The Triumph card trick, where cards are shuffled face up and face down, ending with all the cards going the same way, except a selected card, has fascinated me for a while. In the past, I’ve published a version or two in Vanish Magazine. Here’s my newest idea for it:
I really like using the old drop the deck and the top card flips over thing as a way to flip over the top card. I’ll probably write this up at some point and publish it somewhere.
-Louie
Here’s what my props for a roving magic set look like:
The bottom row is my card routine, which is modular and can run anywhere from about 90 seconds to 7+ minutes. The top row are the other props that I use. Everything goes into my pockets except for the empty chop cup.
The top row is the fortune teller (it’s in my PCAM lecture notes), then my Out for Beers trick, three shell game and a chop cup. The nice thing about these props is that there’s a lot of texture I can have with my roving magic set. The opening is always the card routine, then the next trick depends on the group.
-Louie
In the past I’ve made Dice Cup Chop Cups available every now and then. They were never an item that I offered on my website. I would just post them to my social media or mention them in my email list. I’ve gotten a lot of people asking about when I’m making the next batch, so I’ve made added them to my shop.
You can get them at: https://www.magicshow.tips/product/dice-chop-cup-with-eight-ball/
-Louie
Yesterday I posted about my new sequence for the chop cup, go read that and watch the video before reading this post, as I’m going to write about a few things in that post.
Here’s what I like about that routine:
1: It doesn’t use the standard chop cup move of shaking the cup with the ball, or in this case a die
2: It’s not presented as a “where is the ball,” but as what will happen to it.
3: Once the routine starts, I never go to my pocket.
For me, the big thing is that I want to remove the going to the pocket element during the routine. If you keep going to the pocket, the audience knows that’s where the big ball or die comes from. Don’t fool yourself that repeatedly going to the pocket fools them, they may not have known when you snuck it in there, but they do know where it came from.
-Louie
Last week I started working on a new sequence with a chop chop. Here’s what it looks like:
The cool thing about performing at a fair is that I get a lot of opportunities to try out different sequences to find what I like. This is what the routine looked like at the end of last week, and then in a few days I’ll be starting at a new fair and really deciding if this is what I want the final (for now) routine to look like.
-Louie
PS: Click here if you want to learn more about how I work on trick in my show.
Here’s a simple chop cup routine that you can learn, and do with any standard chop cup.
What I like about this routine, over many chop cup routines, is that I only go to the pocket once, and it’s not immediately before the production of the eight ball.
-Louie
When I made a small batch of dice chop cups last week, people asked me for a video. Honestly, I thought everyone knew what a chop cup does, but I was wrong. If you don’t know what a chop cup is, it’s a gimmicked cup that will hold out a ball, or in this case dice.
Typically, this is one with one visible ball; however, in routines like my CeeLo routine, it uses three visible dice. How the normal routine goes is that a ball keeps disappearing and reappearing under a cup, then at the end, there’s a giant ball or whatever under the cup.
Here’s a quick video of a chop cup routine that I made for the people who asked:
I was just improving and did this sequence. It’s actually a pretty good sequence; it has a lot of effects.
1: Teleportation: Die goes from pocket to under the cup
2: Penetration: Die goes through the top of the cup
3: Vanish: Die disappears from my hand
4: Production: Eight ball appears
That’s a lot of magic in less than 20 seconds!
-Louie
Occasionally I’ll make a batch of dice cup chop cups. These are chop cups made from dice cups and use a die instead of a ball.
I prefer using a die over a ball for a couple of reasons. First, it makes sense when the cup is a dice cup; all of the props belong together. Next, dice are white, so they are easy to see. Finally, with dice being flat, they don’t roll as much, so you won’t have them roll off the table as easily.
When you use a prop, like a traditional magic chop chop that visually looks like nothing that exists in world, I try to find things that look real to build the trick into. It’s not always possible, but it’s something I try to do. I should mention that there is value in an unusual prop as a presentation hook. For example, my O-Korto Coin Box Routine uses small brass Okito Box style coin boxes. I introduce it as my “Grandma’s Coin Box”, then there are a few jokes that go along with it. There are ways and reasons to use unusual props.
-Louie
The Evaporation trick was created using a Sunny D bottle, however that style of bottle hasn’t been made (that I can find) for a while now. I’m switching the standard bottle to a “Sports Bottle” type of bottle and working on the first batch of them to ship out to Murphy’s Magic, then available through most magic shops around the world.
Nothing has changed about the gimmick or prop, except for the bottle.
-Louie
When doing a card trick, the ending is the most important thing. Here’s three options that I’m playing with:
Each has something going for it.
Option 1: quick and direct
Option 2: BIG
Option 3: a gag, then a bonus trick
I posted this video on my social media and everyone liked number three the best. One thing I didn’t mention was the conditions; this was a stage piece for large groups.
After trying all three of them, the one that played the best for me was number 2!
The size of the reveal, I think, made a huge difference. Also, when the folded card comes out, you have a little bit of build as it’s being unfolded.
I think the problem with option #3, which is the 52 on 1 card that turns into the selection, is that the gag is too small to be seen from the stage, and everyone has to take my word for what’s on the card. Also, you have a gag and a magic trick that are pretty close together. The changing of the card, I think, doesn’t hit as it should. I think to the audience it feels like the card just has the 52 on 1 on one side and the selection on the other, and I just turn the card over. Yes, I do show the back of the card twice; however, I don’t think the audience processes that or remembers that.
I’m glad I tried all three and was surprised at the result.
-Louie
