With all the buzz about the Atomic Deck and magicians arguing whether ACAAN is a good trick or not, it got me thinking about why magicians are fascinated by ACAAN.
Here’s my theory why magicians are into it, there’s really only one way to do it and that’s a memorized deck and a displacement. That method isn’t easy to do and beyond the reach of a beginner magician. Most magicians are lazy and don’t want to put in the work, so selling a method that’s “easy” for something that’s beyond most magicians skill level solves a problem and leads to sales.
That’s it, it’ makes the difficult attainable for people who don’t want to put in the work.
The problem is there compromises that are made to make the trick easy that change the trick from an Any Card At Any Number to something else. Usually a Selected Card at a Any Number, or Any Card at Selected Number or combination of the two. There’s nothing specifically wrong with those effects, but they’re not ACAAN.
The things added to make the trick easy take away what makes the trick amazing, and that’s how simple the trick is. Name a card, name a number and boom the card is there. Not name a card, now roll these dice, multiply that by nine and add 13, now deal to the number and your card is there. The added procedure kills the effect. Magicians who think the plot is boring are bored by the added procedure that makes the trick easy.
Magicians love to say, “it’s not the effect it’s the presentation that matters” are the same ones that say ACAAN is boring. Those are the magicians that aren’t putting in the work. The effect matters! What would you rather have:
1: Strong effect with a weak presentation
2: Weak effect with a strong presentation
3: Strong effect with strong presentation
I think we can all agree that number 3 is the goal. That means you need to put in the work!
-Louie
ReaList by Greg Rostami was Down!
If you weren’t aware Inject 2 by Greg Rostami was down for most of January and when it came back up their marquee trick “the Google Peek” wasn’t and still isn’t functioning. One of the workarounds that Greg was pitching was to buy another one of his apps called ReaList and use it with Inject 2.
Well guess what, ReaList was down for a while!
This really highlights why I don’t use magic apps that need the internet. There’s so much out of your control and according to Greg’s statement so much out of the app developer’s control that make apps like ReaList and Inject 2 unreliable (in my opinion). These are all things that there’s really no back up for. Sure you can have an alternate method, but it’s hard to run them at the same time. It won’t work to say, “type this into Google on your phone AND write it on the back of my business card“.
Before using an app, think about is having someone type something into Google really better than writing on the back of your business card? The effect is the same, and one of these methods leaves them with your business card.
-Louie
Look Good On Stage!
I’m really glad that in 2020 I learned to do stage make up.
Coming out of comedy rooms, it’s something that people don’t really do. What I do is very basic, it’s just to take shine off of my face, so nothing crazy. It does make a huge difference when performing in the lights at a theater.
If you don’t know how to do it, learn to do it! I asked a friend of mine who is a stage actor and he referred me to someone who gave me a lesson.
-Louie
The Moisture Festival Podcast – Ran’d Shine
On this episode we welcome in Ran’D Shine. We learn about how Ran’D came across magic and how that led him to a career performing all over the world. We talk about the benefits of coming into his art form later than most and how he was able to apply aspects of academia into his craft.
Ran’D also gives tips on the best way to become a professional performer and how making connections makes all the difference. A wonderful conversation with a performer who will be making their first appearance at this year’s festival (2025)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
Magic UnCorked in Portland!
A couple of nights ago I made it out to Magic Uncorked in Portland, OR. It’s a magic show in a wine shop that happens semi regularly. The show features three performers and is a lot of fun!
I’m new to this area, however it seems that magicians are really out there supporting magic, there were about six of us that weren’t performing!
Its a great venue and the performers were John Stevens, Moto, Craig Martin and hosted by Dave, who is a magician and co-owns the wine shop Ora et Labora.
The show started at 6pm with drinks and roving close up magic, then the parlor style show started at 7:30pm and went till just past 9pm. For $35 a ticket that included a drink, it was a great deal!
If you have shows in your area, go out and support them!
-Louie
Magic Trick Request
At a recent gig they requested I do a trick with a donor’s check. I decided to do a Bank Nite type of trick where the check was put into an envelope and mixed with other envelopes. One envelope was selected and the rest were shredded and the selected envelope had the check.
Pretty standard in effect, but I didn’t want to deal with an electric shredder, so I used a manual shredder.
The shredder above says is has a capacity of 2 sheets, however it worked just fine with and envelope with a check sized piece of paper in it. It played fine, and the manual shredder is a great prop to have around. I think this premise is an easy way to customize a trick for an event.
-Louie
Table Refurbishing
Awhile ago I put a new surface on the top of my stage table, but where it really needed it was on the bottom!
It was getting really beat up and when onstage the audience looks up at this part and many can see the bottom of it. I took it out to the workshop and put a couple of coats of flat black paint and some clear coat on it and it looks way better!
I’m not sure why I waited soo long to do this, but I’m glad I did!
-Louie
Magic Jam!
One thing I’m lucky to have is a group of creative magicians that I hang out with! When one of us is working on something and gets stuck, usually one of us can solve the problem!
I’m working on a trick with money that needed an ending. It’s a counting trick, similar to a touch the screen style math trick. The challenge was I got to the forced dollar, but didn’t know how to reveal it. It needed more than, “you picked the twenty dollar bill“.
We played with it for a little bit and finally someone just yelled out the solution. Like it was a kettle slowly boiling, but when it finally boiled it was the perfect ending to the trick!
If you’re not creating with a group, you really should!
-Louie
Just a Heads Up…
In the March and April I’m heading out of the country for a couple of gigs. That means that I won’t be able to work on or ship any products ordered during that time. The dates I’m away are:
March 3 – March 13
March 27 – April 10
If there’s anything you NEED, please plan ahead and order in advance.
Also while I’m away, you can get many of magic products at Hocus-Pocus.com!
-Louie
Atomic Deck
The new hot trick right now is the Atomic Deck, which is an ACAAN, here’s the trailer, then I’ll give you my thoughts on it:
When I watched the trailer and the first thing that jumped out at me was this:
That’s a very specific statement, not “NO ROUGH AND SMOOTH”, so that instantly tells me that it’s roughed, just not by traditional methods. I don’t know how I feel about that in its marketing as it’s technically correct, but very misleading.
That aside, the trailer above leaves out something very important, this trick requires a phone or computer. Of course this part of the trick is completely left out of the trailer. It is mentioned in the ad copy, so it’s only sorta deceptive in its omission from the video.
With the current issues that Inject 2 is having, relying on app or website isn’t a good long term solution. The site is only good as long as the deck is selling and they’re paying for the hosting. You’re relying on something outside of your control for the trick to work.
OK, not to the effect, it’s not a true ACAAN in my opinion. You have multiple cards named and multiple numbers and then you essentially pick the combination that will work the best. So instead of Any Card at Any Number, it’s more of a “Selected Card from a Selected Group of Cards at a Number from a Selected Group of Numbers“. That’s a huge thing that to me distances this from the Berglas Effect.
It should look like this:
Spectator names a card and a number. The cards are dealt and the card is at that number!
Here’s a video of me doing ACAAN at a gig that I was just supposed to be playing the organ at, however someone requested I do a magic trick.
@louiefoxx When someone asks the musician to do a magic trick! #magictrick #cardtrick #musician #magician #acaan #king #organist ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
I want to be clear, I’m not saying the Atomic Deck is bad, I am just commenting on how it’s marketed and what it’s marketed as.
That’s my old man talk about how ACAAN should be to truely be an ANY CARD AT ANY NUMBER, not just a CARD AT NUMBER.
-Louie