Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Discuss your favorite close-up tricks and methods.
ulrira
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Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby ulrira » January 20th, 2015, 5:46 am

Hi everyone,

I'm sure the question of magic in the workplace has come up in the past. Forgive me for re-visiting the topic (I did search first, honest).

At a recent team meeting I happened to mention that I dabble in a little card magic and was subsequently made to promise to bring a deck to the next meeting and put on a show. It probably won't happen. I mean, I'll throw a couple of decks in my bag but will only perform should someone remember. I'm planning to go through my standard repertoire - produce the aces, Twisting the Aces, The Cavorting Aces, Daley's Last Trick ... maybe an Ambitious Card sequence and a bit of memorised deck work after that if anyone's still with me. :)

The one issue is that half our team is in the United States. The rest, including me, are in the UK and we'll talking via a video conference link. The technology is pretty good, large screen TVs and high resolution cameras, but I'm concerned that the guys in the US won't be able to see all that much and will feel left out.

Does anyone happen to know of a routine that would play well in this sort of situation? I've only ever worked with standard cards but would consider gaffs / props given the circumstance.

The next meeting isn't for a month so I've plenty of time to learn something new (assuming it isn't too knuckle-busting).

All advice very gratefully received. =)

Anthony Vinson
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Anthony Vinson » January 20th, 2015, 6:07 am

Perhaps not precisely point on based on your question, but were it me, I'd probably opt for a mentalism routine with cards rather than pure sleight of hand. Easier to keep everyone engaged and little to worry about with camera angles, etc. If you're a hit and asked to perform again later you'd be in a better position to ask for concessions with A/V that might better suit a sleight of hand performance.

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erdnasephile
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby erdnasephile » January 20th, 2015, 6:34 am

Ulrira:

I think you are wise to only perform if asked twice (which I think was advice Leipzig gave).

That said, I would advise cutting your proposed routine way down. If your coworkers are anything like me, they want any business meeting to be over as soon as possible. In such a setting, any perceived undue impediments to that end goal can be rather unwelcome. Therefore, the old saw, "leave them wanting more" is particularly apropos here, IMHO.

In terms of the US part of the team, I think your trick/routine would go over better if it were an "up" routine, since most video conferencing setups are designed to transmit images in the vertical plane. A good parlour routine might work, or if you are fond of Ace routines, Hollingworth's "Waving the Aces" or Gary Kurz' McDonald's Aces would be good examples.

Finally, keep in mind that for some at that meeting, the quality of your performance may reflect on how they view your competence as a business colleague (depending on the individual).

Good luck!

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Q. Kumber
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Q. Kumber » January 20th, 2015, 7:17 am

Do only one routine and make it into a miracle.

I suggest the Brainwave or Invisible deck where the people across the Atlantic make the decisions on which card to use, one chooses the colour, one the suit, and one the value.

The deck is in full view the whole time. And the people around the table at your end are asked to make sure the deck is not touched. Everyone is involved.

Being brilliant, you have also brought some extra decks with you and at a convenient bathroom break after the performance you nip to a cubicle and set up a matching deck with the appropriate card reversed. This you, accidentally, leave lying around later in the day. If someone finds it and hands it to you, tell them to keep it as a souvenir. If no one finds it, leave it anyway and it will be found at a later time, reminding the finder of your utter brilliance (and mine for suggesting it, though they won't be aware of me).

ulrira
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby ulrira » January 20th, 2015, 8:22 am

Anthony Vinson wrote:Perhaps not precisely point on based on your question, but were it me, I'd probably opt for a mentalism routine with cards rather than pure sleight of hand.


That's taken my thinking in a different direction - thank you. I know Tamariz has a routine, I think it's 'Answering Machine', that centres on playing a yes/no game with the cards to divine a chosen historical character / item / number etc. I'll need a peek device for that. Maybe this will do:

* https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/mentalism/reveal/

Thanks Anthony. :)

ulrira
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby ulrira » January 20th, 2015, 8:43 am

erdnasephile wrote:That said, I would advise cutting your proposed routine way down. If your coworkers are anything like me, they want any business meeting to be over as soon as possible. In such a setting, any perceived undue impediments to that end goal can be rather unwelcome.


Too true. Perhaps one impressive feat with a planned encore, just in case, is a better plan.

In terms of the US part of the team, I think your trick/routine would go over better if it were an "up" routine, since most video conferencing setups are designed to transmit images in the vertical plane. A good parlour routine might work, or if you are fond of Ace routines, Hollingworth's "Waving the Aces" or Gary Kurz' McDonald's Aces would be good examples.


