Effect:

A small tube of Advil is displayed. It is sealed. The magician displays the receipt for the medicine. It vanishes. In his hand now is a few loose Advils. The spectator then breaks the seal on the tube of Advil and opens it to find that the pills are not in there. Instead, the receipt is found there in place of the pills. Everything is examinable.

Method/Preparation:

It’s a simple matter to unseal and reseal these tubes of medicine. Very carefully start to peel off the pull tab. Normally, this is just ripped off around the lid, and you open up the tube to get your medicine. However, in our case we’re going to slowly and steadily peel the tab. As you start to peel it, you’ll feel it break loose from the body of the wrapper one “click” at a time.

Slowly pull it all the way around the tube until you get to the very end. Leave the last half-inch-ish attached. At that point, you can safely remove the lid without removing the strip entirely. Take off the lid; dump out the drugs and put in whatever your load is, in our case, the receipt for the pills.

Take a moment to look at the images above to get a sense of this process. Once you’ve loaded whatever you’re going to load (e.g., dollar bill, receipt, card, etc.), replace the lid. Then slowly, but surely reseal the tube by carefully lining up the “teeth” from the strip to the “teeth” on the rest of the tube’s label. Get in there closely and look at it carefully as you reseal.

If you get the teeth lined up perfectly — this is easy to do since we didn’t remove the strip entirely — when it’s later reopened by the spectator, it’ll have that oh so satisfying ripping sound that sells the illusion of it being truly sealed. Once you’ve got the teeth all lined up and the strip is resealed, run your thumb around the tube starting from the part that remained connected, all the way around to the pull tab. The idea, here, is to get out any possible air bubbles and to make sure the adhesive really re-sticks itself. This will further aid in the illusion of it truly being sealed.

That’s part one of the prep work. Well, technically, it’s part two. Part one is to go to your local gas station — that’s the most common place to find these tubes o’ drugs — and purchase at least two tubes. However, pay for each one as a separate transaction. You want a single receipt for each one. So if you buy ten at once, you’ll have ten receipts and an annoyed cashier.

The idea is that you have a duplicate receipt with the same time and date stamp. If you do the transactions quickly enough, you can get two identical time stamps. Obviously, buying ten will not end up with ten identical time stamps, but you’ll get a few with one time stamp and few more with a different time stamp. If the system that prints the receipts records the seconds (in addition to the minutes and the hour), then you’ll need to cover it with your thumb during the performance. Alternatively, you can just ignore the time and only mention the date, or you can ignore both. We’ll discuss this more during the presentation.

Typically, the receipt will be wider than the height of the tube, so you’ll need to fold it over first. Then roll it up. I just roll it around a Sharpie. It’s about the perfect diameter. See the images below for clarity. Once you’ve opened the tube per the previous instructions and dumped out the pills, you can place your rolled up receipt inside and reseal as described.

Part three of the preparation is the rattle gimmick. Have another tube of Advil that has not been tampered with and either tape it to your arm under your shirt sleeve, or use a rubber band. This way, when you shake the tube that’s loaded with the receipt, you can give the illusion that the pills are in the tube as long as you’re shaking it with the hand that has the tube up the sleeve.

Step four is to get a few Advils and put them in a thumb tip. You’ll need a deeper thumb tip than you may be used to. Look at the image below to see the thumb tip I use. You can get a sense of the height (i.e., depth) of it by looking at it relative to the tube of medicine. Put the loaded thumb tip in your right pants ticket pocket.

The Vanish

The vanish I use is an old cigarette vanish. I roll the receipt up to be roughly the shape of a cigarette. I say “roll,” but in reality, it’s mostly folding. Then for the last “fold,” I roll it up like a cigarette. I hold it in my right hand between my first and middle finger just like you would a cigarette. Note: the two images below are kind of upside down. This only to give a better angle of the position of the receipt.

 

Then as I start to place it into my left hand, I secretly shift the rolled up receipt to right thumb clip.

While in thumb clip position, the receipt is placed in the left palm without actually letting go.

The left fingers close around the receipt as the right hand moves away to the right giving a very powerful retention of vision that the receipt is in the left closed fist.

The right hand dies: it just drops to your side. Next, draw attention to your left hand as you casually ditch the receipt in your right pants pocket. At the same time, load the thumb tip onto your right thumb. Depending on your pants, this can usually be done without having to put your hand in your pocket. You can just stick your thumb in your pocket as you let go of the receipt inside of the pocket. You can also load the thumb tip from this same position, again, depending on the style of pocket and where the ticket pocket is.

However, even if you have to put your hand  in your pocket, this is no big deal. The illusion that the receipt is in your left hand is very convincing, so there’s no reason for them to care about your “dead” right hand. Once the tip is loaded on your right thumb, slowly open your left hand one finger at a time. While all attention is there, casually remove your right hand from your pocket.

Once your left hand is fully open, bring your hands together and brush them in that universal gesture of “washing your hands of it.” Of course be careful not to expose the thumb tip. Next, you’ll ask the spectator to pick up the tube and shake it. As she does this, load the thumb tip into your left fist. This is easy. They’re all staring at the tube. When she shakes it and no sound is heard, pause, and say, “listen.”

