I’ve just added some magic books to the Used Magic page on this blog.
I’ll be adding more soon, and there’s only one of each and when it’s gone, it’s gone. So if you need any of these for your collection, order them now!
https://www.magicshow.tips/used-magic-for-sale/
-Louie
One thing that I like is having magic that people can touch after the trick has happened! I’m not talking about giving out a signed card after the trick, but when something is altered, them getting to touch and potentially keep the trick in its altered state.
Giving out a signed card isn’t magically altered. This is where something like metal bending is great, they can touch it, keep it and show it to other people and the item is interesting.
For example the end of my card routine I peel the front off the card and hand it to the person. This is way more interesting than simply handing them a signed card. Also 90% of the people then stick that card on their shirt! That gets people at the event talking about me, or at least aware that there’s a roving magician there.
Another example is my Out For Beers trick. This trick starts as a gag with card with a picture of a full pitcher of beer. Then the pitcher magically empties itself. This is something that they keep in its altered state and gets them talking about me to other people at the event I’m at.
Unfortunately in magic there’s not a lot of options for tricks where the item is altered and they can handle it in the altered condition…and even less where they can keep the item!
-Louie
Over the years I’ve always like the idea of the shot glass production. In the past I’ve produced a full shot glass from an egg bag, shoe, and just my pocket. Producing a full shot glass has an nice “wow” factor and is a nice ending when you toast your audience.
About a month ago I had an idea for a shot glass production. I finally was able to figure out how to make the gimmick. Here’s a very rough version of it:
This is nowhere near the final routine, it’s a proof of concept to make sure the gimmick works. However I do like the flipping of the handkerchief during the lime production, I think it adds to the shot glass production.
Now I need to go out and do it hundreds of times to figure out all of the ways it can go wrong!
-Louie
Here’s another visit with an old packet trick. It’s Sympathetic Cards by Ronnay, that was put out by Emerson and West. The trick is a “follow the leader” effect where two packets keep matching when one is turned face up or face down, then there’s a couple of kickers with jokers appearing and backs changing colors.
The problem with the trick as written is you end up with two more cards than you start with. It’s a small problem, but also something that I feel needs to be addressed. However there’s a lot of magic that happens in it and it’s pretty good magic, so it’s not a bad trick…
If I was to improve it, the main thing I would do is try to figure out a way to get rid of the two extra cards. Other than that, it’s pretty good.
-Louie
The other day I was looking at some three shell game sets on ebay and came across this set:
And here’s the description:
| Vintage Original Three Shell Game This Is the Oldest Con Game Ever Played A high-performance set of shells that handles well on the STREETS. This is YOUR CHANCE to learn this crowd-pleaser and get a top-quality set of shells. Highly recommended! THIS VINTAGE SET IS FROM A MAGIC ESTATE SALE. I HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THESE WERE PURCHASED IN THE LATE 1940s to EARLY 1950s. I CAN’T TELL IF THEY ARE REAL OR MANUFACTURED! THEY LOOK AMAZING! NO INSTRUCTIONS! YOU GET THE -3-SHELLS AND -1- PEA NO REFUNDS! NO RETURNS! |
What’s wrong with that description is that those shells are 100% 3d printed or made from a mold of a 3d printed shell. How 3d printing works is that it makes things in layers, and that leaves ridges and those are clearly visible in the picture.
The seller say’s they’re from the 1940’s or 1950’s, when really the oldest they’d be is probably 2010, which is a solid 60 years newer than the seller claims. I’m not saying the seller is knowingly lying about the age, however whoever gave them the mid 20th century claim is incorrect.
This is a situation where having a little bit of knowledge of materials will save you $80!!!
-Louie
Here’s another packet trick I picked up from a magic shop’s junk bin. It’s called Liar’s Blackjack by Bob King. It’s sorta an all backs routine, but not really. You have five cards that have backs on both sides, then a few faces appear and one of them changes.
