Magic Tricks

I am a huge fan of Ian Rowland, and of his thinking, especially as I've come to know more of it through his columns in Magic Magazine.

Since I like cards — FASDIU style — I was intrigued by the description for Thetalia. And at $4.95, it was not a huge risk to purchase.

Upon seeing the method (viewing a full performance on the demo would more than likely have given it away), I can say only that while routine is no doubt effective as an audience pleaser, the method requires a way of handling the cards that seems out of place and calls attention to itself. True: these "moments" pass quickly, virtually instantaneously, and are easily disguised with patter (indeed Rowland says, correctly, that the engagement with the spectators is what really makes the trick), but the problem is that — by the very nature of the routine; that is, dealing lots of cards — there are quite a few of these "moments."

In all magic, we construct our routines to disguise the method, but when the "method" occurs so many times within the routine, it's hard to believe that a spectator won't see something fishy at some point — even if it's only a vague, cumulative impression at the end that something, somewhere, was was just not quite right.

Rowland does say that even if the spectators suspect something, it won't affect the trick. The performances on the download seem to bear this out: the spectators seem genuinely impressed and entertained (whether or not they may have suspected something, we can't be sure). Thus, while on a macro level the entertainment value is certainly there, perhaps for me, it's a just a matter of style (and lack of ability?): I can't feel comfortable disguising, so many times, what is for me an unusual thing to do with the cards — however small that thing is, and however fleeting it may be each time it is done.