DVD Review: Money Starring Jay Noblezada

Jay Noblezada has a new instructional DVD on money magic; appropriately named "Money Starring Jay Noblezada." Jay had a smash hit DVD on coin magic called "In The Beginning There Were Coins" (ITBTHC) that is a brilliant introduction to coin sleight of hand. Money magic is a slightly different genre of magic than coin magic. It has a different vibe. People get interested when you're waving valuable bills around. Money magic also differs by relying more on presentation and gimmicks than pure skill.



The format of the Money DVD is quite a bit different than Jay's earlier ITBTHC DVD. ITBTHC was a introduction to coins starting with individual sleights such as palms and vanishes. Money is pure magic tricks. These are hard hitting illusions with paper money.


Marketing Fluff


From the Penguin Magic web site...

MONEY. It's hard to imagine a better item to do magic with. Everybody has it. Your spectators are literally walking around right now with your props in their wallets, pockets, and purses. And everybody cares about it. When there's money in play, you've got their attention. This DVD will take you from beginner in money magic to the point where you can do an entire act with just the money and props in your wallet. The focus of the DVD is four show pieces. These are four of the strongest effects in money magic. Learn these effects and you'll be able to entertain anywhere you go. The DVD also features a bonus section packed with fun money tricks and puzzles. Incorporate your favorite items from the bonus section into your money act.

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner. But don't let that put you off if your an intermediate to advanced mage as they are strong effects. The difficulty is in the presentation. A creative presentation is going to make these tricks appear to be miracles. A good presentation is going to hide the flaws, dirty work and gimmicks associate with your money magic.

Teaching

Jay Noblezada is one of the best instructors I've seen. He is thorough and his pace is slow. He gives you many different handlings and variations. He makes this DVD engaging and fun to watch.

One of the key factors in the DVD format in comparison to books is the ability to show actual performances for real people. You get not only one street performance but multiple street and restaurant performances of the same effect. Although it looks a bit silly, you also get a spectator point-of-view helmet camera!

Jay doesn't credit the creators or reference external resources for the effects during his instruction. You will find that some of the effects are prominently credited within the ending credits. I'm guessing that a few of the originators have been lost. Joshua does credit some of the basic sleights in his effect.

Quantity of Effects

You're going to get a lot of material on this DVD - a total of 16 effects. I'm not sure I would classify any of these effects as a "routine." My definition of a routine is a multiphase trick or lengthy presentation of an effect. With the exception of Cornered, these tricks are quick and hard hitting. Only 12 of these are tricks - 2 are gags and 2 are puzzles.

Penguin is marketing this as four effects. The other material are bonus effects. I think I would have been happy with the four effects so the bonus material is just icing on the cake. Penguin sells a few of these effects as instant downloads so this DVD is a more cost effective method of purchasing a variety of money magic than forking out $10 per trick. Here are the effects you'll get:

Five and 1 Transpo
Two Dollar Window
Cornered by Joshua Jay
Alpha Cash

Joke the Ripper
George Smiles
Torn and Restored Bill
Insta Cash
Pennie Split
Dollar Division
Psychic Steal
$100 Bill Switch
Sweet Surprise
Haunted Dollar Bill

Five Coins
Heads and Tails


Quality of Effects

From jaw dropping to ho-hum. The four "showcase" effects are very strong. Among the bonus effects, Psychic Steal and Haunted Bill are my favorites so I'll review these tricks:

Five and One Transpo is an in-the-spectators-hand effect. It uses a gimmicked bill which is easy to construct. The spectator is holding the $1 while the mage holds the $5. The mage waves the bill and it visibly transforms into the $1. The spectator is surprised to find they are now holding the $1.

Two Dollar Window is my favorite so far. This trick relies on another brilliant, yet easy to construct gimmick. The mage show the front and backs of two $1 bills. The mage hypnotizes the spectators as he/she folds the two bills into a small packet. Without skipping a beat the mage unfolds the packet. In place of two $1 bills there is now a single $2 bill in it's place. You show the bill front and back and you look extremely clean at this point. This is going to be the opener I utilize to grab attention in an impromptu setting.

Cornered is a creative torn and restored bill by Joshua Jay. Joshua provides the teaching and does a great job. He provides some interesting variations that would astonish. This is my first Joshua Jay trick and I would certainly purchase more of his materials in the future.

Alpha Cash is a rework on Patrick Page's classic Easy Money. There are a number of variations of this effect on the market. Extreme Burn, Heiny 500, Hundy 500, Prophet, et. al. If you're buying this DVD just for Alpha Cash then you would be happier with one of the others. After watching the other versions, Heiny 500 is my favorite. The count is more natural than Alpha Cash and the change is more startling.

