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Paul Harris Presents

Illusion

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Apr 112012
 
Illusion

Note From the Editor: This month’s effect has been generously donated by none other than Paul Harris himself . . . a true magical genius, and the guy who inspired a huge chunk of my work and really opened my eyes to what magic really is . . . a vehicle to end . . . astonishment. If you don’t already own his 3 volume set, Art of Astonishment, it’s an absolute must have. Make it your next purchase. Today’s offering is from the The Magic of Paul Harris written by Jerry Mentzer And so . . . ladies and [...]

Evil Duo, Loud & Live a/k/a Satire = Veritas

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Mar 052012
 
Evil Duo, Loud & Live a/k/a Satire = Veritas

Note From the Editor: The effect below has been generously contributed by Max Maven. It comes from his wonderful book Redivider. It’s one of many excellent effects from this book. I highly recommend it. And for $15 bucks . . . seriously, you don’t already own it!? You can get it at Hermetic Press. On to the effect . . . Bob Hummer and Theodore Annemann are among the few magicians with the audacity to discuss politics through the medium of a card trick. That’s probably just as well; agitprop rarely produces a comfortable fit in performance. Casting caution aside, [...]

The Spirits Have Spoken

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Feb 082012
 
The Spirits Have Spoken

Note From The Editor: A big fat thank you to Dr. Lawrence Hass. -Jeff Stone . . . and now . . . Showtime What follows is a true story-a story about events that took place in 1848 in a very small town in upstate New York. Mr. John Fox was working in his kitchen late one night when he heard a sound [rap]. How strange. . .who could it be at this time of the night? Grabbing a lantern he went to the front door and opened it. It was dark and the wind was blowing through the trees. [...]

Ghost in The Machine

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Jan 102012
 
Ghost in The Machine

The Year is 1995. The place is Kansas City. Carl Cloutier and I are among a handful of magicians from the North who have descended upon Stevens Magic emporium to shoot a two-volume video set called The Magic of Canada. The magnanimous Joe Stevens tries to make us feel more at home by serving maple syrup and being polite. It works – everyone’s in a great mood. During a break, Carl and I wander over to the vending machines, and while he’s dropping in coins, I’m toying with a deck of cards. Then I see the “insert dollar bills” slot [...]

Dessert First

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Dec 302011
 
Dessert First

Effect: You explain to the spectator how in some modern books and films they show you the ending first, and then the whole book builds up to that ending. To keep up with modern times, you have decided to create a card trick based on that principle. Firstly, you show the ending. To do this, you make the two red aces appear, and place an invisible prediction in between. With that done, you vanish the red aces and say that they will be brought back to the story when it is the end again. “Now for the beginning.” You get [...]

Minty Fresh Coin in Bottle

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Nov 302011
 
Minty Fresh Coin in Bottle

. . . So there I was, sitting in the car with the motor running while my wife ran into the store for “just a minute.” Ya that’s right, I fell for it! While my wife’s minute turned into thirty, then forty, then . . . well, you get the idea – I got bored. I had eaten the last little mint from my box of tic-tacs and was fiddling around with the box. So bored was I that I started to wonder, “What magic trick could I do with this little box?” After awhile I worked out a method [...]

You’re Right

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Oct 262011
 
You're Right

Another entry from my upcoming book . . . Here’s a fun little ploy I’ve used to add a little comedy and misdirection to my close up performances. When I need to stack a handful of cards for an effect, I’ll use this. If I’m just stacking 2 or 3 cards, then I may not use this. However when setting up 5 or more cards, this is a lot of fun. The basic idea is this: let’s imagine that I need the entire hearts suit in order on top of the deck. I’ll go through the deck and cut the [...]

The Astral Shirt

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Sep 222011
 
The Astral Shirt

Back in the day . . . like almost 100 years ago, Annemann published a monthly “thing” called The Jinx. It’s loaded with a ton of great info. Some of it is dated of course. But much of it is timeless. Including this piece from issue #6 (March 1935). Though your wardrobe might be slightly different, I think that the idea of being ready at any time to perform this is pretty clever. Enjoy The Astral Shirt in Annemann’s words right out of The Jinx: This is another one of those feats that will make talk when presented at the [...]

