ok, i wanted to make this thread for all the other kids (i'm 17..) that r still at school and want to perform/performing at school.
i'm a proffesional magician right now, and i do lots of shows. when i'm at school, my approach to people is a lot diffrent then my approach to people on the stage. when ur'e at school, u feel a lot more free to talk, and u don't feel any presure, coz u know most of the people ur'e performing for.
anyway, the tricks u want to perform dependse on ur level as a magician.
although, i would try to avoid gimmiks as much as possible, because people at school like to grab ur things, or ask to shuffle ur svengali deck
well, for all of u who don't perform and want to perform tricks at school, i would highly recommend starting with cards and coins, u can start with some amazing self-working tricks with cards as a start. for that i can recommend Michael Ammar "easy to master card miracles" (google it, penguin doesn't have it). or, if u want penguin, then get born to perform, which is also a great choice.
after u have some basic sleights down, like the DL, glide, forces, etc... then u would be amazed from what u can do at school, with just those simple sleights.
at school, people would know u don't have POWERS, coz they know u and know that ur'e doing just tricks... but, if u would try getting the reputation that ur'e the real thing, u might want to tell them that u can only do magic if they help u (great way to get girls as well ). for example, in my ACR i always DL to show that the card is not on top, i snap my fingers, and again to a DL that it's not on top. i then ask my assitent to snap her fingers, and look at the top card, it works really great, coz they thought i'm like a really good magician, and they feel they were a part of the magic.
ok, here's a short list of what tricks u want to do at school:
2 card monte
ACR-if u ask me, it's my favorite trick to do at school, people just freak out, and u get lots of girls liking u, which is always cool
ace production-any ace production u know, i persoanlly like sankey's
any pocket trick-by pocket tricks i mean tricks with 4-8 cards usally, like reset, twisting the aces, elevator cards, etc...
card changes-when people ask me to do magic for them, i usally start with a color change, or perform joker's wild (ID on penguin). there r many card changes: shapeshifter, shake change, window change, snap change, just to name a few...
the tricks u basiclly don't want to do in school r gimmiked ones. the gimmiks u can do, r the ones that don't involve showing their gimmiks. let me explain: for example, svengali deck is kinda obvious that it's not a regular deck, but a stripper deck, is great for school, and easy to use. another example is the invisible deck, the invisible deck can be good at school, if u did a few tricks with a regular deck, puted it away in ur pocket, and said: "oh, i have one more...", and when u bring ur hand out, take the invisible deck from the pocket, that's just a simple deck switch u can do in school. u can also perfom the "ultimate 3 card monte" at school, but u would want to mix the cards in the regular deck, and then take them out. another thing u don't want to bring to school r props, for example: 3 shell game, ropes, threads, sponge balls, silks... if u bring those, most likley they'll be grabed as u perform them, or some big kid would just take them and try on his own. u want to have full control, and use familier and ordinery objects. the only "gimmik" (i prefer to call it utility device) that i use is the tt (TT), there r so much things u can do with it...
anyway, i'm sure u get the general idea of what i mean by what tricks u should/n't perform at school, basiclly in my opinion u should do any ungimmiked tricks, or tricks that look ungimmiked and familier (rubber bands for example). if u can borrow things (get on the spot!), then it would be best. i always do recap with a borrowed pen, people just love it.

i hope u enjoyed reading this, sorry for the long post, this worked for me for the past few years, and i found that this works best on the hard way. i hope u would take these advices, and use them. feel free to comment/offer/state anything u do at school or want to advise me to change something, best of luck!

Tomer

Tomer, what has this to do with RESTAURANT work. Good topic wrong forum.

paddy, go to the Penguin Magic Forum Index, and look what it says to post under the Restaurant Walkaround forum. the school, bars, clubs, restaurants, street, their all here, ur'e suppose to post here the routines u do.
just read what it says under the topic, hopes this helps u to understand all the topics about school on this forum, i just want to make the questions about school stop, so i made this thread,

thanks for the concern though

Tomer

Great post Tomer. I will definitely consider what you said next time I perform at school...in the fall...lol. But hey, I have the summer to practice.
~.A.C.

That was good but you can riffle shuffle the Svengali Deck.
-Tyler

yeah skate13, but i was talking about giving it for examination... if u give it to examination, the spectator would see it's gimmiked if he would go threw the deck. i also wasn't talking only about befor the trick, it's usally after the trick that students want to grab the deck coz they know it's gimmiked if u show that all the cards turned out to be the same.

hope this clears my point,

Tomer

One trick to NOT do at school is Spongeballs. After you do it a few times you will get over and over: "Do you have your balls with you?", "Do the thing where you put your balls in my hand.", "Can I see your balls?" (noticing a pattern here?)

If you just LOVE spongeballs like I do, I use leaves from the trees at break or lunch, or use napkins at lunch. You can find stuff to do you favorite routines.

That reminds me of a funny time. We aren't allowed to have cards at school (a rule I don't obey anyway), but one of my classmates told the teacher I was great with card tricks. So what was my first instict? I grabbed the stack of buisness cards on her deck (about 15 or 20). Made an X on the back of one and proceeded to do ACR. I love coming up with stuff on the spot.

well fireball, i do get those reactions about the sponge balls. but for instance, when girls ask me to show them my balls routine, i ask if their sure they can go into the men's bathroom... that always gets a laugh! if they insist, then i usally take out cards, or ask for pens or for some coins and do a routine on the spot. if people ask me to do my balls routine and i havn't performed to ANY of them yet, then i do it, but i always vary it. i have my own routine of it, but that's for the stage. at school i just make it up on the spot, coz i don't really care, i simply count it as an "in the hands" kind of trick, which gets good reactions. i'm not even asked to do the sponge balls, usally i mean, coz people want me to show them card tricks, which i almost always have with me. if i don't, then like i already said, i move to something else like pens, coins, or anything in my reach. i also have a tt in my pocket all the time, just in case or as an ice breaker.

hope this helps to clear the sponge balls idea a bit,

Tomer

Good thinking! Come up with new props for tricks.

-Freds