Believe it or not I hadn't heard of Waving the Aces before now. I've just watched it online and have a copy of Drawing Room Deceptions at home - definitely something to check out this evening. My aversion to gimmicks means I'm not an enormous fan of McDonald's Aces, particularly as my colleagues are the kind of people who might make a grab for the cards once the effect is over.

Finally, keep in mind that for some at that meeting, the quality of your performance may reflect on how they view your competence as a business colleague (depending on the individual).


Sage advice. It's probably a good thing that I'm not enormously attached to this job. ;)

Many thanks for your suggestions. Much appreciated.

ulrira
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby ulrira » January 20th, 2015, 8:58 am

Q. Kumber wrote:Do only one routine and make it into a miracle.

I suggest the Brainwave or Invisible deck where the people across the Atlantic make the decisions on which card to use, one chooses the colour, one the suit, and one the value.

The deck is in full view the whole time. And the people around the table at your end are asked to make sure the deck is not touched. Everyone is involved.


That's an excellent idea, alas there's a good chance some of them will know the method. At a company away day last year we were divided into teams and tasked with various activities. Once such activity was magic and Brainwave was the trick they had to learn.

I got lighting (yes, lighting) so instead of spending a happy afternoon with a deck of cards and perhaps spooking the tutor ('These are those new trick cards ... have you seen what they can do?' etc.) I was gaffer taping cables around the edge of a room. Joy! :)

'Absent-mindedly' leaving a deck somewhere is a brilliant idea. I'll keep an eye out for opportunities to do that in the future.

Mike Remington
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Mike Remington » January 20th, 2015, 9:58 am

Anthony Vinson wrote:Perhaps not precisely point on based on your question, but were it me, I'd probably opt for a mentalism routine with cards rather than pure sleight of hand.


I don't remember where it was, but somewhere, Dustin posted a good routine with the PATEO force that he used at a meeting.

PickaCard
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby PickaCard » January 20th, 2015, 10:25 am

In my workplace, I would choose my performance moment very carefully such as a colleague's birthday lunch or after hours drinks, and only if asked more than once (to make sure they are not just being polite).

I have no doubt that performing card tricks during business hours can only have a negative long term impact on my career. I don't want my manager to think I spend my days practicing card tricks, or performing for my colleagues, instead of getting my work done.

I believe John Bannon stated in Dear Mr. Fantasy that his colleagues all know he is a world renown card man, yet none have seen him perform (or really care to). If anyone can pull off card tricks in a serious work environment (a law firm), it is he.

Eugene Burger also stated somewhere, only do card tricks after dark. Which I interpret to mean only when people have finished their work day and are in a frame of mind to relax and be entertained.

However, maybe in your work environment you could pull it off, just don't make the mistake of believing that when someone asked you to perform one day means that your manager and you colleagues are really interested. Maybe they were just being polite.

ulrira
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby ulrira » January 20th, 2015, 10:44 am

PickaCard wrote:However, maybe in your work environment you could pull it off, just don't make the mistake of believing that when someone asked you to perform one day means that your manager and you colleagues are really interested. Maybe they were just being polite.


Don't worry - I'm not the kind of person who regularly seeks the attention of others and I wouldn't have brought it up in the first place if it wasn't appropriate. The team I work for is split between the US and UK. Consequently, we don't work as a team most of the time and don't really know one another. We meet as a team once a week and, once a month, our boss decided that there won't be any work talk. We just sit around and chat to each other. Like going out for a beer but without the beer. Last week's meeting was the first of these and we each took five minutes to talk about ourselves. Some of my colleagues are downbeat. In fact one of them said "I lead a pretty boring life" while staring at his hands. It was a bit uncomfortable. I do a lot outside of work and thought I'd mention magic. I'm glad I did because it sparked ~20 minutes of interesting conversation. There's every chance they were just being polite, but I want to be prepared just in case they weren't. ;)

MartinKaplan
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby MartinKaplan » January 20th, 2015, 10:53 am

You might want to take a look at some of the routines in Tamariz's book VERBAL MAGIC. I would recommend "The Impossible in Your Hands". It is an oil and water effect and the participants follow your instructions only to discover at the end that the 5 red cards and the 5 black cards that started out in alternating order have now magically separated into 5 reds and 5 blacks. Everyone participates. You would just need to make sure that cards were available at the US site.

-Marty

Brad Henderson
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Brad Henderson » January 20th, 2015, 10:54 am

if you feel confident giving clear instructions and that he audience will reasonably attempt to follow them, you might check out the audience interactive cars trick from the woody Aragon book. everyone is involved in the trick (the ny team will need a pack) and it's pretty perplexing.

there are also some ideas in the Tamariz verbal magic book that are great.

