How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

Guessing the Secrets of Magic Tricks

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Guessing Secrets of Magic Tricks

By Dominic Reyes

A spectator guessing possible solutions, can be just as bad as spotting the true secrets of magic tricks. How can magicians defend themselves against this?

I have a good friend who is totally obsessed with zombie movies. He must have watched them all. Zombie films are almost as much of an obsession for him as magic is for me. Watching these old zombie flicks with him has taught me two things:

1) Zombies simply shouldn't run.

2) Some of these films are truly terrible.

The weak story I can forgive. After all, there's only so much plot you can build in. The low budget is fine. What gets me is the sloppy lack of attention to detail. Sometimes a sound boom pops into view. Every now and then you see a reflection in a window of the camera crew.. Little details that shouldn't be there. That's also a valuable point in the performance of close up magic:

If your audience becomes distracted by something that shouldn't be there, they lose part of the experience.

When you perform your sleight of hand, it goes without saying that you should have learned to perform the moves to a point where they are automatic, natural and flawless. You should work on your technique until there is very little chance of a something 'flashing' or 'talking' during its execution. A messed up move can pull your spectators out of the 'magical experience' in the blink of an eye. Switching their attention from the theatre of the routine, to an appraisal of your abilities. But what about 'tells' and flashes that don't even exist…

When a move that never happened goes wrong

It's quite possible for an audience member to detect a move, even though it never happened. Even if your technique is flawless, an audience member may think of an explanation for a trick even though it isn't the actual method you used. To the spectator, it doesn't really matter. If the trick COULD be done like that, in their minds, they got it right. Once any explanation is present, the magic is lost. 

  • 'It could have gone up his sleeve'
  • 'The playing card could have already been there'
  • 'It could have been wires'
  • 'He could have hidden it in his other hand'

ANY explanation is the right answer to a spectator viewing your magic as a puzzle. Magic needs to be impossible, so it's your job as a magician to make sure you remove the possibility of methods even when they are not present. 

Spectators are not chained to technique

Unlike a magician, a spectator is free from the restraints of technique. You may know that it's not possible for the coin to be up your sleeve, because it would be in the wrong place for its production later in the routine. You understand that even if you were to be able to peek at the playing card before it went into the deck, that would not help you, because it changes colour once it's revealed.. You understand what's possible within the context and structure of the trick. Your spectators are free from any of those cares. They don't know any of the secrets of magic tricks. If they find ANY explanation, they have solved the 'puzzle' and that's good enough for them. They don't care about the fine details in the same way.

How do we fight this?

Destroying possibilities

Look through the tricks that you perform. Try to shed all your magical knowledge and see them as a spectator does. How COULD the trick be done, if you could do anything within the laws of Physics?

Could the card be swapped? 

If the other hand had the coin, would that be an answer?

Is it possible that the choice wasn't totally fair?

Taking time to come up with an alternative, unlikely, and even apparently silly 'solutions' for the magic tricks you perform is valuable. Once you collect all the 'wrong answers' you can make sure your presentation guides your audience to dismiss them without even giving them attention.

Know your enemy

Work on dispelling possible solutions to your tricks, by identifying them. It's easy to be blind to them because you are so wrapped up in the mechanics of what's really required to make the trick work. 

Try to think from the perspective of your spectators. Ask yourself what they would be thinking during each moment of the routine.

If you can, show your magic to some young kids. They will be brutally honest, and surprisingly imaginative. The tricks may go over their heads or fail to hold their attention, but they will probably have quite a few possible solutions you never thought about. 

Once you identify all the possible solutions, you can adapt the structure of the trick, and the presentation of the effect, so that you clearly cut off each 'solution' as impossible.

Expose your own magic

You may even draw attention to a few common 'solutions' and point out to the spectators how they would be impossible. It's fine to take a moment during a trick, to recap on the fairness of the conditions, the impossibility of what is about to happen, and to dispell any solutions that the audience may have. You may find this an interesting presentation in and of itself.

