Root:

Let’s Remember Our Roots. The Root: MOVE YOUR AUDIENCE! Stop with the mindless droning on about what prop your holding and what you’re going to do with it, and where you’re gonna stick it. I’ll tell you where to stick it! Your audience members are not morons. You don’t need to say, “I have here a deck of cards.” Are you serious!?

Branch:

Let’s Build Our Branches. Your Challenge: MOVE YOUR AUDIENCE! For the next 30 days, I want you to take one effect in your current repertoire, and stop . . . and think . . . Think about what you’re saying, when you’re saying it, why you’re saying it. Make sure that your words have meaning and aren’t simply stating the obvious. As many of you may know, this is the final issue of Stone Cold Magic Magazine. So I thought I’d go out with a bang. I may ruffle some feathers, but this subject is near and dear to my heart. Why can’t our magic be moving and beautiful and emotional and meaningful? The answer is: it can!
This is why I wrote 793.8. My mission for that book is to solve this problem: too much of magic has no meaning. I’m not even opposed to “adventures of the props” as a way to present. What I’m opposing is a flurry of narration of every move and every breath you take. I’m opposing statements that are so obvious that by making them, you’re calling your audience members idiots/fools/etc.
What’s the point of saying, “I have here a pen. Take this pen and sign this card.” Why!? How ’bout saying something like: “Would you mind signing your name on the card” as you simply hand them the pen. Find these problems in your presentation and eliminate them.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.

Root:

Let’s Remember Our Roots. The Root: You are on the same team as your audience. When I was actively marketing myself as a performer, the above letter was sent out to my mailing list of potential clients. It was part of a bigger effort to keep the magical moments of life at the top of the mind of my potential clients. This particular letter is very much about teaching the audience to properly play their role.

Spectators don’t necessarily know this. We’ve all met the spectator who narrates the entire trick as he tells us how everything is done. It’s not entirely his fault. He believes that his job is that of debunker. He wants to disprove any claims (outrageous or otherwise) that we as magicians make. He’s just playing the wrong role and doesn’t know it.

Branch:

Let’s Build Our Branches. Your Challenge: Educate your audience. For the next 30 days, focus on making very clear what your audience’s job is. Do this politely, of course. You can do this by openly saying this directly, or you can show them by your actions, or a combination of both. I want you to stop and figure it out on your own, but your job is to make sure that the audience knows that their job is let the feeling of astonishment happen, and then after it happens, let it wash over themselves until they’re buried neck-deep, yet comfortably. Teach your audience and your world as a performer will change.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.

793.8 The Paperback Edition

I finally finished the paperback edition of 793.8. This book is starting make some waves and has had nothing but positive praise from everyone who has read it. You can now get a print copy of it. If you’ve already purchased the PDF, you’ll be able to get the paperback edition at a discount equal to what you paid for the PDF. The details are on the website: 793.8: Where is The Magic?

793.8 is one of the freshest and most powerful books about presentation for magicians that I have read in a very long time. Your thoughts on connecting with an audience are so powerful that they literally woke me up to being a better performer. Thank you so much for this fantastic work.
— Richard Sanders

Jeff Stone has quietly published a series of excellent magic books that are well-worth your time and money. His latest one, 793.8, is all that again, but raised to another level. His deepest interest is to help you tap into the magic in your magic—those moments of deep, true astonishment. Between Jeff’s thoughtful essays and excellent routines, you will find yourself inspired to create more magical magic. Highly recommended.
— Lawrence Hass, Associate Dean of McBride’s Magic & Mystery School and author of Transformations: Creating Magic Out of Tricks.

My Lovely Assistant

At this point, this one’s somewhat old news, but just in case you haven’t heard, I’ve officially taken over the daily operations of My Lovely Assistant. I approve the reviews, products and reviewers. So if you’d like to become an official reviewer and get free product, I’m the gatekeeper. The process is simple:

1. Go to My Lovely Assistant
2. Create an account
3. Start writing reviews of products you already own
4. After you’ve written 5 or 6 reviews, email me (jeff@magicreviewed.com) expressing interest in becoming an official reviewer
5. We review your account, and approve (or not) you.

That’s it. We’re just looking for quality reviews and regularly posted reviews. Good luck!

