A magic trick made by me

Liam · A magic trick made by me

k everyone, i've made up a trick that i think is selling worthy!
Its another colour changing deck routine, but this one is like no others i have seen.
It follows the simple plot of:
-Spectator picks a card
-Spectator puts it back
-The whole deck changes colour, but the selection

BUT!

This one it OPEN!
They see that EVERY SINGLE card in the pack is red!
you lepaul spread it, you fan it, you drop it, you flourish it, its a flipping red deck!

The spectator starts thinking it will be a crappy, no fun trick.
They reluctantly pick a card, not expecting anything.
You fan out the cards so they can put it back.
You square up the pack, with their card out jogged, and visually push it into the centre.
Now you big it up as if all your going to do is find there card.
Then, you give the deck a little shake and the top card becomes blue.
Then you spread through the rest of the deck and its all blue too!

And no, there arent a chunk of red cards at the bottom that you cant show.
at the beggining, you spread through the entire deck, yes the ENTIRE deck.
at the end, they are ALL blue.

Simple.
Easy.
Hard hitting.
Magical.

So thats the description.
Now i have some questions, not really about the effect more about the pitch and the sale.
So here is a question:
Is "the best card trick in the world" copyrighted? it would pair up nicely with this effect
Is there a simple way for me to sell it? some website that will let me set up a store for free? (or cheap)
And it needs a name, any suggestions?

BrianMillerMagic

I would need to see a video of this in action. How many times have you performed it for real people in real world situations? And I mean every type of performing situation, for every type of audience. Have you done the research to credit those whose work influenced and predated your effect? For a color changing deck routine to sell all on its own, it must be a completely revolutionary method, not to mention time-tested and fool-proofed, which I'm sure this isn't.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but these are all things that need to be considered. If you'd like to send me the method Liam, you can do so and I'll talk with you privately about it. contact@BrianMillerMagic.com

Liam

i'll admit its not time-tested, i've only had the idea for the last little while.
Dont worry, i wouldnt sell it entill i have shown it to lots and lots of people.
and hmmmm.... i think i'll email you
i'm not too informed about other colour changing deck routines, so i dont know how original it is

and thanks for the comments Smile

Michael Kras

Sounds interesting. I am eager to see it!

Liam

my moms boyfriend is a photographer/filmographer, so he has all the equipment for an proffesional looking video!

i'm waiting for brians responce to the method i emailed him though

Craig Browning

Let me share a little something with you that will help keep you from embarrassing yourself when it comes to "originality" of an effect.

1.) Come up with your basic idea and then develop no fewer than five different methods for making the same basic effect happen.

2.) Research the hell out of it; This is a two part course of action... one one level you need to literally crack the books or check with reliable authorities about any effects that are like your idea. You need to cross reference all of these and see how they may be alike as well as how these similar pieces could lend to your effect some nicer points of advantage... The second part of the research is field testing it. To do this you need a handful of people from various skill and experience levels taking your idea and giving it there all. This will give you two important things; patron feedback from those that witness the effect as well as performer's feedback when it comes to improvements, issues, and even routine modifications/contributions.

If you are new in the effect design movement allow yourself a week with step one while remembering how people like Max Maven and other noted innovators challenge themselves daily to come up with as much as a dozen variants on a new concept. Be nice to yourself and give yourself a week but consciously work at it.

Step Two is Time Consuming and will (if you are doing things the right way) take at lest six months to a year.

Now, once you know you have something that is either original to you or a strong variation to an establish piece you need to weigh a few more issues (and what I'm about to say you aren't going to like).

Who are you?

I'm not pulling your leg... WHO ARE YOU when it comes to the magic community and why would anyone want to pay you even $20.00 for your trick?

If you want to play ball in the big leagues you must create a name for yourself that means sharing tons of stuff for an extended period of time FOR FREE! Sharing your routines and handling in publications such as the LINKING RING or MUM or even MAGIC and GENII or one of the better known eZines like VISIONS. By getting your name out there and openly sharing ideas, concepts and approaches you are building a resume and the sort of name recognition you need when you actually do start marketing books, videos or actual effects.

Now there are a couple of ugly realities about being a magic developer. For starters, even the most famous designers out there tend to keep a day job in that you don't make enough money developing magic to live off of... in most instances. Secondly, if you have been a magic student for under 5 years and have little to no field experience as a real worker, chances are what you come up with will not be "new"... which brings us to what you have described... it exists! I've seen others perform the same basic routine at the Magic Castle 25 years ago.