Here’s what it looks like with when the original instructions are followed and my update on the trick:
The big change is that I got rid of the cards with backs on both sides. That’s such a strange object that the routine really glosses over and I think detracts from the routine. Using blank face cards keeps the focus on the effect and presentation. Then a little change in the count as the Kiss Elmsley doesn’t really work with the blank face cards, so I used the Hypnotic Rumba Count.
This isn’t a routine that I would ever do, but I think that getting rid of the cards with backs on both sides is a HUGE improvment!
-Louie
In my close up work I don’t really do any packet tricks, however I love working through them. One thing I like to do is buy packet tricks out of junk bins at magic shops and then try to improve them. In a recent junk packet trick purchase I got Nick Trost’s Kannibal Kards.
First of all, the art is offensive by today’s standards, however this was made in 1981, so over forty years ago when this style of art would have been acceptable. That doesn’t make it right, but socially acceptable at the time.
The effect is that two cards disappear one at a time within a packet of three cards. Then for then ending there is a surprise reveal card.
The problem with the original routine (besides the art) is that the first card physically disappears and the second one doesn’t. Here’s what the original routine and my improvement looks like:
What I did was change the handling so that the second card also physically disappears and then for the reveal, all three remaining cards change to the surprise card, not just one card. I also noticed there’s a little subtlety where you can show show half of the reveal card and it appears to be one of the original cards. This works with the original card set, however it’s not mentioned in the instructions.
I also made a version using the original handling with a slightly different reveal card at the end
@louiefoxx What Happens To Hikers That Get Lost? #hiking #wilderness #forest #bigfoot #party #sasquatch #camping #louiefoxx #supriseending #waitforit #crpytid #intothewild #magictrick #cardtrick #nicktrost #sleightofhand ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx
Reworking these old packet tricks is a fun exercise!
-Louie
One of the things that I collect are three shell game sets. I have a pretty big collection of shell game sets, and it’s getting harder and harder to finds ones that I don’t have. I recently came across this set:
And here’s the under side of the shells:
Initially I thought these were resin, but thank to Andrew Pinard’s suggestion, I did some more inspection and they are natural walnut shells that have been filled and coated.
I’m glad to have added these to my collection!
-Louie
It’s taking some time go get through the JP Vallarino book, but I’m still working on it. I finished the card sandwich section last night and there’s one thing that really stuck out to me. I think it was called the “automatic sandwich“, it’s a very hands off way to get the selected card in between the two other cards.
Before you watch the video, while you can’t see the cards, I never touch the pair of cards, the selection or any of the cards and there are no gimmicks.
And here’s how it works:
I feel OK showing this as the routine makes it happen openly, so I’m not giving away anything secret that wouldn’t be shown if I did the trick as written. In the video above I’m blowing on it, in the book Vallarino uses a riffle to create the air force to blow the card.
This would make an interesting bar bet OR as a paper balls over head sort of trick where everyone sees how it works except for the person who selected the card. It’s a fun little bit for a card sandwich routine, I don’t really do any card sandwich routines, but might start just to use this bit!
-Louie
Years ago I built a set of soft pins for the linking pins trick out of giant 5 inch safety pins. These aren’t as easy to make as you’d think. There are a couple of challenges, like the safety pin take a lot of force to open and close. The tension on the spring make getting the pin over the lip a challenge to open and close the soft pin.
My solution was to cut off the lip of the safety pin, so that the the pin had less distance to travel, making it easier to open and close the soft pin.
That partially solved the problem the of opening and closing the soft pin. The final part was to shorten the needle of the pin, so that it was easier to load things on and off of the safety pin.
After that, the final alteration was to bend the pin so that it functioned like a traditional soft pin. I’ve been using these pins for years and they work great. I’ve seen in magic groups on the internet people ask about gimmicking these giant safety pins and other magicians say that you can’t. Those magicians are wrong and I’ve intentionally not really mentioned you could. I liked keeping this thing for me…or so I thought.
Recently while digging through a junk magic bin I found this:
In this book from 1994, Jose De La Torre came to almost the exact same solution as me…but 30 years before me! While I’m disappointed I’m not the first person to solve this problem, I’m also not surprised. Scaling it up in size logical extension of the close up linking safety pins.
-Louie