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mrgoat
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby mrgoat » January 20th, 2015, 10:55 am

if you do mem deck work, can you either mail them a deck or get a colleage to sneakily set up a deck in your stack over the pond?

then you could do any number of miracles without even being in the same country!

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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Dustin Stinett » January 20th, 2015, 12:21 pm

Brad and Damian have good ideas. Jim Steinmeyer's series of booklets (such as his last one, Treacherous Impuzzibilities have several things that can be done "interactively."

I have used a lovely idea from Tim Ellis using a Pop Eyed Popper deck. The message, written on the back of the regular cards was "The data tells me that you will pick the ..." and the identity of the card is written in. (I was a data analyst in those days.)

My PATEO routine—based on a Weber idea in Life Savers—was only done a couple of times over a span of 25 years (thanks for remembering Mike!). But it is not suitable for these circumstances. It was "impromptu" in appearance, conversational, and done during a break because it is rather long. That routine, which I believe is published in the "Book of the Month Club" entry for Life Savers, is there for anyone's use should they care to use it. It was fun because it seemed so unplanned (but there was plenty of planning, believe me!).

Dustin

El Mystico
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby El Mystico » January 20th, 2015, 12:39 pm

My advice is - do something you know inside out.
The circumstances will be strange for you; you'll need to maintain control over two different audiences. So you don't want to be adding the effort of remembering details of a new routine.

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Gordon Meyer
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Gordon Meyer » January 20th, 2015, 5:45 pm

I have experience in this area. it can be tricky in a work situation and may raise some unexpected emotions and feelings from your colleagues. (For example, at the next meeting, will Mary be asked to sing a song? Are you not working hard enough if you learned to do this?)

I definitely recommend sticking with just one trick. The suggestions for something hands-on via Tamariz or Steinmeyer are good ideas too. My most successful staff performance was doing a version of Miraskill that's framed as a game-show style competition where the magician is more host than wizard. (A presentation I learned from Jeff McBride.) It can also be helpful to perform at the end of the meeting, allowing people to leave if they want to with no hard feelings, so the magic is a bonus, not something that has to be endured before the real reason for the gathering commences.

Frank Yuen
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Frank Yuen » January 20th, 2015, 7:55 pm

Here's a video of Eric Jones performing the effect that Brad is referring to in his post. It's lots of fun for a group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCwpHihDLI

Bill Duncan
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Bill Duncan » January 21st, 2015, 12:54 am

Assuming you have one in your bag of tricks, it would seem a good place for Cards Across.
Las Vegas Leaper, or the Tamariz routine on the L&L World's Greatest Magic DVD set would be good options.

ulrira
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby ulrira » January 21st, 2015, 7:33 am

Brad Henderson wrote:if you feel confident giving clear instructions and that he audience will reasonably attempt to follow them, you might check out the audience interactive cars trick from the woody Aragon book. everyone is involved in the trick (the ny team will need a pack) and it's pretty perplexing.


Frank Yuen wrote:Here's a video of Eric Jones performing the effect that Brad is referring to in his post. It's lots of fun for a group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCwpHihDLI


DING! I think we have a winner! I can see that going down very well, and of course it won't hurt to have everyone involved. Think it's time to track down that book. The only downside is that I'll have to tip-off one of the group in the US by asking him to bring a deck but I think I'll also state that he shouldn't bring up the topic during the meeting. If anyone else in the group does, though, we'll be good to go.

Thanks to you both for your suggestions. In fact, thanks to everyone for their advice and guidance. I lurk here often but post infrequently. The response has made me realise why I should do more to stay involved.

On related note, I find comments like this fascinating:

Gordon Meyer wrote:I have experience in this area. it can be tricky in a work situation and may raise some unexpected emotions and feelings from your colleagues. (For example, at the next meeting, will Mary be asked to sing a song? Are you not working hard enough if you learned to do this?)


Something tells me this could be a uniquely American perspective. I remember watching an episode of Mad Men where an employee was chewed-out by his boss when it was discovered that he wrote short stories in his spare time (despite that fact that his work had always been of a high quality). Is it a general feeling in the US that your life should be dedicated solely to your work (or that it should at least appear that way)? I have to say, 99% of our office conversation is about as far from our day-to-day work as it's possible to get.

Still learning
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Re: Card Tricks for a Work Meeting

Postby Still learning » January 21st, 2015, 11:54 am

Chris Kenworthey's Mastermind would work great if you mailed a prediction to your US counterparts.

This should be available from Alakazam in the UK.


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