I am 14 and I do magic at school. It is great because of all the reactions, there is just 1 problem. one of my friends does a few card tricks and insists that I should tell him how I do my tricks because he is also a magician. I have never told anyone how I do any of my tricks and I do not plan to. I told him I wouldnt but he keeped on nagging me. Its been going on like this for about 3 days untill he asked me specific questions on how my tricks were done. He had some very close ideas and told me to prove against them. I didnt know how and Im not sure how to convince him that my tricks arnt done the way he believes they are. I dont think he could have cought me because I always practice for like a week before I perfom them and then I usually dont preform them untill I am more confident. Im not sure if he knows how the trick is done or if he figured it out but I need him to believe that the trick is done a different way.

stop performing those tricks at school, and perform others. perform a really strong trick to your friend that will blow him away, and leave him standing speechless.

I wouldnt try to prove certain things to him. Just refuse to answer him in any way when he asks how you do something. If he is even relatively mature as a magician, he would understand that your magic is something you've worked alot on, and if you dont want to tell him, he should grow up and respect your opinion. I strongly suggest you tell him that.

stop performing around him then...the otherday i wanted to show one of my friends color monte and after i showed him they were all red then all blues he grabbed the cards and bent them to edited so now i got to get new ones..so i just punched him lol wasnt probly best way to solve it but..he had it comin since i payed 20 for them in Mall of America

Yerman,

This is hard for you and your friend, I'm sure. You do NOT need to nor should you try to prove your friend's theories wrong. He should be like every other spectator that a magician has to deal with. You never have to prove a theory wrong and your spectators, regardless of who they are, need to quickly realize that you are not going to entertain such guesses or theories (right or wrong) of how you did something. You need to stand your ground no matter how long it takes. Only 3 days?...A habit in most cases requires seven days to be broken. You need to stand your ground for at least that long. Your friend is not a magician. If he was, he would have the knowledge and resources to research how something may be done. I'm sure you are both young and to him, he feels that since you both are friends, then it is his right to know and your resposibility to tell him. But it's not. He is only your friend. I don't even tell my own parents how my magic is done. Though I'm quite a bit older with kids of my own, I have never told my parents how it was done. So if this friend is any kind of a decent friend, then he will remain your friend without having to know how you do what you do.

The next time he ask, you need to tell him, "Look, you know I can't tell you how I do what I do. And I'm not going to tell you, so please stop asking because you're just going to frustrate yourself."

There are many other things you could say. Just remember that you never have to prove anyone wrong. Let them go on guessing. Never confirm and never deny. I usually respond by saying something like, "Hmm. That's a good theory. I might have to try that." People don't usually ask after that.

Hang in there.

i am in a similar situation. me and my buddy are both somewhat experienced magicians in highschool and we know a kid that refers to himself as a magician because he knows shapeshifter. he flaunts this daily and goes around showing people. he wants to learn advanced tricks yet he can't even do a DL (he blatantly grabs two cards in front of the spectator!!) he drives me nuts, so i just ignore him because if he truly wants to be a magician/entertainer or whatever, he will put in the effort instead of consulting me.

PS: i shut him up after doing Daniel Garcia's Ego.

He's not a magician one bit.

Don't try to show him something that'll blow his socks off. Just don't. Don't ever try to up-stage him. I'm sure there are kids that enjoyyour magic, and if you had to stop in the mdidle of something because Mr. Heckleboy was telling the secret, then do it. Pick it up, (probably finish the effect), and leave. Everybody that enjoys the magic will tell him to leave, and you can enjoy th spectator's reactions.

just tell him to do what you did and that was research and tell him where he can find the trick and either buy it himself or if its a card trick tell him to buy a book and learn it himself the way you did.

u could say 1 of 4 things



slyly say "magic"

"thats agood question?"

"lets go with that"

" thats what i was wondering"

Just say "look, this is where I learned it from. Go buy that. I did." That probably won't be enough, but make him work for it. Doing a few tricks, doesn't make you a magician. Magic is much more than a few tricks. I'm pretty open about teaching things to certain people, but these people have earned my respect. Even after they've done that, I still make them wait before I teach them a lot of stuff. I make sure they're ready to learn it, so that they don't come away with an effect that's way too hard for them. Then, I tell them which videos and books to buy, but I work in a magic shop, so I'm supposed to do that.

punch him in the face and/or charge him.

hah kidding, you don't have to do that if you don't want to, but tell him as others have suggested that you couldn't just walk up to any magician and ask how its done. tell him you had to pay, and if he wants to know he can order it himself, or pay you double to teach him on the spot

Sorry. I have to disagree with you. Never expose the secrets for money. The money should come from performing the secrets (effectively and entertainingly, of course), not exposing them. There's another thread about exposing for money.

Ooooh yeah i remember that thread This one guy sold the floating dollar bill for a dollar... My oh my ....

get a strong trick to mess with him. Something not card related maybe. try bending a borrowed coin. or the new shoelace trick is amazing. Try to impale your foot into the ground (I didnt like the trick but it has strong reactions)