Place your left thumb over the opening of your closed left fist and shake your fist. They’ll hear the Advil inside of the thumb tip. Don’t worry about the sound of the pills against the plastic of the thumb tip. I’ve tested it, and it sounds exactly like a fist full of pills without the thumb tip. The thumb tip just makes it a little louder, but the sound is the same. After the sound has registered with them, slowly pour the pills into your right hand (concealing the thumb tip, of course) or ask them to hold out their hands so you can pour into their hands. After that moment sinks in dump the pills from your hand to the table (or have her dump them from her hands to the table).

Ask her to open the Advil tube. While she does this, load the thumb tip back on your right hand (or left if you prefer). Casually hook your thumb(s) into your pocket(s) and unload the thumb tip. Have the spectator remove the seal, lid and receipt. Have her check the date and time. Point out that the date is the same (more on that in the presentation section below).

You’re done, and you end clean.

Presentation:

Magician: Things are so expensive these days. Gas prices, medical bills, groceries, etc. It gives me a headache, but I can’t even afford a headache.
Spectator: What do you mean?

Magician: I’ll show you. Look here’s a receipt for some Advil. I had a headache at exactly 2:30 in the morning last Friday. [Point out the date and time on the receipt.] It cost me $4 bucks! I don’t have that kind of money
Spectator: Maybe you shouldn’t have quit your day job.

Magician: Maybe not. Anyway, by the time I bought the pills and got home, the headache was gone, so I never opened them. Here they are (take them out of your pocket and shake them).
Spectator: You’re weird.

Magician: Your face is weird! I kept the receipt so I could take them back to the store, but they won’t take medicine back.
Spectator: All sales are final!

Magician: Yep. I guess I don’t need this (i.e., the receipt) anymore. [Make it vanish. More on that later.]
Spectator: Wow. You’re magical.

Magician: I know. Right? Listen . . . [Shake your closed fist. Pause. Dump out the pills.]
Spectator: That gave me a headache. Can I have one?

Magician: You’re funny. Would you mind opening the Advil tube? Just rip it open. What’s inside?
Spectator: The receipt.

Magician: Wow! Can I see that? That gives me a headache too. See . . . it gave me a headache at exactly 2:30 AM, last Friday. I guess I can’t shake this headache.
Spectator: Thanks a lot. Now I have a permanent headache last Friday at 2:30 AM too.

Alternate Ideas:

When I first figured out how to open and reseal these tubes, I had a totally different idea in mind for how to use the concept. Over the years, I’ve had several different ideas as well. Below is a short list of a few of them.

Lazy Shopper

Rather than swapping the receipt, you can swap a five dollar bill. The presentation would be slightly different of course.

Magician: I don’t have much time these days. I’m always running around like a headless chicken. It gives me a headache, which is weird since I’m a headless chicken. But I don’t even have time to buy drugs for my headache.
Spectator: Stop whining so much.

Magician: Sorry. When I’m too busy to buy medicine, here’s what I do. I sit at home and cause the medicine to come to me. Of course, I don’t steal it. I send the money to the store.
Spectator: I don’t believe you.

You then perform the same effect as previously described, but with money instead of the receipt.

Much Simpler

The above two effects (receipt and five dollar bill versions) appeal to me because they have a somewhat reasonable story line. However, this next idea is more direct with less story and even less props. You start by borrowing a dollar bill. You then say that this trick is so amazing that it’ll give you a headache. As you say this, you’ve removed the tube and started shaking it. Place the tube on the table. The spectator can shake it if they want.

You then vanish the dollar bill using your . . . wait for it . . . favorite method. Have them open the tube to find that the dollar bill is inside the tube with the medicine. To do this, roll up the bill in the same way that you’d do the receipt. Then carefully unseal and open the tube. Dump out the pills. Load the dollar bill in. It will unroll enough to fit the inner diameter of the tube. Then put the pills back inside the tube right inside the rolled up bill. You’ll be able to fit all ten back in there. However, it will be too tight, and you won’t be able to hear any noise when you shake it. So only put 9 pills back in, and it’ll sound just fine.

The advantage of this is that there are no loose pills, no rattle box and no thumb tip (unless that’s your “favorite method” for vanishing the bill). Also, you can memorize the serial number of the bill in the tube, and miscall the serial number on the borrowed bill. Have someone write down the serial number as you “read” it. Of course you’re really reciting the memorized one from the tube.

If you want to get even more clever, you can get a handful of sequential bills from a bank and scratch off the last digit of the serial number thus giving you several bills with the exact same serial number. Then when you borrow a bill, you can switch it for one of your bills. Then have them read the serial number as someone else writes it down. This will, of course, match the one in the tube. Of course, with this method, you can have several tubes prepared so you can repeat the effect multiple times throughout a night of strolling. Remember, each time you perform it, you destroy the seal, so you’ll need a fresh one each time.

In this scenario, you can either do the switch as mentioned above to have the serial number read by the spectator. Or you can just memorize the serial number as suggested earlier. You’ll only need to remember one serial number since all the tubes are loaded with duplicate bills.

Cards

You can also fit a card in there as well. However, you’ll have to fold it in half as shown below.

Then roll it up and put it in the tube. You’ll be able to fit all ten pills in there as well. The first picture below shows the inside with only 7 pills. This is just for clarity’s sake so you can see the card. The next picture shows all ten pills. When sealed up, you can hear the pills rattle just fine.

