sleight of hand – Page 5

Queens to Queens

One thing I realized when posting on social media is that a lot of standard techniques that work in an in person show don’t hold up to video. One example is using an Elmsley Count of four of the same cards, but you’re passing one card off as two. You say you have four queens, and count through them, and don’t call out the suits, so one suit shows twice. This doesn’t hold up to repeated watching.

Here’s my solution to it:

@louiefoxx Super Quick and Stupid Card Trick! #cardtrick #magic #magictrick #cards #playingcards #queens #red #black ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

In the trick above at the end you see all four suits, however you I’m only showing three cards. The solution is something that I stumbled on and it’ll be in the February issue of Vanish Magazine.

It’s a small thing and won’t improve or apply to every trick where you’re passing of the same card as two different cards using an Elmsley Count, but it’s a nice thing to be able to add when it makes sense!

-Louie

Evolution of an Idea

About 50 years ago Paul Harris put out the Paul Harris Vanishing deck. This is the vanish of a full deck of card. Well, almost a full deck of cards, here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx This is 50 years old! #cardtrick #magictrick #cardmagic #disappear #vanish #gone #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

The weak point of the trick is the card that’s removed. I guess if you gave the trick context, like that’s a chosen card then it makes more sense. The improvement with the trick came about 20 years later was when Steve Bedwell put out Reboxed.

@louiefoxx Card trick from 30 years ago! #cardtrick #cardmagic #magictrick #cards #magician #vintagemagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

The huge improvement that Steve gave the trick was context. The deck didn’t disappear it went through the box! That change in effect from a vanish to a penetration also cleaned up the weak point of having to remove the card from the deck.

Then about ten years ago they improved the Reboxed gimmick to clean up the handling.

The new gimmick made the handling a little bit cleaner.

That’s a 40 year evolution of the Paul Harris Vanishing Deck! This is a good example of why nothing should ever be considered finished.

-Louie

People Love ACAAN!

A few days ago I was at a booking event and Chubby Checker was there. He’s 82 years old and been in showbiz for over 60 years!

I was chit chatting with his manager and she told me that Chubby loves magic and asked if I could show him a trick. I went over and did Any Card at Any Number for him and he loved it. He bugged me the whole event to do it again and I did and each time he was more amazed.

Magicians who have never done a pure ACAAN where it’s simply “name a card, name a number” and their card is at their number don’t understand how good of a card trick it is. It’s an impossible trick.

Many magicians say that audiences don’t like it and it’s a trick for magicians are totally wrong. I think there are so many bad tricks that pretend to be an ACCAN, but aren’t and dilute the effect. Once you get dice, your phone or convoluted processes into the trick to make it easier, the trick isn’t as clear or nearly as impossible.

Doing ACAAN correctly where there’s no process, or additional props, just a card, number and a deck of cards isn’t easy to do. It’s out of range of the average performer as you need to improvise a lot and have a huge toolbox card magic knowledge to draw from.

It’s totally worth learning to do correctly, it’s an incredible trick that audience do like!

If you’re interested in doing ACAAN, I recommend tracking down the book Any Card by Alain Nu. It’s a great overview of how to work ACAAN.

– Louie

Staging for Video Projection

In yesterday’s post I mentioned using a Hollyland Mars 400s Pro II for video projection in my show. I forgot to include a picture of my simple set up with it.

Hollyland Mars 400s Pro II for magic show video projection

It’s just an old iPhone with an HDMI adapter that goes to the Hollyland Mars 400s Pro II. The iPhone has a physical shutter that I 3d printed to block the camera when not in use.

That’s it! Easy peasey, nothing to crazy.

-Louie

Strange Four Ace Production

I’ve been playing with a production of three cards, but it really didn’t feel right. There’s hardly ever a reason to produce three cards. One, two and four make sense but three? I guess maybe if you’re trying to wrap up a multiple selection routine, but that would be it.

The solution hit me, have a card picked, then produce the remaining three of that value. Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Four of a kind! #cardtrick #cardistry #magictrick #aces #cards ♬ Bitter Sweet Symphony – The Peppermint Posse

Here’s how to do it:

Set up: you have an ace at the bottom of the deck and the three other aces in the middle of the deck, with a pinky break below the top ace.

Working: Classic force the ace below the pinky break, and keep the break between the two aces in the middle of the deck. While they are looking at the card, use your left ring finger to pivot the card above the break 90 degrees, so it’s sticking out sideways. This is hidden by your right hand.

Set the selected card (ace) face up on the table with your left hand.

Your right hand does Derek Dingle’s Open Sesame move, with the index finger splitting the deck above the sideways cards and pivoting the card below it 90 degrees as your turn you hand over.

BOOM! You have just produced the three cards of the same value as a selected card in a flourishy way.

