Here’s another media spot from the 11 days that I was at the Utah State Fair. This video is a little behind the scenes to getting to the TV station, if you want to just ahead to the media spot, it’s at about the 1 minute mark.
This particular news spot I was supposed to have about 3-5 minutes, however it ended up being less than 3 minutes. My initial interview time was 12:10pm, and when I arrived I learned I wouldn’t be on till about 12:40pm. That told me that I probably would have my time cut short. This particular show was interesting as I really didn’t have any idea how long I was going to do, I really had to read the cues from the host.
One of the criticism’s of the Vanishing Bird Cage is that it doesn’t look like any bird cage that exists in the real world. Here’s a bird cage I found at a junk shop:
That’s pretty much what the size and shape of a modern vanishing bird cage. So they do exist in the world!
This morning I had an idea for a trick that I think would be called Spiked Punch.
The effect: You show the audience some art you bought. It’s a cardboard box that has a drawing of a boxing glove and spike going through the box. You pull you the spikes and notice the box is upside down. You flip it right side up and remove a full glass of punch!
The trick’s method would basically be like a sword box, with an added bit which is the gimmick from a Wizzy Dizzy Milk.
I think the addition of flipping the box over adds a layer to the trick. Not sure if an audience will notice or appreciate the flip of the box, but it should make it harder to backtrack to figure out the method.
This is something that I’d like to try to make in the future!
I’ve wanted to make a snake basket for a long time. I think it’s from when I was a kid seeing Rich Block demo the Collector’s Workshop Kyber Kobra at a magic convention. This is one of the tricks I could never afford when I was a kid, and I honestly don’t think it’s something I could justify buying now when I can afford it.
Well, I wrote some code and made a layout and it works on an Arduino simulator!
The next step is actually building it, but I’m on the road for another week, so it’ll be at least that long before I can work on it. I have a feeling the moving it from the simulator to a real, physical thing will have some unforeseen challenges!
A bit ago Losander was pitching a new floating table in social media magic groups. Here’s his post:
I have a few issues with this. First of all, he’s using an AI generated image to show the table, so it’s not the actual product. Also, he’s showing tables that are 3 different dimensions. After people started asking which table they were getting and asking if the pics were AI generated, Losander finally said that he didn’t have the table yet.
OK, I find it crazy that he’s selling a table that he doesn’t have one to take a picture of. At $2,500 (retail) he really should have one he’s tested and knows it actually works. Sure he may have one that he’s used and not in perfect shape for a picture, but people are asking for video and he hasn’t (as of the time he made that post) shared any video.
The final thing is that he’s taking a presale on this new table. If you read the social media groups, many magicians have posted that he’s taken money and doesn’t deliver the product in a timely fashion. Magicians have to constantly bug him for product that he says he has in stock.
Here’s some people’s reported experiences:
Many magicians in these social media groups give the advice that if you want a table, you need to buy one at a convention that he’s at where you can take the table at the time of purchase. I’ve personally never ordered anything from him, the above are the experiences of people who say they’ve ordered from him, and your experience may be seamless.
My routine with a folded paper fortune teller has been a stage trick for the summer. A couple of weeks ago I made one that’s for close up and I’m using it for a card trick.
One of the things I wanted to do was a multiple revelation of the selected card on the paper fortune teller.
The first revelation is the a basic, “this is your card”:
The second is a little bit bigger:
And the third is even bigger:
Logically if the first prediction hit, the next two are just the same thing, and really don’t add anything. In practice, when you keep revealing that card, the trick hits harder and harder each time. I don’t know why that is, but it works!
Currently I’m performing at the Utah State Fair until September 14th, 2025. I did a media spot on opening day to help promote the fair. Here’s the quick trick I did:
I was chatting with a hypnotist friend of mine, who is also a good magician about the new wave of mentalists. These are people who see mentalism as way to “fame” or at least gigs. Many of them are from non-magic styles of performance (like burlesque, or actors) that think they can simply buy some props and do a mentalism show. The sad thing is that they pretty much can and will do fine…until something goes wrong. Their show is literally controlled by a computer chip
I’ve worked with a many of these acts and what they lack is that they’re not passionate about magic or mentalism. They’re not passionate about magic/mentalism, they just know the prop they bought. When that electronic prop doesn’t work, they’re screwed. They don’t have a back up plan.
Someone who loves magic/mentalism knows four different ways to get out of an electronic trick when the gimmick fails or has planned for failure with back up methods.
A good example of this is when I used to do the lottery prediction using Ceseral CUPP. My prediction was two phase, the first was a decent trick and the kicker was the lottery ticket. The reason it was two phase was that when doing the trick if the lottery ticket didn’t print or was a misprint, I simply stopped after the first phase. No one knew the lottery ticket was going to happen, so if I didn’t do that part, it felt like the trick was complete. The first phase of the trick was bullet proof, and really couldn’t fail.
This is where being a student of whatever art you’re doing makes a huge difference! Put the time in!
Last year I added an ankle switch to a set of my remote control chattering teeth. That allows hands free operation of the teeth. I’ve used them all summer and they’re working great!
A few weeks ago at the Potter and Potter auction of Kreskin’s stuff, I picked up a copy of Charles T. Jordan Collected Tricks! I think that it was the cheapest thing that sold at the auction, and luckily I didn’t pay too much more that the going rate for the book, and this one has Kreskin’s autograph on the inside cover!
I’m only a few tricks into the book and the third trick involves a deck of cards and a rubber band. This is one of the tricks where the method is way better than the trick. It’s fun to do, but the trick is just OK. It’s a card that disappears from half the deck that’s got a rubber band wrapped around it and it appears in the other half of the deck. There are better ways to do this, but they aren’t as much fun to do!
Also this book covers much more than the Dover book of Jordan’s card tricks. I’m excited to have this book and to work through it!
