Hello!

A subscriber to my Mini Magic Course got me thinking about this subject again. For magicians, especially Close-up Magicians I think it should it be at the core of what we do.

What is this mysterious technique, concept, notion, theory? It's the idea that the most powerful magic we can do happens in the hands of the spectator's themselves! I honestly don't know of anyone who 'generally' disagrees with this although I have to believe that they exist. That said, I know very few working magicians who have not made note of the fact that the best routine they can toss out will get less of a positive reaction than the production of five baby sponge bunnies from a helpers hand! Peter Rabbit is almost the definition of this type of magic for the entire routine takes place in the hand of the spectator helping the performer.

But, there are others that are also wonderfully powerful. The transposition of a copper and silver coin in the hands of a spectator. The spectator is given a card to hold and while in their care the card changes magically to another card! Doesn't get much better than that.

O.k., here's the rub. When I was teaching magic classes I have several exercises that I had students perform. I now offer this one to you and I can virtually guarantee and that from experience that if you will do it seriously your magic will become much more powerful and even better: More memorable!

Here it is: List ALL of the Close-up routines that you do regularly. Put a mark against the ones that are already using a spectator in some capacity. Now, look at the others and attempt to figure out at least SIX ways that you could effectively use a spectator to help you. That you could use to draw a spectator or spectators into the routine in such a manner that they actively participate in the production of the effect, or at least appear to. Think of Peter Rabbit for an illustration.

In other words how can the magic seem to happen MORE in the hands of the helper than in yours? You get the idea.

Now, I understand that some routines will NOT subject themselves to this form of redaction. That's ok. It's the journey not the goal that is important here. What we are attempting to do is to reorient your thinking in such a way that you DO start to find more ways to make your magic MORE memorable to your audience whether that is one person or a hundred!

Anyway, have a great day and have a ton of fun,