card magic – Page 17 – MagicShow.Tips

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!

Deck Ripping Routine…

A while ago on this blog I wrote up my deck ripping routine. Basically it’s the split deck trick, but instead of a factory made deck, you are using a deck that you rip in half with your bare hands. One of the things I like about doing this trick is the “barrier to entry”, you have to put in the time to be able to do the trick.

The other day during my preshow at a library gig I had a kid helping me and I just kept classic forcing the two of hearts to him. I was playing around and would top change the two for another card, then rip it in half and throw it away. Then the kid would pick the two of hearts that I just torn up. I did this a couple times. Finally I turned the deck face up and had him pick a card that wasn’t the two and I had him stand on it (after I switched it). I then ripped the deck in half so he couldn’t pick the two. Once the deck was ripped the kid (on his own) reached down to look at the card he was standing on and was very much amazed that the card had changed into the two of hearts!

This is a decent ending to a multiple force routine. You really can’t do anymore, the deck is destroy and the card has changed one last time. Structurally and logically, I need to work on it, but for this “improv” situation it was fun.

While I will probably never do this routine again, it got me thinking about it. What if I used a flap card with a lock. The person picks a card that’s not the force and you set it facing the audience. You rip the deck, and then the card visually changes into the force card. I’m not sure this is better than the kid reaching for the card he’s standing on, because his reaction really sold the trick.

Improvised Card Magic

Last night at the Seattle Magic Club, I got talking about “improvised” card magic. What that means is magic where you don’t have a formal plan and kinda figure it out while you are going. I got into doing this style of trick through some books by Justin Higham. It’s an interesting style, and it … Continue reading “Improvised Card Magic”

The 75% Production and The Trick With No Method

It’s an interesting style, and it works out your brain while you perform. In a nutshell, what you are doing it looking for things you can do while you are doing other tricks. Let’s say you are doing Triumph and when you spread the cards at the end, you notice 3 kings together in the deck, that’s something you may be able to use later in an improvised trick.

The key to this is that you don’t always do something. For example, let’s say I have the three kings at the bottom of the deck, but the 4th never comes up, then I don’t do the trick.

While talking to some of the magicians about this style of performing, one commented that it’s probably hard to think that quick. It is, but the more you do it, the easier it is. Also when you remember that no trick is an acceptable outcome, then you can’t lose!

I recommend you check out Justin Higham’s books on this and try it out!

Why Not To Give Credit…

Recently someone in a magic group on the internet said that you should give credit during your shows for magic tricks you didn’t create AND for things that inspired the tricks. This is an interesting concept and within magic it’s not really done, outside of a presentation angle.

The person thinks you should “live credit” your tricks to honor the people before you, not for a presentation angle. They then posted a video of them performing, where they say the name of the person whose routine they are doing. Then they say, “I’ll never be able to do it as well as them, but tonight I’m going to try…”    There’s a couple of things wrong with that.

First you are telling the audience a story about a show that’s better than your show. Why are we are your show, if there’s a better one? Second is that by trying and succeeding, you are saying you are better than the person you are doing a tribute to. Also in their credit they don’t give us any info on the person whose routine they are doing, and any background about them. It’s simple a credit, not a tribute.

Now here’s an example of it done well:

What makes Penn and Teller’s version good, is they don’t just say the name of the performer, they give a little bio. They also don’t say they will do it better or worse, they let their performance be judged by their performance.

My position on crediting during a show is that you don’t need to do it. It’s stupid and would be an insane waste of time if you had to live credit every move, or bit. You bought the book / DVD / media, the author has gotten compensated, that’s the end of the deal…Unless it’s specifically required by the creator of the trick or bit as a condition of you using it.

Here’s a noteworthy example. Ricky Jay did a trick from Expert at the Card Table, almost exactly as written in the book (moves and patter). He never live credited it to Erdnase in his shows. In fact he got upset when other people did the routine because he thought they wouldn’t have been doing it if they didn’t see him do it!

TLDR: Crediting during your show is a waste of time and dumb.

I Practice With Good Tools…

A couple of nights ago I was hanging out with a couple of magicians and one of them asked if the rumor about Bicycle Cards that are sold are Costco was true. If you don’t know, the rumor is that the Bicycle Cards there are “seconds” and not as good as ones you’d buy elsewhere. … Continue reading “I Practice With Good Tools…”

I think that the cards at Costco are the same ones you’d get elsewhere. I also think that Bicycle’s standard card has become junk over the last 15 or so years. I use them, but I only use them at gigs because a deck of cards at a gig lasts me about an hour. After an hour the deck is missing so many cards it’s not usable.

After a Bicycle deck is broken in, I don’t think they handle well. So personally I buy higher quality cards for my own non-show use. I find that I practice more frequently using better decks of cards. Here’s the current deck I’m using:

I know that 90% of the “higher quality” cards are printed at the USPCC, however I’m pretty sure they are not printed on the standard stock. Having better tools that last longer gets me to practice more. I’m learning moves I’ll never use, but it sure is fun!

Play Around…

When I’m out performing mingling magic (aka roving close up) I frequently throw something into my pocket that’s not part of my normal set. It could be a full trick, gimmick, prop, or whatever. A couple of nights ago I put a pair of blank dice in my pocket. Years ago I published a … Continue reading “Play Around…”

When I’m out performing mingling magic (aka roving close up) I frequently throw something into my pocket that’s not part of my normal set. It could be a full trick, gimmick, prop, or whatever.

A couple of nights ago I put a pair of blank dice in my pocket. Years ago I published a trick with blank dice in the Linking Ring Magazine. Basically the gist of it was someone selected a card. They rolled the blank dice, told you the number they rolled, and you dealt down the number they rolled. The selected card was at the number. This is based on an Eddie Fields trick that uses a name.

Here’s video from the first table I did it at the other night…it’s been years since I did the trick:

After I did the trick in the video above, I realized it needed another phase. For the next phase I added this trick that’s part of my normal card set, but using the “rolled” numbers instead of any number:

Now I’ve got a little routine…but it needed an ending. So I’m ending it with a third phase where they shuffle the cards, roll again and deal down to that number. This time the card is not there. It’s folded up in my wallet.

I like that in this routine, each time the card is found it’s in a different state. First it’s face down, next it’s face up and finally it’s folded up. By the end of the night it went from OK to pretty good!

So the moral of the story is don’t be afraid to play around!

Louie