Tricks – Page 123 – MagicShow.Tips

As You Wish…

One of the most common joke questions people ask is if you can turn a one dollar bill into a hundred dollar bill. When people ask things like this they think they are the first person to every ask you that. There are three ways to deal with it. First you can laugh with them, next you can try to one up them with a joke, and finally you can do what they ask.

Of the three reactions to the joke, the only one I don’t recommend is the second one. Let the person have their moment, they are going to allow you many more. Now as for the first and third option, I prefer being able to comply, but that’s not always possible with the “make my wife disappear” jokes, so then you have to laugh it off with them.

For something like turn my dollar bill into a hundred dollar bill, you can comply. You can keep a hundred dollar bill in a thumb tip and do a bill switch, however if you do this you have to give them the hundred dollar bill. It’ll cost you ninety nine bucks, but you’ll have created a miracle that they’ll talk about forever.

Another way would to be to take their dollar and switch it for a bill that has the serial number altered. The serial number reads “A 00000100 S”, so it’s a hundred dollar bill. You could also have the serial number read “1 HUNDRED”. Either way you’ve turned their bill into a hundred. Changing the serial number takes a bit of work, but it’s a lot cheaper than spending $99!!!

Do As I Do…

There are certain “plots” in card magic that I’m really not a fan of. One of them is the Do As I Do type of tricks. These are typically very procedure heavy and the payoff isn’t that great. Usually it ends with you and a spectator finding the other person’s card. Last night I was … Continue reading “Do As I Do…”

There are certain “plots” in card magic that I’m really not a fan of. One of them is the Do As I Do type of tricks. These are typically very procedure heavy and the payoff isn’t that great. Usually it ends with you and a spectator finding the other person’s card.

Last night I was reading Principia by Harapan Ong and came across his trick called Perspective.

What makes this Do As I Do trick great is that it’s not a “pick a card” type trick. It’s a color change type of card trick, but the cards change for both you and the spectator! Best of all there’s no procedure! The top cards on both halves of the deck keep changing, it’s great!

I love encountering tricks that change how I feel about magic plots!

Writing for the Vanishing Bird Cage…

Yesterday I was doing some writing for the routine for the vanishing bird cage. The basic flow of the routine is the box is introduced, the cage vanishes and the bird reappears in my pocket. Here’s the first rough script that I wrote: When I was a 7 years old, I wanted a pet bird … Continue reading “Writing for the Vanishing Bird Cage…”

Yesterday I was doing some writing for the routine for the vanishing bird cage. The basic flow of the routine is the box is introduced, the cage vanishes and the bird reappears in my pocket.

Here’s the first rough script that I wrote:

When I was a 7 years old, I wanted a pet bird more than anything…even more than a pet tyranosaurs. Turns out my brother is allergic to birds, so my mom got me a rubber canary. One the plus side his cage is clean, on the minus side I’ll probably die in a coal mine. I also learned I’m allergic to latex.

He’s trained to do tricks. Stay…incredible. Freeze…amazing. Play dead (shake cage)…tah-dah!

Most amazing trick he does is jump up, eat the cage,then fly into my left pocket, which is amazing because everyone knows canaries are right handed.

Drum roll…One Two Three

OK, the above isn’t the worlds greatest routine, but it’s a start. Then I just wrote some random jokes for it:

This cage is made of reinforced suitable for holding pretend animals and despot rulers.

The cage looked soo much bigger on the ebay listing

You can’t spell PETA without pet.

The decline in this tricks popularity corresponds with the decline of coal miners.

Display at a coal mine supply shop

I like the “despot ruler” joke, however I don’t think it will get a big laugh.

Next I tried writing the script again with a slightly different approach:

This is the only trick in the show that I didn’t invent, so it’s the best one in the show. It was invented in a magician in the 1800’s named Dekolta. He was famous for making his wife disappear…he also held the guinness world record for most number of marriages.

He’d take a cage with a canary and make it disappear. This is the actual cage he used, and inside is the actual canary he used…according to ebay.

Unfortunately this trick is copyrighted by the magician’s guild and I can’t show it to you. So I’ll do it undercover of a handkerchief.

It happens quick. 1, 2, 3

What I don’t like about the above trick is that I’m telling them about a trick that someone else did. I should really be telling them something about me, or what’s happening now, not two hundred years ago.

I gave the script another try with another approach.

When I was a teenager I went to magic camp…I know, can you believe I turned out this normal. I got to see Harry Blackstone Jr do a trick with a canary in a cage, I always wanted to do it.

I begged my mom for a canary…I wanted to do the trick more than anything…even more than a a normal social life. Mom said I wasn’t “responsible” enough for a pet, so she got me a rubber canary. One the plus side his cage is clean, on the minus side I’ll probably die in a coal mine or from my latex allergy.

This cage was made by my middle school shop teacher / life coach, and is suitable for holding rubber animals and despot rulers.

His name is frankie, he likes sunflower seeds.
(put sunflower seed into cage and falls through)

He’s trained to do tricks. (put sunflower seed into cage and falls through) Stay…incredible. Freeze…amazing. (put sunflower seed into cage and falls through) Play dead (shake cage)…tah-dah! (put sunflower seed into cage and falls through)

Most amazing trick he does is jump up, eat the cage,then fly into my left pocket, which is amazing because everyone knows canaries are right handed.

Drum roll…One Two Three

I like this script best, as you learn a little bit about me. I think that the feeding the rubber canary is an original bit. There’s still a long way to go, and this probably isn’t what I’ll use, but it’s something.

