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course, occurs when the result of the magic
is revealed to the spectator. Surprise is
dependent on the spectator seeing
something that they did not predict. If they
see a ball roll under a cup, they would
expect a ball to be under the cup if the cup
is lifted a moment later. If there is not a
ball under the cup when lifted, the audience
will show surprise. In any effect, of
course, the surprise depends upon the
things we have been talking about. What is
the Level of Impossibility? What is the
Level of Believable Impossibility? Then,
what is the Level of Believable Action?
However, a point here is that shock value
does not need to depend upon surprise.
Indeed, here we discuss the point that
shock depends upon something that might
be very predictable.
In this section we consider things that
can be done to enhance the Level of
Surprise and Shock Value. In the forgoing
we have addressed a rather standard
way of doing magic. We tell the audience
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that we are going to do something amazing,
set up the conditions and then reveal the
magical result. A card is selected, the
card is shuffled into the deck and the
performer locates it. Done well, it
appears as magic. Here we wish to break
this pattern.
The most common way to add to the
surprise of magic is to fulfill the goal of the
magic but introduce something not expected.
For example, when the performer shows
the card that was lost in the deck, the
card shown is actually a picture of the
person holding the selected card in their
hand.
Another way to break the standard
pattern is to reveal something more
impossible than was expected. A ball is
caused to disappear and appear under a
cup. It happens and the audience is
pleased. The performer offers to do it
again. The ball is caused to disappear.
However, instead of the ball appearing
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