There’s nothing new under the sun . . . you’ve all heard it, and many (maybe even most) of you believe it. I say . . . B.S.! It’s total crap. Things change; the world progresses; we grow. New stuff under the sun appears.

Case in point. I recently got an email from David Acer. His tagline at the bottom of his email was “Sent from my Oral-B Toothbrush.” First of all, that’s freakin’ hilarious . . . secondly, it’s full of “new under the sun” stuff.

The post Sent From My Oral-B Toothbrush appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

What a headline . . . but it’s true. I entered my effect Quarter Bird into the MagicSeen magazine Master Class Contest. If you liked that effect then vote for me. Of course, to keep things fair, here are my competitors, so if you like their effects better, then vote for them:

From Magicseen Magazine Issue 42:

All the entries for the Masterclass Award 2011 have now been published and we need you, dear Readers, to help us to decide which of the contributions is worthy of receiving the framed Masterclass Award 2011 certificate and the £250 cash prize.

Below you will find listed the entries – what we would like you to do is to send your top 3 favourites, in a 1-2-3 order, via email to markleveridge@magicseen.co.uk. We will then use the votes to help us to declare the winner in the next issue. Your vote must reach us no later than Friday 20th January 2012, and there is only one vote allowed per person. So get your vote in now!

• Pene-sational – Ian Adair (issue 37)
• It’s Right Ear – Michael J. Fitch (issue 37)
• Time Is Of The Essence – Marc Spelmann (issue 38)
• Bullet Catcher – John Bannon (issue 38)
• X-Change Of Mind – Mark Townsend (issue 38)
• 4 Coin Production – Damian Surr (issue 39)
• 1992 – Mike Gancia (issue 39)
• A Fine Chance – Wayne Fox (issue 40)
• Quarter Bird – Jeff Stone (issue 41)
• Spectator-Cut Christ Aces – Paul Gordon (issue 42)
• The Sugar Routine – Dave Bonsall (issue 42)

Free Copies of Magicseen magazine

If you’d like a free issue of Magicseen Magazine, email me your mailing address with the subject line of “Free Magicseen Magazine.” The first three emails will be sent a free copy, courtesy of Lybrary.com

2012 Free Tricks

What Do Max Maven, Paul Harris, David Acer, Wayne Dobson, Larry Hass, Jay Sankey and Steve Beam have in common? Answer: Every single one of them have offered a free trick of the month for the year 2012! That’s right, in upcoming issues, you’ll be learning Free magic from Paul Harris, Max Maven, and all the rest of the gang listed above! As you might have noticed already, we’ve started of January with David Acer’s effect, Ghost In The Machine.

Thank you all for your loyal readership! Enjoy January 2012

The post Free Stuff! appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

Have a care chosen and returned to the deck. Control it to the top via your preferred method, then execute a Double Turnover. Say, “Is this your card?” The spectator will answer, “No,” to which you respond, “Then I have good news.” Turn the double card face down on the deck, then deal the top card into your right hand and say, “We’re standing next to a magic vending machine.”

With your right hand, insert the face-down card into the slot for dollar bills. The machine will pull it in, then reject it, whereupon you turn it over, showing it to have changed into the spectator’s selection.

The post Ghost in The Machine appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

Larry Hass Reviews Stone Frixion Fire

At this point, you’re probably aware (since I announced it in a separate email) that Larry Hass, Ph.D. gave a glowing review of my Frixion book. You can view that review by clicking on the video icon. In honor of his glowing review I’m offering a 33% discount on the e-book that expires this Wednesday (9/14/11). Check it out here: Stone Frixion Fire

The post Glowing Review by Dean of McBride School of Magic and Mystery appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

You heard right folks. In the January 2011 (The Houdini Issue) Issue of Genii Magazine published my effect Burnin’ Time from Stone Frixion Fire. The write up, By David Acer, is on page 22. If you don’t have that issue, get it: Genii January 2011.

