Callbacks

Here are some updates to a couple favorite effects from earlier this year. 

In Search of Lost Time

ISOLT is a handling for the Invisible Deck that is less about the effect of the ID, and more about using it as evidence for a lost period of time while your spectator is, apparently, "hypnotized."

That original post has three versions of the effect. This is a variation of Version Two: In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower.

Here's how it works. You need an Invisible Deck. You're talking with your friend about one of the weirdest methods you've ever heard for a magic trick. "The interesting thing is there really is no method. It's based on these tests they were doing at Stanford University."

You then show them the video at this link (which is also embedded below). 

The video shows a woman undergoing a hypnotic induction. You don't need to watch the whole thing straight through. You can jump ahead, but just make sure the spectator understands what's going on.

Watch the beginning of the video, up until the woman starts the mental journey down the staircase. 

Jump forward to about 1:30. The experimenter is telling her a card to think of. A card she should name if ever asked for a "random" card. You say, "See, look what he's doing here. He's telling her what card to name in the future."

The experimenter tells her she will forget these instructions on a conscious level. Then he "wakes" her, asks her to name a "random" card and shows her that card has been reversed in the deck before they started. You narrate along with what's happening so it's clear to your spectator. 

"So he's just told her what card to name, but she doesn't remember any of this. So this is the first time she's hearing about a card as far as she knows. Now she's seeing this as some kind of card trick, but really she's just naming the card he told her to name."

"It's one of the strangest methods I've ever heard of. It doesn't use sleight-of-hand or psychology to predict what she'll name. You just tell them what to say and then make them forget you told them. Voila! Can I try it with you? Not with the four of hearts, but some other card."

Once they agree, have them lower their hand and close their eyes, like in the video.

"In a moment I'm going to relax you more completely."

[Pause 5 seconds.]

"You are fully awake. Open your eyes."

I find it helps to place your hand on their shoulder or something to make it clear it's "over" because, from their perspective (i.e., reality) you haven't started yet.

"Do you remember?" you ask with a smile. "No? Okay, okay. Let's try it out. Go ahead. Name a random playing card."

They won't believe you at first, of course. They'll think you're just fucking around. It's when you show them the card they freely named is the one that is reversed in the deck that they really begin to question what the hell really happened. 

Bookmark the video URL on your phone and you have a really strange 8 minute experience for someone whenever you have your invisible deck.

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In, A Big Concept and a Little Idea, the "Little Idea" was a universal meta-presentation for Tenyo tricks. This idea has developed a bit of a following and I hear from a lot of people who have been using it or something similar. I understand why it's (relatively) popular. It leverages the "weakness" of the toy-ish-ness of Tenyo effects into a strength, but it does so in a much more interesting way then just saying it was the first trick you ever got, or something like that. (I find people want to be fooled by the first magic trick you got as much as they want to be stumped by the first math problem you ever attempted. Which is to say, not at all.)

Working through the trick with the spectator, and being fooled with the spectator is a particularly enjoyable magical experience for everyone involved, I've found.

In this file you will find a pdf to print off instruction cards for the trick Crystal Cleaver. Print them on the Avery business card sheets, front and back. These sheets are made so you can pop the cards out when you're done printing. It's fun. Pop pop pop.

Some things to remember:

1. This is supposed to be your first time seeing this stuff, so act like it. Don't be too familiar with it.

2. The instructions are intentionally not overly-clear. Look to your spectator to help you figure things out. "Crystal box?" you say. "I guess they mean this one, right? That would make this one the 'mystery box.' I guess."

3. If you want to use the spectator's ring, just don't include the other ring in with your package. The imperfect English of the instructions allow for the idea that you're supposed to use either a borrowed ring or the ring that's included with the effect.

4. If you really want to play up the weird backstory, when you're done with trick say, "We have to go take this and throw it off a bridge or I won't get next year's package."

I's Gots Talent

If anyone is going on America's Got Talent next year, here's a routine for you to use on your first appearance.

Your introductory video plays. You're overweight, your hair is a mess, you have thick glasses. A blotted cranberry sauce stain runs across your shirt. 

