Performing magic tricks is a remarkable hobby, that once you’ve dipped your toe into its waters and begin to learn and discover new moves and sleights bigger and better magic tricks begin to come together. But it’s all to easy to fall into a common trap. That trap is losing sight of what is strong magic.
Sure, there are some amazingly clever routines full of wonder and intrigue, that take dedication and practice but are these routines really strong magic for spectators? We need to remind ourselves that spectators tend to remember uncluttered and clear magic tricks more than long routines.
The reason they remember shorter magic tricks rather than multiple phased routines is because they can explain what happened easily. This is a extraordinarily important point. They can break it down into one or two steps. If you want people to talk about your magic, you need to do magic tricks they can explain easily to their friends.
Here are a handful of magic tricks that spectators can describe and remember very easily.
To the Max (ice cube production)
Spend a moment watching the performances of these magic tricks. You’ll notice that each of the magic tricks can be described in a single sentence. That is what you should aim for if you are looking to leave a long lasting impression with the spectators.
The strongest magic tricks fall into three categories:
- Something changes
- A Transposition happens
- Something vanishes
If you can incorporate these elements into your magic tricks yet keep their simplicity, you will find your magic to be much stronger, more memorable, and spectators will talk about it for a long time.
DO THIS: Grab a piece of paper. For each of the tricks you perform, write down what happens. Imagine you are describing the magic trick to a non-magician friend. Can you fully describe the trick in just one or two sentences? If you can’t, what do you need to change in the method or presentation to simplify the magic trick?
What magical event actually happens? Is it a vanish, a prediction, a transformation or a levitation? Think about what happens during the presentation that doesn’t directly lead to, or result from that magical event. How can you remove as many actions or processes as possible that aren’t part of it?
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