Selling A Magic Trick

Illusion may not carry the same aura of fascination that is inherent in “magic” as a concept, but if you happen to really make it work, and are really good at it, then you can still impress people with what you are capable of. As much as anything else, good illusion is about “selling” the trick – making it appear that you are seeing the same thing that the audience are seeing, and keeping an air of mystery about it.

There are various ways to sell a magic trick. If, for example, you have just made a coin “disappear”, it is to be assumed that you know where it has gone. However, if you remain deadpan in this situation, the audience will not go on the journey of confusion you want them to. Both visual and verbal sells will help with this trick. Asking “where has it gone?” as though you are unsure, and making a show of looking for it, can really help.

Various other tricks involve something along the lines of borrowing an expensive watch from a member of the audience and then making it “disappear”. A good way to sell this trick is to pretend to botch the “reappear” part of the trick and to become very apologetic, asking the owner if the watch was very expensive, and promising to pay them for a replacement. As the trick seems to be over it will be all the more impressive when you then produce the watch during the next trick.