Category: Video

Ah Nertz: a Card Trick From 1943

In the second issue of The Bat Magazine from 1943 there’s a packet trick called Ah Nertz. Packet tricks didn’t really exist at that point, there were things like 3 card montes or tricks with the four aces, but nothing like post 1960’s packet tricks.

Here’s Ah Nertz as written:

If you think about the effect, this is an early version of twisting the aces.

I wanted to update the trick with a few modern moves, so here’s what I came up with:

One thing that the original lacked was showing all the cards going the same way. To do that I added a modified DM Move/2 for 4 Count. I also wanted a reveal of the one the upside down cards, but where you see all of the cards. That was accomplished with an Elmsley Count.

Here’s a walk through of the updated version of Ah Nertz:

What I think is interesting is that in theory you could theme the trick very easily with customizing the last card. It could be a trade show trick, “all the options for buying X got your head spinning…”. Or a story could easily be attached to it, like a kid who always felt different. Then the reveal on the final card ties it all together!

I think this trick’s premise is one of the hidden gems in The Bat magazine!

-Louie

Working Through The Bat Magic Magazine

Yesterday was the end of one cruise itinerary and the beginning of another. It looks like my theater shows this week are on the 18th, so I have a few days off. One of the nice things about doing a show later in the cruise is that no one knows that I’m the magician, so I can be anonymous on the ship.

I brought an old magic book, well bound version of The Bat magic magazine.

the bat magic magazine

This bound version covers the years 1943-1945. There are some interesting things in it, and a lot of patter that doesn’t hold up in modern times. I’m going to try to make some videos of some of the tricks that I have the stuff to do or make.

I did find time to make a video using my Meta Glasses. I like the idea of performing into a mirror so the audience can see both sides of the trick. Here’s a four ace assembly:

I’m going to play with this framing a bit more this week with my free time. I like the concept for social media videos.

-Louie

My Impromptu Card Routine

One of the card routines I do for impromptu situations is a revelation of a selected card three times. There’s really not much to it, and I’ll give sources for what they are below, but first, here’s what it looks like:

Let’s start by me saying that in the video above, I messed up the second card revelation, but that’s OK because it still worked. The three revelations are:
1: The (Piet Forton) Pop Out Move
2: Daryl’s Hot Shot Cut
3: The old trick where you sidejog the top card and drop the deck.

It’s not a crazy sequence, but it has a feel of build with the diminishing hands for each revelation.

Have fun with this!

-Louie

Entertainment Trade Show

Most of my work is booked through trade shows for the industries in which I perform. Many magicians have never been to one of these things where you’re selling YOU, so here’s quick walk through of the trade show before it opened:

You can see there are a lot of vendors and many styles. There are some standard things, like a pop-up banner or a custom backdrop. Also, while most promo now is digital, you need a physical brochure or flyer of some sort to put into the potential booker’s hand. Those are kinda the bare minimum, then people have interesting props on display or screens that play their sizzle reel.

These trade shows aren’t for everyone, as you’ve got to work at them. If you just sit in your booth on your phone, you won’t make any connections.

-Louie

Devil’s Wand!

I came across a vintage magic trick that Royal Magic put out called the Devil’s Wand. This was sold as a beginner’s magic trick and looks a lot like the Pom Pom Pole; however, it’s a close-up version. This differs slightly from the modern stage version at the end.

Here’s a demo video of it:

@louiefoxx Magic trick is still great after 75 years! #magictrick #magic #magician #vintage #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

In case you didn’t notice, this is totally examinable at the end! When I first found this trick, I watched a couple of online video demos, and all of them skipped that part. That’s the most interesting thing about the trick! That’s a great feature that no one does anymore. I’m not sure how the gimmick would scale to a larger stage-size pom pom pole, but it’s sure cool for this smaller-sized one.

That’s one of the fun things about vintage magic tricks: you find little things that got left off of the more modern versions.

-Louie

The Appearing Aquarium!

When I was in Billings, MT I visited the magic club and someone had an Appearing Aquarium. Here’s what I looks like:

@louiefoxx There are only two magic tricks in history that are worse than this one! #magictrick #magic #magician #fishtank #aquarium ♬ som original – 𝑷𝒆𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒂𝒔🎵
Pisces magic trick

It seems that the one I saw was a knockoff of a trick called Pisces.

It’s a fun trick to do, but it’s not a great trick. When I posted the video, I thought the title “The 3rd Worst Magic Trick Ever” was a funny title. Now thinking about that, it could be a fun hook for a routine in the show. I liked the idea for that as a hook, and I ended up buying the one that I saw at the magic club.

I think it needs an ending of some sort. Maybe producing a fish bowl, or even something like a gold fish production into a wine glass.

-Louie

Wavy Arm Guy Magic Trick Video

Yesterday I wrote about working on a trick with a wavy arm guy. I don’t have a routine written yet, I’m just seeing if it works.

Here’s a practice video.

One of the things is the explanation with the mic stand. While it shouldn’t be necessary, I’ve been in the audience where similar penetration tricks are performed and they fall flat because not everyone is really spatially aware.

A good example of this is Andrew Mayne’s Razorwire. Here’s the effect:

Andrew Mayne's Razorwire.

Unless you show the audience that you can’t simply walk around the barrier, the trick isn’t going to land. Not everyone will understand that you can’t just by looking.

With my trick, it works, the next step will be writing for it.

-Louie

Magic Special from 1978!

Growing up in magic in the 1990’s there wasn’t a lot of ways to watch performances of magicians. You either had to go to a show, or catch one on a TV show when it aired. That really limited me to watching modern performers, or older performers who were past their prime at a magic convention.

This is a great video from 1978 of many performers who I had read about while they are still in their prime!

This was a lot of fun to watch and I’m glad I stumbled across it!

-Louie

Magic TV Appearance

A couple of weeks ago I was on a local TV show to promote National Magic Week. It was a fairly quick appearance and I did one trick which was a card trick, and you can see it below:

The trick uses The Fortune Teller prop for a routine that’s in my 2025 lecture notes. What I like about this prop is that people react positively when it’s introduced, and it’s got a nice three-hit punch at the end of the trick!

When doing TV appearances, I try to do one trick with big impact over multiple tricks. It makes the appearance cleaner. I also did have other stuff in my pockets if I needed to fill time!

-Louie