Magic Roadshow

 This issue, #175, is important to me. I set certain goals, and reaching #175 was my most recent goal. I published issue #100 on April 28th, 2009, and seriously thought that would be my last. I was publishing two issues a month and I think I was burnt out. I was also trying to write many of the articles myself and didn’t have the support of many of the great writers I have now.. which was my own fault.. as I felt a need to do everything myself. Cutting back to one issue a month helped, but I began making each issue longer. That has seemed to work better for me, as I now have one deadline to deal with instead of two. My next goal? Issue #200… naturally. It will be two more years before that one rolls around, and, God willing, I can write another little paragraph and mentioned how good it feels to hit the big 2-0-0 ! Thank you for subscribing.. and THANK YOU for reading. 

The little lady of the house and myself were in the Myrtle Beach area last weekend, supposedly to look at condos. We had scoured the internet for several days to get an idea of what’s available, and found several that looked particularly inviting. Unfortunately, all the distractions and shopping were a little much and we’ll have to go back.. probably when we have mo’ money. Looks like I’m going to have to start buying twice as many lottery tickets…    

Riding to the beach and back with Carolyn re-enforced the fact that everyone who rides with me gets upset because I don’t use the turn signal. Personally, I don’t think its anyones business where I’m going…. Am I in the minority here?

“Do you have a song stuck in your head that you’d like to forget? Think of the end of the song. According to the Zeigarnik Effect, your mind tends to think of things left unfinished, so thinking of the end of the song will close the loop and allow you to get the song out of your head…”

Comments or Questions?  EMAIL ME  ( rick@magicroadshow.com )

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IN THIS ISSUE..
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• Presto-Chang0 Againo –   Paul Lelekis
• ‘Cram Session’ Disc 1 & 2 – Over 3 Hours of On line Video Instruction & Performance.
• 5 Of History’s Greatest Magic Tricks Explained..
• 5 More Of History’s Greatest Magic Tricks Explained…
• The ‘Truth’ About Exposure..  An Editorial.. of sorts.
• SPACE TIME  – Tom Elderfield..  a Review
• Bob Solari’s ABANDONED  – A Review
• How to Cheat and Look Like You Can Solve the Rubik’s Cube – Video
• 7 Magic Tricks with Paper – Video Tutorial
• 10 Ways to Force A Card – Video Tutorial
• 10 FIRE Magic Tricks Revealed – Video Tutorials
• The Magic Of Haruo Shimada – By David J O’Connor
• Cardmen’s Get Together –  Video
• Magic Lecture – Sleight of Hand and Beliefs
• Tommy Wonder Lecture –  Video
• Comedy Hypnotist | The Incredible Boris | TEDxYouth@Toronto 
• The Mentalist | Ronn Winter | TEDxHickory – performance
• Action Packed –  A Free PDF
• Free Magic Ebook Downloads – Free from Magic-ebooks
• Bet You Can’t !  –  Science Impossibilities to Fool You..  PDF
• (One From the Archives) Numberphile – A Very Impressive ‘Sleight of Numbers’ – Tutorial
• The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet
• The 20 Most Popular TED Talks of All Time –  Videos
• SIGN UP FOR THE MAGIC ROADSHOW….

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“Everyone should be able to do one card trick, tell two jokes, and recite three poems, in case they are ever trapped in an elevator.”  Lemony Snicket, Horseradish

“The first step in exceeding your customer’s expectations is to know those expectations.”
Roy H. Williams, Author Wizard of Ads Triology

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PRESTO-CHANGO AGAINO
Paul Lelekis

This is my rendition of a Thomas Bearden effect with touches by Mike Skinner.  This routine was a favorite “opener” for Skinner.  However the way Skinner “got in” to this routine was pretty complicated…but he was Michael Skinner – and we’re not.

Thomas Bearden’s coin trick, Presto Chango, from JB Bobo’s classic book, New Modern Coin Magic, is a terrific routine that Michael Skinner used often, to “open” at tables when he was the resident-magician at the Gold Nugget in Las Vegas.

My rendition uses the basic idea of Bearden and some touches by Skinner, but my routine mostly varies by the way I “get into and get out” of this routine.

This is an easy to do, yet outstanding effect!  It is amazing!

EFFECT: A copper and silver coin is shown.  The coins change into both copper then both silver a number of times and then change back to one copper and one silver.

SET UP: You need a copper English penny, an American half dollar and a gaff copper/silver coin that matches the other two coins.  I keep these in a small Goshman change purse.

The coins are placed into the Goshman purse in the following order:  On the bottom of the stack is the C/S coin (copper side down), on top of this place the copper penny and on top of all, place the silver half.  Place this stack into the purse…they will not change order.

METHOD: Hold the change purse, open it and look for the silver coin.  If you view the stack from one side, you’ll see 2 copper coins and a silver coin on the bottom.

If you view the stack from the top, you’ll see a copper coin sandwiched by two silver coins.  You want the silver coin to be upper-most.

Reach into the purse and get your right fingers beneath the stack.  In other words you want your fingers against the copper side of the C/S coin.

You want the audience to be aware of ONLY TWO coins!  Adjust the stack in your hands so that the C/S coin is snuggled at the base of your two middle fingers.  Allow the other two coins to slide a little closer to your fingertips.

Casually toss the real copper and silver coins into your left hand and then adjust the C/S coin so that it is in finger palm and held by the ring and pinkie fingers – the silver side of the C/S coin will be facing out.  I usually place my right thumb onto the C/S coin as I toss the other two coins into my left hand.

Adjust these two coins so that the silver coin is near your left fingertips and the copper coin is in your palm.

You will begin by picking up the copper coin with your right fingertips (keeping the C/S coin in right hand finger palm) and gently tossing it back to your left palm, several times, with your right fingertips – of course the C/S coin remains hidden.

The silver coin is kept on your left middle fingers near the tips.

The repeated tossing of the copper coin into your left hand is the first part of the Bobo Switch.  Do NOT be hurried as you toss the copper coin into your left hand.  It is only a casual display of a normal coin while pattering.

However, this tossing of the coin while pattering will mimic the Bobo Switch when you actually do it.  You will be tossing the coin through most of this effect.

NOTE: It is IMPORTANT to keep the finger palmed C/S coin, lower in your right hand, by your pinkie and ring fingers – NOT by the middle and ring fingers.  Those who know the Bobo Switch know that it will keep the coins from “talking”.  The Bobo Switch is a very easy sleight to perform.

Repeat the tossing as you say:

“This copper coin is an English penny and hasn’t been minted since 1981 because the price of copper got too high to make their values feasible.  As a boy I loved magic but I was also fascinated with these beautiful coins!”

After you patter, stop tossing and keep the copper coin in your right hand, held by the right index finger and thumb.  Adjust the copper coin, held by your right hand index finger and thumb, so that it is held between the right thumb tip and nearer to the middle phalange of the right index finger.

Use the copper coin in your right hand to tap the silver coin on your left fingertips.  Then use your left fingers to flip the silver coin over and onto your left palm.

When you flip the silver coin over onto your left palm, patter about the half dollar and how it is made of silver “…and how I loved the shiny silver coins as a child!”

ATTENTION! This is a strong bit of misdirection…as soon as the silver coin is flipped over onto your left palm, bring your right hand, palm down, over your left palm and casually lay the C/S coin onto your left fingertips, copper side up.

All eyes will be on the left hand…this is when, you will adjust the real copper coin into your left hand, into low right hand finger palm.

This casual switch will go completely unchallenged.  You now have the C/S coin, copper side up, on your left fingers and the silver coin is on your left palm.  The spectators have NO reason to believe the C/S coin is not the copper coin.

HINT: The psychology of the above actions should NOT be ignored or even minimized.  Follow the above procedures and your spectators will be completely satisfied that everything is exactly the way it seems to be, and both coins are perfectly normal. 

Remember – the audience has NO clue as to what you’re doing, so they will suspect nothing. 

As I said earlier, this was a favorite routine of Michael Skinner’s and he loved to perform it while table-hopping.

The above action is NOT the Bobo Switch, but is a sure way of introducing the C/S coin without accidently flashing the “wrong side”.  This is the only time during this routine that you will perform this action – all the other coin actions for the rest of this trick will be the Bobo Switch.

NOTHING will appear to have happened, but you’ve switched in a coin that the spectators have just “seen you toss over and over” onto your left hand.

Situation Check: The silver coin will now be on your left hand palm, and the C/S coin on left fingers.  The real copper coin will be in low right-hand finger palm.  This “low” palm will keep the coins from “talking” each time you perform the Bobo Switch.

Now the routine actually begins:

Your right hand now picks up the silver coin from your left open palm and tosses it back into the left hand, over and over as you patter.

Phase 1: Change both coins to silver –
Keep the C/S coin (copper side up!) on your middle fingers of your out-stretched left hand, but closer to the tips of the left fingers.

On this first change, technically, no Bobo Switch occurs.  Just keep picking up and tossing the silver coin onto your open left palm and then as soon as the silver coin falls back onto your left palm, quickly close and open your left hand.

The above action will flip over the C/S coin so that it is now silver side up.  You apparently now hold two silver coins!  The sudden closing and opening of your left hand to reveal “the change”, is quite startling!

This first change occurs in just a split second (left hand closing and opening) and all of the following sequences should all appear to be exactly the same as this one.

Move the C/S coin (now silver side up) back out near your left fingertips, keeping the silver coin on your left palm.  The copper coin, still in low right hand finger palm, is hidden from view.

Phase 2: Change silver coins to copper –

Pick up the real silver coin and begin tossing it onto your open left palm, over and over as you say, “…but as a child I wanted to use the copper coins to do magic because they were so unusual and clinky!”

Just as you finish the above patter, perform the Bobo Switch as follows:

Clip the real silver coin against your right index finger with your right thumb as you release the copper coin so that it flies into your left hand, quickly closing your left hand.  Quietly adjust the silver coin into low right-hand finger palm.

The INSTANT that the copper coin flies into your left hand, snap your left hand closed, flipping over the C/S coin again and immediately open you left hand showing two copper coins!  This is another startling change.

Push the C/S coin (now copper side up) back out again, onto your left fingers and pick up the real copper coin from your left palm.

Stage 3: Change both copper coins back to silver –
Proceed as before, only this time, you pick up the real copper coin and toss onto your left hand over and over as you say the patter below.

“As a kid, I liked the shiny copper coins…but if I wanted to buy candy, comic books, or if I wanted to see little Jenny’s panties, I needed REAL money!”

NOTE: If you are performing children, omit the reference to “little Jenny”!

Just as you say the above line, clip the copper coin in right hand thumb grip and release the silver coin, snapping your left hand closed again and immediately opening it back up to display two silver coins!  THIS is the Bobo Switch!

Quietly adjust the copper coin into low right-hand finger palm.

When you close your left hand, it will flip over the C/S coin so that the silver side is upward, and then you immediately open it to show two silver coins!  This change is even more spectacular because BOTH coins have apparently changed!

Move the C/S coin (silver side upward) back out onto the left-hand fingertips, leaving the silver coin on your open palm.

Stage 4: Again coins change from silver to copper –

Repeat the tossing actions of the, now, silver coin, over and over into your left palm as you patter:

“But I liked performing coin magic with the copper coins so I would often have to change them back!

Continue the same actions as above, performing the Bobo Switch, as you change the silver coin that you are tossing and switch in the copper coin, again.

Open your left hand displaying two copper coins.  Push the C/S coin out onto your fingers again and move the real copper coin to your left palm.

This is the last sequence that you will perform, but “getting out” of a routine is as important as “getting in”!

Stage 5: Everything returns to “normal” –

Resume tossing the copper coin into your left hand, over and over, as you say:

“However as I grew older I became wiser and I learned temperance and virtue…and now keep both copper and silver!  Well, actually I never learned anything about temperance…OR virtue…I just like shiny, clinky coins!”

Just as you finish the above patter, toss the copper coin back into your left hand one more time, and close your left hand – WITHOUT performing the Bobo Switch!

Keep the silver coin, finger palmed in your right hand.  However, this time when you close your left hand, turn it palm down and pretend you are “kneading dough” or anything else, and use your right fingers to “Snap!” over the left hand…remember, the silver coin is still in finger palm in your right hand.

Turn your left hand back up and open it showing a copper and a silver coin!  Remember that the “silver coin” is actually the C/S coin.

Push the C/S coin (still silver side upward) out onto your left fingers…but more into left hand finger palm position.  This will signify the end of this routine – but now for the “clean-up”.

Relax your demeanor to indicate that the trick is over.  You will now “Shuttle Pass” the copper coin into your right hand.  In other words, you will keep the C/S coin, which is silver side up, in left hand finger palm.

ONLY the copper coin be tossed into your right hand and will join the real silver coin.  Give your patrons a quick glimpse of both sides of the coins in your right hand.

Stack the two real coins (the silver coin is uppermost!) with your right hand fingers and place them on top of the C/S coin (silver side still upward), closing your hand.  Immediately reach for the coin purse with your right hand.

Open the coin purse and show the inside of the purse.  There is no reason to actually show the purse, but it provides even further misdirection from the coins in your left hand!

Put the coins away – you will be automatically reset for your next performance!

DO NOT pass this effect up!  It is a beauty and really “wows” the spectators!

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You can view ALL of Paul’s ebooks, currently 25 and growing, at Lybrary.com .. They are, undoubtedly, some of the best values in all of magic.. Many are considered underground classics and several NEW publications are on the short list…
http://lybrary.com/paul-a-lelekis-m-163788.html

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Cram Session Disc 1 & 2 – An Encyclopedia of Card Handling Fundamentals –  Video

Although titled ‘Disc 1’ and ‘Disc 2’ both of these links take you to Youtube videos, watchable entirely on-line. Nothing to download.. although they do provide a Dropbox link that permits the viewer to download the files in DVD quality in the even you want to burn to a disc.     

Folks, this is over 3 Hours of instructions and performance tutorials.. Both videos are time well spent.. The second video features performances on the street, but the effects are certainly not limited to those of you who perform street magic. 

Disc 1

“Whether you want to be a pro card magician or just an undetectable card cheat, this series is for you. Back in 2005, my friend Turner and I created a 3.5 hour, two disc card magic instructional DVD set. He came up with the material and I produced, directed, filmed, edited, financed, etc.. We didn’t have the money to market the discs, so the whole project simply fizzled out. This video is disc one of that set.”

“Disc one is purely educational and is designed to serve as an encyclopedia of card sleights every aspiring magician (or card shark) should know. Disc two is more fun to watch because in it, Turner brings it all together performing full effects for random people on the street.”

The following techniques and sleights are explained in this order on video 1:
1) General Handling
2) Pinky/Thumb Break
3) Overhand Shuffle
4) Overhand Control
5) Underground Overhand
6) Hindu Shuffle
7) Hindu Glimpse
8) Hindu Force
9) Hindu Control
10) Zarrow Shuffle
11) Slop Shuffle
12) Riffle Force
13) Toss Up Force
14) Switching vs. Changing
15) Top Change
16) Thumb Change
17) Classic Color Change
18) Chameleon Color Change
19) Tip Over Change
20) Braue Addition
21) Double/Triple Lift
22) Glimpse
23) False Cutting
24) Double Undercut
25) Charlier Cut
26) Stretch Cut
27) Flourishes
28) Super Special Bonus Effect!

   https://youtu.be/J80M7lnhKOI

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Disc 2

In this disc, Turner employs all of the fundamentals you learned in disc one.The result is some awesome street magic with random strangers. Each effect is completely broken down for you in remarkable detail.

In disc two, the following effects are demonstrated in this order:
1) Dimensia
2) Flatliner
3) Identity Theft
4) Lock and Card
5) Flashcard
6) Mind Blender
7) Diabolical Ambitions
8) New Age Monte
9) St. Louis Ashes
10) And a final thought at the end

    https://youtu.be/tn6xiYkYv1E

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5 Of History’s Greatest Magic Tricks Explained..