That being said, Alpha Cash is still a strong effect. The plot is simple; you count out five $1 bills. A quick flip of the wrist and the change to $20s. I haven't performed this one yet. The downsides are the strange count, it is very angle sensitive and very dirty. Plus, if you follow Jay's presentation, someone might walk away with your $100.

At the end of the DVD, Jay shows an alternate presentation of Alpha Cash using ordinary paper instead of $1's. It's a fun bit to watch Jay pay for his restaurant bill with worthless paper - only to shake it into real money for the dumbfounded waiter.

Psychic Steal is the best of the bonus material. It is a dandy little feat of mentalism. Nothing new or groundbreaking but Jay's handling of the revelation is novel. Borrow a dollar bill and divine the serial number. Like most mentalism, it's 2% sleight of hand and 98% acting.

The Haunted Dollar Bill is another Penguin instant download that made it onto this DVD collection. I loved the Haunted Deck! I had almost added it's brother, the Haunted Bill to my shopping card many, many times. The method is be easily discovered if you're not careful with the lighting and clothing selection. Almost self-working, the real skill comes in camoflaging the method and coming up with a scary story. I'm thinking about to to a coin shop and purchasing an old (but not too rare) bill to add to the mystique. In the right situation (Halloween party) this is going to freak your friends.


Joke the Ripper and George Smiles are not tricks at all. Amusing diversions at best. George Smile might be fun to teach your kids - making George Washington smile and frown via a little optical illusion.

Insta Cash is a little ditty that use two credit cards. Showing front and back of each card cleanly (sort of), you shake a bill from between the two cards. Insta Cash teaches you a nice little sleight that could come in useful with credit cards and playing cards.

Torn and Restore Bill has you tearing out George Washington's head, eating the head and spitting it back onto the bill. When Jay demo'ed it on the street it looked great one time and really bad another time. I think any kind of close examination by a non-drunk spectator is going to reveal the method.

Production Quality

Cool factor is high! Noblezada makes the hippest magic DVDs out there. It's tough to completely comment because I haven't receive the physical media yet. This review is based on the downloadable version so I can't comment on the menuing system yet as the download version plays like a video tape. The music is catchy but a little repetitive.

Overall: 7/10

For someone who doesn't have a lot of money tricks in their toolbox, this is a great value. Two Dollar Window is an over-exposed effect but it is a killer effect so don't over look this gem. This trick is permanently replacing the Greed gimmick in my wallet. Pull out this little $2 wonder and you're going to instantly establish yourself as a real magician on the spot in every circumstance.

If you already know some of this material, you might give it a much lower score than I. This DVD doesn't have the wealth of foundational material that ITBTWC does but it packs in a lot of tricks that could fill out your repertoire and add a welcome break from your deck of cards.

Learning the Pass - Part 1

I'm finally getting around to learning one of the oldest manuevers in the book; The Pass. I had not encountered many tricks that required a pass. It seems most tricks rely on double lifts, false cuts, false counts and false shuffles. To get a feel for the power of the pass, check out the following video of a brilliantly executed pass by Jonathan Kam.



The pass is a type of card control. Controls allow the mage to move about a specific card(s) within the deck without the spectator realizing the movement is occuring. Card controls date back at least as far as was published in Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584.

Royal Road to Card Magic (RRTCM) provides a short history of the pass, implying that for centuries the pass was the most important of all sleights. Early card workers were taught that all other sleights were not important until this very difficult move was mastered. However, RRTCM makes a strong case for not learning the pass until many other more basic sleights are perfected.

In my training as a cardician, I'm certainly going to agree that the pass has not been that important so far. However, I finally came across a really nice Ambitious Card Routine (ACR) sequence that relies on the pass. Instead of the typical ACR sequence of a face down card placed into the middle, with this sequence, a face-up card is placed into the deck. The pass is used to bring the card from the middle to the top. Time to learn the pass.

I found a forum post that catalogued over 100 methods of executing the pass. The grand daddy of them all is the Classic Pass. After many hours of practice, this method is very clumsy to me still. This is going to take months or even years to perfect...argg!

The ACR sequence that I want to learn is from Tommy Wonder's delightful ACR. He uses a rollover pass. I like the look of that pass so I set out to learn the turnover pass. Hmmm...a quick Google search and look around youtube.com and there is no consensus as to what a turnover pass looks like.

So basically I'm making up my own rollover pass, I'm taking a passing action that feels a little more natural to me than the classic pass and continuing with a rollover of the deck. This seems to be a good beginner pass because the motion of the turnover hides the motion of the pass. The rollover movement of the deck matches the patter of the sequence so it all fits nicely.