No Outs and Snagging…

Honestly, I’m not sure how I used to do the vanishing birdcage. I think I was very lucky in that years ago it never really hung up on my sleeve in a show. I also think that I’m currently more aware of failure without an “out” in tricks that I do in the show. Billy … Continue reading “No Outs and Snagging…”

Honestly, I’m not sure how I used to do the vanishing birdcage. I think I was very lucky in that years ago it never really hung up on my sleeve in a show. I also think that I’m currently more aware of failure without an “out” in tricks that I do in the show. Billy McComb in an interview on the Greater Magic Video Series says, “…there is no out when the cage is hanging out of your sleeve.”

Currently I’m following Tommy Wonder‘s advice. Every time the cage snags on something, I’m trying to figure why it snagged and what I can do to stop it from snagging. It’s a smart approach, and one that’s a lot of work and will end up with a fairly altered jacket.

Too Hard???

In my lecture for magicians, I have too many tricks that use sleight of hand. Yesterday I did a lecture and it hit me that there aren’t really any “self working tricks” that I teach. What I teach isn’t hard, the most difficult thing I do in the lecture is a two ball roll up … Continue reading “Too Hard???”

In my lecture for magicians, I have too many tricks that use sleight of hand. Yesterday I did a lecture and it hit me that there aren’t really any “self working tricks” that I teach. What I teach isn’t hard, the most difficult thing I do in the lecture is a two ball roll up for the three ball routine.

Being aware of this will make the lecture have more value to everyone who attends. Having something you can walk away doing is important for a magic lecture. My thinking when I put together the material for the lecture was that a thumb palm with a thimble is a pretty standard and basic sleight. I always forget that there are a lot of magicians that don’t do any sleight of hand at all. I need something in the lecture for them.

I’ve got a couple more lectures coming up and I’m going to be sure to add something self working to the list of things I teach and talk about!

Small Bits Help!

One of the things that’s driving me nuts about this trick with crackers is it makes a mess in my table top box. There’s crackers crumbs everywhere inside it. Then they get stuck to thinks like the rubber balls I use for the three ball routine. It’s not the idea situation.

While brainstorming with a friend yesterday, he suggested that I put the crackers into a card box. I like the idea, and I can get about seven crackers into a card box, and that’s enough to do the trick. With seven crackers there’s enough to do the trick.

Seven crackers are wedged in there pretty good. I pull out one cracker, then dump out the remaining six crackers. It makes more sense than just pulling out the crackers and illustrates the idea of what’s going to happen more than just bringing out a handfull of crackers.

Seal It Up!!!!

One of the two new routines I’m working on this week is my cracker routine. It’s a card trick with a cracker and it’s got a long way to go, but made some huge strides. Basically it’s card trick with saltine crackers. One of the things that it’s lacked is an ending.

The other day I was having breakfast with some other performers at the fair and we were brainstorming and one of them suggested that at the end the signed cracker reappear inside a sealed cracker packet. I liked the idea, but didn’t think I’d be able to come up with a loading system that would work using the limited tools and materials I have with me.

Luckily I kept my eyes open and saw a pie lid that worked perfectly for what I wanted to do. I built a cracker packet loading device and I’m happy to report that the loader is working great!!!

Keep on Tweakin’

One of the new bits that I added to the show this week was a fishing pole that the reel popped off when someone tried to turn it. It began as an accident when a kid broke my fishing pole, and I decided to turn it into a bit.

What I did was epoxy magnets to the reel and pole, so when the kid cranked them, they came apart. It was a quick and dirty fix and lasted several days, but last night a kid dropped the reel when it came apart and the magnet popped off. I liked the simplicity of a magnet to make it work, but I didn’t like that the reel didn’t turn at all.

Right now I’ve got the glue drying on the second version of the reel. This one is going to be attached by a snap. I went to the local Walmart and picked up a the biggest snap I could find and epoxy’d it in place. Hopefully the snap will allow the reel to turn a couple times before it pops off . We’ll see how this turns out…

Finding the Silver Lining…

While working on the Object in Ball of Yarn, recently I 3D printed a fishing reel to reel in the yarn. Every time I used it for the first few shows I worked the reel. Yesterday I decided to let a kid reel in the reel. Guess what happened? Within two cranks, the kid snapped the reel off the fishing pole!

When that happened, I was bummed out, however I’m also smart enough to see the “silver lining” in the situation. When the kid broke the reel, it was funny. My thinking then shifted to, how can I make that happen every time?

This solution was pretty simple. I just epoxy’d a magnet on the pole and the reel. When someone goes to crank it, they come apart. It’s a simple , and effective solution. The bonus is that’s today’s new bit I’m working on for Day 3 of a new bit in the show every day.

Another Bonus Trick…

About a month ago I wrote about getting bonus tricks out of the tricks you are already doing (you can read the post here). These are little things that frequently happen and when they do, you can take advantage of them. The example I used was having a card selected, top change it, and have it signed. Most people don’t process that the card has changed, and they remember signing the card they picked, not that the one the one you switched it for.

Using this an idea that was inspired by a trick in the book Be More Funny by Christopher Barnes, I came up with this trick. Someone picks a card (5 of spades) and signs it. You could do a quick ambitious card sequence, then have a card selected from another deck. You say both cards will match, but they don’t, the second card is the 4 of spades. You rip out the middle spade of the 5 of spades to turn it into the 4 of spades. The audience is then amazed that the signed 5 of spades actually turns into a 4 of spades (still signed)

So how do we do this?

I have two methods. The first is simply to top change the card. The second is to use a gimmicked card, this card would be a five of spades, but the corners show the four of spades:

The gimmicked card is better if you want to do a trick with the card before you rip out the center pip and it will reinforce the idea that the card is still a 5 for a lot longer. You’ll have a hard time passing of a 4 as a 5 if they keep seeing the face.

I’m going to try to make up a few gimmicked cards this week and try them out!