gemstones Archives - Stone Cold Magic Magazine

SCMCR

Jeff Stone — Mon, 20 Oct 2014 06:07:17 +0000

Introduction

I hate the multiple card revelation effect. In my mind, there are several problems with it. First, the selection process takes too long. Then the “losing” the cards takes too long. Then finally, after “finding” the first few cards, they know what’s coming.

I’ve seen many people (some more successfully than others) attempt to solve pieces of the problems. I’ve never found one that I felt solved everything. What I’m about to offer, also does not solve everything. In fact, the idea has never been tested, but it seems sound to me, and it solves two and a half of the three problems. It’s a simple solution. For those of you who like the MCR effect, give this a try.

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 . . .

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Take it Personally

Jeff Stone — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 00:03:27 +0000

This month . . . Short and Sweet. A cyber-buddy of mine, Paul Watts and I recently had an email conversation about his version of one of my effects, Visa 2.0 from my Gemstones DVD. What follows is an excellent lesson in applying the principles taught in November 2012’s Issue of Roots and Branches. If you haven’t read that article yet, go back and read it first, especially if you’re a Metallica fan.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root is (much like last November’s) take it personally. Below is a cut and past of Paul’s email to me including the pictures he sent.

Hi Jeff

Ahead of me taking Visa 2.0 to Norway in May next year, I thought you might like to see pictures of my English version (attached). My two outs are CD (receipt) and shirt (“the last item I bought”). HMV is a large national store selling cds and dvds. The six items reflect some of my personality so people who know me make that subconcious link, which is why it will be so important to get the items and prices right for Oslo; you don’t want the spectator thinking about prices being inconsistent and taking their mind off the effect. Anyway, great trick Jeff, will email again after being in Oslo, and will be in touch in the meantime on Facebook ans your newsletters.

Paul

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. I’m going to re-issue the same challenge (or very, very similar) I did back in November. Go dig through your repertoire and/or effects found throughout the annals of magicdom history and make it your own. Visa 2.0 is an excellent conduit for this because it’s all about things that you may have purchased. So a simple excercise might be to just revamp Visa 2.0 for your own purposes. Find stuff you’d actually buy and the actually costs and plug everything into the receipt maker that comes with the Gemstones DVD.

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

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Grab It and Go

Jeff Stone — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:03:46 +0000

Some Dude: You’re a magician . . . do a trick.

You: Ok. See this magazine on your coffee table . . . Open it to any page you want. Then stare at the page while my back is turned . . . I see an image of fried chicken and another of Rachel Ray . . . then about half way down I see a headline . . . “The Perfect Mashed Potato Recipe.”

That sounds like an impossible effect, and maybe it is . . . but maybe it isn’t. After all, you’re a magician, and you shouldn’t be caught not being able to do magic. I’m not suggestion that everytime someone says jump monkey boy that you jump. You don’t have to perform magic everytime someone asks. However, your reason for saying no should NEVER be because you “don’t have anything on you” or that you aren’t “ready.” It should be simply because you choose not to, not because you’re forced not to due to the environment (or lack of it).

I’ve written about this in the past, and it seems to be a subject that people can relate to, so I thought I’d talk a bit more about it in this month’s Roots and Branches.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root is . . . be prepared . . . you know, the Boy Scout motto. Let’s learn how to be Boy Scouts (even if you’re a girl) or at least live up to their motto. There are various ways to prepare yourself for this type of situation. First, just knowing some basic sleight of hand and simple magic principles (timing, misdirection, etc.), you can pick up just about any small object and do “something” with it . . . whether it’s a simple vanish or transposition or whatever.

That’s one way to prepare. Another way is less improvised than this, but is still effective. Maybe you know that a certain friend of yours subscribes to Time magazine. Go purchase a copy in advance and memorize a few key elements on a few pages. Then when you go to your friend’s house next Friday, if the opportunity presents itself, force a page on someone . . . another page on someone else . . . etc. You get the idea.