Unfortunately, this simplified pass looks like weeks of practice to pull off adequately. In the meantime, I'll keep working the classic pass and let you all know how it's going. Perhaps I will post a video of my beginner rollover pass at the early stages and you can tear it apart. Then we can compare it after a few months of practice.

Practice Sessions: Required Gear

I loved the imagery in the first Harry Potter novel when Harry first learns that he is going off to school to learn magic. Just like when my kids start each school year, Hogwarts students were required to purchase a basic set of magical books and supplies to begin their foray into wizardry; a wand, a cauldron (pewter, standard size 2) and the Standard Book of Spells were amoung the list. If you're just starting out, like I was not all too long ago, it's hard to know what you should purchase as you're basic set of magical apparatus.

If you ask 10 magicians you'll get ten different answers. After much painstaking research, I'm going to present my starting list of magical supplies. Cards and coins are a great place for a hobbyist or amateur to start because the are very visual, they use common items that people are familiar with and will allow you to build a repetoire of impressive effects however breaking the bank.

I wanted to set an initial budget of $30 so that anyone with a job or a few weeks of allowance will be able to get their foot in the door. My prices reflect the "street price" of the item and not the retail price.

Beginning Cards & Coins Supplies under $30

• 2-Pack Bicycle Playing Cards $4
• Coins (At least 6 Kennedy Half Dollars and a couple English Pennies) $5
• Royal Road To Card Magic $10
• Modern Coin Magic $10

This modest set of goodies provides enough material to keep a new mage on a budget busy for a year or more. My preference for learning is through DVDs but for $30 you get hundreds of tricks and sleights. Personally, I'm not yet a big fan of Royal Road. But for ten bucks, it is a tremendous value that is chock full of sleights of hand card magic and tricks. The concept is great; start at the beginning and work your way down the "Royal Road to Card Magic." I read it often but it's not an easy read when you've been spoiled by DVDs that provide a more complete learning process. However a single DVD is going to break the budget here. As far as books go, I really like Bobo's Modern Coin Magic.

Cards & Coins under $100

• One dozen Bicycles Playing Cards $15 (or as many packs as you can get for $15)
• Coins (At least 6 Kennedy Half Dollars and a couple English Pennies) $5
• Born to Perform Card Magic DVD $30
• In the Beginning There Were Coins DVD $30
• Royal Road To Card Magic $10
• Modern Coin Magic $10

If you've got a bigger budget, this school shopping list might be the way to go. This fits in with the my theory of learning magic - DVDs provide a superior learning experience with books to provide an incredible reference and trick library. The Born to Perform Card Magic DVD starts out at square one, how to holdthe deck and goes through the most basic and useful moves. It sums up the coursework with 4 killer routines. The In the Beginning There Were Coins DVD is similar to Born to Perform Card Magic DVD but with coins. The instruction is outstanding and there is enough material to keep a novice busting their knuckles for months.

Cards, Coins and Cups & Balls under $100

• 2-Pack Bicycle Playing Cards $4
• Coins (At least 6 Kennedy Half Dollars and a couple English Pennies) $5
• Royal Road To Card Magic $10
• Modern Coin Magic $10
• Cups and Balls (copper or brass) $15
• Complete Course in Magic with Cups & Balls DVD $38
• Wand $15

The back-to-school shopping list breaks out of the cards and coins. The coins and cards are covered in great detail but adds the age-old cups and balls materials. Everyone wants to learn coins and cards but the Cups and Balls exercise a wider variety of skills that can be the foundation of so many other great forms of magic. Cups and Balls cover almost all of the forms of magic; appearances, vanishes, misdirection, transpositions and teleporations. It also teaches you about piecing together routines builder so that the sum of the parts is greater than the whole.

I have included the Complete Course in Magic with Cups & Balls DVD. This DVD is taught by Eddy Ray who routinely gets criticized. However this a solid teaching DVD that covers a lot of material for under $40. There may be better DVDs on the subject but this is an outstanding value and fits our budget.

In case you're wondering, the wand is essential in most Cups and Balls routine. The wand is called The Magician's Wand with Brass Tips. It is heavily weighted on the ends which makes it a joy to spin but a pain if you drop it on your foot.