Discontinuing E-Book – HUGE Discount

As of January 7th, 2011 the Stone Cold Magic E-book will no longer be available individually. You will only be able to get it with Stone Cold Magic DVD. However, until the 7th, I’m offering it for nearly 70% Off!

You can get it now for only $4.95. That’s the best price you’re ever gonna see on this product. Get it now, because after January 7th, 2011, you won’t be able to get it at all (unless you buy the DVD).

Or order the Stone Frixion Fire E-Book and get the Stone Cold Magic E-Book For Free!

Brand New Version of Stone Frixion Fire

The Stone Frixion Fire e-book has been updated and is now on its third edition! In the past, the printed version of the book (sold at my lectures and retailers) was a bit different from the electronic version. It keeps on selling out, so with the last wholesale reorder, I totally revamped the book and decided to make the electronic version and the printed version the same. The electronic version now has:

• A ton of updated content
• Brand new effects from Mike Skutt, Chris Kavanaugh and Dan Paulus
• Forewords By Jay Sankey and Brad Gordon
• A ton of other things

Those of you who have already purchased the e-book (from me, Lybrary, Hidden Bookshelf or Elmwood) can log in to your accounts and re-download the book for free. Unless you bought it within the past 2 weeks, you’ve got the older version, so you’ll want to update it for free.

Everyone else who hasn’t ordered it already, now’s the time folks: Stone Frixion Fire E-Book. If you order it now, you’ll get the Stone Cold Magic E-Book for FREE!

Order Now!

A New YouTube Video Every Day!

Many of you know my friend Eric LeClerc. He was one of the guest artists (along with myself and Joe Diamond) on Jay Sankey’s Underground Jam. Eric is hosting a brand new show on YouTube . . . Project 365. He will be posting a brand new trick on YouTube every single day for the entire year of 2011! Check out his new channel and subscribe to it: The Lecleric Show.

Secrets Revealed

Last month, the Roots and Branches article was all about secrets. If you haven’t read it yet, make sure you do. It’s a great Q&A session with Me and Brad Gordon: Secrets. At the end, I told you to stay tuned for the December issue where I would reveal the biggest secret of all . . . where here it is. My wife is pregnant with #5. It’s a girl, and she’s due on April 15th, 2011. How’s that for an awesome secret.

The post Secrets Revealed appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

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 directly from his book, we won’t be following the typical format of Roots and Branches Column.

Without Further delay, here it is in Oliver’s own words: Act Accordingly . . .

This is not a trick as such but rather an interesting way to link together other tricks into a routine that stands out from the standard card trick crowd. In other words, it’s a way to do card tricks without them feeling like card tricks.

There’s a burgeoning genre of magic effects which could be described as ‘art imitating life’. These are tricks where images of objects act as if they are real.

In Sankey’s “One-Car Garage”, for example, a drawing of a garage door opens to reveal a drawing of a car.

In many of these tricks the identity of the cards doesn’t matter, they are merely conveniently-sized pieces of thin cardboard. So why not do away with the faces altogether and develop a presentation about living drawings? Now you’ll no longer be remembered as someone who did card tricks but as someone who drew pictures that came to life. The drawings also provide an automatic internal logic to your effects, which should make them more memorable. Should you require a card to be signed for identification, you can just have the spectator draw the appropriate image instead.

Replace your usual deck of cards with a blank-faced deck of cards. Write ‘REJECTS’ on the card case and introduce them to the spectators by saying that since you go through hundreds of packs of cards you’re always on the look out for cheap packs. Bring out the cards and show the faces to be blank as you say that you wondered why they were so cheap.

Tell the spectators that since there are no faces to the cards you’ll just draw things on them instead.

You can now perform a set of ‘art imitating life’ card tricks. Some suggestions for tricks follow.