"My parents always said I'm a dreamer," you say in voice-over. "I know I'm not a hollywood pretty-boy fancy-guy. But don't judge a book by its cover." Your words are slurred. Not like a drunk, but like someone who was kicked in the head by a donkey.

We see a clip of you stumbling down the sidewalk, waving to an elderly woman on her porch. "Hi, Miss Lucy!" Under your left arm is a picture of a dog, and in your left hand is a small urn. 

Again in voice-over: "I carry my dog Roscoe everywhere I go. If you look up 'friend' in the dictionary, you'll find old Roscoe. He died in 2012 and I'm still putting the pieces back together. And I think part of that journey means finally following my dream."

You step out on stage. You exchange some uncomfortable small-talk with Simon. Your shirt has a couple more stains on it. You set the urn and the picture of Roscoe on the floor. "So what is this dream you want to follow?" Simon asks.

"I want to sing opera," you say.

The crowd titters. Simon gives a look to the other judges. There's a close-up of a girl in the crowd covering her laughter and pointing at you. Inspirational orchestra music swells in the background. "Yeah, I get it," you say. "I know I may not look the part. Maybe you think I'm a dreamer, like my parents do. But the one thing you have to remember is this..."

The orchestral soundtrack hits a crescendo, then falls away to silence.

"In the end... dreams come true," you say. Some in the audience applaud. Howie and Simon glance at each other as if to say, "Let's see what the kid's got."

The entire theater falls silent as you step up to the mic and begin to sing. It comes out like this:

In quick succession, three of the judges give you the red X. The last holdout, Heidi Klum, gives you the X once it's clear you've changed the words to the second verse to suggest that you were masturbating in the tub.

Nick Cannon joins you on stage. "Is that good or bad?" you ask. "Did I win. I won?" you scream, your eyes getting big.

"No, no," Nick says. "You've been eliminated."

"Eliminated through to the next round?"

"What? No." Nick says. "Your journey is over."

"Oh... I see. I see. Simon, can I ask you a question? And don't pull any punches. How would you describe my performance in one word."

"In one word?" Simon asks. "Ghastly."

"Fair enough. Fair enough. I get it. I'm not Mr. Handsome. I'm not some... Carson Daly or something so I'm not good enough for the show. This is so predictable. Who X'd me first? Who did it? Who was so threatened by me?"

"I did," Simon says.

"Right, you couldn't handle it. Mr. Big Shot is afraid of my star power. And then you were next, right, Mel B? Because you just follow what Simon does. Then Howie. And then, last of all, Heidi. Ok. Cool. Cool cool cool. So predictable," you say in disgust.

"So predictable."

"In fact," your slurring stops and your voice transforms to adopt a refined British accent, "I predicted it all earlier today."

You unzip your fat suit and step out of it wearing tuxedo pants and a dress shirt. Nick Cannon hands you your jacket. You remove your glasses and pull off your grungy wig to reveal a slicked back head of hair. And then you peel off your fake bushy mustache, uncovering a tight well-groomed mustache underneath. You straighten your ascot. The audience is flipping their shit.

You're the picture of sophistication. You look like the guy from the cover of the John Booth book, "Extending Magic Beyond Credibility."

Nick puts his hand on yours before you can light your cigarette. "We can't smoke here?" you ask, incredulously.

"As I was saying, so predictable. First Simon, then Mel, then Howie, then Heidi. Please, lift your Dunkin' Donuts cups and show the cameras what's underneath."

Under each cup is a number 1-4, with each person holding the number of the position in which they eliminated you.

The audience applauds this unexpected effect. 

"Not only that," you say, unbuttoning your right cuff and rolling up your sleeve. "Simon, you could have described my performance in any one of a thousand different ways, but you chose one word in particular." You pick up the dog's urn from the ground, dump some ashes into your left hand, then smear them along your right forearm. A word appears in ash:

GHASTLY

The audience roars. Simon turns to Mel B and mouths a big, "Wow!"

Nick Cannon quiets the crowd. "Okay judges. Now that you've seen the complete act, have you changed your mind about sending him through to the next round?" The judges convene and you are sent through unanimously.

