Art of Astonishment Project

Like many magicians, I’m a big Paul Harris fan and his Art of Astonishment trilogy was one of the most exciting magic releases of my lifetime. If you also have a nostalgic place in your heart for these books, I want to draw your attention to a project on youtube that Paul Harris fan, and Jerx supporter, Dani Marko has been working on for a couple of years. He’s attempting to film all the effects in the entire trilogy. He’s up to 70 effects as of this point in time.

I like this project for a few reasons. First, because I have a soft spot for any big dumb project. Second because it’s reminding me of a number of tricks that I used to do or thought of doing that I should really put in the rotation. And finally because I’m seeing some tricks in a new light that didn’t quite jump off the page for me originally. For example, here’s Griffin Under Glass, which is an effect I read many times but never really thought of performing. But now seeing it, I think it would probably be quite fooling for someone who doesn’t know what’s coming.

I don’t know if this project will haver a broad appeal to all magicians. But if you bought the books back in the mid-90s I think you’ll be into it. Sure, a lot of of Paul’s stuff had been on video before that, but much of it wasn’t. And youtube was still a decade away. So there was nowhere to see some of it other than doing it yourself. It was a very different time. If the Art of Astonishment books came out today… well, they probably wouldn’t be books. They’d be instant downloads. Paul would have a bad beard and work for Ellusionist and teach his effects while sipping whiskey and talking about how much sloppy poontang he gets when he performs Vacuum Cleaner Cards at the bars. “Yeesh, what a mess.”

Dani tells me he wishes he was a more “competent performer” but for my purposes of seeing some of these effects in action for the first time, he’s more than adequate.

Full warning, he speaks some kind of nonsense language (sounds made up to me). But if you’re familiar with the effects from the books, you won’t be lost. And honestly, regardless of what gobbledygook he’s speaking, it’s definitely going to make more sense than Paul Harris’ original patter.

Here’s Twinkie Bottle, another effect I’ve always wanted to see performed, but haven’t until now. (On GayTube they have a whole section for “Twink’s Butthole” but I learned the hard way that that’s something else entirely. (If you clicked that link and now you’re mad at me… what exactly were you expecting?))

I also like some of the personal touches which Dani brings to the effects. Check out what he does with the sticker in his performance of Paul’s effect, Apple.

What I particularly like about this project more-so than ones where people are doing a trick a day or a new trick a week for a year, or whatever, is that you can complete those projects and only do stuff thats good or stuff you like. If Dani completes this, he will to have to push himself to some tricks he wouldn’t gravitate to otherewise. That makes it a more interesting challenge, in my book. And he’ll have to do some of Paul’s stinkers too. (There’s not too many of them in the Art of Astonishment. The real challenge would be to do all the tricks of Paul’s that he left out of the AoA trilogy. Those are the ones that range from “not great” to “truly dogshit.”)

What's the Worst Thing About: Nate Staniforth's Making Tricks Into Magic Course

A couple months ago I offered people a way to advertise their product on this site for free. And that was for them to send me what they were offering and then I would write a post documenting what I felt were the worst things about that product. (I gave my rationale for this in that post.) Oddly enough, this didn’t turn out to be a super popular idea with people who were putting out magic products.

But now we have our first person willing to take me up on the offer, and that is Nate Staniforth with his online workshop, Making Tricks into Magic.

This is a two-hour online course teaching a series of techniques (and two tricks) for more powerful magic. This is based on Nate’s many years of professional performing.

The course is nicely put together and easy to navigate through. What I appreciate is that there isn’t unnecessary rambling. He gets to the point quickly in each “chapter” of the course. He’s an engaging speaker who has clearly given these things a lot of thought. I like both tricks he teaches (make sure you watch until the end of the course to get some upgrades on the second trick which should make it much stronger). I think anyone who is performing or considering performing professionally will find at least a couple concepts here which should have a positive impact on their magic. And for 50-ish bucks, that seems definitely worth it for the working pro.

Nate and I have some similar philosophies in regards to our approach towards, and our goals for magic. So if you like this site and you’re curious about a professional’s approach to this sort of thing, then I would recommend you pick up the project.