Again, with this effect, you use the same premise . . . this trick is so good it’ll give you a headache. I know John Bannon and Jay Sankey both have used similar lines in their own work. I’m pretty sure that’s where I got the idea to use it with this effect.

The advantage of using the card is that you can do a simple double lift vanish or some other move that requires no extra props. You just need the tube and a deck of cards.

Photos

Of course, you can tell the story of your ex-girlfriend/ex-boyfriend and how much of a pain in the neck they were. Thus you always carried Advil with you. Old habits die hard; you’ve still got some in your pocket. In this case, you pretend to “realize” that you have it in your pocket. Then you tell the story of what a pain s/he was. Then show a picture of them . . . tear it up and/or vanish it. A nice touch with this is that you can have something written on the back of the photo . . . a note from your ex, or something like that. Of course you  put it on both photos: the one in the tube and the one you’re going to vanish. This is as close as you’re gonna get to signed object to Advil tube.

For this, all you need is the tube in your pocket, and a picture in your wallet. This kind of thing is perfect for more casual performances. If you wanted to do it strolling, you can have several pictures in your wallet (assuming that you’re going to tear one up each time you perform). Then have several tubes in your pocket.

Experimenting

As you can see, this idea has a lot of potential. The best thing to do is experiment with several different objects that you may be interested in loading in the tube. Just buy a tube and rip it open. Don’t worry about saving the seal. I mean . . . save the baby seals, but don’t save the Advil seal in this case. Then just try rolling up stuff and seeing what’ll fit and what won’t. You might be able to fit small coins from other countries. Also, magic & novelty shops sell miniature coins.

You could put matches in there and cause them to vanish from a match book or matchbox. Maybe you could figure out a way to do a Tic Tac/Advil transpo where the Advil ends up in a sealed Tic Tac container and the Tic Tacs end up in the Advil tube.

Stuff a few super soft sponge balls in there. Then at the end of a sponge ball routine, the sponge ball vanishes, but in its place is a red pill, or the tube itself. I like the symmetry of the red pill and the red sponge ball.

Load it will small dice and patter about how taking drugs is always a gamble. On and on and on and on. Take some time to experiment and find out what fits your personality and style.

I’ve also played around with producing the tube. Maybe causing a dollar bill to magically turn into the pill tube. You can still start the routine off by saying that this effect is so good, it’ll give you a headache, but you never show the pills. Then you perform the effect and cause the object to vanish,  or rather: transform into the pill tube.

Another untapped idea is the wrapper around the tube. It actually unrolls. See image below.

I’ve experimented with writing a prediction on there (on the inside), or trying to hide something rolled up in there. I’m not sure what or how yet, but once you get something in there and re-roll it and reseal the pull tab, it should stay in place and can be handled with no problem. You can even glue it a little if needed to make sure it stays in place.

The Rattle Box

The rattle box (i.e., the tube strapped to your arm up your sleeve) is only needed in effects where the tube is pre-loaded with no pills in it. The only example of that above is the original effect where the pills trade places with the receipt. The rest of the effects do not require it. However, you may not even need it then. The fact that it’s sealed may be enough.

For me, however, I prefer the rattle box. I want to make sure that all things point to “This bottle is a legitimately sealed, untampered-with tube of Advil.” I have experimented with wearing the thumb tip that has the pills in it while shaking the tube. It actually works and even sounds right. However, it’s very awkward to hold the tube and properly conceal the thumb tip. I’ve played around with different grips, but never quite found one that worked for me. I like the simplicity of forefinger on top of the tube, thumb on the bottom and just shaking it.

You can, of course, feel free to experiment and see if you come up with something that’s comfortable for you and your style. In fact, I encourage it.

Multiple Repeat Performances

As you’ve seen, there are versions of this listed above that can be done by simply carrying around the tube and maybe one other item. For example the photo version only requires the photo and the tube. The dollar bill version only requires the tube if you borrow the bill, etc.

Although it’s a huge impossibility to have an object appear in a factory sealed tube, if the tube wasn’t sealed, it would still be a good effect, especially if the spectator holds the tube the entire time. So, if you want to carry a tube around with a dollar bill loaded into it, you can be able to repeat the effect without having to carry around a bunch of tubes. In this case, you’ll not be able to use the serial number because as soon as you remove the bill from the tube, they’ll want their bill back.

They think the one in the tube is theirs. You could, of course, be prepared with a bunch of duplicate bills in your wallet if you wanted to use the duplicate serial number idea mentioned earlier. Since this is not a sealed tube, but merely a tube with a lid, you’ll need to do something to make sure they “know” it’s the same bill. You could use a torn corner switch.

Then each time you perform, you have a new corner and new bill to load into the tube because you gave away the one in the tube, but you got a new one from the spectator. This is the one you vanished a moment earlier. This does mean, however, that you’ll have to carry around the loose corner where ever you go.

You can also do the photo version, however, you’ll need to have multiple copies of the photo in your wallet. The nice thing with the photo, you have the built in “duplicate” if you have a little note on the back of the photo — you’ll need this on all of the photos.

Final Thoughts

Stuff like this make my mind go in a thousand different directions. I’m assuming you guessed that after reading this effect. Take the time to play around and experiment with this idea. I’m sure you’ll find a ton of ideas that fit you. Good Luck!