The DVDs mentioned in this blog entry are reviewed elsewhere on this blog.
http://magic-yeti.blogspot.com/2007/12/review-in-beginning-there-were-coins.html
http://magic-yeti.blogspot.com/2008/01/review-born-to-perform-card-magic-with.html
http://magic-yeti.blogspot.com/2007/12/review-complete-course-in-magic-with.html

REVIEW: Packet Tricks & The Color Monte

Marketing Fluff

"Show three cards; one with a blue spot and two with a red spot. Explain that this is a game for gambling, and whoever finds the blue spot wins a dollar, but if that person is wrong, he must forfeit a dollar. Then explain that you were once taken by this game, and show how you were taken, losing three dollars because every time you thought you picked the blue card, it was red. So, you accused the man of not even having a blue card. He showed the bottom card as blue, so you lost another dollar! So, you said that if it was the card on the bottom, it couldn't be the one on top, but again, you lost another dollar! It is then showed as the center card as well, and by then, there's been six dollars lost. So, you said that you thought he was using more than three cards, but were proven wrong and lost another dollar. So, the gambler gave you another chance, double or nothing. He showed you that one card was red, another as blue, and all you had to do was name the color of the third card. Red, right? Wrong again! It's not red, nor is it anything anyone would expect!"

Degree of Difficulty

Beginner to moderate. This trick is a series of moves using one of the most basic sleights in all of card magic. Each sequence is very easy to pull off. The difficulty is in remembering the story (or patter) that motivates the routine. Practice 10-20 times and you should have it down and ready for showing your pals.

What's a Packet Trick?

A packet trick is a small set cards for a specific trick. Packet tricks are very easy to tuck away in your pocket so that you are always ready to entertain. Packets usually have specially made cards called "gaffs" of "gaffed" cards. Packet trick are usually inexpensive and provide a big impact so you have every reason to buy one. I would suggest Color Monte as a killer packet trick.

You'll probably want to find packet tricks that have Bicycle rider-backs if you use the popular Bicycle playing cards.

The Effect

The Color Monte comes with 3 cards. Instead of normal faces, two cards have a red diamond and one card has a blue diamond (or so it would seem).

This is a "follow the card" trick where you tell the spectator to keep an eye on the blue card. Unfortuately for the spectator, that blue card is elusive and hard to find. Then the red card becomes hard to find. At times, it appears that all cards are red or all blue. Finally, a red card is turned over and a blue card is turned over. The spectator is asked to guess the color of the last card. The spectator will most certainly be wrong as it is neither red or blue!

Overall: 8/10

For under $6 you get the cards, access to the private forum for this effect, a performance web video, and a instructional web video featuring Jay Noblezada. Jay is an excellent teacher and covers the set up and all of the sleights required.

REVIEW: Born To Perform Card Magic with Oz Pearlman

Marketing Fluff

"This DVD will start you at the beginning of card magic and take you to a working professional's level. You'll progress faster than ever before by focusing on the most powerful moves. This is a complete course in card magic without the filler. There's no reason to spend hundreds of dollars buying a set of 3 or 8 or 10 DVDs when you can learn the core skills (the ones that get used over and over again in thousands of tricks) on one DVD. This is that DVD."

"...once you've mastered these key moves you'll be able to perform anytime, anywhere, with just a regular deck of cards. Imagine how it's going to feel to have that power to entertain. This is a technology that changes you. It's like riding a bike, learning a new language, or flying an airplane. It's freedom... with a deck of cards."


Degree of Difficulty
Easy to Moderate. This DVD is targeted to someone with NO prior card handling skills to someone with some basic skills looking to round out their arsenal. This is a great choice for beginning card magic because covers the foundational skills required for sleight of hand card magic.

Teaching
Oz Pearlman is a great, young mind in magic and has solid teaching skills to pass on the knowledge. He covers each sleight in great detail and demonstrates several times from different angles. The lone exception is the Classic Pass which he goes over slowly, but only once. Pearlman recommends using outside resources to perfect this difficult maneuver.

Oz expertly demonstrates each routine for real spectators on the streets of Vegas. His performances will provide the motivation for learning the routines once you see how people react.

Quantity of Effects
There is a book you can buy that is considered by many to be the ultimate reference for card magic. The book is called Royal Road to Card Magic and can be found for $10. You'll get much, much more material than you would get on this 30$ DVD. However, I don't recommend doing that. Buy this DVD first and get then Royal Road to Card Magic as a reference guide to expand your card magic vocabulary once you've master the sleights on this DVD. You'll learn faster and with less frustration.

This DVD is like a beginner Lego set. All the essential blocks to build some small but impressive Lego creations. It starts with a selection of card handling techniques beginning with how to hold a deck of cards. You're going to learn the language of card magic; the grips, the breaks, cuts, forces and controls. Plus you'll learn just enough eye candy flourishes to give the illusion that you're an old hat at card magic. Plus you'll learn four full routines that make use of your new found skills.

