ChatGPT: Writing New Magic Scripts

By Andi Gladwin - Saturday, December 10, 2022


Today I have been asking ChatGPT to write magic scripts for me. I decided to use the Card Under Box routine as a starting point. Here's the basic script it wrote:

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining me tonight. My name is [magician's name], and I will be performing a magic trick that is sure to amaze you.

For this trick, I will need the assistance of a volunteer from the audience. Ah, yes, you in the green shirt. Would you please come up on stage and assist me?

Thank you. Now, I will need you to shuffle this deck of cards and pick one at random. Show it to the audience, but don't let me see it.

Great. Now, please place the card back into the deck and shuffle it again. And again. And one more time for good measure.

Now, watch closely as I place this empty box on the table.

[Perform a sleight of hand move to secretly place the chosen card under the box.]

Now, I will ask you to touch the top card of the deck. Go ahead, take a look at it. Is it your card?

[Allow the volunteer to reveal the card and show that it is not their chosen card.]

But where is your card? Let's see if we can find it.

[Lift the box to reveal the chosen card under it.]

Ta-da! The card has magically appeared under the box. How did it get there? I'm afraid that's a secret only magicians know.

Thank you for assisting me, [volunteer's name]. And thank you all for watching. I hope you have enjoyed the magic of the card under the box trick. "

It's certainly not a Pete McCabe level script. But we can dig deeper. So I asked it to "make it funnier." Here goes:

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining me tonight. My name is [magician's name], and I will be performing a magic trick that is sure to leave you laughing and amazed.

First, I want to warn you: this trick is not for the faint of heart. It's daring, it's dangerous, and it's downright hilarious. Are you ready to take the plunge?

For this trick, I will need the assistance of a volunteer from the audience. Ah, yes, you in the pink shirt. Would you please come up on stage and assist me?

Thank you. Now, I will need you to shuffle this deck of cards and pick one at random. Show it to the audience, but don't let me see it.

Great. Now, please place the card back into the deck and shuffle it again. And again. And one more time for good measure.

Now, watch closely as I place this empty box on the table.

[Perform a sleight of hand move to secretly place the chosen card under the box.]

Now, I will ask you to touch the top card of the deck. Go ahead, take a look at it. Is it your card?

[Allow the volunteer to reveal the card and show that it is not their chosen card.]

But where is your card? Let's see if we can find it.

[Lift the box to reveal the chosen card under it.]

Ta-da! The card has magically appeared under the box. How did it get there? I'm afraid that's a secret only magicians know.

But wait, there's more! I have an even bigger surprise for you. Watch as I turn this empty box into... a clown car!

[Perform a comical bit where stuffed clowns, ping pong balls, and other surprises come out of the small box.]

Thank you for assisting me, [volunteer's name]. And thank you all for watching. I hope you have laughed and been amazed by the magic of the card under the box clown car trick. "

A little surreal, but it did just create an original plot. Ever seen anyone drop out a load of ping pong balls from a card box?! Me neither. Which is probably good.

But I then wondered what it could do to adapt styles. So I asked it to "write an Ambitious Card script in the style of a magical spy." Here goes:

"Greetings, agents. My name is [magician's name], and I am a magical spy for the secret organization known as the Magician's Guild.

For my next mission, I will be infiltrating the enemy's stronghold and using my powers of deception and illusion to steal their top-secret plans.

First, I will need to create a distraction. Watch as I perform the Ambitious Card trick for the guards.

[Perform the Ambitious Card trick, using misdirection and sleight of hand to keep the guards' attention on the cards.]

Now, while the guards are distracted, I will use my magic to open the locked door and sneak inside.

Once inside, I will need to locate the enemy's plans. But wait! There is a security camera watching my every move.

[Perform the card under box trick, using sleight of hand to hide the plans under the box and distract the security camera.]

Success! I have retrieved the enemy's plans and made my escape.

Thank you, agents, for assisting me on this mission. The Magician's Guild is forever in your debt. Until our next mission, this is [magician's name] signing off. "

Is there a practical use for this? I'm not totally sure. Perhaps we might use it as a starting point for scripts in certain styles, or maybe we can use it to generate new effects. It's certainly not perfect ... yet.


Reader comments:

Oliver

Sunday, 11 December 2022 08:48 AM - Reply to this comment

Really interesting, Andi. I think it could be useful in reverse: when working on developing an original presentation for an effect, use it to see what the most generic, average script for that effect would be, then see how far you can diverge from it.

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