I bring this up, a) because it’s funny, and b) because there is a lesson here, I think. The lesson is the fourth and final in the Know Your Audience series. Things get lost in translation even when both people are speaking the same language. In this case, the “audience” I’m referring to is the person who hired you to do your gig. Take a moment to make sure that you both are on the same page regarding things like: date and time of event, fee, required equipment, etc. Make sure they know what you actually will be doing.

I was once hired as one of several entertainers at an outdoor party at a huge home owned by a very rich lady. When the gig was over, the owner of the home gave me a piece of her mind and told me how upset she was that she didn’t see me perform at a single table. She said that all I did was just stop by a bunch of different tables and talk to people. Long story short, she thought I was a musician and that I’d be playing a song at each table.

In this case, I can blame the agent who got me the gig. He didn’t communicate clearly with the owner. However, ultimately I’m the one hired, and I’m the one leaving the impression on the owner, so I should have made sure my agent knew what he was talking about. Make sure that everyone is on the same page. This includes your customers at the table you’re approaching as well.

Take a moment to make sure they know why you’re interrupting their meal, party, etc. Make it clear to them yourself, and also work with the host to make sure that they are spreading the word that there is a magician in the house.

You don’t want to end up wit a deck of cards vanishing up your spectator’s nose, so take some time to communicate properly with all parties involved, and make sure that you not only know your audience, but that your audience knows you.

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.

Effect

A dollar bill is folded in half lengthwise. It is sandwiched between two credit cards. As the bill is pushed through the two credit cards, it emerges on the other side inside-out. This is repeated a time or two. Then the bill ripped in half showing that half of it was inside-out.

Credits

This is, obviously, just Cardwarp with different props. As far as I know, there are only two other published sans-cards version of this effect. The Cardwarp Tour by Jeff Pierce is, as far as I know, the most comprehensive study of the effect, its origins and its variations. In that book, there are a handling ideas using a dollar bill, but in most cases, the dollar bill is used as the magic “portal” where the card turns inside-out.

The two effects that do not use playing cards are Warp 9 by Mike Powers and Inside Out by Richard Osterlind. The Powers version uses a dollar bill as the portal and a business card as the object to be warped. Osterlind’s effect is the only one where the bill itself warps. However, it’s a completely different kind of effect and method. It’s a routine using a single bill that ends with a mis-made bill. Having said all that, I’m 99.999999% confident that the effect you are reading is original with me.

Method

First, a note: pink strips of paper on the credit card in the images below have nothing to do with the effect. They are just there to obscure my credit card number.

Moving on: start by having a dollar bill pre-torn in your wallet ready to go. Remove two credit cards from your wallet and the bill and show it on both sides, concealing the tear. Fold it in half length-wise, keeping the torn side toward you (see image below).

Holding the bill in your right hand with your thumb over the tear, use your left hand to place the two credit cards in front of the bill to the left with the front-most (i.e., closest to the audience) card down-jogged and left jogged. Having the cards jogged like this gives more of a screen to prevent the next move from flashing.

Slightly roll your right thumb upwards to release the bottom part of the bill below the tear. With the left thumb, open the bottom half of the dollar bill (see image below – note: the front-most card is removed from the image to clearly show the relationship of the rear-most card and the dollar).

Next, align the bill so that it is fully hidden by the card nearest you. Place the front-most card on top of the bill thus sandwiching the bill between the two credit cards (image below – note: the bill is slightly jogged to the right for clarity only).

Holding the top of the ripped portion of the bill against the rest of the dollar with your right thumb, grab the two cards with your left hand from the left side and pivot them around into the front of the bill. The ends result is the secretly unfolded part of the bill is sandwiched between the two cards, and the rest of the bill (still folded length-wise) is behind both cards (image below – note: the right hand is removed for clarity and because it’s holding the camera).

Immediately slide the rear-most (i.e., closest to your) card to the right about a half of an inch while maintaining the right thumb on the tear. Transfer everything to the left hand placing your left thumb across the entire tear, keeping it flat against the bill and cards (image below).

With the right hand, grab the rear-most card and slide it out to the left; show it on both sides, and place it on top of the bill. The situation, now, is the two credit cards are sandwiching the dollar bill which is folded with the top part (i.e., above the tear) of the fold toward you and the bottom part (i.e., below the tear) of the fold is folded toward the audience. The secret nature of the bill is, of course, hidden between the credit cards (image below – note: the cards are spread for clarity only).

This whole series of actions only takes a few seconds. Now you are in position to push the dollar bill through the portal (i.e., the credit cards). As it emerges on the other side, it will appear to be turning inside-out between the cards. Push it back and forth as many times as fits your presentation. When you’re just about to finish, you can do the somewhat standard corner display where you bring the center of the bill to the corners of the credit card showing both sides clearly with the bill inside-out (image below).

After that moment has sunk in, bring the bill back to being parallel to and sandwiched in the cards. Push it all the way to the left again. Pull it slightly farther out of the cards, just to the point where the tear is no longer hidden inside the cards. However, it’s covered by your left hand. You want to make sure that you do this so that the tear is outside of the card on the audience’s side. However, just before the tear would expose itself, fold the bill toward the audience and up against the front-most card (image below – note: this is a very “exposed” view. The dollar should be facing the audience, and the opening between the cards would actually be on your left concealed by your left fingers).

