Many magicians become annoyed that the general public are impressed with TV magicians.

Popular comments about TV Magicians:

“I saw that magician Troy on TV last night.”

“Wow you're like Dynamo!” “

Penn and Teller were so amazing”.

When watching magic, the general public often mention other magicians. How you react to it is very important. It’s tempting to feel that you are being compared or judged by spectators when this happens.. Resist the temptation to slag off other magicians. If one of your spectators mentions another magician it's usually because they really liked him or her. It isn’t some kind of direct comparison, and you don’t need to feel threatened or try and put the other magician down.

Some questions to ask yourself:

What are you trying to do?

How do you want your audience to feel?

Will putting down the abilities of the TV magician help you in any way?

Is your goal to destroy their appreciation of the TV magician and love you more instead?

Many magicians get annoyed by the fact that the performers they are apparently being compared against work on TV. They feel that they need to justify that magic on television is different from that of a real life magic show. The huge budgets, audience management, and staged situations annoy many magicians. They sometimes feel that TV magicians simply don’t have the talent that is being portrayed in their television shows. So what! The quality of magic from a performance point of view is not important. The magicians technical ability is besides the point. If the show has impressed your spectators, it has achieved exactly what it intended to do. Anything negative you have to say about it just reflects badly on YOU rather than the magic show.

Your spectators watched a magic show, and it made them feel good. It made them appreciate magic, and spurred them to want to watch more in a live situation. That’s done a huge service for you. Your own personal feelings about the quality of the magic they’ve seen, and your annoyance about the impossible situations created for the magic within the show is of no concern to the spectators. Your spectators enjoyed it. Anything negative you say about that takes away their enjoyment, and that’s not what you’re there to do.

If you really want to be negative about TV magicians, save your comments for conversations with fellow magicians not the general public. It's fine for you to have issues with the magic you see presented. You have every right as a fellow magician to complain that much of magic that is presented on TV is unrealistic, or unrespresentative of live magic. It's fine to feel that many TV magicians are simply 'product' created by TV production companies. However, complaining about another magician is not something you should do to a spectator, especially if they admire the TV magician. It serves you no constructive purpose.

Your reaction to TV magicians.

So how should you react to spectators being impressed by magic tricks which you know, or feel are impossible TV creations and hype? Be generous, gracious, and complimentary about the TV magician. Say something really positive about them. Tell your spectators an anecdote about a time that you met the TV magician. Let them know what a great person he or she is in real life, how much passion they have for magic, how difficult it must be to create a large number of elaborate illusions to be shown on television.

“Yeah, Dynamo’s a really great guy, who genuinely loves magic. It’s so good for magic that he is introducing it to the public at large”

“I like Dynamo too, you know you can often find him mixing with magicians at magic conventions, he really has a passion for magic.”

“Troy's a lovely guy if you meet him in person. I’m really pleased that he’s being able to take magic and give it a higher profile on TV.”

“Yeah, it’s fantastic to see so much new magic on TV now.”

“ I was at a huge magic convention a while ago and saw Dynamo taking the time to help some of the beginners, he’s inspiring a lot of new magicians to start magic.”

The key attitude as a professional is not to feel you are being compared. You are being put in the same category as a famous magician that your spectators know about. You have something in common with them. Take that as the compliment it is intended to be.

What do you say when spectators mention a famous TV magician? How do you think it reflects on you and your performance? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Magician Lewis Le Val Talks About Deconstructing Magic Tricks – Interview

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

By Dominic Reyes

I was chatting to magician Lewis Le Val late at night after the Blackpool magic convention.

Lewis complained many beginners don't try to introduce additions into the magic they learn from magic books or DVD's. We decided to record this short video on the subject:

Lewis Le Val raises an important point. Magicians need to learn from other magicians, but in copying their style they suffer the same fate as all other reproductions in art, they lack authenticity.

Magic tricks are more than simply 'tricks' they are a collection of concepts fused together to entertain people. They are as much about a relationship as a mechanical technique. A copy will fail to communicate a relationship, because it's formed by the character of the the original source. That part of the magic trick needs to come from YOU.

Levis Le Val recommends that you choose magic tricks that you like nd that suit your style, then destroy them. Break them down and rebuild them so that they also contain aspects of your own personality. By doing this, you will find that your audience relates to the maic tricks you present to them. Your spectators see that your presentations are consistant and authentic. That's much more powerful that any stock patter lines could ever be.

About Lewis Le Val

Lewis Le Val, is a psychological magician based in the UK. His magic combines hypnosis, sleight of hand, psychology and showmanship to present a surreal experience of magic.

How did Magician Troy Push a Coin Inside a Playing Card

by Dominic Reyes Leave a Comment

After magician Troy pushed a coin inside a playing card in his magic TV show, we are getting a lot of questions about the magic trick technique.

When John Webb Carter invented the C2C technique back in 2006 the magic shop released a book for magicians that detailed exactly how to perform the magic trick in close up walk around conditions. It was a huge hit amongst magicians that perform in walk-around close up magic conditions. Many magicians focus on card magic tricks, as coin used a different skill set. Signed coin in signed card acted as a perfect bridge to move from a card magic routine into a coin magic piece.

Here’s the demo video for signed coin inside signed card back in 2006

Here’s some of the questions he have received about the magic trick and magician Troys performance.

Does magician Troy use duplicate playing cards or duplicate coins in order to perform coin in playing card?

You only use a normal ungimmicked coin which you can borrow from the spectator and they can keep at the end. It’s usually a stronger magic trick if you borrow the coin. The object doesn’t actually nedd to be a coin. We have had great feedback from a magician that uses a mobile phone sim card that he demonstrates putting into the deck, just like he does with his phone. The playing card used is the one that the spectator selects and signs.

Can the coin and card can be kept as a souvenir?

YES! You should do that! The spectator will often take the playing card out of their wallet or purse and describe the magic trick to their friends. A momento like the playing card is a great advert for your services and magic!

Does magician Troy switch in gimmicked props?

Signed coin inside signed playing card was designed to be used in surrounded close up magic conditions. That’s how magicin Troy likes to do his magic too. You don’t need to switch in any extra props or gimmicks. It’s all contained within your deck of playing cards.

Is the coin really inside the card or is it just an optical illusion?

Magic on TV can sometimes use optical effects or camera tricks. Magician Troy doesn’t use that for his presentation of coin inside playing card, and you don’t either. The coin really is inside the playing card. You cut the coin out with a pocket knife, or the card is ripped open to release it. The spectators can feel the coin in the playing card before it is cut open.

Is coin in playing card repeatable?

Yes! You ruin one playing card each time you perform this magic trick, but that is the only additional cost to perform it. You can use any normal deck of playing cards.

Magician Troy doesn’t have to worry about repeating a magic trick on his TV series. He can do several takes that result in a single performance. Real work close up magicians, need to be able to repeat the magic trick many times each booking. That’s the way signed coin inside signed playing card was designed to allow. A few moments before, they were holding both items then WHAM! The coin is GONE and really does become impossibly buried INSIDE the spectators signed playing card!

You can learn more about C2C Signed Coin Inside Signed Playing Card here