Last week I did a TV spot to promote National Magic Week and here’s the video of the spot:
Here’s where I could have improved:
It was a decent media spot, not great but not bad either.
-Louie
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 summer when doing library shows I noticed that probably 95% of the library shows that I did (indoors) had a TV screen in the room that I did my show in. So this year I planned a trick (actually two and a half tricks) that could use the TV as projection for close up magic.
There’s really not much to my set up, it’s an iphone with a camera app, an HDMI adapter and and HDMI cord. This very basic set up allow me to do the two full trick and one revelation with the screen.
In the beginning of the show during my warm up I do my ambitious card that uses projection. Then later in the show I do my Russian Shell Game routine and finally I use it for the reveal of my nest of boxes routine.
It’s working great and every library I’m doing (indoors) this summer has a TV in the room for me. I do have alternate material in case I can’t do use the TV for whatever reason. I’ve only done it once (so far), but it plays great for those routines and I’m glad I’m using something that’s already in the room!
-Louie
I love magic history, and learning where things I did come from. I’m still working through the JP Vallarino book and got to Vallarino’s Ambitious Card routine.
In it he mentions the first place that the Ambitious Card was publish. It was in a french book called Recueil de Tours de Physique Amusante. That title sounded familiar, so I went to my bookshelf and I have that book!
Unfortunately I can’t read french, so I can’t confirm it’s in there. It was cool to be reminded of a bit of history that lived on my shelf!
-Louie
When I was a teenager I saw a magic lecture (Michael Close?) where they did a trick that left the audience with a little prop. I think it was an origami bunny from a dollar bill. The lecturer said that clients could see that the magician was actually working by how many people had the origami bunny.
The idea of having something visual that people walked around with after you performed for them has stuck with me. I’ve had versions of things over the years. Currently the end of my ambitious card has the face of the card peeled off and stuck to the person who drew on the card’s shirt.
Recently I was performing at a large event and afterwards the booker commented on how many people had my cards on their shirts. Having visual reminders for bookers that you’re there and working is smart! While not 100% necessary, it is helpful at large events where the booker may never see you.
-Louie
Earlier this week I was at a tradeshow and one of the tricks that I was doing in the tradeshow booth was my ending to ambitious card where I peel off the face of the card that they’ve marked and stick to to the person. I call this Full Face Peel.
The nice thing about this trick is that it’s a very different moment from most card tricks, but then the people walk around all day wearing my cards and people ask them about the cards and it brings traffic to the booth I’m at!
Little visual things like this that people walk around with or things that they can keep and show people are things I love doing. Before you think that handing someone a card that’s simply signed, it’s not something they can show someone that tells an interesting story. With just a signed card they’d say, “I wrote my name on the card and he did a card trick with it“, which is OK, but with peeling off the face and sticking to them, it allows the to keep one of the magic moments. Or when I do mismade bill, I leave them with the bill and they can show people that (this gets me a ton of work!).
Look for ways to freeze the magic as a souviner!
-Louie
After doing my “Face Peel” ending to my card routine, I’m really liking it! People take the card sticker and put it on their phone cases, on their shirts or in this lady’s case, on her purse!
I think it’s a way better souvenir than just handing them a card at the end of your card routine.
-Louie
The trick I’m currently working on is more of a gag. It’s for the end of my ambitious card routine. After the trick is done, I peel off the signed face of the card, leaving a blank card.
Here’s a video of one of the trials of it:
I quickly realized I need to do it backwards, giving them the sticker and leaving me with the blank card!
The full face sticker plays as fun, not strange. Almost like it’s something that you could do with any playing card, but never knew you could. The other version of the trick that I’m doing that leaves the pips behind plays more like a strange thing.
I think either version would be elevated from a bit or gag to an pretty good trick if you did it with a borrowed deck or a deck at the bar. If you added in the sticker card and stole out the duplicate, you’ve got a very memorable moment!
-Louie
After doing the peeling off the face of the face card, leaving only the index on the cards many, many times at the fair, I wondered how it would play with an index card. In Alan Wong’s Card Sticker pack, most of the cards are index cards, so I figured I should try to use them. I stuck one onto a blank face card
It took a few tries to get them lined up correctly, however the nice thing is the Card Sticker’s adhesive is very forgiving! The plan is to simply force this card and at the end, peel off the face.
I don’t think this is really a “trick”, just a fun after moment. I’ll give it a try today at the fair and see how it goes!
-Louie
I got to try out the trick I wrote about yesterday that used Index Only playing cards and Card Stickers where I peel off a piece of the card and give it away. It’s not really a trick, but I think it’s more like what Paul Harris calls a piece of strange. It really wouldn’t fly as a stand alone trick and honestly it is what it is, a sticker on a card. However it has more going for it in a situational context, like none of the other cards peel off, which is what every group I tried it on did…try to peel off another card.
Here’s a video of the first couple of times I tried it:
The thing that I would change is that I should be giving away the sticker and keeping the card. The card is the harder part to replace.
I’m happy with the reactions it’s getting and a great, fun, strange ending to the Ambitious Card!
-Louie
