Past few weekends I have been having a blast performing magic at the bar. I'm not a paid bar magician, but the bar certainly gives me good practice. I have discovered that my best reactions do not come from my card tricks, but from non-card trics and I do some very good card tricks very well. Yet, surprisingly enough, it's not my card tricks that gets the best reactions. I do the Prohibition version of the cap in bottle effect, as well as Interlace, sponge balls and a few card tricks. Amazingly enough, and I do all these effects reasonably well, it's my sponge balls that seem to get the biggest reaction. People really seem to love the sponge balls. Isn't that something? Crazy. I mean, they love all the other tricks Interlace comes in behind Sponge balls. But who would have thought that just some simple sponge balls would be the most loved tricks out of all these other logic defying, mind boggling tricks?

Sponge balls!

For JamesJay...

Completely agree! I do a few card effects, but the main ones, ACR, Biddle, and a few others...but non-card tricks are definitely da bomb

I have often pondered this, and I feel I may have some insight. I practice a lot of my magic to my wife on a regular basis so she is my insight into the eye of the layman. She feels that card tricks are cool and can get some good reactions but for the most part audiences have seen it all. Pick a card here, it goes there. Have a few cards here, they change to other cards, etc. (mind you I am greatly summarizing here). Also, many spectators feel as if every card deck must be gimmicked in some way shape or form. No matter how much you try and convince them otherwise, they feel there is something up.

Non-card magic really can be quite magical as it involves very simple things, doing very simple things that really ARE magic. For example, when I perform (or other magicians) sponge balls, and for example, you 'put' the spongeball in one hand and then show it in the other hand, the spec actually feels as if magic made it travel through the air invisibly and land in the other hand!

I'm quite adept at spongeballs myself (in fact during showing a few fellow magicians I was told that I did the fastest sponge vanishes he'd ever seen)

Anyway people love them because they are different and new. Most people are not used to them, but also they are something simple and obvious, people forget that when they close their hands sponge collapses and things can be hidden. They are so much fun to use and I think myself I have around 20 different size balls and colours at the moment which i use on a regular basis. I take them to bars to perform and then take them to a childrens show, they are so flexible

(And if that isnt a reference for people to get spongeballs I dont know what is!)

You must have a killer routine with them. Thats the key to anything, how you do it, build it up, routine it, and end it.

I'm curious whats your routine? Lol

I was just trying to come up with a better sponge ball routine today actually, no luck so far, but I didn't have much time either to think about it.

Non-Card trick are the best way to go (I love Cards, but oh well), Not everyone is familiar wit cards(:shock: that's insane, but true). Everyone likes coins though, it's more simple minded and visual.

That's my experience as well. Spectators enjoy non-card effects best, though, they are blown away by the card effects I perform, they always seem to like my non-card effects the most. Cards still have a place though.