Ever wondered how Penn and Teller caught a bullet, or Derren Brown played Russian Roulette?

Perhaps the title should have been ‘5 of History’s Greatest Magic Tricks Speculated Upon..”. Although interesting, this article does not fully explain all the ‘secrets’…although there ARE a couple of good guesses. The author says:

“Let’s get one thing straight: I love magic. Part of the beauty of a great magic trick is in the not knowing, the willingness to accept the illusion, the joy of being fooled. This is why new inductees to the ‘Magic Circle’ (international magicians’ guild) swear solemn oaths of secrecy, vowing never to share the details of their illusions with the world.”

“However, I don’t rank among their number, and while I enjoy being deceived I also get a kick out of appreciating the skill and craftsmanship that goes into such iconic stunts as metamorphosis, bullet-catching and levitation. So, without further ado, join me as I uncover the subterfuge, duplicity and sheer showmanship behind the ten greatest magic tricks in history…”

  http://sabotagetimes.com/life/5-of-historys-greatest-magic-tricks-explained

Thanks to Michael Lyth for the link!

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5 More Of History’s Greatest Magic Tricks Explained…

Following on from last week’s magical revelations, here’s 5 more of the most famous tricks in the book revealed, from levitation to escaping from a straightjacket…

   http://sabotagetimes.com/life/5-more-of-historys-greatest-magic-tricks-explained

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The ‘Truth’ About Exposure..  An Editorial.. of sorts.

I feel I should offer my thoughts on exposure. I realize I might make someone mad, but it’s not my goal to make everyone happy… I know I can’t.

Exposure is bad. Exposure sucks the air out of the life-lungs of magic and should be avoided at all cost. That said.. here is the hypocrisy.

I publish a newsletter intended for magicians. I reveal secrets.. (although a few of you probably think the jury is still out on that one.) Although readers are required to sign up to receive notification of new issues, there is nothing to stop anyone from finding the Roadshow in Google and exploring every link and reading every article.

By the same token, there is nothing to stop anyone with a credit card, or a computer and a torrent down loader, from buying or stealing virtually ANY magic publication in the world. Any magician who sells their PDF’s, books, or DVD’s on line is inviting exposure. Any magic shop that sells their products on line to anyone with a credit card or Paypal account invites exposure.

This is the nature of the internet. What can we do about it?

Much of nothing..really.

With 13 year olds more than willing to expose a premium magic effect on Youtube, we are all paddling upstream. With twenty videos popping up for every one taken down.. we are, again,  paddling upstream. Technology has not caught up with magic. Although there’s sophisticated pdf technology available, it’s not truly up to par to cover the needs of todays magicians. Oh, a few require passwords.. and a few are labeled with the name of the purchaser… but by and large we can’t stop the scammers. Only Time will remedy this situation. One day, PDFs will be encrypted so they can only be read by the purchaser. Youtube videos will be licensed in a manner preventing anyone from publishing any thing not theirs..  And the courts will shore up the rights of developers, allowing them to go after anyone stealing their material. 

I suppose we can shut down Google and Youtube, sue Adobe for inferior PDF software, go after companies that manufacture magic DVD’s, and clog up the court systems with thousands of copyright violation cases… But it’s not going to happen. We are going to have to learn to live with a degree of exposure -until- technology catches up with reality. Thankfully, just as most folks who love music never attempt to learn the piano or master the violin, most fans of magic are not concerned about what goes on behind the curtain …  We need to concentrate on entertaining the vast majority.. and let the distinct minority entertain themselves with their stolen secrets…      

Rick Carruth

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SPACE TIME  – Tom Elderfield
$24.95
http://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=56947

Space Time is the latest creation of Tom Elderfield, the same gentleman responsible for Helix, Insight, Twister, and Influx.. among other popular effects. Turning his talent to the very popular ‘moving hole’ vogue, Tom has created an effect that best resembles the moving hole effect on steroids. 

Tom’s gimmick offers a vast improvement on the moving hole effect, where a magician makes a hole punched in a card move about the surface of the card as if space and time are of no importance. Yes, other developers have released similar effects, but not with the freedom and clarity Space Time allows. Tom has created a gaffed card that allows the performer to show BOTH sides of the card, both before and after the effect has played. Those of you familiar with earlier effects know that, as impressive as previous effect were, you could not show both sides of the card without giving away the secret.

Space Time includes two features I find (almost) essential to meet my criteria: 1) Ease of performance.. not necessarily self-working, but very close once you’re comfortable with the handling.. and 2) Giving the appearance of ‘impossible’ magic.  For the price, I think it’s a great investment for anyone who performs close-up, walk-around and performs in restaurants. It is a playing card.. It takes up virtually the same space as a business card.. All the ‘magic’ happens in your hand.. And there is little chance of the gaff getting wet on a restaurant table. 

Space Time advertises that NO sleight of hand is required. In all fairness, I agree. That does not mean NO practice. To perform this effect to its full potential you do need to practice the movements to achieve the seamless transition from hole to hole. This will not be a problem for 99% of those buying Space Time. It will take about 30-40 minutes of practice to get everything down pat. I say this so you won’t assume this is a completely self-working effect/gaff. It’s self-working to the same extent a Svengali deck is self-working.

Space Time advertises:

-Instant reset
-Real hole in the card – see right through
-No setup
-Hand-crafted gimmick with attention to every detail
-Online Tricks, routines, handling’s and instructions included

Instant reset.. Yes. You can reset Space Time easily with one hand in a second or two. Personally, I do take a moment to double check the hole positions to make sure I’m where I need to be. Other than a quick glance, you’re good to go.

Real hole in the card.. Absolutely. There is nothing deceiving about the holes, at least not from the magicians point of view. The holes are precisely what you expect them to be. The spectator can see completely through the card and should have no reason to doubt the performers patter.

No setup.. Pretty much. You do need to start with the ‘gimmick’ in a set position. As I mentioned earlier, I do double check the card to make sure the proper hole is showing. If its not, then I need to take all of a second and a half to make the adjustment. 

Hand-crafted gimmick with attention to every detail.. Without a doubt. After purchasing Space Time, you realize the potential for hiccups and hang-ups. You appreciate the gimmick more once you’ve had a chance to handle it. Everything  aligns perfectly and handles with precision, eliminating virtually any potential problem.  

Online Tricks, routines, handling’s and instructions included.. Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Everything you need to know is included. Each gimmick comes with a password and website address, giving you immediate access to almost 50 minutes of detailed instruction. There’s nothing to download or upload. The instructions are thorough and explain all the intricacies you’ll need to know to perform Space Time like the demo.

There’s little I can say about Space Time that’s negative. As with all other similar effects, you cannot hand out Space Time for examination. When it’s advertised you can show the spectator both sides of the card.. that’s true. But, as Dai Vernon famously said,  “A large movement covers a small movement”.. In this case, a large movement covers a small gaff. Personally, that’s not a problem when I perform Space Time. It”s all about timing and smooth movements. The gimmick is made in a way as to camouflage those little ditties you don’t want the spectator to see, so I don’t think of this as a negative, but in all fairness, I’m mentioning it.. 

Murphy’s Magic makes Space Time available to the magic community. Based on cost, ease of use, astound ability, and portability… I give it a definite two thumbs up.         

Rick Carruth

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Bob Solari’s ABANDONED  – A Review

Effect: Spectator selects a card from an un-gimmicked deck. This card is remembered by the spectator. Card is returned back to the deck and the deck is mixed thoroughly by the spectator. Deck is now returned back to its case. The Spectator is instructed to place the card case on the table. Card case is now covered with an un-gimmicked cloth/handkerchief [not supplied] and the spectator is asked to reach under the handkerchief and remove the card case and to now lay the card case on top of the handkerchief. Spectator is asked to name their selected card. Card case is lifted from handkerchief and handkerchief is lifted from table. Sitting under the handkerchief is the selected card!!! There are no holes or slits in the card case. Learn in 5 minutes!

This sly little effect performs as written. Unfortunately, many effects now days do not. As a lover of magic that happens in the spectators hands, I appreciate the fact that most of the work is done by the spectator. It only makes the effect that much stronger. Bob has created a gimmick that allows you to perform all the dirty work almost hands off.  All you need to provide is a scarf or handkerchief.. and some witty patter!

In fairness, to successfully perform ABANDONED you must be able to force a card. The med hod you use isn’t important. You can use a simple cross cut force, Hindu shuffle force, or any other number of uncomplicated forces. Don’t worry about this aspect, as it’s a no-brainer.

Other than the force, this effect is ‘almost’ self-working. There is another small aspect that completes the performance, but it’s simply a matter of laying the deck on the table in a certain direction.

When I initially performed ABANDONED, I had wished there were a way to make the cards examinable -after- the performance. The card case itself is fully examinable after the effect, as the spec will definitely want to see if there are any escape hatches. Then it occurred to me that there IS a very simple method one could use to make both the cards and the case examinable. I don’t know that making the cards examinable is important in most cases, but it seems to work better for me personally. If you decide to purchase ABANDONED, and I can’t think of any reason you shouldn’t, email me and I will be glad to share my method with you.

Go to Bob’s link below and watch the video to get a really good idea of the performance. Look for the link in the nav bar in the middle of the page. 

To quote three reviews from the Cafe..  ( http://www.themagiccafe.com/ )
—  “This is a winner. It is fun to do and gets a great reaction from the spectators..”
—  “…what a cleverly constructed trick!”
—  “Simplicity in operation, but devastating in effect.”

I wholeheartedly agree. Although ABANDONED has been out for several years now, it’s a timeless effect that will serve you well for many more years. It’s ideal for customization. Develop your own patter and routine and you’ll have a staple to perform over and over.

Extremely affordable at $15.95.. Full instructions and complete Bicycle® deck and handmade Bicycle® gaff included! 

  http://www.bobsolarimagic.com/shop/Abandoned

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How to Cheat and Look Like You Can Solve the Rubik’s Cube – Video

Not all of us are intended to solve a Rubix Cube. If you are one of those billions.. here is a method to make it look as if you can solve the cube, when actually you are performing a simple mathematical certainty that will bring the cube back to a solved state… requiring less than twelve moves. Actually, you will see how you can go from a solved cube back to a solved cube by repeating the same three moves over and over twelve times. The cube ‘appears’ to be in a totally random state as you go through the moves.. Try it…

  http://etricks.info/

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7 Magic Tricks with Paper – Video Tutorial

Evan Era of EvanEraTV reveals 7 Magic Tricks with Paper. Now, these are not necessarly original effects.. I’m sure most of you have seen them performed at one time or another. But, this might be the push you need to add one or more to your repertoire of ‘ miscellaneous stuff’.
I work restaurants, and these are the type effects I like to have on standby to entertain a table with kids or young teens. They appreciate it.. and more importantly, their parents appreciate it.

Magic Tricks Revealed in this Video:
1.) Floating Origami Butterfly
2.) Paper Ball Matrix
3.) Pencil and Paper Ball Vanish Trick
4.) Magic Real Life Drawing Trick
5.) Magic Crystal Ball Mind Reading Trick
6.) Pen Thru Paper Magic Trick
7.) Torn and Restored Paper Trick

  https://youtu.be/cPMzGji4NZE

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10 Ways to Force A Card – Video Tutorial

10 more tutorials from Evan Era. 

Magic Tricks Revealed in this Video:
1.) Magic Card Visual Force Trick
2.) From Under Magic Card Force Trick
3.) Classic Riffle Playing Card Force
4.) Double Cut Card Force
5.) Classic Fan Card Force Technique
6.) Classic Magic Cross Cut Force Trick
7.) Whole Deck Same Card Force
8.) Magic Double Lift Card Force Technique
9.) Mental Card Force Technique
10.) From The Top Card Force Trick
Bonus Card Magic Force Tutorial: Magic Glide Force Trick

  https://youtu.be/uYUHAjmparE

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10 FIRE Magic Tricks Revealed – Video Tutorials

All you really need to know at this point are these famous words from Evan Era himself… 

“P.S. I’m not responsible if you burn yourself or someone else… or get injured in any way, shape, or form from performing any of these tricks or pranks. Perform and prank at your own risk!!”

Ditto…

  https://youtu.be/L_v6LucWWfQ

 He studied earnestly and practiced long and hard then eventually obtained a job with Tenyo demonstrating their range of magic tricks. It was the simple thumb tip that inspired him. Shimada gave his first performance at age 18 to go onto become one of the most successful performers of all time. Shimada has become known as the consummate, elegant classical performer. Throughout his magical career he has never spoken on stage and presents a dramatic silent act. With his compelling eyes, it is as though the audience were under some hypnotic spell watching him…”

Read the rest and watch interesting videos at:
http://magictricksforkids.org/haruo-shimada/#more-4862

David J O’Connor is a semi retired professional mentalist and children’s entertainer. He has performed throughout South Africa, New Zealand and aboard cruise liners. David is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and loves mentoring young people in magic.

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Cardmen’s Get Together –  Video

50 plus minutes of some of the finest card manipulation you’ll ever see. This is not a tutorial, but a get together of some of the greatest Card mechanics in the world. Filmed by retired gaming regulator Bruce Samboy, the guest include Richard Turner, Steve Forte, Jason England, Ron Conley, Damien Neman, Michael Webber and several other greats of magic.

  https://youtu.be/Uwf89TDN7F4

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Magic Lecture – Sleight of Hand and Beliefs

Daniel Normandeau is the creator of the cross cut one handed cut. Daniel is also the winner of Drew macadam’s cold reading contest.

Secrets revealed: Close up magic redefined for the YouTube generation. How to use sleight of hand magic in any situation.  48 minutes in length,,,

  https://youtu.be/e3Ieq9H1OGk

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Tommy Wonder Lecture –  Video

Video of a Tommy Wonder full lecture in Hillside, Illinois in the 80’s. The video is not very good quality, but it’s watchable. You’ll definitely learn a thing or two from the extremely talented Mr. Wonder. The video was posted legally by a family member..
Thanks to Jim Canaday and the Magic Portal for the link…

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XICxTceI9M

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Comedy Hypnotist | The Incredible Boris | TEDxYouth@Toronto –  performance

Nice, fast-paced comedy hypnotist performs at a TED talk in Toronto. I’ve always admired these guys, but never had the nerve to pursue it.. I have a few respected readers who do though, and thought I’d add this since we all enjoy watching other like-minded performers perform.

“Boris demonstrates the powers of the mind by guiding a group of hapless volunteers through a hypnotic session where they experience everything from forgetting how to speak to finding themselves on a game show.”

“Boris is an award-winning performer that travels worldwide and has appeared at venues ranging from schools, corporate functions, theater, fairs, headlining in Las Vegas, to entertaining troops in Afghanistan and Kuwait. Boris motivates and inspires, while leaving a lasting impression. His stage name, The Incredible Boris, describes the sentiment of every performance literally – a positive attitude and constant state of mind. Boris delivers a powerful message of limitless possibilities as part of a hilarious interactive performance.”

   https://youtu.be/_KRsyx3IJ94

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The Mentalist | Ronn Winter | TEDxHickory – performance

“Magician, Mentalist and Psychological Entertainer, Ronn Winter has been using the art of deception, psychology, and influence to entertain CEOs, Executives, Managers, and Employees from companies, corporations, and resorts such as Google Data, Fifth Third Bank, Neiman Marcus, Duke Energy, UPS, MGM resorts, The Bellagio, and more for over a decade. “

“Developing an obsession in high school with finding out what makes us tick, and learning how to read people, Ronn Winter has devoted many years to learning the process of plucking thoughts from people’s minds.”

