Hey guys......does anyone here make their own magic tricks? I have a few things that I THINK are original, but not really sure.

Punkin

Yes, I have made a original disappearing finger trick. If you make it up, you can do it whether or not someone else is doing something similar. It is not going to hurt them.

Cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it!
Punkin

If you study magic and practice performing magic in a serious manner for years and years as I have done, you start to develop your own ideas about how to do them and how to perform them. It is a gradual process and starts with the easy stuff. You first start by following the patter lines given in the instructions, as your confidence grows, you start to improve on these. You adapt them, to fit more closely to your character. You weave in your own jokes, story lines and logic. Eventualy, you make these tricks your own.

I am an adult, who seeks and enjoys adult company and will happily immerse myself in adult situations and humour. I am on occaision, employed to entertain adults, as a clown, who want and demand adult entertainment. (Most recentlly at Malcolm Mclaren's funeral). When living in London, I used to do magical stand up routines, as a clown, in East London strip joints. Instead of producing a bunches of flowers, I would produce 12 inches of something black and rubbery.

A magical trick may be bought from a store that is marketed as producing a certain effect. Sometimes you may change the entire routine so instead of it being, lets say for example, a vanish and production stunt, it becomes a mentalist routine. The mechanics of the trick remain substantialy the same but through altering the presentation of it, you create a totaly different effect. As your skill level improves, you start to realise you can do things better or more suited, than as stipulated in the original instructions.

I have studied and practiced slight of hand manipulations to a professional standard, in a variety of disciplines. As you learn and practice slight of hand, you will find through the individual shape of your hand, some slights will be easy to master, some harder and some completly impossible. As you employ your skills to pull off a magical effect, you find that you will adapt the trick to suite the moves you have.

Over the years of playing with coins, I have developed a slight, where a coin completely and cleanly vanishes from within my clenched fist. The move is entirley my own. I have not read, seen or heard of anyone else who does it in the way I do it. I would not claim that I am the only magician in the world that can vanish a coin from a clenched fist in this manner but I developed the move totally independantly and know of no other magician that uses this particular slight.

More recently, I have just bought plans, for a bunch of stage illussions. I have a yearning to saw young scantily clad women, (my clown girlfriend, Winky Blinky) in half. You can spend hundreds of pounds buying the cabinates and boxes, ready made or a few pounds buy the instructions to build your own.

I do a lot of magic in nightclubs and raves. These kind of enviroments are not suited for my intricate and intimate slight of hand moves. They are noisey, dark, filled with befuddled revelers and unpredictable. The kind of slighting skilled magic that I perform would not normally be of any use in such places. I have been forced to adapt and create props that do work and alter my presentation to suite. I mime much more, as the spoken word does not carry and remake the props in UV reactive materials to shine out in those situatuations.

I can't wait to be able to make people feel slightly sick as I chop a UVed up, Winky Blinky into three pieces.

its cheapper to make your own, magic, props, even nose

That's cute. I like it.

things i have made myself but you can buy them
milk pitcher
cups and balls set but ended up buying a good set anyway
invisible deck and then did some variations with the end result
mouth coils
hat tears
spring flowers
prof nightmare ok too easy lol but still
i am currently making my own pom pom stick
not sure what it is called but i take one cup fillled with white beads and one cup filled with black beads then pour the white beads in with the black beads shake them up and then place them behind my back and when i bring them out front again they are seperated
made a version of a night out with the gals but use food and the victim ends up with the check
my gf was able to make me a devils hank i liked hers better then the one i bought the bought one you could see through the bottom if you had any back light so she made it double thick for the whole thing.
also working on my own hydrostatic glass
i have plans for more tricks to be made but first want to finish what i have started lol

OKAY, I've waited long enough. Now, I know I need ot make my own tricks. The ones you buy at the store are too expensive or too cheap, I'm sure you know what I mean. Off to google.

