Roberto Giobbi talks about this in Card College (vol.2, I think).

Do you use them? Are they useful? I'm looking for a general consensus here...

My inner script often consists of repeating the name, or code name of a card so that I will be able to recall it later when I need that information.

Giobbi suggests that a good inner script can help you to act and interact with a spectator better.

So clearly there is more to this.

Your thoughts, please.

Paul S.

Why should you do that? If a technique works for YOU - use it.

As for using a script, I think you misread Giobbi. The idea is to have a script in your mind to describe what SHOULD be your thoughts as you perform the effect. These thoughts should comply to the PRESENTATION and not to the WORKING of the effect. This is meant to make your natural behavior fit you presentation. For example instead of "Now I should false shuffle and undercut the ace to the bottom" you are to think "Well, I'll give the cards a shuffle...and a few cuts to make sure the cards are mixed". Henning Nelms has something to say on this in "Magic and Showmanship".

My thoughts on this are that this technique should be used only after you've mastered the moves to the point you can do them without requiring a conscious effort. Then, you can add thinking the silent script. IMHO, doing this from the start only slows the learning process.

Eugene Burger also talked about writing out actual scripts of what to say during a performance and memorizing them. This is very difficult for me to do. In fact, I've never succeeded at it. Every time I try to write a script for any effect, it just sounds stupid. His idea, though, was that if you know what you are going to say beforehand, you can perform more smoothly and you can focus on things like what words to put emphasis on, when to pause, etc.
It sounds like a great idea; I just haven't developed the knack yet I don't guess.

The problem with having a script in a close up situation is that you can't really deviate, especially if your story follows a set route (for example: Sam the Bellhop). I find just having a theme is enough, it keeps your magic fresh and isn't stale for people who have seen your effects before.

Saxon

Inner scripts are a very important subject. I do not use literal words, but I do use "inner script". For me it is just a form of method acting. I genuinely make myself believe (in a sense) that what I'm doing is magic. If I vanish a card, the card is really vanishing in my mind. I really am a magician and therefore I think like one. If you ever get into method acting, this is what inner scripts tend to look like.

Jeb

Jeb (who used to be Sable, apparently) is bang on.
Tony Slydini would say: "You must gotta believe."

And that's the crux of the whole thing; you, the magician, must BELIEVE that the coin really is in the other hand, that the card really is lost in the deck, that the silk really has vanished.

An inner script does not have to be followed slavishly; it is a framework around which the routine is built.
This applies equally to close-up and stage.
Sam the Bellhop, for example, can be done very tightly and not allow for any audience input (not very good), or it can be done loosely and, if the performer is on his toes, can use audience input to make it even better.

A script/plan/outline is essential; Dwight Eisenhower, when he was Allied commander in Europe for the D-Day invasion, said that a plan was essential, even if you didn't stick to it.
In other words, it's necessary to know where you are coming from and where you are going, even if you don't follow the route that has been laid out earlier.
Experience makes this easier; but it is never EASY.
cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

The importance of this internal technique has been discussed and promoted countless times; I'm rather fond of Al Schneider's take...

Schneider called this technique the "Intention of Reality" and describes it thusly: "This is the act of mentally creating the appearance of reality to the audience to see some occurrence or thing. You also intend YOURSELF to see that same activity as real. If you intention is strong enough you will behave as if you are doing what you INTEND to be doing. [...] Intending is not pretending, acting wiling or believing..." ("Al Schneider on Coins", 1975)

Schneider goes on to explain the mechanics of "intending reality", but the point is that the audience, on some level, can sense (via body language or whatever) when the inernal script doesn't match the external appearance. Hence the importance of the internal script.

Regards,
Thomas Wayne

Woah! Thanks for all your input. How_soon_is_now , you are absolutely right. The actual term used in Card College was 'Silent Script', which more accurately describes what I'm trying to get a handle on.

Seems to me that a good Inner/Silent script/Intention of Reality, or however you might describe it, is a psychological trick which has a place in all the mish mash of things that we do to create an illusion. I suppose it boils down to being aware of the external reality you are supposed to be experiencing.

Again, thank you all, for your thought provoking input here, I appreciate it.

Paul S