Then unfold it while keeping your left index finger in front covering the tear with the left thumb directly behind the left index finger behind the bill. You’re in position to tear the bill. With the right hand, pinch the two cards together and tear back toward yourself as the left hand tears forward. If done properly, this will tear the bill exactly at the point of the original half-tear. Immediately spread the two cards to reveal the other half of the bill between the cards. This makes a nice display of the two halves one folded one way and the other folded the other way.

Below is a video of the entire handling. Note that this is not a “performance” but rather a slowed down walk through of the handling from the audience’s perspective.

Presentation

This kind of effect, with these props lends itself to interesting presentation ideas, so let’s take a look at a few.

The Scam

Pull out your debit/credit cards and make the claim that you don’t need to go to an ATM to get money.

However, since I’m not at my bank’s ATM, there’s a transaction fee of a dollar.

Get the prepared dollar out of your wallet, and set it up as directed above. Then claim that as you push it through, a $20 bill will come out the other side. However, as you push it through, a $20 doesn’t come out. Instead your dollar gets turned inside out.

Maybe this is one of those scam ATMs that just steal your account number and PIN.

In anger, you “try to take the bill back,” but it “accidentally” rips as you take it out. In this presentation, if you choose to do the diagonal display, you’ll want to take on the attitude of confusion like you’re trying to figure out what the heck is going on, so you start moving it around trying to “figure it out.” Then when you display it at the corner of the cards, you look just as confused and surprised as everyone else.

Tricky Bank Teller

This is similar to the The Scam, but this time it’s the bank teller trying to scam you rather than the ATM. Simply claim that the teller tried to convince you that he was giving you two dollars instead of one. The idea of this is similar to the old gag where you claim to have two quarters in your pocket. You pull out one quarter and say, “one.” Then you put your hand (with the quarter) back in your pocket. You come out with “another” quarter and say, “two.”

This is a gag often used when entertaining children. With the dollar bill, you claim that “here’s one dollar,” then after pushing it through you claim that here’s the other dollar. After the teller did this a couple of time (you claim) you tried to grab the bill to look at it, but it “accidentally” ripped. With this presentation, you would leave out the diagonal display.

Notes

The length of a credit card is about a half inch longer than half of the length of a dollar bill. This allows plenty of cover when pushing the bill through the cards. You’ll never be able to accidentally push the bill too far.

Also, since the dollar bill has a border, it’s okay if the bill peeks out a little bit on one side before you effect the change. It will just look like the bill is sticking out with nothing weird happening.

The advantage of this version over the original is that you probably already have two credit cards in your wallet, and you probably already have cash in your wallet. If you’re planning on doing this effect, you already have what you need. Just pre-tear one or two bills, and you’re all set.

One quick tip: when performing this, make sure that the raised numbers on the credit cards (i.e., the front of the cards) are on the outside. You want the back of the cards to be on the inside. It makes sliding the bill through much easier. The tear won’t snag on the raised numbers, and it’s just a much better surface in general . . . less friction.

Lastly, you may want to consider doing a restoration of the bill at the end. Before reading Osterlind’s effect, I also had the idea to use a mis-made bill. My idea was this: after tearing the bill in half and letting that sink in, I would then tear each half in half again, length-wise. Then using a bill switch, restore it, but it would end up as a mis-made bill.
I also considered just doing a bill switch with the two ripped pieces (without ripping them further). If you use The Scam presentation above, you could end with a bill switch that changes the torn $1 bill into a torn $20 bill (or a restored one).

Advanced Selection

Rather than waiting until it’s time to do the routine to have the cards selected, have them selected in advance. While you’re doing your show, assuming you use cards, the spectators will be handling cards. Whether it’s a selection, a mystery card, a couple of Kings for a sandwich routine, the four Aces, etc., the spectators are handling cards. Rather than putting the four Aces or two Kings, or whatever back in the pack after the effect, ask various spectators to hold on to the cards for the “Big Finish.”

This saves a ton of time in two ways. First, it normally takes time to put the Kings or Aces or whatever back in the deck, so you save a few seconds there. But, of course, the big savings is at the end during the MCR routine. You don’t have to have a single card selected for this routine, because they’ve been in the possession of the spectators the entire time.

So to be clear, let’s say you’re working a group of 7 people. You do a sandwich routine which involves two Kings and a selection (let’s say 5 of Diamonds). When the trick is over, don’t put the 5 or the Kings back in the deck. Rather, let the person who selected the 5 hang on to it. Then give one of the Kings to “Bob” and the other one to “Jill” as you tell them to hold on to them until the end.

Let them know that you’ll need them for the grand finale. This will build suspense and mystery. Next up, you perform an Ace Assembly (yuck). At the end, give an Ace to “Judy”, “Billy”, “Jack” and “Doug.” You’ve done two card tricks, and already 7 people have a card for the big finish. This speeds things up, builds suspense and is much more efficient. Also, if your card set involves more cards than this, feel free to have spectators hang on to more than one card.

One Control

When you’re done with your set of card effects and you’re ready for the grand finale, build it up. Tell everyone to take a good look at their card again and remember it. Then rather than taking the cards back and controlling them one at a time, fan the deck out and place the selections up-jogged in different parts of the fan. Square up and perform Marlo’s Super Simple Multiple Shift — I believe that’s the name of it.

