For a magician, it is very important that every time he sits down to show magic, he does every move and technique the exact same way every time. "Any departure from his customary manner of holding, shuffling, cutting or dealing the cards may be noticed" (Erdnase 22). Magicians do this to stay under the radar and not reveal anything about their trick and make it so everytime they show a trick, it has no difference from the previous time they did it.
When I perform magic, I have gone to the point with a lot of my tricks where I can do them consistently without ever changing the way I say things, hold the deck, do sleights, etc. It is definitely one of the harder skills to master however it is so rewarding to get rid of certain suspicion or oddity in your performance.
This directly ties in with another concept I previously blogged about which was the effect of suspicion. When spectators suspect you of doing anything sneaky, they immediately watch you like a hawk and this attentiveness can ruin a secret of a trick. I wrote about this in one of my previous blogs and having uniformity is one of the best ways to counteract suspicion.
To avoid suspicion, a magician needs to make everything he does appear natural and consistent. This can only be done with constant practice - ingraining your techniques into your muscle memory and to do this you must practice properly. See my previous post on how a magician needs to practice in order to be more successful.
Furthermore, for a magician to have full knowledge of what he is doing he needs to know the vocabulary behind it so that he knows exactly what it is he needs to duplicate during every performance of his trick. You can read more about basic magic terminology in my post about traditional magic terms.
Finally, with the idea of uniformity of action in mind we need to put it in context of a trick. My first blog described how to do a proper card vanish with Erdnase's technique. This is one of those tricks that I have practiced over and over again and know extensively so I can do it with uniformity and avoid suspicion. This is why it is such a powerful effect.
In conclusion, reading The Expert At The Card Table greatly improved my magic ability and philosophy on practice and the art of magic in general. I hope to improve more on my magic in the future and I hoped you have enjoyed my blogs.
To avoid suspicion, a magician needs to make everything he does appear natural and consistent. This can only be done with constant practice - ingraining your techniques into your muscle memory and to do this you must practice properly. See my previous post on how a magician needs to practice in order to be more successful.
Furthermore, for a magician to have full knowledge of what he is doing he needs to know the vocabulary behind it so that he knows exactly what it is he needs to duplicate during every performance of his trick. You can read more about basic magic terminology in my post about traditional magic terms.
Finally, with the idea of uniformity of action in mind we need to put it in context of a trick. My first blog described how to do a proper card vanish with Erdnase's technique. This is one of those tricks that I have practiced over and over again and know extensively so I can do it with uniformity and avoid suspicion. This is why it is such a powerful effect.
In conclusion, reading The Expert At The Card Table greatly improved my magic ability and philosophy on practice and the art of magic in general. I hope to improve more on my magic in the future and I hoped you have enjoyed my blogs.
Erdnase, S. W. Artifice, Ruse, and Subterfuge at the Card Table: A Treatise on the Science and Art of Manipulating Cards. Chicago: Frederick J. Drake, 1905. Print.
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