card trick – Page 8 – MagicShow.Tips

Dropping Triumph

Right now I’m reading the book FASDIU 2 by Paul W. Cummins. FASDIU stands for From A Shuffled Deck In Use. The material in this book is all on things using a deck with no set up and no gaffs. I’m really liking the book so far much of the material is the kind of magic I like to do.

I really like the first trick in the book, however this blog post is about the trick called A Total Triumph which is based on a Steve Reynolds trick. In this trick right before the reveal of all the cards going the same direction except for the selected card, you need to get rid of a reversed card on top of the deck. I thought that the old “drop the deck and the top card flips over” thing would solve this.

Here’s a quick demo used in a different context of the idea:

The move makes more sense in the context of the A Total Triumph trick. I’m unaware of anyone using this move to clean up a reversed card in a deck. I think it’s interesting to use a card reveal as a clean up.

Keep Tweaking…

It’s fun playing around with magic tricks. A couple days ago I wrote about tweaking the card trick A Case For Premonition by Roberto Giobbi. This is a card trick where someone names a card, it disappears and it’s in your pocket. I jammed the card trick with a buddy and showed him another way … Continue reading “Keep Tweaking…”

It’s fun playing around with magic tricks. A couple days ago I wrote about tweaking the card trick A Case For Premonition by Roberto Giobbi. This is a card trick where someone names a card, it disappears and it’s in your pocket. I jammed the card trick with a buddy and showed him another way of doing it that I had thought of, which I like a bit more.

In the original method you need to count out 51 cards, it’s boring and time consuming. What I’m doing instead is using a deck that’s marked and in a memorized order. They call out a card and you spread the deck to about where the card is, locate it and get a pinkie break under it. I do this as I say, “You could have named any card…” then I square up the deck. I then side jog the card, and ribbon spread the deck face up on the table. This will hide the selection. Be sure to not be selfish and ribbon spread the cards so that they indices aren’t upside down to the audience. I then run my finger across the cards looking for their card, and it’s gone! I finish by doing Bob Farmer’s Bammo Move as I pick up the deck, palm the card and produce it from my pocket.

It’s not a huge change, but I think it really streamlines the process of making the card disappear. It’s also technically a lot easier than Giobbi’s version that uses a Double Deal and a Cull Palm. If you used an edge marked deck, you’d eliminate the need for the estimation and spread, you could just look for the mark and get a break.

Bouncing Ideas…

In the past I’ve mentioned that jamming with other magicians is an important part of the creative process. This has benefits beyond just coming up with ideas, you can also learn new techniques by hanging out with other magicians. Here’s a magic jam from yesterday: In the video you may have noticed the Coin in … Continue reading “Bouncing Ideas…”

In the video you may have noticed the Coin in Chapstick that I’ve been messing with. It’s an interesting idea, and it was fun two work out some of the finer details with these magicians. I think the trick got better after getting some good feedback!

More on Projection…

Yesterday I wrote about using projection in my show. The key is to enhance the live action, not to replace viewing it from the stage to the screen. Basically the idea is to have the action happen live on stage and visible to the audience, but then using the screen to verify or highlight smaller details.

A good example of this would be a Signed Card to Pocket. The main props which are cards are large and can be seen in a large theater. The signature or specific card number is smaller. Having a screen to project the signed card onto will make the effect play larger.

My idea for working solo is to have a dedicated table with a camera on it and then the projector and screen. In a lot of venues I won’t need to provide the screen, as they will have one already, or I may be able to directly project the image onto a wall behind me. Projecting onto the wall as needed is the ideal situation.

Do As I Do…

There are certain “plots” in card magic that I’m really not a fan of. One of them is the Do As I Do type of tricks. These are typically very procedure heavy and the payoff isn’t that great. Usually it ends with you and a spectator finding the other person’s card. Last night I was … Continue reading “Do As I Do…”

There are certain “plots” in card magic that I’m really not a fan of. One of them is the Do As I Do type of tricks. These are typically very procedure heavy and the payoff isn’t that great. Usually it ends with you and a spectator finding the other person’s card.

Last night I was reading Principia by Harapan Ong and came across his trick called Perspective.

What makes this Do As I Do trick great is that it’s not a “pick a card” type trick. It’s a color change type of card trick, but the cards change for both you and the spectator! Best of all there’s no procedure! The top cards on both halves of the deck keep changing, it’s great!

I love encountering tricks that change how I feel about magic plots!

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!