Root:

Let’s Remember Our Roots. The Root: Perform mysteries, not puzzles. Right off the bat, I’m sure that some of you are thinking that puzzles have a place in a magic show, and you’d be right. As part of my close up show, I solve the Rubik’s Cube. No trickery, just a demonstration of skill that leads into a trick/mystery with the Rubik’s Cube. So, I’m not saying that you can’t have puzzles in your repertoire.

What I am saying is that magic done poorly comes across as a puzzle rather than a mystery. By poorly, I mean many things: poor presentation skills, poor use of a gimmick, fumbling, etc. For example, take the old classic drawer box prop. You open the drawer; it’s empty. You place some object in it; close it; reopen it; the object is gone. Then you close it again, reopen it and the object is back. It’s there; it’s gone; it’s there; it’s gone; open; close; open; close, etc., etc.

Presenting as I just did above is not magic. It’s not mystery. It becomes a puzzle for the audience to figure out. Here is the puzzle: How does this box hide stuff that he puts in it? That’s a puzzle folks, not a mystery. The drawer box may be too far gone to ever be more than a puzzle. Or not. I leave that to you. I use it only because it clearly demonstrates the point.

What kind of connection are you making with your audience. Are they too busy trying to figure out (i.e., solve the puzzle) of what you just did, or are they trying to enjoy the moment of astonishment as it attempts to wash over them? Though you don’t have 100% control of that, you do have a huge influence on it.

Branch:

Let’s Build Our Branches. Your Challenge: To quote the greatest metal band ever, “Seek and Destroy.” Examine your presentation, demeanor, verbiage, material, props, dress, etc. Seek for anything that leads the spectator to think that you’ve just given them a puzzle to solve and destroy it. If they think that they’re supposed to solve the puzzle, it’s partly your fault. Granted we’ve got a long history of crappy “magicians” who’ve made the beds we lie in. We need to wake up, and get some new sheets.

Rewrite your scripts. Restructure your tricks, Rethink your patter, Rework your wardrobe. Do what ever is necessary to communicate (both verbally and non-verbally) that you are offering something mysterious, not a puzzle to be solved. Like the meaning of that clear star that is yesterday that shoots pineapples with a machine gun, and the true location of significant understanding, some things are simply unknowable, and it’s your job to educate your audience and open their minds to this critical role that they play in the world of magic.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.

In my experience nearly everyone has an uncle who can make a quarter or coin appear from behind a child’s ear. And if not, it is just about as well known to the public as pulling a white rabbit out of a black top hat. Personally I’ve heard the words “hey Mr magic, pull a coin out of my ear” many times. It actually can be fun for the right person/in the right moment.

I was thinking, what if I could make a little presentation of this and take full advantage of such a well-known curiosity.

Needed:

Some quarter/coin stickers (figure 1). A duplicate card (in this case the Nine of Diamonds with a quarter “sticker” stuck to its face) (figure 2), I purchased my stickers online at A Cherry on Top (a scrapbooking website). Set the regular Nine of Diamonds on top of the pack with the duplicate (quarter sticker) Nine on top of that.

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Presentation and Effect:

Choosing the right moment and/or after “you” the magician (or uncle) have been asked to do tricks or better yet when someone asks about the old quarter from the ear bit, you present a pack of cards and state:

“When I talk to people about magic, I often run into someone who, when as a young child they remember a magician or an uncle reaching behind their ear and making a quarter appear, which is such a great memory right? I’ve never been able to do that particular trick but I can do something different, I can magically set a playing card behind someone’s ear, without them even feeling it. Would you be interested in giving it a try?“

The top card of the pack is turned face-up and shown to be the Nine of Diamonds then turned face down. This card is held in the air and placed behind the willing participant’s ear; it is left there only for a moment and then the magician re-grasps it.

What Really Happens:

• In this first sequence you of course double lift the top card (to show the regular Nine of Diamonds), double lift again turning the 2 cards face down again. Use a back palm (which I sure hope you already know how to do as I will not be explaining it) to create the illusion of setting the Nine of Diamonds behind his/her ear.
• For more information on how to do this please see Jeff Mcbride’s amazing DVD series The Art of Card Manipulation which is among my top 10 DVD sets of all time – hands down.

You can repeat this same action of apparently placing the card behind his/her ear once more. Each time, being careful to only show the back of the card and not flash the sticker side of the card.

