and he's back

I've finally started practising again. I've also down some research at Molly's on the Electr[o]cracy night. As well as working out a running order for a few effects I took he opportunity to practise some tag team magic with Harvey. A simple case of myself forcing a card and himself revealing it in his own rather unique and down right creepy manor. It was great fun being back in the magic saddle as well as good fun doing it with Harvey again.

New Stuff

Slights- The Classic Back Palm Picked up from the video demonstration of KAOS which in itself is a trick I'm working on. Kaos is a card through window effect which uses the classic back palm. The back palm is a system where a card in the hand (of the magician) can instantly vanish and be made to reappear.

Big Deal - from "Street Magic by Paul Zenon" A trick portrayed as a lesson in card cheating. The magician explains about the principles of 'Dealing from the bottom'. He places four kings on the bottom of the deck and proceeds to deal 5 hands of 5 card stud poker. He starts with the player to his left and deals from the top, when he gets to himself he deals slowly and deliberately from the bottom of the deck. He does this for four rounds of dealing, so everyone knows he has four kings in his had and on the fifth round does a very deliberate top deal (the four kings being already there) everyone then looks at their hands and judges what they have. The magician reveals his four kings, the cards are then placed back on the deck and the magician states the problem lays in bottom dealing fast enough that it goes unnoticed and yet making sure you grab the correct card. He then deals five cards each and this time people notice he has made a mistake because they have one of the kings in their hand. The magician reveals his hand to contain four aces.

Reaction This trick went down very well, possibly because it initially didn't present itself as a trick but more as a lesson and a challenge. "Can you spot the bottom deal the second time around?" I think the next time I perform this trick I'll ask people to look at their own hands the second time around and not to say anything. Then I'll ask the participants if they think I succeeding in my bottom dealing ways, before I reveal my cards. Maybe as if they would like to make a small wager on weather my hand obtained with my own magical powers could beat their hand obtained by chance. They may notice that they hold one of the kings, hence believing that I have failed in bottom dealing. This I feel could add a new element of fun to the finally reveal.
I am rather happy with my current introduction as well. I approach the group (ideally of four people) And start chatting about being a magician. When I first started card magic I used to say "And this is why you never want to play me at poker". I then make up a fictitious friend who told me that this was a rather bold statement, and could I REALLY use my skills to cheat without people spotting it. I then say that it made me sound like somone who has had 2 lessons in karte who the went on to proclaim they are the worklds hardest man/woman/chicken. And thus the challenge is set.

Aces High - from "Street Magic by Paul Zenon" Another aces trick. The spectator cuts the cards into four piles. Then they are invited to pick up each pile in turn and to mix things up a little. This is achieved by dealing 3 cards to the bottom of the pile and then one card onto the top of each other pile. When this is repeated for all four piles the top cards are revealed and show an ace on the top of each pile.

Reaction I was pleasantly surprised by the strength of the reaction to this trick.I have seen it before with subtle variations and clocked a rough method after a demostration of it. Hwoever this trick builds on principles of other tricks I already know and thus I've been given a head start on working it out. Everyone else (both lay people AND fellow magicians) were left stumped. It has an intresting peice of misdirection in it, in the form that the specator cuts the cards as roughly as they like thus adding an element of randomness. This reaction really shows the method is hidden in my view.

Conclusion of the night and thoughts on where I'm going

Both of these tricks are self working and from the same book, "Street Magic by Paul Zenon". This same book also taught me "Out of this world" as well as a few hints for "Ambitious Card". I know it's common practise to recommend "Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic" to any budding Harry Potter want to be, and it does have a lot going for it. The book is HUGE and covers practically all arrears of the magical craft. However the first tricks in the book are very basic and don't pack much punch. Overall you should get a copy and read it for the ground work BUT I think the Paul Zenon book is great if you want people to have quick results to keep their interest alive. I'm continuing on my pledge to by no new magic for a while, but to go through what I have here. Some tricks which i thought too basic or clumsy are turning out in fact to be very powerful. Even if I eventually shed these tricks later on in my development as a magician I do believe they are giving me a good grounding knowledge of what gets people excited. So I shall continue to learn some of the tricks I discarded in the past just in case there is a great understanding to be had through them.

On a final note. I was practically overpowered by how good it felt double teaming some tricks with Harvey, I want to think about more tricks where we could apply our own specialities. Also a very nice lady was totally overcome by my abilities and insisted I was as good if not better than a magician hired by her family for a birthday. This magician charged £300 for 2 hours or close up work. Now it is dangerous to succumb to flattery on this level but on the other hand it does lend a certain encouragement to keep going with the practise.