Idiosyncratic legerdemain blog.

  • Let’s Talk to Invisible People

    Drew
    Category:

    I’ve been practicing Asi Wind’s ACAAN lately. If you’re not aware, you have to do some calculation and then execute a secret shift of the deck. As you can imagine, it can be a tricky thing to do in performance.

    I’ve developed a way (I’m sure I’m not the first, or the only person to do this) to practice this type of routine effectively. The benefit of this type of practice extends well beyond an ACAAN, and is applicable to nailwriting, clocking a deck, and plenty of other things. I think it’ll be of use to you.

    When I first practiced the ACAAN, I would go on Random.org and get a random card & number, then do my thing. I’d just repeat that over and over until I was done after an arbitrary amount of time or repetitions that I’d set for myself (this isn’t the special practice method, keep reading).

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  • In Defense of Lecture Patter

    Franklin
    Category: ,

    Hello from the land of surf and Spam musubi, where you tip the beach boys by day and Shoot Ogawa by night. That’s right, as I write this I’m absorbing the mana of Hawai’i. I’m not sipping a Mai Tai on the beach, unfortunately. I’m in an airport lounge punching keys on my laptop and thinking about magic.

    I came here for an 8-day cruise around the islands, and now that has come to an end. And as much as I would love to chat about the boat’s resident magician, that’s not the experience that stuck with me. Instead, I’m going to talk about trivia. What do you mean going to? Everything you’ve said so far is entirely trivial. Fine! I’ll get to the point. Soon.

    One morning, while docked on Kauai, most of the cruisers got off the boat to go on excursions to places I’ve already been, so I went to the morning trivia game alone. And I mean alone. I was the only one who showed up to play. It was just me and the host from the entertainment staff. We chatted about the life of working on a cruise ship for a while, and when the start time came and no one else walked in, he sat down at the table and said “I guess it can be an out-loud trivia then.” And then he did something strange.

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  • My Cheap Uncle: A Bank Night Presentation

    Drew
    Category:

    Here is my personal presentation for a close-up Bank Night effect, and some thoughts on a more widely applicable version. While my version is specific to a particular occasion, it will be made clear how something very similar can be done at any time of year.

    I’m hanging out with a friend at my place and they notice a bunch of Chinese red envelopes on the table.

    “Oh those? Yeah, it’s something I’m practicing actually. Growing up in Asia, my family took part in giving and receiving red envelopes filled with cash. Being the main youngster at most family gatherings, I was the one doing most of the receiving. The cash flow didn’t stop even after my move to America, as there were some family friends near where we moved that participated in such traditions.

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  • Further Notes on Halal Magic

    Jerry
    Category: ,

    The other day, I received a lovely and insightful email regarding the Halal Magic post from someone who shall be known as T. I wanted to share it, along with some thoughts on truthful patter for ACAANs, sponge balls, and one of the first tricks ever referenced on this blog.

    Great essay. Just wanted to note that Garrett Thomas, Ben Earl, and Derek Delgaudio all also frame their magic similarly.

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  • Phantom at the Magic Festival

    Anne
    Category: ,

    The blog was in full force at Mystify Magic Festival. If we did our job right, nobody realized we were super cool magic bloggers, but we were taking notes. We are immensely thankful to all involved for putting on the event. There were a lot of really important discussions going on, and seeing the turnout made me so incredibly proud of the magic community. There really is a first time for everything!

    Day one launched with a lot of enthusiasm in the air. There were crowds of people meeting up with friends from previous conventions, and once the event was underway we were free to look around the dealer’s hall. Frankly at this point I was most interested in purchasing water. I was certainly reminded we were in the desert and I would have traded my kingdom for a Lota Bowl.

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  • Halal Magic

    Jerry
    Category:

    Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
    Success in Circuit lies

    Emily Dickinson

    This post is inspired by a Muslim magician I once met, who taught me a valuable lesson about halal magic. If you’re not familiar with Islam, just pretend I met George Washington instead. The point is what kind of magic someone like that would perform.

    Shit, now I have to explain that to the worldwide audience. George Washington famously, supposedly, could not tell a lie.

    Shit, now I’ve spoiled the main conceit of this post.

    No half-truths. What I’m here to talk about today is performing magic without lying at all. Halal magic. Not just doing it as a rule, but also the benefits it has as an exercise.

    There are several benefits, of which there may be none immediately apparent.

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  • Bits and Bobs #1: On Realism and Reality

    Jerry
    Category:

    Editor’s note: This is a new feature where we’ll do something kind of like Odds and Ends, only instead of being the equivalent of People magazine for magic, it’ll be actually useful and relevant to your performances. Hopefully.

    Let’s say that the dreaded situation has occurred where someone authentically believes in your magic and you have to break it to them that it’s only a trick. Because that’s what you’d do, right? You’re not one of those magicians who would let them believe it’s real, right? I hope not.

    Anyway, how do you confess without A: making them feel stupid or B: ruining the future magic if they still want to see any?

    Here’s what I do.

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  • Spaced Out Tarot

    Anne
    Category:

    Editor’s note: Don’t buy this deck, donate directly if you want to support the charity. We’re just doing a fun thing where Anne reviews some quirky decks of cards over the coming months. Don’t trust Uri Geller with your money!

    Uri Geller has released a tarot deck so that you too can communicate with extraterrestrial lifeforms. Frankly, I figured they had better things to do like building pyramids or running world governments. Geller is a controversial figure, but his impact on mentalism is hard to ignore. Especially when he gives quotes for so many products. At 20 bucks the price seemed a little high, but it’s a novel tarot deck with some interesting art and according to Geller his cut of the proceeds are going to a charity for children.

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  • Reassembling the Woman Sawed in Half

    Editor
    Category:

    Anne is not the only woman on staff, and that’s not counting the illustrator. There’s another woman with a man’s pen name. Am I going to tell you who? Well, no. You’re welcome to guess, but no guesses will be confirmed nor denied. With that being said…

    I’m very proud to announce that The Magic Oval will be sponsoring Mystify Magic Festival!

    You may have some questions.

    Why on earth would a tiny blog be sponsoring a festival? Surely we must have paid out the ass for it? Well, yes. But we’re also attending Mystify and want to see it continue into 2026 and 2027 and so on.

    Needless to say, we’re extremely excited!!!

    We have some very special stuff planned for Mystify attendees, so pay attention to our ads in the program if you’re going.

    Why Mystify in particular?

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  • Last Minute Thoughts on Blackpool

    Jerry
    Category:

    I wish I were going. Maybe next year. No, I’ll manifest it. Definitely next year.

    Timon Krause’s book sounds great. I’m very hyped up for it. I don’t know much about it (cold reading?), but everything Timon releases is golden. Hopefully, there are a few less footnotes in this one though. Or, hell, if Harrison Greenbaum loves them, so can I, I guess. I can learn to love footnotes. I can become a footnote fetishist.

    New force options for Random Card Generator by Plainsight Magic! Fuck yeah! The only problem with Random Card Generator is that it’s one of the forces I most want to repeat later on and use it for other tricks.

    Not a new release, but Babu’s Nest of Wallets is amazing. Snap buttons? And you pull the wallets out face up? Brilliant.

    The Atomic Deck is, of course, going to be very exciting. I can’t wait for us to review it and finally not shit on Craig Petty.

    (more…)

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