16+ minute performance at a TED talk in Hickory…

  https://youtu.be/j-ePGs9oAQQ

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Action Packed –  A Free PDF

Join Thom Peterson’s mailing list and get a free down loadable ebook.. ACTION PACKED.. This is a very nice, 32 page ebook, created in comic book style.. and containing 8 different stand up and close up effects..

  http://www.amazingguy.com/store/index.html

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Free Magic Ebook Downloads – Free from Magic-ebooks

Here’s a page of free downloads from Magic-ebooks, a site owned by Trickmagic.

MORE TIPS ON TRICKS – MILBOURNE CHRISTOPHER
THE PERSISTENT JOKER – COMEDY CARD ROUTINE
SPLIT DECISION CARD PREDICTION
IMPROMPTU MENTALISM – ROBERT NELSON
SI STEBBINS ORIGINAL $1 PITCH PAMPHLET – SI STEBBINS CARD SYSTEM
And several others..

All you have to do is hit the download button and the ebooks will open. You can then read or save to your device…

  http://www.magic-ebooks.com/free-magic-ebooks.html

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BET YOU CANT!  –  Science Impossibilities to Fool You..  PDF

Nice pdf offered free by GuptaToys that includes a number of science bets and gotcha tricks. Be sure to read all the way to the last chapter for a quick list of a number of unusual bets, including a couple used by carneys to fleece the players of their cash..

1. THE ARTFUL USE OF GRAVITY
2. FORCES OF DECEPTION
3. FLUID FOOLERS
4. MATHEMATICAL DUPLICITY
5. ENERGY ENTRAPMENTS
6. MIND AND BODY CON GAMES
7. PROBABLE PITFALLS AND CUNNING BLUFFS

   http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/betyoucant.pdf

Thanks to Michael Lyth for the link!

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(One From the Archives)

Numberphile – A Very Impressive ‘Sleight of Numbers’ – Tutorial

I first published this video almost three years ago. It has remained one of my all-time favorite mathematical based card tricks. It’s definitely worth re-visiting..

 Numberphile begins as an oppressively old fashion card trick, leading one to believe they are about to witness an age-old trick commonly performed by sixth graders and bored inmates. Suddenly, things take a sharp right turn – and you’re left squinting your eyes and wondering what you missed.

To quote the Youtube page.. “Standup mathematician Matt Parker says this 27-card trick is the most mathematically beautiful – but it takes some explaining!”

The video is roughly twelve minutes long and explains everything you need to know. Go to
the Youtube page and watch the first couple of minutes to get an idea of what to expect.
I can assure you that your’s truly will adapt this to something that suits me.. and
you’ll see it again in one form or another.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7lP9y7Bb5g

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MAGIC TRICK REVIEWS –  Facebook Group

Read our reviews and join our Facebook group at:

 https://www.facebook.com/groups/1755782251317278

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The 30 Most Influential People on the Internet

Our second annual roundup of the most influential people online

For our second annual roundup of the most influential people on the Internet, TIME sized up contenders by looking at their global impact on social media and their overall ability to drive news. Here’s who made this year’s unranked list:

 http://time.com/4258291/30-most-influential-people-on-the-internet-2016/?xid=newsletter-brief

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The 20 Most Popular TED Talks of All Time –  Videos

Click the link at the bottom of the list to access all 20 videos and read something about them. Note there are two magicians among the twenty.  😉

No. 20. Kelly McGonigal wants you to make stress your friend.
Views: 10 million

No. 19. Keith Barry hacks the most complex thing in nature: the human brain.
Views: 10 million

No. 18. Elizabeth Gilbert says that everyone is a genius.
Views: 11 million

No. 17. David Blaine explains how he held his breath underwater for 17 minutes.
Views: 11 million

No. 16. Julian Treasure wants to make you a better public speaker.
Views: 11 million

No. 15. Dan Gilbert reveals the science behind happiness.
Views: 12 million

No. 14. David Gallo shares the mystery behind the sea creatures of the deep.
Views: 12 million

No. 13. Pamela Meyer reveals how to spot a liar.
Views: 12 million

No. 12. Shawn Achor shares the happy secret to better work.
Views: 12 million

No. 11. Susan Cain describes the secret power of introverts.
Views: 13 million

No. 10. Cameron Russell describes what it’s like to be a supermodel.
Views: 13 million

No. 9. Pranav Mistry takes a look at the beginnings of wearable technology.
Views: 14 million

No. 8. Dan Pink delves into the science behind motivation.
Views: 15 million

No. 7. Tony Robbins says that an “invisible force” is what motivates us to act.
Views: 16 million

No. 6. Mary Roach reveals some surprising science about sex.
Views: 18 million

No. 5. Jill Bolte Taylor demonstrates what a stroke does to the brain.
Views: 18 million

No. 4. Brené Brown discusses the power of vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame.
Views: 24 million

No. 3. Simon Sinek discusses how and why great leaders inspire action.
Views: 26 million

No. 2. Amy Cuddy explains how your body language shapes who you are.
Views: 32 million

No. 1. Sir Ken Robinson says that schools are killing our creativity.
Views: 38 million

  http://www.businessinsider.com/most-popular-ted-talks-2016-3

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Popular Science: The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects  (ad)

The ingenious and hilarious projects in The Big Book of Hacks are perfect for aspiring makers. And it’s all brought to you by the DIY masters at Popular Science magazine. This was easily one of my favorite purchases of 2015.. and it’s only $15.99 in heavy duty softback with metal corner protectors.

GEEK TOYS..  gaming hacks, pyrotechnics, quirky DIY robots.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS…  a laser-security system and a life-sized cardboard display of anyone you want.

GADGET UPGRADES … flash drive in an old cassette? Use a DIY stylus on a touchscreen? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera.

 http://amzn.to/1Trv0WW

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“What are the qualities that cause a book to sell like soap or breakfast food
or Ford cars? It is a question the answer to which we should all like to know.
Armed with that precious recipe, we should go to the nearest stationer’s shop,
buy a hundred sheets of paper for sixpence, blacken them with magical scribbles,
and sell them again for six thousand pounds. There is no raw material so richly
amenable to treatment as paper. A pound of iron turned into watch springs is worth
several hundreds or even thousands of times its original value; but a pound of
paper turned into popular literature may be sold at a profit of literally millions per
cent. If only we knew the secret of the process by which paper is turned into popular literature!”
Aldous Huxley

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SIGN UP FOR THE MAGIC ROADSHOW….
Remember.. signing up for the Magic Roadshow Journal of Magic is Totally FREE. There is NO obligation and your email is 100% safe. (I don’t even share it with my closes fellow magicians..) You will be notified each month when a new issue of the Roadshow publishes and you can unsubscribe with one click.
Subscribe Here..  https://magicroadshow.com/

—————————–

MAGIC NEWS.org
You can get your magic fix on Magic News every week. Don’t wait a month for the next Roadshow. Instead, go to Magic News for the latest, along with the more interesting going-ons in the world of magic. Honestly, no other site publishes the breadth of magic related stories and videos as Magic News.
http://magicnews.org/

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LIKE us on FaceBook.. ( THANK YOU !! to all you Kind Folks who have…)

 http://www.facebook.com/magicroadshow
 http://www.facebook.com/themagicnews

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Magic Bullets from the Magic Roadshow – Our first 6 years of the Roadshow Blog..
http://streetmagic.info/blogger.html

Dozens upon dozens of magic trick tutorial videos… http://etricks.info/

Even MORE magic trick, card trick, street magic and mentalism videos.. http://magicians.website/
______________

That does it for this issue. I hope you found something to help your magic along. Remember, if you have something you would like to share with the magic community, send it to: Rick@MagicRoadshow.com

“Vive Tus Sueños – Live Your Dreams “

 Rick Carruth / Editor

Senior Professor – Camelard College of Conjuring of Chemmis, Egypt
“Magic’s Only Worldwide Honor Society”
  http://www.camelardcollege.org/

_____________________________________

~ Disclaimers ~

This page may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission on the sale. The price that you pay should not be affected by buying through an affiliate link, and I never use affiliate links if I know they’ll result in a price increase.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in the Magic Roadshow is accurate. However, there is no guarantee that you will achieve any particular results using the information provided or any products referenced. Examples in this document are not to be interpreted as promises or guarantees of any particular results.

All information is for education and information purposes only. Seek the advice of a qualified professional before acting on such information. In using this document, you agree that the Magic Roadshow and its publisher, Rick Carruth, are not responsible for your success or failure as a result of purchases made through this site.
——————————————————

                                                                 Join me on Facebook….

The Magic Roadshow Journal of Magic..  Copyright (C) 2016  Rick Carruth/editor  All rights reserved.

 I recently watched the last show of the X-FILES.. and was surprised to see Mulder and Scully crossing the South Carolina state line, heading to.. according to the sign.. Spartanburg. For those of you who care, or are obsessive/compulsive, Spartanburg is the home of the Magic Roadshow, and the home of your tireless editor. I know my address is Moore SC, but Moore is a suburb of Spartanburg. With Mulder and Scully ending the series on a mission to ‘the ‘Burg..’ Surely this explains some of our idiosyncratic, eccentric, and paradoxical ways

A couple of things… You will undoubtedly discover I’ve paired a number of resources up with similar resources. I sort of did that on purpose. Don’t ask why… I just did.

I’m sorry if some of you run across resources you’ve already discovered on your own. I wish I could guarantee everything to be 100% original.. but that ain’t happening… not on our budget! That doesn’t mean I’m opposed to original content… I WELCOME contributions from readers. Your content remains yours, and is copyrighted forever and forever, well, fifty years anyway…

Question or Comments?  EMAIL ME  ( rick@magicroadshow.com )

Magic Trick Reviews... https://www.facebook.com/groups/1755782251317278

==============

 IN THIS ISSUE:

==============

1. Rubber Band Quarantine  –  Tutorial by Paul Lelekis
2. The Magic Box –  A Short Film by R.Paul Wilson
3. Speaking of R.Paul Wilson – an Interview
4. Misdirection –  The Movie
5. Misdirection –  The Lecture
6. Aaron Fisher ‘Revolution’  Tutorial..
7. The Golden Rules of Acting That Nobody Ever Tell You…   eBook offer
8. Mnemosyne – Five Effects Based on Juan Tamarez’ Mnemonica Stack
9. In-Depth Ambitious Card Trick Tutorial
10. Jay Sankey’s Ambitious Card Variation  –  Tutorial
11. Daryl’s Ambitious Card  –  Performance Video
12. Weaving the Cards  –  A Classic Tutorial
13. Creating Magic Tricks: Magician’s Guide for Getting Unstuck –  Rosemary Reid
14. From the Gilbreath Principle to the Mandelbrot Set –  PDF
15. Speaking of Persi Diaconis –  And The PERFECT Shuffle…
16. Rock, Paper, Scissors.. The Scientific Implications (…and How To Win )
17. Derren Brown – And why he is one of the 21st Centuries Most Important Magic Performers
18.  -and-  The Magic of Burling Hull  –  David O’Connor
19. History of Magic Down Under – Resource
20. Your DIY Fix….  Magic Table – Start to Finish
21. Herrmann’s Book of Magic –  Black Art Fully Exposed
22. How to Make a Folding Egg –  An extension of the classic Rubber Egg experiment.
23. Experiments With Eggs –  Jean Hugard
24. More Egg Magic (for sale..)
25. OnLine Training Videos – Motivate Your Memory –  Timothy Hyde – MagicCoach
26. Crabby Transformation –  A Michael Carbonaro Video
27. Marilyn’s Sucker Bet
28. Welcome to Fourmilab Switzerland
29. CuriousityStream – For Those Who Dislike Sitcoms and Reality Shows..
30. Gmail: Top 9 Secret Features You Didn’t Know Existed
31. Other Really Important Stuff…

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending…”   Carl Bard

“Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.”  Marilyn vos Savant

Rubber Band Quarantine  –  Tutorial

Paul Lelekis

O.K. – it’s a stupid name, but I don’t know what to call this cool trick.  About 15 years ago, Jon Racherbaumer showed me a trick with a deck of cards and a rubber band that was so visual that I HAD to know how it worked!  Thanks, Jon!

EFFECT: A card is selected and lost in the deck.  A rubber band is then wrapped around the deck and then the performer inserts his hand under the rubber band.

When the magician slaps his hand on the table, the chosen card is found, face up on the back of the performer’s hand, and both the hand and the card are wrapped by the rubber band and free from the deck!

METHOD: This is a really cool trick!  In fact when I was performing it at a convention, Enric Magoo from Spain (1991 World F.I.S.M. award winner) asked me, through an interpreter, to teach it to him!  Magoo’s, Franky, (Frankenstein) was a great show!

Have a card selected and secretly brought to the bottom of the deck.  I use either a Peek and Pass it to the bottom of the deck, or use Marlo’s Convincing Control/Prayer Cull to bring the selection to the bottom of deck.

NOTE: See my e-book Magic Tools of the Trade at Lybrary.com for a complete list of how to perform many sleights and controls…and tricks to perform with them.  Included are pix and videos for a more complete understanding of these sleights.

You may use whatever control you wish…just get the selection to the bottom.

How to place the rubber band onto the deck:

Hold the deck in left hand dealer’s grip and buckle the bottom card which is the selection, say, the 6 of Hearts, with your left index finger.  You may also use a left pinkie pull-down of the 6H.

Take a #19 rubber band (same size used for The Crazy Man’s Handcuffs), or preferably a band that is a little smaller – but not too small – and wrap it around the deck but above the bottom card, the selection, the 6H. (See photo 1)

Situation Check: Deck is in left hand and the rubber band is around the deck, but the 6H on the bottom of deck is free of the rubber band.

The palm down right hand comes over the deck and grasps the band from above the deck with the right index, middle, ring and pinkie fingers grasp and pull it over to the right of the deck, stretching it about 5”- 7”.  Your right hand will now be palm upwards. (See photo 2)

Next, the left middle finger (right-hand fingers still stretching the band) reaches over the upper band that comes over the top, and pulls it downward. (See photo 3)

The part of the band coming from under the deck now comes over the top of the left middle finger as the right hand, again, rotates counter-clockwise, 90 degrees, so that the palm of your right hand is now facing your body. (See photo 4)

The rubber band should form an “X” between the deck and your right hand; your left middle finger will be trapped in the band.

Your right hand (palm still facing your body!) then pulls the rubber band outwards and moves to your left so that the band encircles the outer end of the deck a second time and over the left thumb.  Place (See photos 5 and 6)

(DO NOT release the left middle finger from the band or you’ll lose the set-up)

Your whole right hand next slips under the outer-most, band. (See Photo 7)  The left thumb still is,  under the band at this point.  Now you can pull the left middle finger free of the band!

The right hand now firmly grasps the deck and the left hand lets go, pulling the left thumb free of the band. (See photo 8)  Your right hand needs to hold the deck very firmly at this point.

Believe it or not, if you take your right hand (with deck!), hold it about a foot (30 – 32 centimeters) above the table, and then gently slam it down on the table as you open your right fingers, the selected 6 of Hearts will now jump, face up, to the back of your right hand, trapped under the rubber band. (See photo 9)

The rubber band now holds the face-up selection onto the back of your right hand, and is completely free of the deck! (See photo 10)

You can view ALL of Paul’s ebooks, currently 26 and growing, at Lybrary.com .. They are, undoubtedly, some of the best values in all of magic..  Many are considered underground classics and several NEW publications are on the short list…    http://lybrary.com/paul-a-lelekis-m-163788.html

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The Magic Box –  A Short Film by R.Paul Wilson

Some of you have seen The Magic Box, I’m sure. But for those of your who haven’t seen this award winning short film, now’s your chance. R.Paul Wilson, aside from being one of my favorite magicians, is obviously a highly skilled director and producer… The run time is about 6 minutes.. and well worth it….  (Thanks to my buddy, Gary Arrington, for the link..)

https://youtu.be/DyfM7oLIlp0

————

Speaking of R.Paul Wilson…

Viv Hardwick recently interviewed R.Paul for the The Advertiser (North Yorkshire) and published:

“R.Paul Wilson is a writer and presenter of BBC TV hit, The Real Hustle and Consultant Producer for the broadcaster’s prime time Saturday night show, The Magicians. Paul is an award-winning conjurer and magic inventor, as well as a world-renowned expert on cheating. He has also worked as an actor and was magic adviser on Joe Carnahan’s film, Smokin Aces, training the lead actor (Jeremy Piven) to handle cards like an expert. Wilson will be appearing at South Tyneside International Magic Festival’s Gala Show at the Customs House, South Shields on Saturday..”

