How Magicians Find Their Core Skills – Advice from Gary Jones

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Dominic Reyes up with professional magician Gary Jones, and he took time out to record a short video about discovering your own core skills in magic.

Gary Jones makes a valuable point here. It's so easy to feel that we need to master every move in magic. This gets reinforced as we watch other magicians perform, especially if you watch a lot of magic DVD's. We see many magicians, each performing their own magic tricks with an expert ease. In truth, we are seeing each performers BEST material. The half practiced, off the mark, or near miss material never gets the spot light. As a result, it's easy for us to assume that each professional magician is a master of all the classic techniques, and we should be the same.

In reality, each person has different strengths and weaknesses. One performer may naturally have a talent for manipulation, another may excel at palming, a third may not have much dexterity, but they are highly empathic and express that though skilled communication. Although some magicians achieve perfection across everything they work on, most tend to find a few core moves of techniques that they find easy to use. Once they have this core set of skills, they adapt and develop magic tricks that use these advantages.

DO THIS:

Make a list of the techniques that you find easy to perform.

Look at your other magic tricks and think about how they coul be adapted to use the moves you already have mastered.

There's no need to reinvent the wheel. Use your existing strengths, adapt your material and make the most of what you already know.

Why famous magicians don’t take shortcuts with their magic tricks.

by Dominic Reyes 4 Comments

By Ben Williams

The types of magic tricks that famous magicians perform has become quite a hot subject within the magic community recently. I believe this is due to the amount of magic that is now being broadcast on TV.

There is a common theme that does run alongside all of the famous magicians:

Prep work.

How many famous magicians do you know that entertain theatres, or television audiences with impromptu magic? I actually cannot name one, every famous magician that has made their entire living from selling out theatres or starring in TV shows all spend huge amounts of time on preparation

What do I mean about prepping magic tricks?

I am not talking about practicing your sleight of hand techniques or routines here, I am simply talking about how much preparation you should do for your magic tricks.

Is there a gimmick to be made, is there a large set up, is there a tool or accessory you need to add to your clothing? All of these processes need to be thought about before the performance. By thinking about preparing your magic, whether it is loaded into an impossible location for a reveal later, or making sure your topit is properly installed can make your magic seem impossible and impromptu, when really it is not at all. Preparation allows you to give the illusion of performing impossible magic in a seemingly impromptu setting but does not have the restrictions of an impromptu magic trick.

The appearance of being impromptu.

All the famous magicians with TV shows go to extreme lengths to achieve the caliber of effect they put across to the public. Dynamo magician impossible, David Blaine, Criss Angel they all employ elaborate methods with multiple layers of deception across all borders of their performance in order to be able to keep showing the standard of magic tricks they have become known for.

In the 1970s and 80s there was a TV show by the famous magician, David Berglas – The International Man of Mystery. David is the king of prep work. His methods were so convoluted and extreme that they usually need extra hands to help plan everything. David, being a genius and taking secrecy so seriously would only tell the aide the part of the secret that was relevant to them, and that is all they would know, so not one person apart from David knew the entirety of his secret methods! The result was that his shows had regular viewing ratings of 18 million people and the media attention he garnered was immense. David’s huge stunts were talked about all over the country, much like Dynamo’s publicity stunts, like walking on the Thames has catapulted him into the worldwide limelight.

Prep versus Impromptu.

Now, to say that every famous magician only performs magic tricks that are heavily prepped or set up is not true. All of these famous magicians will have a plethora of great impromptu techniques. However, it is not these magic tricks that the paying public keep shelling out their hard earned money to see.

“If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today. If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.” – Mark Twain

Impromptu magic definitely has its place in every magician’s repertoire, to be caught short is no fun. If you have some strong magic that can be performed at a moments notice with borrowed items, the reactions can be amazing. In fact, they can be of an almost miraculous status as you are performing with a familiar item to them, and it seems to be on a whim! It is not on a whim because you will have spent time learning and practicing this magic trick. It is just the situation arose where it was the right time to perform it, and no further preparation was necessary.

However, this sort of approach is situational and not reliable. You cannot film for a TV show and hope that someone has the item you can perform with, the magic tricks need to be fixed and organised to guarantee success.

You can tip the odds in your favour if you wish to perform impromptu magic. For example if you have a great impromptu magic trick with a water bottle; instead of bringing your own water bottle or hoping someone in your group of spectators is drinking from a water bottle why not perform on the street just outside a gym or outside a convenience store where the likelihood of meeting someone drinking a bottle of water is greatly increased?