This is a simple method to control all 7 (or however many) cards to the top (or bottom) of the deck all at once. With that done, you’ve take little time at all to get where you need to be. You didn’t have to bother at all with a selection process. Further, you didn’t really have to bother with taking the cards back. You just quickly up-jogged their cards so that they could “get one last look.” Two seconds later the cards are “lost” in the deck and you’re in the position you need to be to begin the revelations. Now you can go right into your revelations with a much more attentive audience.

One at a Time? No!

Finally, we come to the climax and most important part of the routine, the revelations. In my mind, the secret here is to build. Make each revelation more visible and/or more impossible seeming. That’s tip #1. Tip #2 is use revelations that reveal more than one card at the same time.

With a smaller group, this may not be needed, but if you have 10 or more selections, doing more than one selection at a time can save you time, and it often looks more flashy and more difficult. For example, you could use the classic revelation where you hold the deck and toss it from one hand to the other causing the top and bottom card to remain behind in your hand as the deck is tossed to the other hand.

Lastly, as a shameless plug, I’ll recommend my effect Triptych from my Gemstones DVD as a solution to quickly finding three selections. Further, from the same DVD, All Four One can also be adapted to the MCR routine allowing you to quickly find four selections.

In a routine like this, it’s more important than ever to look for time savers that won’t compromise the impact of the effect. I think the ideas offered here fit that bill. If you implement any of these ideas, please post a comment below to let us know how it went. Until Next Month . . .

Effect:

The magician, while performing for a small seated crowd, gives ten cards to someone on the far left side of the room. He then gives ten cards to someone else on the far right side of the room.

Magically 3 cards vanish from the “left” person’s pile and reappear in the “right” person’s pile. However, when the person on the right counts her cards, she only has 12, not 13. The magician then “senses” that someone in the middle of the crowd between “left” and “right” should stand up. When she does, she is found to be sitting on the missing card.

Method:

If you do cards across, you probably have already figured out a method to perform the above effect. I’m not going to go into any depth regarding the cards across method. There are so many methods in print that it’s best if you do the research and find one that fits you. I personally use Paul Harris’s Las Vegas Leaper. It’s my all time favorite method for this effect.

With that behind us, let’s focus on getting the missing card under the unsuspecting spectator. It’s simple . . . just put it there when nobody’s looking. This is the kind of thing that you set up well in advance of the effect happening. Use the other spectator for an effect where you need to come out to her and stand near her. It’s a simple matter to stand beside her and place your hand (holding the deck) on the back of her chair and thumb a card off the deck and between her back and the chair’s back.

This can be done to someone between your the two people that you’re going to use for the cards across effect later, or it can be done with someone sitting next to the person who will be “receiving” the cards. It’s up to you. If you’re performing for a group of people at a table, it can be anyone else (other than the two cards across people) sitting at the table.

Also, you don’t have to load it under a person you’ve used in a previous effect. Instead, while using someone for an earlier effect, slip the card onto someone else’s chair who happens to be sitting next to or near the person you’re using in the current effect.

Further, you can just do it casually early on in the show as you’re walking out amongst the audience and not using any particular spectator for an effect. Your goal is to have the card loaded well in advance . . . long before you perform the actual cards across routine. Also keep in mind that not all venues and set ups are appropriately laid out for this to work. You’ll have to kind of get a sense, based on the venue, as to whether or not it will work in that particular staging.

Presentation:

What makes this work is how you “sell” it. During the presentation where you are making your magical gestures that represent the magical traveling of the cards, you can glance at your “middle” spectator and say something like, “did you feel the card make its way past you over to her?” Anything like that can be used to set up the ending.

Then at the end when the “right” person only has 12 cards instead of 13, you can give the “middle” person a “look.” The hope is that the audience will catch on and get ahead of you. Either way, you simply say, “you really did feel the card, didn’t you? In fact, I think it didn’t make it past you.” Then ask her to stand up to discover the card.

If you’re performing it where the “middle” person isn’t really in the middle, but next to the “right” person or just somewhere else at the table, then you can use a different “line.” This time when you’re gesturing to make the cards travel, don’t say anything to the “middle” person about feeling the card. Rather, you can act as if you stumbled or mis-fired when you make your gesture. Look at the “middle” person and say, “I almost sent the card to you.” It’ll get a laugh, and everyone will assume you’re kidding. In fact, even if you weren’t going to have the card appear there and you were just doing a standard cards across routine, this line totally works.

At the end when the 13th card is missing, act as if you maybe screwed up. Then as a joking way to get out of your mistake, look to the “middle” person and jokingly say, “maybe I did send it to you.” Let that “sit there” for a minute as an awkward I-screwed-up moment. Then politely ask her to stand up.

Another line that works at the end when the 13th card is missing is simply, “I missed. Sometimes I miss.” Then look to the “middle” person and say “maybe I ‘hit’ you?” At this point, rather than looking at the “middle” person, you can look around the room at multiple people (or everyone, depending on the size of the group) and say “did any of you end up with the missing card?” Then have someone stand up. Then another. After each sits down have another stand up until you “find” the card.