D.E. Triumphs!

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Aug 302011
 
D.E. Triumphs!

Effect A card is fairly selected and fairly placed into the deck. Half of the deck is fairly shuffled face up into the rest of the face down deck. With almost no moves whatsoever, the fairly selected card is fairly shown to be the only face up card in an extremely face down deck. What could be more fairly? Requirements For this you’ll need a regular deck of cards, three kerosene-powered flashpots and some mango-scented Baby Wipes (just kidding; only one flashpot is used). I loved this Triumph effect when I first tried it and, after playing with it for [...]

Tasteless

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Jul 282011
 
Tasteless

Warning This is absolutely one of the most disgusting ideas I’ve ever come up with. I had this idea about 8 or 9 years ago. It’s gross, but the effect is about as pure as it gets. If you’re willing to be this disgusting, you’ll have a true moment of astonishment. The beauty(?) of this effect is that the majority of the disgusting part is unknown to the audience. Mostly, they experience the moment of astonishment. You be the judge. Effect You take a persons ABC (Already Been Chewed) gum and magically restore it to a whole piece of gum. [...]

Mental Monopoly

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Jun 242011
 
Mental Monopoly

Introduction By Jeff Stone Recently the Sale Lake City Magi were treated to a lecture by Danny Archer. I’ve been a fan of his for quite some time. I really admire the way he thinks and so I was very excited to meet him. His lecture was fun and entertaining, and his coin work (particularly his 3 fly) was beautiful. Not only was the lecture fun but Danny was such a nice guy . . . so nice that he graciously donated an effect – a really good one – to this month’s issue of the mag. If you haven’t [...]

Fix A Flat

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May 202011
 
Fix A Flat

Effect: A picture of a car with a flat tire magically changes to a picture of a repaired tire. Method: What you are about to read is right out of my e-book, Stone Frixion Fire. This is one of the many ideas you’ll find in this book. The book, for the unfamiliar, is entirely dedicated to ideas and effects that can be done with a Frixion® Pen – Heat Sensitive Ink. Frixion pens can be found at most office supply stores or at Staples Online. When heat is applied to the ink, it vanishes. In the case of this method, [...]

Dropin The Bomb

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Apr 302011
 
Dropin The Bomb

Effect: Openly show a drawing that looks like a Rubik’s Cube on a 3 by 5 index card. Tell your audience that it’s a Rubik’s Cube. Hold the card in your hand as the spectator crumbles up a piece of “magic paper” and places it on the drawing. As she lights the paper, the drawing appears to melt through the card and fall through the paper and become real. That’s right, a real live mini Rubik’s Cube that can be handed out. Method: This is just a variation on the Evanescence effects found in the Stone Frixion Fire DVD and [...]

My Psychic Deck

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Mar 282011
 
My Psychic Deck

Effect: Two cards are chosen by two spectators from a blue backed deck. The first magically travels to the top. It is placed aside on the table. The second selection is found face up in the middle of the deck. Then the first selection changes from a blue card to a red card. Preparation: Place one red backed card on the bottom of a blue backed deck. Remove the duplicate of the odd backed card from the deck. We’ll assume for the explanation that the red card on the bottom of the deck is a 3 of Hearts and that [...]

Ace Freely

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Feb 282011
 
Ace Freely

Effect: This is a killer four ace production. The deck is spread to show that all the cards are face-down. Then the magician cuts the cards, and suddenly two Aces appear. Then the cards are spread face-down again, but one Ace has magically turned face-up. The three Aces that have appeared are spread face-down on the table. The deck is given to a spectator. Both hands are shown empty, then both hands wave over the three tabled cards, and the fourth card just suddenly appears on the table with the other three. This is some powerful stuff. Necessary Moves: In [...]

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