How to Be Yourself as a Magician – Dominic Reyes Video

by Dominic Reyes 3 Comments

The Merchant of Magic Team are often asked questions about how to create a performing persona as a magician. Many magicians that have yet to perform their magic tricks to an audience worry about how to present themselves in an entertaining way.

Dominic Reyes has recorded a short video, in which he talks about how to present yourself in an authentic way, yet maintain a professional and entertaining persona as a magician:

4 Quick Tips on how to be yourself when you perform as a magician:

1) Most magicians, unless they have a specific character that dictates their performance, just need to be themselves. An energetic, happy, and enthusiastic version of yourself.

2) Try to avoid stock jokes and one liners, they usually come across as fake, unless they have been cleverly built into your presentation in a way that perfectly matches your personality.

3) Assume that the group of spectators already loves magic, and can't wait to see you perform. Appraoch with a sence of fun an excitment about the magic you are about to show them.

4) Remember that a close up magic presentation is really a conversation. Your smiles and eye contact are just as important as the magic trick you are showing. People want an interaction with someone they like, far more than the trick itself. Your personality needs to be authentic, so it feels genuine. It's very easy to spot a fake persona.

5 Tips and Ideas to get the most out of your Phoenix Prophecy

by Dominic Reyes 2 Comments

With the release of Phoenix Prophecy, we have been asked by a lot of magicians, for additional presentation and performance ideas for this useful mind reading tool.

The Phoenix Prophecy is a great update on a classic mentalism gimmick that allows you to perform some great mind-reading and mentalism but in a very magical way. The thought of word or spectator's initials appear in burn marks on your business card, or piece of paper, even on your spectator's own bank note!

Although these routines and more ideas are explained in full on the tuition DVD, the Phoenix Prophecy really is a tool that you can use to help improve your creativity. It only took a few minutes for me to come up with a few great ideas you can use with the Phoenix Prophecy, so I thought I’d share these ideas with you now.

Phoenix Prophecy Resizing

As the Phoenix Prophecy gimmick is a bit of a ‘One Size Fits All’ gimmick, there is a tiny chance that it may be too big for you. If this is the case for you, not to worry, it is a simple fix. All you need to do is cut a piece of foam and stick it on the inside of the gimmick so that it fits snugly. You don’t have to use foam, you can also use folded card to bridge the gap. It may seem obvious once you have read this, but nonetheless I believe it is worth mentioning.

Frixion Pen Routine

The Frixion Pen is a great tool. It is a pen with ink that turns invisible when heat is applied to it. This is perfect for the Phoenix Prophecy. I am sure you are already thinking ahead of me now!

Simply take a business card and write a four digit number with the Frixion Pen, place this down as your prediction. Ask the spectator to think of a four digit number, if they think of the number you wrote (it is 9000 to 1, but it could happen!) then you have a miracle! If not (which is more likely!) then simply turn your prediction around to show it is incorrect if you perform this correctly the breakdown of tension should give you ample misdirection to freely work your Phoenix Prophecy gimmick so you can simply say, ‘every now and then my mind reading skills fail me. However, my magic is always pretty good’. You can then hold the lighter under the business card and the ink from the Frixion Pen will vanish, and the burn marks will reveal the thought of number!

Pocket Change Routine

In this routine, you predict correctly three coins that are freely chosen by your spectators, from their own pocket change.

Have a spectator sign the face of your business card and on the opposite side draw three circles. Hold this in full view with the signed face showing to the spectators. Now simply ask your spectator to remove all the change in their pocket, they are to select three coins to use and place them in a row on the table. It should be noted that you are to make it obvious that you do not have a pen in your hand as you hold the prediction. When the coins have been placed down you can recap the process and how impossible it would be if you had correctly predicted not only which coins they would choose but which order they would choose them, how would you ever have known even what coins they had in the first place! This patter will give you ample time to use the Phoenix Prophecy gimmick to full effect and set it so that the value of each coin will appear in the burn marks inside the circles.

Predict Your Friend’s Time to Win a Drink!

Next time you are out with your friends in a bar bet them that you can predict the future and propose a wager if you can predict where your friend will stop their watch then they buy you a drink, if not then you will buy them a drink!

When you write your prediction you are simply going to draw a watch without the hands on the face. Draw on your business card at the top of the card, the card must be portrait and not landscape as it will give you more space to draw the watch.