A third way to prepare is to just know a lot of tricks with a lot of ordinary items: keys, coins, rubber bands, silverware, salt shakers, pencils, dollar bills, straws, etc. There are plenty of great resources for this kind of stuff. Here are a few of my favorite options:

Off The Cuff By Gregory Wilson
On The Spot By Gregory Wilson
Amazing Magic & Mentalism Anyone Can Do Vol. I By Jay Sankey
Amazing Magic & Mentalism Anyone Can Do Vol. II By Jay Sankey

I’m not suggesting anything revolutionary here, but rather, just reminding you of some classic principles and ideas that you should be thinking about.

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. Here’s your assignment for the next few weeks . . . start right now. Look around you. What do you see. I just looked around and instantly saw my iPhone, a bunch of loose change, my Little Caesar’s rewards card, a binder clip, a straw . . . a bunch of other stuff, but not what I would consider things that you’ll likely find kickin’ around when someone asks to see some magic.

Next step, ask yourself what you can do with this stuff. I see four quarters. I can do a four coins across routine. Or I could just do a simple coin vanish. Maybe Miser’s Nightmare (from my DVD, Gemstones, and a ton of other things. I’m sure you can think of a bunch of easy coin effects. What about the straw, the iPhone, etc.? I’m not gonna give you all the answers. You need to figure this out yourself. Your goal is to be ready (without having to carry anything on you) to impact people with the simple props found in the environment. Next month we’ll talk about the other extreme.

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

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Twinkie Picker

Jeff Stone — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:07:39 +0000

As ya’ll know, I’ve been working on my latest book for well over a year now (on an off – of course). The book is filled with everything from full-blown routines that I’ve used in my own act for years to essay to theories to ideas that I’ve never tried, but make for an interesting discussion to bizarre magic fantasies that are just crazy. What follows is right out of the book and somewhere in the middle of the road of all of the above genres I just mentioned.

The style of the explanation below will give you a real sense of the style of the book. Most of the content is mentalism or “mental.” However there are a few pieces (like the one you’re about to read) that are more in the “magic” genre. The book should be out sometime this year. Meanwhile . . . Enjoy Twinkie Picker:

In my Gemstones DVD, I published a bonus effect called Epicenter. It is an effect where a dollar bill (or whatever) ends up inside of a sealed Twinkie that the spectator has been holding from the beginning. The spectator can open the Twinkie and remove the dollar bill himself.

The method requires you to preload a duplicate of the object before the show. You then perform your favorite Twinkie force to get them to pick one from the box. Vanish the dollar bill or playing card (using a torn corner ruse), and bam you’ve got a pretty darn solid bill in Twinkie.

Well since then, I’ve matured a bit, and have had some further thoughts that I think you’ll appreciate. First, rather than using a torn corner for proving, you could do the old bit where you (ahead of time) scratch of the last number of the serial number on two sequential bills. In that scenario you now have two identical bills with the same serial number.

Not bad, but what about this: Get a series of bills in order and find one that ends with 3 and another that ends with 8. Then scratch of enough of the 8 to make it look like a 3. Then you have two matching bills with the correct number of numbers and identical serial numbers. And you don’t have that awkward gap between the last number and the letter.

Further, using an idea from Danny Archer’s effect G.I. Bill, I thought it would be cool to use the Twinkie as the object that you toss out into the audience to select a member of the audience to help.

So pulling this all together, you get this:

Before the show starts, you go to the bank and get a set of sequential one dollar bills (or hundreds . . . whatever). Find the one that ends with a 3 and put it aside. Then find the one that ends with 8 and using a X-Acto blade, gently scrape away enough of the 8 to make it look like the three.

You now have two identical bills. Load the legitimate “3” bill into the Twinkie (per the Gemstones instructions). Place that in a box of Twinkies with its poor (i.e., no dollar bill loaded) brethren. Make sure you know which Twinkie it is.