How much prep time should I spend on my magic tricks?

The short answer?

There really isn’t a perfect answer for this, what I will say though is, do as much as you are prepared to!

Some magicians have no interest in prepping their magic tricks, and putting time into their magic tricks before a performance, and that is fine, you can be a great magician. However, you cannot translate those to a TV show or a stage show so you will be locked in the close up arena. If you wish to become a famous magician with a Broadway show, or a TV series, then you will have to start to look at ways to make your magic more impossible and unique. For example, you may set something up inside a product, and leave it in a shop if you stake out the shop until someone buys that product, then you have an absolute miracle on your hands that fits TV. That is just a small example of how you can multiply the impossibility factor with a bit of thought and prep.

Be one of the few performing these magic tricks.

One of the things that famous magicians must do is find unique twists and presentations for their magic tricks. Dynamo magician impossible cannot be seen to be performing the same magic tricks that David Blaine is performing. Criss Angel doesn’t want to perform anything that Cyril Takayama is performing. This results in a lot of thought, care and attention going into the preparation of each magic trick.

If you are willing to put the extra work into your magic then you will be one of the few that do, this means that you will be performing magic that is rare and not often seen. If a lay person has seen a magician, there is a good chance that they have seen the sponge ball trick, or the trick where the card keeps coming to the top of the deck of playing cards. They most likely will not have seen a signed card in ice such as Remaxed Iceolaion, or a torn and restored photo of themselves. The more unique your magic, the more memorable it is, and the more memorable you are.

I know of a great magician who performs a magic trick that takes 7 days to prep, a whole week to perform a magic trick, once! You may think he is mad, but he has had more repeat bookings from this trick than any other and no other magician performs this trick making him unique.

Getting the same reactions as famous magicians.

Part of why the magicians on TV get the huge reactions that they do is the planning and preparation that goes into their magic tricks. A single magic trick may have taken hours, days or even weeks to set up and arrange. This meticulous attention to detail and planning results in a miraculous result.

Some things are just not possible to do in an impromptu setting, but set everything up and then perform something as if it were off the cuff, and impromptu, and you will receive the greatest of all reactions. Just the standard method for card through window needs a small bit of prep work, but the results and reactions are huge, try to do it impromptu and there is always a compromise that you have to factor in, this can greatly change the reaction you receive.

Leave a lasting impression.

This is probably one of the best things about performing magic tricks that require prep. Often a magic trick like that will leave something suspended in a magical state that can be kept as a souvenir. This can be worth its weight in gold as people keep these souvenirs and show people for years to come. Every time a magician is mentioned in the future the lay person will talk about the magic you performed for them, and if they have the souvenir in their wallet they will certainly remove it and show everyone.

These are just a few things to take into consideration when you decide upon what sort of magic tricks you like and perform. I absolutely love to perform a mixture of both impromptu and set up magic, usually leaving the spectators with the set up magic trick as the final trick, the one that will be fresh in their memory when I leave, and therefore most likely be the one they remember most.

How to Import Magic Tricks from the US or China – Cost/Tax – Problems

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Rebecca wants to know about the costs of importing magic tricks into the UK.

Rebecca asks:

'I've been looking at magic shops online and notice that many US magic shops seem a lot cheaper than UK shops. I like to buy my magic from The Merchant of Magic as the service is great, but some tricks are only available in other countries. As you order magic tricks internationally, could you give me some advice, please?'

Buying magic tricks from magic shops outside the UK can look like an amazing deal. Sometimes the items appear to be a lot cheaper, or simply are not available in UK magic shops. Let's look at the process and give you some tips for ordering magic from magic shops outside of the UK.

The ordering process.

Most websites are pretty much the same, although there are design differences which can make the shopping experience different. However, essentially, you browse the site, add items into your shopping cart and fill in a shipping section and payment section.

The main differences will be that the prices are not shown in UK Currency, and measurements may be different.

Payment.

If you purchase an item using your card outside the UK, you will be performing a transaction in the currency of the country the shop is based within. Paypal, Visa, Mastercard make this very easy, but it's important to understand that you are also performing a currency conversion when you make the transaction.

Your bank/card company will convert the payment into UK currency and change you a fee. Each bank charges a different fee for international transactions, this can be around 2-3% of the transaction, so it's wise to check with your bank to see exactly how much the international payment will cost you.

VAT.

