There are tons of magicians that hate it when people show the magic tricks. Honestly I’m not sure why they’d dislike it. When you watch a trick you are encouraging someone that’s into magic on some level. You are also not being a jerk. I understand that there’s a common magic trick that people show … Continue reading “Magic From Non-Magicians…”
There are tons of magicians that hate it when people show the magic tricks. Honestly I’m not sure why they’d dislike it. When you watch a trick you are encouraging someone that’s into magic on some level. You are also not being a jerk.
I understand that there’s a common magic trick that people show us and it’s a horrible trick and quite often the person fails to find the card because they don’t practice enough. However you never know when you are going to see something interesting.
Here’s a bartender that saw Chris Beason and I jamming magic tricks and offered to show us a trick:
While the trick was a math based trick, it was something I think I had read as a kid, but had never seen anyone do it. It was an interesting trick and while not the greatest trick in the world, it was worth watching 10 bad tricks to get to one that was fun!
When I was a teenager there was a trick that came out called Diminishing Returns by Mike Powers. This is a great trick where someone picks a card and the whole deck shrinks except for their card. Then the whole deck grows and their card shrinks. For the finale their card visually grows back to … Continue reading “The Shrinking Card…”
When I was a teenager there was a trick that came out called Diminishing Returns by Mike Powers. This is a great trick where someone picks a card and the whole deck shrinks except for their card. Then the whole deck grows and their card shrinks. For the finale their card visually grows back to full size. It’s a great action packed trick.
Here’s the video of the Diminishing Returns trick:
It’s a great trick and I did it for quite a while. Recently I was messing around with some cards and ended up playing with a similar gaff and here’s what I came up with:
This is a fun little sequence for the shrinking of a card. There’s not much to it, and I might write it up for Vanish Magazine in the future.
One thing I’m trying to do is make things play larger, so it’s easier to see them from the back of the theater. I think this is something that’s really overlooked by many magicians. Sometimes you can’t make something larger, like when you are doing Miser’s dream, the coins size will max out to a … Continue reading “Make it Bigger!”
One thing I’m trying to do is make things play larger, so it’s easier to see them from the back of the theater. I think this is something that’s really overlooked by many magicians. Sometimes you can’t make something larger, like when you are doing Miser’s dream, the coins size will max out to a point when they are no longer believable as a coin.
One trick that I love is the Coin in Bottle, however it does play fairly small. The nice thing is that the trick has an audio component to it. The audience can hear it rattling around inside the bottle. I really liked the idea of creating an impossible object that I could give away. My idea was to do a tennis ball in bottle:
The use of the topit worked great in a live setting, but not so well in a video. The other method I used a sponge tennis ball that I had cut in half and hallowed out. I would just smash the bottle onto it, collapsing it under the bottle as the other real tennis ball popped into view. Both methods had advantages and disadvantages.
I no longer do this trick in the show as I’m lazy and putting the tennis balls into the bottles was a pain in the butt and not worth the pay off. For me the thing is to keep thinking bigger and actually trying to make it play bigger!
The tend in magic is the choreographed sleight of hand to music, like what Shin Lim did on America’s Got Talent. It’s style that’s been around for a long time, it’s just popular right now. I think of it as something that was a “magic convention act” in the past, and now is a mainstream … Continue reading “Not So Close Up…”
The tend in magic is the choreographed sleight of hand to music, like what Shin Lim did on America’s Got Talent. It’s style that’s been around for a long time, it’s just popular right now. I think of it as something that was a “magic convention act” in the past, and now is a mainstream act.
A couple of nights ago I was lucky enough to see Shawn Farquhar do his “shape of my heart” card routine at a show. It was really great. It hit all the musical beats, it had good visual magic, and overall it’s a great routine.
This kinda proves the theory that I’ve written about before that this style of close up when put on camera is the new stage manipulation act. I think audiences are getting better with watching a live show on a screen. Personally I’d rather watch it without the screen, however to the general public this is an acceptable way to view a show.
Over the last few months I’ve started to think about what I could do for this style of performing. It’s really not what I do, so I don’t know if I’ll ever come up with anything.