Finally, a nice touch is to be aware of what card you slipped under your “middle” victim earlier. Let’s say it’s the Two of Spades. During the presentation, later, when you are making the cards travel, on the last card, say something like ” . . . and the final card I will send you is the Two of Spades.” Then when she (the person on the right) counts the cards and finds only 12, ask her if the Two made it. When she says “no” you can start looking around the room suspiciously. As you ask people if they have the Two of Spades, the effect becomes slightly more powerful when the “middle” person shows that not only did she end up with the card, but it was the Two of Spades.

Extras:

Rather than having only one card get stuck, you can have all three get stuck. The beauty of this is that during the procedure where you are counting out the ten cards for the “right” person, you can be extra super fair because you’re not hiding any extra cards. You can really milk this and build it up that you are only giving her ten cards.

Then at the end when she still has only ten cards, you can make a joke about “maybe I shouldn’t have been so fair about how I gave you those ten cards.” Then proceed as before to find the missing cards.

Lastly, the above joke can be used as cover for a standard (non “middle” person) cards across. When everyone is laughing about the fact that there are still only ten cards you can easily load on three more if needed.

Final Thoughts:

I know that it has become “the thing to say” in magic to say “don’t overlook this just because it’s simple,” but it’s so true in this case. This is the kind of stuff that will set you apart from other performers. You’re taking a simple idea that adds a little “something” to an effect, and it becomes something more. It becomes more memorable and unique. Give it a shot. You won’t regret it.

Transition

So I’m standing in line speed-solving, or finger-flicking; now what? I’d say that better than 90% of the time I do this, someone will start asking questions or making statements (e.g., “wow you’ve got fast hands”, “you’re good with cards”, “how fast can you solve that”, etc.).

With the flourishes, it’s obviously easy to transition to “I’m a magician” or “I’m a magician; do you wanna see something cool?” With the cube, I tell them the true story that I’ve spent the last year trying to master the speed technique so that I could get my speed down around 30 seconds for a magic effect I’m working on. Of course that leads to, “Oh? Are you a magician?”

So What?

What’s the point of doing all this? Remember that the No Stoned Left Unturned column is meant to help you improve the business side of magic: get more gigs, retain clients, marketing tips, etc. I’ve found that fiddling with my cards and/or cube in public usually leads to a conversation about magic, which often leads to a discussion about “do you do shows?”

Be prepared to answer questions and possibly get some phone numbers and/or give out business cards. This is a simple way to turn a 30 minute wait in Apple Genius Store into a few hundred bucks in your pocket (depending on your show fee) by getting potential and actual clients.

Learn a coin roll, or fancy Zippo lighter moves. Learn to solve the cube or some fancy XCM moves. Learn how to get the attention of those around you without taking on the attitude of “look at how awesome I am.”

Often when people ask what I’m doing, I let them know that I’m “keeping my fingers warmed up.” This will, of course, lead to questions. I lead them to believe that solving the cube is just meant to keep my mind and fingers nimble which is true. This can/will lead to you showing them nimble fingers (card/coin effect) or nimble mind (mentalism effect).

So get out there and start finger flicking, coin rolling and cube solving.

Until Next Month . . .

Root:

Let’s Remember Our Roots. The Root: Any effect is possible. As magicians, we are creators. We create miracles, illusions, effects, moments, feelings, wonder, etc., etc. Even if we don’t literally “create” (i.e., design and build) an illusion, we still “create” illusion when we perform the effect. On top of all the things we “create” during a show, we also may create other things outside of our show.
We create relationships, customers, shows and maybe even products to sell. As a creator, we should insist that we do not limit ourselves. Don’t get stuck in your paradigms. Remember that with magic, anything is possible. I remember an old episode of Amazing Stories back in the day called Mr. Magic. The basic premise was that a washed up has-been magician was about to get kicked out of his venue when he comes across an old deck of cards that have magic powers.
The cards came to life and would animate, and fly around the room and all kinds of crazy stuff. When watching that as a kid, it was so magical and beautiful. Now as a grown adult, it’s even more beautiful and magical because the story’s beautiful, and the effects are beautiful. But most importantly, the effect is possible. Remember, anything is possible with magic. Any effect is possible. I have no clue what the method would be, but one exists.

Branch:

Let’s Build Our Branches. Your Challenge: Create an impossible effect. Take some time, even just 30 minutes and think up (and write down) as many crazy effects you can think of. Don’t think about stuff only in your genre. Don’t think about methods. Simply think about effect. You might be only a close up coin worker. But that doesn’t mean you can’t think of a crazy illusion.
Give yourself no limits. How ’bout “make the moon disappear.” Why not? How ’bout raising the dead in a cemetery? Sure it’s morbid, but it’s possible. The point of this exercise isn’t, necessarily, to come up with a method. It’s simply to come up with an effect. Think of the most outrageous and impossible effects you can imagine, and write them down.
Then, every so often, re-read the list. Think about the effects (not possible methods). Just continue doing this for the rest of your magic career. Every few months, read the list. As you do this, ideas (not necessarily methods for the list of effects) will come to you. Write them down. Write down everything. Let it soak into your subconscious. Force yourself to think outside of your boxes to free your mind. Remember Neo’s first jump across the building. Free your mind. Eventually, you will be almost completely free, and ideas will flow freely. You won’t be able to stop them.

