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Self-working magic


Self-working magic is magic that works simply from following a procedure that is known to the audience. It requires no secret set-up, trickery, sleight-of-hand, or other hidden objects or moves. Some self-working magic allows the audience to have a secret that they do not reveal to the magician until the end. The audience can be told every step, and can even repeat the trick. It can be done alone, since the "magician" may be just as surprised as anybody. All the magician has to do is follow a certain procedure, and everything will be good. Optical illusions and some other science demonstrations could fall into this category. The wonder comes from unexpectedness of a natural phenomenon. Basically, self-working magic relies on some expectation or lack of knowledge in the audience about what produces the outcome. Usually, self-working card tricks revolve around some mathematical principle, such as in the trick "Magical 13", where the spectator is asked to cut the deck 13 times, then split the deck into 13 piles. Upon revealing each pile, it is found that each pile contains only cards of the same value (i.e., one pile has all four fours, the other pile has all four twos, etc.). This is based on the principle that beforehand, the deck is set up with all the suits in order. No matter how many times you cut the deck, the same cards will always be 13 cards away from each other.

Self-working magic tricks can be baffling in a special way. The patter can take different forms that make them more entertaining. One variation of patter is to say that you are hiding nothing, and explaining every step of the trick. Some audience members may still think it is a trick. Another variation, possibly with some tricks, is to say, "I will not be doing the magic, here: you will". Another way of doing it is to make a story that explains—gives a reason to—each step, so that no step is hidden, and the audience can even DO the steps, but the audience members are baffled, anyway.

Story: Make a story of cutting the deck 7 times. 7 drunken sailors decide to play a high-stakes poker game with a new deck of cards. (Use a new deck that is ordered correctly for this game, all cards in order in every suit, not backwards order as some decks have, or have the audience put the cards in order to simulate a new deck). Then say, none of them are in a state of mind to shuffle, so they decide to cut the deck 7 times, one time each. The dealer deals but forgets his own 2nd and 4th cards, so he ends up with 3 cards. He asks for 2 more, but the other sailors refuse, arguing, but none of them want to start the round over. They finally agree to let him get 5 new cards. They make their bets, and each sailor bets high, giving up everything he owns. The dealer bets last, and accepts all the bets. Everybody is all in. Finally, they reveal their cards, the dealer revealing last. Every drunken sailor has a full house. But the dealer rarely loses the hand, having usually a straight flush, and sometimes a royal straight flush. Every step of the trick has been told directly to the audience, but they are still amazed.


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