 

3 Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Magicians Props

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magicians props that don't make sense

By Dominic Reyes

Have you noticed that many magicians perform magic tricks that don't make sense? Why would someone turn a red card box into a blue card box, push a coin inside a bottle, or produce a load of silks out of thin air? 


Many props that magicians use, only exist because they are used by magicians. Strange fake flowers that appear out of nowhere or little red balls that multiply in the spectator's hands. More often than not, no explanation or justification is given for these strange objects existence other than as a tool for something odd to happen.

Magicians Props upstaging the magicians

If you use magician's props that are unusual or obviously a 'magician only' device, your audience will be interested in it for its own sake. This can be a problem if it causes your audience to focus on the props rather than the magic you perform with them. If you are not careful, the audience switches from experiencing the magic, to watching a 'puzzle', as they attribute the magic to the props you use. That doesn't mean they don't enjoy it, only that the magic is seen to come from the props rather than the performer on an unconscious level. It's a subtle change in perception in the same way that a film going audience can end up paying more attention to the impressive special effects in a film rather than the actors.

The magical box's or equipment you use should not be the star of the show. If you do use a strange prop, keep yourself and your presentation the centre of attention as much as possible. Don't hide behind your tools, leaning on them to amaze your audience. It's more important that they remember YOU more than the effects.

Why I don't like wonder.

I've never liked the word 'wonder'. To me, the word means to 'puzzle over'. A person wonders how the trick is done. 

The goal of your performance is that the audience experience something impossible and be amazed, rather than to be presented with a series of puzzles to work out. You want them to be surprised, spellbound, and emotionally captured. The impossible events they witnessed should be from 'magic' and that's where the entertainment should come from. If you perform with a series of obvious props, you risk the audience switching from amazement to simply wondering how the trick was done. 

Puzzles are still fun, and many successful magicians only present tricks in this way, but it's possible to take almost any trick and adjust the way you present it, so that it stops inviting the audience to 'wonder' about its method. When a trick is performed in this way, it becomes more like theatre and art.

How to justify your magicians props

If you are going to use a strange prop, justify why it's being used through your presentation and storytelling. If it's not clear why a prop is there, your audience may assume it's there because IT is how the magic trick is done.

What possible reason is there for anyone to even use one sponge ball, let alone a whole hand full of them..? Why are they made of sponge in the first place? Can you think of a justification for using them in your magic act?

"Have you noticed that you don't see many clowns these days? They used to be everywhere! It's a little known fact that for years clowns have been hunted by magicians. It's a cruel blood sport, but so much fun. Look.. We take their noses as trophies.."

3 things you should ask yourself about your magicians props

Take a look at each magic trick you perform and ask yourself:

  • Why do you perform it?
  • Why should the audience care about it?
  • How could you build a story around the objects to give them more significance and meaning? 

 

 

How Long Should a Magician Take to Practice a Magic Trick?

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Time to Practice a magic trick

By Dominic Reyes

Stephen writes: 'I want to develop my first magic act. How long should I aim to practice a magic trick before it's ready to be performed?'

That question has a very simple answer.. It depends.

There is no set time scale for any magic trick to be ready. The time it will take you to get the trick to a performance standard is different for each magician and each trick. However, My good friend Steve Shufton told me some simple advice that I would like to pass on to you now..

Whilst writing the instructions for the mind reading magic trick Ps I Love You Steve wanted to include a section about how long the magic trick will take to learn. He explained that the more experience you have in magic, the more you will understand the value of practice. PS I Love you is very simple to learn. You could start performing the magic trick in just 15 minutes. Many beginners will learn the trick and do just that, but in doing so, they are making a huge mistake. Experienced performers understand that the success of a magic performance has little to do with the simplicity of the method. The strength of the trick comes from the performance, and that comes from the skill and effort of the magician.

Do This: Don't assume that a magic trick that is easy to learn, should take less time to become performance ready. Use the extra time you gain from a simple method, to work on the presentation. Don't rush out and perform a new trick right away. Take you time…