• “Mr. Stickman” by David Acer: a stickman jumps around the backs of cards. Similar effects have also been published by Mark Mason, Jay Sankey and Richard Sanders.
• “Close’s Clones 2” by Michael Close: pictures of clowns multiply. This could be adapted by drawing the clowns.
• “Measles” by Jay Sankey: spots on cards multiply.
• “One Car Garage” by Jay Sankey: a drawn garage door is opened to reveal a car.
• “A Stronger Magnet” by Jay Sankey: a drawn magnet attracts another card.
• “Fragile Harbour” by Jay Sankey: a drawn ship is put into a drawn bottle.
• “Tenacious Climber” by David Regal: a drawn puppy is repeatedly called to the top of the deck.

And a few by myself:

• “Ambitious Balloon”: a drawn balloon repeatedly rises to the top of the deck.
• “Handy Ring Transpo”: a picture of a ring changes places with a picture of a hand.
• “Flip A Card”: a drawn coin is flipped and lands the other side up (originally published in Online Visions).

You could also adapt existing tricks and their methods to the living drawings. Here are some other possible plots for which you can work out methods with a little thought. You can always create more by listing objects and thinking about what they would do if they were real.

• Superheroes who fly from one packet to another (a la Cards Across).
• Acorns which turn into oaks (using any Colour Change).
• Lions that eat gazelles (a la Cannibal Cards).
• Cards marked left and right which always stay on their correct side (a la two card transpositions).
• Wallets that travel to your pocket (a la Card to Pocket).
• Coasters that end up under their drink (a la Card Under Drink).
• Frogs that jump from card to card.
• Nails which bend when the card is bent.
• Glass which shatters when the card is hit.
• Shy stickmen who stand with their back to the audience until made to turn around.
• Soup that you slurp up.

Since most spectators have never seen a blank deck of cards before, you should probably let them examine it before you start doing tricks. Otherwise they may think it’s a trick deck. You can always palm on any prepared cards you need after they’ve returned the deck.

Alternatively, you could use double-blank cards and refer to them as index cards (or just use index cards!)

N.B. Obviously I’m not the first person to think of using blank cards. Gregory Wilson has done it (see “Point Blank” on his Pyrotechnic Pasteboards DVD), Arthur Tivoli has done it, etc. These are just my thoughts regarding the blank card idea.

As there are no card indices to remember, these tricks are good for children.

Give it a try. It’s a small change that can make a big difference.

Plot Twists is available at Oliver’s Store.

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

The post Act Accordingly appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

I really like them. I was able to do a Faro right out of the box. For me, that’s a miracle!

So here’s the deal, order any DVD from Stone Cold Magic and use the coupon code below. When you do, you’ll get 25% off of your order plus a Free deck of Mandolin Back Bicycle Reds (that’s the only available color for the time being)

Coupon Code: MANDOLIN25

This Coupon Code Expires Next Tuesday (8/31/10), so don’t wait!

Order Now!

Mandolin Backs Ad Copy:
Standard Bicycle playing card deck with a Brand new look from United States Playing Card Company!

Design:
Paul Harris directed the development of the new 809 Bicycle back with USPCC. Paul worked with three world class artists (including Garrett Thomas) to create a soothing traditional looking back that’s instantly trusted as part of the Bicycle family. And yes, this classic looking deck even features the trademarked Bicycle Ace of Spades, Joker and the traditional box.

Quality:
Richard Turner worked directly with USPCC manufacturing to ensure the new Bicycle 809 Mandolin has a superior cut and quality. These are exquisitely crafted decks! Once you feel these cards you will never want to put them down.

Order Now!

Check out what others are saying About SCM DVDs:

Stone Frixion Fire:

Gemstones:

Stone Cold Magic:

Order Now!

Remember, this offer expires Midnight Tuesday Night (August 31st, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST)

Get a 25% discount off of ALL DVDs and a free deck of Mandolins:

Order Now!

Remember your Coupon Code: MANDOLIN25

Thanks!

Jeffro

The post Free Paul Harris/Richard Turner Mandolin Back Bicycle Cards appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

My Latest DVD, Stone Frixion Fire is kickin’ butt and takin’ names.