I think creating your own story to an already practiced magic trick is about personality but developing and engineering one is something different. I have..but it's secret until patented....

Don't buy tricks Zippy, buy books. Tricks are expensive and you only buy one secret and a gimmick at a time. Most times, once you see the gimmick, you will realise if you had known the secret previously, you could have made it your self. Often you will make it your self, for pennies, with simple things bought from any high street shop, rather than for the tens of dollars you forked out.

When you buy books, you buy hundreds of secrets. Learning magic, is all about learning secrets, not about acquiring gimmicks. The self working, shop bought, props, much favoured by many of the members of this board, completely miss this point. Yes they might provide a big, colourful, visual stunt that is simple and easy to perform. But it is all froth designed to flatter their ego into the believing they are magical, rather than providing any real substance to justify or sustain that belief.

Change bags, vanishing bandana/bananas, magic colouring books, etc. are designed for people with no wish, desire, ability or talent for performing magic. They are for people unwilling or incapable of putting any time or effort in to learning magic. That is not to say I have not seen talented performers employ such things, I have. I have seen very amazing magical performers employ change bags and colouring books with stunning effect. But the kind of people that buy these tricks, won't be doing anything stunning, they will just be following the words on the side of the packet.

A good example of what I am talking about, would be "The profesor's Nightmare", a simple rope trick that requires nothing but a few pieces of string, some step by step instructions that any 7 year old can follow and a little practice. It requires no skill and no great expence. If you buy the individual trick, it will cost you about £10. If however, you buy the book "Abbott's Encyclopedia of Rope Magic", for a similar price, you will have the secrets at hand to create over 150 magical tricks with a piece of rope. Not only will you have dozens of equal, unequal length rope tricks, you will also have magic knots, cut and restored's, penetrations, mentalist predictions and ring on/off tricks.

Read this book and take a hand full of secrets from the many in there and any piece of string, ribbon, rope, boot lace, etc. becomes a fabulous device with which to stun, bemuse, amaze and entrance an audience. Rather than being limited to a staged performance with your pre cut bits of string, you can get close up and personal in any situation with any audience. You will not be confined to or content with, performing for just children and the gulible.

Thank you, Mr. Daft. I think that's what I'll do! Always looking for ways to be cheap...uhhh, frugal! Besides, I'm with you. The places that sell the magic tricks are selling simple ideas and a few inexpensive materials for a whole lot of money. Not that I have anything against buying tricks, I'm just a bit more creative than that and it would never satisfy me to buy pre-made. Just my personal preference.

Mr. Daft is right on with his advice to buy books rather than individual tricks. There are a few tricks out there where the prop is important and should be purchased (linking rings, for example) but a whole lot of what you need to amuse and amaze can be found in a good store. Except the secrets, that is. For those you need books.

I spent a lot of money at first on every gimmick I thought I needed to understand. If I had put that same money into books and DVDs I would be far ahead of where I am now in terms of useful magic.

Nowadays, I buy DVDs looking for good presentations of tricks rather than different tricks. I don't like to copy other folks but I love to see different ways to make a trick entertaining. Seeing a performer make a balloon really cool and fun might give me an idea for making a rope really cool and fun. Or a coin. Or whatever.

A very good book that is often overlooked because it looks dated is Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. For around $15 US you can have enough information and magical fun to keep you busy for years. I was put off by the illustration style at first, being attracted to photos, but I have gone to this book more than any other for ideas. Worth it at four times the price, actually.

Also, the Patrick Page DVDs which are available for around $12 each are a bargain. Some of them are going to be more useful than others, but the information and ideas are gold. His Funny Business for Kid Shows is great. Rope and Paper magic are on another disc. Spongeballs are covered on another. All are great fun.

I was only going to type a paragraph to say Barry Daft is right about books and now I'm writing far too much.

Oh, another reason to make your own magic is because you won't find yourself with a prop that is already in use by another entertainer in your area. That could set you apart as not just having a bunch of store-bought tricks but actually being magical.