During the show, it goes a little something like this:

“I’m a firm believer in inspiration. I believe that many things inspire people, but I’ve found that only two thinks inspire people to participate in a magic show.”

Hold up the box of Twinkies.

“One of them is treats. So I’m going to toss one of these Twinkies out into the audience. Whoever catches it gets to keep it, but you have to promise me not to eat it until after the show is over.”

Throw the loaded Twinkie out into the audience. When someone catches it, offer to let them keep it or throw it again. Ultimately when you’re done, someone will be holding the Twinkie. That person will be your volunteer.

“As I mentioned, there are two things that get people to participate in a magic show. I gave you a Twinkie so that you’d participate, now you must give me a dollar so that I’ll participate.”

If they don’t have a dollar, have them choose someone in the audience who does. As you get the dollar bill, using your favorite secret switch, swap it for the “8” bill that’s been converted to a “3” bill. Then have a volunteer chosen by the Twinkie person come up on stage and read aloud the serial number.

You may even want to have him write it on a white board or a large piece of poster board. You can get a couple of people to verify it, etc. When all is said and done, you hold up the bill and thank the person who gave it to you. You then vanish or (my favorite) change the bill into a receipt which turns out to be the receipt for the Twinkies.

“I decided that since I’m already being paid to be here that I’d give you back your dollar. I know it’s hard to believe but you’ll find that if you open your Twinkie, your dollar bill is inside of it.”

They unwrap the Twinkie, break open the Twinkie and remove the dollar bill. You then have them read the serial number aloud.

Post Effect Palaver:

You’ll want to keep handy a small garbage can (or paper bag), a towel, and maybe even some wet wipes. Let the spectator quickly clean up and throw everything away. Then as a reward, give them another Twinkie that they can have after the show.

You could use this as a publicity piece. What I would do in that scenario is open a box of Twinkies and load up the entire box with dollar bills that have had the entire last number scratched off (not just part of the 8, but the whole last number).

This’ll give you a box where most of the Twinkies are loaded with the right kind of bill. Of course you have to keep one bill for yourself so that you can perform the effect. Next put all the Twinkies back in the box and seal it back up (when you open it, do so carefully and then re-glue the box shut. Make sure you know which Twinkies are the loaded ones.

Next, you’ll have to either sneak the box into a grocery store or get with a manager ahead of time and have him place it with the other Twinkies at the right time.

When the camera crew or newspaper (or whatever publicity venue) gets there, you grab a box of Twinkies (the box) off of the shelf and have someone open it. Hand out a couple of Twinkies (all of the ones that are NOT loaded) to a few people and have them open and eat the Twinkies. Then once you’ve done this, you’ve “proven” that the box is normal. Next, you have someone reach inside and pick out a Twinkie. Then perform the effect as described previously.

I’ve never tried the above publicity piece, but I think it’s worthy of consideration. One other thing you may want to do is switch out the remaining Twinkies. If you have the manager in on it, you can hand him the box after you’ve allowed one of the loaded Twinkies to be chosen. You just casually hand it to him in a gesture that says, “would you mind holding these.” While the focus is on the guy holding the loaded Twinkie, the manager can just set the Twinkies down on a table or near a bag or whatever you’re going to use to facilitate the switch.

Then at the end when the dollar bill appears inside the Twinkie, what’s left on the table is another box of Twinkies with the exact right amount of Twinkies missing but none of them are loaded with dollar bills thanks to your manager-friend-stooge.

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Epicenter

Jeff Stone — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 00:01:59 +0000

Right from my best-selling DVD, Gemstones . . .

Woah . . . did you feel that? It was like the whole Earth shifted . . . woah . . . there it was again. What’s that crackling sound? I think I’m being violated, but it feels right . . . which is kind of wrong. Oh great . . . now I’m naked.

This is ridiculous. What the heck is going on!? My golden skin is exposed . . . ow . . . ouch . . . ow . . . owie . . . ow . . . what the heck!?

