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This is a big fat lie prelude for an esoteric or bizarre effect. It can run as long as you like, though at least a couple weeks is best if it’s an impactful trick. However, you could just retell it as if it took months if you want to do the trick the same day.
WEEK ONE:
Your friend Meg, who loves seeing magic tricks, asks you what you’ve been up to. You tell her there’s an ancient magic book published in the 1600s, written by an anonymous magician. There is a single known copy in existence, and it’s locked away in a library located on a continent you don’t live on. It could be a Parisian library. It could be a library in Tokyo. Perhaps New York City. You get the point. Whatever is appropriate for your location.
The titles and some info about the tricks within the book are known, but the knowledge of how to do them isn’t. There’s one trick in this book that you’ve been desperately wanting to learn.
Vaguely describe the trick to Meg.
Anyway, the library is difficult to get into, but you have a friend who lives in that country that you’ve paid to go to a private tour and sneakily take some photos of the pages for you. Talk about how nervous you are, and that you hope he can get away with it.
WEEK TWO:
Tell Meg that your friend managed to get the photos to you! Act very excited, and ask if she’s interested in seeing it once it’s translated. She’ll say yes, if you picked a Meg who likes magic enough. Mention a bit about how it went, whether your friend almost got caught or not.
A little while later, briefly update Meg about the trick. Ideally while you’re already talking anyway. You’ve gotten the archaic language translated but some pages were missing, and you’re trying to piece it all together.
WEEK THREE OR FOUR OR FIVE:
You contact Meg, pumped up. You’ve been deeply studying the material and figuring out the missing parts through trial and error. You claim you’re ready to give it a shot. Afterwards, you scrimp and save for a bit, pretending you had to pay a lot of money for this.
That’s it. It’s a fun prelude for an effect. I’d save it for an effect that plays very large, bizarre, elemental, or highly esoteric. You have to be a bit comfortable with lying and good at acting to do this effectively. Remember, it’s for their enjoyment and immersion.
I personally don’t bother with creating fake photos for this presentation. If they want to see the photos, just say that the illustrations reveal way too much. Nobody’s ever asked me.
Depending on the props used, you should also talk about how you had to alter the trick to perform it in the modern age, or work hard to find the right things to use.