Read the interview at:  http://www.northyorkshireadvertiser.co.uk/entertainment/14334996.World_class_magician/

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Misdirection –  The Movie

Film Festivals Awards:  1st Place – 2010 Kodak Film School Competition (USA & Canada)

Best Student Film – AMPAV Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes Film Festival

Synopsis: Peter, the grandson of the famous magician, Castulo The Magnificent, discovers his grandfather’s greatest secret, and it is more dangerous than he can possibly imagine. Excellent short film, about 18 minutes in length.

https://youtu.be/1YSWNtc4grE

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Misdirection –  The Lecture..   ( Sam Fitton at TEDxLancasterU )

An award winning magician and mentalist, Sam became interested in magic at an early age and quickly learnt the tricks of the trade. After obtaining a degree in Biology and serving 2 years as a police officer Sam decided to pursue his dream of performing magic. Sam now specialises in close up magic and mentalism and has entertained thousands of people across the UK.

https://youtu.be/Q87NAjvYPnQ

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Aaron Fisher ‘Revolution’  Tutorial..

I have a love of color changes.. I think they are the most visual of magic tricks. Aaron has published a great video tutorial detailing his ‘Revolution’  card change. This one doesn’t involve any knuckle-busting moves or sleights beyond the average Joe’s ability. I truly think you’ll enjoy this one… It can be used for either a card change or a color change.. your imagination is your limit.

http://www.aaronfishermagic.com/masters-of-magic-2016/

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The Golden Rules of Acting That Nobody Ever Tell You…   eBook

“Andy’s distilled guidebook is smart, hilarious, and just might get you work!” – Neil Patrick Harris

A treasure trove of advice, support and encouragement that no performer should be without. Honest, witty and direct, The Golden Rules of Acting is every actor’s best friend – in handy paperback form.

“The book won’t tell you how to act, but will tell you how to be an actor, how to stay sane and succeed in any creative position, if you have a dream and want to make it a reality it’ll offer you properly useful advice. It’s one of those books that helps you know yourself, ask the right questions, and reminds you to be happy. It is truthful, eye-opening and insightful, reading it feels like getting tips and advice from a friend down the pub; it is a goldmine of information. I’m no actor, but it’s one of those books that I’ll carry with me, return to time and time again because remembering this advice will help me become a better and happier person.” – Huffington Post

Andy Nyman is an actor, writer and magician. On stage, he co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the West End hit Ghost Stories, and won an Olivier Award for Best Entertainment for co-writing and directing Something Wicked This Way Comes with his regular collaborator Derren Brown. His many film appearances include Severance and Frank Oz’s Death at a Funeral.

Get the Kindle version for only $6.99

http://amzn.to/1YE5WvH

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Mnemosyne – Five Effects Based on Juan Tamarez’ Mnemonica Stack

Nice PDF by Vincent Hedan that doesn’t require you to know Juan’s stack to perform the effects. He does show you exactly how to stack the deck in order to perform the magic… This is a 28 page PDF that will open automatically when you click the link… You can then click the save link in the upper right to save to your device..

“For some years now, I have been using a sequence of effects based on Juan Tamariz’ Mnemonica stack1. I have described parts of the routine to some friends, or during workshops, but I have never really taken the time to describe the entire sequence and its details.”

“Although the Mnemonica stack is used, you don’t need to know the stack. You just need to order the deck correctly,

perform the described moves and actions, and the routine will work automatically. I hope these effects will make you more interested in the fascinating subject that is stack magic.”

http://www.vincenthedan.com/magic/products/mnemosyne/mnemosyne-en.pdf

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In-Depth Ambitious Card Trick Tutorial

A classic performance from 52Cards.. The Ambitious Card trick is an absolute classic plot in magic. The selected card repeatedly jumps to the top of the deck under more and more impossible conditions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgl5eqTiiE4

—————-

Jay Sankey’s Ambitious Card Variation  –  Tutorial

Renowned magician Jay Sankey shares a tutorial for a clever variation/addition to the classic Ambitious Card plot. This method allows you to make a card jump to the top of the deck under impossible conditions

https://youtu.be/41PnrIv5rZ8

————–

Daryl’s Ambitious Card  –  Performance Video

A six minute performance of Daryl’s Ambitious Card.. filmed by L&L and well worth your time to watch. Although not a tutorial, you’ll learn a LOT anyway..

https://youtu.be/w4iu5FMaR2o

———— ———————————

Weaving the Cards  –  A Classic Tutorial

The Effect: The pack is squared and then divided as for the riffle shuffle. A packet is held in each hand, by the ends, the free end are placed together and the cards are inter weaved, card for card, in very pretty fashion.

The Method: The pack must be squared perfectly and in good condition. A new pack will give best results. You take the deck with both hands, holding it by the ends, thumb on one side, second and fhird fingers on the other, the first fingers resting on top of the packets. Divide the pack as nearly as possible in halves and draw the packets apart. Fig. 20. keeping each half squared, place their inner corners together.

Push the packets inward so that their free ends bend upwards. It will be found that the ends of the packets will become wedge-shaped as they are bent up one against the other, and the cards will naturally tend to fall alternately from each packet. In fact the action becomes a kind of riffle shuffle.

There is a knack in the sleight that can only be acquired by practice. The effect is so pretty that it is well worth while to devote the time to it necessary to master it. The Weave is most useful in the making of the Giant Fan and the Double Arm Spread…

Jean Hugard – Card manipulations 3 

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Creating Magic Tricks: Magician’s Guide for Getting Unstuck

Rosemary Reid

This is another feature provided by Aaron Fisher and the Conjuror Community. Rosemary Reid explores the creation of magic effects, how magicians get ‘stuck’.. and how they get unstuck. Total reading time about 4 minutes, but it’s well worth it..

Click Here

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From the Gilbreath Principle to the Mandelbrot Set

I know many of you are familiar with the Gilbreath Principle, and the amazing coincidence that ensues when it’s utilized. Like me, some of you have probably forgotten how good this simple effect can be.. and need a little reminder. Others of you are about to learn something that resembles real magic, yet is one of the most logical of mathematical occurrences.

“An excellent reference for the Gilbreth Principle in its general form, and for a host of other mathematical magic effects, is the award winning Magical Mathematics: The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks, by Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham (Princeton University Press, 2012). Princeton University Press has graciously released chapter 5, “From the Gilbreath Principle to the Madelbrot Set,” online in honor of Mathematics Awareness Month.”    http://www.mathaware.org/mam/2014/calendar/gilbreath.html

There are two different sources here.. The above is from Mathaware.org and includes two very good videos showing the original Gilbreath Principle at work.. and then the Gilbreath Shuffle at work. Both utilize a shuffled deck..

The link below is to chapter 5 of the Persi Diaconis and Ron Graham outstanding classic, “The Mathematical Ideas That Animate Great Magic Tricks”.. The pdf is 21 pages, contains a number of photos, and is provided with special permission from Princeton University Press.. The pdf will open with you click the link… nothing to download..

http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s5_9510.pdf

From Mathaware.org ::  Martin Gardner wrote about the Gilbreath principle in his book Mathematical Magic Show (Mathematical Association of America, 1989). See chapter 7: “Playing Cards.” The book is also included on the CD compilation Martin Gardner’s Mathematical Games: The Entire Collection of His Scientific American Columns on one CD (MAA, 2008).

Several card tricks based on the Gilbreath principle are outlined in Colm Mulcahy’s Card Colm entry from August, 2005: “The First Norman Invasion,” and from August, 2006: “The Second Norman Invasion.”

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Speaking of Persi Diaconis –  And The PERFECT Shuffle…

This film features Professor Persi Diaconis from Stanford University. The first video is the primary video, summarizes his research in one video.. and the other three, each about 7 minutes, details facts not discussed in the first. Very interesting stuff.. particularly if you’re a gambler!

Main video: https://youtu.be/AxJubaijQbI

1) https://youtu.be/1jfm42Qd7Qw?list=PLt5AfwLFPxWLDNtOEfUgBFX5YNEhltGzt

2) https://youtu.be/c_Hunaf0tWw?list=PLt5AfwLFPxWLDNtOEfUgBFX5YNEhltGzt

3) https://youtu.be/RIGJH12vVCY?list=PLt5AfwLFPxWLDNtOEfUgBFX5YNEhltGzt

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Rock, Paper, Scissors.. The Scientific Implications (…and How To Win )

What happens when you bring 360 students together, ask them to play Rock, Paper, Scissors every day for 300 rounds, and throw science in the mix? . Hannah Fry explains the results in a way the rest of us can understand. Now, you don’t have to be lucky to win..

https://youtu.be/rudzYPHuewc

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Derren Brown – And why he is one of the 21st Centuries Most Important Magic Performers

David O’Connor

Derren Brown is one of those entertainers you can’t know TOO much about. Our friend from Down Under, David O’Connor, has written a very informative article for Roadshow readers about the intriguing DB.. This is only the first paragraph, as the article itself was too long for the newsletter… so I published it on its own page.

“Possibly one of this centuries most intriguing living performers is the English Illusionist mentalist Derren V. Brown. Born February 27th 1971 in London, he is regarded by many as the most extraordinary entertainer alive today. Brown was privately educated at Whitgift School in South Croydon, then studied law and German at Bristol University where he witnessed a hypnosis show by Martin Taylor. This was the stimulus that inspired Derren to decide on a career as a magician and hypnotist. During his undergraduate years he began to give stage shows at the university, and did close up magic at local bars and restaurants. At the same time, he became a prolific writer on all things magical, and soon came to the attention of Objective Productions who launched his first show, “Mind Control”, in 2000. Mind Control was an instant success. After further Objective Production shows, Derren Brown established his own extremely successful Production Company and went on to establish himself as one of the world’s premier magic and psychological performers…”

https://magicroadshow.com/derrenbrown.php

David J O’Connor is a semi retired professional mentalist and children’s entertainer. He has performed throughout South Africa, New Zealand and aboard cruise liners. David is a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians and loves mentoring young people in magic.

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The Magic of Burling Hull  –  David O’Connor

“Burling Hull became fascinated with magic shortly before his 5th birthday and his father was an amateur magician. Hull gave his first performances in his early teens, performing under the name of Cliff Westfield and later used other names like, “The White Wizard” performing in an all-white suit, doing billiard ball manipulation, card magic, ventriloquism, chapeaugraphy and shadow-graphy, razor blade swallowing and even dance. His magic career soon took off and he began to perform under other names and pseudonyms like Volta, Volta the Great, Gideon (Gid-Dayn) and the Man with the Radar Mind. From his early days he was quite inventive and there are over 500  different magic tricks to his credit. He became known as, “The Edison of Magic” for his creativity. He wrote a number of books on magic, many of which today remain valuable instruction manuals for magicians. His many books covered topics such as sleight of hand, silk and cigarettes, manipulation with billiard balls, cut and restored ropes, mentalism, stage magic, illusions, cards and countless others making him one of the most expansive writers of his day.

The Svengali Deck is said to have been originated by Burling Hull. He patented the deck in 1909 but many detractors claim the deck was around well before this time. The Svengali deck became famous at state fairs and carnivals where magician’s like Marshall Brodien sold millions of these decks as a pitchman.”

To read the rest of David’s very nice article, visit our friends, Ken and Julian, at:

http://magictricksforkids.org/burling-hull/

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History of Magic Down Under

Speaking of John O’Connor.. I ran across this link to the history of magic in Australia. Although not all-inclusive, this is a great work-in-progress. Learn about long forgotten performers from the 17th and 18th century, like Herr Arnold,  Professor Sams, and Thomas Carr. This is the beauty of the internet… small pieces of the big puzzle are being constructed throughout the world, one region at a time.. and we all, from every corner, can access it for our education and enjoyment.

“Australia, in terms of the land under white colonisation since 1788, is a relatively young nation. Even so, there are many intriguing tales of magicians and their adventures, dating from the early 1800s until today.”

“This focus of this research is presently on the earliest performers to appear in Australia. Some of these stories are bare-bones reports of single appearances, amateurs, or names which require clarification.”

http://sydneymagic.net/HISTORY/history.html

(Thanks to Jim Canaday at The Magic Portal…  http://themagicportal.us )

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OnLine Training Videos – Motivate Your Memory    (A Special for Roadshow readers)

Timothy Hyde – MagicCoach

Timothy sent out this notice a few days ago, advertising his new memory training course on Udemy. Now, a few days later, Timothy has decided that he is NOT going to charge magicians for the course. Instead, he is going to give us access for free.. in return for our reviews and ratings… The original offer was expiring.. so Timothy created a new link especially for Roadshow readers…

“For those who have adopted the 12 Week Year principle ( a previous Book of the Month ) , my main goal this “Year” was to finish my first OnLine Video Training course for Udemy.  With 3 weeks to spare it’s been approved and published! Very excited.”

“Having better Memory Skills is a great advantage to any performer, but especially magicians. A huge number of blockbuster routines and tools open up for you – Magazine Memory, Knights Tour, Super Memory, Stacked and Memorized Deck work etc. You’ll remember scripts better, show order, multiple outs, which pocket which effect is in, routine sequence etc. Gain more confidence in your own abilities and if you’re still at school or college get better results.”

The course is 2 hours long and Timothy guarantees at least a 10% improvement. Here’s the Link. The discount ($0) will already be applied.

https://www.udemy.com/motivate-your-memory/?couponCode=MemoryRoadshow

Also, please take time to visit Timothy at:  http://www.MagicCoach.com  for an absolute wealth of material, particularly marketing material for magicians. Sign up for his newsletter and I promise he will never take advantage of your time.. but improve upon it…

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I’m not going to say I’m ugly.. but 90% of the earth’s population looks better than I do. Come to think of it.. if there’s 8 billion folks on this little orb, then I’m better looking than 800 million of them… Dang, I’m good looking!

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Your DIY Fix….  Magic Table – Start to Finish

A really good looking magic table can be expensive. I have to say this table, created by Chris Sutter, looks as good as any I’ve run across… and it’s totally hand-made.

“While attending the National Association of Home Builders Conference in Orlando, Florida I walked through the Disney City Walk one night and stumbled across a magic shop. I have loved magic all my life . As a kid I would watch David Copperfield specials on television and then put on shows of my own in the kitchen. Coming across this shop brought back great memories and a desire to get back into magic. While in the shop the magicians would perform “illusions” on a velvet mat. I thought, “I can make one of those.” While doing more research I found several companies who sold magic tables call Hopper Tables. These cost hundreds of dollars and again I thought “I can make one of those.” Needless to say it would have been MUCH cheaper to have bought one but on the other hand, after looking at my finished product, mine is a million times better. With the exception of them both roughly being about the same height and having velvet on top they really have nothing in common.”

http://lumberjocks.com/ChrisSutter/blog/23992

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Herrmann’s Book of Magic –  Black Art Fully Exposed

A Complete and Practical Guide to Drawing-Room and Stage Magic for Professionals and Amateurs, Including a Complete Exposure of the Black Art.  by Prof. Herrmann

“There are one or two leading principles to be borne in mind by anyone taking up the study of magic. The first and foremost is, Never tell the audience what you are going to do before you do it. If you do, the chances of detection are increased tenfold, as the spectators, knowing what to expect, will the more readily arrive at the true method of bringing about the result.”