In the August Issue of Genii Magazine, David Regal gave it a solid review. He had one complaint, however. He felt like I should have charged $35.00 (instead of $30.00) and included a Frixion Pen with the DVD.

Maybe he’s right . . . so I’ll do one better. I’ll charge $25 – That’s $10.00 LESS than Regal suggested – and Include a Free Frixion Pen!

Just use this coupon when ordering Stone Frixion Fire and you’ll get 5 Bucks off plus a free Black Frixion Pen! You’ll also get a free pad of Flash Paper!

Coupon Code: FrixionPen5

For only $25 bucks you get:

• Stone Frixion Fire DVD
• FREE Stone Frixion Fire E-Book
• FREE Pad of Flash Paper
• FREE Black Frixion Pen
• FREE Access to Secret Frixion Site
• FREE International Shipping

This Coupon Code Expires Next Saturday (7/31/10), so don’t wait!

Order Now!

Check out what others are saying:

“Jeff Stone’s new ‘Frixion’ dvd features an entire world of ideas and will undoubtedly inspire many viewers to create their own exciting variations. Very fun stuff!”
– Jay Sankey

I had a chance to watch your DVD today . . . would you consider letting me write one up for Genii magazine? At the moment, I’m thinking of “Burnin’ Time.”
– David Acer (Genii Magazine)

A lot of really good ideas on here. I love the torn and restored corner. Just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
– Cameron Francis

I just got done with . . . Stone Frixion Fire.  WOW! You and your cohorts are some creative guys, there are some great ideas there, it really has my wheels turning.
– Jay Best

This is an excellent dvd. I’ve been using frixion pens for sometime and while I imagined there was a great deal that could be done with them, this dvd is chock full of things I would never have thought of. I quite liked the bonus jam session with Jeff and his creative friends.
– Chris Kavanaugh

I dove into the [Frixion] DVD a little bit last night. Awesome stuff, man …Very well put together and thought out …I just love the “review” of past peoples’ work with Frixion pens …that was good …gobs of good bonus material …whatever you charge won’t be enough!!”
– Paul Budd

Order Now!

Ad Copy:

The Stone Frixion Fire DVD creates a smokin’ hot combination! The Stone Frixion Fire  e-book was wildly popular and now comes the DVD! Join Jeff and members of his creative team as the e-book’s effects (plus many more!) are brought to life. Jeff devotes extensive time to explaining the uses of Frixion pens and all the little touches needed to wield these powerful, yet innocent-looking tools!

From simple revelations to quirky little effects you’d never have imagined, Jeff pulls out all the stops.

Plus . . . more bonus material than you can shake a fire extenguisher at! Tired of doing the same old stuff? Heat up your performances with Stone Frixion Fire today!

When the Frixion pen first came to my attention, my team and I came up with a ton of killer ideas for the pen . . . Heat sensitive ink . . . a beautiful tool for the magi. From our brainstorming, experimenting and playing came Stone Frixion Fire, my best selling e-book.

No product I’ve released has even come close . . . The printed version is the top seller at my lectures, and the electronic version continues to be the number one product here at Stone Cold Magic. Multiple reorders from wholesalers can’t be wrong. When I asked Murphy’s Magic (#1 Magic Wholesaler) if they’d be interested in a DVD based on the book, the response was an immediate purchase order for several hundred copies. That’s right, they ordered a bucket load of a DVD that hadn’t even been outlined on paper yet.

Well it’s gone from outline to script to production to edit to replication to HERE!

This DVD is destined to be a record breaker. Thanks to many, many, many friends and magic consultants, this DVD is PACKED with a ton of killer material. Plus you get the E-Book For FREE with the DVD. Plus you get access to a secret website with even more ideas!

The effects on the DVD fall into every skill level and just about every genre of close up magic you can imagine. There is something for EVERYONE on this DVD

Remember, this offer expires Midnight Saturday Night (July 31st, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST)

Order Now!

Thanks!

