Two-Card Transmogrification

A couple years ago I was on a short road trip for work and the stereo in the rental car I was in fizzled out. Soon after that, my phone started running low and I needed to conserve the battery so I could use it to navigate once I got closer to my destination.

So I was sitting alone in a car with nothing to keep me entertained other than my own thoughts. Now, I know it’s probably a criticism of the modern age that we’re constantly “entertaining” ourselves to death and “why must you always be listening to podcasts and music, why can’t you be content listening to the simple trill of a sparrow?” I get all that. And I do think I would benefit from carving out time in my life where my brain is being less stimulated. But in that particular moment, with nothing to listen to, no one to talk to, and driving through dull terrain with not a single interesting thing to look at between me and the earth’s fucking curvature on the horizon, I was pretty miserable.

To entertain myself, I decided to play a game where I would try and come up with as many different ways as I could to present a two-card transposition. So a card is shown, set on the table, another card is shown, and then you reveal those cards switched places. How many ways can you present that? The rules I established were that I could build up the presentation in any way I wanted, but the handling would be the same for each trick. So, it wouldn’t be about adding more phases or different techniques. It would just be ways to present that one switch.

This is similar to another game I play where I try and think up ways to reveal a peeked word, as discussed many moons ago here.

So what are some ways to present a two-card transposition?

The first one comes easily.

1. Present it as two cards switching by MAGIC!

Boom. That was simple. And, of course, that’s where most people stop thinking. Despite the fact that when you look at it isolated in that way, it’s really kind of a dumb way to present it. “I am a great and powerful Magician! Behold my awesome powers as I… make this little piece of paper switch places with this little piece of paper a few inches away.”

So what else?

2. Present it as a demonstration of a secret gambling move.

3. Present it as a demonstration of suggestion or hypnosis, i.e., “You only thought I put the Ace of Spades on the table because I said that with such conviction. In reality it was the 2 of hearts all along.” Blah, blah, etc. etc.

4. Some dumb “story from your past” type of presentation. “One time, this guy came into a bar and showed me the Ace of Spades on top of the deck and dealt it onto the table…,” and so on.

This is far and away the least interesting type of presentation in my opinion, based on the feedback I get from audiences, and it boggles my mind that it’s so common with magicians.

Ok, where else can we go with this trick…

5. Maybe some sort of pseudo magical history type of presentation. You tell them a little about Dai Vernon and you mention that he said the most magical thing you can do with a deck of cards is to make two cards switch places because it’s such a simple, uncomplicated effect, but most people never get to witness it. So now you’re going to give them the opportunity to see something that one of the greatest magical minds thought was the most amazing thing you could do. (I don’t think he actually said that. I think he might have said something similar about a color change. I don’t really know. Or care. For the sake of engaging the audience it doesn’t really have to be true.)

If you’re familiar with my style, then it’s not hard to imagine some more “meta” presentational ides in line with that sort of thing. Such as…

6. A presentation where you say you’re working on this classic trick and could you get their help with it. You go through the motions a couple times but don’t do the actual mechanics of the switch (so the cards just end up where you would expect them to be). You scratch your head as if you can’t understand why it’s not working. You consult a book briefly. Then say, “This says I should use a blue deck, but I don’t see why that would make a difference..” And you swap your red deck for a blue deck. This time it works. You’re happy but also mildly annoyed/confused because you can’t wrap your head around why it didn’t work with the other deck. Maybe you try it another time with the red deck and it doesn’t work again.

That’s a combination of a few different things I’ve written about here. It’s sort of the Peek Backstage style along with the idea of intentionally complicating your spectator’s understanding of magic methodology. They think in terms of sleight-of-hand, and that’s it’s a mechanical technique that just works if you do it right. I never deny that sleight-of-hand is used in magic, but I will confuse the issue by implying that there are other aspects to the methods that are less straight-forward and not as easy to comprehend

Now, as I drove the presentations became more ridiculous, of course, because the “normal” ones were taken.

