What to Do When Your Trick Gets Ruined

Here's what I do, and trust me, I've messed up countless times...

• First off, the spectators don't know what you're supposed to do, unless you've explained the trick from the beginning. I wouldn't do that; they'll be more focused on trying to catch you than on enjoying your performance. So, you have to figure out how to adjust it on the fly.

If possible, use a marked deck or some kind of peek to know the spectator's card and play it safe. But this really depends on the type of trick you're performing. In my case, I tend to do this quite a bit.

• Second, keep a poker face and learn some alternatives. For me, I'm pretty decent at the cull (more or less) and the faro shuffle. So, in the moment, if I know the card, I just go straight for it. If I don't, I ask, "What's your card?" And once they say it, I find it face up in the deck and bring it to the top position, trying to keep it unnoticed. From there:

  • I palm the card and make it appear somewhere else.

  • I do a Mercury Fold and try to put it into a smaller spot (if I don't mind sacrificing the deck).

  • Since it's already on top, I reveal it directly.

  • I place it as the 17th card and perform a psychological force. I ask them to name a large, tricky number under 20, and most will say 17. Of course, some might say 19 or another number, so you'll have to add or remove cards accordingly.

  • I Cull their four cards and, using two faro shuffles, set them up to deal into the same pile (I'll make a video showing what I mean).

But basically, it's about changing the ending when you know you've messed up. Remember, the audience doesn't know how the story is supposed to end—only you do.

Alex also mentioned in another group about always carrying an Invisible Deck, which I think is another great option.

But fundamentally, it comes down to practicing how to recover from your own mistakes.

Finally, I want to recommend a book I'm currently reading that the great @DeZeta suggested: El ensayo del fallo by Angel Simal. I absolutely loved it, and it's really well-written for learning more about all of this.

Hey @M_a_p!

A while back, I recorded this video talking about what to do when a magic trick goes wrong:

Between the video and what @Zeta and @cdiaz have shared, you'll have more than enough ideas to gracefully handle any situation 😉.

Either way, you need to know that mistakes are completely natural, and the spectator will understand if you're genuine and create a good atmosphere.

In fact, the biggest problem isn't the spectator; it's all the thoughts of guilt, shame, etc., that we tell ourselves.

Almost the best advice, though the hardest to achieve, is to not let it get to you.

Not in the sense that you don't care if the trick goes wrong, but rather that you know it's natural, that mistakes are part of human nature, and as long as you're doing things with good intentions, people will understand.

Above all, enjoy the magic – that's what it's for! 😋

Little by little, you'll gain experience and self-confidence, and you'll see that this stops being a problem (even if you still mess up).

Cheers!

Hey everyone!

First off, always have alternatives. That means having both set-up tricks and impromptu card tricks or mathematical ones (which, in my experience, usually save my bacon).

But what's truly important is to prepare your magic session, always expecting that something like this could happen.

For example:

• We have a deck set up in Mnemónica (a specific stack), but (like I do) it's two perfect Faro shuffles away from being in order. Typically, I'll take out the deck, do some false cuts, and after a bit of patter, I perform the perfect Faro shuffles to "set my deck" into the starting position I need. While I'm doing all this, I'll repeat several times and ask the spectator: "Is the deck shuffled? You see how I'm shuffling the deck... Does it follow any pattern? Right? No?..."

If all goes well (which it usually does), I continue with my Mnemónica tricks and effects... but then you get the typical know-it-all who says, "Give me the deck, let me shuffle it."

You relax and, with all the patience in the world, you say:

"Magicians don't usually let people touch our decks, not because there's any trick to it, but because normally EVERYONE HAS DIRTY HANDS, and decks are expensive." 🤣 🤣 😂 😂

Most people, after I say that, don't say another word and I just continue with the trick.

But for those who insist (and even go as far as washing their hands), without any fear:

a) I give them half the deck to shuffle (and I "false shuffle" the other half -- With Mnemónica and half a deck, you can still do plenty of tricks).

b) I give them the entire deck, let them shuffle it however they want and mess up the order as much as they please. I do a mathematical trick for them, and when they're not looking (as I finish the trick, caught up in the excitement), I execute a deck switch, swapping that deck for another one I carry, already stacked and ready, in deck carriers. That way, I can continue with my Mnemónica tricks (especially by insisting afterwards that the deck was shuffled by the spectator themselves).

This works for Mnemónica, Stebbins, or any other stack we might use.