Someone just, literally, ripped me in two and right at the Epicenter of the pain is a hundred dollar bill sticking out of my exposed gut . . . that ain’t right, and neither is this episode of The Saga.

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Paper Balls Under The Head

Jeff Stone — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 00:03:59 +0000

As I’ve mentioned, I’m in the middle of a pretty huge book project containing mentalism, routine ideas, psychological points, essays on a bunch of different subjects. Below is one such short essay right from this new book.

This’ll give you a taste of some of the weird stuff I’m writing about. It definitely fits the purpose of the Roots and Branches column for sure. As you read this, look for the root and the branch or better said, look for the opportunity to improve your magic.

Paper Balls Under the Head

Another one of my all-time favorite concepts comes from new version of War of The Worlds – The one with Tom Cruise. During the behind-the-scenes interviews on the DVD, one of the producers talked about the fact that often when creating a movie, they ask the question, “What if we went the other way?” That was how they came up with the idea of having the aliens come from under the ground rather than coming from the sky. They “went the other way.”

That concept has inspired a lot of journal entries for me as well as routines, ideas and thoughts. One of my routines, Miser’s Nightmare (from Gemstones) comes directly from this line of thinking. The traditional idea, Miser’s Dream, is the old classic routine where seemingly endless coins are produced from nowhere. Ah, the dream of a miser indeed.

Well, what if I “went the other way?” The opposite of a dream is a nightmare. What would be a miser’s nightmare? All of his money disappearing. So I created a routine where I borrow four quarters, and one at a time they vanish into thin air. Some of the vanishes happen in my hand, some in the spectator’s hand and ultimately right after the final vanish, my hands are totally empty. I’m left with nothing. Ah the nightmare of a miser indeed.

This line of thinking lead me to look at other classic ideas such as the Ambitious Card. Of course the old-school presentation was about the fact that this card was very ambitious. He was a go getter; he always rose to the top of everything in life. So what if I “went the other way?” What’s the opposite of ambitious? Lazy? So what would the “Lazy Card” do? Maybe he would always sink to the bottom . . . maybe he would get lost in the shuffle (i.e. he starts on top, but magically ends up in the middle).

I never fully developed the concept. Feel free to take it run (just give me some credit if you ever publish it).

Another one I played around with was Slydini’s Paper Balls Over The Head. What if I “went the other way?” What’s the opposite of over the head? Under the head? What if, instead of throwing the balls over the head of the spectator, I threw them under his head, in his lap?

Well . . . not bad, but it would kind of be obvious to the audience. So what if I “went the other way?” What if I turned the volunteer around and put his back to the audience? Then, rather than fooling the spectator (not the audience) by secretly throwing balls over the spectator’s head to effect a vanish, you’re throwing paper balls under his head (i.e. in his lap) to fool the audience (rather than the spectator).

However, it’s still not quite there because if I’m standing in front of the spectator and apparently performing the effect for him, then the audience won’t really see much. So what if I combined the two concepts?

Then you might have something like this:

Sir thank you for joining me on stage. Please . . . take a seat here. This next effect is just for you sir. I have here a wad of paper that you just have to merely guess which hand it is in.

As you apparently place the ball into one of your hands, toss if over his head (per the Slydini original effect). Of course, he’s baffled, and the audience is laughing hysterically. Milk this until you feel like it’s time to move on.

Sir, I’m sure you’re probably a bit confused. Why are they laughing? And Why are you baffled? Well, let me show you how the effect is done.

Turn his seat around to have his back to the audience.

Here’s a back stage view.

He’ll see the balls on the floor.

Let me show you how it worked.

Then perform the effect just as before, but rather than tossing the ball over his head into the audience, toss it directly into his lap while feigning a toss over the head. Of course, the audience is expecting the ball to come flying toward them, but it never does. As you perform the effect several more times, you continue addressing the spectator as you explain to him the method of the original. It might sound like this:

So as you can see, I pretend to put a ball in my left hand like so, but in reality, I toss the ball over your head so that it lands on the stage behind you. Hence the audience’s laughter and your surprise. But now the surprise is ruined for you because you know the secret. However, the audience is now baffled because even though I tossed the balls over your head, they vanished in midair as you can see if you turn around.