Before your intelligent youngster has the opportunity to challenge your “modus operandi” (method of operation), you notice that there really is (might be) something behind his/her ear.

• Still holding the card (its back is visible) “Hold on a moment, I think I see something behind your ear, I think I can catch it with this card.“

You ask him/her to hold still as you reach slowly behind his/her ear and pretend to grasp (or catch) something (give the card a slight flick with your finger, make it very subtle because the card will be very close to his/her ear and can be very loud if you’re not careful.

Pull the card back from his/her ear, and magically turn it over to reveal a quarter “sticker” on the face of the Nine of diamonds. “I guess you really did have a quarter behind your ear.” The playing card is then given to the youngster/participant as a souvenir.

Additional Thoughts:

If you’d like to take this a step further (as I do) there is a very simple way to make it seem as though you pull the sticker off the coin and magically turn it into a real quarter.

To accomplish this, simply begin this entire effect with a quarter finger palmed in your left hand (hidden underneath the pack of cards). Proceed with the steps and patter above. When you have arrived at the point where you are holding the Nine of Diamonds in your hand (having just revealed the quarter sticker), smoothly place this card on top of the pack (face up). The regular Nine of Diamonds is underneath (face down of course).

Ask the youngster to hold out his/her hand and do a double turnover while wrist killing so as not expose the back-to-back switch you’ve just effected. This is much like you do if you were about to execute the Illogical Double or the start of a K.M. Move

• Be careful to keep the quarter secure against the deck, so it doesn’t prematurely appear).
• At this point, you are holding the pack of cards over his/her hand with your palm face down. (figure 3).

Figure 3:

Give the deck a brief shake over his/her hand (as if you are trying to possibly get the sticker to dislodge. Now grasp the edge of the deck with your right hand (figure 4) and rather quickly, slide your left hand to the left, with the quarter still “hidden” as though you have removed something. Slowly turn the deck over with your right hand to show there is now NO quarter sticker on the Nine of Diamonds. Magically rub your left fingers together, bringing the REAL quarter into view and drop it into his/her hand.

Figure 4:

Check out the video below for what it should look like.

Uncle Quarter Master – Ending

Notes:

There are a myriad of ways to create the illusion of making the quarter magically become real in this scenario, I have simply included one that is very simple, giving way to focus on the presentation.

• A little tip: Place the quarter sticker closer to the top of the Nine of Diamonds (refer back to figure 2 above). I feel it adds to the idea that you’ve captured the quarter from behind the youngster’s ear. Also when setting up for the back to back double turnover, start with the quarter sticker at the outer end of the pack (toward the spectator). This will (in my humble opinion) add to the illusion of sliding the quarter all the way across the face of the deck.

Please Enjoy.

With Great Thanks,

Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon

Note from the editor

While hangin’ out at Chili’s (Scar and Stone’s favorite hangout), we were dinkin’ around with the handling on this and Scar came up with this variation:

Basically, rather than pull the coin over into your left fist, you leave it under your left hand with it pressed flat against the bottom card of the deck (which happens to be facing upward). Then you slide it to the left allowing it to fall into the spectator’s hand.

It looks like the coin falls off of the card and into their hand. Below is a clip of it.

Uncle Quarter Master Alt. Ending

Take a moment to post your experience with this effect or your comments/thoughts about this effect below . . . remember, you could win a Jon Armstrong DVD three pack ($100 value) just by posting a comment. All comments of substance (in other words, a simple “good point” or “I agree” doesn’t cut it) will be entered into a drawing on the last day of April 2013. The winner will be announced May 1st, 2013

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root is . . . wait for it . . . “remember our roots.” That’s right, the ultimate in self-referential self references. Follow me here. When you first got into magic, you did the glide trick where you have a card selected . . . shuffled in the deck . . . show the audience four cards that are not the selection (using the glide) . . . have them hold the four cards between their knuckles in a fist . . . slap the cards and bam . . . their card is staring them in the face . . . or the variation where you use magician’s choice to force their card of the four on the table. And it fried people. It fried you. Yeah? When’s the last time you did the glide? Have You Forgotten? (Thank you Avril Lavigne.)

Then you learn about Marlo’s Miracle Card Moves and Snap Changes, and because you saw it done at just the right angle, you were convinced that this was the next big thing that you must learn. Then you went straight for the hard stuff . . . Extreme Card Manipulation . . . dun . . . dun . . . dunnnnnnn.

Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with XCM. The point I’m getting at is that many magicians go down this path where they constantly have to add more flourishes, moves, sleights, etc to feel normal. Just like the drugie who can’t feel normal with one line of coke per day . . . he now needs two or three or ten . . . The magi has (like the junkie) become jaded due to exposure to meth(od). Too much method makes it harder and harder to feel normal. By normal, of course, I’m referring to that beautiful moment of astonishment that you felt when the coin literally (in your mind) came out of your ear.

Now it’s not astonishment . . . now it’s a finger palmed quarter. Well that’s lame. I need more to be fooled . . . show me the latest trick on the market. Show me a move I’ve never seen. Show me a trick that’ll fry me. Oftentimes we get to the point where the trick ONLY fools the magician, and leaves the audience wanting. Magic is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous.

Like a junkie, we become obsessed with ourselves and not those around us (family, friends, audience members). We are more interested in what pleases us (heroin, 23 phase ace routines) and we forget what matters . . . the audience. We need to get back to the roots. What sparked this whole thing was Derrick telling a story of an old trick that he thought was child’s play and does not belong in the repertoire of a pro.

Yet a pro (who shall remain nameless) was using them all the time and totally nailing people with it. By “nailing” I mean, of course, creating moments of astonishment. Needless to say, Derrick added this old “piece of junk” trick back to his repertoire. And I want you to do the same . . .

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. For the next 30 days, I want you to go back to The Royal Road to Card Magic and pick out two or three effects that you think wouldn’t fool anyone. That’s right . . . tricks that you think are too obvious to fool your audience. Then I want you to practice them and perform them for friends, family and spectators. Do it with an open mind, and experience a true moment of astonishment yourself when you see your audience light up with their own moments of astonishment.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.

Effect:

A selected card instantly vanishes while trapped between two Jacks. The same card then appears face-up in the face-down deck! This is one of the strongest, most magical close-up card effects I know of. The audience sees the selected card up until the last moment and then it’s gone! There are no “excuses” or questionable actions; just a clear, piercing “Illusion.”

To Perform:

1. Place the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Spades face-up onto the table about nine inches apart. Place the face-down deck onto the table below the two Jacks. Direct a spectator to cut the deck into two stacks. Take, with your right hand, the face-down card which the spectator cut to and show its face to the audience. Turn your head aside to reassure your audience that you didn’t get a peek at the card.

2. Place the Jack which is on your left, face-up onto the palm of your left hand. Drop the selected card face-down onto this face-up Jack. Take the remaining Jack with your right hand. As you take this Jack, extend your right hand towards the audience and give the card a snap. The instant that the hand moves forward to snap the card, the left thumb gets beneath the two cards in the left hand and flips them over. This reverses the order of the cards, putting the selected card face-up on the bottom while the Jack is now face-up on the top.

In a continuing action place the Jack from your right hand face-up onto the two cards in your left hand. To your audience you have sandwiched the selected card face-down between the two face-up Jacks. Your actual position from the top down is: face-up Jack, face-down Jack and face0up selected card. This “reversal” is a very easy thing to get away with. Do it casually and you won’t have any trouble with it.

3. Grasp the packet of three cards from above with your right hand, thumb at the back, fingers at the front with the right hand arched above the cards. Form a break between the top two cards and the bottom card with your right thumb. Slide the three cards back towards your body so that the top edges of the cards rest between your left second and third finger. You are about to “cop” the bottom card in your left hand.

4. With your right hand move the top two cards forward at the same time moving the left hand back to the edge of the table, letting the table edge conceal the exposed corner of the “copped” card. Place the two cards as three squared face-up onto the table. In a continuing action your right hand picks up the right packet from above and places these cards over the face-up card concealed in your left hand. This is done undercover of a “squaring up” motion.

5. Place the face-down packet onto the tabled face-down packet. Direct a spectator to hold his forefinger against the top of the deck.

6. The next series of action will very convincingly show two face-up Jacks and a face-down card sandwiched between them. Place the cards, still squared, into your left hand. Grip the cards from above with your right hand in Biddle grip position as your left thumb presses on the face of the top card, sliding it off and placing it still face up on the bottom of the “stack.”

