Jerx Christmas - Oliver Meech - 7:44 PM
/One of the great things about a holiday party is reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in ages. That’s why I was very happy to see Oliver Meech.
A decade or so ago, Oliver released a few books that really prioritized the entertainment value of the effects. The books were very well received, but then he sort of fell out of magic. At least on the magic-producing side of things. From what he just mentioned, real life has gotten in the way, but he misses sharing his creations. So I’m going to help a brother out and pass over the reigns of the blog to him for a moment…
The Other Three Magi by Oliver Meech
One of the great things about being a magician is getting to experience an audience member’s reaction when you reveal their card. I started thinking about how to give a few audience members that experience and came up with this fun routine.
It’s ideal for informal gatherings of family or friends, as it takes a little longer than some wham-bam tricks, and the playful interaction involved suits occasions when you might play charades. I did it over the Christmas holidays a couple of years back and people got really into performing their roles.
Choose participants who are willing to let loose but will still follow instructions.
Plot
Three people select a card, then each finds another’s selection.
Requirements
• A cased deck of cards.
• 3 small pieces of paper to act as place names – ideally about the size of a business card, but any torn scraps are fine, even leftover wrapping paper.
• A pen or pencil – whatever’s to hand.
Set up
Write the following stage names on the three slips (inspired by Houdini’s name):
Slip 1: Move-ini.
Slip 2: Flip-ini.
Slip 3: Gone-ini.
Remove the deck from the case. Place the slips, writing-side down, under the empty case.
Have this on the table near the third person.
Method and presentation
The gist: The deck is separated into three packets. You position the first selection third from top, reverse the second, and load the third under the case – all relatively early on in the trick.
The details: Hand out the deck for shuffling, if wished, then have an audience member cut it into three roughly equal piles, one for each person.
If your performance setting allows, position the three people at the three points of a triangle, facing each other. Or, if there’s a larger group watching, have the people in a line facing the audience.
You are going to have each person choose a card and return it, then you’ll show that it’s not on the top or bottom. In the process, you’ll control each selection to where it needs to be.
First selection:
Spread the first packet to offer the first person a card. While they focus on remembering their card, square up and get a tilt break under the top two cards. Keep the break quite small, as the packet isn’t that thick. Take back their selection with your right hand, show it to the audience one last time, then insert it into the tilt break. Square the cards, then turn over the top card to show the selection is not on the top, and turn it face down again.
Rotate your left wrist to show that their selection is not on the face of the deck either. Place this packet face down in front of the first person.
Second selection:
To the audience, it will seem like you are repeating the same actions, but you’ll actually be reversing the second selection in the middle. Begin as before, spreading the packet for a selection, but this time insert it into a tilt break that’s only under the top card, so the selection ends up second from top.
Spread the cards slightly so you can get a pinkie break under the second card as you turn the top card face up to show it’s not the selection. With your right hand, from above, take the top two cards (a face-up indifferent card with the face-down selection below it) as one.
Rotate your left wrist, as before, to show the bottom card isn’t theirs either, and insert the double card into the middle of the face-up packet, so the hidden selection ends up reversed.
Place this packet face down in front of your second person.
Third selection:
Repeat the process with the third packet, again with a tilt break under the top card, so their selection ends up second from top. Show the top and bottom cards aren’t theirs, as before.
Now keep hold of the packet as you explain that normally, as magician, you would find their card. To illustrate this, double undercut cut the top card to the bottom (so the selection ends up on top), getting a break under the top two cards as you square up. Do a double turnover to show that you haven’t cut to their selection. Turn the double face down and get a break under the top card. Say that, instead, they will become magicians and find each other’s cards. And for that, they need magic stage names, like Houdini.
Under the pretext of accessing the slips, pick up the case with your right hand and place it on top of the packet in your left hand. Turn over the slips with your right hand to reveal the writing. Now take the case from above, with your right hand, taking the top card (the third selection) underneath it. Causally place the case down on the table, to one side but still within reach of the third person. Place the third packet down directly in front of them. Your outward focus should remain on the slips, and on freeing up your hands so you can hand them out.
Have each person move around the triangle, one place, so they end up in front of another person’s packet. Now read out each stage name and place the slip by the relevant packet.
Move-ini goes with the first packet, Flip-ini with the second, and Gone-ini with the third.