He turns around and is apparently shocked at the missing balls.

The method I’ve come up with actually reminds me of Paul Harris’s suggested method for a theoretical effect, The Vanishing Man. He proposed the idea of everyone being a stooge. But there were two categories of stooges, the audience, and the “invisible” man on stage. It was dual reality to the nth degree.

Applying that to this effect and, you get an audience who thinks that the volunteer on stage is fooled by the paper balls flying over his head. He’s quite the actor. His act of astonishment gets the audience laughing. Then when you switch gears and turn him around, the acting continues. He pretends like he really thinks you throw the balls over his head even though you’re throwing them in his lap.

Of course, before he turns back around and heads back to his seat, he’ll need to stuff these paper balls into his jacket pocket, but this shouldn’t present too much of a problem because he can do it immediately after each ball is thrown. As you start to throw another one, he’s pocketing the previous one.

Once he turns around and sees that the paper balls are not behind him, he continues his snow job by showing his “genuine” surprise at the lack of balls.

Of course, you could just use a toppit or a pull or some other method of vanishing the balls during the “expose” portion of the effect. In fact, you may even be able to get away with not having your volunteer be a stooge. Rather than tossing the balls in his lap, if you use a toppit or some other method, you may be able to convince him that you threw them over his head when you really toppited them.

That line of thinking got me to wonder if you could do the original effect using a toppit or some other method. Of course in that case, there would be no part 2 expose, and the overall effect (that of a gag with the audience) would change to an effect where the audience and the volunteer have no idea what happened to the balls. Obviously this may not be as fun, funny or even entertaining as the original Slydini effect, but it is a possible effect nonetheless.

I’ve never tried any of these ideas in real life. They were just journal entries that were sparked by simply asking the question, “what if I went the other way?” The real point here isn’t that I’ve come up with a different (better or worse) version of Slydini’s effect. The point is that asking that question lead me to start thinking, brainstorming and coming up with ideas. Some ideas lead to new routines (Miser’s Nightmare). While others lead to fun discussions and possible routines ideas.

Next time you look at adding a routine to your repertoire, ask the question, “What if I went the other way?”

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Marketing is For Laymen

Jeff Stone — Fri, 20 May 2011 00:04:28 +0000

March 18th . . . a red-letter day in the Stone family. That’s the day, in 1948, that my father was born. On what would have been his 63rd birthday (he passed away in 2005), I served in my son’s school under the Watch D.O.G.S. program. At the beginning of the day they had me announce my name over the intercom. I mentioned that I was a magician over the intercom. During the day, my job was to be at certain places at certain times and just “help out.”

Every where I went, I was mobbed by kids who wanted to see magic. I only brought with me 2 deck of cards . . . that’s it. Suddenly I found myself regretting that I mentioned I was a magician. I really thought that I’d end up doing a trick or two and that’s it . . . I couldn’t have been more wrong.

I ended up performing about 100 effects (or the same one 100 times) for hundreds and hundreds of students. I’d say that of the 100 ish times that I did a trick, half of those times, I simply did a double lift to show one card, then magically changed it to another. The kids were screaming and freaking out. The other half of the time I performed the effect Triptych from Gemstones, which is basically the same double lift done twice. It’s the free trick of the month for March 2008 in case you want to learn it. Same effect . . . kids freakin’ out in excitement and disbelief. It was such a rush.

I performed the same thing for the teachers . . . same reaction.

The point is this . . . we perform for lay people, people who have no idea what a double lift is, people who (for the most part) love a good (operative word: good) magic trick. That’s who we market to folks. No event planner or restaurant owner cares that you spent the last 24 months mastering the Clip Shift so that you can do it better than Chad Nelson. Nobody cares about that stuff. What they care about is whether or not you can make their event better, more fun, more exciting, etc.

