Idiosyncratic legerdemain blog.

  • Camouflage Bands

    Jerry
    Category:

    There’s more to this kind of camouflage. More than just color and shape.

    Duran Duran, “The Chauffeur”

    Dan Harlan’s Camouflage principle is great. It allows you to do all sorts of impossible things, like Joe Rindfleisch’s Rubber Deception, which recently got popular on Penguin Magic.

    But a lot of people are uneasy with leaving a few rubber bands on their wrist. It looks unnatural, they say.

    I can understand the unease here. But if that’s the only thing stopping you, I’m here to tell you that more people than you might expect have justifications for having a bunch of rubber bands on their wrist, magicians or not. Including you.

    First off, it’s less of a big deal than you think. Let’s say someone asks why you have several technicolor rubber bands on your wrist. Guess what? You can just tell the truth, or near enough to it. “Oh, I’ve been practicing some rubber band magic, so I can entertain kids with something quick and visual since I can’t do anything more… esoteric with them. Wanna see?” Easy. No one will find that weird if they already know you as someone who dabbles in magic.

    But you know the biggest reason this is way more justifiable than you think? Look, as you’re soon going to discover if you start carrying them around, they’re just damn useful!

    Think of all the times you’ve wanted a rubber band, and then triple it. When you actually have them at your disposal, it’s amazing the number of times you’ll find a reason to bind something with a rubber band, especially the standard size #19.

    You could lose the box for a deck of cards. You could also just open a chip bag.

    Papers, decks, chip bags, deck cases that fly open, the uses are countless.

    All you have to do is have someone witness you using a rubber band for a non-magical purpose, and they won’t think any more of it. I don’t mean that you should start doing rubber band magic often, unless you want to. But whenever you don’t really have anything else quick and visual ready to go and somebody wants to see a trick, you have freedom of method, even if that method includes Harlan’s Camouflage principle.

    And if someone asks why you’re wearing these rubber bands, just say they’re useful, and add that you’ve been practicing rubber band magic. Don’t hide it, but don’t present it as the only reason.

    Now remember, there has to be congruency, as mentioned in Unworking Wallets. If you do choose to wear rubber bands around your wrist (And I do!) then you have to usually wear them. It can be discreet, just three or four of them above your watch band, but don’t only wear them when you’re doing magic. I highly recommend Rindfleisch’s Rainbow Rubber Bands, available on Penguin and Vanishing Inc. Cheaper on Vanishing Inc. That special coating makes them incredibly resilient, and tricks a lot easier.

    And of course, if you do, then learn some rubber band tricks that don’t use Camouflage. Casshan Wallace’s Melting Point is a great if complex one. There is of course the classic Crazy Man’s Handcuffs, and though size 19 isn’t as ideal for CMH as size 16, it’ll still do more than fine.

    Who would ever suspect this young man of anything?

    Aaany color…

  • Reader Mail #1

    Jerry
    Category:

    Hi everyone. This is a new segment where we’ll be featuring some reader mail about previous posts.

    About Kolossal Killer… it’s a lot more commitment to carry around 2 indexes than it is a set of cards in your wallet, and for social magic using pocket writing is like… probably more reasonable.

    Social magic? What’s that? We only deal in amateur magic here! Joking, but I agree. Pocket writing is an endlessly useful skill more people should practice. It ties into always having billets and a pencil on you, as the above person suggested.

    Couple of points about your wallet post, first a locking Himber wallet can be opened by the spectator.

    Also I would recommend a wallet that contains a pad. Several are available including one that I myself sell. The reason for this is twofold, you always have billets and you also have a way to make notes or write a shopping list.

    It’s actually useful. I was at my brother in law’s house dealing with a plumber for him today and he asked if I had a pencil. There’s always one in my wallet so I handed him that. Think of non-magical useful things for your chosen wallet because 99% of the time you’re using it for non-magical things.

    Overall I agree. I would point out that Himber wallets are still useless for amateur magic in my humble opinion, because you can’t really use them for everyday carry whatsoever. A pad for a wallet is a great non-suspicious idea I’d say, if your personal effects often have such handy features.

    Your last line is one more magicians should swear by.

    We received several emails saying they were excited for new posts.

    We will be posting extra posts at the beginning of the month, beyond the weekend posts. They’re extra special, so look out for them.

    Alright, that’s all for now. Thanks for reading and have a good week! There will be a new post Wednesday, featuring some old ideas. [It was there, now it’s gone. Sorry, slowpokes.] Next completely new post coming up Saturday.

  • Schedule and Report

    Jerry
    Category:

    So, this place has been around for a week now.

    To all those who emailed and all those that have been reading, thank you for the support! We truly appreciate it.

    As mentioned via email, daily posts will now be slowing to one or two posts a week on Saturday and Sunday, with bonus posts throughout such as crossposts from other areas of the web or reader mail, with permission.

    We also now have a subscribe option! Click on any post title or go to About, scroll down, and sign up to get emails whenever a new post goes live. On second thought, fuck that shit.

