How to Invent Your Own Magic Tricks and be More Creative.

Would you like to invent your own magic tricks? How much of the magic you perform has been created by other magicians? There isn’t really anything wrong with that, but many magicians want to start being creative with the magic they introduce into their act. Let’s look at ways to develop ideas for new magic tricks and develop creativity.

‘If you can dream it, you can do it.’ – Walt Disney

Instead of hunting for the next new magic trick that will freshen up your act, could you invent something new? Even if you don’t feel you can create full, brand new magic tricks, you may be able to adapt or change existing material to give it your own special twist and brand it with your personality.

Take a step away from the magic you are currently performing and think to yourself:

 ‘If I could perform any magic trick, what would I like to do?’ 

This is where Walt Disney’s wise words come into play. The first step is to be able to ‘dream’ or ‘imagine’ what it is you wish to achieve. This can be tough, starting from nothing. However, to be creative you don’t have to start from a blank canvas. Use what is around you and inspires you.

Buy yourself a pocket sized notepad, or use an online notebook like Evernote.  Ideas and inspiration are all around us. It could come from listening to a conversation, an event you witness or a poster you see. It’s very easy to have ideas, but just as easy to forget them. Any ideas you have, make a note. Even if its just a word, note it down. See something that gives you an idea? Take a picture of it on your phone. Start capturing ideas as you go about your day. In time you can then refer to your random notes and scribblings. You’ll be surprised how inspirational and these ideas can get your creative juices flowing in all sorts of directions.

Here are some of my suggestions to help inspire ideas and help creativity to flow.

Movies.

Movies are great for ideas. But only if you are watching them with the thirst for new ideas in the back of your mind.

‘I was watching the old horror movie ‘The Fly’ recently. There is a scene where the main character has developed two transportation pods. He enters one, dematerializes, and is then rematerialized into the second. However, one day he transports himself and a fly enters the pod. Lo and behold they materialize as one being.

This immediately hit me as a great theme for any transposition magic trick, or even any routine where two signatures appear together on one card.’ – Paul Knight

Being creative with your magic does not necessarily mean creating a new routine. Simply taking a magic trick you already do and changing the theme and patter can change the whole appearence of the trick.

So when you are next relaxing watching a film keep in the back of your mind the opportunities for any possible ideas or themes you can employ in your magic.

Music.

Music can be very inspiring and help hugely with creativity. By simply playing music as you practice you will be surprised how easy it is to stray from your usual patter and handling. Just experiment and open up. Remember there are no rules.

Books.

Not just magic books, read as much as you can both fiction and non fiction. It’s amazing how many plots can spark ideas for magic. Good authors can engage readers on both an intellectual and emotional level. This is an important skill to master for your magic. The more you read, the more you will grow a feel for how a good story is created, as well as discover interesting plot ideas you may never have considered.

Latest trends.

• What’s being discussed on the internet?
• What meme’s are going around?
• What are the top 10 games or apps at the moment?

Trending topics and current news can give you some awesome ideas for new presentations and magic tricks. Finding fun or interesting topics that are popular has never been easier. Your facebook stream will be stuffed with meme’s and ideas. Get ideas from sites like Boingboing or Lifehacker add them to a newsreader app or service and start building a reader list of interesting sites that can give you ideas.

The secret to magic creativity.

To build your creativity, you need to feed it. Start looking around at all the weird and unusual stuff. It’s all around you! Here’s the real secret:

Ubiquitous capture is when you record ideas, information, thoughts, and experiences wherever you are. The goal is to reduce the amount of time taken between when the idea appears and when it is written down, recorded or captured.

Capture the things you find, even if you don’t know why or how you could ever need it. If it’s interesting to you, capture it. The more you do this, the more you feed your creativity with little ‘idea seeds’. They can stay buried in your note system, until one day they pop out and give you a great idea for a new presentation, or even a magic routine itself.