Technically you don’t need to be a professional magician. I think his ideas translate pretty well across the board, regardless of your performing environment. But that is the background that he’s bringing to the this.

Yes, but what are the worst things about this project?

I’ll give you three.

1. If you’re not good at extrapolating, you might find things to be a little too succinct. I appreciated the fact that everything was broken down into “chapters” that only lasted a few minutes each, but I would bet there are some people who would want things explained in more detail.

2. In a similar vein, I think there needs to be more tricks incorporated in the course. Yes, yes, I know, we all have more tricks than we could possibly need. But the way to explain magic theory is through the language of tricks. Even if Nate didn’t want to get into teaching and explaining a bunch of different tricks (I get that), I think he could have used more tricks as examples to help demonstrate his theories. So he wouldn’t even have to teach them, necessarily. Use a standard trick or standard performance and break it down and rebuild it using the techniques described in the course.

3. This picture…

For the next week, Nate is offering a 10% discount for people who use the code jerxreaders. I told him if I ended up really hating the project I wouldn’t mention the discount code as that would have been a little weird. “Hey, this is shit… And here’s 10% off that shit!” But that’s not the case here.

If you have a new product or project and you’d like me to tell people the worst parts about it, you can read about how to do that here.

Better with The Jerx Contest

April is over. Those who entered the Better with Weber contest were asked to identify some goal they were going to achieve during the month. Did you do it? I bet you didn’t! Wait… there was a real sing-songy delivery to my skepticism there that I don’t think was conveyed.

🎶I bet you diiiiid-n’t! 🎶

Hopefully that captures my attitude.

Look, it’s hard to keep to a goal if you don’t have a strategy in place. And it’s also hard to figure out a strategy when it comes to productivity and goals because different things motivate people differently. (Some productivity books will tell you to keep your goals a secret. Some will tell you to broadcast them publicly so you can be held accountable. Neither is right or wrong in general. But one is probably right or wrong for you.) So if you didn’t achieve your goal for the month, change your approach and try again.

But if you did reach the goal you committed to in the Better with Weber contest, then you can now take part in the Better with The Jerx contest which I mentioned back on April 7th.

Here’s how it works

1. By 11:59 PM ET, May 11th—a week from today—send me an email with the subject line: Better With You

2. In the body of the email reiterate what your original goal was.

3. And include the best proof you can offer that you achieved this goal. Or at the very least that you put in the required effort to achieve this goal. You can attach documents or pictures. Ideally if it’s a video you should upload it to youtube (unlisted if you want) and just send me the link.

4. I will rate your evidence on a scale of 0-10. Zero means I’m not convinced at all by your proof and 10 means I’m fully convinced. Whatever number I rate your proof as, that’s how many entries you’ll get in the drawing for the next prize package. (What is completely convincing proof? That would depend on what your goal was, I guess. Essentially it would be something that I—if I were in your position—couldn’t fake. I may have a couple judges who would be willing to contact you over video chat if it’s something that needs to be demonstrated in real time. You can submit a video of your spouse vouching for you, but if it has a real Taliban vibe to it, it won’t be that convincing. Hey, I gave you ample warning this was coming so you could try and figure something out.)

The winner will receive the 2020 Jerx Supporter Rewards Package. If you’re already a supporter I will refund your money or you can bestow the package to someone else. It’s up to you how you want to handle it.

Note: Nothing about your goals or the proof you provide will be shared here or anywhere, or with anyone else. (Unless it turns out to be interesting or relevant to this site and you give me your express permission to share it.)

The drawing will be held sometime next week. I think you have a pretty good chance of winning if you enter with convincing proof. 250 entered the original Better with Weber contest. This entry pool can only be a subset of number. How many will have achieved their goal and will go to the effort to submit proof of that? 10-20% maybe? I don’t know. Maybe I’ll be surprised.

The Juxe: Favorite Newish Music - May 2020

[I have a very convoluted system for processing new music, so it often takes me a while to get to new releases. That’s why this series refers to “newish” music, i.e., stuff from the last year or so.]