That does not mean you should give up, only that you need to research the effect and see where yours is different and possibly an improvement... you follow the outline I've given to you and keep the best version for yourself and market the #2 version along with a book that gives appropriate credit to those that have done the same or similar thing, explaining the evolution of things and how you have come up with what you have.

I know it's tempting to want to run out there and throw stuff out into the virtual hemisphere in hopes that it will sell but I can tell you as a matter of personal experience, your chances of succeeding and making more than a hundred bucks or so are very slim and the stigma that such an incomplete product release can give to you, seems to haunt you for the rest of your life, generating distrust, etc. The moral of the story being... TAKE YOUR TIME AND DO IT RIGHT! Wink

Liam

thanks for that craig!

i have also been talking to brian, and i wont be releasing this effect for a long time.
i did some busking on my vacation, using this effect, and it worked well.
But two days of busking is no were near the ammount of preformance i need before considering selling anything Razz

So for now, scratch the selling it part.

What are your guys thoughts on the trick?

Craig Browning

Awesome! You actually allowed yourself to learn how tough it can really be out there in the real world... don't ever change that! So few people are willing to do that part and yet they want to act as if they know everything there is to know about the craft. I've been in the grind for over 35 years now and I keep getting reminded as to how much I don't know yet... go figure Laughing

I think you have a decent premise for an effect, what you must do is to find out about the alternative methods that are on the market or in books and see how your version compares; how it is better or worse than... learn to critique your stuff and be brutal about it. In learning how to tear our own creations apart by looking at them critically, we discover how to improve them and remove many of the flaws we're not yet seeing... when Ken I were working on Shadow Vision we built it and tore it apart at least 12 times if not more... we threw close to $20,000.00 into that one effect before we thought it was ready for the stage and it still went through numerous improvements for the next two years it was being manufactured.

I don't think you'll be going to such extremes with a card trick, but you should get the gist of what I'm saying... it takes time, honesty and the willingness to make hard decisions that involve serious change.

Sounds to me that you're on the right path, keep up the excellent work!

Ethan the Emazing

Personally, this trick doesn't sound like anything I'd even pay $5 if it was sold. But thats just me. Sounds interesting though. Keep up the good work man.

sam_mccully

Sounds like a good effect. And im sure Brian and Craig's advice has helped. Good luck mate, do the research etc. and you never know we could have the next Jay Sankey ;D
Hope all goes well for ya.

Craig Browning

BTW... you may want to check this out...

http://www.circlecitymagic.com/product.php?productid=4975

The co-creator of this piece asked if I'd share this information with you all in that the description given here seems hauntingly similar to a product/routine already on the market.

This merely punctuates what I said previously when it comes to what we believe to be a "new" bit of business...chances are very strong that what you come up with IS NOWHERE NEAR being "new" or unique. Such innovation is exceptionally rare, even amongst those that do so daily.

Franz Harary pointed out once, that for every one of his big breakthroughs he's known no less than 100 failures.... you'll see this same sort of thing in the diaries of Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla... all the brilliant men and women in history. So never give up hope, just know that the odds are not to your favor and its all just a role of the dice. Wink

Liam

i made a video!
i tried using patter for the first couple take, but it was monotone because i'm not very charismatic with a camera, so the final take is patter-less

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RWukZqnJYFs

Michael Kras

Wow Liam, that looked great! Very visual change and a real fooler. And that guy commenting on how he thought it was edited is definitely a huge compliment!

Liam

ya, i like how that seems to be the only conclusion people can jump to Razz

BrianMillerMagic

One thing: I would make less of a big deal about showing the backs of every card at the beginning. It looks a little too much like you're trying to be careful not to hide "something." Just a thought.

teddy

I agree with Brian. MODERATOR EDIT (EXPOSURE)

Liam

teddy

Michael Kras

I really like this idea Liam. I would definitely consider sending it to some trusted, respected magicians for feedback and posible history. Brian is the perfect candidate for this.

Liam

BrianMillerMagic

My response to Liam originally suggested that there are plenty of non gaffed ways to accomplish the same effect, but that was before I had any visual such as the video. Now that I've seen what it looks like, I definitely agree that it's more visual than something non gaffed. I'll admit that it could probably work well in the real world, depending on how you ring in the deck.

Michael Kras

But now, the most important part... R&D. We have to find out if it has been invented and published before. It looks similar to Sneak A Peek in method but is not the same in effect.

BrianMillerMagic

I'm quite certain it's been used before. I don't have a source as of now, but I'll ask check around.

Liam

well brian, glad you like it more with a video
and i wouldnt doubt there is something with a very similar method.