Bonus Tricks…

A year or so ago I published a trick in Vanish Magazine that used a Sharpie Marker as a prediction. How it went was someone picked a card and drew picture on it. I then told them to look a the pen they are holding and it said, “you will draw a smiley face” which was exactly what they drew. This was playing the odds. I noticed that most people when asked to draw a pic on a card will draw a smiley face. If they don’t draw it I don’t tell them to look at the pen.

I call things like that bonus tricks. Tricks that when they happen are amazing, but don’t always happen.

In my close up card set I force the same card over and over again. Finally they get a different card. I top change it for a similar card. If the initial forced card was a 7 of Diamonds, the different card will be something like a 9 of Hearts. They remember the 9 of Hearts, and I top change it for the 7 of Diamonds and ask them to sign it. At this point one of two things will happen, they will either notice the card had changed or they won’t. If they don’t notice the change, then I get a bonus trick once they are done signing it!

The bonus trick is that I take the card back face down and top change it for the 9 of Hearts, which is what they think they signed and set it face down on the table. I do a pass to bring the signed 7 of Diamonds to the center of the deck. I ask them if they remember the card that they signed and they’ll say the 9 of Hearts. I then rub it on the table and show that their signature has disappeared. For the finale of the bonus trick I spread the deck and show that their signature is now on the 7 of Diamonds!

This is a really amazing trick and hits hard! Being on the lookout for bonus tricks in what you already do, you can do some real miracles!

Time To Wrap It Up…

Sometimes performing for some people can be a pain in the butt. I’m specifically thinking about a person (usually a kid) that thinks everything is a secret sleight of hand move, and feels the need to tell everyone. When they do this, it really breaks up the show and makes it a pain for everyone to watch.

Here’s an example:

I’m doing walk around magic and have a family stopped and ready for a magic trick. The kid excitedly points out that I’m hiding a deck of cards in my hand. I then tell the kid, “I’m not hiding, I’m going to do a card trick, and they are required to do a card trick”. The a moment later after someone has signed the card he tells every that he, “sees that”. I ask what he sees and he replies, “you put that in your pocket”. I ask what and he say he saw me sneak the marker into my pocket. He tells me the marker, I explain that it was no longer needed and I was putting it away. It continues like this until I leave.

I finished the card trick and wrapped it up and started to leave. When I did he mother told me, “they’re a rough crowd”. I wanted to tell them they weren’t a rough crowd, her child was simply an idiot, or an a-hole. I’m sure there was a larger issue at play with the kid, however it’s a teachable moment for the mother and child. She simply could have explained that’s he was interrupting the show and he needed to shut up

However she didn’t, and I finished the card trick and left.

Promotional Tricks…

Every now and then I get asked by bookers if I can make a promotional video for their event. Usually it’s me saying hi and doing a quick trick. This works fine, however I’m playing with doing slightly more informational promo tricks. Here’s one I did the other day: It’s decent, it has a little … Continue reading “Promotional Tricks…”

It’s decent, it has a little bit of a surprise and has all of the information. The next one I do, I think it’ll have a trick and have the information text cards as a kicker to it. Maybe something like a four ace production, then the text cards.

I think getting requests for promotional videos specific to an event are going to be more common in the future with pretty much every public event doing promo on social media. I think having a generic sequence you do, but having custom information cards would be the best way to do it.

Newly Acquired Taste in Card Tricks

One of the books that I’m reading right now is Principia by Harapan Ong. It’s a card magic book, and while I’m only about 50 pages into it, I think it’s a really good, modern card magic book. One of the books selling points is that there is internet video of Harapan doing all of … Continue reading “Newly Acquired Taste in Card Tricks”

One of the books that I’m reading right now is Principia by Harapan Ong. It’s a card magic book, and while I’m only about 50 pages into it, I think it’s a really good, modern card magic book. One of the books selling points is that there is internet video of Harapan doing all of the material in the book. Unfortunately I’m in a position where I don’t have internet access fast enough to stream video, so I haven’t watched them.

One thing that surprised me was there was an “elevator” card trick that I actually liked. I think I was introduced to the elevator plot when I was a teenager reading the big Alex Elmsley books. I never really liked the plot simply because there always seemed to be either too much process or too much proving. The Michalevator routine in the book doesn’t have much process and doesn’t over prove…and I like it.

I don’t know if I’ll ever actually use Harapan’s elevator trick in an actual show or not, but it’s been fun to play with. I’ve said it before, but it’s important to still play with magic. That’s how we learn, through play.