More than just a flashy move - Springing the Cards*

 *a not-so-expert advice on how to differentiate yourself from failed magician wannabes and an auxiliary move that can be included when you introduce yourself to your spectator.

Your most boring friend from high school will be turning 21 this weekend and you were invited to his not-so-exciting-party-thrown-in-the-backyard. Knowing how boring he is, you speculated that the party would be pretty boring as well, but you’re equally bored with your life so you decided to go not because it’s an exciting and fun-filled party, but because you just want to see your old buddies whom you fantasize your hot high school teachers with back in the good ol’ days when you were still struggling with puberty.

As expected, the party was boring. Yeah sure, people were drinking, the music was on, everyone was chatting with one another and the house helpers are filling up the ice bucket once in a while. To an eyeshot, it’s going pretty well, but you realized that there is something missing. Something that can make this party memorable to everyone. You then had a flashback of your birthday party back when you were six when your parents hired some freakishly looking clown to lively up things a bit and performed some magic tricks that everyone seemed to be all interested in (even the adults). At that very moment, you recalled the magic trick that your ever-so-cool Tito Boy (an uncle named “Boy”) had taught you the last time he got drunk. You performed the magic trick to your friends, everyone thought it was cool, you performed some more, then a few of your friends who knows a trick or two showed some of their tricks. The next thing you know, everyone is sharing their own experiences with magic or with a magician. The End.

So what’s my point?

My point is that everyone has already seen a magic trick performed at least once in their lives. Magic, or “Illusions” as we’re supposed to call it, is an avocation that everyone is naturally interested in (at least that’s what I know), and every time you execute a magic trick to someone, it wouldn’t be uncommon for your spectator/audience to recall a magic trick that has been performed to them. More often than not, they may even mention or remember a magic trick they’ve seen on TV in some episode of David Blaine, Mindfreak or what have you. What I’m saying is that magic is a very widespread art, people see it on TV, in the malls, amusement parks, circuses, sometimes even in the streets. The influence that it has results in to the increase of people knowing some tricks and performing them even without due practice.

Failed performances and crappy executions from magician/magic enthusiast wannabes contribute to the growing unwanted image of magicians from the spectators (we can call them consumers). It is just a matter of differentiating yourself from these people whenever you perform. Hence, the card spring. Tada!

I am a highly braggy magic enthusiast. Whenever I perform, I always make it clear to my audience that I am not like your Tito Boy doing some old magic trick to please the little nephews, or the guy you’re dating that showed you a lame-but-somewhat-amazing trick to flirt with you. No. I always make it clear that I am a guy who’s taking this art seriously, practicing more than 5 hours a day (or less. Haha), reading Ed Marlo and Harry Lorayne books that was published sometime in the early 20^th century, and has never left home without a deck of cards in his pocket. Nevertheless, in order for me to communicate this message across to my audience, it would be best (and cool) to do it WITHOUT saying it, so I spring the cards to their faces.

What I look like without my head.

Springing cards is classified under Card Flourishes, the type of shit that the magic twin gods Dan and Dave Buck loves to do. You often see these feats in casinos being done by card dealers just to show off that they’re damn good with cards and you can’t cheat with them watching you. What people often fail to realize is that it’s more than just a flashy move.

Jay Sankey called it “The Real Deal” and explained that this is the perfect opener for any magician. It is not just a flashy move that shows how good you are with cards. It shows that YOU are a REAL magician who knows not just a trick or two, but knows A LOT. (Sankey, 2006)

"Rather than saying, 'Hey, I'm a magician'...
nothing says 'Hey, I'm a REAL magician'
like the spring." - Jay Sankey

The very act of springing the cards from hand to hand introduces you to your audience – springing cards IS an introduction. It gives them an idea that this 3-5 minute performance from a complete stranger is not a waste of time… but rather a privilege.

Nevertheless, with the type of world that we are in and with technology making the access to information as easy as heating up food in the microwave, what used to be a well-guarded secret that was hidden from average individuals is now quickly getting exposed, and more and more magic tricks are being revealed and taught to the public especially to people whom what I may call “unworthy” to be called magicians or magic enthusiasts. 

As what one of my college professors in my course has taught me, “Differentiation is the KEY” and I believe that this can also be applied in the art of magic. REAL magicians/enthusiasts should differentiate themselves. You can be creative and do it in a way you want it to be done OR you can simply spring the cards – a way of using this cherry on top as a batter to your routine.