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

Root:

Let’s Remember Our Roots. The Root: Everybody loves magic. It’s usually the magician they hate, or the trick, but not magic. A trick is a means to an end. The “end” is magic . . . a feeling. It’s a feeling that everyone loves. The problem is that most people don’t allow themselves to get there. They never make it to the moment. The reason they don’t make it to the moment is because of decades of bad magicians, stock patter lines, and insults.

I say the root is “Everybody loves magic,” but I should say, “Respect your audience.” We’ll save that for the branch, here in a moment. Believe me, when people are caught off guard and feel that moment, they really feel it, and they love it. Magic feels good. A beach sunset feels good. Love at first sight feels good. Being a parent feels good. These things are all magical things. Granted, they’re not the same level of magic, but they’re all magic nonetheless. The only one we really have control over is the “trick” that we do.

The only way that “trick” matters is if we give it meaning.

Branch:

Let’s Build Our Branches. Your Challenge: Respect your audience. Respect them enough to have practiced your material before you show it. Respect them enough to not insult them. Respect them enough to put effort into your presentation. More magic is lost (i.e., the feeling of magic is lost) due to mediocre magicians, poorly performed presentations and stock patter lines than all the Masked Magicians in the world.

Take the time to really focus on every effect in your repertoire. Does it have context, meaning, feeling, purpose, etc.? Or is it just you mumbling your way through the mechanics of a “trick” like a trained monkey? Yes, folks, these are harsh words, but they apply to all of us, including me. Take the time to examine your magic and give it some meaning. When you do, you will have shown your audience that you truly respect them and care about them, and you will allow them to feel a feeling that they’ve not let themselves feel in a long time: magic. Everybody loves magic.

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

Footnote:

Here’s a list of recommended reading to get you thinking about your magic:

• Transformations: Creating Magic Out of Tricks by Lawrence Hass, Ph.D
• Magic and Meaning by Robert E. Neale and Eugene Burger
• Magic Matters by Robert E. Neale

Introduction

This effect comes straight from a dream I had a while back. There is something about having a spectator commit to a card by writing his/her name on it, or in this case folding it.

Effect

A deck of cards flows into use. You (the magician) turn around (back facing the participant). You instruct him/her to turn the cards face up, cut the cards & complete the cut. He/she is asked to do this “cutting & completing” several times until she finds a card of her liking. When she does, she is instructed to take that card and fold it into forths, so the back design is showing (card face becomes hidden).

Your spectator is then instructed to place the folded card underneath her left hand. She is now asked to cut and complete the cards again a few times with her right hand until she see’s a card she’d like to reveal to the magician and stop. Finally the magician turns around and through mental telepathy the folded (committed) card is revealed.

Method and Set up

Si Stebbins stack and a peek- pretty simple.

The psychology behind this effect, from my personal perspective lies in the way the card is chosen and committed to. How often do we actually have a spectator chose a card then fold it into forths before hiding it?

This out of sight, underneath the spectators hand scenario creates a clearly impossible situation. Additionally the reason behind having the participant cut the deck again- is so that the card she allows to be seen will “reveal” (psychologically) everything about the card that is underneath her hand. It’s a ruse, but this becomes the motivation behind everything that is happening.

The Peek

The Peek:

There are 2 different points/moments where you can use a peek to find out what the folded card is. The first one is a Jeff Stone contribution; where the magician turns around after the “reveal” card is chosen/stopped at. The deck is given a quick (face up) ribbon spread on the table, and just by locating the only two cards that are next to each other (the same color)- the card that sits on the bottom of (or below) will give you the identity of the folded card (via the si-stebbins stack). This of course is done very casually and smoothly while recapping upon what has transpired. After the spread, turn the cards face down and shuffle the deck a few times thus getting rid of the “set-up” evidence.

• I personally don’t shuffle the cards until after the revelation. I think it’s running when not being chased. The best scenario would be to go right into an effect which only uses a few cards, because clearly the deck is now incomplete/ruined (in the spectators mind). Which totally justifies a quick shuffle followed by removing a few cards such as the 4 aces etc.

Note: Jeff Stone has informed me that this will also work with the 4 Kings set up.

The second peek is an idea given to me by the ever so amazing Derrick Welling; which is quite clever. After the spectator has folded the “committed” card, you say something like “Ok you’ve got that card folded & hidden away?” at the same time very casually turn your head as if to make sure, and peek the now exposed face up card, which sits on top of the deck. You turn back around and then follow through with the (instructed) cutting/completing/reveal card sequence. In this case you obviously don’t need to spread the cards face up, you can simply turn the cards face down and slowly, very magically reveal the folded/hidden card.

• There is plenty of time misdirection in play using this peek. Also as you peek make sure your spectator doesn’t “see” you looking at the tabled card. Peek “it” before you make eye contact with her, or better yet simply use your powerful peripherals- be ultra sneaky.

I trust the simplicity of this effect doesn’t stop you from giving it a try, you just might be surprised by exactly “who” it fools and how impressive it plays.

The Dream

Originally in my dream, the method required no peek or set-up. The spectator could shuffle the deck as much as desired, and the effect could still be accomplished. Of course this would be the perfect scenario, but as of yet, the following method is the best I’ve developed. If you formulate another method to accomplish “Commit and Reveal” please let me know, I’d love to hear what you imagine.

As always have fun

Warmly
Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon