Building a Social Magic EDC

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Here’s my philosophy about building an EDC for the purpose of performing social magic in casual environments.

Generally, I think you want to focus on things that fall into these three categories:

  • Invisible

  • Imperceptible (as a magic prop)

  • Intangible

Invisible - These would be things like Loops, thumbtips, nailwriters, etc. These are gimmicks that the audience never sees.

Imperceptible - These are things that would not be immediately perceived as some special magic prop. Think of things like gimmicked keys, gimmicked coins (standard pocket change type coins), gimmicked wallets, etc. These items mimic things that everyone carries every day.

Intangible - A subset of tricks and knowledge that don’t require you to carry anything extra with you to perform. I’m not talking about propless effects. I’m talking about, for example, the knowledge of how to do Quinta with anything around you. Apps on your phone. A repertoire of effects with borrowed objects like rings, normal coins, or business cards.

As a minimalist, my preference is for effects that fall into the “intangible” category. I like knowing that I can go into a trick whenever the opportunity presents itself, and yet if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, my family doesn’t have the extra heartache of finding my pockets stuffed with a bunch of weird objects.

Here are the types of thing I avoid:

  • Jumbo coins

  • ESP Cards

  • Little Tenyo tricks

  • Safety Pins

  • Packet Tricks

  • A little clear stick with gems on both sides

Among 1000 other things.

Why do I avoid these things for a social magic EDC?

For a few reasons.

First, if you’re carrying around a very specific prop, you’re going to be tempted to use that prop even in situations where it might not be the best option for what you should perform at that point in time.

Second, I think it looks a little goofy to pull out things you’re obviously carrying solely for the purpose of showing people tricks. I know there are people who feel differently. Their position is, “We’re magicians! We use weird objects and do fun things with them. That’s what we do.” But for me, it feels kind of corny and try-hard.

Imagine you meet a psychologist and the two of you are having a conversation and you talk about some different psychological experiments and she demonstrates some psychological concepts or you play a quick verbal game that illustrates some quirk of the mind. That might come off as a fun and fascinating interaction.

But if she starts pulling out little props and objects from her pocket that were only there so she could demonstrate these things, would that not feel a little different to you? Wouldn’t you think, “Oh…she really wanted to do this thing. She was prepared.” Would that strike you as mildly desperate?

Which brings me to the third reason I avoid any props that are clearly “props.”

When we talk about Every-Day Carry in social magic, we’re talking about being prepared to perform at the spur of the moment. When you pull out your jumbo coin, or your special Mystery Box, then you’re losing one of the most powerful aspects of that sort of performance: the sense of spontaneity. The sense that this is something special, that could only happen between this group of people who are here at this moment in time.

The strongest reactions I ever get come when I can make it feel like we’re stumbling over something weird and fun together in the moment. That’s hard to establish when you’re pulling out a chop cup and a little crocheted ball.

That’s why I stick to an EDC of invisible, imperceptible, or intangible items. These tools allow me to always be ready to perform, but in a manner that feels less planned and more personal.