Until December...

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This is the final post until December. Regular posting starts again on Monday, Dec. 1st. The next issue of the newsletter will be sent out Sunday, November 30th.

Has Ellusionist given up?

Here’s their Black Friday “deal” this year.

“Happy Black Friday. 86% of you will be paying full price.”

Gee, thanks.

Just in time for three weeks after Halloween, Kenton Knepper has released this incredible effect with a lollipop.

Merely by tilting and wiggling your hand back and forth, you can get his special $30 lollipop to move as if by everyone’s understanding of basic physics magic.

Even more incredibly, Kenton has used his powerful “Wonder Words” to get every lollipop manufacturer to build this gimmick into every lollipop sold. Incredible.

Thinking of the shitty tagline for Ghost Deck (An unexpected moment, perfectly timed), and the seeming desperation of Murphy’s to just throw that generic tagline on their trick, I thought I would help the magic community out with this tagline generator.

Now you can just choose a random number from list A, and pair it with a random number from list B, and you’ll have your own meaningless tagline.

“What’s this new trick from Murphy’s? Hmmm… A stunning moment, designed to amaze. Hey, now that sounds like my kind of trick!”

Darling friend, collaborator, and lady-artist (I’m doing what I can to bring back the early–mid 20th-century notion of gendering women in their professions—“she’s a lady doctor,” “she’s a woman lawyer”—I think it’s sweet) Stasia Burrington, who has done all the Jerx illustrations for over a decade now, has a couple of projects I want to bring your attention to.

First is her Yukika Tarot deck, which is already funded on Kickstarter, but you can pre-order it at her Etsy shop.

For you tarot purists, know that she has “renamed and reframed” some of the cards in the deck.

I think they’re cool choices that make for a unique deck and add some more relatable concepts into the mix. But if you’re going to be like, “Oh, no, where’s my beloved Chariot!” then maybe this isn’t the deck for you.

Stasia has also released her second edition of the Magic Neko deck, which is her cat-focused playing cards and oracle deck.

In honor of that, I’ll reprint what I wrote about the original deck in 2018. It’s even more true for this version of the deck, which is even cuter and more eye-catching.

Now I've got a message for some of my younger male readers. About 15 or so years ago, Ellusionist put out something called the Black Tiger Deck. It was a black deck of playing cards and on the box there was a tiger who was...like... flexing or some shit? Like he was in a pose that no tiger has ever been in.

It was the epitome of Ellusionist's corniness. And I have no doubt they made a mint off these decks because Ellusionist knows their audience. A bunch of virgins definitely bought the deck thinking they'd take it to school and girls would be breathlessly fanning themselves, "Who is this sexy bad-boy with this black deck of cards with the super-ripped tiger on the case? I can't wait to get to know this virile rebel!"

Here's the deal, you want a girl to pay attention to you? Don't get the deck of cards that says, "I'm compensating for my low testosterone." Get Stasia's deck. Women (and men) of all ages are taken with her esthetic. You keep that out on the lunch table. A girl picks it up and oohs and ahhs over its cuteness. She asks why you have the deck. You say a friend of a friend designed it. (I'm your friend. Stasia's my friend. It's true enough.) And you grabbed it today because there's something you're working on with it. Then you point out that the case says it can be used as an oracle deck and there's this little fortune-telling ritual you'd like to try. Cute drawings, kittens, fortune-telling rituals: you'll be a girl magnet. 

Then do a trick in the guise of a fortune-telling routine. Make it positive. Don't be like, "Uhhhh... I think you're going to get cancer." There should be some sort of magic surprise/coincidence at the end. Don't take credit for it. Blame the deck or the universe or her "energy." Don't make it something about you or your "compatibility" with her. Too soon. When you're done, don't do any more tricks. Tell her you have to get going and excuse yourself. Be a little mysterious. Before you go, imply you might have something else you're working on that you'd like to show her in the future. "You have a very unique energy," you say. Then go on your way. Just plant the seed, baby. Trust me. I'll Cyrano your ass into going to prom with the head cheerleader if you just have a little faith.

More than ever, I appreciate being able to connect to the humanity in the work of the artists I follow, and that’s what I’ve always loved about Stasia’s work. You can feel the personality and the soul behind it. 

Check out her Etsy store to get these decks and other goodies.

Darling friend, collaborator, and boy-app-developer, Marc Kerstein sent out an email yesterday saying he would be offering 20% off some of his apps for Black Friday, including: Diverter, Streets Pro, ISO, and Subliminal.

I asked him why Xeno wasn’t on the list and he said, “Because I couldn’t find a good photo of someone using it to match the others. Then I just forgot.”

Uh, okay. Half-assed marketing aside, Marc creates the best apps in the magic sphere and doesn’t really do discounts often, so now is a good time to pick some of his apps up. Even some of the ones that are not on sale, as the price on those may be going up soon.

Xeno (which he has since added to the sale) is, I think, a mandatory iPhone utility for peeking something on a spectator’s phone. I would say the same for the non-discounted Inertia Pro which allows you to force anything on a website.

He’s also discounted the Xeno Anywhere in-app purchase that lets you do Xeno with any site. So if you already have the basic app, you still may want to check out the sale which can be found here. The sale goes until Dec. 2nd.

Oh, and Marc, so you’re never adrift in the future without a pic for Xeno, here’s me performing it for some chick I met.

Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. readers.

Thank you to everyone who supports the site and affords me the time to work on it, the newsletter, and the books year after year. You’re a delight.

See you all back here in December.