Here are some pointers to follow when inventing tricks:

Idea's, idea's, idea's... To get an idea in your mind you must not OVER think about what the trick will be about... You must just take it as it flows and follow the paths that your idea's take you on. You can gain inspiration from other tricks, objects that you see, dreams, ANYTHING. Of course people do get ideas from just thinking hard about what they want to achieve, but it can sometimes be bad for you and you might stress out and not think of and idea at all, so choose one of these techniques according to what you feel comfortable with!

First of all if you think of a really cool idea that is original, but cannot find a method to achieve it just remember this. When card magic came into play people would have thought that placing a card into the middle and coming to the top would be impossible. They would have thought that the card must be cut to the top secretly or some gimmick that brings it to the top through the deck. But then one man thought up a thing called a 'DL' a very simple method of achieving this effect with little hardships. So just remember that you have to keep thinking of ideas and soon one will come to mind and it will get simplified over and over again untill your left with an AMAZING trick.

Remember also, when creating tricks that you need to take breaks (1 week for example) if you come to a dead end in creating the method or presentation etc. This will help regain your SANITY and will help you come up with fresh new ideas.

Through all this you have to keep working on your trick because as a quote from Sankey states "There must have been something that grabbed your attention when deciding to create the idea in the first place" So I agree, why not stick with it and your dream effect will become reality.

Do not be scared to try new things... Most people are daunted by the fact that if they try to create a new gimmick for example, and it does not work the effect is over for good... Remember that you can always make another gimmick and come up with another idea in the future.

I would suggest getting a few magicians you trust to talk to, whether it be on MSN, AIM, in person etc. It does not matter... But they can help you on presentation and even the method... But you do not HAVE to create tricks that will astound magicians, remember it is laymen you are performing for usually, so they will benefit from your performance not the magicians... But it's always nice to fool magicians as well!

When you think you are done creating your effect trial it for ALONG time until you think that you have it perfected in all aspects of the trick (presentation, method, script, comedy, pacing etc...)

Now something common to Penguin... Selling tricks... I do not suggest selling your tricks if you are only doing it for the rush and excitement of getting an e-mail back from a magic store and reading their views etc. If you truly want to let other magicians benefit from your product then you may sell it if you believe that it will help the magic community grow, but I'll leave thnat up to you guys. The trick must also be PERFECTED, I mean NO FLAWS what so ever. If you think your ready and you meet teh requirments above and have made a decision then go for it

Yes, you are creating an effect, but most magicians misconceptions are that the effect is just a method. This is partly true... You must have a whole bunch of elements which create an overall effect. Things like presentation style, scripting, timing, tonal variations in your voice, audience control etc... This and many other things will create the effect, but you must perfect each detail in order to get the best reaction from the effect.

Last, but not least just have fun with it and take on the journey that IS your creation...

I hope this has helped you guys, that is all I can think of for now, but if I think of anything else I will add it to the list. Plz tell me if this has helped you and if you have created any tricks after reading this etc...

ENJOY!

That was an extremely helpful Post.

you really want to see what people can come up with in a weeks time huh.

i have been working on this trick for a long time and have finally gotten it down.... Its the best thing I have come up with

it uses....

no gimmick
no switches
no magician force
no duplicates
no forces
...etc...


Just a regular pack of cards.

The magician spread the cards face down and has the spectator pick a card and sign the back. The magician then takes the card that is signed and places it into the card box.....without the spectator knowing the card.

The magicians then spreads the deck face up and tell the spectator to "delete" or "get rid of" cards.....he/she does so till there is one card left face up on the table.

Lets say the 6 of spades is the card that is left. The magicians says, "Now you deleted cards till the 6 of spades was left. Now there has been a card you signed before we started what is the brother of the 6 of spades?"

The audience says "the 6 of clubs"

The magicians says open the box....to the suprise of the audience the box is empty. The magicians says," turn over the 6 of spades....the spectator turns over the card and to there suprise its there signed card!