All you need to do is have your friend wind their watch around to ANY time they like and stop. Ask them to click the button in on their watch so they cannot change their mind. Emphasize that you have made your prediction, again make it clear (without saying it) that you do not have a pen in your hand. As soon as they have selected their time use the Phoenix Prophecy gimmick to have the correct hands appear when you hold the lighter underneath the prediction. Reveal the time and claim your drink!

Business Card Symmetry

In this routine, you are going to get perfectly in sync with your spectator. Hand your spectator a business card and ask them to take the business card and place a tear in the business card anywhere they like. They can tear any edge they like, ask them not to tear any part off the card, but to simply put a small tear into the business card. As they do this you will use your Phoenix Prophecy gimmick to prep that same part of your business card. Now when you hold the lighter underneath the business card a distinct mark will appear in the same place as where they tore their card.

You can of course use this idea with pieces of paper or borrowed bank notes too so it can be completely impromptu as long as you have your Phoenix Prophecy gimmick with you. And lets face it, when are you ever going to leave it at home!

So there you go, there are 5 tips and ideas to use with your Phoenix Prophecy gimmick to help inspire you! It really is a great gimmick which I intend on having with me for a very long time! Enjoy!

Help – People Want to Examine My Gimmicked Playing Cards

by Dominic Reyes 3 Comments

Christian is worried about people asking to examine his gimmicked deck of playing cards. He writes:

'I use a Pop Eyed Popper deck. The spectator maybe ask for a closer look at the deck of playing cards. That's not possible.'

That's a really good question, and one that is asked quite often, when magicians are worried about using gaffed or gimmicked decks of playing cards. Here are 5 tips for what to do when you find yourself in the situation when a spectator asks to examine your deck of playing cards.

1) Why they are asking?

If a magic trick has been routined correctly and the magic builds to a suitable climax at the end, your spectators should be reacting to the magic that they have just witnessed. It's an issue of 'engagement and reaction'. The magic trick should entertain them, and draw them into the experience, so the magic isn't perceived as a 'puzzle'. If you find that spectators just ask testing questions, at the end of a trick, look at your presentation and think about ways to make the magic have more impact or for their reactions to be increased. Are you unintentionally presenting the magic trick as a puzzle? Are you signalling that the magic trick is just a 'question' that prompts the spectator to think of 'answers'. Changing a few lines of presentation and see if that fixes the issue.

2) Look for gimmicked decks of playing cards that can be switched in and out of play.

Many gaffed decks only need to be introduced into play for a short period of time. Once they are used, they can be put away or switched out for a regular deck. Think about ways of switching your decks, or ditching out the gaffs when they are no longer needed. There are many devices on the market that will switch a deck easily if you prefer to avoid sleight of hand methods.

3) Build in convincers.

Many of the better gimmicked or gaffed decks of playing cards have built in systems to convince spectators that the decks are normal. The Pop Eyed Popper Deck is designed to be spread both face up and face down, so all the cards are shown to be normal. Try to avoid making a big deal about the fairness of the playing cards you use. It should be assumed that they are normal, so over proving the point can work against you and raise suspicion. The routining of the magic trick should be developed, so the playing cards are shown as much as possible in a natural way throughout the trick.

4) It doesn't happen often.

Much of the worry about spectators asking to examine your cards happens before many beginners start performing. They think that spectators will automatically be looking to try to catch them out. Part of this feeling comes from being a magician. As you have been focusing on the method for the trick, it's easy for you to forget that the method is not central to the attention of your audience. They only see the presentation and magical effect that is produced. This feeling can be reinforced for beginners as they tend to perform for their friends in informal situations. Your friends probably enjoy nothing more than trying to tease and catch you out, because that's what friends like to do generally. It's just as much fun for them to challenge you because they are not in a situation where you are there to perform for them. The normal rules of play are very different between a group of friends having fun, and a group of spectators watching a magic performance. In normal performing situations, it's actually VERY rare that people will stop the show to examine props.

5) Relax about the situation.

The most important thing to remember is to relax about it. There isn't anything wrong with simply putting the deck in your pocket if you start to get challenged and giving the spectator a big smile. In just the same way as a stage illusionist wouldn't let everyone rush up onto the stage and examine their illusion equipment. If you find yourself in the situation where a spectator asks to play with the deck, simple pop it into your pocket as they ask the question. Laugh and move on to the next thing that you want to show them.

Got some advice about how you handle people asking to examine your playing cards? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below: