Big Trouble in Little Magi

What you are about to read is an actual conversation I had with an actual friend of mine about an actual magic show. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. For example, Clay Neves’s name was changed to Joe.Additionally, Dan Paulus’s name was changed to Harry Houdini. You will find compelling evidence of the existence of a classic plot alive and well in today’s world of magic.

Just one more reason to read Roots and Branches, a column dedicated to taking a Magical Root and Teaching you how to use it to Branch out in your own magic.

Joe: Man the other day I saw a magic show. It was awesome.
Jeff: Yeah . . . what was the magician’s name?

Joe: Harry Houdini
Jeff: Really!? Cool . . . he’s a friend of mine.

Joe: Cool. He was really good. He did this one trick where he totally screwed it up. I was almost starting to feel bad, but then suddenly everything turned around. Then I realized that he didn’t screw up. It was all part of the effect. He tricked us into believing that he messed up. He was totally convincing. It made the ending that much more amazing.

Jeff: Cool.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Magician In Trouble Syndrome. Ahhhhhhh . . . a classic plot. One that, if done properly, is beautiful, yet if done poorly is equally ugly. I’m guessing that most of you are very familiar with the plot. It was one of the first plots I learned in my early days switching from Mr. Svengali Man to Mr. Let-Me-Borrow-Your-Deck Man.

The effect I learned is one that I’m sure most of you have seen or performed a version of: A card is picked and shuffled back in the deck. Then four random cards are shown and placed face down on the table. Non of which are the selected card. Then the spectator eliminates three of the four cards on the table. The remaining card is turned over and shown to be the spectator’s selection.

Of course, the performance is done in a manner that convinces the spectator that the magician has messed up as each of the four cards are placed on the table. With each card, the magi asks “is this your card?” With each “No” the magi becomes much more nervous until in the end, he is victorious as the final card is shown to have changed into the selection. The Dunbury plot is very similar. There are tons of effects out there like this.

The key is to strike that balance between “HA! You thought I screwed up . . . YOU WERE WRONG!” and “I’m a loser . . . I suck at magic. I totally screwed up.” In one case you look like a jerk. In the other case you look like a failure. When using this plot, first don’t over use it. Nothing is more annoying than five tricks in a row where the magician screws up then makes good. It’s an excellent tool for your arsenal, but don’t over use it.

John Bannon’s Play It Straight Triumph is one of the best ways to play this. The effect is that the spectator picks a card. The deck is shuffled face up into face down (ala Vernon’s Triumph. Then all of the cards turn face down except for the entire suit of spades which are in order with one card missing (the one that the spectator is holding on to.

What makes this a Magician In Trouble effect is the moment after you shuffle the cards face up into face down, you tell the spectator that you will now find their card. Then you “realize” that you “forgot” to have them put the card back in the deck. So rather than acting like you’re a failure, you act like you goofed up on having them put the card back in the deck.

The nice thing about this in the Bannon routine is that you end with quite a punch that doesn’t rub it in the spectator’s nose. In other words you’re not rubbing their face in the fact that you led them down a false path. Yet you also don’t look like a bumbling magician that totally screwed up. You look more like you were just having fun with the spectator and got a little caught up in the moment and forgot to have the card returned. If you’ve never performed Bannon’s routine, you need to check it out.

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. Over the next 30 days, I want you to go over your repertoire. Count up how many M.I.T. effects you have. Then do two things. One, go through each one and make sure that you restructure your patter (if needed) to ensure that you are coming across as neither a ninny or a newbie. Once you’ve got a script that perpetrates perfect proportion, move on to part two: Make sure that any given set does not contain more than one of these types of effects.

Take your time to really fine tune this presentational angle and you’ll better connect with your audience and add some variety or – as Eugene Burger says – texture. Now go study the Classics and Go Discover Your True Magical Self.