-Louie

Magic on the Morning Show

Last week I did a TV spot to promote National Magic Week and here’s the video of the spot:

Here’s where I could have improved:

I should have asked to do a run through so that the camera man and director knew what was going to happen. That would have had way less clunky wide shots.
I should have held the display of the card a lot longer. My displays were too fast.

It was a decent media spot, not great but not bad either.

-Louie

The Bodega Coin Tray – Reviews

About a month ago I started selling The Bodega Coin tray. This is the classic multiplying coin tray magic prop, but with new clothes. It’s designed to look like the “need a penny” tray on the counter of a corner store.

The problem with the classic version is there’s really no reason to hold a handful of coins on an ornate wooden tray or a shiny chrome one.

Since I released it I’ve gotten a ton of cool feed back. Doc Dixon gave it a shout out in his newsletter

Doc’s newsletter is great with a lot of solid advice, you can subscribe here.

These are getting out there in the world, and it makes me happy!

I’m glad I put this magic prop out there into the world as soo many people who were aware of the Multiplying Coin Tray, but never did it are playing with it now!

-Louie
PS: You can get The Bodega Coin Tray here!

Vintage Magic Trick: Ronnay’s Twisting the Jokers

Today’s vintage magic trick is Twisting the Jokers by Ronnay. This trick is very much the vibe of the golden age of packet tricks. It’s a trick where the four cards turn over one at a time, then turn into a different value. During this time that plot was done a ton of different ways, and here’s Ronnay’s version:

@louiefoxx Vintage Magic Trick! Ronnay’s Twisring the Jokers #magictrick #joker #cardtrick #vintage #packettrick #louiefoxx #magiciansoftiktok ♬ 10 minutes, meditation, sleep, mindfulness, night(951759) – Gloveity

The provided patter is garbage, it feels like rip off of the standard Six Card Repeat patter. The problem with this trick’s patter is that it uses a lot of industry terms that make it feel really clunky.

From a technical standpoint this trick is fine and it logically flows, but with a modern trick like NFW which is easier to do and much cleaner, Twisting the Jokers is obsolete…but these types of tricks were steps on the ladder to get to tricks like NFW and they have their place.

– Louie

What Makes a “New” Trick?

This morning I was thinking about what makes a trick different from what has come before it. Especially if it’s derivative trick, build off of an existing effect. I think it was Greg Wilson in a interview said he had a three categories:
Effect – Method – Routine

For a trick to be new, it needs to have changed two of the three of these. I think that’s a good baseline, however things definitely can get murky. Let’s talk about David Roth’s Karate Coin trick. The effect is that you throw a coin in the air and as it falls, you stab your finger through it, leaving it impaled on your finger.

The original version used a coin that had a hole punched out in it. Then at some point Gary Oulette put out the New Karate Coin that hand a coin that hand the center that looked like someone had shot a bullet through it. This only changed the prop and very slightly, the method and routine are unchanged. I will say that this prop is an improvement on the original coin used in the Roth routine, which was simply a coin with hole in it. At the end of the original trick you end up with a coin that magically has no center. The New Karate Coin addresses this, but I’m not sure it makes it a new trick. I guess it’s more like a new prop for an existing trick?

Now, let’s get to another version of the trick which is Doug Bennett’s Lickity Split. The effect and method are the same, the prop has changed. Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx Heads or tails? #coin #halfdollar #coinmagic #cointrick #magic #magician #louiefoxx #licketysplit #dougbennett #headsortails ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

Is this a new trick because they coin has been impaled sideways, or an new prop for an existing trick?

Honestly I don’t know the answer, I think Doug’s version is very slightly a different trick than Gary’s version. It’s very slight, like you would add a word or two to the description, but don’t think it makes it a new trick.

All of that said, I personally think that both of the versions of the Karate Coin are improvements over the original and have merit, I’m just not sure how to categorize them.

-Louie

Mike Gallo’s The Ball and Vase

When I was a teenager I came across a copy of Michael Skinner’s Intimate Magic book. In it he teaches his legendary Ball and Vase routine. Basically it’s uses the basic ball and vase trick that comes in most beginners magic kits and turns it into a solid magic routine.

Then there’s Mike Gallo’s The Ball and Vase routine, which I think I’ve encountered decades ago, but never really did. I recently found the set for the trick with instructions and learned it.

Here’s what it looks like:

@louiefoxx You wont believe how cool something so simple can be! #simple #cool #magictrick #ball #what #magic #magician #louiefoxx #michaelskinner #mikegallo #easymagic ♬ original sound – Louie Foxx

This trick is fun to do, and I think it’s better than the original Skinner version of the trick. With it having no gimmicks aside from an extra ball, it’s really practical. The only problem for me is that it doesn’t quite fit my close up performing style. also it requires a table, and all of my close up had to be able to be done without a table. Sometimes the non-tabled version of the stuff I do will lack a phase or uses the audience’s hands as a makeshift table. Unfortunately, neither of these is an option for that.

-Louie