Divorce by Alex Cameron (Alternative Pop/Rock, Singer/Songwriter - Sydney, Australia)

I’ve never been divorced, so I’ve never had an acrimonious divorce. I don’t know if that makes me more or less capable of appreciating this song.

Listen for: That first line in the chorus. I like when things don’t sound like song lyrics. That sounds like something you’d overhear from a couple arguing in a booth at Applebees.

Party Animal by Phantom Planet (Rock - Los Angeles, California)

Listen for: The stupid but catchy chorus. “Part animal, part party-animal,” is a great way to describe yourself in a job interview or in your online dating profile so people know you’re a cool dude who likes to party.

Search for Life by Dirty Projectors (Experimental Pop Folk - Brooklyn, New York)

Listen For: The moment the backing vocals go from “Ooh” to “Aah.”

The strings on the studio recording are nice, but this live version really emphasizes the backing harmonies which are gorgeous.

The Vanishing

For the second time in the history of this site, the draft message that contained all the ideas I had for future posts—in the neighborhood of 400+ post ideas—was somehow deleted. And I say “somehow” because I guess I deleted it, but I have no memory of doing such a thing. And deleting draft messages is not something I regularly do, so I can’t see myself doing it on autopilot. But hey, what’s done is done.

But here’s a note to my google-employed readers, of which I know I have a few: What’s the rush to make my draft message vanish from the face of the fucking earth? Why doesn’t it go to the trash where I can recover it should something like this occur? If I delete a message from Old Navy telling me of their Wacky for Khaki Summer Sale, I have 30 days to ruminate, second guess myself, change my mind and retrieve it from the trash. Do I really want to get rid of this meaningless junk mail informing me of their BOGO sale on mid-rise board shorts? Well, don’t worry, because I have a goddamned lunar cycle to mull it over.

But if—mistakenly, or in a moment of pique—you delete that draft love letter you’ve been working on for 6 weeks to that woman you’ve been pining over for two decades, or that draft of a letter of reconciliation between you and your father that you’ve been carefully crafting since his cancer diagnosis, or that draft of your revised will, or that draft of 400 blog post ideas… well, you’re fucked. It’s been <GLORPED!> into the void. Vanishing like a dream. Without so much as a, “Are you sure you’d like to delete this draft?” Which is strange because I would suggest that, on average, people’s drafts are more important to them than whatever random emails they happen to receive (and which they have a month to retrieve if they get deleted).

That being said, I don’t blame Google. Even if it was some sort of bug or random quirk. I should have had a better system in place. Especially since it happened to me once before. I now do have a better system. Well, better in the sense of “less likely to have everything disappear.” It’s mildly less convenient, but that’s the trade-off I guess.

I’m not worried about the lost post ideas. This incident happened back in mid-April. Of the approximately 400 or so that were lost, I was able to remember a couple hundred over the course of the next few days. Another 100 were probably stupid or ones I was never going to get to anyway. 50 more will probably come back to me in time. (One way you can help: If you sent me an email about something and I said, “I’ll cover this on the site sometime,” or something along those lines, feel free to write in and remind me about it, because it may have been one of the ones that slipped my mind.) So that accounts for most of them.

The only thing I’m mildly bummed about is that there were definitely some ideas in there that were just brief flashes of inspiration that I’ll probably never remember/think of again, and they may have been the sort of thing that would grow into something worthwhile.

Oh well! It doesn’t matter. I’ll come up with better ideas than the ones that were lost.

Have a good weekend.

National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month. You probably knew that. It’s the only thing that’s been in the news recently.

I have a resource for you. It’s a poem. I mean, in the sense that anything is a poem.

This post is a poem.

Especially if
I take the time
to break it up
and write it
like this
so gentle, and pure
as the orchid bud in June

Huh? What the fuck does that mean?

Hey, it’s poetry, baby! It don’t mean shit. In fact, you’re still in the poem right now. This part, where I’m telling you you’re in the poem is still part of the poem. So is the rest of this.

