Presentation Saves the Day
At the weekend, I was working at a restaurant and performing Crazy Man’s Handcuffs, an effect where elastic bands apparently melt through each other.
While talking to the people at the table, it emerged that they had seen another magician perform a magic trick with elastic bands a couple of weeks before. From their description, and reading between the lines a little, it was exactly the same trick. However, the audience saw my version as something different.
Fortunately, the other magician and myself have each developed our own angle and presentation for a pretty standard effect. Even though the spectators actually saw the same thing happening, the presentation and routines made it seem different.
Unfortunately, a lot of magicians don’t do this. Too many perform effects exactly as described in the instructions or exactly like another magician does, which is shame.
You need to add a bit of yourself to what you perform and try to find a unique way of presenting your effects. Otherwise you look just like the last guy.