-Patrick

Please do not feel constrained in your writting, Mr. Woolery. If you feel moved to write pages and pages of how great I am, I am sure nobody would mind in the slightest. In fact, I would like to bring it to the atention of the entire forum , that not enough of this type of writting is going on at present.


P.S. I am writting this in that special font I developed a few months ago.

That's cute. I like it.

ok I haven't finished reading all the previous posts so if anyone asked already sorry. I've been trying to find sponge to make my own variation on tricks with sponge balls. but have had no luck finding any in uncut sheets or what ever form it comes in.

That's cute. I like it.

foam sheets can be purchased from Joan fabrics and hobby Lobby. However, they are not the same consistency as the groshman foam.

I look at the trick and make a decision - if I can make a similar one, but usually I wind up buying them . However, if you give me a deck of cards or some coins - I can entertain for hours.

I do find that most store bought tricks don't last to long and you never get your moneys worth out of them.

I never had even tried to make my own magic trick.... If I did I wouldnt get anyware!!!! :)

P.S. I am not allowed to play with sords or sharp blades so I can not to your homemade magic trick Barry Draft!!!!!

i get what you,all r saying i was looking at the peanut butter and jelly trick which is 45 dollars and you still have to get your on jelly plus shipping and handling so all and all the trick cost about 60 bucks and i looked at the trick and figured it out and made it for 10 dollars cool huh

I make, or have made:

Rola Bolas
Haunted Doll House
Mismade Girl
Broom Suspension
Crystal casket
Suspension
Assistant's Revenge

Obviously, they aren't my tricks, but you potentially save thousands by building props rather than buying them. Same for small scale stuff (ex: you can perform Healed & Sealed Soda for less than $1 whereas the illusion from magic shops costs ~$30. Same for self-tying shoe laces, card on ceiling, etc)

Most of my props are industry standards as listed above. Unfortunately, I've never been motivated to develop my own brand of magic props. I do try to go outside of the box with daily items (Mundane Magic thread for example), but on a large scale, I stick with the tried and true stage props. vintage I guess...

What's the haunted doll house?????????????

Relatively large(ish) doll house that has a front panel that opens to reveal room (decorations vary by user). The performances vary by illusionist as well but as an example,

- place a small doll into the doll house
- close door - Patter
- Open door and small doll is gone, replaced by a larger doll in same wardrobe
- close door - Patter
- Doll house collapses as your assistant emerges from the doll house in wardrobe matching the previous dolls.

Basically just a big production box that comes apart as your assistant rises from the house. Really nice effect though that is open to a lot of themes. Personal preference is a haunted doll house for Halloween themes and such, but I've seen them range from princess to barbie to zombie - anything really.

I'll look for a youtube video to post...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5z7HKxsVc4&feature=related

That video is a pretty quick and has no patter or interaction, but it's streamline and allows you to see the dollhouse effect in less than a minute.

A very good book that is often overlooked because it looks dated is Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. For around $15 US you can have enough information and magical fun to keep you busy for years. I was put off by the illustration style at first, being attracted to photos, but I have gone to this book more than any other for ideas. Worth it at four times the price, actually.


I agree. That book tells it all.

I also do a routine with my tramp clown with DIY props. Sort of a ruined magician theme I guess where most of the props are made out of cardboard as was done in the 1930s-40s when much of the nations building supplies were being used to fuel the War.

Several stage style illusions that go over pretty well that include a magic dollhouse (the cardboard house plays bigger than the sturdier prop many times - the end result isn't expected from a prop made of paper), sawing a woman in half, levitation, productions, vanishes, and substitutions. The props are surprisingly durable to be made of cardboard and it's not unheard of to get a couple of years of use out of them before they need to be replaced (which only costs a few bucks). As with anything, some get better receptions than others (from amusement to awe) but they're cheap to make, pack very small (I can take all of them in the trunk of a car) and even though they've all been done before, the paper concept seems unique.