“It follows as a natural consequence that you must never perform the same trick twice in the same evening. It is very unpleasant to have to refuse an encore; and should you be called upon to repeat a trick study to vary it as much as possible, and to bring it to a different conclusion. There will generally be found more ways than one of working a particular trick. It is an axiom in conjuring that the best trick loses half its effect on repetition.”

https://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/herrmann/book_of_magic/bom.html

** The electronic edition of this book is presented in its integrability as an historical document. The producer and publisher of this text assumes no responsibility whatsoever for any consequences of performing the activities described herein, whether highlighted as especially dangerous or not. You are entirely responsible for your own actions. If you do not agree with this, please stop reading now. And yes, I do wish I lived in a time and place where statements like this were unnecessary.

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Easter Eggs Anyone ?

Easter makes me think of eggs.. lots of eggs… brightly colored eggs.. eggs dyed on the stove with those little wire thingys with the loop on the end.. my Mother standing directly behind me, looking over my shoulder, because she “knows how I am…”… then, having to eat boiled eggs or egg salad sandwiches for several days because nothing goes to waste…

How to Make a Folding Egg –  An extension of the classic Rubber Egg experiment.

Steve Spangler Science constantly comes up with very cool ‘experiments’, either via his website or on Youtube. In honor of Easter, Michael Lyth and I are going to let Steve show you how to turn a regular egg into something that can be folded several times.. then, restored to its original shape. This is good stuff… especially if you can show it to kids, with adults looking on.. and trying to act cool.. and really wanting to know how you did it.. but they don’t want to look dumb in front of the kids.. Ha!

http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/how-to-make-a-folding-egg/

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Experiments With Eggs –  Jean Hugard

Modern Magic Manual, Jean Hugard’s 1939 book detailing magic with cards, balls, thimbles, silks, hats, ..and eggs, can be accessed through this link. This is a photocopy of the original, not hard to read, and has a good selection of magic with eggs.  You don’t have to download the ebook.. just click and read….

“The magician, not being quite so innocent as he professes to be, seldom uses new-laid eggs; in fact, only on such occasions as he finds it necessary to break the egg to prove that it is real. For ordinary purposes artificial eggs of ivorine or celluloid (obtainable from the magic shops) are preferable. Even better than these are real eggs prepared by having the contents blown out, the shells being then strengthened by pasting several layers of white paper strips on them. When the strips are thoroughly dry the surface is rubbed smooth with fine emery paper, with the result that the finished article looks like an egg, will not break if accidentally dropped, and will last for an indefinite time.”

http://www.march.es/storage/bibliodata/teatro/Magia/63204.pdf

“My brother Houdini and I knew Jean Hugard before the turn of the century. We worked on bills together all over the world. We knew and respected him as a man and as a performer, and I am very happy I was asked to write the Foreword of this book. While Mr. Hugard as a performer specialized in Chinese magic and Oriental effects, as an individual, off stage, he experimented with every branch of magic. Famous magicians all over the world gave him their secrets knowing that he would respect the confidence in which they were imparted. Now that all of the old famous magicians such as Houdini, Kellar, Hermann, Thurston, and Powell have passed on, Mr. Hugard felt free to release some of their secrets…”   Theo Hardeen

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More Egg Magic (for sale..)

George Schindler,  “Dean of American Magicians”,  runs Show Biz Services online. Aside from a variety of magic related services, DVD’s, ventriloquist supplies, silks, books and other effects and props, Mr Schindler sells a very nice selection of Egg Magic.. Check out this two page PDF….

http://www.showbizmagic.net/downloads/EGGS.pdf

A Special Thanks to Michael Lyth for these links..And.. as Michael says, for those of you willing to ‘shell out’ a little dough..  ‘The Encyclopedia of Egg Magic’   by Donato Colucci  (hard cover)

http://amzn.to/1R5xtAa

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Crabby Transformation –  A Michael Carbonaro Video

An “alien” crab hatches and transforms into an earthly creature in broad daylight… This video is killer funny. The expressions are absolutely priceless..  (Thanks Michael and Chad and David..)

Michael Carbonaro is a magician by trade, but a prankster by heart. In THE CARBONARO EFFECT, Michael performs baffling tricks on unsuspecting people in everyday situations, all caught on hidden camera. Everyone is left stunned and delighted, even though they have no idea what just hit them.

https://youtu.be/BKWRqH-vK_w

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Marilyn’s Sucker Bet

I’m a sucker for a good sucker bet. Marilyn vos Savant, supposedly the smartest woman in the world, recently published this one in Parade magazine…

Lets say a hundred pennies are on a table. Ninety pennies are Heads up.. and Ten are Tails up. Is there a way for you, with your eyes closed, to separate the pennies into two groups, each with an equal number of Tails?

You are not allowed to ‘feel’ the coins and try to determine one from the other. Also, each group does not have to have the same number of coins.. only the same number of coins with Tails showing.

Marilyn’s solution is… push ten coins into one pile. Now, turn each of the ten coins over. If you view all the coins at this time, each pile will have the same number of Tails up coins. Why you ask? Think of it this way.. If the ten you push to one side contain NO tails up coins, turning the ten over will result in ten tails in one group and the original ten in the other group. If the group you pushed to one side contained one tail, and you turn all the coins over, the group now contains one heads up and nine tails up coins. As you removed one of the original tails up from the other group, the other group contains nine tails up.. and your new group contains nine tails up. This result repeats itself with any number of tails up coins in your new group..

You can’t lose with this one!

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“How many animals of one kind did did Moses send into the ark? One, two or three?”

Pretty simple really, but there were two mistakes in the question.  Did you spot them?  The word ‘did’ was repeated twice and it was Noah and not Moses who sent the animals into the ark.  Some people would not have picked up on these mistakes.  The reason for this is because the brain can be lazy.  It might not have picked up on the repeated word because your brain can understand the question and it tend to go blind to the second word.  You might not have picked up the fact that it was Noah and not Moses who built the ark because you brain knows the overall meaning of the question. This little brain trick works because it saves time on thinking about the question.  It does not study it in detail.

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MAGIC TRICK REVIEWS

Read our reviews and join our Facebook group at:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1755782251317278

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Welcome to Fourmilab Switzerland

Last update: 14 December 2015

This site is developed and maintained by John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. and co-author of AutoCAD. A variety of documents, images, software for various machines, and interactive Web resources are available here; click on entries in the frame to the left to display a table of contents for that topic. Items which span more than one category are listed in all.

A comprehensive (and large) list of all items on the site is available as a frame- and graphics-free Site Map.

Except for a few clearly-marked exceptions, all the material on this site is in the public domain and may be used in any manner without permission, restriction, attribution, or compensation. Back links to this site are welcome.

Windows utilities

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Business, economics, and politics

Books on-line

Do it yourself

Humour

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http://www.fourmilab.ch/

(Thanks to Michael Lyth for the link! )

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CuriousityStream – For Those Who Dislike Sitcoms and Reality Shows..

I have to admit, this is perhaps more for me than you… unless you enjoy documentaries too. I’ve always had a soft spot for NOVA and The Discovery Channel. I’ve manage to find and watch great documentaries on virtually every subject imaginable… from Pigmy’s to pythons, skyscrapers to space, and mummies to South American moths. Now, a new streaming service just previewed with 1300 different titles, to start, and a cost of less than $3 a month.   (To be fair..I have NO affiliation with CuriosityStream… I’m a customer…)

“CuriosityStream is the world’s first streaming service dedicated to curating and delivering the best documentaries from around the globe to be watched ad-free, on demand, anytime and anywhere. Stream to your Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Apple TV (via airplay), desktop, tablet and iOS and Android phones starting at an affordable $2.99 a month with your first 30 days free.”

“Started by Discovery Channel founder John Hendricks in 2015, the worldwide service aims to inform, enlighten and inspire viewers with premium nonfiction content on subjects that matter. Since launch, CuriosityStream has grown rapidly with more than 1,300 titles, availability on a number of platforms with additional device support on the horizon, expansion to the international market (available in over 196 countries since September 2015), the ramping up of an originals slate with over 45 exclusive series and specials and a redesigned open site that offers more than 60 hours of free programming samples.”

https://app.curiositystream.com/

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Gmail: Top 9 Secret Features You Didn’t Know Existed

Number Seven: The Perks of the Plus Sign

There are few things more maddening than learning you’ve accidentally subscribed to a newsletter you definitely don’t need. Next time you enter your email address somewhere, use the “+” sign followed by any word to track how it’s used. For example, if you purposefully subscribe to a clothing website’s newsletter, you could type “jane.d.doe+shopping@gmail.com,” and you’ll still get the emails. Later on, you can filter your emails using that address to see if the website has given your email address out to anyone else.

http://ppcorn.com/us/2016/03/10/gmail-top-9-secret-features-you-didnt-know-existed/

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SIGN UP FOR THE MAGIC ROADSHOW….

Remember.. signing up for the Magic Roadshow Journal of Magic is Totally FREE. There is NO obligation and your email is 100% safe. (I don’t even share it with my closes fellow magicians..) You will be notified each month when a new issue of the Roadshow publishes and you can unsubscribe with one click.

Subscribe Here.. https://magicroadshow.com

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MAGIC NEWS.org

You can get your magic fix on Magic News every week. Don’t wait a month for the next Roadshow. Instead, go to Magic News for the latest, along with the more interesting going-ons in the world of magic. Honestly, no other site publishes the breadth of magic related stories and videos as Magic News.

http://MagicNews.org

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LIKE us on FaceBook.. ( THANK YOU !! to all you Kind Folks who have…)

http://www.facebook.com/magicroadshow

http://www.facebook.com/themagicnews

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Magic Tutorials from the Magic Roadshow.. many, many videos for the magicians among us…

http://magicians.website

http://etricks.info

______________

That does it for this issue. I hope you found something to help your magic along. Remember, if you have something you would like to share with the magic community, send it to: Rick@MagicRoadshow.com

“Vive Tus Sueños – Live Your Dreams “

Rick Carruth / Editor

Senior Professor – Camelard College of Conjuring of Chemmis, Egypt

“Magic’s Only Worldwide Honor Society”

http://www.camelardcollege.org/

_____________________________________

~ Disclaimers ~

This page may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and make a purchase, I may earn a commission on the sale. The price that you pay should not be affected by buying through an affiliate link, and I never use affiliate links if I know they’ll result in a price increase.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information in the Magic Roadshow is accurate. However, there is no guarantee that you will achieve any particular results using the information provided or any products referenced. Examples in this document are not to be interpreted as promises or guarantees of any particular results.

All information is for education and information purposes only. Seek the advice of a qualified professional before acting on such information. In using this document, you agree that the Magic Roadshow and its publisher, Rick Carruth, are not responsible for your success or failure as a result of purchases made through this site.

__________________________________________________________________________________

The Magic Roadshow Journal of Magic.. Copyright (C) 2016.. All rights reserved by Rick Carruth

I’ve been a little under the weather.. four visits to the hospital since the last issue.. and you wouldn’t believe how long this issue has been ‘almost’ ready. Started out as bronchitis, my fault, and three more visits after the fact.. their fault. My lawyer friend and I can’t wait to get those bills… 😉  Sorry for the delay….

Freaky weather. In the 60’s one day.. and snowing the next. Then repeat over and over.  How the heck are we suppose to adjust. Think I’ll just move to Florida and solve this little problem.

Valentine’s Day is.. right now. And yesterday was my dear wife’s birthday. Happy Birthday sweetie and Happy Valentine’s Day to all the rest of you poor guys who never found the love of your life. And Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you who have..

Be sure to visit MAGIC TRICK REVIEWS.. You’ll love it… https://www.facebook.com/groups/1755782251317278/permalink/1773189642909872/

Comments or Questions?  Email Me  ( rick@magicroadshow.com )

– In This Issue –

• – Out of This World – Paul Lelekis’ version of Paul Curry’s effect
  – An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick  –  by Arthur T. Benjamin
  – Another Mathemagical Medley of Semi-Automatic Tricks from Werner Miller
  – Solari’s Metamorphosis Bills  –  A review
  – 58 Street Magic and Busking Videos – Resource
  – Blues Guitar Documentary – “Busking The Blues” Starring Keni Lee Burgess
  – The Best Four Ace Trick – A Tutorial
  – Making a Chop Cup: An Amateur’s Experience and Lessons Learned – PDF Tutorial
  – Aaron Fisher’s 7 Point Natural Dealing Position – Video Tutorial
  – Learn The Awesome ‘WTF’ Vanish – Video Tutorial
  – Figure Shapes with Playing Cards – Turbo Cube Kirigami – Tutorial
  – Attention All Entertainers – A Special Swap Meet in Leola Pa.
  – 6 Super Easy Magic Tricks To Impress The Opposite Gender ..  Video
  – The Expert in a Year Challenge – A Unique Challenge
  – Over 1700 FREE Courses and Videos on Almost Anything – Tutorials
  – 19 Perfectly Timed Photos – Gallery of Illusions..
  – Popular Science: The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects
  – Closing Notes…

“I have noticed that even people who claim everything is predetermined and that we can do nothing to change it, look before they cross the street..”  Stephen Hawking in his book “Black Holes and Baby Universes”

“What’s the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care…”  Unk.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

OUT OF THIS WORLD – Paul Lelekis’ version of Paul Curry’s effect

Paul Curry created this effect in 1942 at the age of 25 and it took the magic world by storm! Many magicians have considered this effect as “…the greatest card trick” ever created! It was the very first card trick that was sold as a separate item.

There have been many versions of this trick (many impromptu) but the version I present below, I feel, is a very powerful effect.

If you’ve never performed this effect for your audience, you cannot know what a tremendous impact it has! It is, basically, easy to do, but I have embellished with some false shuffles that make the outcome seem even more impossible – or at the worst, highly unlikely. What is so strong about this effect is that the spectator does the magic!

EFFECT: A deck of cards is shuffled as the performer explains the “odds” of outcome. First the miracle-worker allows the spectator to determine (without looking at the cards!) which cards are red and which are black. Suddenly the performer then hands the remainder of the deck to the spectator and allows her to continue placing cards on whichever pile she believes is red and whichever is black.

When the piles are turned over…the spectators are shocked that she has separated all of the reds from all of the blacks by her own intuition!

SET UP: Before you begin, have the deck separated, reds from the blacks. It doesn’t matter if the reds or blacks are on top.

This is a terrific opener, but I have often opted to perform other cards tricks first, and then while pattering, openly cull the reds from the blacks. No one knows what you’re doing…but you should be proficient at culling.

METHOD: Let’s assume that the deck is already set up, reds separated from blacks. I will false shuffle while giving the opening patter below. I’ll explain the shuffles later.

“A deck of 52 cards presents an immeasurable number of impossibilities. It has been calculated by mathematicians that any particular order of a deck of cards is on the order of 6.1 X 10 to the 67th power!”

“This number, for you non-mathematicians, is so huge, that it is greater than all of the hundreds of billions of stars within the hundreds of billions of galaxies in the universe. This number is so profound, that it is greater than all of

the grains of sand on all of the beaches and deserts on earth!”

“If you shuffle a deck of cards, it will be in an order that very probably NO deck has ever been in before and very probably will never be in that order, again. I know this sounds far-fetched…but it is absolutely true!”

The above statement is very bold…but it is true! Your spectators will be engrossed with this patter and will often ask you if it’s really true. It is!

Before I continue, I want to explain how I false shuffle while I’m pattering. You may use any false shuffles you wish, but it is important for them to be convincing. The very first shuffle must be performed very casually as you begin the patter. They will be “off their guard” but will remember that the cards were definitely shuffled!

