card tricks » Stone Cold Magic Magazine

A Deck Full of Burgers

Written by Jeff Stone Roots and Branches 6 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, magi, magic

Oct 262011

“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 [...]

Act Accordingly

Written by Oliver Meech Roots and Branches No Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, david acer, jay sankey, jeff stone, magi, magic, spectator

Aug 292010

Introduction by Jeff Stone I became aware of Oliver Meech early 2009 when he sent me a copy of his book The Plot Thickens to review. I was immediately impressed with the quality of the book as well as the material. What follows is a segment from his latest book, Plot Twists. I felt that the content was perfect for the Roots and Branches section of the magazine. After all, isn’t that what this column is ultimately about . . . taking a concept or principle and learning to apply it? Because we’re hearing it in Oliver’s own words, taken [...]

Take Charge

Written by Dan Paulus No Stone Left Unturned No Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, dan paulus, magi, magic, magician, performer

Jul 302010

We’ve all had the occasional unforeseen and unfortunate circumstances come up from time to time when booking a show. Many performers panic or blame a bad show on the circumstances instead of taking control of the situation and making it work. See if any of the following situations sound familiar . . .You arrive at your show only to find: There is no microphone. The client’s not quite ready for you, would you mind waiting… an hour. The group of “maybe 100″ turns out to be 400. The stage that was promised is not there, or is a 4 foot [...]

Banding the Ultimate Siamese Reality

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 4 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, coins, download, Frixion, magi, magic, magic magazine, magician, sleight of hand, spectator, stone cold magic

May 312010

Michael Paul’s Reality Check Bill Goodwin’s Siamese Twins Russell Leeds’s More Banding Around Tony Giorgio’s The Ultimate Work Michael Paul’s – Reality Check (MSRP: $27.00) Random I-Tunes Song of The Moment: The Price of Love By Bon Jovi Three tricks for 27 bucks . . . that’s 9 bucks each. The question is would these be able to sell individually for $9.00 each. My guess is no (my math teacher was right – I do use math everyday). However, these are really good effects . . . however, the production quality was pretty rough. The lighting was really bad and [...]

France, Japan, USA & Who?

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 2 Responses » Tagged with: al leech, card tricks, cards, coins, dan paulus, magi, magic, magician, sleight of hand

Mar 292010

Is it Gem or is it Rubble. That is the question of the day, and every day when reading Gems and Rubble. Today’s answer can be found in four reviews. We’ve got 2 Rubbles, 1 Gem and 1 “Rem” – A borderline – leaning the way of the gem. Find out which is which: Etienne Pradier’s La Magie Des Cartes Ed Ellis Live at The Magic Castle The Mirage Pen Dr. Sawa’s Coin Magic (From L&L) Etienne Pradier’s La Magie Des Cartes (MSRP: $38.00) Random I-Tunes Song:Broken By Seether and Amy Lee. So . . . as I mentioned last [...]

Jeff, Geoff, Bill and Eddie

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 19 Responses » Tagged with: ace of spades, card tricks, cards, coins, david copperfield, jeff stone, magi, magic, magic magazine, magician, sleight of hand, spectator, stone cold magic

Dec 312009

Most of the products I review are sent to me by a third party or I purchased them myself. However, occasionally, a magician contacts me directly and sends me product to be reviewed. It’s always a little harder to give criticism to those who contact me directly. They’re usually loyal subscribers and even fans and sometimes customers of mine. However, this section is meant to give you the truth and an honest and direct review. The goal is to separate the gems from the rubble. This month is a case where I was contacted directly by two magicians, one asking [...]

Bullets, France, Comedy and Dancing

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 6 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, jeff stone, magi, magic, magician, performer, spectator

Nov 292009

Arthur Tivoli”s Tivoliland 2 Matt Fore’s Comedy Routines LL Pub’s World’s Greatest Magic – Anniversary Waltz John Bannon’s Bullets After Dark (2 DVD Set) Alright . . . is there some sort of magician’s code out there that states that every time you take a pen back from a spectator, you are supposed to say, “That’s how I got it!” That line, first of all, isn’t that funny, and second of all it’s used so much and sooooooo incorrectly that I cringe every time I hear it. I think 3 of the four DVDs this line was used at least [...]

Harry, Hair, France & Fan

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 2 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, coins, magi, magic, magic magazine, magician, michael ammar, stone cold magic

Oct 312009

Harry Anderson’s Wise Guy (MSRP: $34.95) Harry Anderson, the man who sat and judged small claims court as the honorable judge Stone, the Man who ate a guinea pig wrapped in newspaper on live television, the man who cut his girlfriend’s finger off (sort of), so which one is he? All of the above. With a character name like Judge Stone, how can I give this book a bad review. All rock (and paper and scissor) jokes aside, this is one of the best magic books I’ve ever read. First, it’s written by Mike Caveney. That’s enough right there for [...]