The crowd cheers. Nick asks you if you have anything left to say.

"Not really," you say. "I already said it earlier. In the end, dreams come true."

The place goes wild for your hacky platitude. Music swells. 

Invest In Your Happiness

[Weekends are for non-magic posts.]

This is a subject I've written about before, but it's going to take on a new importance in regards to this site very soon. (Foreshadowing!)

Here is what I wrote about it a year ago.

I will tell you what I do. I put an item in my budget (I don't really have a budget, I just do this mentally) for $30 a month. Then I decide what my 3 favorite sites/performers/podcasts are and donate $10 a month to them. Of course, I support other content providers as well by buying the things they release or whatever, but this is what I do for the three entities that provide me the most joy on a regular basis. I don't just do it for them, I do it for my own peace of mind. Peace of mind in the sense that if the site I'm supporting does eventually shut down, I don't have to wonder if my contribution could have made a difference. (And when we're talking about very small enterprises (not something like NPR), a few donations a month one way or the other could very well be the deciding factor.)

That "line in my budget" is now $50. And as i said, it's not just about supporting those projects. I do it for my benefit. This is the way I think about it. "These things make me happy. The fact that they're free is great. But if I'm not supporting the things that make me happy, what the hell am I doing? Why am I hoping to just skate by and hoping these things stick around?"  I watched too many blogs, podcasts, youtube channels, and things like that fall off the face of the earth because people weren't backing them. Now at least I can say I've done my part.

You may think I'm setting you up with this post, and I am, in a sense, because Season 2 of the Jerx will happen only if people are on board to support it. But that's not my point in writing it. I'm completely content either way regardless of what happens with this site. I'm writing this because I think it's a genuine tip that has made my life better.

You get more enjoyment out of the things you like when you support them. It makes you feel more enmeshed in the good things in your life.

I've come to realize that not supporting these things is the ultimate form of low-self esteem. There's something that gives me a couple hours of pleasure a month and I'm going to mull over the idea of giving them a few dollars a month? Fuck that noise. I value my happiness too much to be cheap about it. So should you.

Gardyloo #16

Hey app owners. Version 1.3 should be in the app store now or will be shortly. It adds a pretty sweet new feature to the app that I think you're going to like called "Light Lunch." Check the instructions for the details.

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JL writes in to suggest this mask for those of you want to go as a homeless Kenton Knepper for Halloween. (Or regular Kenton Knepper. What's the difference.) 

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Professor Andster writes in to suggest combining the recent Drone Strike trick with Bazillion Dollar Bill Mystery and having the second half of the bill appear attached to the drone. It's a good idea. The nice thing about BDBM is you can literally cause that bill to appear anywhere. A floating island in the sky is a good place. 

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Friends of the Jerx: Andy Martin Wants You to Listen to Derek and Clive

["Friends of The Jerx" is where I highlight people who have contributed to this site, the projects they're involved in, or the subjects they're interested in.]

Andy Martin has many products and services he could ask me to shill if he wanted to, but he doesn't. Instead he just wants me to spread the word about British comedy duo Derek and Clive.

Derek and Clive are characters created by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. Well "characters" might be too much of a stretch. The audio recordings they made aren't exactly big character studies. In fact they remind me of the audio tapes I used to make with friends when I was a kid. Just two people sitting around trying to make each other laugh. But Derek and Clive are much, much filthier than I ever was or have been, and much darker too. Apparently Moore and Cook's relationship was falling apart and you can hear it in these recordings. I don't know about that because I knew nothing about Moore and Cook's partnership. 

There's not really much to say about the albums they put out. They defy any critical analysis really. I wish I had discovered these recordings when I was a 13-year-old British boy in the late 70s. I have a feeling I would have found them to be the funniest thing ever back then. These days the language, while hyper crude, isn't so shocking. So something like a horse race where the horses are named dirty words doesn't really reverberate that much with me. Although watching how much Dudley Moore gets a kick out of it during the recording does make me enjoy it.