7. A presentation “exposing” this awesome new trick deck you got. You remove the deck from the freezer. “Every card has one face when it’s cold and another when it’s at room temperature. Some cards are paired up in a way so you can do this trick.” You show them the Ace of Spades and set it face-down in front of them, and the 2 of Hearts in front of you. You wait five minutes. “That should be about enough time,” you say, and flip them over to see that they’ve “changed.” Offer to sell this gimmicked deck to your friend for $40.

By the time I reached my destination, I had come up with a couple dozen presentations. A lot of them were kind of stupid, of course. And many of them I didn’t remember by the time I was in a position to write them down. I’ve continued to play this game since and I now have a document with 65 presentations for a two-card transposition. My goal is to get it up to 100.

What’s the point? Well, I think this sort of think is a valuable creative exercise if you want create your own presentations. While maybe only 1/4th of the presentations I’ve come up with are something I would consider good to great, that’s still 15+ good to great presentations for a two-card transposition, which is pretty valuable to have. And almost all of the 65 are more interesting than just “I did this with my magic powers!”

The other benefit of this sort of exercise is that it will keep you on guard to identify other tricks that are, what I think of as, “blank slate effects.” I’ll have more to say on this in a post in the near future. The two-card transposition is more than a trick, it’s a building block that you can create all sorts of effects around. As mentioned, the peek of a word is a similar building block. But we often use these things in the blandest way possible because we think of them as complete tricks rather than elements of a trick. “How will I reveal this word I peeked? I know. I’ll pretend to think real hard and then say it with my mouth.” There are literally 1000 more interesting/entertaining things to do with a peeked word than that. And while not every blank slate effect will spawn that many iterations, there are many tricks that I feel we can wring a lot more out of. More to come on that.

[I mentioned posts will be getting shorter. They will. I’m working on that.]

Progenitors - The Tracker

Sometimes I have a pretty good idea for a trick but it morphs into something very different and I never end up returning to that potentially good idea for whatever reason. Most often they slip from my mind entirely, but when I remember one I’ll try and throw it up here for people who may want to run with it.

One of my favorite tricks in Magic For Young Lovers is called In Search of the Castaways.

It’s an effect that’s a real earthquake of entertainment. In essence it’s a ring to impossible location, but it veers off in an interesting way.

That effect was born out of a coin trick that I had been thinking about.

I’ve often said that long, multi-phase card routines are like a massage. In the moment they can be very rewarding, but people don’t really remember the details for very long after (unless you construct a trick that is something more than just impossible). At best you sort of want them to look back on the thing fondly as a whole.

Multi-phase coin tricks are even worse. There can be so much going on that people barely retain anything that happened 10 seconds earlier. Usually, I’ve found the best course of action is to simplify the trick down to one moment. One coin disappears. One coin changes. Or whatever.

But often you’ll want to blow that out a little so the whole thing isn’t over in just a moment.

My idea was that I would maybe teach them a rudimentary coin vanish, then explain how that’s just sleight of hand, which is sort of a “beginners” method for magic. And then I’d show them a more “advanced” version where the coin is truly gone at the end.

“So,” I’d say, “I learned that from an older magician. And one of the things about developing these relationships in magic with people who know more than you is that you’re just not supposed to question things. That’s like a sign of disrespect or whatever. But even though he taught me how to vanish small objects. He never told me where they go. Maybe he didn’t even know, but the question sort of ate at me.

“So I decided to find out. And that’s where it got really weird. Want to see?”

Now this is an intriguing premise regardless of how much they buy into it.

I would then pull out one of those Tile tracking devices. These are small, square objects that you attach to your keys or whatever and you can track their location via your phone. So if you lose your keys you can turn on your phone and use the app to find where they are.