I'm actually thinking of expanding the routine to my non-clown magician show. I think it would go over well at halloween - set up the show around a dark alley or derelict setting with some character zombies or such maybe? I'll add some more modern carton illusions for this I think - maybe In Half,spirit cabinet, and headless illusion?

I've also thought about a themed show with the above mentioned carton illusions and offering some Henna tattoos and Tree readings - sort of an "earthy" magic show under a "Recycled Illusion" tag or such - offer some environmental education that my wife and I are both active in. Maybe a pipe dream as well, but I'd hope it would go over well in today's market. With some marketing towards a "green" theme, I'd hope that would offer an advantage but who knows. If I can ever get around to filming a promo tape and getting some photos and advertisements made I'll let you all know how it goes.

You can always buy magic tricks at the Dollar Tree store. Usually 3-4 tricks in a box for $1. Yes they are cheap plastic, but the insructions are there & you learn how the trick is done. If you really like the trick you can either make it or purchase it from your magic dealer. ;o)

I do build a lot of my own props. But for many, you have to be familiar with and have the availability of basic power tools like electric drills and jig saws. I agree with Mr. Woolery. Mark Wilson's book is one of the best. It has great, simple tricks that can be made very inexpensively as well as instructions and good illustrations on how to perform basic magic with cards,coins, and ropes.
A great resource for make-it-yourself magic is Jim Gerrish's Magic Nook. You can find it at the following:
The Magic Nook (http://www.magicnook.com)
He publishes an incredible number of e-books of easy to make props from cardboard and materials for a dollar store. Many of them are new innovations of large scale or expensive store-bought props. His book series is a good illustration that if you want to make your own magic, look at the effect you wish to accomplish, look at how it is being done professionally and then see if you can achieve it less expensively yourself.

as i posted before i made my own pb&j trick wher ei bought two jar of pb and after the pb was gone i cut off the bottom of jar an dclean them out and had my wife take a sample of pb to lowes and they match the color and i painted the inside of the jars and then i took two 2liter drink bottles and cut them to fit over the pb jar and painted the inside black then i use 2 full jars of jelly and when you want to show the pb jar just pick up black sleeve and when you want to show jelly put alittle pressure on black sleeve and you pick it and the pb jar up at the same time. Another trick i made was the shackle chain escape making it for about $5.00 i purchased a metal rod and some pad locks i already had the chain then i made a jig to bend the rod and put the chains on the rod and had a friend to weld it shut and my sisterlaw made me a cloth bag and it works great i hope this helps someone in making their tricks and i like to know how to make the milk pitcher if someone could post the instrucions thanks

You can always buy magic tricks at the Dollar Tree store. Usually 3-4 tricks in a box for $1. Yes they are cheap plastic, but the insructions are there & you learn how the trick is done. If you really like the trick you can either make it or purchase it from your magic dealer. ;o)

Hee Hee...I've done this too.
There was a escaping ring trick that was coupled with another trick.
I turned that that ring trick into a huge 10min bit with volunteers, and from that our troupe turned it into a 15min skit called the "Vest of Danger"

Its kind of neat what your imagination can do :-)

Oh and as for all of the plans that Vegitarian Guy is talking about...you can go here.

http://hamiltonholtinc.stores.yahoo.net/plans1.html

Which is Osborne Illusions - over 350 of the best stage show illusions. roughly $20-$30 for the plans, then just your time and effort for the rest.

I go with the 'Start by buying a book' school of thought. Take rope for instance. Buy a rope trick and you get a piece of rope and a sheet of instructions and it may cost you quite a few dollars/pounds, and you end up with one trick. Buy a book of rope tricks for the same price, plus a hank of rope and you have 100 or more tricks, each one costing just pennies. I do make many of my tricks and probably get more enjoyment from the fact that I made it rather than bought it.