To fool magicians or laymen?

A common fear among magicians, a fear that I share, is performing for other magicians. All sorts of anxieties pop up, and it's no surprise: magicians know the sleights you're using. Even if they don't see the sleights, most of the time it's easy to figure out which sleights had to have been used. So it's a stressful situation.



Because of this fear, a sentiment you hear among many magicians is "I don't perform for magicians" or "My tricks are for laymen." It's a very interesting sentiment.

But there is an easy way to accomplish fooling both laymen and magicians, and you don't have to worry about those pesky fears either. It's a nice middle ground.

The secret is not in mastering the latest effects and the most difficult sleights. In fact, it's almost the exact opposite of that: use old routines.

Older routines are considered old-hat or, if they're lucky, classics. Because of this, most people assume that everyone knows how they work and that they are out of date. They aren't. Some of the best tricks out there, some real magician-killers, are in some of the older books.

Last week I watched a young magician kill everyone around him with an any-card-any-number routine that was flawless. I won't give out the source, but it isn't going to be on Ellusionist or Theory11. You want the real work go read some books. You won't regret it.