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Custom Connections

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Jan 102012
 
Custom Connections

You’re pumped up; You’re energy’s high; Table number 4 requested “The Magician.” You walk over there and everyone seems nice. You introduce yourself. You pull out a deck of cards, and that’s when it happens. The spectator says the most retarded thing you can imagine: “I’ve seen this one.” Doesn’t that kind of imply that there is only one card trick in the entire universe? How do you counter that? Even if she wasn’t being a heckler . . . maybe she was excited and she was telling her friends how excited she was to see that trick again. However, [...]

Magic vs. Tricks

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , , , ,
Dec 302011
 
Magic vs. Tricks

Ha! I Tricked you! or That car is Tricked out! or I Tricked my parents into thinking I was at the library Vs. When I saw her, it was like “Magic” or Few moments are as Magical as witnessing the birth of your own child or The Magic of Disney Which one are you trying for? Which one inspires more emotion? I dare say that “magic” is much better than a “trick.” The catch is that the trick is needed to create the magic. The magic is the feeling (a.k.a. Astonishment) that we are aiming for. The trick is merely [...]

ACAANC

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Nov 302011
 
ACAANC

I’ll give you three guesses as to what the last “C” stands for in ACAANC. I’ll give you a hint; it rhymes with “rap.” Any Card At Any Number. To paraphrase Jerry Seinfeld, What’s the deal with that plot? Spectator number 1 names any card. Spectator 2 names any number. Spectator 3 counts down to the named number only to find that the card at that number matches the card named. It’s a decent effect. However, many of the methods are way to fidgety and call attention to the wrong place at the wrong time. Additionally, many methods use crazy [...]

A Deck Full of Burgers

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  6 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Oct 262011
 
A Deck Full of Burgers

“Here’s a deck of cards. Show me something.” We’ve all heard that line before. In fact – if nothing else – I think I’ve opened at least one or two past articles with that very phrase. So question number one is do you have a quick trick or two with a deck of cards that you could bust out? Would they be entertaining? Would they astonish your audience? Would they want you to continue? Some time ago back in 2009 I attended Eugene Burger’s lecture. He mentioned a sort-of fantasy that he has. It goes something like this: He Gets [...]

The Three Stooges

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Sep 222011
 
The Three Stooges

Nyuk, Nyuk, Nyuk . . . Whoop, Whoop, Whoop . . .No . . . not those three stooges. I’m talking ’bout the kind make many of us cringe – though, arguably, the aforementioned stooges may also make many of us cringe. So, do you use stooges?I personally don’t. Am I right? Am I wrong? Does it matter? I guess we’ll find out. Post your thoughts below.To me, there are three kinds of stooges. One is guy planted in the audience well ahead of time waiting for you to call upon him. Then there is the impromptu stooge where you [...]

Big Trouble in Little Magi

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Aug 302011
 
Big Trouble in Little Magi

What you are about to read is an actual conversation I had with an actual friend of mine about an actual magic show. Some names have been changed to protect the innocent. For example, Clay Neves’s name was changed to Joe.Additionally, Dan Paulus’s name was changed to Harry Houdini. You will find compelling evidence of the existence of a classic plot alive and well in today’s world of magic. Just one more reason to read Roots and Branches, a column dedicated to taking a Magical Root and Teaching you how to use it to Branch out in your own magic. [...]

Paper Balls Under The Head

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  2 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,
Jul 282011
 
Paper Balls Under The Head

As I’ve mentioned, I’m in the middle of a pretty huge book project containing mentalism, routine ideas, psychological points, essays on a bunch of different subjects. Below is one such short essay right from this new book. This’ll give you a taste of some of the weird stuff I’m writing about. It definitely fits the purpose of the Roots and Branches column for sure. As you read this, look for the root and the branch or better said, look for the opportunity to improve your magic. Paper Balls Under the Head Another one of my all-time favorite concepts comes from [...]

Creativity Again?

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  3 Responses »  Tagged with: , , ,
Jun 242011
 
Creativity Again?

Yes .  . .  again . . . it’s that important. Listen folks, I know many of you couldn’t care less about what I’m listening to when I write these reviews in the Gems and Rubble monthly column. However, a lot you “get” it . . . First, know this: the songs I list truly are the ones that happen to randomly play at the moment I happen to be writing the review. Secondly, the song title or a lyric from it often helps in the creative process giving me a nice opening line or segue . . . and [...]

Fair Enough

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  5 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , ,
May 202011
 
Fair Enough

I want you to examine this deck of cards . . . fair enough? Now shuffle them up . . . fair enough? There are 52 cards in a deck and I want you to think of any card . . . any card that you want . . . fair enough? Really? Is that really necessary? Guys please stop saying that! I’ve heard just about every single magician that I’ve ever seen perform (live or on DVD) use that phrase. Even some really solid performers that I really respect. It’s extremely annoying and definitely overkill in my opinion. Especially, [...]

Imprompt-true

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Apr 302011
 
Imprompt-true

Party Goer: “Hey Jeff, show us a magic trick!”Jeff: “Oh . . . I can’t.”  Party Goer: “Why Not?” Jeff: “Because. I don’t have my Svengali deck, my sponge balls or my thumb tip . . . duh!” Party Goer: “Um . . . what are sponge balls? Is that anything like Tennis Elbow?” Jeff: “Um . . . No” Hopefully, I’m the only guy in the room who has experienced this. Unfortunately, I know that this just isn’t the case. Obviously nobody expects us to be real magicians and wield real powers. However, even an entertainer/fake magician with fake [...]

Be Who You Are – an Interview with Eugene Burger

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  1 Response »  Tagged with: ,
Mar 282011
 
Be Who You Are - an Interview with Eugene Burger

Phone Interview with Eugene This month for the Roots and Branches article, we are treated to an audio interview with Eugene Burger. The conversation and questions sort of evolved into a theme of “Being Yourself.” Take what you learn from this interview and grow from it! Click the Play Button Below. Eugene Burger Interview Eugene Burger Resources: Eugene’s Website: Magic Beard Review of Eugene’s book: Magic and Meaning Growing in the Art of Magic Course References/Credits: Old article inspired by Eugene Burger: Polish, Purchase and Purge Practice: Man in the Mirror Record Yourself: The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth Bumper [...]

Exercise to Exorcise

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , , , ,
Feb 282011
 
Exercise to Exorcise

Practice, Smactice . . . you’ve heard it your entire life – not just as a magician either. You want to be a good pianist . . . practice. You want to be a good writer . . . practice. Good magician . . . practice. You know the drill. But why do we practice, or how do we practice? Do we have a goal in mind when practicing? Or do we idly fiddle with our coins or cards? Root: Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Breaking bad habits. I dare say that the whole point of practice is [...]

Placebo Magic

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  4 Responses »  Tagged with: , ,
Jan 292011
 
Placebo Magic

The definition of an expert has been said to be “Anyone from out of town with a PowerPoint presentation.” There’s a ton of truth in that quasi-joke. We see it all the time . . . a cop flashes his badge or wears his uniform, and we blindly trust him. What about the guy flying the plane? Just because he wears that pilot uniform doesn’t mean he knows how to fly. I know that every time I don a pilot uniform (we won’t go into the reasons why), I’m positive that it doesn’t give me the ability to fly airplanes. [...]

Ditto Dog

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: ,
Dec 302010
 
Ditto Dog

Copy Cat is worn out and hackneyed, so I created Ditto Dog. They say that plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. Maybe that’s true; maybe it’s not, but in our case, it kind of makes sense. Often in magic we learn a routine from someone else’s repertoire. We then try (often too soon) to make it our own. Let’s pull some wisdom from Buddha: “These teachings are like a raft, to be abandoned once you have crossed the flood.” Root: Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Copy . . . but only for a little while. The key [...]

Secrets

 Written by Jeff Stone  Roots and Branches  No Responses »  Tagged with: , , , , ,
Nov 272010
 
Secrets

So what’s the big deal with secrets? It’s an interesting philosophical question . . . I think, and so does Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon. This month you get to peak inside of a pseudo-conversation Brad and I had – more like a Q&A – about secrets. So here it is in all it’s glory: Brad’s Question Why do people keep secrets? Jeff’s Response Many reasons for keeping secrets are selfish ones. Others are not. We often keep secrets to protect ourselves or others. Sometimes that protection of self is really protection of ego . . . Look what I can do [...]

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