Lol, yea! I am really interested in creating tricks and others progress, so I am here to help when people are in need! Or not in need!


Sounds cool man!!!

thanks mason!!! this helped me out alot!! this should be a sticky or something

Nice. You might want to move it to the essay forum that way it doesn't get smothered by topics saying: giv mi fri trx!!!!!!!1!111111111!!!!!!!!!!

You forgot something that I try to stress as often as possible. Don't work backwards. Figure out what you want to do, then figure out a way to do it. Don't say "I'm using these 6 moves, what can I do with them." That's the wrong way to look at it.

Sounds like someone has been trying to figure out other peoples routines...

Thx for all the comments guys! If the Mods want to move it to te essay forum they can I didn't know what one to put it in!

I suggest all the young, NEW magicians read this small guide and maybe even the older more experienced magicians will get something from this.

Another thing is if you do show a trick to a magician or a layman and they figure it out or give comments do NOT give up on it. It is just a sign that your trick has some flaws which need straightening out and plus you should never show a trick twice to one person so you won't be performing for that person anytime soon! But, take it on board and let their comments help you improve your trick... Also on these boards I have notices many magicians who have invented trick try to cover up if someone has found a flaw and say something like "No, no... it's part of the trick and it goes with the presentation style so yeah... nothing is wrong wif MA ROXORZ TRICKZA!!! " that is another example of people not taking comments on board and will lead to your trick becoming a failure or just not as good as it could potentially be...!

ENJOY!

I'm a professional magician, and I wanted to add a few things to your pile. Something I have found that makes magic more impressive is based off the idea of the perfect trick. Every magician probably has their vision of the perfect trick. And after doing magic for so long, I have found that nearly anything is possible. The idea is to write down the effect of your trick. Then from there imagine how it would look, and in story board fashion. Draw still images of high points of the effect. Maybe you really want the audience to remember the moment a coin appeared in your hand, make that one of the pictures. And once you have depicted the high points of your trick. Think of ways to connect the dots. If pic one shows your hand empty and pic two has a coin in it. Find a way to create that effect. Fill in the gaps.

Second is creating an effect backwards. If you have a prop of some kind that you want to use in an effect. Think of some way you can use that. It's always fun to scavenge through random items, and just make stuff up. That's my two cents for now.

-A.

I agree...! If you set it out that way you will find it harder to construct a good trick and teh structure will be outta wack!!

You have to realize that people's minds work differently. This can be as simple as looking at it as sompeople are artistic, some are logical, some are practical. So, by saying not to work backwards, you might be discouraging some people from using their best potential method. I know hat Danny Cole, a very creative young magcian, works backwards when he creates his effects. I pwersonally love to come up with sleights. There is only one person on this entire forum who has seen a portion of my ideas. After I think of a sleight, I decide its applications. Often these sleights are allready in existance, but I discover my own applications for them. I though of a card sleight a while back, and I showed it to John Lovick and Ashfor Knitel, and he said have you ever tried to use it in a card fusion effect. So I used it as the first sleight, where it was most logical to use. I then faced another problem, where I came up with a form of DL, that seems to be original. Then I came up with a palm that is atributed to Dr Daley, and the rest was easy to do. BUt the point I am making is that I did my own method of creation, which is how I do all of my creating. I find a sleight/move/gimmick that I like, then I search for its potential. Then, I have about 3-5 tricks utalizing that one sleight, and some terific magic.

Great point! I did not think of it that way, but then again this is only a guidline for magicians to follow! But yes I see what you are getting at and I would like to see this fusion effect!

A trick I thought of is spectator#1 picks a card and signs it. I give it to him face down. spectator#2 picks the sae card and signs it I give it to him too face down.spectator#3 picksthe same card and signs it.I shake it and it changes The other two cards are turned over and found to have changed.I then put two of the cards face down on one side of the table and show my hands are empty .Then I turn the other card face down and show my hands are empty .I then show they switched places. Then I sho.w the card with three signatures on it is in my pocket. At the end it's all examinable. The patters great too.