The idea would be that I’d show the Tile and turn on the app to demonstrate how it locates the device and shows it’s in my house. Then I’d vanish it (it’s coin-esque in size, if not shape). Then I’d be like, “Now, here’s the weird shit,” and I’d turn on the app to locate the tracker and we’d find that it’s… I’m not sure where. Maybe it would indicate an address across the country where the guy who taught me to vanish objects lives. (“Is he hoarding the coins and stuff? Is that why he taught me how to vanish money in the first place? That seems like a needlessly elaborate way to make a few bucks.”) Or maybe it would show some random spot in the middle of the ocean. Or it’s three billion miles away orbiting Neptune. Or somehow indicate it’s suspended in some other dimension.

I don’t really know what would go over best, because I never got a chance to test. Primarily because it morphed into the Castaways trick which is an idea I like more. But also because this isn’t quite how those Tile devices work. They’re not really GPS devices. They operate via Bluetooth so they can only tell you where you lost item is if you’re within 100 feet or so.

Now, if you’re more motivated than me, what you could do is make up some fake GPS tracking devices, similar to the Tile. They wouldn’t need to have any actual functionality. You could make a shell for them too, which would give you even more options. Then create a simple fake app or website where you could feed into it the locations you want it to spit out when queried later. But you’d have to be pretty motivated to do that.

I think there’s a lot that could be done with these small location devices. Even if you are just vanishing them and then finding them somewhere else in the house, that could possibly be interesting. Or you could secretly set-up by attaching one to your keys and putting them in some particular spot in your house. Now force that spot with the DFB app or something similar. Then present it as an upgraded piece of technology. It doesn’t find your key where it is, it puts it in a location you select.

Dustings of Woofle #1

The Poetry of Magic

The stunning beauty of magic ad copy continues to move me to my very soul.

From the ad for the trick Uncaged.

“Chewing gum is a basic prop that has been used by most magicians as a trick and will continue to be used in the present.”

Sometimes a statement is just so true that it becomes transcendent. Yes, of course, gum is one of magic’s “basic props.” Probably not as popular as cards, but a little more so than coins.

Of course, before getting into escapes, Houdini himself was known as…

Not only is gum one of the foundational elements of magic but, as the ad says, it “will continue to be used in the present.” It’s very bold to predict the present, but it does have the ring of truth to it.

Thanks to friend-of-the-site, D.K, for turning me onto this finely written verse.

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Season 3 supporters have until the end of the day on Wednesday to reserve their spot for Season 4. For people new to the site, if you’re interested in one of the unclaimed spots, there will be details posted on Thursday for you.

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Handmade glass Jerxy Cat sculptures found in Venice, Italy by reader, J.T. Part of a painstakingly slow process I’m working on to back up all of this blog’s contents in the medium of blown glass. (GIFS are proving especially difficult.)

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A bug has been found in the Jerx app. It’s easily avoidable, but you should know it’s there. In the Drawing Switch section if you “undo” your initial drawing during performance and re-draw something, then it won’t “switch” properly when it’s supposed to. Simple solution, don’t undo your drawing during performance. I’m sure we’ll get it fixed soon. Thanks to T.W. for spotting this.

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I know a lot of you come here for jerk-off fodder. Here’s a little something for your fantasy file, courtesy of reader, W.F.

Potential New Features

Here are some new types of posts you may see around here.

1. New miscellaneous posts.

In the early days there was a regular Sunday post feature called, Sundry Drive. That turned into Gardyloo. The individual Gardyloo segments could get somewhat long. The new aggregate posts will contain three or four quickly digestible items. Either pictures, videos, or very short written segments.

I’m not quite sure what I’ll name this recurring segment, but I’m thinking of the name below because it’s stupid and sounds like the title of an old soap opera…

2. Reader Mail

I already have the Dear Jerxy posts where I address a larger subject inspired by someone’s email to me, but I have other emails that might be of interest that don’t really fit that format. I may start doing some mailbag posts consisting of briefer questions/comments from readers.

