I’m a huge fan of antique magic, and I think when the current young generation of magicians gets old the antique magic trade will have greatly diminish. The kids coming up in magic over the last decade or so are growing up with downloads, so they aren’t connected as emotionally connected physical props.
I recently found a Merv Taylor Glass Penetration at an auction in Indiana and was the winning bidder!
Looking for auction houses that have some magic stuff is one of my hobbies when I’ve got time between shows. The auction house was only a couple of hours away from where I was performing in Ohio! This was a great find to add to my collection!
This vintage packet trick is interesting, as it feels like Emerson and West’s Color Monte, but with four cards. Here’s what Tom Ogden’s Carnival Cards looks like:
This uses the same move and the effect is very similar, except for the fourth card on the table. I’m curious what came first, it looks like Color Monte was released in 1974 and the Carnival Cards is undated, but based on the packaging, my guess in late 1970’s to early 1980’s.
Here’s the changes that I would make to the Carnival Cards trick:
It’s strange that Carnival Cards uses gaffed cards, because they aren’t needed. I kinda wonder if they were added to make the trick feel more “different” from Color Monte?
I thing this trick is interested as there are a couple of methods working at the same time to create the illusion of the cigarette going through the coin. I don’t know if this is an improvement over the traditional method with a gimmicked coin. Kennedy’s method would have you have to do a switch of the larger object, which complicates doing the trick with “borrowed” objects, which makes the trick stronger.
Cigarette through coin is a classic bar trick like coin in bottle where the strength of the trick is that is uses borrowed objects and everything can be returned at the end and handled by the audience, so everything feels impromptu. It’s that unplanned feeling of it that makes the trick hit really hard!
When I’m out doing roving magic and someone wants to show me a trick, I always say YES… as long as it’s an appropriate time. There are times when it’s not appropriate, like it’s a crazy big event and I just need to get to a lot of people, or I have to physically be somewhere else and need to leave.
The magic that people show me now it way better than it was 5 years ago. I had a kid show me David Harkey and Jay Sankey’s East Meets West! This is a pencil thru dollar bill that was cutting edge in the early 1990’s! The kid did it really well!
Another reason to allow people to show you tricks is that it shows you the kind of magic that people who have had a passing interest in magic are exposed to. It’s no longer just the 21 card trick, they’re learning way better stuff, but I’ve also noticed that those people have a better appreciation for magic than the guy in 1997 who showed you the 21 card trick.
Nick Trost put out a ton of magic tricks in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Today I’m playing with Jail Bird, which is a penetration of a card through a brass fastener.
The problem with the trick is that in the instructions, you come out with the trick set up and then do the trick. It really needs to be set up in front of the audience and while not hard to do, it’s not in the instructions. I don’t know if that was to make the trick “easy to do” or “self working” or the limitations of trying to keep the instructions to one sheet of paper.
It’s a interesting effect, but honestly I don’t know a context were I would really use this trick as it’s kinda a quick one off sorta thing.
A few weeks ago I organized a magic jam in Seattle and it was a blast! There were a ton of familiar faces and a few new ones. One of the great things about these is that is reminds me of why I got into magic, it’s FUN! A bunch of grown ups can spend the evening playing like children and it’s OK because we’re working!
A couple of weeks ago I had a thought go through my head that was that I’d like to 3d print a new magic trick. It’s been a while since I’ve 3D printed any new magic tricks. I’m not looking for simply printing a trick that I found a model of online, but to design something and print it.
I was reading a trick with pennies in Bob Farmer’s Flim Flam book and that got me thinking of the using a “need a penny, take a penny” trays that many stores have by the cash register.
It only took a few tries to get the size of the tray to what I wanted and two tries to get the gimmick the right size.
This tray solves a problem with trying to borrow coins, as people don’t really carry coins anymore. I ask to borrow some pennies and then say, “it’s OK if you don’t have any” and take out the tray with pennies on it. It gets the tray into play logically and with a laugh.
This was a fun project to make and I’ve been having fun doing the trick!
The O-Korto Coin box routine is a lot of fun to do, however the thing that I don’t like about it is that it uses three boxes (only one lid) and that’s a lot of pocket space and pocket management. In an attempt to streamline it, I’ve eliminated one box and am only using the small box and the Boston Box. This cleans up the pocket management a lot!
The routine plays almost the same as in the O-Korto Coin Box Routine instructions. The middle phase where the coins won’t fit into the box has been moved to the end of the routine. The routine goes:
The coins go into the box and they coins penetrate the hand
The coins go into the box (without lid) and the box penetrates the hand
The coins won’t fit into the box when a spectator tries to put them in
I put the coins into the box – this is a bonus fourth effect
That gives me the same three main effects, but with only two boxes. I’m liking it in my pockets this way a lot more!
I came up with a fun way to add in tricks that I’m playing with to my roving set at fairs. I have a ziploc bag full of stuff and I call it the “bag of stuff I can’t do“. I let someone pick something out of the bag and I do that magic trick. It’s a fun way to introduce props that don’t exactly fit my style.
Here’s a highlight video from the fair I performed at last week and you can see some of this stuff.
In that video you can see the first phase of the O-Korto Coin Box routine and Circulation or Round-the-square Cards by Pavel. This is a fun way to keep performing fun and fresh for me.
One of the coin magic props that I really don’t like are coin boxes, like the Okito Box. I’ve never never really had a way to use one that makes sense for me. Recently I came across an O-Korto Coin Box Routine set. This is one lid and three coin box bottoms. There’s a regular Okito Box, a Boston Box and the O-Korto Box, which is a an Okito Box, but with a thicker wall so that the coins won’t fit into them. This set was an old Paul Diamond set and is quarter sized!
I thew this in my close up case and have been playing with it in my roving close up at the fair. I’m familiar with many coin box moves, so adding this is pretty easy. Just because I don’t do something, doesn’t mean I can’t do them or practice with that prop every now and then.
There’s not much to the routine that I’m doing and it’s basically following what comes in the instructions as far as flow of the effects. I did change a bit of the prop managment as the instructions are written for a performer that’s sitting and I perform standing.
The flow of effects is:
Coins go into box and coins penetrate into your hand
Coins won’t fit into the box when spectator tries
Coins now fit and you put the box without lid on your hand so the coins can be seen, then the box penetrates your hand leaving the coins on the back of your hand
Much to my surprise the part of the routine that’s getting the best reaction is when the audience can’t put the coins into the box. I’ve only read about the small box, and thought it was a dumb effect and I did up until the first time I tried it this week.
I love being wrong and having my opinion changes on things!
If you can find an O-Korto Coin Box set or a small box that matches your Okito box, you should give it a try.
