Presenting Magic

There are a lot of young hot shot magicians these days. They can handle a deck of cards and do tricks that would dazzle anyone.

So one of these hot shots comes in the other day and asks what he could get to take him to the next level. So we had a little discussion of what he does, who he does it for, etc. After our little chat I suggested he buy a book on Presentation, as I could tell from our conversation that it was not at all what he was focusing on.

He turned his nose up at that. He wanted a gimmick. Something that would enable him to do even greater feats of magic. A book means he has to read. I wonder if a DVD on the subject would be more appealing. Can anyone out there recommend a book or DVD on presentation that would interest a 12 year old? I haven’t given up on him yet.

We once had Eugene Burger here for a lecture and he had wonderful advice on presentation. His book is no longer available, but he has a DVD on the subject. I’m wondering it Magical Explorations DVD is too much for a 12 year old, even one who is serious about magic. Any thoughts on the subject?

Looking Beyond Magic Instructions

All tricks come with instructions. Otherwise we would have no idea how to work the magic we buy. Sometimes instructions are easy to follow and sometimes it takes a bit of figuring and then there’s always the magic dealer to help you out if you’re really stuck. But once you have it, it doesn’t and shouldn’t end there.

The person writing the instructions doesn’t know you and your personality. Nor does he have your imagination. I once wrote about someone that came in and showed me a routine he did with Nickels to Dimes that blew me away and I got Phil away from his computer to watch him, a feat in itself! It was a 2 minute routine and was amazing. You may wonder, if you’re familiar with Nickels to Dimes what he could possibly do. What if the cap became loose and didn’t hold what it was supposed to? You might bring it back to your magic dealer to replace it or as this fellow did, turn it into a miracle. That’s all I’ll say about that.

We have a trick called Coin Slide. It’s a beginner trick and costs under $3.00. If you are not familiar with it, it can make a coin vanish, appear, or change to another coin. The routine I use to demo it to adults is to ask them for a quarter. I tell them I will change it into a Toonie for them. They are keen on that. I take their quarter, put it in the slot, slide the sleeve over it and then remove the sleeve and lo and behold, it has changed into a dime! I give them the dime and say “Gee, it didn’t work. Let’s try again. Got another quarter?” It always gets a laugh, I give them back their quarter and that works well with adults. That’s not in the instructions.

Last week some kid asked Phil if he had a quarter. The kid said, “If you give it to me I can double your money.” Phil gave him the quarter and the kid put it  in a Coin Slide. Without the use of the sleeve he tossed out the quarter and another one appeared in it’s place, which he also tossed out. Then the kid asked him for a quarter again and  put it in the coin slot, heads up, and in a flash it without cover of the sleeve, it had miraculously changed to tails. We were floored. Did I mention that this 10 year old kid is our grandson? In case you’re thinking, well he got help from us, let us clarify. We had nothing to do with this. We gave him the trick 5 years ago and he has not mentioned magic at all. We thought the magic thing was over for him, at least for now. How wrong we were. His sister told us that he always carries a magic trick in his pocket.

Sorry folks, what he did is not in the instructions. It was in his imagination and he made it happen. He is working on other routines with it as well. Take another look at your magic tricks! There may be more to them than meets the eye.

 

So You Think Magic Is Just For Fun

A few weeks ago I posted “Where Magic Takes You.” My point really was that you introduce a child to magic, the child becomes a man, the man’s boss is impressed with the man’s magic. It counts. This brings me to Michel Deslauriers, a friend and customer of ours for many years. He read the post and made this comment and I got his permission to share it with you.

“I’ve been doing magic practically my whole life but it has never been my full time job. What it has done is given me a ton of skills that I take to my job. Things like presentation skills, the ability to ad lib and even the ability to sell.”

I think that says a lot for magic. Thanks Mike. You said it better than I ever could. I could say it but people might think I am pushing magic. I am. Not only because that’s what we sell, but because of the effect it has on the recipients. School has started. Give your kid an edge with magic. Not only will it increase his confidence but it will increase his learning ability. Magic lets your brain in on a whole new way of thinking. You even learn how to get out of awkward  situations when you mess up. Someone even wrote a book about it called “Outs”.  So if you have to get a birthday, Christmas or Chanukah gift for a kid, instead of getting him  or her another electronic gadget or game which will soon be passé, get him a magic trick or a Gift Card from Perfect Magic and we’ll steer him or her in the right direction.