Teach them each a dramatic gesture that suits their magic power, as follows, by having them mirror your movements:
Move-ini moves objects to where they need to be. Their gesture is to hold out their hand, palm outwards, like they’re stopping traffic. They start with the hand near to their chest, then move it forwards in a few jolting steps (see Figure 1 – excuse the scrappy selfies!).
Flip-ini can flip over objects. Their gesture starts with their hand extended, flat and palm up. Then, have them slowly turn their hand palm down, as if they’re straining to magically flip over something heavy, like a car (see Figure 2).
Gone-ini can make objects vanish. Their gesture is like one of those grabber claws in an arcade. They start with their hand high, in an open ‘claw’ (see Figure 3), then drop it down, close their hand, lift it up again, move to the side and drop the imaginary object away.
When they practice it, by copying you, try and get them to do the drop vaguely near the card case, but without drawing attention to it.
Now, you can move well away from your newly minted magi, as all the secret work is done.
This way, you can direct their gestures and reveals from afar.
First selection:
Explain to Move-ini that, since they say that ‘3 is a magic number’, you’d like them to do their push gesture with 3 forward movements. When they do, say that they have moved the selection to third from top. Have them ask the person who chose it what their card is, then have Move-ini slowly deal cards from the top, face up, until they reach the – the selection.
Lead the applause for them.
[Jerx Note - Here’s how I would handle “Move-ini.” I’d have them do the Move-ini move. Then I’d have them do it again with just “some of the fingers on their hand raised. If they do it with two fingers I’d tell them to deal off their chosen number of cards. Then do the Move-ini move a final time and the card will move to the top of the pack. If they do it with three fingers, the card will move to the third position. If they do it with four fingers, I’d have them deal the four cards in my hand and double-turnover to reveal their selection. I prefer this to telling them the exact number. But that may be better for the build of the effect. So if you do it this way, you might want to change around the order of the revelations.]
Second selection:
Have Flip-ini do their gesture. Explain that they have reversed the selection in the packet.
Have them ask the person what their card was, then have them spread through the deck face down to reveal the face-up selection. Lead another round of applause.
Third selection:
Finally, have Gone-ini do their gesture. Say that they have made the card vanish. Have them ask the person the name of their selection, then direct them to turn the packet face up and deal through to show it has vanished. Finish by saying that what gets vanished must reappear, but you’re not sure where. After a brief pause, ‘remember’ that their gesture ended near the card case and have them lift it to reveal the third selection.
Lead a final round of applause and have all three take a well-deserved bow.
Thoughts and variations
- For the first selection, you could vary the position their card moves to, just by adjusting how many cards are above your tilt break. You could choose the same number of letters as their first name. Or, if you start with a 3-spot on top of the deck, cut the deck into 3 piles, and use the top cards as selections, then you can say you’ll use whatever value their card is to decide which position to move it to. This does seem more random, but also means the selection isn’t as free.
- You could place the packets in glasses to make the packets more visible and reduce the chance of people handling them prematurely.
- You could perform this in a more formal stage/parlour show, but since there’s quite a bit of playful set-up involved, it would work best in the middle, once you’ve earned the audience’s patience.
- If you wanted to simplify some of the method, you could add in some gaffed cards or duplicates (e.g. pre-loading a duplicate of the third selection inside the card box). But since I’d normally perform this off the cuff, when I may be borrowing a deck of cards, I’ll stick with this ungaffed version.
- While I like how these revelations build, you could replace them with any clean, hands-off revelations that go well together.
Credits
- The card reverse is based on the second phase of ‘The Whistle’ by Theodore Annemann, as described in Roberto Giobbi’s Card College, Volume 2.
- The Card Under Box move is pretty standard (please let me know if you have the correct crediting information for it). I’ve just used slips of paper instead of a card.
- Spectator As Magician is always an engaging plot. There are plenty of options out there, including Spectator Cuts to the Aces, Mark Elsdon’s Limelight and Angelo Carbone’s Cue The Magic, not forgetting many of Andy’s tricks. What I enjoy about this version is that each person gets to play two roles: the participant and the magician.
- The idea of a climax happening onstage without the magician being present can be seen in Derren Brown’s opener from his first UK live tour. Christopher T. Magician also has a vanishing silk trick where he leaves the stage to let a child perform the magic.
More?
This trick is an extract from my first new magic book in about a decade, hopefully coming out in 2024. To hear more updates, just friend me on Facebook (Oliver Meech). In the meantime, you can find my other published books here.
