Idiosyncratic legerdemain blog. Posts weekly-ish.

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  • Unworking Wallets

    Drew
    Category:

    If you have the mental disorder known as keeping an entire drawer of leather goods you never touch, this post is for you. I’ve sold most of my magic wallets off now, because I’ve realized something. I don’t need them. I’ll elaborate.

    You might think “heck, if I’m going to carry around a wallet everyday anyway, it might as well be a magic wallet so I have extra material with me at all times”. Well, you’re wrong.

    You are sacrificing the structure of your trick for convenience. Think about it, 99% of tricks done with wallets do not have wallets as an intrinsic part of the trick. Unless you’re clever with presentations, the wallet often makes little sense. Cards are already a contrived prop to bring out, now you’re adding a wallet into the mix?

    Say you’re doing mentalism, you’ve asked them to write something down and now you’re placing the billet in your wallet. Why? Yes, you can find ways to justify the use of the wallet in each context, but why subject yourself to that work? There is almost always a superior solution to the method of any trick in question. Let’s get back to that mentalism routine. Instead of the peek wallet, say you are using the Acidus Novus peek for example. You have them write something down, fold up the billet and in seconds you’ve peeked it. It’s all self-contained, easy, almost angle proof and requires no extra props/space in your pockets. Again, just one example of many that come to mind.

    Thinking of all the tricks these wallets can do, I’ve found I prefer versions that don’t require the wallet. You could do card to wallet, but Daniel Madison’s Angle Z gets stronger reactions for me, and it’s easier to get into. I’ve got a twist on that which makes it really killer, but I’ll write about that later.

    What’s more, as an amateur magician, I think your belongings need some sort of congruence. Your friends seeing you with a new wallet every month doing new tricks with it aren’t dumb. Wallets are normally a big expense for people. If you are going to have a magic wallet for a specific trick, then try and keep it for a while and let people see you with it and using it as a wallet.

    Now, maybe a shogun-style wallet that switches bills might be an intrinsically wallet-based trick. But, are you really going to borrow a bill, place it in your wallet, then take it out again?

    On the topic of outs, I’ll concede that there are decent everyday solutions in the form of wallets. I’d probably recommend a quiver purse because it is not a wallet but rather a fancy looking leather pouch. Also, half the time they can open the pouch themselves and remove the prediction leaving everything examinable. I think that is a significant advantage one must consider when weighing it against other solutions like Himbers or envelopes.

    Just get a nice, classy, regular wallet and store a few tricks. Things that are relatively normal. Pulling out a color monte just screams artificial. I personally carry a leather wallet, and within it a billet folded up and two envelopes.

    Don’t take the shortcuts trick wallets offer, and challenge yourself to use your foundations. Save your money.

    One final note: If you are going to have a magic wallet, make it a peek wallet, and actually use it as your primary wallet. For thoughts on how a peek wallet can be used and justified, I highly recommend this blog post from the inestimably intelligent Andy of The Jerx. Cheers!

    Read more: Unworking Wallets

  • Marginally Improving Kolossal Killer

    Jerry
    Category: ,

    [Note: The original title for this post was “Fixing Kolossal Killer”. For self-evident reasons, I have changed it to better indicate the state the trick is left in.]

    Kolossal Killer, by Kenton Knepper, is a widely acclaimed and widely criticized trick. It has a little to offer, and plenty to hate.

    First, a little equivocal thinking.

    A complaint people often have is that the “suboptimal” outcome happens two-thirds of the time. A common counterpoint is that the “optimal” outcome is actually more suspicious, since they will rightly wonder what you aren’t showing them, and wonder if the other side is a different card.

    Remember, the person you’re showing it to doesn’t need to figure out more than 10% of the trick to feel like they’ve figured out 90% of it.

    Really, neither outcome is very optimal. But with a little tweak, two out of three times it could be.

    Consider the difference between a note that reads “Off by one!” or one that reads “One before!”.

    The benefit of this is clear: The former directly indicates two cards… Is it the 2 of clubs or the 4 of clubs? Nobody knows, as Max Maven might say. (RIP) On the other hand, one before? Well, that has a clear meaning. It’s obviously predicting that the card they would name would be one before the card you pulled out. Or, it predicts that your card would be one before the card they named.