Jeffro

The post Free Frixion Pen! appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

The Joker visually and instantly becomes the four Aces. – View Video Performance

Performance

Place the Joker face up on the table.  Place all four Aces face up in the left hand in dealer’s grip, but hold a pinky break beneath the top two cards.  Ask the spectator to cut the deck into two piles.  You are going to apparently place all four Aces face down on top of the deck and complete the cut.

But you’re actually going to perform a little move I call The Rolling Reversal: with your left little finger and ring finger on the right edge of the top two Aces, push slightly upward and inward which should result in the top two cards being pushed against the base of the thumb (see fig. 1).

The top two cards will bend like the shape of a “U.”  Note: In figure one, my finger tips are actually on the back of the two black Aces.  Looking at figure two will show you how the card should be bending in figure one.

Now bring your left thumb over, and allow the first crease of your thumb to rest on top of the right edge of the top two cards (see fig. 2).

Bend your thumb slightly down and bring it in toward the left in a rolling sort of motion (see fig. 3).

When done correctly, it results in the black Aces turning over to be face to face with the red Aces. This entire move should only take less than a second, and it’s done as your left hand turns palm down and reaches over to place the Aces “face down on top of the deck.”  (The audience should be completely unaware of this sequence of events).

What you’re really doing is placing the four Aces on top, but two are face up (unknown to the audience).  After you have placed the Aces on the top of one of the halvesf, leave your left hand on the deck.

Your right hand comes over and both hands do a table square (see fig. 4).

Pick up this half and place it in the left hand dealer’s grip.  With the right hand, pick up the remainder of the deck, and place it on top of the half in your left hand.  Hold a little finger break between the two halves.  Here you can either “pass” the Aces to the top or just double under cut.  Somehow, get the Aces back to the top.

Retain the deck in the left hand dealer’s grip, and get a break beneath the top four cards, which is pretty easy because the third and forth cards are significantly bowed. Pick up the tabled Joker with the right hand, and place it face up on top of the deck (so far, all the audience should think is that you cut the Aces into the center of the deck and placed a Joker face up on top of the deck).

You are now going to perform a utility move that I developed called The Atomic Split:  Using the right hand, pinch the right edge of the five cards with your thumb on top and the index and middle fingers on the bottom (see fig. 5).

With the right fingers, pull gently toward the right.  This slides the bottom cards to the right.  At the same time, the right thumb pushes to the left.  This slides the top card to the left.  This should result in spreading the five cards.  Once the cards are spread, move your right hand slightly down and to the right.

Turn your left hand slightly to the right, resulting in the following:  The deck is at a right angle to the floor, and the five spread cards are parallel to the floor and at a right angle to the deck (see fig. 6).

Push up and to the left with the right hand.  This will buckle the five cards making an arch (see fig. 7).

Now push down with the right thumb and allow the Joker and the two face down Aces to riffle off of your right thumb and onto the deck (see fig. 8).

Immediately turn both hands palm up, and move your right hand to the right.  Your right hand should now be holding two face up Aces, and the left hand should be holding the deck, face down, with two face up Aces on top.  As your right hand is moving away to the right, spread the two Aces by pulling the top Ace to the right with your thumb.

At the same time, push the left hand’s top Ace to the right with the left thumb (see fig. 9).

This whole process should literally take less than a one second.  It appears as if you split the Joker into four Aces.  When doing this move, the audience should not see you spread the cards.  It should be a quick and instantaneous change that happens so fast that all they see is a joker turning into four Aces. After displaying the Aces for a few seconds, thumb off all four cards onto the table, one at a time.

Notes

When David and I came up with this effect, we were talking about the way to get the four Aces in position and what to do with them once they were there.  The details are kind of fuzzy now, because this conversation happened 16 years ago.

But basically, I developed The Rolling Reversal (the one that puts the Aces face to face under the guise of putting them on top of the deck) and The Atomic Split (see below for more crediting on The Atomic Split) as an answer to the challenge of this effect’s ending.

This can be done as an effect by itself, but it’s better as a follow up to “The WTC Move.”