Immediately turn over the two cards in your left hand and slide the top face-down card to the bottom of the stack revealing a face-up Jack. Your patter line here is, “Your card is trapped face down between the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Spades.”

7. Next you are going to let the back ends of the two cards snap off your right thumb, sounding three distinct snaps. Here’s how. With the cards held against the left palm held in place by your left thumb, grip the cards from above with your right hand, thumb at the back, forefinger curled on the face of the top card and the remaining three fingers at the outer narrow end. Your right thumb separates the two cards at the inner end pressing firmly against both.

Your left little finger presses against the bottom right corner of the lower card. Your right thumb slowly moves up letting the bottom card snap off the left little finger. The bottom card then snaps off the thumb, and finally the right thumb snaps off the top card. To your audience it looks and sounds exactly as though you had riffled off three cards.

For the final convincer, lift up the back edge of the top card. With your right thumb and forefinger, slide our the bottom face-down card about half an inch towards yourself. Then square the cards up again. This appears as though you pinched the face-down card out from in between the two face-up cards. Your audience should now be convinced that you have, beyond a shadow of doubt, three cards.

8. Now for the “vanish,’ of the sandwiched card. Position the two cards so that they are in the classic palm position in your palm up, left hand. Place your right hand palm down directly over your left hand, trapping the cards between the two hands.

Twist the right hand to the left and the left hand to the right, each hand retaining one card, both hands being palm down. Let the two Jacks drop to the table face-up. Then slowly separate your fingers to show your hands empty.

Toss the two Jacks out for examination. You have just performed a miracle, vanishing a card under impossible test conditions. For the final climax have the spectator who had his finger on the deck this whole time spread through the cards. This reveals the selected card face-up in the face-down deck!

Suggested Presentation of Patter:

I am going to show you an ‘Illusion.’ You appear to have cut to the Four of Hearts and your eyes see me place it between two other cards (cop card). The Jack of Clubs (counting action) and the Jack of Spades. You can hear the three cards (snap move) and you can feel the three cards (pinch move).

But as I mentioned before this is all an illusion and your card was never really here at all (perform vanish).

Finish routine by having spectator discover the face-up card in the face-down deck.

Don’t neglect the point of having the spectator place his finger onto the deck. This gets the spectator more involved plus adding to the impact of the effect.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Not only is Everything “Magical” but “Magic” (not to be confused with “Magical”) is everywhere.

Seek and ye shall find. It’s everywhere folks. This isn’t the first time something like this towel thing has happened to me. One time, my computer mouse vanished. I actually felt it vanish. It was quite freaky.

This morning when my towel “vanished,” it reminded me of an idea I had years ago that I’ve never tried, but I know would truly create a moment of astonishment. This effect assumes that you have kids, but if not, read on; you’ll still get the power of this. It’s not uncommon for us, when bathing our small children, to sit them down on the counter, once they’re dressed, and towel dry their hair.

During the hair drying procedure, their face is covered by the towel, and they can’t really see what’s going on around them. That being the case, I thought it would be quite funny if I placed the towel on my son’s (or daughter’s) head and began drying. Then while drying, my wife sneaks in the bathroom and secretly places her hands on the towel as I remove mine. She continues drying while I sneak out of the bathroom.

Of course, the magic effect for my son or daughter would be that daddy magically changed into mommy. The only reason I haven’t tried this is because I thought of it after my children were in the I’m-too-cool-to-have-my-dad-dry-my-hair phase. However, we now have a one year old who will be ready for this moment of parent swapping in a few more years – this is the whole reason we had another child. 8)

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. For the next 30 days, I want you to see what magic looks like on a child’s face.

I tell you all this because I want you to remember what it feels like to feel magic or at the very least, see someone else feel it. Be the parent standing there after the switch when you remove the towel. I guarantee the look will be priceless. Film it. It’ll be a reminder of what magic feels like.

If you don’t have kids, that’s ok, rather than the old towel-head switcharoo, practice your sponge magic on your friend’s kids or your nieces/nephews. Just do the part where you put one(?) ball in their hand, but when they open it, 20 (no joke) balls appear.

Just do that to a bunch of different kids you know and watch their face light up. Then never, ever forget that look on their face. That look represents a feeling that you are trying to harness and share with everyone you ever perform for.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.