As I reflect on the effects in my shows both stage and close-up I have come to realize that almost all of them are classics of magic such as egg bag, torn and restored newspaper, cut and restored rope, the ambitious card, coins across, cups and balls and the list goes on. Why do I like these old classics and why do I continue to develop them and use them more than new effects? Well they work, I enjoy doing them, the routines I create entertain my audience. So I want to talk about why I think the classics work and how I go around working out their presentations.

First I want to mention why I think the classics are classics. The main reason I think this is because of the basic plots of these effects are easy to understand. Like an egg disappears and reappears, a newspaper is torn then restored to its original condition. Spectators can easily understand the point of the effect without any convoluted explanations. This is similar to classic movie plots that are constantly recycled. Why is this? Well they are easy to understand. I feel this is the same for magic effects, and is one of the main reasons the classics of magic are still relevant today.

Because the main plots of classic magic are easy to understand and follow they allow a lot of innovation for performance while maintaining the basic core of magic. If you look at Jeff Hobson’s Egg Bag, or Doc Eason’s bill to lemon routine you will see exactly what I mean. There are many many more examples of this. I feel the classics of magic open the doors to many great and entertaining presentations that are modern and don’t seem old like the effects themselves. These effects have remained for years because of these points. This does not mean that newer effect are not good, there are plenty of great ones, but these classic effects sometimes remain even stronger than some new effects.

As the plots of these classic effects are simple to understand, when working out you own presentations for them you can concentrate on the entertaining aspect of magic. You won’t need to create difficult to understand justifications for the effects because this effect is clear with these classics of magic. You can concentrate on how you want to engage with an audience and using the magic as the medium to do this. Sit down with any classic of magic and try to work out a new and fresh presentation for it and you will see what I mean.

If you are new to magic please do not skip over the power of the classic effects of magic, there are more to them  that may appear on the surface and for this reason is why many professionals still continue to use them to this day.

Aaron