It's just an idea I use.

Cheers and happy magic!!!

Whether you pull it off really depends on the trick, your knowledge, and your nerve... or not.

There have already been some great responses. My two cents is that you don't always have to nail everything, and you need to learn to live with your mistakes. Sometimes you've misidentified the card, or put it in the wrong envelope, or that day the rope just won't untie, or you woke up with butterfingers and can't get anything right. Hey, it's really not the end of the world. If it's part of a longer routine, you'll definitely have other effects where you can shine.

Normally, a magician doesn't telegraph their moves, and the audience shouldn't know what's going to happen next. If a mistake occurs, you should have room to recover without anyone noticing: tell a joke, have a witty comeback, or change gears without saying a word. That's why it's great to record yourself, not just to catch errors and refine your technique, but also to see how you recover from those situations, what a better response might have been, what the audience would forgive, etc.

Recently, a spectator misidentified the card during the revelation and totally left me hanging. I said, "Hmm, that didn't quite work." Since she had shown the card to the audience earlier, they corrected her, and the situation was saved, but I consider my response a mistake. I should have said, "There are other cards here," or something similar. But by saying what I did, I made everyone aware that something had gone wrong and that I didn't have control over the final card. That's the kind of thing you want to avoid, even beyond recovering from the actual errors, which even .

Others have already contributed a lot, so this might be a bit redundant.

First and foremost, it's what experience teaches you; you gradually learn that leaving certain things up to the spectator isn't a good idea (Gabi used to say this—I'm not sure if he was paraphrasing Ascanio or Tamariz: "don't leave the climax in the hands of the spectator"; although that's not always true, and sometimes letting them create the climax is more powerful, you just have to know when and how). For Tamariz's Mathematical Card Trick, I tried letting the spectators do the counting, and it was a complete disaster, even though in my head, it was brilliant. But I didn't see it until I actually did it, and you have to make mistakes; it's okay.

Then there are times when the circumstances just aren't right. A few days ago, I tried Gabi's "El Incauto" for some friends at a party, and there was no way they could figure out which cards matched (we'd all had a lot of beers). I had already made the ditch, so there was no way to re-explain the premise. So I switched to a simple effect like Triumph and picked up the cards from my lap afterward.

Then there are spectators who just don't follow instructions, no matter how you explain it. There's a force I saw on the Expert in Magic website that I thought was brilliant, but I don't know why some people just can't follow it (it's failed me half the time), and when it fails, it's a disaster, because it's a mentalism effect and it just doesn't work out. In that situation, a simple "I'm sorry, but it looks like today isn't the day for this to work, let's try something else" is appropriate. Acknowledge it, but don't dwell on it; just move on. It's no big deal; don't make a fuss. You can analyze it later. I've since retired that particular force.

Also, there are ways to recover, as mentioned earlier. If it's a single card and they lose it in a way you didn't intend, you could ask them what card it was and then do a transposition using a cull, or palms to get it into your wallet, like..."What card did you have? No way! I have that card right here in my wallet!" Or produce it to the top with a Double Lift from the center, flip it over, tear up the top card because it's a 'rebellious' card and that's why the trick isn't working, and then start an ambitious card routine now that it's back on top... There are also people who do impromptu magic, like Henry Evans, but that's based on a lot of experience. It's great to watch him because he often constructs effects as he sees the options available, and that gives you a lot of ideas for recovery in case of a mishap.

If I see that I've pulled out a card that wasn't theirs and there's no way to recover, I ask what their card was. Once they tell me, I act like I'm looking for it and tell them it's not there. Then I say the card I'd just shown them is their selection (even if it's not). At that moment, I control their card to the top or bottom and perform a Color Change, explaining that all it takes is a rub, a shake, or whatever patter you deem appropriate. Their chosen card then magically appears. I cut the deck to bury the wrong card and move on!

Sure, prevention is crucial: practicing a lot, prepping your space, picking the right person and timing... but let's talk about the tough moment, that point of no return, when the disaster's already out in the open... right then, how do you salvage it?

Any experiences you can share?

@Zeta

@Boky

@cdiaz

@link22

@DeZeta

@jriberamagia

I think it's always a good idea to have a Plan B, so you can transition to another trick if your first one doesn't quite land. For example, if an effect involving an ace goes awry, you could pivot to a Four Ace routine, especially if your deck is already set up for both. That way, you can salvage the performance!