card trick – Page 11 – MagicShow.Tips

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

Always Have a Trick in Your Pocket…

One thing that I often hear magicians say is that they never perform for people unless they are paid. That’s bunk. Personally I usually have a deck of cards in my pocket, not because I want to show people tricks, but it allows me to practice when I have unexpected downtime. Stuck in the … Continue reading “Always Have a Trick in Your Pocket…”

Stuck in the drive thru line at the bank…I can bang out a few practice false shuffles.

Recently I was picking my agent up at the airport in Billings, MT and her checked luggage as well as about 30 other people’s luggage were left behind in Seattle. That meant a long wait (over 2 hours!) to file their baggage claims.

She had taken my banner as “carry on” to the plane. So I popped up the banner and did a show for the people waiting!

It really made a difference in the people’s day! Also the trick that I’m doing in the above video was published in an issue of Vanish Magazine from a couple of months ago.

In addition to a deck of cards that’s usually in my pocket, I have an impromptu show that lives in my wallet. This show is short at about 15 mins, but it’s got a beginning, middle and end. This isn’t just a series of tricks, it’s a show. I highly recommend you have show you can do from you wallet. It doesn’t need to play for 500 people, but a good, solid 10-15 mins of close up. The book The Impromptu Mystifier is what got me to put this show together and in it the author gives a great frame work for how to structure the show.

I’m not saying you should force your magic on anyone, but you also never know when you’ll be in a position to perform.

Louie

Dusting Off Tricks

I’ve been fascinated by the Any Card at Any Number trick since I was a teenager. I’ve developed and published several methods of doing it. I was going through an old notebook and found this version that I was doing in the early 2000’s This version has a few interesting things going for it, … Continue reading “Dusting Off Tricks”

This version has a few interesting things going for it, like the imaginary deck premise and that’s it’s pretty easy to do. It also have a few things not going for it, like having to use the “magician’s choice” force for the suit selection, the deck can’t be handled by the spectator and it’s uses for another trick and very limited (but not impossible).

This version I call the Imaginary Card at Any Number and will be published in an upcoming issue of Vanish Magazine. Hopefully someone will use the trick as a jumping off point for their version of the trick. For me the method for this trick had me work to eliminate the weaknesses and come up with a better versions. My current version doesn’t have the weaknesses of this trick.

Louie

Magician’s Love a Deal…

A week or two ago magicians started noticing that the Walgreens Drug Stores in the USA stared selling Jumbo Bicycle Decks of cards. They also started buying a ton of them when they were on sale as a “buy one get one free” deal. Then came the realization that the cards were the new … Continue reading “Magician’s Love a Deal…”

Then came the realization that the cards were the new thinner stock jumbo cards. By “new” I mean the stock they changed to a decade ago. This thinner stock is harder to use than the old stock which was at least twice as thick as the new stock. The same magicians that were hoarding the cards were complaining about how they were useless.

These cards have tons of ways to use them.

Practice with them and you’ll be able to handle them like the old stock. I’ve been using the new stock for years.
Make a “double deck” where you essentially have two decks in one.
Make a pop eyed popper deck
Think outside the box. The advantage of the thinner stock is you can make some interesting gimmicks without having to “split” the cards. Here’s one of the things that I made:

This is a flap card and my design was based on FLAP by Hondo. In the future I want to make a card that has two changes, so shows a total of three cards if you include the card it starts one. My plan would be to use this for a reveal of the cards for the classic “Tossed Out Deck” trick.

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