Superhero Magic

If you are a magician looking for some fresh ideas for your show routines, one good place to look is the box office. Take what’s hot and popular in the movies now and weave a bit of cinema magic into your tired, worn-out magic trick routines.

X-Men just blazed across movie theaters everywhere worldwide. Unless you’ve been inside a cocoon all this while, I’m sure you’re somewhat familiar with the characters and the storyline. It’s about mutants- humans born with abnormal genetic codes that give them super-powers. Some use them for good, and some use them for evil.

Even before all the excitement of X-Men has died down, “Superman Returns” is making a come-back. This caped crusader from the planet Krypton needs less introduction. I’m willing to bet anyone from age eight to eighty knows who Superman is.

If you scan through the magic catalogs there are many tricks which can fit nicely with the superhero theme. Here I’d just like to highlight three really good ones that caught my attention.

First up is Yigal Mesika’s Electric Touch. Talk about harnessing and controlling the power of electricity in your body. Touch someone and give them a shock, literally. In X-Men, there was Magneto. Now they’ve met the newest X-Men member, Electro. You get the idea, just don’t go too overboard.

Next, you can control weather and conjure up a storm with Peter Loughran’s Rainmaker. The performer gathers a group of spectators and make raindrops fall on them with no apparent explanation. You can even use the song “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”.

Last but not least, you can bend a borrowed coin in your bare hands and give it out as a souvenir. Super strength, mind over matter, however you want to present it. Use any coin bending routine you like. There are many and there’s even one called the Superman Coin Bend.

You can find all these effects at most magic dealers.

No matter what storyline you would like to use, the real secret is to make it believable no matter how incredible it sounds. Just look at the way David Blaine presents his magic. Whatever he does, he performs it just like he is really doing what he claims to be doing. He doesn’t show it as just a “trick”. Believe in your magic and the audience will believe along with you.