It is always good to show your personality as a magician and one of the best ways to do that is to make the spectators laugh. What do you say to keep the spectators entertained?

I used the book "Card College" for it

Whenever I Have a Spectator pick a card I say
"Pick a card any card"

And when they pick one tell them-
"No,no not that one!!"

After the laughter stops I say
"You can pick any card you want"

After they pick the card I say
"I want you to remember that card and don't forget it. I know how it is... There are three things I always forget The first is names, the second is directions, and the third...I forgot."

After the laughter stops I tell them to
"Take their card and shuffle it thoughowly"
Of coarse I have the 51 remaining cards in my hand

Then I say
"Please replace the card anywhere you want on the top of the deck"

After the laughter stops I say
"You can put it anywhere you want."

What do you say?

Thanks For Spending Your Time Reading This,
Mon2002

to much joking, be a little less..."trying to be funny"



Rob

Oh.. Ok Thanks for your advice

yea i like the forgot part of the joke.

i hate to say it but i found that brutally unentertaining

Well, it's whatever suits your character. If you do a comedy routine then I think that's very good. If you're serious then of course it'll be out of place.

If you have them laughing, then it must be ok. Some things don't affect you the same when read as they would if they were performed for you. That's how jokes are.

I've said this before in other threads.

Anytime I would say something of a risque nature, I then say, "Oh wait a minute...I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking like that. That's not my act. That's my grandmother's act and I really shouldn't be doing her material."

Most of my jokes used during my performances are completely off the cuff. I utilize every moment, everything that is said, and every action by eveything. If there is a joke there to be said, it usually comes to me and I say it without a hitch.

Quite. There's no substitute for wit.

I completely agree, Manic_B. I don't think any of my jokes are scripted because I feel the best humour comes from the situation itself. It's the best way to build rapport.

I don't know if you guys know tomas medina..he made the cardiologist deck. well i know him personally and have since I was like 8, and he's hilarious.

some of his lines:

if someone has an ace or there are aces involved "I made an ace of myself"

or when someones taking a card

"free sample"

or if there's a jack in the trick like the ace mentioned above.:

"you know whats funny..people say i dont know jack"

after you do a really good effect

"i'm a lonely guy I practice"

same situation

"hey kid that was pretty good

thanks man" (magician says both of those)

something I have to work on is presentation, and I'll probably end up posting a thread about it sooner or later, so if you guys have suggestions drop them in there.

i rarely try to make jokes, to me it detracts from the effect of the magic etc. although i sometimes use to to distract hawkish spectators.

yeah, no. that sounds pretty dumb.....

I use little jokes like that all the time. You had some pretty good ones, I like some of them. And people, there's nothing wrong with telling jokes during your performance if that's the style you have. Everyone has a different style. And the spectators will laugh at those kinds of jokes, they're not stupid.

Some things you could do are:

1) Spread the cards so they're facing you and tell them to pick a card but not to let you see it.

2) After they pick a card, take it from them and show them the front and say "see, there are no marks on the front", flip the card over so it's facing you and say, "and the back is not marked, so there's no way I could know what card this is . . .".

3) When you spread the cards out have one stuck out further than the others and move towards her hand every time she reaches to pick a card. "Now pick a card, don't let me influence your decision in any way"