The run time for this DVD is over 104 minutes. Here's the low down.

Fundamentals:

• Mechanic's Grip, Biddle Grip, Pinky Break, Thumb Break, Dribble to Secure a Break, Swing Cut, Swivel Cut, Double Lift, Top Palm

Controls:

• Classic Pass, Hindu Shuffle Pass, Double Undercut, One Handed Top Palm, Elmsley Count, Spread Cull, Swing Swivel Cut

Forces:

• Hindu Shuffle, Riffle Shuffle

Flourishes:

• 2 Handed Thumb Fan, Le Paul Spread, Springing the Cards, Erdnase Color Change, One Handed Thumb Fan, Hot Shot Cut [Daryl], Pendulum Cut [Hooser], Trinary Cut [Acer]

Routines:

• Ultimate Transpo, Two Card Monte, Biddle Trick, Ambitious Card

There is enough material here to keep a beginner busy for weeks or even months of practice. The routines are intermediate skill level so you won't learn and perform these in one day. I beg you not to perform these until you've practice each one dozens of times.

Quality of Effects
The routines that Pearlman selected are versions of some of the classic routines in card magic. Each routine has the potential to blow the minds of your spectators. I've used these routines dozens of times and they are potent.

The Biddle Trick is perhaps the easiest to learn and execute. The spectator makes a free choice from the deck. You slide the card up to give the spectator a view of their selection without taking a look yourself. You square up the deck explaining that you can use estimation techniques to locate their card. You narrow the selection down to four or five cards and ask the spectator to hold the pack. You show the five cards to the spectator and ask them to not to say anything. Once all five are shown you ask the spectator if one of the five cards was their card...indeed it was! Then you guess which one is the card...only you're wrong. You guess again...wrong! Things are looking bleak. Ultimately, the chosen card turns out not to be one of the 5 cards because it has disappeared. Only 4 cards remain in your hand. Their card, the missing card, turns up in the deck in the spectators hand upside down! This is a killer trick.

The Ultimate Transposition is another trick that happens in the hands of the spectator. The spectator is holding a 6 of Diamonds. You're holding a King of Hearts. Somehow they change places from your hand to theirs!

The Three Card Monte got it's start as a confidence game that street hustlers use to lighten the wallets of gullible people. Of course, magicians have ethics and don't hustle people but it makes for a great magic trick. This is a Two Card Monte that will leave you spectator laughing. This is a "follow the card" trick. Just when you think you know which card is which, they switch places in an impossible fashion.

For the newbie magician, an Ambitious Card Routines (commonly referred to as a ACR) consists of a very simple plot; place a signed card in the middle of the deck and it magically rises to the top of the deck. Each sequence in the ACR seems more impossible than the one before. Like the famous Cups and Balls routine, magicians have created many variations and climaxes over the years. This is a basic ACR but very fun and amazing for your audience and challenging to a beginner.

Production Quality
Solid production values. The DVD menuing is excellent. The angles are great.

You're also going to see these routines performed on the streets of Las Vegas for real tourists getting big laughs and eye popping reactions.

Overall: 8/10

For a beginner to intermediate magician or for an introduction to card magic I doubt you'll find much better instruction. The marketing fluff goes a bit far...you won't end up being a card pro but you will, with enough practice, have the power to entertain. I cut my teeth on this DVD - it was my first magic DVD. Many, many DVDs later and I still go back to this one to brush up on technique.

REVIEW: Pip-Thru by Tank (DVD)

After Greed and Spun, I made a solemn vow to avoid single trick DVDs. Not because thoses DVDs were not worth the money but because there are so many good DVDs that offer a smörgåsbord of tasty effects on a single DVD. If you've read my other DVD reviews, you'll see that I value a healthy mix of quality and quantity.

So why would I buy I single trick DVD such as Tank's Pip-Thru DVD? This purchase was the result of attending an excellent lecture by renowned mentalist/magician Kenton Knepper of Wonder Wizards.

Although Knepper luggage didn't make the flight into Iowa, some of his merchandise did. DVDs available for purchase quickly sold out. I was stuck choosing from a few remaining products. I choose the Pip-Thru DVD because I thought it might be similar to an effect I once saw where the pips melted off a card.

Alas, I would be disappointed. But stick with me for a just a minute as my opinion eventually improved. Pip-Thru is fun to perform and I learned a hand full of moves that were new to me.

The Marketing Fluff
"Tank brings you all of the tools you need to manipulate the perception of reality for your audience. Not only does the card visually change in front of their eyes, they see PROOF of physical transformation."

