Here’s a trick from the book Ginosko. It’s called Blackjack for Brother John and it’s a packet trick that has a story that has a very 1980’s packet trick feel to it. That’s not a bad thing, but it feels like something Nick Trost or Emerson and West would have put out with novelty cards.
It’s a great story packet trick, and you only need four cards to do it with. That makes it impromptu, just pull the cards from the pack and you’re good to go. I would probably palm them out and remove the cards from my pocket, as you start by showing four of the same jack.
This is an idea for a presentation to frame a magic trick. The premise is that you’re going to help the audience be better viewers of magic tricks. To educate them, you are going to teach them the 5 P’s that ever magic trick has.
1: Preamble: This is where you introduce the props. 2: Premise: This we were you set up the effect. 3: Prestidigitation: This is the magic moment 4: Proof: This is where you show the magic has happened 5: Payoff: This is the Tah-Dah moment.
Depending on the trick , you may only need four of them and not all five. For example a card appearing on to of the deck would only need four. However a card under glass would have all five. Number four would be the card appearing under the glass, and number five would be turning the card over to show it’s the selected card.
This is kind of a generic presentation that you could plug many different tricks into.
Last month I was at an AirBnB. I was sharing the house with a bunch of the other performers at the Ohio State Fair. Behind the painting on the walls we found strange “Alien Postcards” from October of 2016
The first one was behind the paint of an apple, then we started searching the AirBnb and found the second one inside of a picture of Groucho!
OK, so that’s what happened in real life, now how do I turn it into a bit for my show?
I started by telling the story.
I’m staying at an AirBnB with some amazing performing, acrobats, jugglers…and a mime. He’s not even performing here. But that guy never shuts up.
One night I was looking behind the paintings and found some “alien postcards”. When I mentioned it to my wife on the phone she said, “why were you looking behind the paintings”, not “what’s an alien postcard.
I was looking for my keys.
Here are the postcards. On the front they say, “Materials deployed for reflective and connective purposes”. On the back this one says, “Thank you for signaling that you are anticipating my transmission”.
The other says, “Thank you for sending the signal that you are invested in receiving this signal…You’re going to die…JK, LOL LOL…but seriously, we’re watching…no parties!”
So now I’m searching the AirBnB for cameras, and you know what I found? My KEYS!
That’s the story. I’ve embellished it a little bit added some punchlines. The nice thing about being in a house with other performers is that we could workshop the story a little bit.
The next step is going to be figuring out what to do with this. Is it a little stand alone bit, or is it a segue to something else. Like a trick with a key and/or postcards?
One idea is to have borrow a key, cover it up with a handkerchief and have that held by someone in the audience. Then 5 postcards are shown, each has a place where I’ve found my keys. These could be funny places, like in pie, or whatever. One is selected, and the key disappears and ends up inside of the postcard.
When I was performing at a 12 day gig, I was playing with Nick Trost’s 1-2-3-4 Trick. I liked the sequence, but thought the ending was just “Meh”. Here’s what the original trick looks like:
The routine starts with a gag, where I ask to borrow 10 pennies from a person in the audience. When they don’t have them, I take out the tray and it get’s a laugh.
I’m just doing a pretty basic routine where three coins are removed and disappear. Then the coins reappear in someone’s hand. It’s a strong routine and plays well. I’m glad I’ve started playing with it!
Recently I wrapped up a twelve day run at a fair. I was doing 30 minute stage magic shows. Here’s what my case and tabletop set up looks like:
The show set list is pretty simple:
ACAAN Rope Trick Cup Trick Drawing Routine Tape Measure Prediction Marshmallow, blindfold, or whip and safety pin routines Hoop and Cup
The second to the end position is a variable spot in the set let. It could be one of three routines based on time, how much of the audience are repeat, and general vibe I’m feeling. That variable is great when there are people who just saw the show, you can have a slightly different show for them!
I’m a huge fan of antique magic, and I think when the current young generation of magicians gets old the antique magic trade will have greatly diminish. The kids coming up in magic over the last decade or so are growing up with downloads, so they aren’t connected as emotionally connected physical props.
I recently found a Merv Taylor Glass Penetration at an auction in Indiana and was the winning bidder!
Looking for auction houses that have some magic stuff is one of my hobbies when I’ve got time between shows. The auction house was only a couple of hours away from where I was performing in Ohio! This was a great find to add to my collection!
One of the things that drives me nuts are magicians, or any performer that uses a flag in their show and doesn’t understand the US Flag Code. These are rules that define what a US Flag is, how it should be displayed and handled.
Someone recently posted in a magician’s group of their show and the American Flag in the picture being backwards was all that I could see!
There are a couple of flag code violations in the pictures above. First the flag is backwards, and then there are props on top of the flag. This isn’t a huge deal to most people, but it’s like doing a gospel magic show, but all of your crosses are upside down! It takes virtually the same energy to correctly hang a flag as it does to incorrectly display the flag.
If you use a flag, learn to handle it respectfully!
One of the great things about working with other acts is sharing tips. Not so much “secrets” but like what media players we’re using or why we like certain cases.
I had the pleasure of sharing a green room (trailer) with David Anthony and Ron Diamond. Both of them were insanely generous and open about chatting with things that they use or do that could help me improve my show and my business!
These two people understand that when everyone is doing the best they can, it’s better for everyone! Go out there and share what you know!
This vintage packet trick is interesting, as it feels like Emerson and West’s Color Monte, but with four cards. Here’s what Tom Ogden’s Carnival Cards looks like:
This uses the same move and the effect is very similar, except for the fourth card on the table. I’m curious what came first, it looks like Color Monte was released in 1974 and the Carnival Cards is undated, but based on the packaging, my guess in late 1970’s to early 1980’s.
Here’s the changes that I would make to the Carnival Cards trick:
It’s strange that Carnival Cards uses gaffed cards, because they aren’t needed. I kinda wonder if they were added to make the trick feel more “different” from Color Monte?
