The Importance of A Magician's Patter
Posted: Sunday, October 11, 2009
by Jeff LaDouceur
Magic Tricks Online
The magicians patter is the story that sets the tone and emotional atmosphere for the illusion that he is performing for his audience. If the patter is done well it draws you into the magic trick, and keeps you captivated while the magician weaves his magic through the story he is telling. Patter is also instructional and explains to the audience what is happening or at least what the magician wants them to believe is happening. It may also be used to instruct the audience participation in a magic trick, either as a group or an individual volunteer from the audience.
No matter what style or type of patter a magician uses it is important for them to appear natural in the telling of his patter during his magic tricks. It can very helpful for a magician to take an acting or an improvisation class or two, because after all, a magician is just an actor with tricks up his sleeve. Because a magician practices his magic tricks over and over, he must be careful not to make his patter sound monotone. He must make it sound like it's the first time he's telling the story, because it is the first time his audience has heard the story. All in all a magicians patter has many uses during the performance of his magic tricks, and takes many forms, and is so important for a magician to perform it as well the rest of the illusion and to make it very entertaining.
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Top-level comments on this article: (7 total)Ive always been amazed at magicians as they are people who basicly want to fool other people,and I am equally amazed at people who enjoy the distracting patter of magicians while watching magic tricks;they are people who enjoy being fooled.When I was much ,much younger,as a kid,I loved magic tricks but the older I get,the less I enjoy fooling others or being fooled,myself.I guess I am still a kid at heart I still love it when I am fooled by another magician. I also love it when I pull off a good magic trick, I love seeing the amazement on someones face.
Thanks Jeff, for sharing great information; I never knew about a Magician's 'patter'.Thank you for your comment
Great article. Well done.I enjoy trying to work out how the trick works and I love finding our how they do it. I find the cleverness of deceiving a large number of people entertaining.I agree that a bit of "patter" does add another element to a performance - especially if you can include humour.
Thank you for your comment. I am with you on that one I love to incorporate humor into my performance whenever possible.
I had never really thought about the story that is told with the trick or that there may be a specific goal behind it. Good article.Thank you for your comment.
This is a fun read! I have never tried magic, but maybe I will!Thank you for your comment, I hope you do try magic it's great fun!
Having bee a professional magician / entertainer for many years, I do agree with your article about the importance of 'patter'. However, too many magicians follow the patter of others or the patter suggestions often given with a particular item and concertrate in using the patter at specific points to misdirect.However, I have always used the patter as a way of adding to the entertainment value of the effect, making entertainment the whole purpose of my performance. That way your natural interaction with the audience will not only be fun and entertaining but will allow ample opportunity for misdirection whenever required.
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