Remember, No Stone Left Unturned is all about the business of magic . . . helping you to get more clients, manage your books better, be more successful in running your business. That being said, it is critical to remember who is hiring you. It’s not magicians (unless you’re lecturing). It’s laypeople. When it comes to getting clients and who you talk to, Marketing is For Laymen.

Until Next Month . . .

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And The Winners Are

Jeff Stone — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 00:08:16 +0000

And The Winners Are . . .

As you know, we held two contests for the month of September. The prize is one Free Stone Cold Magic DVD (Stone Cold Magic, Gemstones or Stone Frixion Fire) and a free deck of Mandolin Back Bicycle Playing Cards. The rules were simple: a) post comments on the article pages using the Facebook interface, or b) post comments on my free magic download video (and be a subscriber). All this before October 1st, 2010.

Congratulations to our winners below:

Facebook/Comment Winners:

David Ung
Alex Anderson
Chet Cox
Jeff Prace
Nathan Smith

To Claim Your Prize, email me which video you want for free (see list above), and I’ll give you further instructions from there.

YouTube Contest Winners:

MagicDiner
CloseupMagic
joserjedi
JayDiBiaseMagic
HybridMagic

To Claim Your Prize, send message through the YouTube interface to let me know which free video you want. I’ll give you further instructions from there.

Haunted Site

Beware of the Stone Cold Magic Magazine site. This time of year it’s haunted. I’ve already received email reports of people who have been scared stiff by the ghost and ghouls lurking on the site. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, turn on your speakers and wait 60 seconds . . .

Enjoy the September issue . . .

The post And The Winners Are appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

Free Paul Harris/Richard Turner Mandolin Back Bicycle Cards

Jeff Stone — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 06:16:03 +0000

Here’s your chance to get a free deck of the Paul Harris/Richard Turner Mandolin decks. I just got them in stock, and surprisingly they feel and handle quite differently . . . there’s a definite noticeable difference.

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:

“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)

Ive already watched the performance section and was blown away. I never realized how powerful these things can be. My head is already spinning with ideas and ways to use them.
– Brandon S.

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

Gemstones:

I’ve been a big Jeff Stone fan for a while now. Not only is he a good friend, he creates powerful, direct and -most of all- commercial close-up magic. I also really respect Jeff as a teacher. He really knows what he’s talking about. ‘GEMSTONES’ is the perfect opportunity to get to know Jeff and learn how his very clever mind ticks!
– Jay Sankey

Got this yesterday and took a look at it this morning. One word: COMMERCIAL! Really good stuff on here. My personal faves were Quarterback, Doctoring Daley & Safe Key Ping. All stuff I could see myself doing. Another one I like as well! When working for lay folk, I only do coin stuff that’s easy to do and easy to follow. Misrer’s Nightmare truly fits the bill. Pick it up!
– Cameron Francis

Every single trick on it is worth practicing and performing, I think my favorite effect on there is probably Quasi-Photo, I can’t wait to practice it. I can really tell you put a whole lot of thought into this project.
– David M

Stone Cold Magic:

If you are looking for a fresh dose of commercial, audience-tested card magic, look no further than Jeff Stone’s Stone Cold Magic. There’s plenty of useable card effects presented in a wonderfully friendly, casual and straightforward manner.

My only criticism is that Jeff came up with the idea of using the Erdnase-Houdini Color Change as an invisible palm. It looks so darn good, I wish to heck I had thought of it!!
– Jay Sankey

Jeff is a real worker and tips his mitt in this DVD. There are some great ideas that are really USABLE. In addition, it’s just a fun watch as noted by others. Jeff is really a funny guy. I enjoyed the DVD a lot.
– Tim Trono

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.

Free Magic DVDs and E-Books

Jeff Stone — Mon, 31 May 2010 00:08:06 +0000

Free Stone Frixion Fire!

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.

Order the DVD from Stone Cold Magic.
Post a review on the Review Page.
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:

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