Repeating tricks for the same audience.

[AceGambit]

This was originally going to be a generally phrased question about gaff cards, but as I started typing I realized that the real problem I had was not the use of gaff cards specifically, but the ability to perform tricks while spectators who have seen you perform before are present.


Gaff cards cut down on your ability to repeat a trick in front of an audience.  Take for example the 'inked' card out of UltraGaff, or the inflated Ace of Hearts out of Arcane gaff, because the cards are so amazing the effects they produce leave such an astounding impression on your spectators.  This means they will remember that trick forever, which means you aren't allowed to ever do that trick again if that person is nearby.  They'll remember it for sure, and remember that the card that this new person "freely chose" was the exact same card that they supposedly freely chose when you did the trick for them a month ago.


While I do often do tricks for strangers who I never see again, magic has also made me a lot of new friends.  Stigmata is probably the hardest hitting effect I do.  Which means I cannot tell you how many times I've been doing card tricks and had a friend come up and say something like "OMG DO THE ONE WHERE THEY GRAB YOUR WRIST".  For anyone that performs stigmata, you know that them saying this just made that trick 100 times harder to pull off.  I have to say though, I don't give in to the pressure.  When that happens I usually shrug it off, say something about not having enough pixie dust on me for that one tonight or something and move on.  It really builds suspense for if I want to do it later, after the audience has dismissed it, or if I ever see this person again.


So, to all the magicians out there, what do you guys say?  Is there a cure-all for this bug?  Some tips, aside from "Learn more tricks, only perform some."  Haha. 

[MrLukeCarroll]

Hmm it is deffinetly a really interesting topic and one that in general I just stick to the idea of only performing the same trick to the same audience once. You do run into the situation quite often when your performing for someone and their friend comes over and the spectator says "show them that one you just did" & most of the time you can't without giving away that it was a force etc, however in that circumstance I just say how about I show you all something completely different to make it so people don't have to watch the same trick I've already performed.

Whilst there is some multiple outs tricks that you of course can perform more then once, even with a different outcome they already know where the trick is heading and what will happen once the trick gets there so it ultimately takes some power away from the effect.

Always have enough hard hitting material that you never have to repeat effects and can show them something just as powerfull if they ask to see the same trick again, so you will always have something new and powerfull to show them.

No matter how hard the push you don't perform the exact same thing twice.

Just my little bit of insight from working

[Don Boyer]

Always keep an invisible deck handy, and perhaps a marked deck to go with it.  One of my favorite routines uses a stacked, marked deck - I flash the bottom card but read the top card's marks to identify it.  Then I use the invisible deck to "haunt" the card, yada yada yada, you know the drill from there.  The fun thing about it is that it's one of the few tricks with reply value; it's arguably even better when you repeat it.  Do it twice, once right after the next, and it still hits.  Anything with an invisible deck has that little side benefit to it, really.

[John B.]

So something I do if a trick involves a gaff and someone in the audience has seen it recently I will say something about wow this card has been getting a lot of attention lately, making it seem as even I am surprised. My best trick I do involves a prediction hidden, normally in my wallet. I change the prediction, and where its located if I have to do it with someone who has seen it before there. I also try to change the patter a bit to disguise it.

[Don Boyer]

So something I do if a trick involves a gaff and someone in the audience has seen it recently I will say something about wow this card has been getting a lot of attention lately, making it seem as even I am surprised. My best trick I do involves a prediction hidden, normally in my wallet. I change the prediction, and where its located if I have to do it with someone who has seen it before there. I also try to change the patter a bit to disguise it.

One thing you'll learn about most audiences is that the tricks you show them will never be remembered in great detail.  Wait just a short while and they'll have practically forgotten them.  I've performed the same trick to the same audience, but months apart, and they usually see it as a new trick.

This works especially well if it's a trick that doesn't require a gaff that the audience becomes aware of.  For example, dropping a three-and-a-half of clubs in someone's hand is something they're totally aware of and are more likely to remember.  Using a two-pattern double-backer for a signed-card prediction trick or some other bit of business is something the audience doesn't generally become aware of - they never really know there's a double-backed card in the deck, so it never occurs to them and they can't remember what they don't know.

There are other categories of gaffs, but the best ones are the ones that the audience doesn't pick up on as being gaffs, even if they do see them.  I'm particularly partial to the Arcane Gaff Deck's two gaff cards that are used to convert a five-card royal flush into a two-card blackjack, and combination AoS/cut card.  Unless they yank those cards out of your hands to look at them, they'll never really realize they're gaffs unless they're already experienced with gaffs (or in other words, they've had some amount of magic training/exposure that the typical layperson never has).

For my money, the double-backer with two different backs is a real gem.  The audience never even clues in to the fact that there's a gaff card there because its presence is so subtle it's typically unnoticed.

[John B.]

So something I do if a trick involves a gaff and someone in the audience has seen it recently I will say something about wow this card has been getting a lot of attention lately, making it seem as even I am surprised. My best trick I do involves a prediction hidden, normally in my wallet. I change the prediction, and where its located if I have to do it with someone who has seen it before there. I also try to change the patter a bit to disguise it.

One thing you'll learn about most audiences is that the tricks you show them will never be remembered in great detail.  Wait just a short while and they'll have practically forgotten them.  I've performed the same trick to the same audience, but months apart, and they usually see it as a new trick.

This works especially well if it's a trick that doesn't require a gaff that the audience becomes aware of.  For example, dropping a three-and-a-half of clubs in someone's hand is something they're totally aware of and are more likely to remember.  Using a two-pattern double-backer for a signed-card prediction trick or some other bit of business is something the audience doesn't generally become aware of - they never really know there's a double-backed card in the deck, so it never occurs to them and they can't remember what they don't know.

There are other categories of gaffs, but the best ones are the ones that the audience doesn't pick up on as being gaffs, even if they do see them.  I'm particularly partial to the Arcane Gaff Deck's two gaff cards that are used to convert a five-card royal flush into a two-card blackjack, and combination AoS/cut card.  Unless they yank those cards out of your hands to look at them, they'll never really realize they're gaffs unless they're already experienced with gaffs (or in other words, they've had some amount of magic training/exposure that the typical layperson never has).

For my money, the double-backer with two different backs is a real gem.  The audience never even clues in to the fact that there's a gaff card there because its presence is so subtle it's typically unnoticed.

agreed, I wish more decks had them. I got one with my vision deck and I used it to fool a magician friend of mine.

[Jamie D. Grant]

Having people ask you to show their friends a trick (that you've already shown them) is one of the greatest compliments you can receive. And, for a lot of people, they ask because they want reinforcement that they're not "stupid". They want their friends to be surprised as well, so that they're not the only ones that couldn't figure it out. So when people ask, you need to let them down lightly. My take is always the same:

Them: "Jamie! Show these guys the one where you made that elephant appear and juggle the shovels!"

Me: "No."

~laughter~

Me: "Seriously, no way. That was a special moment in time. It was a gift only for you. I'll show you guys something else, though."


Hope that makes sense,

jamie

[PlayingKards]

I think magic is always about developing your own routines and ways of presenting something. Just because the gaff card might not change, doesn't mean you can change or create a new trick with that gaff card. I have learned to develop many routines with all of my decks whether it be an invisible deck, gaff deck, stripper deck, svengali deck, and so on.

[Pacis]

Great perspectives there.
Thanks for the heads up, now that I'll be performing for kids and some of thei parents at the Hospital.