    Then you just say “I was so close, but in the end I/you chose the card that was… (Here you turn around the card with a shit-eating grin) One before!”

    One after, of course, is also an option. Comes down to taste.

    Secondly… Ok, you got me, it’s more equivocal thinking. Another issue is the contents of the wallet. The other side of the card could only account for one other value that they know of, but the wallet? Who knows how many cards could be hiding in there? Not your spectator, that’s for sure, but they’ll know there’s plenty.

    Ideally, you would only have eight cards in there, which is much easier to conceal. But as you probably know, you need 16. What do you do?

    I’ll write this up proper in an upcoming post, but this is where something I like to call “half equivoque” or “twin equivoque” comes into play.

    You simply equivoque for a color, and then… Ask the same exact question for the suit. You’re set up for either of the two remaining options, so what’s the harm?

    Imagine this:

    “Do you want to take away the red cards or the black cards?”
    “Red.”
    “Alright, so you’re taking the red cards, right?”
    “Sure.”
    “Okay, now do you want to take away the hearts or the diamonds?”

    See what I mean? You don’t even have to say “take” instead of “take away”, it’s actually better if you use the exact same wording. At that point, with the simple use of a two-way multiple out, any possibility of equivoque will be gone from their mind. Even some magicians will be fooled by this finesse.

    Now, you may protest, the beauty of Kolossal Killer is that they can just freely name “any” card on the spot.

    Well, that’s why you ask them to name the value afterwards! It’s not quite the same, but it’s free enough, and Kenton’s thing of being ready to do it at all times if anyone names a card is just ill-advised if anybody who’s tried it on you sees someone else try it, for obvious reasons.

    If you’re using it as a universal out for some reason, you should be able to swap the card you need in anyway, so this equivoque is unnecessary. At that point, just have an index. Like Annemann’s homemade one!

    In the end, in that 2 out of 3 best case scenario, you take out the card, show that it’s “off by one”, then solemnly say “I got so close, but in the end you chose the card that was… One before!” as you turn around the card with a shit-eating grin on your face.

    Or, “I got so close, but in the end I chose the card that was… One before!”

    Get the idea? Good, now we can be done with this.

    So, is Kolossal Killer a good trick? No. Is it one I would ever perform again? Probably not. But, my friends, this is how I performed it when I did perform it, and now you can too.

    Until next time, killer.

    Read more: Marginally Improving Kolossal Killer

  • Attenzione, Pickpocket!

    Jerry
    Category:

    I’m going to start off by telling you that this is a very situational trick. It’s more of a retelling of something that happened to me, but if you ever find yourself in this position…

    I was heading home with someone after a concert. A local band, nobody you’d know. He was crashing at my place, so I went there. When he got out of the car, I got out several seconds after, and we headed inside.

    “I wish I’d gotten something to eat before that, I’m starving.”

    “I’ve got some frozen food if you want to microwave something, or we could do delivery,” I said, standing a distance away from him.

    “Frozen’s fine, thanks,” he said, going to the freezer and checking it out.

    “Hey, do you mind if I try something on you?”

    “I guess not.”

    “I’ve been learning a type of pickpocketing.”

    “Can I change my answer?”

    “No no, it’s fine. You can choose what I take. Don’t check, but from memory, what’s in your pockets right now?”

    “Uhhh,” he said, taking a mac and cheese from the freezer and prepping it. “I guess my wallet, keys, a lighter, my phone…”

    “Alright, and what do you want me to try and take? I guess probably not your phone or wallet-“

    “The lighter. Wait no, my keys,” he said, starting the microwave.

    “Those are pretty noisy, I’m still practicing this. Is the lighter okay?”

    “Okay, my lighter then.”

    “Cool. Give me a second.”

    He turned around and looked at me. I took a step towards him, getting closer than I had since we got out of the car. Waving a hand near his pocket, I stepped back again.

    “Alright, I think I did it.”

    “What?”

    “I got your lighter,” I said, showing that I had it in my hand.

    “What the fuck?”

    “You didn’t catch me, right?”

    “Catch what? How the fuck did you get that?”

    “Now I just have to get your keys. Or, maybe we can leave that for another time.”

