What makes simple card tricks amazing?

[squidgie]

Ok, so i've been wondering for a while. why is it that a simple card trick gets such great reactions? I'm not talking about an ACR, i'm talking about something where the magician flips over the top card, hands it to one spec, flips over the second card and hands it to another spec, and then the cards magically change. This is such a simple trick, but everytime i've seen it on youtube or something, the audience freaks out. Is it just one of those things where you occasionally get people who are blown away with it (and those are the ones that make it to youtube), or does everybody react in a similar fashion?
I was at a Brock Gill show earlier this year, and he did a trick with jumbo cards where the cards magically switched, etc. Something to do with matchmaking... I heard a guy behind me, who i assume was a layman, talking about how he saw Brock switch out the cards. It seems that if someone like that can catch a professional magician, then i imagine a person would come to the conclusion of a DL to explain the simple tricks i mentioned above. I just don't understand why they get great reactions.

[Alex Hess]

To me, its about the performance. Of course, some people may be wise, but if you entertain them enough and keep their mind off how the trick is done then your gold.

Hope that made sense

[zephyr]

Its like what Cyril Takayama said when talking to Zero "less is more".

Simple effects are easy to follow so its easy on the eyes of laymen. There is no complicated handling thus it seems impossible to them that something (sleight or what not) could have happened.

[Brandon Pomeroy]

A lot of it is the performance. One of my friends at school (Zalen on here) likes to do the card to mouth portion of an ACR as a standalone, for when people ask to see a trick. He used to really play it up, say things like "Watch my hands carefully", and be all dramatic, and got great reactions. Whenever he does it and seems flat or emotionless, people are, in turn, emotionless. They give him a blank stare and say "Oh... cool." We learned in our psych class a while ago about mimicry; most people do it instinctively. Walk around and smile at someone, chances are they'll smile back. Frown at someone, and they will probably frown back. Act personally and emotional with your spectators, and they will act personally and emotional back.

Also, when magic happens "in their hands", it always raises a sense of astonishment.

[Misjief]

Interesting-

What you are talking about is what we hypnotist call rapport...

The natural tenancy for people to 'sync up' - and the result of mutual respect and affection for those whom we do successful line up with (because we match!)

In NLP (and else where) the terms for the actual technique are mirroring and matching where as you subtly and respectfully 'mimic' them so as to appear to be on the same mental wavelength. In fact by doing so, chances are that you are, ACTUALLY on the same level. Modeling the body helps model the thoughts. Try being depressed jumping around yelling excitedly - or being happy slumped up in a lifeless ball. Our language even reflects this correlation - 'Things are looking UP' versus 'DOWN in the dump'!

With mirroring you use the opposite side of the body as if you were their mirror image and matching you go ahead and do the exact move. You can also do 'crosses' - Where you follow their breathing rate by tapping a pencil on a pad or the like (Very useful for uncomfortable patterns - Such as if a person is hyperventilating; you probably don't want to follow them so you do a cross). Generally you pace (follow) them and then later you lead them - in an attempt to test the level of rapport.

Again - it is O2O - Obvious to the point of oblivious. It so simple we automatically take it for granted and therefore dismiss it completely. I knew this and studied it but never REALLY thought to apply it. In hypnosis the rule is: YOU GO FIRST. In other words, you can't just say it, you have to believe it as much as the client does or it won't work. When people are trying to do a positive hallucination - they typically just describe it (in hope of creating it). NOPE! You as the hypnotist will do better if you first go see it in YOUR MIND and then describe it from that place (IE: Create it, and then describe it!). The same goes with magic if you truly hold the POSITIVE & ENTHUSIASTIC outcome in your mind the audience will take their ques from you. If you as the performer can't be bothered to actually get excited , why should they, the audience, do so?

Again - the way to think about is to remember that on a subconscious level your body is a GREAT BIG BILLBOARD - and it is constantly communicating something. Make use of it or get abused by it.... Those are your choices!

Again I think the 'Greats' intuitively do this and the flops completely miss it. The other HUGE ADVANTAGE to this is you automatically bond with your audience members and make a very real connection with them. I think people consciously think it is the effect of the trick when in reality it is the effect of the emotions behind it. We like to think we are logically evolved beings (and we are) just not the the extent that we are emotionally involved beings.

I think you guys really hit the nail on the head with that one. It is not the up front 'physical' technique as much as the underlying 'psychological' performance that makes the biggest difference. The physical techniques can be taught (because we are aware of them) but the performance techniques are rarely taught because so few are really aware of them in themselves. You can't consciously hand off what you are unaware of and haven't grasped yourself!

Simple card tricks are an excellent example of this simply because there is NO excess 'complexity' to confuse the issue.

*** Tangent Alert!! ***

PS- When someone is RED HOT ANGRY, we consciously try to calm them down, usually this fails because the individuals are on completely differing levels of comprehension. The vast contrast simply widens the gap. If you instead MATCH the intensity of their anger in a very short burst and then immediately come down they will typically follow you.

"HOLD ON A *&$%ING MINUTE! (Said as loud as you socially think you can get away with it, immediately followed by.... Let's talk this out like the rational adults we are. (Said very calmly and emotionally detached.)