Degree of Difficulty
Easy to moderate. An intermediate card magician won't have any problem with Pip-Thru. If you are a beginner it will be challenging but not overwhelming.

Teaching
J. Tank is an adequate teacher but he could have made this so much better. The pace of the DVD seems rushed. Frequently Tank looks over to his notes to see what he is supposed to talk about next. The explanations are quick with very little attention to the supporting details and nuances that might help a beginner master the moves.

Quantity of Effects
I have to admit that I was very disappointed in the short run time of the DVD and the shortness of the trick itself. The demo of the trick clocked in at about 65 seconds. I guess that I'm spoiled by some great DVDs that are fully loaded with great moves, effects and routines.

Upon further ruminations (a second look), I'm a little more excited about the material. Here's what you get:

* gaffed card - Wonder Wizards generously gives you 4 gaffs in both blue and red backed Bicycles.
* the roll-over force
* handling of the gaffed card
* bonus section teaches two color changes and a really nice false cut
* Kenton Knepper teaches two more color changes

Kenton also shows an psychological effect for showing the same card to two spectators; yet each person sees a different card. He doesn't give you a routine using this effect but he plants the seeds for you to build your own.

For a beginner to intermediate card handler you're going to pick up a few new moves that you can reuse in other situations.

Quality of Effects
Pip-Thru is a fun, easy miracle to perform. It has a visually striking transformation that will have spectators doing a double and triple take. My biggest compliant is the shortness of the trick that is supplied. This a utility effect that would best be applied as the climax to a larger routine.

I really enjoy the rollover force and Tank's false cut is awesome. I follow the false cut with a Trinary cut and it makes for a showy effect that look more complex than it really is.

The quality of the gaff is very good.

Production Quality
Poor. This bare bones production appears to have been hastily assembled. The menu system has no flair or style. The performance appeared to have been video taped in someone's living room. Apparently it was laundry day at Tank's house as he was sporting a plain white tee shirt. This whole thing just looked rather thrown together.

Overall: 6/10
In the end, I'm happy with my Pip-Thru purchase because I'm going to get some great mileage out of the trick and gaff. Hopefully, I will think up some creative way to incorporate Pip-Thru as a climax to a full routine. If you are a beginner to cards, you're going to get a lot of use out of the force, color changes and you'll learn an impressive false cut.

Pip-Thru did lose points in my rating scale because of lackluster teaching, poor production quality and brevity of material on the DVD. The strength of the DVD is the strength of the gaff card and the effect it creates. With a standard color change, there is no evidence that the card physically changed; because it didn't really change. With Pip-Thru, your spectator will see evidence that the card underwent some kind of physical metamorphosis. And that evidence is going to leaving your specs laughing and amazed.

FREE MAGIC TRICK - The Best Card Trick Ever

Since this is a blog about amateur, hobbyist or beginning magic, I thought it would be fun to start a series of free tricks to get your feet wet.

Before you start read this early blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE.

This series of free tricks are good first tricks. However, I encourage you to learn the really cool stuff that takes practice and skill. While hard to learn, these routines are the most eye-popping, jaw-dropping illusions and are thrilling to perform. So start with my blog entitled So you want to be a magician - START HERE. Then come back and learn this trick.

Here is a great, self-working magic trick that every beginner should know. I learned it as the "Best Card Trick Ever." I've also heard it referred to as the "21 Card Trick." While it's not the best trick ever, it is probably one of the best self-working tricks.

Even though it is self-working you will need to practice this 4-5 times or more to get comfortable with the presentation.

The "Best Card Trick Ever"

Set-up:

An ordinary deck of cards

Effect:

The spectator mentally selects a card from a stack of 21 cards (called a packet). The spectator shuffles the cards and hands the packet of 21 cards to the magician. The magician lays the cards into 3 columns of 7 cards and asks the spectator to point to the column with his selected card. The magician collects the cards and deals out the cards again and repeats this process two more times.

Note, the trick is done - the rest of the trick is pure acting on your part.

Now the magician deals out little piles of cards in a "star" shape. Here is where the fun begins. The spectator selects piles of cards to remove or keep. This process of removing card piles is continued until one pile is left. The magician separates the four remaining cards as asks the spectator to continue selecting cards that are removed until one card is left. Amazing, the magician flips over the last remaining card and the spectator gasps because it is their selected card. It appears that the spectator has randomly removed 20 cards and the last card remaining is their selected card.

Instructions:

Count out 21 cards and hand to the spectator. Tell them to shuffle the packet and mentally select a card. For kids and larger audiences, it may be a good idea to have the spectator write their select on a piece of paper so that the can reveal their choice at the end. That makes it a little more exciting to the rest of the audience. Take back the packet.