    This is an Encyclopedia Brown sort of retelling. There’s a hint within the text that could help you figure out how I did it. But it’s pretty hard to find, so I’ll just get on with it.

    I stayed in the car several seconds after he got out because I noticed that his lighter had fallen out of his left pocket, was about to call out to him, then had this idea and just took it.

    Like I said, situational.

    Since I noticed it was the left side of the seat, I was able to wave my hand towards the correct pocket. If I were doing this again, I’d probably opt to do something that involves a little more contact, even if I only swiped my hand against their pocket.

    You could just say you’re going to pickpocket the item you grabbed, but if you can, it’s better of course to “choose” it. In this case it was the only item that wasn’t sensitive or personal, though I should’ve anticipated his answer being the keys. If you can’t figure out some way of guiding them to the right item on the spot, just actively go through the process of choosing it yourself in front of them. You’re already asking them to help you out with something, if you seem to be realizing a reason why the lighter/pen/coins/whatever would be easiest they’ll likely just agree, and then you can show just how easy it was. Easy.

    Whatever you do, don’t use equivoque. It’ll ruin the conversational nature of the situation, and make them realize this is a trick of some sort too early. People can be fooled by equivoque while still recognizing it as something you only do when you’re doing a trick, even if they don’t know it’s a Hobson’s choice.

    If they don’t remember the item, it’s pretty hard to recover, though you could just say you made them forget the item you took. Mentalism plus pickpocketing!

    Obviously, if it’s their phone or something that they leave behind, you should just tell them off the bat. Don’t be a weirdo. It’s one thing to pickpocket someone in the moment, but that’s not what you’re doing. Grabbing a wallet or a phone that could have a revealing notification pop up any moment ahead of time? Don’t do that.

    But, if you ever manage to do this trick ethically, be sure to send an email letting us know. Thanks! themagicoval@themagicoval.com

    Read more: Attenzione, Pickpocket!

  • Hand Choreography

    Jerry
    Category:

    Today I’d like to talk about choreographing your magical gestures.

    Plenty of magicians have talked about how snapping the fingers is a lackluster way to incite a magical effect. It seems as if every time the topic comes up on The Magic Cafe, half or more of the replies will acknowledge that it isn’t great, and there are better ways to do a magical gesture. Considering this is The Green Latrine I’m talking about, that’s saying something.

    Unless you’re snapping the neck of a voodoo doll, there’s really not much connection between the motion and the effect. Michael Ammar is a proponent of casting a shadow with your hand, which is a much more romantic and interesting thing to do, but this often doesn’t connect either.

    Why not do something that imitates the magical thing that is happening? The Rising Card effect will have most magicians doing some sort of gesture that implies rising. Why not aim for that same compatibility in other effects?

    It’s not that hard to come up with something with a little imagination. Let’s take a coin bend. Jay Sankey’s TV Bend, originally taught in Revolutionary Coin Magic but also taught here on YouTube, is a good example. At 20:38 in the linked video, Sankey demonstrates a nice motion, curling his hand with the imagined bending of the coin inside the box. But that isn’t the TV Bend, which comes later in the video.

    Now, I don’t want to badmouth Mr. Sankey whatsoever. He’s a genius, and it’s very generous of him to share this tutorial for free. The TV Bend is a great coin bend. It’s visual, it happens in an instant, they get to apparently see the coin at all times. But as a result of how quickly it happens, it becomes very tempting to snap your fingers to make it happen. Sankey does this, at 25:40 first and again later.

    But why would a coin bending logically follow from snapping your fingers? Vanishing out of existence maybe, but bending? Imagine if instead, you drew your other hand back, clenching it in one swift motion as the coin bends.

    A crude GIF demonstrating the clench.

    As you can see, the choreography fits the effect better than a snap.

    I encourage you to experiment with tricks someone might perform with a snap, and see what hand movements come to mind that would match the motions of the cards, or the coin, or what have you.

    For instance, with a sponge ball multiplication, you could clasp your hands together, then bring them apart into two fists, signifying the one ball becoming two. For the haunted deck, you could split your fingers over the deck into a Vulcan salute, then curl your fingers as if beckoning the card when it comes out.

    Don’t like those ideas? Good! Experiment, and come up with your own gestures. I can all but guarantee they’ll be more effective than a snap.

    Read more: Hand Choreography

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