International magic shops don't show sales tax for the UK as this is payable later. Unlike shops in the UK, you won't be shown the full cost of the order including tax. This is because the UK tax is added to the value of the order once it arrives in the UK and Customs and Excise value the order and add the UK VAT element. When looking at prices of magic tricks in magic shops outside of the UK, you need to add an additional 20% to the price as this is the current VAT charge in the UK (correct as of 2013).

Import Duty.

The UK government doesn't like its citizens sending their money to another country. That's a fair point as it weakens the UK economy and builds up the coffers of the other country. To help balance this, the government charges an import duty fee. This is added to the total of the order after the VAT is added so you pay import duty on the value of the goods, the shipping cost and the VAT. Import duty in 2013 for magic tricks is currently 2.7%.

The import duty tax rate for importing Magic tricks into United Kingdom is 2.7%, the import VAT is 20%, when classified under Toys & Games → Other Toys & Games → Playing Cards with HS commodity code 9504.40.0000

Customs Clearance fees.

When your order arrives to the UK, it passes through customs and the VAT and Import Duty tax are added. The courier that will deliver the package pays this tax in advance for you, then will either write to you or phone you, to ask you to pay the tax fees, before they can deliver the package to you. They will also charge you a fee for the customs clearance process. This ranges from £10 – £25 per shipment.

Shipping Fees.

International shipping is much more expensive than domestic shipping, so check that the shipping fees shown on the magic website are fixed and cover delivery to your country. If the dealer offers free international shipping, double check that you will be getting all the goods as some dealers will remove the packaging, DVD boxes and additional bonus items to reduce the shipping weight. Make sure you will be getting exactly the same item or items as a customer from the websites own country, and if not, that you are made fully aware of this.

Some dealers will contact you after you place the order and ask for additional shipping due to the final weight of the order, or they may tell you that the order will have to ship by a different method that can take a few days or even a few weeks longer to arrive. Make sure you check this in advance, so there are surprises

Shipping delays.

Importing internationally will result in a much longer delivery time. The items have to travel a huge distance, then pass through the customs process. Once this is done, your import fees and taxes need to be paid, so there is a delay whist you are contacted to arrange this payment. It's important to remember this when you look at projected delivery times given by international magic shops. They have no control over the time it takes to clear customs, or routing delays, so allow extra time for this process to take place.

Damage in Transit.

Your goods will be traveling a long distance, often by plane or ship. It's vital that you make sure that additional care is taken to package the goods for a rough journey. Damage in transit will be hard to address if something goes wrong. It will cost you a great deal to return items internationally if that is possible at all. Your UK consumer rights probably won't cover you for transactions outside of the UK, so you will be relying on the trust and goodwill of the magic shop you are ordering from.

Returns.

Sometimes things go wrong, DVD's arrive broken or don't play, tricks are misdescribed or not useable in the UK. You will not have the same consumer rights that you do when buying magic tricks from a UK shop. Returning goods can be expensive and often will be at your cost. Good magic shops will try to look after you, but there are no guarantees. Make sure the shop you use is an established reputable magic dealer with good customer service reviews, and check on their returns policy before you purchase. If you use a credit card, rather than a debit card you may have some limited protection, but it's worth checking with your bank first.

Card Security.

Be sure to only use established magic shops you trust. Anyone can set up a website in a few hours, and by placing an order you are giving them full access to your card details. Ensure that the site has a secure checkout, ideally run by a third party, trusted payment gateway.

Summary of costs.

Prices and import laws change all the time, but currently you should expect to pay the following costs in addition to the prices shown on international magic shop websites:

Currency Conversion Fee	2.5%
VAT	20%
Import Duty	2.7%
Customs Clearance Fee	£15

So for example, imagine you placed an order for $100 worth of magic tricks

US$100 = £65 (as of 15/8/13 google currency conversion)

Currency Conversion Fee 2.5%	£1.62
VAT 20%	£13
Import Duty 2.7% of goods and VAT	£2.10
Clearance fees	£15

Total additional import costs £31.72

Sneaking through the system.

Sometimes packages that have a small order value will get through the system without charges. However, it's your legal duty to report any import to customs and pay the duty. Failing to declare imports, and paying incorrect import duty and VAT on imports could be regarded as smuggling, and tax avoidance.

It can still be a good idea.

Ordering magic tricks from magic shops outside of the UK can still be a great idea. If a magic trick is not available in the UK, and you fully understand the extra costs and delays, you can find some amazing items and rare tricks being sold all over the world. You don't need to be scared of ordering magic tricks internationally, just make sure you find out the full costs, so you can be delighted when the package arrives rather than shocked by the hidden costs.