So I was surfing YouTube last night and decided to look at all the popular known magicians and how they handled the routine. Daryl’s routines were the ones that caught my attention. While he is technically amazing in any aspect, I find something odd with the routine… Roll Film.
Now before I go further, I want to point out that Daryl’s routine was probably influenced by the DVD he was making. I’m sure he wouldn’t of shown that many phases in a real performance setting. It was to show all the sleights he taught on the Ambitious Card DVD. I talk more about the performance in general, It has nothing to do with Daryl personally.
Now, what I noticed right away was how he showed the card has risen to the top. Daryl brushed the first reveal off very quickly. Most of the phases he brushes off. It felt like a throw away. The audience didn’t get to savor the moment. In fact, the audience were catching up the whole time. There is something to be said when you, the magician, isn’t surprised with the your own little miracles. I think attitude is key in making your audience believe the effect.
Daryl’s routine is what I mean by an effect that has gone too long. Does the audience care? What is the point of being fair and more fair through the effect. Why learn all these magical ways to get the card to the top if it wasn’t fair in the first place? When does it stop being magic and becomes a showcase of sleights.
Now people will argue that it doesn’t matter how many phases there are in a ACR as long as you keep them entertained. I agree, but I also think that its your entertainment that keeps the routine moving, not the magic anymore. It takes a back seat.
If you don’t think the number of phases matter in a ACR, then why don’t we do a 50 coins across? Where did J.B. Bobo and David Roth come up with that magical number 4? So is it okay to bring out a bag of half dollars and make them jump across 50 times, just as long as you keep them entertained? Where is the magic in that? Actually, it would be quite amazing if you did a backfire when you had 49 in one hand and 1 left in the other. (I have a method for that) ((This is a running joke… I don’t have a method for that.)) (((But seriously, I do.)))
The frame of these 2 effects are quite simple. A coin jumps to the other hand. A card jumps to the top. I think a major reason that a 50 coins across sounds stupid is because we don’t know 50 different unique ways to bring a coin to the other hand. On the other hand, (It’s a Pun!) we all know many ways to control a card to the top. It is that live long obsession of card magicians to find the next amazing control to the top.
So there lies the problem. How can we make a simple effect like that into something amazing. A coin disappearing from one hand and appearing in your other hand is quite amazing. Why not a card that jumps to the top? Just because we have a dick doesn’t mean we have to go fuck any hole we see. Just becuase we know many card controls doesn’t mean we have to show the audience everyone of them and then label it a trick. That Ho.
