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MR LIFTO – A Review

MR LIFTO – A Review

MR. LIFTO – by Ryan Schlutz
Murphy’s Magic
$22.00

Created by Ryan Schultz and Big Blind Media, this virtually self-working effect is suitable for all skill levels. Here is the promo…

“MR LIFTO is a self-working slab of uber visual magic. A card is selected and lost in the deck. A heap of random cards are taken from the deck and piled up on the table. You gently rub your hands together to ‘generate some static charge’!

Then you place your hand on top of the stack of cards, and slowly, incredibly as you lift your hand upwards, THE CARDS ARE STUCK TO YOUR HAND!

There is no visible means of support – yet the cards are stuck. Suddenly the cards drop to the table. All except one. Their selection. Powerful, visual magic that is super easy to perform.

Comes with special gimmicks included. Just a grab a deck and you’re ready to go!
Simple setup that can remain in place all day, waiting for a chance to perform
No I.T. or complex setup
Super easy to perform”

First, it’s very safe to say the promo is very accurate. Your performance will be as described, which can be a rarity in todays world of magic. Everything you need to perform Mr. Lifto is provided, including almost 20 minutes of video instructions on DVD. I’m sure they could have stretched it out to 40 minutes.. but I appreciate that Ryan kept everything straight forward and simple.

You will generally need a table to perform Mr. Lifto. I do know that some performers will try to align the cards in a spectator’s hand, which isn’t impossible, but it’s probably a challenge that can be avoided. Other than a table and a deck of cards.. and the provided two gimmicks.. you’re set.

As with most effects, the ‘story’ is vital. Yes, you can place your hand on a stack of cards, say ‘watch’ and make it levitate… but who the heck wants to? Ryan has concocted a scripted effect that permits the simple gimmicks to perform way over their head. He not only utilizes the conventional pick-a-card routine, but brings the effect to a very successful conclusion by using a real natural force that the spectator understands, one that explains why the cards stick to his hand, but not how the spectators card is magically singled out from among the mashup..

If you think you know how Mr. Lifto works, you’re probably correct. There are no methods involved that will leave the magic world stunned and amazed.. But Mr Lifto isn’t intended to win FISM… It’s intended to entertain your audience, make them laugh, surprise them, and make them stick around for more.

Ryan teaches all the methods you’ll need to make everything work. The production values are very good, typical Big Blind Media, and you should have no problem performing Mr Lifto within 30 minutes of receiving it. For the money, it’s well worth the value -IF- you’ll use it and make it a part of your routine.

I would recommend it for street performances and walk around, assuming you have the surface. Restaurant work would be a very good presentation platform. Mr. Lifto is fun to perform and your audience will sense your enjoyment. A wise performer noted many years ago that when a performer smiles, the audience smiles back.. and when a performer enjoys his performance, the audience increases their enjoyment proportionally. Give Mr. Lifto a try… For $22.00 you can’t afford not to…

Available at dealers carrying the Murphy’s Magic line of quality products..
http://www.murphysmagic.com/Product.aspx?id=59069

Image result for mr lifto card trick

7 Epic Magician Rivalries…

7 Epic Magician Rivalries…

n the 2006 film The Prestige, Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale portray magicians in 19th-century London who go to great lengths to outdo one another on stage. While that was a fictional tale, it was undoubtedly inspired in part by the very real rivalries that have existed in the conjuring arts for centuries. Take a look at seven feuds where one party hoped the other could be made to just disappear.

1. HOUDINI VS. CIRNOC

Wikimedia Commons

In August 1900, legendary escape artist Harry Houdini began a two-week run at London’s famed Alhambra Theatre. Just minutes into his first show, a magician known as Cirnoc bellowed from the audience that he, not Houdini, was the “original” king of handcuff escapes. Fearing he might lose his audience to the publicity-seeking Cirnoc, Houdini made a quick escape from a notoriously difficult pair of handcuffs that didn’t allow the wearer to reach the keyhole. He then challenged Cirnoc to do the same, offering him $500 if he succeeded.

The upstart failed, and he was sheepishly forced to acknowledge Houdini’s superiority before leaving the stage. Cirnoc, whose real name was Paul Conrich, died just three years later. Read more…

http://mentalfloss.com/article/93828/7-epic-magician-rivalries

A Magician’s Expert Tips on How Not to Miss What’s Right in Front of You..

A Magician’s Expert Tips on How Not to Miss What’s Right in Front of You..

Ever worry that you might be missing the obvious? You are.  A magician explains how to avoid it.

By Rita J. King

Being an entrepreneur means having your attention pulled in a dozen directions at once. What are you missing that you really need to see?

Since there’s no such thing as multitasking and every interruption can cost you up to 25 minutes, the key is to establish focus. The scary thing is, what we focus on tends to be so predictable that magicians can use it to trick us. So I kept my eyes on the best magician I could find, the brilliant Prakash Puru, to see what I could learn. There’s a reason why Salon calls him “the country’s leading close-up magician,” and Time Out New York says he’s “one of New York’s most skilled and original tricksters.”

I ended up with a few more lessons than I expected.

  • Pay attention. You miss almost everything, including things that take place right under your nose. You might consider yourself a very attentive person, but Prakash will handily disabuse you of that foolish notion. I co-direct Science House in Manhattan. Prakash came to perform his show, How Magicians Think. The first time he did a trick involving a glass of water next to my elbow, I wasn’t surprised that he managed to sneak a physical object past me. But what about the second time? The third time? Even then, I couldn’t see how he was doing something that more or less involved my own elbow. This made me wonder: what else might I be missing? And what is it that seems perfectly clear to me, but might not to our customers?
  • Question everything. A good magic trick combines misdirection, psychology, sleight-of-hand, design, and the ability to tell a convincing lie. “You suggest the lie,” Prakash says, “and then people will tell it to themselves, and start to believe it.” What assumptions are we making, whether about our customers, our markets, the world, or our own company’s products and services that might not be true? Analyzing assumptions might be one of the best things you can do for your business immediately.
  • Practice. A lot. People understand when someone trains everyday with the hope of winning a gold medal in the Olympics, Prakash says, but they don’t expect someone to have practiced sleight of hand for eight to 12 hours a day, year after year. No matter what it is you do or sell, you should practice every single day with a clear understanding of your own weaknesses. Prakash practices every gesture in the mirror until he can do it without looking, because sometimes it’s the illusion of weight in one hand while you’re holding the coin in the other that brings a trick to life.

Business isn’t magic, but with practice you can make it feel that way for your customers and truly delight them.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com. PUBLISHED ON: MAR 28, 2017
Source:  http://www.inc.com/rita-j-king/three-tips-on-focus-from-a-magician.html