The first false shuffle I use is my own rendition of a red/black shuffle, the Lelekis Red/Black Separation Shuffle. (See video for my performance and explanation). https://youtu.be/T9DTH8qgrnw

This type of shuffle has been described before however, its execution was laborious and seemed contrived. In my shuffle, I’ve made its execution much easier to do.

Next I use the Ireland Shuffle. This is easy to do! Begin overhand shuffling the deck as you patter and when you get near the center, continue shuffling one card at a time until you’ve passed the center. Then continue shuffling normally. When you’re finished, the deck will still be separated into reds and blacks! This is, also, a very strong shuffle!

You may perform false cuts, undercuts, up-the-ladder cuts etc. but there’s no need to overdo it. Explain that you need a spectator (one who is not resistant or “trying to figure everything out”) to help you because she “seems to be an intuitive person.”

NOTE: Let’s suppose that the red cards are on the top of the deck and the blacks cards are on the bottom of the deck…though it doesn’t really matter!

Hold the deck, face up, so that only you can see the faces and look for the Ace of Spades first. You will find and remove the Ace of Spades (AS), first, because the bottom half is all black cards.

As you look for the Ace of Hearts (AH), note the red card right in the middle, and in-jog it just a hair. The card just above it will be the first black card after the red cards. Now continue spreading until you find the AH.

After you have removed the AH, having already in-jogged the middle red card (position 25th from the top, down), (See pic 3-A, only the performer can see the cards, except for the Aces of Spades and Ace of Hearts!) turn the deck FACE DOWN, pick up on the in-jogged card and get a left pinkie break beneath it. You now have a break below all of the top red cards and above the bottom 25 black cards. Lay both of the red and black Aces out, face up, onto the working surface. One will be at the outer right of the table and one to your outer left.

NOTE: It doesn’t matter which Ace is where, but let’s assume, for explanation purposes, that the AH is on your left and the AS on your right!

Phase I: The performer assists the spectator in separating the colors. “Please use your intuition ONLY to determine which cards are red and which cards are black. I’m going to place each card out, one at a time, and I want you point to either the black pile or the red pile and I’ll place it there.”

Hold the deck face down in your hand as if ready to deal. As you remove the first card ask her if she “feels” it is a red card or a black card. Whichever color she says, place it on that particular Ace. Continue with the next card and, again, ask her if she thinks it is red or black, placing it on the appropriate pile. Make sure that each of the face up “leader” Aces are visible! Lay out each card, face down, in a staggered pile under each Ace.

Essentially what you are doing (from the spectators’ viewpoint) is separating the cards into reds and blacks by her intuition, only. You may have to hurry the spectator along to make faster decisions if she drags things out. This is the boring part!

Continue placing cards out onto each Ace until you reach your “break”. All of the cards are now black cards. Stop at this point (the 25th card from the top) and peek at a few cards of each pile. You will only see red cards but the spectator doesn’t know that!

(See pic 3-B for the “half-way point”. All of the cards dealt out are red cards and the remaining cards at bottom of pic are all black cards!)

Stop everything and say, “You’re doing really well, but you may be thinking that I’m controlling the cards somehow! So now I’m going to shuffle the rest of these cards and then hand them over to you to deal out yourself…but first I’m going to switch the two Aces just to see if I can confuse you!”

As the patter above says, shuffle the remainder of the cards and then hand them over to the spectator for her to deal out. This shuffle will be remembered by everyone!

Before she starts, switch the positions of the two leader Aces. Remove the red Ace from the bottom of its pile and place it on top of the “black” pile. Then remove the black Ace from the bottom of its pile and place it on top of the other pile. You’ve switched the positions of the two leader Aces. (See pic 3-C)

Situation Check: (Before the switch) there is a pile on your left with the AH on the bottom of the pile. The other pile on your right has the AS on the bottom. NOW take the AH and put it on top of the right-hand packet and pick up the AS and place it on top of the left-hand pile. You have switched the positions of the Aces.

The spectator now holds the shuffled remainder of the cards (25 black cards!).

Ask the spectator to start placing the cards onto the two piles by using her “…intuition – NOT by trying to “think” where to place each card – but by using only your intuition!”

After she has distributed all of the cards into “red and black piles”, you will be left with two piles of cards; a face-up AS is in the middle of the left-hand packet and the face-up AH is in the middle of the right-hand packet. (See pic 3-D)

Here’s the sneaky part! Pick up the left-hand packet and as you square it up, glimpse the bottom card of that packet to note the color only! (In case you’ve forgotten, it will be a red card – in fact, the bottom cards of BOTH piles will be red!) The only thing you need to know is the color.

NOTE: If you began this effect with the black cards on top and the red cards on the bottom, then the bottom cards of each packet will be black! But don’t worry about this part because it will confuse you…this is actually very easy to do!

You are now holding the pile on your left with the black, face-up, AS in the middle. Separate the cards ABOVE the face-up AS (all black) and place them on your left, closest to your body.

Next, place the remainder of the cards (all red!) with the Ace of Spades, at your outer left, just above the other face-down pile (all the black).

Finally take the AS, by itself, and place it above this row of two piles. You now have a row consisting of two piles and the AS farthest away on your left.

Note that black AS is the opposite color of the red cards just below it. The same will be true for the other row.

Next pick up the other pile with the face-up AH in the middle, and pick up all of the cards above the AH (all black) and place this packet at the outer position in the right-hand row so that is even with the outer left-hand packet…the all red packet.

Place the AH at the outermost position in the right-hand row, so that it is even with the AS in the left-hand row. The remainder of the cards (all red) is placed down in this same row, closest to your body. (See pic 3-E – Note the color of the packets closest to the Ace – that packet will be opposite color of its Ace!) Please also note that the pile of cards just beneath the AS will be all red, and the pile just beneath the AH will be black.

You will now reiterate which piles are which…it is just the opposite of their true nature, but no one will know the difference! (See below)

“O.K.! These outer two packets (pointing to piles A & B in the photo) represent the two piles that I placed down by your direction. These other two packets (pointing to piles C & D) represent the two piles the YOU placed out yourself!” (Note the letters on stickers of pic 3-E)

FINAL REVELATION:

“Before I begin, I need to switch the two Aces back to their original positions.” Here is where you openly switch each Ace back to the other pile. In other words, place the AH on your left and the AS on your right!

You will usually see people “nodding their heads” in agreement!

Turn up piles A & B for all to see that all of the cards under the AH are red and all of the under the AS are black! You will get a visible reaction!

“Now I dealt out these piles myself (again referring to packets A & B) so perhaps you’re thinking that I may have somehow manipulated the cards.”

“But these two piles (pointing to piles C & D) are the ones that YOU placed out yourself!”

Openly switch the Aces, again, (red Ace to your right and the black Ace to your left) as you give the last line of patter above. Turn both packets (C & D) face up to show that the spectator has successfully separated all of the red cards from the black cards!

This routine is very powerful in the eyes of the spectators…there seems to be NO explanation!

NOTE: I have played with many different “Out of This World” routines and I feel that my rendition here is very hard to beat. Again, the opening false shuffles will put the explanation out of “reach” of the layperson. The two false shuffles that I outlined above are the only ones needed to convince the spectators that the cards are well mixed – it’s all in the timing. In other words, the relaxed opening patter will grasp the spectators’ interest and your false shuffles should be executed without looking at your hands. It will put You  “light-years” ahead of your spectators!   (Click on images to enlarge…)

Paul’s Red/Black Shuffle video.. (Mentioned in effect.) https://youtu.be/T9DTH8qgrnw

 You can view ALL of Paul’s ebooks, currently 26 and growing, at Lybrary.com .. They are, undoubtedly, some of the best values in all of magic..  Many are considered underground classics and several NEW publications are on the short list…    http://lybrary.com/paul-a-lelekis-m-163788.html

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An Amazing Mathematical Card Trick – by Arthur T. Benjamin

Harvey Mudd College

A magician gives a member of the audience twenty cards to shuffle. After the cards are thoroughly mixed, the magician goes through the deck two cards at a time, sometimes putting the two cards face to face, sometimes back to back, and sometimes in the same direction. Before dealing each pair of cards into a pile, he asks random members of the audience if the pair should be flipped over or not. He goes through the pile again four cards at a time and before each group of four is dealt to a pile, the audience gets to decide whether each group should be flipped over or not. Then the cards are dealt into four rows of five cards. The audience can decide, for each row, whether it should be dealt from left to right or from right to left.

Finally, the magician “folds” the cards as directed by the audience. The audience repeats the folding requests until eventually all the cards are in one pile. When the magician spreads the cards, there are fifteen face down cards and five face up cards, and the five face up cards form a royal flush!

*Special Thanks to Michael Lyth….

https://www.math.hmc.edu/~benjamin/papers/CardTrick.pdf

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Werner Miller’s TRICKS WITHOUT NAMES

Another Mathemagical Medley of Semi-Automatic Tricks

Trick #10

Decide on any ESP symbol (say, the Wavy Lines), and sort out and discard all its replicas. Stack the remaining twenty cards of the ESP deck cyclically, so that every fourth card is showing the same symbol.

To perform, have the deck completely cut by the spectator, then deal out four 3-card packets, side by side in a row. But don’t deal rotationally; do it this way: Starting on the left, deal out a pair and place the next card on top of it, then proceed to the right doing the same three more times.

Pick up the leftmost packet and move it to the other end of the row, jumping like a frog over the three packets in between. Repeat this once or twice, then similarly hop with the rightmost packet back to the left end, thus demonstrating that it’s allowed to reverse the direction whenever one likes.

Now encourage the spectator to do a couple of leaps until he/she is happy with the order of the packets. Finally ask the spectator to assemble the packets, either from left to right (1st on 2nd, both on 3rd, all three on 4th) or from right to left (4th on 3rd, both on 2nd, all three on 1st), remove and table the final top card of the combined packet, face down and unviewed. (Among the remaining eleven cards, a duplicate of the tabled card is automatically 7th from the top down.)

Request the spectator to pick up the packet, then guide your participant verbally through an Under/Down Deal by giving step-by-step instructions. Take care that these are carried out correctly and the current top card is really alternately shifted to the bottom of the packet (“under”) and dealt to the table (“down”), until only one card remains. This card is to be placed beside the face-down card tabled earlier.

Turning both cards face up brings a surprise: Their symbols match!

(To Be Continued.)

For more (and more elaborate) math-based magic by Werner Miller visit ..

http://www.lybrary.com/werner-miller-m-7881.html

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Solari’s Metamorphosis Bills  –  A review-

I know for a fact many of you like to perform magic with coins and bills. Heck, even I have have been known to perform the occasional bill switch. Bob Solari’s Metamorphosis Bills is ideal for anyone wanting to perform a One and Five dollar bill switch on a moment’s notice. I’ve linked to a video that gives you a great idea of exactly how the effect appears under performance conditions. The video will explain the moves better than yours truly.

Bob description is as follows…
-Works with both the new and old style bills..
-Both bills can be borrowed..
-Both bills are 100% examinable..
-No magnets or wax..
-Any denomination bills can be used..
-Both bills can be signed..
-No sleight of hand..

I agree fully with all the above.. except ‘maybe’ no sleight of hand. It depends on your defination of ‘sleight of hand’. There is a move at the very end of the effect requiring the performer to palm and/or pocket a small gimmick. It’s NOT difficult, and almost requires no mention. But.. in the interest of fairness…

Bob supplies everything you need to perform Metamorphosis Bills straight out the pack. The gimmick is included, and, the really neat thing is, you can easily make as many additional gimmicks as needed. If you want to use bills other than the included $5 bill gimmick you can make any denomination necessary. So, if you lose the gimmick.. no problem. If you damage the gimmick.. no problem.. Just learn it and use it.

If you go to Bob’s site and look in the nav bar in the middle of the page, you’ll see a ‘video’ link. Click it and watch. At $12.95 you can’t go wrong.. Honestly.. learning how to make the gimmick is worth more than that!

http://www.bobsolarimagic.com/shop/Solaris-Metamorphosis-Bills

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“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people that were no smarter than you and you can change it, you can influence it, you can build your own things that other people can use.” …..

Steve Jobs

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58 Street Magic and Busking Videos – Resource

This is a great combination/compilation of magicians performing on the street. Some are performing at festivals.. others talk about how to perform or how to draw a crowd. Some are very well known, like Gazzo, Bob Sheets, and Tommy Wonder.. others are less well known, but very talented. Here is a partial list of the videos. Some are 7 or 8 minutes long, others are 30 minutes or more…  Enjoy…

Todd Various Performing The Cups And Balls – by todd various

World’s FUNNIEST Street Magician (The end is amazing!)

Magicians of India, 1950s

Street Theatre Gazzo Magician

TIPS for ENTERTAINERS – BUSKING

Street Magic Busking Performance from Jamie D. Grant

Paul Dabek, magician, street performer, Fringe Festival 2010

Sergio Barros performs in London’s Covent Garden – Part 1

Sergio Barros performs in London’s Covent Garden – Part 2

Frank, Greer, Cellini, and Heller at the Taste of Cincinnati

Bob Sheets – Most amazing card trick ever

Bob Sheets – Three Shell Game

Bob Sheets – Cups And Balls for kids

Tommy Wonder Curiosahuys 1987

Yan Markson – How to Gather a Crowd on the Street… For NO Reason. (Nuit Blanche Style)

Edinburgh Fringe 2010:  Billy Kidd.

Dynamo Conjures Up Some Magic For Variety, the Children’s Charity

Charlie Caper offers his couch to every busker in the world

Charlie Caper in Dublin.

Johnny Fox The Sword Swallower 2011

STREET FORMULA – Build and create your own street show.

Las Vegas magic street performance

Magician Frank DeVille

2013 Edinburgh Festival Street Magician

Street magician, Seth Pastuszek/Seth Shepherd, Cambridge June 2013, part 1

Street magician, Seth Pastuszek/Seth Shepherd, Cambridge June 2013, part 2

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGc2Qt1BXyaTuV2fGivXpszfRWk9dklON

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Blues Guitar Documentary – “Busking The Blues” Starring Keni Lee Burgess

Roughly an hour and twenty minutes of masterful blues and busking. This is REAL blues, by a gentleman seeped in tradition and highly experienced making money on the streets. You’ll like this…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U58VwNRxoqU

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The Best Four Ace Trick – A Tutorial

‘Punchwater’ produced a video tutorial of a four Ace assembly from the Royal Road to Card Magic. Although this may not be the ‘best’ production, it’s definitely one of the easier ones. If performed properly, every thing is self-working. A little set up is involved, but that’s not a problem. Magicians will not be fooled… but if you perform for the public, they will most certainly be fooled.. assuming you’re not performing for a conference of math teachers….

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Making a Chop Cup: An Amateur’s Experience and Lessons Learned – PDF Tutorial

Capital Area Woodturners, a chapter of the American Association of Woodturners, details how to make your own Chop Cups. This is an ideal article for those of you who enjoy the DIY effects and props. Thanks again to our friend, Michael Lyth, for the heads up..

http://www.capwoodturners.org/Tips/Making%20a%20Chop%20Cup.pdf

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Learn The Awesome ‘WTF’ Vanish – Video Tutorial

Jay Sankey teaches his ‘WTF’ vanish. Anyone can do it. Give it a try as a method to vanish ANY small object. Side note.. When Sankey tells you at the beginning of the effect to go get two small strips of tape.. ignore him.. 😉

http://www.etricks.info/

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Figure shapes with playing cards – Turbo Cube Kirigami – Tutorial

FernandoP1 remains one of my favorite producers on Youtube. He always seems to hit the right buttons.
This amazing kirigami was invented by George Hart and named Tunnel-Cube. Have a look at the video to get a good look at the “Kirigami”…

To download the playing card template, go here:  http://goo.gl/tCwmnN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtzVDw9DABo

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Attention All Entertainers – A Special Swap Meet in Leola Pa.

