Ok, I'm not 100% sure if this fits here but I might as well post it here. I want to give you a few ideas about performance through what I have found and have thought about during a performance.

*Lets say you do a one hand visual coin change effect (The Bobo switch doesen't count) I want to hear from you, at what point in the hands/coins gesture, does the coin(s) actually change from one to another. If you need some help, see Marion Boykin's "Crimp change", or some of Curtis Kam's changes from palms of steel and his book, by all means. So when does a coin change (or appear to change)

*I have seen (and do it myself) magicians do story effects. From experience, many of these stories or presentations are not real. We often perform effects where the Egyptians make your coins visible and then steal the coins away, or the sponge balls have minds of their own and jump out of the hands on their own time. These are typically good entertainment, and that is fine, however, when does it become too much? To you, when is it enough to lie about your performances and stories, or even just effects in themselves. When is it enough to actually claim that your effects are really happening.

There are no real answers to any of these, I'm just trying to open your minds and see what you guys think about and what goes through your heads when performing. It is just an open discussion to talk about these topics. Have fun

-Mark Tirone

I don't know if that fits in here..

but anyway, I think you may "lie" and tell storys as much as you like.
there is only one limit: Entertainment. when it becomes that much that the adience is not entertained, (if thats possible) you are doing something wrong.

In my opinion you can do whatever you like as long as you don't break the codex or isn't entertaining.

Personally, I wouldn't ramble on about something that isn't possible. Now I don't mean "sponge balls have a life of there own", I use that patter my self, because it's believable to the audience because of what your doing with them. However, I wouldn't patter about how an alien abducted me and pimp slapped me, etc.

Use things that are believable.

[quote="Lensman"]I don't know if that fits in here.. quote]

I personally cant stand saying something like ''the spongeballs have a mind of their own'' (to anyone above the age of 12). I do sometimes say: But because these spongeballs have a mind of their own, right? (people say yes all the time if you do it properly while their burning your hands with their eyes). Nahw just kiddin look all I do is take a little magic powder and put it on this hand (I reach for the air to grab ''powder'' with a palmed spongeball and ''add'' it to my other hand doing some effect. The person looks at me a big cynically... Nahh i'm just messing with ya'. But if I'd give you this spongeball, and hold the other one in my hand WITHOUT adding the magic powder.. guess what will happend? ''opens up his hand'' nothing! But I do the same thing and add magic powder, you think it will change anything? (person shakes his head). Opens his hand and a whole lot of mini-spongeballs come rolling out....

People dont know what to believe anymore.... Which turns a cheesy ''magic powder'' line into something funny.

I mainly perform mentalism, and I always tell real facts that most people don't now, but still pind interresting. For example, doing a prediction type of effect I tell them about Einstein and how he believed that time is like a river, and if you stood on the shore you might be able to have a small peek into the nearest future. And for ESP cards tell a bit about history and use of them and so on. But I don't know if that's really patter, it's merely something I say before I do the effect, which I always present as experiments, not tricks.
I like people to have a good time (well don't we all ) But "teach" them something interesting that they propably forget the moment I'm done with my show

About the stories part of your post, my mantra would be, if the patter or story is interesting and or entertaining there is no to far, you are always saying blatant lies when you perform magic, you cannot go out, do 2 card monte and at each step, tell them "this is a DL" "this is a top card switch" if they like the trick they wont care how outlandishly you say it is performed.
just my opinion though

also to go a bit off topic here- I try never to use patter with even a slightly religious tone to it, it can be very offensive to some people.

I say there is no limit to your storys! any one who beleives that you can see out of your fingers, read their mind, and cause objects to break into tiny particles and travel to different places, is probably young, so let them beleive that you just did something impossible! and for everybody else, its just fun to have someone do the imposible! i cant remember exactly who said this, im 99% sure it was a magician named Ben Whiting who i saw on the magic channel, said (this is from memory so if its not word for word dont hate me!) "in a year, people arent going to remember the effect you did or how well you performed a sleight, but they are going to remember the way you treated them and made them feel." so its not just performing a trick, its what story did you tell to go with it, were you funny, were you yourself when you performed it.

Personally, I stick to something that's believeable. But, the difference for me being that I perform strictly mentalism. So any story I tell, whether true or not, has to be believeable in some respect. Like for example, I have a prediction effect where I tell a story about my childhood and how my brother and I used to test each other with random objects and blindfolds (a tea-towel say), and eventually I got so good that I could write down the object he'd pick before he did it. My prediction therefore, is written down, I'm blindfolded, someone picks something, and my prediction becomes true. It's believeable with the way I tell it, and how it was a game from my childhood, a game that many kids play.

So I believe that one should stick to a believeable story because it might help to serve as a more powerful experience because it could be true. That's just my opinion though.