Tricks – Page 129 – MagicShow.Tips

Linking Pins…

One of my favorite close up tricks to do is the Linking Safety Pins. What I like about it is that is uses an common object and the magic is direct and visual. Those two things save me a lot of time with the expository phases of the trick. I don’t really need to explain what they are, but I do. I also don’t need to explain what going to happen, because it’s obvious.

The other thing about my routine for the Linking Pins trick is that all of the props are handled by the audience and all but the first effect in the routine happens in their hands. This makes a simple trick a bit more hard hitting.

Sometimes when I’m out doing my routine, after the pins go through each other the first time, someone will say they are trick pins. I tell them they can keep them after I’m done. I have a pocket full of pins so leaving a set is no big deal. This 100% removes the idea that they are trick pins.

ACAAN???

One trend in magic that I’ve noticed lately is that whenever someone puts out a new gimmick, or principle one of the routines they come up for it is an Any Card At Any Number. The problem with this is that none of these are truly an ACAAN. as there’s a limitation at some point. … Continue reading “ACAAN???”

One trend in magic that I’ve noticed lately is that whenever someone puts out a new gimmick, or principle one of the routines they come up for it is an Any Card At Any Number. The problem with this is that none of these are truly an ACAAN. as there’s a limitation at some point.

A good example is the Mental Dice that just came out. You are using the dice to get information, but unfortunately with 3 dice you can’t make any number between one and fifty two. You could use one die for the tens place and the other for the ones place, but that still won’t get you all the numbers from one to fifty two.

In the book Body Mentalism, which teaches a really cool technique for forcing a person, one of the effects is an ACAAN. Unfortunately it’s really an Any Card at Number, there’s not a free choice of number. It’s very limited, in this method. I’m all for brainstorming ideas and including them, but people need to stop passing off a Card at a Position as an Any Card At Any Number.

I may be a bit biased as I’m a fan of the ACAAN trick, and have done it on TV, my live show and published several variation of the trick. It’s one of those things that in my opinion have a very specific set of rules for it to be an ACAAN.

Raise Up Your Show

Sometimes you need to stick to your guns and do your show how you want it to, then there are other times when you need change it. I’m a huge advocate of pushing back if someone unreasonably wants you to change your show. An example of this is a booker wanting you to incorporate something into your show at the last minute. I’m frequently asked to magically make a prize or award appear. I almost always decline this.

There are times that you want to alter your show for the event. When I performed in Virginia a couple days ago, I saw an illusion act perform. They weren’t on a raised stage, which is something I’m very conscious of. Being an act that uses smaller props I’m very aware of how they can disappear if they are held too low when you aren’t on a raised stage. The act I saw did a Wakeling Sawing in Half, which is a great illusion. It’s a big prop, but the action happens low.

I’m standing in the back taking this picture, you probably wouldn’t notice the large box for the illusion in the picture. There’s a girl in the third row standing on someone’s lap to see. While it’s a big and visual prop, you can’t see it if it’s too low to the ground. This is a situation where a small handheld prop would have played a lot larger than the sawing in half.

In my opinion the show would have flowed better if they had cut out the sawing in half and filled the spot with something smaller, that could be held higher, or just run the show five minutes short. Removing the trick would have made the show much more enjoyable for me, as there wasn’t really any jokes, or story engage me once the visual was lost.

Be aware of the sight lines of people seated from the third row and back.

Great Book…

The other day a buddy of mine gave me the book A Magician Prepares and I started reading it on my flight yesterday. This book has some shortcomings, like the layout which makes it hard to read and the title isn’t that great, however the content is fantastic. The book is a bunch of short … Continue reading “Great Book…”

There’s a lot of great advice in this book, and I think it’d be a great book to read when you start to hit the semi-pro level. When you’ve begun to get an act and are out working it semi-regularly. I do think it’s worth a read no matter where you are in your career.

One thing that struck me was in one interview a guy mentions that people ask, “why do all cruise ship magicians do the same stuff?”. His answer was the limitations of the gig, you need to fit it all in a suitcase that’s less than 50 pounds.

Having worked on some ships, I get the challenge of the limitation, however I also think that it’s a shortsighted reason. The reason is laziness, they don’t want to create a something new. Sure something like color changing hanks plays big, packs small and there are plenty of routines for it. That’s a trick that’s in my show, however it’s not chosen because of the size of it. I do the trick because in my routine there’s a message that I want to convey with it. Also the way I do it, I use an additional prop that takes it out of the “packs small” category.

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.