    Illustrative images have been added to some posts, where relevant. We hope you enjoy feasting your eyes upon these beautiful and not so beautiful images.

    I must say, the future looks bright for magic, and not because of us. But does the future look bright for magicians? Only time will tell.

    And now, some quotes from odd places. Next post will be reader mail, coming Sunday!

    The double lift itself is philosophically interesting, and aesthetically abhorrent.

    Anonymous

    I do nothing!

    Dani DaOrtiz totally telling the truth truly.

    Frankly, you could kill a magician’s grandmother [and be forgiven] as long as you could do a double lift.

    Anonymous

  • Jack Carpenter’s Youtube

    Drew
    Category: ,

    Here’s some lighter fare. Many of you might recognize the name Jack Carpenter, or even know his work well. He’s been called “one of card magic’s best kept secrets”. He’s also been called deceased by the shady “famous-db.net”. (He isn’t.)

    Clearly, a striking resemblance. Never mind that he’s still posting.

    Just a PSA, he has a youtube channel and it’s lots of fun. He basically uploads home-style cam videos of his recent and less recent card magic ideas. The snappy videos are often under a minute long, no more than a few minutes long, and have a “Grandpa showing you magic” vibe to it.

    His presentations are almost antithetical to amateur or social magic, but his personality and raspy voice make it enjoyable. Oh god, I hope this isn’t some form of ASMR.

    Some notable favorites:

    Take Leave

    A delightful false promise of an Ace locator trick.

    Jack says: “This routine Harry Lorayne first published for me in Apocalypse, in 1985. An old trick, but still a good one I think. This was the first routine I ever had published (I think) and it was a big thrill meeting Harry.” 

    Escalator Aces

    You can get the general idea from the title, probably, but in this version… well, watch and see!

    Jack says: “From my 2006 notes ‘Pasteboard Palette’.”

    A New York Minute (Short-change Routine)

    This is a fun money trick with a fun story to go with it.

    The Vanishing

    A lovely vanishing trick with some counts, some Jacks and, well, some other cards.

    JC’s Impossible Control

    This is a more recent video, featuring a control that seems truly impossible on a first watch, or even a second. Or as Jack says, “Too damn easy!”

    Happy watching! Hope you enjoy.

  • 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!

  • Fixing Kolossal Killer

    Jerry
    Category: ,

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

    So then, let’s do 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.

    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.

  • 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

  • Performing For Messi

    Drew
    Category: ,

    I was doing my daily doomscrolling on the toilet, and I came across this video.



    The performance itself was not as horrible as it could have been, considering the French Kiss is a horrible trick. I mean no disrespect to the person performing. It’s always easy to criticize the person in the limelight when you’ve never had that experience yourself. Obviously the guy must’ve been accomplished enough to have performed for one of the most famous athletes in history. 

    That being said, what I have to say here will not require any significant change in method, practice or practicality.

    Messi looked uncomfortable. He obviously didn’t want to put that filthy piece of card in his mouth. Especially considering the magician was a complete stranger to him! The cherry on top of this awkward interaction is the lackluster reaction that Messi gave.

    This could easily be remedied. Instead of folding up the cards and shoving them in people’s mouths, why not just have them hold it? Or place it in their pocket. Or… step on it. 

    In fact, placing the card on the ground inviting them to step on it is all the more thematically relevant in this context. Messi is a football player. Imagine he had drawn a football on the card instead. You could then have Messi sign the ball drawing, and do your standard handling with the double lifts. Then, you could place it on the ground and invite Messi to put his foot on it. You do the same: drawing a football on the card and self-signing it. You put your foot on the card.

    Explain you were watching his games and how he would almost magically steal the football from underneath the player’s feet. You could say this inspired you as a magician, and that you wanted to combine magic psychology with football physiology. You might say your goal is to switch balls with Messi. Now there’s a sentence that I never could’ve imagined writing before this blog.

    Say you’ll attempt to do something similar. You might do a cheesy magical gesture with your foot and show that your balls (cards) have switched. It might be a shallow connection to football, and maybe a bit facetious to compare what is obviously a magic trick to his actual skill, but it’s a sight better than making him bite a card.

    The point is, try not to jam a trick in its original state, especially one as bad as the French Kiss, into a context that obviously doesn’t welcome it. Be creative and willing to change it to fit the context you’re in. All of this reads long, but in reality this presentation might be a few sentences at most after drawing the footballs on the cards.

  • 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.

  • Boo!

    Editor
    Category:

    If you know, you know. If you don’t, all the better.

Subscribe

Sign up with your email address to receive an email when there’s a new post.
We respect your privacy and would sooner die than give your email away. See our full privacy policy here.

Search

Categories

anagram annemann app magic bad tricks brian brushwood card magic coin magic convention craig petty dai vernon daniel madison darwin ortiz david berglas david copperfield drew fluff green latrine holiday impromptu james randi jay sankey jazz jerry jerx john bannon justin miller karl fulves lloyd barnes marc kerstein math mentalism meta nonfluff obituary odds and ends psy force stack story TA timon krause trick uri geller vanishing inc wallets youtube

Archive