This is important, you must deal these 21 cards out the 3 rows of cards exactly as described here or the trick will not work. You must also pick up the cards in the order described.

Deal the cards face up into 3 columns, one row at a time, until you end up with 7 cards in each column. When dealing into a column, overlap the cards in each column. This will make it easy to keep the cards in the correct order as up pick them up. Ask the spectator to point to the column that contains his/her card.

Square up each card column into three piles - if you overlapped them they will be in the order dealt. Place one of the piles that the spectator did NOT select on top of the pile the spectator DID select. Then place that stack onto the remaining pile that the spectator did not select. In order words, the column of cards that the spectator selected should be in the MIDDLE. Therefore, the selected card is somewhere between the 7th and 15th card. You are going to repeat this process two more times.

Once again, deal the cards face up into 3 columns of 7 cards and repeat the process.

Once more time, deal the cards face up into 3 columns of 7 cards and repeat the process. Now their selected card has worked it's way to the middle of the packet. Stack up the cards as before and their card is the 11th card in the packet. At this point the trick is done - their card is the 11th card.

Some versions of this trick will have you turn over the 11th card and the trick is over. However add these next steps really misleads the spectator and makes this a true miracle.

Remember this one fact, do not forget where the 11th card is! If you forget the location, the trick will fail.

Create card stars by dealing four cards, face down in a little star-shaped pile. Create another star. Count the cards (quietly inside your head) and keep track of where the 11th card is located. You'll end up with 4 piles of 4 cards and the last pile will have 5.

Now you are going to give the illusion that you are turning the trick over to the spectator to control.

Ask the spectator to select two of the card stars.

IF one of the two card stars contains the 11th card then remove the other three card stars from the table. ELSE if one of the three remaining card stars contain the 11th card then remove the two card stars the the spectator pointed at.

Ask the spectator to select one of the remaining card stars.

IF the selected card star contains the 11th card then remove the other card stars from the table leaving just the one card star. ELSE if one of the other remaining card stars contain the 11th card then remove the card star the the spectator pointed at.

Continue this pattern until only one card star is remaining. Separate the 4 cards into a row keeping track of which one is the 11th card. Ask the spectator to select any two cards. Again, repeat the pattern of either keeping the two cards that contain the 11th card or removing the selected two if the 11th card is not one.

Now you are down to two cards. Ask the spectator to select one card. If they pick the 11th card, turn it over to reveal their card. If they pick the card that is not the 11th card, simply remove it from the table leaving just the 11th card and then reveal their card. This trick will fry their brain! Try it.

Magic Under the Christmas Tree

Christmas, that magical time of year. Magical, as in I finally get to order a bunch of magic stuff! My wife gave me a budget for Christmas this year and told me to figure out what I wanted. Upon informing my wife that I had placed an order for $155 worth of magic stuff she quickly chastised my reckless purchase.

"What's the big deal," I exclaimed. The order was well under my $200 gift budget. Come to find out, she really didn't mean to go and actually purchase what I wanted. Apparently, some of that budget was already allocated for things I "really" wanted like underwear and a new belt.

I foolishly thought that the remaining $45 would go towards other magical essentials; like a couple dozen Bicycles or some silks. After getting the "voice" (you long time married guys know the "voice," a tonal quality somewhere between disgust and fury) and the evil eye (you don't even have to be married to know that look), my wife told me that the remaining $45 had been already spent. Probably on socks, steak knives and an Old Spice gift pack.

But my woeful tale of Christmas' magic gifts doesn't end here. Oh no, it doesn't end. Yesterday, a little box from labeled Penguin Magic showed up at my door. My wife, in all of her Christmas wisdom, decided that she must immediately wrap my gifts and place them under the tree with a joyous little sticker that says "Don't open until x-mas!"

I doth protest this Christmas injustice! It's not like I don't know what's in that box. I argued that at least I should be able to keep the free promotional items that I received.

My next argument was simple and logical. I must inspect the shipping manifest to determine whether all magical items and apparatus were accounted for. Only one who truly knows magic, can account for all of the mysteries held within that little cardboard box. She bit on that subtle misdirection as I palmed a DVD into my breast pocket. Well, something like that happened.

My wife had acquiesced to my infallible logic. She said, "Okay, but just the free DVD." Now I had to make a quick decision. Think, think. I only get one so which one shall I tell her is the free DVD. Of course, I knew well that the free DVD was "Brian Tudor's Extreme Generation," a highly rated DVD treatise on extreme card manipulation.

