Ever heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)? It's a commonly-used personality test that focuses on four tendencies: extroversion vs. introversion, sensing vs. intuition, thinking vs. feeling and judging vs. perceiving.

Certainly, there is some controversy about how valuable this test truly is for psychoanalysis, but it most definitely a great starting point for developing your stage character.

Here's a simple free online test that w......our type.

Here's my idea for this thread: Take the test (or otherwise determine your MBTI type), post your results here, and either find a trick that is well-suited to that particular type, or take an existing trick, and describe how someone with your type would perform it.

I thought this would be an interesting idea that would let us see how personalities change tricks.

For example, I'm an INTJ (I'm introverted intuitive thinking judging). Certain pre-existing routine that would be suitable for INTJs just as they are would be the Knight's Tour, Luke Jermay's Rubix Square routine, and memory routines.

Some examples of changes to pre-existing tricks to suit and INTJ like me might be doing Miraskill by putting the focus on analyzing the deck after it has been shuffled. Similarly, Shuffle-bored could be done as a memory routine by an INTJ. Indeed, many prediction routines could be altered in this way.

Escapes could be another good field for INTJ exploration, as long as the focus is on analyzing and getting out of the situation.

Any routine where there's an opportunity for the performer to "see outside the box" could be well performed by INTJs. The classic "magician in trouble" scenario could be well exploited here.

So, what's your MBTI type and how could/would you alter or choose effects to suit that persona?

Scott,
just discovered your post. Great idea!
I know something about personality tests - I'm also a trainer in Human Ressources - and am not very fond of them.
BUT, I will check this out. It could be a great and novel way to build an act/character. Thanks,
Klaus-Peter

An ISFJ (should have kept the window up)

One point was that I'm a "very expressed introvert!"

Not certain how that works out!

I'll keep this in mind while building a character. If I ever actually get around to it, one of the points was procrastination!

Also check out Eckman's METT and SETT.

I pretty much agree with the escape idea. I also highly enjoy sleights because I spend time alone working on them. Focused time. It is like meditation.
That is why I gravitate towards coins. Well, a lot of reasons. Cold metal, requires skillfull manipulation...
The escapes are good too. I am working on a box/timed spike escape with my partner and he is designing the device. I am figuring out how to make the escape more interesting from a what shackles and such to use perspective. I enjoy the process highly.

"You are:
distinctively expressed introvert

moderately expressed intuitive personality

slightly expressed thinking personality

distinctively expressed judging personality


I N T J Introverted Intuitive Thinking Judging."

Me still being new to all this...

If mine says, "Extraverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Perceiving" and that I am:
* slightly expressed extravert
* moderately expressed intuitive personality
* distinctively expressed feeling personality
* slightly expressed perceiving personality

What would someone suggest? Because this is exactly my problem. I just don't seem to be able to find anything that seems to suit me very well. It's like tricks are either too Cool Magician, too birthday clown, or too Omniscient Professor... Or just too, "Hey, look... *does a trick* Okay, you can stop looking."

INFJ (Counselor)

Ok, basically here is a bit I find helpful from the more detailed description

"Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena."

To me that just screams Storytelling and Bizzare magic, since both of those rely on creating a strong emotional connection with the audience. Any effect I could weave a story around would work wonderfully; as is that's exactly how I've been approaching the possibility of creating routines. Comming up with detailed stories and then figuring out how to tell them, and then figuring out which effects will work best with them; for example Outlaw's Relic allows me to build up the mystic of the item and present it as more of a story than a "Presto! Look at this rabbit that came out of an unlikely place" (not that there's anything wrong with rabbit tricks, lots of awesome stories could be told along those lines too..just going for a stereotype for illustrative purposes)

Ill play enfj yup that's me.