So do Andy Martin a favor and check out some Derek and Clive. If you're a genuine sick fuck weirdo you'll probably really be taken with it right away. I've been listening to it on and off for a year now. I particularly enjoy the improvisational style and the dynamic between the two performers. At the very least you'll start talking about everything giving you "the horn" which is something I picked up and enjoy saying about pretty much anything. (Because pretty much anything does give me the horn.)

Here's the album Andy recommended to me:

Drone Strike: Public Record

Last week an ebook was sent out to a couple of GLOMM members called Drone Strike: Classified. It requires the use of a quadcopter. Ideally you want one with a camera and FPV (first person view, meaning you can see what the camera sees via a live feed) but it's not mandatory. The tricks below are described as if it has a camera. 

Yes this is a somewhat significant expense (depending on which model you buy), but this is also a pretty major league effect. And the quadcopter is fun to own regardless of doing tricks with it.

Here is the effect.

You stand out in an open field with your spectator. About 20 feet behind you the quadcopter rests on the ground. You tell your spectator you wanted to do this trick out away from everyone where you couldn't have any assistance from a secret helper. "In addition, I'm going to have the drone film us from above so you have a full 360 degree view of everything and you can be certain that no one else is involved. There's no one behind you, no one at all around. Okay?" 

You launch the quadcopter and both wave at the camera. it hovers about 20 feet over head as you have a card selected and signed by the spectator. The card is returned and they are given the deck to shuffle as the quadcopter continues to raise in the air to the point where you spectator can see on the video that it is just the two of you alone in a field with no one around in any direction. You take the deck back, squeeze it between your hands then offer it to the spectator to look through and find their card. It's not there. At this point you could strip naked and have every orifice searched. The card is truly gone. The drone hovers hundreds of feet in the air capturing everything. 

You slowly lower it towards the ground and the spectator can see it on the video feed making its way towards you. When it gets closer you tell your spectator to look up. They do so and they begin to make out the details of the quadcopter. As it gets closer and closer they see that attached to the quadcopter is their signed selection.

• No switches. The card they sign while the drone is already in the air is the one that appears attached to the drone later on.
• No assistants are used. Just you and the spectator.
• The video from the drone can be watched and it tells the same story as the spectator experienced. It raises in the air and hovers well overhead while the spectator selects and signs a card. It continues to rise hundreds of feet into the air as the spectator shuffles the card back in the deck. It then lowers back down above you two and you see the spectator's face as they realize their card is attached to the drone.

Drone Strike: Classified is the work of GLOMM Elite Member #16. It was presented to me to gift to two random GLOMM members.

I don't mention it here just to tease you, I'm mentioning it because I've thought up a variation on the effect that I want to present to you.

Drone Strike: Public Record

I haven't performed this myself (it takes a while to become good with one of these quadcopters) and I'm sure there are some kinks to be worked out, but I think the heart of the method is definitely workable. It's a similar but not identical effect to the Classified version. 

It starts off the same. You launch the drone and your spectator looks at the video feed and can see it filming the both of you as you stand out in a field. They notice nothing unusual about the video they see. The drone stays in the air and rises above you two as a card is selected and signed. You have your spectator look at the video feed again and they notice that something is now dangling from below the quadcopter. As it's lowered towards you to it becomes clear that an envelope is now hanging from a string from the bottom of the drone. You pluck the envelope off, open it up, and reveal the spectator's signed card inside.

Okay, let's work backwards. The first question is how to get the card in the envelope. The answer is, you don't. You are going to use any of the commercially available card to envelope methods where the card is loaded into the envelope after the fact. 

Now the fun part, how do we get the envelope to appear? 

We're continuing to work backwards, so let's start with the final image of the envelope dangling down from the bottom of the quadcopter. Attach one end of a 12 inch string or ribbon to the envelope and attach the other end to the bottom of the drone. Now, that's the final position, but we want to keep it out of the way at the beginning. For this we need three things. Two magnets and 40 feet of fishing line. Yes, yes, I know. This all seems like a lot of work. It is. But it's also a really amazing effect. The idea of suspending something—like a prediction chest, for example—makes it seemingly impossible that it could be manipulated in some way. And in this case the item isn't just "suspended," it's floating in mid-air, untouched by anything.