After playing some more with the Three Ball Routine, I started to write up a little routine. The routine changed from what I had written yesterday for an ending, however the ending that I wrote make more sense with the routine. I still like the egg idea from yesterday’s post, just not with this routine. … Continue reading “Three Ball Routine…”
After playing some more with the Three Ball Routine, I started to write up a little routine. The routine changed from what I had written yesterday for an ending, however the ending that I wrote make more sense with the routine. I still like the egg idea from yesterday’s post, just not with this routine.
Here’s the routine (so far):
“This trick uses three balls, that’s why there are 2 billion chinese. 3 balls, one for each year of high school I completed.
What I love about this trick is how pure of a magic trick it is, no fancy boxes, no dancing girls, no dignity. It’s 91% sleight of hand, 7% my gift of gab, and 2% old school “Magic”
This is probably the most international trick I do. These balls were made in factory in china, but I bought them in shop mexico and the trick is presented by me, who is from…my mother.
One…two…three.
That’s one, two…did you see the third one go? It hasn’t yet. And faster than you even begin to throw money onto the stage, there is it! Don’t reach for your wallet…the moment’s past.
Let’s do it again in spanish.
Tres Bolas. Uno…Dos…Tres
Uno…Dos… .Y No Trace
Let’s try it in chinese. Ee…Ar…San. San goes into the pocket.
Ee..ar…and San.
One more time…Ee..Ar …and sam goes into the pocket. This trick has literally taken around the world…topull flags out of fist and name countries”
I like the ending with the flags of the nations because it fits with the theme of the routine. Also the flags should play pretty big, and move the action up towards my face. The patter isn’t finished yet, and I need to come up with one more language to do the final count instead of repeating Chinese. I think there’s something in this routine…
One of my current projects is working on a routine for the three ball routine. That’s a trick, where aside from the patter, there’s not a lot new you can put into to. The balls go from hand to hand, your pocket to hand and then maybe end up with the balls turning into a … Continue reading “Three Ball Routine”
One of my current projects is working on a routine for the three ball routine. That’s a trick, where aside from the patter, there’s not a lot new you can put into to. The balls go from hand to hand, your pocket to hand and then maybe end up with the balls turning into a larger item. The less common effect within the routine would be a color change of the balls, or using it with three different colored balls.
My routine’s framework is pretty simple. The balls go hand to hand twice. They go from the pocket to the hand once. The second time they go from the pocket to the hand, there will be a surprise production. I’m thinking I might do an egg production.
There’s an coin in egg trick by Nefesch that I think is called Hatchling. It’s a signed coin in egg…where the coin is actually in the egg. It’s interesting, and I think that the production of the egg could be topped by the object in the egg. Especially if it’s unexpected, so not linear where you borrow the object, it disappears, then the reappears. Making something like a signed card reappear in the egg that was used earlier in the show.
The next step is to work out the patter, and figure out what I’m going to put into the egg…and the general logistics of how it will play out.
Most magicians have drawers full of magic that they don’t use. Stuff they’ve bought and for whatever reason ends up in a drawer never to be seen again. I used to have that, however a couple years ago I decided I was going to actually use all of my props…at least a few times. I’ll … Continue reading “Use Everything…”
Most magicians have drawers full of magic that they don’t use. Stuff they’ve bought and for whatever reason ends up in a drawer never to be seen again. I used to have that, however a couple years ago I decided I was going to actually use all of my props…at least a few times.
I’ll do the tricks from the “magic junk drawer” at about a dozen times. The goal is to learn what I can from the prop before throwing it away. Occasionally I’ve been surprised and something that I thought was junk became a keeper.
I think the reason a lot of good tricks end up in drawer is because the price to prop ratio is bad. What I mean by that is if you paid $50 and they gave you a blank card your mindset is that it was a rip off. The trick’s value when performed could be much higher!
However the majority of the tricks are simply bad tricks that someone either loved enough to sell…or was greedy enough to sell a bad idea. Bottom line is that if it doesn’t work for you after you’ve done it about ten times, don’t keep it!
