video. Thanks for sharing your viewpoint!
Wonderful upload 😊👏👍😊👏👍
Thanks, Robert!
The reason I left card magic all together was because I wanted to reach more people and I started coin magic as my speciality.
And now I need some advice because I want to publish some of my coin magic routine and ideas in some kind of monthly magazine or pamplet.
Coin magic is great, but can be a hard sell because magicians know it takes work to make it look good 😊
You should do a lecture on this topic. So valuable.
Thank you, I'll definitely consider that!
What do you think of the Phoenix by Bruce Elliot ?
The Phoenix is a great magazine - full of wonderful material.
Like Frederick says - great magazine. Older, but good material.
shim lim!! Cards, big time winner!❤
haha - I think you misspelled "black art" 😉
as my magic teacher bruce elliot said, "it's not the trick, it's the routine" -- thanks for the video, it's bright and well-informed.
Bruce Elliot was your teacher? 😮 I need to hear more about that sometime.
@@EruditeMagic ...i'm 83, and this was in nyc in the forties. a family friend who taught me a few tricks was orson welles - i performed with orm mcgill as well. been fun.
@ejgoldguru how cool!