Saturday, April 2 at 9 AM – 1 PM

This is not a convention or an auction. The point of this event is to give everyone an easy outlet for selling/swapping unneeded supplies.   Admission is free. The event is hosted by Steps to Success, a non profit early learning center. A donation jar & concessions to benefit Steps to Success will be available.

Tables can be reserved with a $5 donation. Please send your donation and contact information to Steps to Success, 56 Hillcrest Ave., Leola PA 17540. If you wish to reserve a table prior to the event you can also contact Tracie or Michelle at 717-656-3363. Tables are recommend for folks who are interested in spending the day and have boxes of items to swap or sell.

Everyone is welcome to buy, sell, or trade. We do ask that you stick to performance equipment: Magic, Juggling, Puppets, Face Painting, Balloon Twisting, DJ, etc. (This is not a garage sale.) Anything that would be used as an entertainer.  Steps to Success has a Swap Table of items donated from previous years. So bring a couple of items from home and trade them in for something new to you.

7:30am to 9:00am = Set up.

9:00am to 1:00pm = Swap meet. That’s 4 hours of fun.

1:00pm to 2:00pm = Tear down and clean up.

https://www.facebook.com/events/385417178323313/

Please contact Tait and Michelle Harbaugh at:

Email = insanityfactor@gmail.com

Phone = 717-451-3926

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The Secrets of Psychics & Mystics (The Hustlers Bible Book 2) Kindle Edition

http://amzn.to/1ntp2be

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6 Super Easy Magic Tricks To Impress Girls ..

Editors note.. Yes, this is the NEW direction the Roadshow will be taking in the New Year.. all about how to pick up women, or men, in the local pub. Hey, what else is magic good for? ( I hope you don’t think I’m serious..)

Impressing girls, hitting on them with any hope for a positive response has become something of a rarity in the 21st century, which is kind of a bummer for most men and women, too. We like to be wooed in a direct sense. But we also want it to be different from the run-off-the-mill stuff. No more cheesy pick-up lines!

Enter Urban Shaman—two extremely cool dudes, Azhar Pirani and Ian Fernandes, who make all our magician-fantasies (yes, women have those) come true! So here’s a guide to help you through the painful business of breaking the ice with women by using the likes of what Urban Shaman does best, or what we muggles like to call “Magic”!

All you do is have these 6 simple tricks up your sleeves.  (copy and paste this link..)

http://www.mensxp.com/relationships/impress-a-girl/28366-6-super-easy-magic-tricks-to-impress-girls-in-a-party.html

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The Expert in a Year Challenge – A Unique Challenge

An interesting proposition. I would like to see someone try this with magic and see how much a novice could learn in a years time. Master a shuffle, double lifts, maybe a second deal.. You get the idea. This could be combined with the blogging info in last months issue.. https://magicroadshow.com/172.php “How to Build a Profitable Website in 2015 in the Best Niche Online – Viperchill ”

“The Expert in a Year Challenge took part during 2014 and followed the progress of novice table tennis player Sam Priestley, as he attempted to go from beginner to expert in just one year and break into the top 250 players in England.”

“Sam Priestley was never Mr Sporty. After failed attempts at rowing and running he had all but given up on the possibility of becoming a sportsman. That was until childhood friend, and table tennis coach, Ben Larcombe convinced him to act as the guinea pig in an experiment he had concocted – The Expert in a Year Challenge.

Starting 1st January 2014 novice Sam was immersed in the world of competitive table tennis. He began training every day and over the course of the year notched up hundreds of hours of practice in an attempt to reach a seemingly impossible goal. There was blood, sweat, tears, injuries, frustrations and moments of elation as the pair travelled up and down the UK, and beyond, in their quest for training, mentors and competition. Sam found potential he never thought he had, got better at table tennis than most people thought possible, and discovered what it feels like when 1.5 million people watch you fail. Here is their story, including all the ridiculous training methods and unreachable goals, and the surprising lessons they learnt from playing table tennis every day for a year.”

https://youtu.be/4y21uwFUgkE

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Over 1700 FREE Courses and Videos on Almost Anything – Tutorials

Folks, all these courses are FREE. There is nothing to purchase or join, other than signing up for the free course itself. You’ll have lifetime access to the course and there are NO time limits to complete the course. Basically, they say “Here’s the course, here’s the links to the videos, now do as you wish…”

Examples..

Critical Thinker Academy: Learn to Think Like a Philosopher  157 lectures on 14.5 hours video

Facebook Marketing: Set Up Your First Like Campaign    13 lectures on 1 hour video

Code Your First Game: Arcade Classic in JavaScript on Canvas   12 lectures on 2 hour video

WordPress for Beginners    19 lectures on 2 hour video

Cyber Security (Hot!) from Devry University MOOC     15 lectures on 2.5 hours video

Hypnotherapy – What is Hypnosis?    10 lectures on 1 hour video

Russian Made Easy – Accelerated Learning for Russian   15 lectures on 4 hours video

Plus… Learn Italian, Work from Home, Data Management, Create Youtube pages,  Learn Photography, Learn Photoshop etc….

https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=free+courses&src=sac&lang=en

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19 Perfectly Timed Photos – Gallery

Thanks to our friend, Michael Lyth, for this interesting link. Not trick photography.. but simply a matter of positioning. Take a look..   (0)..(0)  ( copy & paste this link )

www.msn.com/en-gb/money/technology/the-optical-illusions-in-these-19-perfectly-timed-photos-will-make-you-look-twice/ss-BBoFGXE?ocid=mailsignout#image=20

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Popular Science: The Big Book of Hacks: 264 Amazing DIY Tech Projects

The ingenious and hilarious projects in The Big Book of Hacks are perfect for aspiring makers. And it’s all brought to you by the DIY masters at Popular Science magazine. This was easily one of my favorite purchases of 2015.. and it’s only $15.99 in heavy duty softback with metal corner protectors.

GEEK TOYS..  gaming hacks, pyrotechnics, quirky DIY robots.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS…  a laser-security system and a life-sized cardboard display of anyone you want.

GADGET UPGRADES … flash drive in an old cassette? Use a DIY stylus on a touchscreen? Improvise a fisheye lens for your camera.

http://amzn.to/1Trv0WW

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-Some people are like clouds.. When they go away, it’s a brighter day.

-Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way, you’ll be a mile from them…and you’ll have their shoes.

-Smile…while you still have teeth.

-I feel sorry for people who don’t have dogs… I hear they have to pick up food they drop on the floor.

-I enjoy doing nothing all day. Unfortunately, I never know when I’m done…

-God, please give me patience. If you give me strength, I’ll just punch ’em in the face.

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SIGN UP FOR THE MAGIC ROADSHOW….

Remember.. signing up for the Magic Roadshow Journal of Magic is Totally FREE. There is NO obligation and your email is 100% safe. (I don’t even share it with my closes fellow magicians..) You will be notified each month when a new issue of the Roadshow publishes and you can unsubscribe with one click.

Subscribe Here.. https://magicroadshow.com/

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MAGIC NEWS.org

You can get your magic fix on Magic News every week. Don’t wait a month for the next Roadshow. Instead, go to Magic News for the latest, along with the more interesting going-ons in the world of magic. Honestly, no other site publishes the breadth of magic related stories and videos as Magic News.

http://magicnews.org/

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LIKE us on FaceBook.. ( THANK YOU !! to all you Kind Folks who have…)

http://www.facebook.com/magicroadshow

http://www.facebook.com/themagicnews

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Magic Bullets from the Magic Roadshow – Our first 6 years of the Roadshow Blog..

http://streetmagic.info/blogger.html

______________

That does it for this issue. I hope you found something to help your magic along. Remember, if you have something you would like to share with the magic community, send it to: Rick@MagicRoadshow.com

“Vive Tus Sueños – Live Your Dreams “

Rick Carruth / Editor

Senior Professor – Camelard College of Conjuring of Chemmis, Egypt

“Magic’s Only Worldwide Honor Society”

http://www.camelardcollege.org/

_____________________________________

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THE FANTASY JACKS 

Paul A. Lelekis

This whole effect will appear to be using only the spectators’ imaginations, until they see the final TWO revelations!

This effect is very powerful magic!  Try it out just once and you’ll keep it in your repertoire!  The best part is that this trick is easy to do!

EFFECT: The 4 Jacks are placed into the card box.  Two selections are made and lost into the deck.  A spectator chooses three of the Jacks (by suit) which are “invisibly” removed from the card box and then tossed, invisibly into the deck – FACE UP!

When the deck is spread…the 3 chosen Jacks have trapped the 2 selections!

When the card box is opened – that’s right – the lone, unchosen Jack is found inside!  You start clean and you end clean!  This is completely impromptu!

 METHOD: This effect is very unsettling to the layperson, yet quite easy to do…but it does require a little acting.  Remove the deck from the card box and place the empty box off to the side.

Speak about using the imagination and how fantasy can become reality.  As you patter, remove the four Jacks from the deck, arranging them in alternating colors, making certain that the Jack of Hearts is at the back of the face-up Jacks.

Step #1:

Your left hand holds the deck as you secretly get a left pinkie break beneath the top card.  Pick up the four face-up Jacks in right hand Biddle grip and place them atop the deck, adding the broken card to the bottom of the face-up Jacks.

Pick up the 5 card packet and call out the four Jacks as you drag each Jack from the packet into a face-up row, overlapping to your right.

The Jack of Hearts will now be a double on top of the other three Jacks in an overlapping row with a face down indifferent card beneath the Jack of Hearts (JH).

Here comes the dirty work!  With your right hand still in Biddle grip, square up the four Jacks atop the deck and then lift up ONLY the Jack of Hearts, leaving the face down indifferent card on top of the deck, concealing the other three face-up Jacks!

While doing this, tilt the deck down a little and keep your right fingers at the outer edge of the JH, covering that fact that it is only one card!

It will appear as if you hold four face-up Jacks!  Don’t worry…the spectators will absolutely believe that you hold the four Jacks!  The illusion is perfect!  I’ve performed this countless times and not ONE person ever suspected anything!

The face-down indifferent card will hide the other three face-up Jacks!  Turn your left hand, palm down, and set the now face-up deck onto the table.

This will insure that the three face-up Jacks will not accidently “break” and will keep them hidden!

Step #2: 

Pick up the card box with your left hand and slide the Jack of Hearts (supposedly all four Jacks!) into the card box.  Close the top and set the box down, off to your right.  Pay no mind to the card box…everyone believes all four Jacks are inside!

Pick the deck back up and turn it face down onto your left hand.  Announce that you need two cards to be selected.  Have two spectators select cards by riffling the outer left corner of the deck with your left thumb, being certain that you don’t expose the three face-up Jacks beneath the top card!  This is pretty easy and convincing.

After the two selections are made, you may opt to have them signed…I am a big fan of cards being signed, but NOT in this effect!  You may have them signed if you wish, but I don’t believe that it will affect the outcome, demonstrably.

 Step #3: 

Get a left pinkie break under the TOP THREE CARDS (the top, face-down card and two of the face-up Jacks!) and TILT the first selection into the break.  It is assumed that the reader knows what Marlo’s TILT is.

With your right thumb at the rear of the deck, release a card so that you have a break now under only the TOP TWO CARDS and re-take this break with your left pinkie at the rear of the deck.  TILT the second selection into this break.

Undercut the deck several times with small cuts, to the top of the deck, centralizing the three face-up Jacks (with the two face-down selections “sandwiched” in between them!) and then set the deck down onto the table.

Step #4: Imagination…a very deceptive equivoque!

Pick up the card box and ask a spectator a question as follows:

“Ma’am, were going to have a little bit of fun…a little bit of fantasy right now!” (This line always makes the women giggle!)  “There are four Jacks in the box, the Jack of Spades, the Jack of Clubs, the Jack of Diamonds and the Jack of Hearts!”

“There are two black Jacks and two red Jacks.  Now if you were ME…and I’m hoping you’re not…what do you think I would choose, the two black Jacks or the two the two red Jacks?”

This method of the spectator “choosing” for the performer is quite deceptive!  No matter what she chooses, red Jacks or black Jacks, you will proceed as follows:

“O.K., I will remove the two black Jacks from the card box…but magically!  Remember this is just fantasy!  First I’ll remove the Jack of Clubs, invisibly, from the card box.  Here ma’am, take the invisible Jack of Clubs and toss it, face up, into the deck!”

(Pretend to magically “pull” the invisible JC from the box and “hand it” to the spectator so she can “toss” it into the deck, face up.)  This will get giggles!

“Now I will remove the Jack of Spades from the card box!”

(Pretend to remove the invisible JS from the card box and hand it to the spectator.)   “Please throw the invisible Jack of Spades into the deck…again, face up!” She complies.

“Thank you Ma’am!  Now we’re left…supposedly!… with only the two red

Jacks in the card box!  Of course…this is only fantasy!”

“Now if you were YOU…and I’m hoping you are…which Jack do you think you would you choose, the Jack of Hearts or the Jack of Diamonds?”

(Again, whichever one she chooses, you will interpret it exactly the same! If she says the JH, then that’s one you leave in the box…if she says, JD, then that’s the one you will “remove”!  This method of equivoqué is extremely deceptive!)

“O.K., I’ll just invisibly remove the Jack of Diamonds from the card box and hand it to you to toss, face up, into the deck!”

She will sheepishly take the invisible JD, turn it face up, and pretend to toss it into the deck.

Reiterate the proceedings:

“O.K., this was just a little bit of fun, a little bit of fantasy…but you have supposedly tossed the Jack of Clubs, the Jack of Spades and the Jack of Diamonds, face up, into the deck, leaving the Jack of Hearts, only, inside of the card box!”

 

Step #5: The Final Revelations!

You are in a very good place!  You have performed some fantasy moves (and admitted to them!) but now you’re set for an amazing finish!

“Wow!  If THAT worked – I wonder…”  Spread the deck out and show the three face-up Jacks in the middle, and in between each Jack, is a face down card!

“Look at that!  There are the three Jacks that you tossed into the deck,

Ma’am!  Those two face-down cards must be…the two selections!  WOW!”

“Well let’s see what is inside of the card box!”  Hand the card box to a spectator and ask her to open it up and show what’s inside.  It is the “unchosen” Jack of Hearts!  This will come as a huge shock to the spectators…guaranteed!  Watch the look on her face…she will freak out!

This is a startling conclusion!  AND you end clean!

ADVICE: DO NOT ask the spectators what their selections are before you reveal the two face-down “sandwiched” cards.  This will only serve to confuse and/or distract the spectators from the final revelation – in fact they might have even forgotten what their selections are!  The selections are implied and are secondary!  The spectators can then focus on the amazing events that have just occurred.

As I mentioned earlier, this trick is very easy to do…it just requires some acting ability from the performer.

You begin clean, you end clean and it’s easy to do…and you can even use a borrowed deck!  It just doesn’t get any better than this!  Have fun with it!

You can view ALL of Paul’s ebooks, currently 25 and growing, at Lybrary.com .. They are, undoubtedly, some of the best values in all of magic..  Many are considered underground classics and several NEW publications are on the short list…

http://lybrary.com/paul-a-lelekis-m-163788.html

Also, you can now purchase Paul’s ebook’s at Penguin Magic  http://www.penguinmagic.com

   Check out MAGIC TRICK REVIEWS on Facebook and join the community!