3. Consumer Advocacy

I’m hoping I don’t have to do this one, but I’ve got the platform for it, so if it’s needed I will. I’ve been getting more and more emails from people whose posts are being removed from the Magic Cafe for no reason at all.

I have zero issues with the Cafe removing posts for vulgarity or harassment or whatever. And I have no issue with them deleting references to this site. I heard there was a very nice thread about Magic For Young Lovers there which they let go for a few days. I think they were waiting on some negative reviews to hopefully pop up. When it turned into a love-fest for the book—because it’s fucking brilliant—they had to step in and remove it. That’s fine with me. They’re too stupid to know that attitude towards this site only helps me.

But when they delete helpful posts because they’re critical of people advertising on the site, that’s pretty sketchy.

So if you’re being censored for something perfectly reasonable on the Cafe, you can reach out to me and I’ll happily post whatever they’re deleting on this site instead. So, you have a choice if you’re selling a magic project. You can let valid criticism stay and be buried in a thread on the Cafe. Or you can raise a stink and get the post deleted and I’ll post it here instead. One thing to keep in mind… I’m more popular than any given thread on the Cafe. Many more people will read it, and I’ll do a better job calling you out for your shit than whoever posted on the Cafe in the first place.

I’m also happy to lend a hand for other legitimate non-Cafe magic gripes as well. I’m not going to step in for every minor dispute, but if I can help out with some issue you’re having by giving it a little publicity, I’d be okay with that.

In New York City the consumer advocate group on the local news was the Fox 5 Problem Solvers.

On this site we have…

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone.

It’s the two-year anniversary of the Jerx Amateur Magic Monthly magazine. I really love how that thing turned out.

On this Valentine’s Day I want to recognize our eternal valentines, the JAMM Muses—the ladies who graced the cover of that fine magazine. The Muses were a combination of exes, old friends, new friends, and a few who were essentially strangers before the shoot, but they were all universally a delight to be around and the magazine wouldn’t have been nearly as good without them.

(Also thanks to my friend, Andrew, and his assistant, Taylor, for conducting the shoots for The JAMM. And thanks to JM Beckers for coining the term JAMM Muse.)

February Muse - Jessica

March Muse - Mallory

April Muse - Alice

May Muse - Breanna

June Muse - Karla

July Muse - Eliza

August Muse - Stasia

September Muse - Gibson

October Muse - Jerri

November Muse - Nikki

December Muse - Amanda

January Muse - Amber

The Eternal Promise Between Lovers

Courtesy of our friends at the Magic Transcribed twitter

065 Video pic.twitter.com/nGpEFvFaO5

— Magic Transcribed (@TranscribeMagic) February 12, 2019

065 Transcript pic.twitter.com/0uoir7ENXu

— Magic Transcribed (@TranscribeMagic) February 12, 2019

I have no idea who wrote this, but whoever did, consult your physician. “Word salad” is a sign of schizophrenia.

Y’all know you can hire people to write ad copy, yes? It’s a job. I’ve done it. You don’t need to point to the person who packs the orders for your company and say, “Hey, why don’t you crank out a couple paragraphs. Better yet, just scan some Hank Lee newsletters and a love note written by a learning-disabled 12-year-old into the computer and have it spit something out based on that input.”

Now, perhaps this is the result of a bad translation of something that reads perfectly fine in another language. Okay… but if that’s the case, what about the guy doing the talking? That’s an English speaking human, right? It’s not a talking cockatiel in a human suit repeating sounds without understanding meaning, is it? Why didn’t he stop at some point and say, “Hey guys, I just realized, this is a bunch of gibberish”?

When you make a proposal or make a confession, it will offer you a brand new possibility.

Say what?

A confession?

“That’s right. I raped him. I murdered him. And you know what? I’d do it again if given the chance. Throw the book at me if you want, but first…”

Charges dropped!