More Notes

After David read my final notes, he had this to say:

I think I mentioned this to you when I first received the book but I still do not truly remember much about this effect.  This was probably an idea for an effect I had 10 years ago that I mentioned to you at one of our shop sessions.  You obviously pressed onward and came up with a working solution.  All the credit should go to you on this one!  Maybe I suggested the basic effect or a few possible suggestions or avenues to check out, I don’t remember, but as far as I’m concerned this one’s yours!!!

Atomic Split

The move I refer to as The Atomic Split, happens to be a move that was independently created by Ben Harris. I found this out years later while watching a David Acer video called Extreme Close-up. In the effect Changes David uses the move and credits it as “A Ben Harris Move.”

Please take a moment to reply and “like” this effect.

The post Keep Your Eye On The Joker appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

Yep. You read correctly. You want a free copy of my latest DVD, Stone Frixion Fire? It’s yours. Of course there’s a catch, but it’s easy. All you have to do is post a review of the DVD.

1. Order the DVD from Stone Cold Magic.
2. Post a review on the Review Page.
3. I’ll reimburse you the entire cost of the DVD.

In fact, I’ll extend that offer to anyone of the following products:

• Stone Cold Magic DVD
• Stone Cold Magic E-Book
• Gemstones DVD
• Stone Frixion Fire E-Book
• Stone Frixion Fire DVD
• Underground Jam Download 4 Pack (You must review all four effects)

That’s it. The “fine print” is simple:

1. The product(s) must be ordered from Stone Cold Magic.
2. The product(s) must be purchased on or after May 31, 2010
3. You must post the Review by 11:59 PM MST on June 30, 2010
4. Does not apply to Brad Gordon’s New E-Book, Room 538.
5. That’s it!

If you buy all of the products above and you review them all by June 30, 2010, then you will be reimbursed for every single product. I will extend this offer to as many people who choose to participate. There are no restrictions to the number of participants. There’s no reason not to do this folks. Especially when you combine it with the following offer.

$10 Off any purchase over $29!

Use the coupon code below before June 5th (this Saturday) and receive $10.00 off on any order over $29. Now is a great time to get a couple of DVDs or a couple of e-books, especially considering that if you review them you’ll get your money back anyway. Coupon code for $10 off:  JuneTen$OFF

Brand New From Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon!

Brad’s latest e-book, ROOM 538, is a must have for any serious student of the mind and/or human behavior as it relates to magic and mentalism. As you read the presentations found in this book, the thought of serenity and peace will constantly enter your mind. These presentations are magical in and of themselves. This is a perfect insight into the mind of Brad Gordon. You’ll find some old classics from his past works, Troika, Envisage, and Clever 8 along with some amazing new effects and presentational ideas. You don’t want to miss this e-book gang. 94 pages of pure genius! ROOM 538 – ORDER IT NOW! Don’t forget to use the coupon above.

Will Jeff Ever Actually Release the Tarot Book?

Yes! I promise. Recently my basement got flooded by the City Sewer System. Luckily it was the city’s fault, so they’re paying for everything. However, it’s turned our life upside down. My kids are all living in the upstairs family room while the basement is out of commission, so needless to say, the Tarot book took a small hiatus. But we’re not far . . . hang in there.

Stone Cold Genii?

Nothing’s set in stone yet, but David Acer has asked for permission to publish an effect from Stone Frixion Fire in an upcoming issue of Genii Magazine. The who, what, when, where, why and how has yet to be determined. I’ll keep you posted.

Stone Frixion Fire Secret Site

Remember that if you order Stone Frixion Fire you get access to a secret website with extra bonus content. Recently I’ve added some new material to the site . . . contributions by:

• Mike Skutt
• Brad Gordon
• Dan Paulus

If you own the DVD and haven’t gone to the site yet, what are you waiting for? It’s free! If you don’t own the DVD, get it! It gives you access to the site. That’s a lot of news folks . . . Enjoy the rest of this issue . . . see y’all in a month.

The post Free Magic DVDs and E-Books appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.