You will be doing my friend, Jim Canaday, and me a BIG favor. !!!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1755782251317278/

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Marriage Proposal #3: “IT HAS A NICE RING TO IT” 

By Eliyahu Wincelberg

Proposal #3 in Eliyahu’s series of marriage proposals utilizing magic is a winner. You need to use this effect in your routine, whether you intend to propose to the Love of your life.. or whether you’ve been happily married for 40 years. Detailed instructions and informative pictures are included in the downloadable PDF…

“Welcome back to my column on proposing with magic! This month’s trick is super easy and requires zero set-up. You could probably perform this within two minutes of learning it. Of all of the proposal ideas I’ve thought of this is the one I imagine the most people will do because it’s so practical and so magical.  One thing that’s fun about this month’s proposal is that we are going to explore a fascinating mentalism concept for a trick that seems to have nothing to do with mentalism.”

“One of the goals I set out with when I started was to not require any props that you don’t already have. Although I do think it’s fair to assume that you probably do have flash paper I started feeling a little guilty about that so I came up with two other methods to perform this trick that doesn’t require any special props. I am going to start by explaining my favorite version which is the basic flash paper version and then go back and explain what to do differently if you don’t have flash paper, and then I’ll finally round the whole thing out with a couple of other variations you might like.  You are going to LOVE this!”

“Before we get into it I just want to remind everyone that for the last month that this column runs I want to print your proposal tricks. What tricks did you use to propose? How did it work? Any funny stories about it you want to share? Any pictures? If you created your own trick for the occasion do you want to share it with the rest of the readers of this column? If you have anything to share please send it to:  ewincelberg@gmail.com

https://www.dropbox.com/s/zyeco9b23jtnhuz/It%20has%20a%20nice%20ring%20to%20it.pdf?dl=0

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“We don’t PAY the price of success. We ENJOY the price of success. We PAY the price of failure.”   Zig Ziglar.

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Script of “This” Silk Production Of Diet Cheerwine 

(or substitute Diet Coke, or any other soft drink with bottle only one third full for weight)

(patter begins looking at audience)  “Have you ever misplaced something, went to get it and couldn’t find it ?”

(pause for that to sink into their minds)  “….you know what I mean. It happened the other day when I went to finish a diet Cheerwine I had been drinking ……..I couldn’t find it !!”  (go and get the silks)

“I went to the kitchen thinking I had left it there.” (as this is said pull out the red silk and flip it around …… up/down, left/right and replace it in front of the blue silk)  “It wasn’t there.”

“So then I went to the living room and looked there.”  (as this is said flip out the yellow silk and flip it around ………….up/down, …………..left/right …..and then replace it in front of the red silk.)  “It wasn’t there !”

“I couldn’t find it …….so I went to the bedroom and looked for it there. …………………but it wasn’t there !!”  (flip out the blue silk and flip it around ……….up/down  …..left/right and then replace it in front of the yellow silk.)

“And then I went back to the kitchen and all of a sudden I looked and there it was right in front of my eyes  ………..the  half bottle of Cheerwine.  And that my friends is magic happening all about us all the time if we stop and look !” (pause as you show the bottle and you will most likely get applause,  I have )

Questions or comments?

William (Bill) R Ragsdale

514 Heilig Avenue

Salisbury, NC 28144

704-630-0130

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Bob Solari –  Cunning Card Case / Ultra Match

From:  Solari – Live in Your Living Room

I recently got my grubby little mitts on Bob’s new DVD, Solari – Live in Your Living Room.. I wanted to review the entire DVD, but I realized I couldn’t really do it justice in one review. Instead, I’ve decided to review a couple of effects as a prelude to the two DVD set. This way I can review other effects in the future as 21 total effects is just a little much for one meal.

Let me say first that the two DVDs run over three solid hours of presentation and instruction. That’s a lot, particularly if you know Bob and his magic. Unlike some uber-magicians who can write pages and pages to cover the subtleties of one effect, Bob doesn’t need to… His magic is designed for the everyday magician who wants a new effect for the restaurant or his buddies and doesn’t want a knucklebuster or a six month ‘project’ they may, or may not, master.  All of his effects can be performed with a little practice and/or preparation, and frequently use simple-but-sly gaffs or props provided with his commercial effects. Most of the effects on this DVD require simple items like paper clips, a ring box, double backed cards, or, as with Cunning Card Case, a gaffed card box you can make in two minutes. Don’t let any of this deter you.. as there’s nothing needed you probably don’t have around the house.

Cunning Card Case has the magi bringing a deck of cards, apparently in the case, from his pocket and showing it to the spectator. After a little chitter chatter, the magi turns the deck in his hands and vanishes the card case. The previously cased deck is now nothing more than a deck of cards, spread openly, and ready for Ultra Match. The gaff is easy to make, very convincing, and can be taken out of play with one simple, logical, move. I have seen similar, less convincing gaffs selling for virtually the price of Bob’s DVD.

Ultra Match is the perfect follow-up. You’re holding a deck of cards in your hand.. so immediately take their thoughts to another place. You’re going to need a little pay envelope, big enough to hold three playing cards comfortably. You can use a plain white envelope if you want. You’ll also need a paper clip.

With these two items, you’re set to let your spectator(s) shuffle the deck and select three random cards. After a slight bit of visual instructions by the magi, the spectators are amazed to find that the three cards in the envelope are a perfect match to the three selected cards.

I really like Ultra Match. It’s so easy to perform, uses no gaffs, and can really impress your audience with the right patter. Performed in tandem with Cunning Card Case, it’s a one-two combination that goes beyond the typical ‘pick a card’ and establishes the magi as both a sleight of hand and mental magic performer in a matter of minutes.

The two DVD set is available for $34.95

http://www.bobsolarimagic.com/shop/Solari-Live-in-your-Living-Room-DVD-Set

(A number of Bob’s effects are now available on Penguin Magic..)

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Connect with Your Audience

John Kinde

Connecting with an audience is a critical skill for an effective speaker.. (or magician).

Here are a few thoughts on how you can connect with your audiences and have more impact.

1.  Observational Humor makes connections.  It’s a type of humor that is based on shared experience.  It also connects the audience to the speaker because they know that the speaker is one of them and totally present.

They also know that the humor has been prepared just for them, which also gives them a reason to like the speaker and feel a close connection. And laughter is a shared experience and builds a sense of community.

2.  One-time-use jokes another form of connecting humor.  Like Observational Humor, one-time-use jokes are special because they are written just for that audience.  They are customized, personalized and most likely can’t be used again for a different audience.  That provides a

special connection between the speaker and the audience.  Joke forms which carry one-time-use humor are vehicles like Carnacks, Anagrams, Acronyms, and Parodies.  Limericks and poems can be customized for one-time-use.

3. Use of their names is a simple way to customize your humor and build bonds.  People love the sound of their own name.  The statistics and calculus professor in Grad School, used people’s names to keep their attention.  As you can see, Marilyn, the simple act of dropping a student’s name into a sentence keeps them awake, paying attention, and bonds them to the instructor.  A person’s name is also a good source of humor.  If Bob Brown is wearing a brown coat, there might be some humor in that.  That process also taps into one-time-use humor.  Using a

person’s name in one-on-one conversation also provides a good connection with the listener.

4.  Eye contact provides an instant connection.  The wondows to the soul, the eyes provide soul-to-soul connection.  And effective eye contact transforms a monologue into two-way conversation.  When speaking to a large group, focus on conversational eye contact.  Really look at your audience members and never spray the audience with eye contact, but have genuine conversational eye contact.

5.  A smile attracts and connects.  It is a contagious form of body language that links two people.  Sharing a smile is disarming and it builds bridges.  A person who smiles is likable and trust-worthy.

6.  Story telling connects the audience with your world.  It paints your pictures in their heads.  They become linked to you by visualizing your experience and that provides you connection and power as a speaker.

7.  Be connected.  Be effective.  Make a difference.

About the Author

John Kinde provides Keynote Programs on humor, teambuilding and customer service.  He also presents workshops and coaching on humor, presentation skills, and improv skills for business.  You will find humor skills articles at www.HumorPower.com.

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Al Albers’ presentation and handling of: Aldo Colombini’s “The Wichita Deal”

Background.

The “Bank Night” plot was made famous by a Scottish magician in the mid-1930s.  In this effect, one of five envelopes contains money; the other four have a folded-up blank piece of paper.  After the envelopes were mixed each spectator chose an envelope.  The performer took the last one, which when opened, turned out to be the one with the money.

The “Wichita Deal,” in its own way, is a variation of the “Bank Night” plot.  However, when the four spectators opened their respective envelope, their reward was a witticism.  The performer’s envelope contained a 100-dollar bill.

In reworking this routine, I replaced the witticisms with an ESP card so I can segue into a mental routine by reaching into a shirt or jacket pocket for the remaining symbol card.  Instead of money, there is a prediction card.  In my humble opinion, the ESP/prediction cards abolish “the sting” of a spectator not winning the cash.

Don’t wish to use ESP cards?  Consider inserting your business card or a personal advertising piece into the four envelopes.

Effect.

A deck of cards is removed from its case, shuffled and then a spectator randomly selects a card near the center of the deck.  Next, five envelopes are given to the spectator with a request to “mix them up.”  The spectator keeps four of the envelopes; the last one is given to the performer.  When the spectator opens his envelopes, he finds that each contains an ESP card.  However, the magician’s envelope contains a playing card that matches the spectator’s chosen card.

What You Need.

•A regular deck of cards.

•A sharpie pen.

•Five envelopes.

•Four different ESP cards.

•A duplicate of the forced card.

Preparation.

•Insert an ESP card in each of four envelopes.

•Insert the duplicate of the forced card into the last envelope.

•Discreetly mark the envelope containing the duplicate card so you know which one it is.

•From the deck, remove the card being forced and place it on top.  Next remove any two-spot card and place it on top of the forced card.  Place the deck back into its case.

To Perform.

Remove the cards from its case and execute a few riffle shuffles, keeping the top two cards intact.

You’re now going to execute Bill Simon’s Business Card Prophesy Move (from Effective Card Magic).  Using both hands slowly spread the cards; ask a spectator to touch a card near the center and pull it halfway out.  Firmly hold the outjogged card in place with your left thumb.  Square up the packet to the right of the selected card and then lift up the right hand (thumb is on top and fingers underneath).  As you do this, turn your right hand palm down and place it slightly above the left hand packet.  Using your right thumb, grasp the outjogged card.  Move the right hand packet and card slightly away from the left (hand) and turn your right hand palm up.  (The outjogged card will now be face-up on the facedown packet.)  Without hesitation, place the left hand packet directly on top of the right hand’s cards.  Square up the deck and place it on the table.

Reach into your jacket pocket or other holding device, remove the five envelopes and drop them on the table.  Reach back into your jacket pocket, withdraw the Sharpie pen and place it alongside the envelopes.

Say, “In a moment, I’m going to have you remove the first face-down card where the deck was cut.  That card will tell us how many envelopes I’ll move from top to bottom.  For example, if the card is a seven, I’ll move an envelope from top to bottom, one at a time, until that number is reached.  After you initial the envelope, it’ll be placed aside and we’ll repeat the process until you have four randomly selected envelopes.  The last envelope is mine.”

Scoop up the envelopes, hand them to the spectator with a request to “mix them up.”  When she finishes, take them back and slightly ribbon-spread them in your hand.  As you do this, look for the marked envelope.  (There is a one-in-five chance that the marked envelope will be in fourth position.  If it is, you’re ready to proceed.  However, if it isn’t, you need to subtly move it into position.  For these instructions, we’ll assume the envelope is in the fourth position.)  Square up the envelopes and place them aside, for a moment.

Ribbon-spread the facedown deck from right to left; slightly separate the cards using the solitary face-up card (let’s assume it’s the JS) as the separation point.

Point to the JS and say, “This is the card where the deck was separated.  I’ll use the value of the first facedown card to determine how many envelopes are moved from top to bottom.”  Slide out the card.  Say, “Okay, two it is.”

Hand the spectator the Sharpie.  Next, scoop up and hold the envelopes in your left hand.  Move two envelopes one at a time from the top of the packet to the bottom as you count aloud.  Hand the spectator the third envelope and say, “Please initial it.”  When she does, have her place the envelope on the table.  Repeat the process three move times.  At this point only one envelope remains unsigned.  Say, “This one is mine.”  (It’s not necessary to for you to initial the envelope, but you can.)  Place the last envelope on the table in front of you and then retrieve the Sharpie.

Addressing the spectator, say, “The next facedown card is your randomly selected card.”  Slide it out, but don’t turn it over just yet.

Turn over the JS, scoop up both packets and square the deck, and then ribbon-spread it face-up.  Say, “You could have picked any one of these, but you selected the King of Diamonds (or whatever force card you’re using.)”

Have the spectator open each of his envelopes and remove the card inside.  When she does, she’ll find that they’re ESP cards.

Remove the card from your envelope and place it face-up on the table.  It matches the spectator’s chosen card.

Al has been studying the art of magic for over 40 years.  A part-time professional magician since 1981, he has entertained thousands of people throughout the United States, and in such diverse locales as Palma de Majorca, Spain; Naples, Italy; Tunis, Tunisia; Barcelona, Spain; Alexandria, Egypt; Kingston, Jamaica; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; and the U. S. Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. Al is also a respected author, having published four mystery novels, Of Ghosts and Magic, House of Tarot Cards, A Pocket Full of Voices, and The Last Goodbye, feature protagonist John Michaels, a retired Master Magician living in Virginia Beach. Visit Al’s website at:  http://www.alfredalbers.com/Pages/default.aspx

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Approaching Magic practice – Dominic Reyes

In this 102 page book, professional magician Dominic Reyes shares advice and techniques he has learned about effective magic practice over more than 20 years. The book is intended to give you a structured plan of action, ways to get faster results, and practical tips that will make a huge difference to your approach to learning magic tricks.

“Take just 1% of the time you spend browsing the internet for new magic tricks, and spend it organising your practice regime. By practising smart, you can get to the mastery of any magic technique or trick much faster than you ever thought possible… ”

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rj7edbs299n48fj/Approaching-Magic-Practice-Dominic-Reyes.pdf?dl=0

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The Allerton Control Video Tutorial

Card control is essential. What more can I say..

“Guest instructor Cristian Pestritu teaches a practical and simple method for controlling a spectators card in the action of cleanly placing it into the center of the deck. This method is efficient in motion and is reliable in execution.”

http://52kards.com/video/the-allerton-control/

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How to Build a Profitable Website in 2015 in the Best Niche Online – Viperchill

I found this site very interesting, particularly since it was about the business of magic on the web. Check it out.

“Here’s the Magic Project I Would Start (& The Most Important Thing to Remember In All Of This)

The results of this research have been interesting to me, but not entirely surprising.

I assumed Reddit would have had a bigger community of Magicians (though maybe I just can’t find them) but for the most part, things were as I expected. I had (rightfully) assumed before going into this that blogs on the topic wouldn’t be huge but Facebook and Youtube would be big portals for beginner and advanced magicians.

It also makes sense that there are forums to cater to people who want to discuss their love of performing.

So, based on the original scenario, what would I do?

Well, my answer isn’t in the style of website I would build, but in the angle I would take. Quite simply, I would likely brand myself as The World’s Worst Magician (seriously) and take it from there.”

http://www.viperchill.com/profitable-website-2015/

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You can get your magic fix on Magic News every week. Don’t wait a month for the next Roadshow. Instead, go to Magic News for the latest, along with the more interesting going-ons in the world of magic. Honestly, no other site publishes the breadth of magic related stories and videos as Magic News.

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That does it for this issue. I hope you found something to help your magic along. Remember, if you have something you would like to share with the magic community, send it to: Rick@MagicRoadshow.com

“Vive Tus Sueños – Live Your Dreams “

Rick Carruth / Editor

Senior Professor – Camelard College of Conjuring of Chemmis, Egypt

“Magic’s Only Worldwide Honor Society”

http://www.camelardcollege.org/

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