my current repertoire

A quick review of current tricks and where I got them from, and how well they go down. I intend to keep trying a review each week or so to make sure I don't stagnate. Also once a week I like to get all my kit out and double check everything is where I want it (are all the cards there etc). So today I've run through all my open decks of vanilla cards, and rethreaded my spider pen. Also made a quick note of things I need (new thread reels and batteries for the pen that come in replacement packs)

Do as I Do - From Penguin Magic - The participant cuts half the deck. Magician and participant each fan out their half of the deck and each removes a card from the others deck. The card is then reinserted and the participant's half of the deck is cut. One half of the cut is placed face up, followed by all of the magician's half face down on top, this then has the participants placed on top of it face up. The participant takes the whole deck in their hand shakes it a little and the deck is fanned out, face up. All the cards appear faced up apart from two, the participants chosen card and the magicians chosen card.

Reaction:- For a 'self working' trick the reaction from this is very strong. As of yet no spectator has noticed 'the move' nor worked out the mechanism. The orders given by the magician are clear and simple and avoid people doing things during the trick that might spoil the effect. The fact that the participant is involved from the start by cutting the deck and is always in possession of a lot of the cards make the end result a real puzzle for them. the fact there is a transformation taking place in their own hands at the end also delivers great impact.

Card in Hand From Ellusionist.com's Crash Course Participant is given free choice of a card. The card is placed back in the deck and the deck shuffled by the magician. The top card is shown to not be the participant's card and is placed in their participants hand face down. The magician riffles through the pack and the participant's is told to jab the card in and keep a hold of it. The participant's jabbing card has NOT revealed the chosen card, however the card in their hand has transformed into their chosen card.

Reaction:- A very powerful response. Though a little shaky the first few times I performed this as it was my first trick which wasn't 'safe'. There is no forcing or trick deck. there's card manipulation and control and so it's quite scary as there are many places to get yourself 'lost' in and you don't know if it's worked until the end. After a lot of practise my confidence grew and now I hit the mark every time. This trick has left many people genuinely stunned and confused as I walk away. (well limp away)

Here then There From Ellusionist.com's Crash Course The participant is shown the top card and it is places the palm of their hand. Their other hand is placed on top ensuring the card is safe and can't be moved. The magician then takes the next card and shows it to the participant before gently rubbing it, face down over the hands of the participant. When the cards are flipped over again they are shown to have swapped places.

Reaction:- Again a very powerful effect. Whilst needing a little prep to set up (a few moments) it feels safe in that atleast you know as you are perfoming the routine if it's working or not. Much like "Card in Hand" this has people genuinly stumped, and seemed to provide a massive emotional effect. This seems to be the strongest trick I have right now for finishing on.

Heat- Two Card Selection From Ellusionist.com's Crash Course A trick for to participants and a magician. Each participant chooses a card at random. Each card is shuffled into he deck in turn. The magician then claims to feel the heat on the cards that were just held and finds one of the cards quite quickly. He then spreads the pack, face down and uses the selected card, holding in his hand and the hand of the participants who's card still need to be found and runs it along the pack until the participant feels he should stop. the card held in his hand is turned over to reveal that card is the missing chosen card.

Reaction:- Only performed this twice. Once to a magician who recognised the method from "Card in Hand" and another time to a muggle who spotted what the card would be and turned it over half way through the trick. I think this is a good trick, one to perform INSTEAD of "Card in Hand" when you have two people who you want to involve in he magic, but not to be done in the same set as "card in Hand".

So there's the main repertoire with a vanilla deck. I'll post other tricks I know later in the week but these are the ones i"m concentrating on at the moment, and aim to build on a trick or two a week.

Back from Germany

Mad it back in one piece. Had a great time at Wave Gotick Treffen. Took a Vanilla deck with me ad did some close up work on the unsuspecting public. As I had hopes 'Card in Hand' got the best reaction, it should do , it's the hardest trick I know!. Mind you, "Do as I do" (the almost self working trick) also got a VERY positive responce, so it's defiantly one to through into the mix. As I have said before, tricks that take place in the muggles 'world' eg. a card transformation that takes place in THEIR hand etc is very powerful, but a trick where we APPEAR to relinquish some control over to them (such as Do as I do) also give the trick an air of actual reall magic, as opposed to displaying an effect as an act of mental skill.

I\'m totally trashed from this trip so tomorw I intend to run through my false shuffles and cutas and learn a new trick or two with a vanilla dec

hectic day

Been busy finishing off an outfit yesterday and this morning. So only squeesed in a few mintues of card handling. If you want to know how good your dribbling is, try dribbling a rough smooth.