One of the tricks I’ve always loved is the Haunted Deck. It’s an amazing trick, the first one I ever bought as a kid was horrible, half the deck was gimmicked, and you were attached to it, so it wasn’t the most practical version of the trick. It worked, but it could be better. This … Continue reading “”
One of the tricks I’ve always loved is the Haunted Deck. It’s an amazing trick, the first one I ever bought as a kid was horrible, half the deck was gimmicked, and you were attached to it, so it wasn’t the most practical version of the trick. It worked, but it could be better.
This is where innovating comes through, there’s are better ways to do the Haunted Deck, and it’s a good thing we didn’t stop at the version I bought as a kid. A similar version is the one popularized by Eugene Burger, which while similar in method, allowed you to use the deck after the trick. This is a huge leap in the method.
Then you have a version using Loops, which allows you to use a borrowed deck, but can be unreliable as the gimmick is fragile. A few years ago I discovered Haunted 2.0, which fit the bill for me. 100% reliable, allowed me to use the deck before and after the trick, it’s great and the version of the trick that I do. However last week at a magic session a friend of mine showed me an impromptu version. It’s at about the 37 second mark of this video:
I think this version looks amazing and the only reason I haven’t switched to it is that in Haunted 2.0 you don’t have to touch the deck, which is one of the strong points of that version.
If we stopped innovating with “good enough” the Haunted Deck would be a trick that I wouldn’t be doing now. So go out there and make good tricks better!
There are tricks that I’ve wanted in my show because I like the idea of them. Many of these classic tricks are very briefly in the show as they don’t work with me and how I work. One of these tricks is the Three Ball Routine. I’ve put it in and taken it out of … Continue reading “”
There are tricks that I’ve wanted in my show because I like the idea of them. Many of these classic tricks are very briefly in the show as they don’t work with me and how I work. One of these tricks is the Three Ball Routine. I’ve put it in and taken it out of the show probably a dozen times.
Recently a company called The Hands of Magic put out a set of silicone balls for the trick. I just picked up a set, and while I haven’t used them in a show, they work great when I practice with them.
These balls are a bit different from the bouncy balls you’d get at the two store. They less dense and have a bit of give to them. This is helpful when you accidentally drop them, they don’t go as far as super balls.
These balls also have a nice gloss on them, that hopefully won’t wear off. The gloss will make them look a little bit bigger and will make them play a bit bigger than a matte ball.
So far I like these balls and would recommend them…now to find a spot in my show for them.
The additions to the base script are in bold. EFFECT 1: “Take a card, and don’t let me see it.” “And you’re going to grab one, don’t let me see it.” “On the count of three say your card out loud. If you say the same thing, that’s amazing and it means you’re married in Uruguay. … Continue reading “Ripping Routine Part V”
The additions to the base script are in bold.
EFFECT 1: “Take a card, and don’t let me see it.”
“And you’re going to grab one, don’t let me see it.”
“On the count of three say your card out loud. If you say the same thing, that’s amazing and it means you’re married in Uruguay.Ready…One, Two Three.”
EFFECT 2:
“We’re going to make it a little bit harder. We’re going to cut the cards”
“I learned to do rip a deck when I was younger. One of my roomates was a circus strongman. He could do things like rip a phone book in half, take a cast iron frying pan and roll it up like a burrito, open a pickle jar on the first try “
“The wrist strength to do this is common in every circus strongman and teenage boy.“
“You’re going to take a card and you’re going to take a card. Hopefully your cards will match each other and my card.”
“Like two turtles, your cards match on the back…”
“The odds of them matching the first time were one in fifty two. Now that there are double the cards, it’s one in fifty two times fifty two. Or one in two thousand, seven hundred and four. There’s also a one hundred percent odd that my math is wrong. ”
“On the front…They match about as much as my mom and my ex-step dad”
“Oh, wait. I put my card here, hopefully it matches one of your cards.”
“Like a half Hawaiian, half pepperoni pizza, this end perfectly!”
The ripping routine is now off to a start. It’s brand new, so it’s not the best routine that it can be yet. There is still a lot of work, audience testing and workshopping it.