Actually I think this works for several reasons - Socially, only one person is 'ALLOWED' to be out of control at any given time so if you take their spot they loose their right to it. {CAREFUL TWO TRUE NUTZ is a bad situation! LOL} Also it scares them - they see someone else being insane without the reassuring sense that they are in control and try to deflate it (rather then escalate it in order to garner even more control)

I have actually used this as a self-defense technique. I remained calm in an attempt to deescalate things and got beat up - where as I matched them and played 'insane', they apologized to me for fear of pushing me over the top. The problem is sometimes it's not an act - they really are insane, hence the short outburst and then immediate cool down.

This is a topic in of itself!

-misj-

[haroldross]

Yes, a lot of it has to do with the presentation but I think the simple tricks work well because they are simple.

The more complicated the effect becomes, the more the layman will get bored and the impact of the trick is gone. For a complicated trick to really work you will need to get the spectators involved in the trick (emotionally if not physically). This is what one of the others posted about 'rapport'.

[JosiahGately]

When I perform a simple trick I focus more on the performance. For example when I perform Tivo 2.0. I don't have to explain anything. They know what's happenning. They see the magic happen. When you have to explain or tell a story it may not be as powerful as just doing magic. (That is the type of card magic that David Blaine does on his specials.)

[DanielSmith808]

Originally Posted by JosiahGately

When you have to explain or tell a story it may not be as powerful as just doing magic.

I disagree. Story's can work wonders, take Sam The Bellhop for example.

Now, back to the original question, I don't think its the simplicity that makes it strong, I think its the understandability. If an effect is easy to follow (not necessarily simple, take retro repro for example) it will get stronger reactions. If an effect is difficult to follow the spectator will just think "well so much was going on I couldn't follow, he probably just switched the cards at some point". It's all about clarity, the spectator has to believe that they saw every single moment of the trick and didn't notice a thing, if they truly think that the reaction will be strong every time.

I've seen magicians pull off highly complex routines brilliantly because they kept it clear and understandable, on the other hand i've seen simple tricks dragged out too long and presented horribly.

Hope that made sense.

[squidgie]

wow, you guys are thorough. I know alot of the trick comes from the performance itself, but it seems that the simple tricks i mentioned in my original post, are the ones that are done the most. I Just don't understand why they keep fooling people, time and time again. Most of David Blaine's card tricks are just variations of the card transpo. When the people see the trick over and over again, it seems they should realize that the cards are gonna switch positions, no matter what the story behind it is. It's one of those "yeah, yeah, lets see something new" situations

[Brandon Pomeroy]

Originally Posted by Misjief

What you are talking about is what we hypnotist call rapport...

In a way, yeah, but not exactly... Rapport is built, like you said, throughout your interaction with someone. Mimicry is much more instinctual, and doesn't need any interaction at all (Other than what is being mimicked, of course). Mimicry is what happens before any relationship is built. You don't even have to be paying attention to someone, and they can be mimicking you. In this case, it's harder to control and manipulate than rapport. Will expand on this when I get home, class is almost over for me, and I gotta run!

Edit: Alright, got some time to type, finally. Although I really only have one last point... Anyways. I'm not going to try to say that you're right, or I'm right, there's aspects of mimicry in rapport, and aspects of rapport in mimicry. The main point on which our ideas are converging is who is doing the mimicry. In rapport, as you describe it, you consciously mimic the spectators to make them feel like you are on the same level as they are. In mimicry, they unconsciously mimic you because our brains are wired to want to build relationships.

I suppose if you consciously adjusted how you act before even making contact with the person, you'd set them in a mindset that would be easier for rapport to be made. But it's getting late, and I'm rambling, so I'll leave it at that.

To everyone on understandability: Very good points, and possibly one of the hardest to master. It's tough to determine what's understandable to laymen, rather than magicians. This means that the best method to get it right is trial and error, something a lot of magicians may not want to try.

Squidgie: I'd say those same tricks keep coming back because the magic is still there. Say someone tells you that ExoMagic came out with an awesome new effect, in which one pushes a coin visibly, card by card, through a deck. All excited, you go online to check out the preview video. You see it happen. You're dumbfounded. It's still magical, even though you knew where it was going. Doing the same style of effects works only if you are smooth with it, only if it looks like real magic. I once read in magic book (Blackstone's "Tricks Anyone Can Do") that if you know one force, and a hundred ways to reveal the card, you know one hundred tricks. If you know one style, and a hundred different presentations, you know one hundred tricks!

[Afields]

I smell a few blog posts out of this one, so if you want to jump in now, I'll most likely respond to you, but we need some more thoughts in here!

How many different components go into making a great magic trick?

[Misjief]

Originally Posted by Brandon Pomeroy

Edit: Alright, got some time to type, finally. Although I really only have one last point... Anyways. I'm not going to try to say that you're right, or I'm right, there's aspects of mimicry in rapport, and aspects of rapport in mimicry. The main point on which our ideas are converging is who is doing the mimicry. In rapport, as you describe it, you consciously mimic the spectators to make them feel like you are on the same level as they are. In mimicry, they unconsciously mimic you because our brains are wired to want to build relationships.

Actually you are quite right - I am with you TOTALLY. I enjoy the counter point as it means you are thinking and I like where you are going with it!

With good true rapport - it is impossible to determine who is leading who, as it just happens naturally. It is kind of like the chicken and the egg thing. But when teaching and learning a technique you have to start somewhere and until I finish my world domination mind washing machine, it is all but impossible to control someone else so you have to start with yourself (which is difficult enough!).

I do think the mental attitude - genuinely enjoying both the effect and the audience you are working is essential!

-misj-