I’m newer on Tik Tok, so still working hard to build it up, let’s hope the government doesn’t take it away and I lose that work! I recently posted John Fedko’s Ultimate Aces and it’s gotten a ton of views (for me on tiktok).
One of the things that I noticed was if you look at the bottom of that screenshot there is a suggested search. It’s “Ultimate Aces Card Trick Revealed”. That’s kinda messed up from a magician’s perspective. I’m assuming that suggested search is based on what people are searching after watching the video.
To me this confirms my idea that people aren’t figuring out how tricks work based on watching the video, but doing searches to figure it out. It also adds to my not really caring if people post how it works. One thing I’ve seen in the comments for this trick is that for every correct reveal there are ones that are incorrect. Lot’s of people saying the routine uses a double lift!
Noticing that search bar has given me a lot of perspective about the Tik Tok comment section.
My daughter sells her art at events (like craft shows) around the Pacific Northwest. When I’m not working I go and hang out with her while she’s working. I also usually post on social media where we’ll be. It’s fun how many performers come out to hang out as well!
Recently I had a giant puppet act and stand up comic come by to hang out. I also had Clive Hayward come by!
Clive and I snuck away and had a beer while my daughter was adding some art to the walls of this venue. Of course we jammed some card tricks.
We also chatted about Jeff McBride. Clive had recently done a one on one problem solving session with Jeff. Clive mentioned how quickly McBride solved problems he was having. I’ve seen Jeff do this with people’s acts at WonderGround in the past. He has an amazing amount of knowledge of magic, theater, and pretty much everything about performing.
I had been thinking about a class that Jeff is putting on at his Mystery School called The Story Master Series that starts on Jan 11th. I’m trying to grow my show more, and it’s hard to do that in a vacuum. Taking a class to learn more is never a bad idea. I signed up for the class and excited for it to start!
Looking forward into 2025 my new year’s resolution is to read more. That’s it, nothing crazy, just to read more and scroll (on my phone) less. One of the best books that I read last year was the Wayne Dobson’s Legacy book set.
It does a great job telling his story and his thinking behind many of the tricks. Soo many of the tricks are very “wayne” however there are a couple in there that have me thinking of ways to adapt them for me to do.
I’m going into 2025 reading Steve Spill’s book Magic is My Weed. This is a great book so far. Steve does a great job telling his story, but more importantly he tells why he does things and how he got there.
I think this is a missing thing from magic books, the journey of how the everything developed and the tools the author used to get there. Much of what’s in print is simply how to do the trick, but I find how the trick was created much more interesting. I’d day 99.9% of the stuff that I read and work through are tricks that I’ll never do. Yes, there is value in working through a trick even it you won’t perform it. You’ll learn new techniques or maybe an old technique that you can apply to something you’re already doing. It also puts things in your mental toolbox that you may need to get you out of a situation!
In the past on this blog I’ve written about my thoughts on magic apps. I personally don’t use any that need to be connected to the internet in my shows. It’s just too risky, especially at large events when the internet will frequently run very slowly.
As of writing this, we’re on day four of the Inject 2 app being down. According to Greg Rostami, Google has suspended the app and it’s not working on any platform (android or iOS).
**I want to note that I own Inject 2, I don’t use it, but I paid for it. So this does affect a product that I paid for. **
This really highlights what to me what the problem with app based and that’s there’s soo much out of your control. What I mean by that is if my thumb tip breaks I can tape/glue it together or have a back up one. If an app stops working, there’s really nothing you can do. You can’t go through and look at the code and fix it or pay for a server that the app creator didn’t renew.
Here’s one of Greg’s updates:
There are many back up plans? Why aren’t they being activated?
We’re on day four of Inject 2 not working. If the power went out at my house and I had multiple power sources that worked that I could use as a backup, I would have switched to one of them by now. Why haven’t we switched to a back up plan as New Years Eve is tomorrow and that’s probably the busiest single night for performers worldwide. I seem to remember years ago an app (I don’t remember which one) was running very slowly and not usable in real time because everyone was using it and overwhelming the server it was on.
Now we get this update that Matt (I’m assuming he’s a partner on the tech end) is unavailable to help sort this out. I heard that Greg posted on the Magic Cafe that he expected this to be resolved in 1-7 days, we’re at halfway through that time table. I don’t know if Matt being unavailable changes that time table.
In the Inject 2 Facebook group people are saying things like, “If this is the end of inject, I did it thousands of times and I got my moneys worth.” or “you can’t expect apps to last forever“. I do agree with both of those…for those people, but what about the people that Inject 2 for Christmas and had 3 days with it or someone that bought it today and it never worked?
One of the things that bugs me is that the Inject 2 app is NOT working as of right now, it’s still being sold! A known, non-functioning app is still being offered on the app store, and at major magic shops. This is creating a HUGE customer service nightmare for shops that sold the download card for Inject 2.
How do they handle it?
I don’t think they can return it as if Inject 2 ever gets working again, then their app will work. As a magic shop how would you handle it? The customer deserves a refund if they just bought it and it didn’t work or stopped working after a couple of days.