So you have your drone, envelope dangling. Let's start with the two magnets, they should be relatively small and not overly powerful, and one should have a hole in it. Glue one magnet (the non-hole one) to the side or bottom of the drone. Where exactly you glue it will depend on which model you're using. You want to position it so when the envelope is held to the magnet it is not in view of the camera. That's all that matters. Take your fishing line and tie one end to the magnet with a hole in it. You will tie the other end to some object in your performing space, around a tree or a swing-set or something. Set the drone up so the envelope is pinched between the two magnets.

You see what happens, yes?

Your spectator does not examine the drone beforehand. You can gesture to it on the lawn, but you should be a ways away from it so they can't make out the envelope connected to it. When you raise the drone you have 40 feet where it will provide a clear shot from the camera. At this point you can have the spectator look at the drone as it flies, they shouldn't notice anything unusual. 

At some point you will raise the drone higher in the air. The outer magnet will get pulled off and the envelope will fall into position. Your friend will see something on the video feed and in real life that was not on the drone a moment before. 

You lower the drone, remove the envelope and remove their signed card. 

(You don't have to use a drone with a camera. In that case the audience will just see it flying overhead, they'll select a card and sign it, and when they look up again the drone now has something dangling from beneath it.)

Dear Jerxy: The Audience-Centric Gambler

Dear Jerxy: Are you still doing these? I agree with much of what you say about an approach to magic that lessens the emphasis on the performer, but I prefer gambling demonstrations to typical "magic" tricks. Any way to apply your lessons to the gambler? And how would you assemble the 100 trick repertoire you talk about in AATKT for a gambler? 

Sincerely,
Knows When To Hold 'Em

Dear KWTHE: It's a good question, and one I have some thoughts on.

The first question to ask yourself is if you're really into gambling effects. The reason I ask that is because I've known a couple of people who were drawn to that type of performance only because they didn't want to be thought of as some weirdo doing...

So presenting magic effects under the guise of gambling demonstrations gives you that distance from the "mystical" that a lot of people are looking for. In fact, I think that's often why many of us prefer to perform for other magicians. It removes much of the awkwardness a lot of us sense when performing tricks for normal folks. (If you don't sense that awkwardness you might not be great at reading social queues.) The performance styles I detailed last week go a long way in removing that awkwardness by distancing yourself from the mystical elements or ramping them up to the point where it's clear they're not supposed to be taken seriously. So if you're drawn towards gambling material because you dislike the supernatural stuff, then you might want to try other types of effects, starting off in the Peek Backstage style which undercuts the awkward magician stereotype you see in pop-culture.

But maybe you're really into gambling and that's what you want to focus on. That's valid. If that's the case, I still don't think, "Look at my prodigious skill," is a great presentation. I think that's still somewhat off-putting, even in the context of gambling as opposed to magic. So I would similarly present it as a peek behind the scenes as you work on some skill related to a game they're interested in. That, for me, would be the most audience-centric approach:

Step 1. Find out the game they play.
Step 2. Ask them to assist or observe while you show them something you're working on related to that game.

This also goes to the 100 trick repertoire for someone who is strictly into gambling material. There's really no reason to have a half dozen poker tricks that are indistinguishable to your spectator. Instead I would try to have a different trick mastered for every potential game a spectator might name. That would be the start and the heart of my repertoire. 

My full repertoire would probably be constructed something like this if I wanted to come across as the guy who was into gambling:

20 tricks that are directly related to actual card games (poker, blackjack, bridge, gin rummy)

20 traditional magic tricks that I can couch in a gambling presentation. For instance, a color changing deck could be presented as a deck switch. I sometimes present an ambitious card routine as a demonstration of "middle palming" (palming a card out of the middle of the deck). I don't actually show it on top. I place it in the middle then palm it off the top, if that makes sense.

20 gambling effects with things other than cards.