Gum, Cash, Dog-Tags and the Mafia

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 1 Response » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, jay sankey, jeff stone, magi, magic, magician, paul harris, performer

Aug 282009

Let’s begin this month’s issue of Gems and Rubble with a blast from the past. This is one that I reviewed a couple of years ago on my blog. However, I’ve since removed all reviews from my blog and have moved them here to the magazine. So for the sake of completeness, I’ve included this review – which is a cut and paste from the old blog – of Wrap it Up lest it become lost to the ether that is cyberspace. Jay Sankey’s Wrap It Up (MSRP: $25.00) DVD Quality and Overall Value 10/10: * The cost is only [...]

Advantage Point

Written by Jeff Stone Pillars of Stone 17 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, jeff stone, magi, magic, magic magazine, magician, spectator, stone cold magic

Jun 282009

Advantage Point By Jeff Stone Yes I know that the phrase is really “Vantage Point.” However, you’ll see the meaning of my title soon. As you know, Pillars of Stone is basically a monthly blog post about anything that I feel should be published that will truly help you as a magician . . . something that maybe doesn’t quite fit into one of the other columns. It’s a catch-all, but it usually seems to be very much up the alley of a Roots and Branches. I find that these articles are sort of like less formal versions of the [...]

Rubik Remembered, Point Blank, The King Of Custard, The Houdini Code

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 3 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, magi, magic, magician, michael ammar, paul harris, performer, spectator

Feb 132009

Rubik Remembered, Point Blank, The King Of Custard, The Houdini Code

Mark Elsdon’s Rubik Remembered (MSRP: $34.95) Let’s face it, if you can solve the Rubik’s cube, you look like a genius. Even today after the cube being out for about 30 years, people still think you’re a a genius if you can solve that darn cube in a couple of minutes. Think back to the first time you saw the cube and you saw some kid solve the thing in just a few minutes. You were blown away. I know I was. The first time I saw it solved was in the early 80′s, and it was a Chinese exchange [...]

Blind Luck & Pure Skill, Spontaneous Combustion, Rehab, Coin Magic 2000

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 2 Responses » Tagged with: cameron francis, card tricks, cards, coins, dan paulus, diamond jim davis, gemstones, jay sankey, magi, magic, magician, playing cards, slieght of hand, spectator, stone cold magic

Sep 212008

Blind Luck & Pure Skill, Spontaneous Combustion, Rehab, Coin Magic 2000

Dan Paulus’s Blind Luck & Pure Skill – GEM! Jay Sankey’s Spontaneous Combustion – GEM! Cameron Francis’s Rehab – GEM! Dean Dill’s Coin Magic 2000 – GEM! Blind Luck & Pure Skill (MSRP: $20.00) By Dan Paulus Too bad his first name isn’t Paul… How cool would it be to have a name like Paul Paulus?! Dan happens to be a friend of mine, but that won’t stop me from giving an honest review. Hopefully you guys have seen that by now. While this DVD is a definite GEM, there are some considerations that we’ll need to address. We’ll get [...]

Sankey, McClintock, Asher

Written by Jeff Stone Gems and Rubble 7 Responses » Tagged with: card tricks, coins, jay sankey, jeff stone, magi, magic, magic reviews, spectator, street magic

Mar 062008

Smashed (Gem) By Jay Sankey Reviewed by Jeff Stone Back in the good ol’ days when Florescent was cool, leg warmers were manly and wearing an earring meant you were gay, Jay Sankey released a product called Smashed. With this 1980′s release, you received a sheet of instruction and a machined coin. This was an instant classic back then and has been in or the foundation of many working pros routines. Last month Jay released it with his new flavor of educating the magic world: The gimmick and a full-length Instructional DVD rather than just a sheet of instructions. Trust [...]

Taxes For Magicians, Part II

Written by Bill Brough No Stone Left Unturned 1 Response » Tagged with: card tricks, cards, magi, magic, magic business, magician

Mar 062008

Taxes for Magicians, Part II: Write-Offs, Right On! by William Brough, MBA, PB It is now time to make it unclear to write off lines that don’t make sense On A Plain, Nirvana Last time, we talked about possible business structures that could entitle a magician to take write-offs on his taxes. We also mentioned that you don’t even need to be a legal business in order to take advantage of those write-offs, thanks to a little-known tax provision dealing with what the IRS calls “hobby income.” Hobby income is defined as “income from an activity not engaged in for [...]

Remember That One Trick?

Written by Jeff Stone Roots and Branches 3 Responses » Tagged with: al leech, card tricks, david blain, david blaine, jay sankey, jay sankey's underground jam, jeff stone, magi, magic, magic magazine, magician, spectator, stone cold magic, street magic, underground jam

Sep 152007

Remember That One Trick? By Jeff Stone Just the other day, I was having lunch with a local magician friend of mine, Diamond Jim. We were just messing around trying out our “latest stuff” on each other, jamming, and doing whatever else it is that magicians do when they’re near nachos and egg rolls. As the afternoon wore on, we began discussing various effects and what kind of stuff we each perform in our strolling gigs. Pretty much, we both discovered, each of us perform our own handling on “the classics.” What we discovered, however, is that the classics are [...]

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