Here is a poem you might get some use from. It’s called A Jar of Balloons or the Uncooked Rice by Matthew Yeager. I’m not going to copy and paste it here as you will understand why when you see it. It’s just a series of questions. Hundreds, at least.

It starts off like…

And then it goes on and on and on.

What does this have to do with magic?

First off, it’s valuable simply as a resource of questions and concepts that may be interesting for people to talk about. In turn you can build on those ideas to suggest different avenues to explore with people presentationally.

Or you can just use the poem as I have done as something of an Unknown Personal generator.

The nice thing about it is, this is a poem that exists. It’s a thing in the real world. You can say, “There’s this poem I found recently, and I think it’s pretty interesting. And I want to try something with it and you in particular. I’m not sure I could do it with someone else.” And it is a real poem, from a real poet, with a real history. It’s not some made up magic-y thing.

Since we’re still quarantining at this moment in time, I had my friend go to the poem and scroll down and stop and read the first question she saw.

Was your Christmas tree (if you had one as a child) fake or real?

Answer: Real

We did this four more times. Her scrolling around and stopping wherever she wanted and reading the first question that came up. I had her make note of the answers on a piece of a paper as she went.

Who is your wealthiest relative?

Answer: Grandpa William

Do you own, currently, and furniture you’ve found on the street?

Answer: No

How many people from high school do you keep in touch with?

Answer: 6

Do you ever mess with the button inside the fridge that makes the light go off and on, just press it flat a few times?

Answer: Yes

Obviously each question brought out some level of discussion as well.

At the end she had a list:

• Real

• Grandpa William

• No

• 6

• Yes

“Now, look, I probably could have gone and researched any one of the individual questions in that poem to see what your answer would be. But I couldn’t have researched all of them. And even if I could, I couldn’t have known you would randomly stop on these five questions, in this order, out of the thousand questions in the poem. ‘Real, Grandpa William, No, 6, Yes’ is like a code, completely unique to you. Like your DNA. It’s something neither of us could have predicted before all of this. You know me. You know I’m not psychic. I don’t even believe in psychics. And that’s why this is so crazy to me….”

I drew her attention back to the little clear box I’d pointed out when we first started and I revealed what was inside.

As you can probably imagine, this was a real mindfuck. She told me she immediately went back and rewatched the recording of our interaction because she was certain I must have distracted her at some point to put the piece of paper in the little box. Of course she found nothing of the sort. That’s the reason I had her record the process—to eliminate that Easy Answer.

I had been somewhat concerned she would just get 5 yes/no questions. My plan was either to tell her to go to a non yes/no question for the fifth one, or just add a parenthetical to one of her answers. For example if she had the question, “Were you allowed to watch R-rated movies as a child?” And she said yes and that her dad let her watch Friday the 13th and other horror movies. I would have written: Yes (Friday the 13th). Or something along those lines.

As I said, I think the poem has value as just a general resource as well. Things to talk about, ideas to explore, things to predict. And it doesn’t need to be just a video chat trick like described above.

That’s it. End of poem.

Nope… now it’s over for real.

The end.

That was part of it too.

In the May Newsletter

Sometimes, if I find myself in the company of someone who I will never meet again, I will just flat out lie to them about myself the whole time I’m talking to them. I figure, why not give them a good story to take with them?

So I’ll tell them stuff like, “Yeah, I was the baby in Three Men and a Baby.”

Or, “What do I do for a living? I’m in Slipknot.”

(This guy.)

Or, “I played the oboe on the Final Jeopardy theme.”

In the May Newsletter (coming tomorrow) I’ll be discussing a subset of tricks I’ve been aggregating for similar situations that I call One Night Stand effects. I’ll give you my rationale for why I perform these tricks the way I do (which is sort of the inverse to the way I perform for people I’ll see again), I’ll review an effect I use in this situation and give you my scripting for it.

In addition there will be a long-ish review of Marc Kerstein’s new app and the way I will be using or have used the four effects that come with that.

Supporters should find it in their email boxes between Thursday evening or Friday morning at the latest.