Magic vs. Tricks

Ha! I Tricked you! or That car is Tricked out! or I Tricked my parents into thinking I was at the library

Vs.

When I saw her, it was like “Magic” or Few moments are as Magical as witnessing the birth of your own child or The Magic of Disney

Which one are you trying for? Which one inspires more emotion? I dare say that “magic” is much better than a “trick.” The catch is that the trick is needed to create the magic. The magic is the feeling (a.k.a. Astonishment) that we are aiming for. The trick is merely the means to that end.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Tricks are not magic. If you’re goal is – and in my opinion it should be – astonishment, then take heed. When you perform a “trick” how do you behave? Do you act like Bruce Cervon (God rest his soul) where you cram the trick down the throat of the audience? Or are you like Michael Ammar (may he be with us many many more years) where you’re just showing people stuff that you’re “just as baffled” by or stuff that’s just “kind of cool”? Or are you like Eugene Burger (may he produce many more cigarettes from that wonderful beard) where you engage the audience and pull them into another world? Or are you like Jay Sankey (may he someday come down from his 1979 sugar high) where you’re trying to connect with people and have a good time?

I’m hoping you’re falling into the latter three groups rather than the former one. Your personality along with the effects you perform and the way you perform them all tie together to create magic.

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. This month, go through your arsenal and find a “trick” and turn it into magic. I’m sure you’ve got an effect or two (or ten) that is not fully developed. It’s still just you showing how clever you are. It’s just, as Eugene Burger puts it, “an adventure of the props” with no reason for the audience to be engaged. I’m not suggesting that you can’t do “adventures of props” or have minimal patter or that you must have a story. What I am recommending, however, is that your audience must care.

If they don’t, then . . . well . . . they don’t care.

So take that effect and turn it into magic. Get the audience’s interest with a line or piece of trivia or an anecdote. A great resource for this kind of thinking can be found in David Regal’s four video set, Premise, Power & Participation. You’ll find some excellent plot ideas and presentational angles that get the audience involved and create magic rather than just mere tricks.

Additionally, study anything from Eugene Burger if you want to learn more about turning tricks into magic.

The list of resources is too large to mention everyone. However, let me finish with one more: Transformations (Creating Magic Out of Tricks) By Larry Hass.

In summary: Card Magic is a Magic Moment (Astonishment) created by a Card Trick. Magic is the destination… The trick is the vehicle… Building rapport with the audience is the journey or the road.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.