Ok, on a completely different subject, tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Feel free to download and print the image below on a heavy card stock as the ultimate expression of love for the man or woman in your life.

Games and Magic

Think of this…

Here’s Pong, one of the first video games ever made.

Here’s Donkey Kong, which came out about 10 years later.

And here is the trailer for the game The Last of Us which came out in 2013.

Think of how video games have evolved in forty years.

Yes, the graphics have come a million miles.

Ok, yes, that’s true. And that’s the most apparent change, but I don’t know that it’s the most significant.

When video games first came around, they were almost all about simply accomplishing a task. You’re a frog and you have to cross the street and then the river.

And further levels will just add more cars and remove logs. That’s what almost every game was. Your goal was to accomplish some task either as fast as possible or without dying or both.

But in just a few decades, video games became something quite different. It wasn’t just a change in graphics. Games became about narrative and immersion.

I began thinking about this because of an email I got a few weeks ago from friend of the site, Ricardo Delgado. He wrote, in part:

Games are capable of producing emotions that other media cannot

This phrase caught my eye when I was reading about Will Wright’s online course about game design on Masterclass. 

And reading through the Lesson Plan I saw some similarities with magic (specifically your ideas on MFYL). Both are a “different media”, there are lots of possibilities of what to do and stories to tell, they can be an immersive experience, etc. 

Then I was talking about the parallels between magic and game design with my friend, Pat, over text and he mentioned this…

I was surprised I hadn’t noticed this before. Throughout the 80s—the first real video game heyday— that was the whole point of playing the game: to get further along, to get the high score. And now it’s something people rarely consider. If you told someone playing Burger Time in 1984 that many future games would not even have “scores” they’d probably barely be able to wrap their mind around it. What’s a game without a score?

But video games changed and blossomed out from just this one metric of “score.” The goal of “completing tasks” was put in a context and that became a relatable narrative people could get caught up in.

That is, I believe, the next leap for close-up, social magic.

For the most part, how we present close-up magic hasn’t change much in 100 years. That is not the sign of a vibrant, healthy art form.

Our only concern is, often, “Did I fool them?” That’s a very one-dimensional approach to presenting magic. It reminds me of the 1980’s focus on the “hi-score” in video games. That focus keeps us from creating some more nuanced, and interesting experiences with magic. Instead we’re sitting here doing the same old Q*Bert shit.

But if we take “fooling them” and put it in the context of a larger story or experience, I think we can create a far more captivating encounter for the audience, similar to the way video games elevated simple task-based challenges by building a story around them.

(If you’re new here, and you have no idea what I’m talking about by putting a trick in a greater context, start at the beginning of the site and work your way back here. You’ll see examples along the way.)

People will say, “Oh, you’re too good to do things the way Dai Vernon did them?” No. But Dai Vernon wasn’t doing things the way people did them 75 years before him either. For magic to be vital it needs to change or at least try new things. Stage magic has evolved. Television magic has evolved. But close-up magic is still often just random, meaningless tricks with some half-hearted “presentation” thrown in.

“Well excuse me for being old-fashioned and just doing ‘random, meaningless tricks,’ but my audience seems to enjoy them just fine, thank you very much.”

I’m sure they do. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be open to a more engrossing presentational style. The thing is, they don’t know such a thing exists. It’s up to us to push the experience to new heights, not the audience. They don’t know what they want. You have to build it for them first. If you asked people in the early 70s playing Pong what changes they’d like to see in their video game experience, they wouldn’t have said, “I’d like a more immersive, narrative based experience.” They would have said, “It would be cool if the ball was blue.”

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Further exploration:

Here you can watch the intro scene for The Last of Us video game.

And here you can watch some people in their 60s and older, playing that intro. It’s interesting to see people who haven’t seen what video games have become be exposed to them for the first time.

Coming soon:

Transitioning away from the “magic trick as performative demonstration” style and towards the “magic trick as immersive fiction” style for those who are having trouble with this sort of thing.