40 Proposition bets

Here's the thing, if you try to seriously imply you're some shady underground gambler type it's going to come off as totally phony. You might be able to convince the 13-year-olds at Ellusionist, but real underground gamblers are as likely to expose their skills as serial rapists are. Instead I would look to people like Titanic Thompson and Amarillo Slim as your influences. Guys who were always trying to think of different ways to win a buck. This is, I think, a more broadly interesting approach than trying to come off as just a card mechanic. In this way you can not only be the guy who wins at poker, but the guy who can control the flip of a coin, the guy who knows how to beat all the carnival games, the guy who hustles a little pool, and the guy who makes and wins the most inconceivable bets. That's a much more interesting character than the guy practicing his bottom deal for hours on end (you know, like the loser you really are).
 

Criss Angel's Trick'd Up

Last week Criss Angel aired an unwatchable and unwatched TV special called "Trick'd Up." The 49th most popular show on cable television that evening, Trick'd Up was Criss Angel doing what Criss Angel does best:

- Looking like a budget Nikki Sixx impersonator
- Ruining Banachek's reputation

Here are some of the highlights of the show for those who missed it. Which is all of you.

The show started with Criss tearing MMA fighter Paige VanZant in two to the "dismay" of her "friends."

He doesn't restore her. He just leaves her there. I think this may have been a nod to Richiardi, but it's a confusing way to start the show because we know that he hasn't been arrested for killing Paige VanZant. So essentially the show starts with him demonstrating he's using stooges and phony reactions. And I'd be cool with that. If he came out and said something to the effect of, "These are all actors and this is theatrical magic presented in real world scenarios," that's great and all, but then you can't chop up the video 100 different ways because there's nothing resembling a magic trick left. I'm surprised I have to explain this because it's kind of a fundamental concept of magic on television. I either have to believe it's real people (in which case the editing doesn't matter because I believe in the people's response) or I have to believe this is what it would look like live (in which case it doesn't matter if I think the people are actors because I feel like I'm seeing what I would have seen if I was there myself). But if I believe in neither the people or the presentation you have the world's dullest magic special. 

He tries to liven things up with visceral magic. He makes a coin vanish and appear under his skin. He sucks a temporary tattoo of a cockroach off a woman's arm and a cockroach appears in his mouth. He tries to pass off a 4 inch by 18 inch silk as a "napkin" at a restaurant. He swallows it and then pulls it out of his neck. He does an Impaled illusion with a meat kabob sword at one of those Brazilian steakhouses. It all kind of falls flat.

There are a couple nice moments. There's a sequence where he penetrates a "spectator's" watch into a water bottle that looked nice. There's a one-shot transformation of a random dude into Steve Aoki that was decent. There was a cute thing with stuffed animals and a group of sorority girls that would have been much better if it hadn't been shot so poorly.

And for non-fans there was a nice sequence where he was punched in the stomach a lot. (But it wasn't as good as when Blaine did it with Kimbo Slice.)

Always timely, Criss has framed this special as if his crew are the dudes from Jackass (a show from 16 years ago), going around, having fun, causing trouble. But Jackass consisted of real friends genuinely enjoying each other's company. There is zero chemistry in Criss' group. And really no one is given anything to do besides Criss.

If you look at the magic shows on TV today in the US that seem to have some sort of audience (Fool Us, Carbonaro Effect, and AGT) it may be that this style of show is no longer what people are interested in. It certainly felt dated. I'll be interested to see if Blaine can revive or evolve this sort of show (the magician traveling around and showing magic to "real people" in non-theatrical environments) in his upcoming specials. 

I think the most compelling show Criss could put on right now is one where he blows up the stuff he's done before. Put on 20 pounds. Stop dying his hair. Be like, "Look, I'm a fucking 50 year old man and I'm tired. I don't want to have to suck on cockroaches to get your attention. I don't need that kind of validation anymore. It's been fun and all, but I've spent 30 years late to the party jumping on trends to try and appeal to you. I'm done with that. In this show you're going to meet the real me and see real magic unlike anything you've ever seen before." And even if this "real" Criss is completely bullshit too, at least this would give him the chance to abandon this rut he's stuck in—this beyond middle-aged man with a goth teen sensibility of darkness. Or just keep doing this nonsense and I'll look forward to the Criss Angel 2Spooky4You show coming soon.