Pop Haydn performs his routine the Chicago Surprise on stage for a reluctant volunteer.

For the Magic Student:

To become a great performer, you must be prepared to deal with the spectator assistant who fights with you, contesting every procedure. One must design a routine to be ready for the combative spectator.

Actually, conflict increases the stakes emotionally, and makes an effect play much stronger by making the story more interesting.
Protagonist tries to show a card trick, Antagonist wants to contest every procedure: conflict! Protagonist finds card anyway: Resolution!

Every magic trick is a little play. We should look for the places where an intelligent, well informed person might want to object to a procedure and make sure you can handle what they throw at you–make sure you have strategies and outs so that no matter what they do you are okay.

When you are prepared, you can relax and enjoy the exchange, and intensify the emotional conflict. Let them see you sweat. Let them see you tread water. Let them see you a little ticked off.

Let them watch how you handle conflict. Let them share in your victory, without making your assistant look bad.

A good actor does this by going through the play of the routine one step at a time, playing the part and honestly reacting to what is happening.

Such conflict is your friend and can greatly enlarge your audience reactions. It is not about having the skill to think and respond on the spot; it is about planning and preparing for everything in advance.

What gives magicians the seeming ability to go with the flow and respond with unflappable aplomb to anything that happens really comes more from experience and pre-planning.

The Chicago Surprise is a powerful sleight of hand card routine that can even play on stage because of its thoroughly engineered design.

Pop Haydn’s Chicago Surprise is available at:

Pop’s Magic

For the magic student:

I was talking with some guys on the Magic Café about conflict and complications in magic routines.

Every magic trick is like a little play, with the magician as the Protagonist, and the assisting spectator as the Antagonist.

The magician has a card chosen, the spectator wants to put it back anywhere he wants, or otherwise creates Conflict.

The magician wins, creating Resolution.

Along the way are complications.

This is how a routine is developed–by filling in the details of plot and character. Conflict and complications are the easiest ways to enlarge on the plot.

If you ask someone to take a card, and they want to put it back some place different than you suggested, this is a great moment of conflict that can be manipulated into the routine and provide engagement and emotion.

Whenever there is an emotional exchange between the performer and his spectator assistant the audience is galvanized; what is going to happen? Nothing engages interest as well as conflict and emotional drama.

The more the magician can express surprise, worry, slyness, anger or joy, and the more he can set his little play us to make the spectator respond with emotion, the more fun and exciting the presentation.

The magician should seek out such complications and use them to add to the interest level of his little drama:

 You can watch the whole routine here:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Pop Haydn performing in the W. C. Fields Bar at the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood. January 3, 2016.

Pop Haydn is a seven time award winner at the Magic Castle, and is a past Vice-President of the organization. Pop and his pal Doc Eason are the only performers to be named W.C. Fields Bar Magician of the Year.

Photos by Billy Baque