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Magic Tips: Technique
"Magic is not as hard as you
think!!"
Practise, practise and then practise some more!!
The "Three P's" of magic that you will find in any instructions or books worth
their sort!
Anyway, let's assume you are already doing that. There are
two main areas to technique. The actual sleights (or secret moves) and the
ability to get away with them!! The first area really just boils down to
learning the trick so you can perform it without actually concentrating on the
moves. The second area is that of controlling your audience, and this is known
as misdirection.
Misdirection is actually as important as the physical
moves of the trick as it actually causes your audience to look at something
other than the hand that is doing the move. This can be achieved using a number
of methods. I think I should mention, at this point, that I am not going to be
revealing the secrets held within the magical fraternity on the Internet, but I
will give you a couple of misdirection techniques to help you perform your
magic! This site is intended to help people new to world of magic perform, not
to reveal secrets to people who simply have to know everything!!
Magic
Room does however give full instruction with all tricks sold in the shop, many
tricks being accompanied by free on-line video instruction where we think it is
useful. This takes you through every aspect of the trick, including the
physical technique and the misdirection you can use to turn this trick into a
magical mystery. If you are new to magic, it is highly recommended that you
begin with one of these tricks!
Anyway, advert aside, here are a couple
of misdirection techniques:
Eye
Contact
A spectator will generally look where you look!
Therefore, when doing a move you should never look at your hands. It is a good
idea to look into the spectators eyes, whilst doing a secret move. This is
better still, if you can say something to them at the same time, a funny line,
perhaps! When you look directly at somebody, they will generally look back at
you. If, however, they are determined to stare at your hands, they will still
divide their focus between your hands and your eyes.... it's only polite,
besides they can't actually help themselves, it's human
nature!
Movement
Another
method of misdirection used is movement. There is an old saying in magic "A
large movement covers a small movement". If you are performing a trick that
requires you to make a small mechanical move, do it as you are moving the
magical item towards the spectator or putting it down on the table. This
"large" movement of moving the object, will make to smaller movement of your
fingers invisible. Be aware that this need not be done quickly, in actual fact,
this large movement makes such good misdirection that it can, and should, be
done at a natural pace. Try it with one of your tricks, and watch the move
become invisible yourself!
One last
thing!
Remember, it is more important to entertain than to
baffle your audience! The more interested they are in you, the less interested
they are in trying to spot your secret moves or making you fail. If they like
YOU, your job is much, much easier! |
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