I hope all of this makes you think real hard before using an app and not having solid billet technique or whatever is your backup plan that can be implemented on the spot with zero notice. Practice what you’d do during a performance if the app just stopped at the critical moment when it was supposed to do whatever it does.
I honestly hope that Inject 2 gets fixed as a lot of people love it.
A couple of weeks ago an unusual vanishing birdcage popped up on eBay. It’s a brass cage made in the Simms style (like the Milson Worth Silver Meteor vanishing Cage). Based on the pictures on the listed it looked mostly homemade, but there were a couple of things that didn’t look like an amateur made it, an this was interesting to me. It was listed at less than an hundred bucks, so I bought it.
When it arrived, the first thing that I notice was the solder blobs on the bar looked giant and sloppy in the pictures were much smaller and fairly well done. The cage needs some work, there’s a bunch of corrosion on one corner of it.
The solder on the tops and bottoms of the bars on the sides of the were really smooth and the side bars were soldered shut. The cage would stand up on its own, but also collapses really quickly. I wasn’t expecting this cage to be as good as it is.
Another interesting thing about this cage is the clip where the pull would attach.
It’s a hook, which implies that whoever used it was hooking up to it during their act/show. This hook feels like it was adding later by the user an not the maker. While the hook is thought out, the part that sticks out of the top of the bar is bent backwards to reduce snagging, it doesn’t feel quite like the same build as the rest of the cage.
If you know anything about this cage or who made it, please let me know!
About a month ago I was out in Appleton, WI performing at the comedy club there. One of the main reasons I went out there was to see the Houdini stuff at the museum. If you’re reading this blog and don’t know, Houdini’s “Home town” was Appleton, WI, or at least that’s what he told people.
Before I went to the museum, I checked out Houdini Plaza in downtown.
Then it was off to the museum to see the exhibit they call AKA Houdini.
I found it interesting the disclaimer they have on exhibit telling people that magicians may have an issue with the exposure of secrets!
One of the first things you see is the “haunted” bust of Houdini!
Three of these busts were made and two mysteriously broke right after his death.
There’s some fun interactive things, like you can pick a lock, try out Houdini’s Metamorphosis trick, break out of jail and try to fit into a milk can!
Then there’s a ton of Houdini artifacts!
And of course you exit through the gift shop.
This was a super fun way to spend my day before my show at the comedy club. If you’re in the area it’s totally worth the trip!
I’m working through Jack Carpenter’s new book Carpenter’s Conceptions right now. The second trick in it is my favorite so far, but I’m only about 5 tricks into the book. I’m a huge fan of his, ever since I was a teenager and I got his book Modus Operandi.
Fun little fact, Jack and I used to live in the same town (along with Bob Cassidy) and I would run into Jack every now and then at the Red Robin.
In Carpenter’s Conceptions the second trick is called Never Bet On a Sure Thing which is a five card monte trick. Here’s what it looks like:
Well, that’s almost what’s in the book. I changed it a little bit, the final display has a little something extra that I discovered. Did you notice it?
The final display where you are three cards as four cards doesn’t really hold up as well on a social media video. If someone watches it twice and is burning you, they’ll notice two of the same cards. To minimize that, I came up with this Elmsley Count variation:
Ideally the gimmicked card would have the same head on the jack on both ends, but the card used in the video above was all that I had at home.
It’s not a big deal, but it’s a little thing that can make your social media videos slightly more bullet proof.
This morning I was doing my daily writing and came up with a little routine for a number prediction. Here’s the rough routine:
“My third grade report card said my handwriting was bad, and only suitable if a grew up to be a doctor or serial killer. One time I turned in an essay and Ms. Smarr said it was illegible…It was typed, double spaced.”
“The only good thing about having bad handwriting is when I find a note a wrote a long time ago I feel like Indiana Jones trying read a document written by a lost civilization of serial killers. My handwriting looks like the handwriting that on the Magna Carta, if it got wet and put in a blender!”
You then show you elementary school signature, which looks like the bottom line below:
“It’s not that bad. I guess that’s why I preferred math, numbers are easy.”
You then do a calculator force and in my case I’m forcing the number 311707. I then flip over the LOUIE to show it’s actually 311707 (see the top line above).
There you go, it’s a routine, it’s not a great one, but it’s a routine that gets the prediction into play with a personal story. I may revisit this later, but it was a fun surprise that came out of my morning writing!
In December everyone is a corporate entertainer. There’s more work out there than there are performers. It’s not hard to be working evenings Thursday thru Sunday, but the off peak time gigs are what separate the pros from the warm bodies!
I did a holiday party at 7:30am!
Being able to be ready and “on” that early and getting an audience to laugh is a probably one of the hardest things for a performer. Most of these people are having their first cup of coffee while you’re trying to tell jokes.
One of the challenges for shows this early is to not try to push the audience too hard. You really can’t hype them up like you can a show that would take place at 7pm. The 7am energy is much more laid back, no matter what you do! You gotta embrace it!
