Creating tricks for people to buy is a new thing for me. For several decades I have created my own effects to perform myself with little consideration for their commercial value. Developing something for people to buy and use themselves is a different kettle of fish.
Recently, with a Blackpool creation called Triple Whammy, I’ve found myself weighing up the balance of Method v Effect. In the end I didn’t release Triple Whammy because I wasn’t 100% confident where it is on the scale.
Brilliant methods can be used for rather dull effects, this is the worst-case scenario. Ideally a mundane secret would be used to create an entertaining miracle. For a commercial release you really want a new devilish method thrown into the mix, as we all like a new secret or utility device.
For me, Mentalism has often been on the tipping edge of Method vs Effect, I can’t think of a genre of magic which has such a range of expensive gadgets and electronics to achieve effects, allowing hands off mind reading miracles. However is the end effect to the lay-person, any stronger than a billet switch or peek?
Your audience is not evaluating the method any more than you are judging the font of this post. The hidden method to any trick should be stripped to its bones, what needs to be achieved and then the simplest path to that result created.
A thumb tip, a piece of thread or a duplicate card can all be just as effective as a thousand-pound gadget at knocking the socks of an audience
I’m certainly not against the use of expensive gadgets, one of my favourite creations uses electronics, but in a very simple way. And I love DragonScale by Penguin, because it is very simple and does one thing brilliantly well, but that one thing opens so many doors. Much like a thumb tip, what you do with it is the important thing.
When I learnt The Tiny Grand Illusion by Green Lemon, I was overjoyed because it fooled me, fooled others and is a brilliant example of economy of method.
I love reading about the great magic barman of Chicago, who would amaze with grains of salt, dawb or spit. I also love having my DragonScale at the bottom of a bag filled with random objects for impossible mind readings.The Method vs Effect balance is a personal judgement just be aware there is no direct correlation.