Double Trouble

Had another night magic geeking, this time with Martin and Kat. Saw some amazing work from Martian, again not all of it card based so I will defiantly try to expand my own knowledge base of tricks when I get back from Germany. Decided to try and get a copy of "Elastrix" once I'm back and settled. And some magic loops


ok I KNOW there's no such thing as perfect, and 'good enough' isn't good enough but I think my overhand shuffle control and deck cutting control is improving very well. I think the weak point in tricks like 'Card in Hand' for me is the double lift. Not the showing of it, just the loading of it. Maybe I feel self conscious and fear people can tell I'm up to something. Maybe I stress to much about doing it right. Maybe I'm just too slow. Anyway as well as my regular half an hour or so of shuffling a day I'm going to try half an hour of double lifting as well as going over three basic tricks. 'Do as I Do', 'Card in Hand', 'Here then There'.
These are the first 2 tricks on the "Ellusionist Crash Course" disk one and a simple trick from the penguin series. I'm trying to get the mechanism and order of things for these tricks completely natural so I can concentrate on the performance itself (eg angles etc)

too much card Magic?

I was visiting a good friend last night and we spent a few minutes magic geeking. I pulled out my nice organised case with trick decks, regular decks and a spider ITR, and he pulled out his boxes of packet tricks and other effects. As I've said before the trick decks give a nice amount of 'filler' effects,. Nice effects that are sometimes quite artful, but the one off effects my friend have are truly mind blowing. Difference is his tricks produce ONE effect, whilst a trick deck has many uses. So trick decks for a lot of a routine but these effects make fantastic grand finale's.
All this got me thinking though. All I have really is a ITR, cards and a thumb tip that's too tight. I need to spread out more and try other close up effects, and maybe even something more suitable for a small stage. Coin magic has a huge appeal as if you pull out a pack of cards at a party you instantly look a little suspicious, but people always have coins to play with. I've been put off coin work in the past because my hands are too large for it, but it may be time to revisit it, along with other classic close up effects involving rope, silks and small trinkets.

Interesting Exercise

I've decided that if I am going to whittle away at my life watching telly at night the least I can do is have a deck of cards in my hand and practise some slights. A friend of mine once said that 10,000 hours is the golden number for hours of practise to be truly professional. That's a LOT of practise if you're unable to work at something full time (ie, 9-5). However an hour or two at night has o help a little right? I've been struggling with my double lift for a while now and thought I'd try it with a fresh clean deck. Managed it smoothly first time and continued to perform it well for a full hour. Afterwards I got out two other decks, one over a year old another around 6 months, but all Bicycle Poker decks (blue if it matters).
It is tempting to practice on my ancient deck with he belief that if I can perform the slight smoothly on that deck I should be performing it amazingly well on a fresh deck. My concern is that maybe I'd find a new deck too smooth and may, for example, perform a triple lift by accident, or spray cards when attempting a dribble because the deck is so much smoother than I'd become used to. Therefore I've decided to try each slight and effect with all thee decks. If I find this doesn't cause any confusion with my performing a slight I'll keep this up, if however I find I get confused and unable to perform on all decks I'll stick to the new decks. After all finding a deck that's the exact age and condition of an old deck is much harder than mail ordering a case of new decks. It could be a nice touch to open a deck at a gig, perform a few tricks and then give the deck to someone to keep. (if you by a 'brick' of cards they work out at less than two quid a deck).

this last week...

This last week I've begun learning:-
Card in Hand
Do as I do

Card in hand has a quite a powerful effect on people. THe effect is that a card picked at random (free choice) is lost in the deck. a card other than the selected card is placed in the participant's hand. the card is placed in the pack at random with the aim of it being placed next to the selected card. however it is revealed the card IN the participants hand has changed INTO the selected card. This has quite a powerful effect and if the participant belives in real magic then all is well. however because it is 'Magic' then most adults feel that whilst an impressive trick it is just that, a trick. Ergo there's no imediate way I can see for dressing this up to be a feat of super human ability on behalf of the magicican.

Do as I do is a self working trick that also had a great effect. Infact even though it requires less skill than Card in Hand' it seems to achieve the same level of reaction.
I shall resist going into further detail until i have the blog 'locked down'.

Welcome to the first blog. I aim to update every few days with a list of what I have practised and of any new effects and manoeuvres I have picked up