Now Extreme Generation is the "Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events" of magic DVDs. You don't really want it, don't order it, it's too hard, you can't do it, remove from cart now. Did I want that as my only source of new magic until Christmas morn? Hell no! Think, think.

After a few hasty milliseconds of indecision, I lunged for the "Double Take by Gregory Wilson" DVD. My DL needed some attention and this DVD had some routines I could actually show-off at Christmas dinner with the in-laws. "Yep, here's the free DVD!" I proudly exclaimed as I snagged the treasured DVD.

So far I am happy with my split second decision. My basic DL is so much better and I've learned a couple other DLs that will be an awesome addition to my arsenal of finger trickery. Although my appetite for magic is temporarily sated, I yearn for Christmas morning when my nimble fingers tear into a cornucopia of new magical knowledge and wisdom.

There is a lesson to be learned here - don't wait for your magical Christmas gifts to come to you - spend early and often before well meaning spouses or parents buy you that cool Scooby-Doo Chia Pet.

In case you are interested, that gaily wrapped shoebox under my tree contains the following magical bling:

On The Spot with Gregory Wilson (DVD)

Pyrotechnic Pasteboards with Gregory Wilson (DVD)

World Class Manipulations #1 with Gregory...just kidding...with Jeff McBride (DVD)

Worlds Greatest Magic - The Ambitious Card (DVD)

Worlds Greatest Magic - Stand Up Magic (DVD)

Two books, a silk and a set of Vernet Multiplying Balls

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and a Festive Festivus!

Konjurer

So you want to be a magician? START HERE!

Where do you start when you want to become a magician? Well, first I think you must decide why it is you want to learn magic:

a) I want to impress chicks/dudes at school
b) I want to be the next Criss Angel or David Blaine
c) Because I love magic

If you answered a) then you picked a great answer! Too bad you're not cut out for magic though. If you picked b) then you have lofty goals but I doubt you'll get there because you didn't pick c).

c) is the best answer and THE place to start.

Note that a) and b) are the results of c).

To be a good magician you'll need to develop a love and respect for the art of magic. Plus you'll need patience and a strong work ethic in order to put in the hours of practice necessary to get to the point where you can perform in front of another person.

If you think you are ready for the next step, repeat after me...

As a magician I promise never to reveal the secret of any illusion to a non-magician, unless that one swears to uphold the Magician's Oath in turn. I promise never to perform any illusion for any non-magician without first practicing the effect until I can perform it well enough to maintain the illusion of magic.

This oath is sacred and must be followed. As in all things we must live by principles and morals and that set us apart from all other living creatures. There are some key ideals in this oath that merit your attention.

Never reveal. People will ask you for the secret, perhaps beg you. But they don't really want to know. Once you tell the secret a couple things will happen:

1. You will no longer be respected as a magician by the spectator.
2. The illusion is shattered and the entertainment value is gone.
3. Every trick you do after that will not be as impressive to the spectator.
   
4. You've let down you brothers and sisters in the fraternity of magic.
   

The secret is never as impressive as the illusion so don't ruin it for the audience.

Next, find two or three good tricks and practice them until your fingers are raw.

1. Practice in front of the mirror
2. Practice without the mirror
3. Use a camcorder to record your practice sessions, record from different angles, review the video and fix the mistakes
4. Work on the patter (your narration of the trick) make it interesting and rehearse it dozens of times until it flows from you without thought
5. Make the trick your own. Come up with your own patter, your own slant and add your own character.
   
6. When you think that you are ready to perform the trick, go to step one and repeat.

A good trick will take weeks or months to perform. I read comments from young mages on forums that speak of a trick like this.

This is the best trick ever, I was performing it flawlessly in 5 minutes after I got it!

First, it probably isn't the "best trick ever." No best-trick-ever takes 5 minutes to perfect. And you did not perform it flawlessly. If you watched it in front of a mirror or camcorder, you would have known that you were not as flawless as you thought.

Next step. By now you probably really enjoyed one of the tricks more than the others. Focus on that style of magic; be it cards, coins or reading minds. Go out and buy the "bible" for that form of magic. They are usually inexpensive and you get dozens of magic tricks for your money as well as the bread and butter training. Or if you are more of a visual learner, like me, get a DVD that covers the same material as in the books. Here are some examples:

Books:
Modern Coin Magic - J.B. Bobo
The Royal Road To Card Magic - Hugard & Braue
Practical Mental Magic - Ted Annemann

DVDs:
Born to Perform Card Magic - Oz Perleman
In the Beginning There Were Coins - Jay Noblezada

Lastly step before performing a trick; watch the masters. We live in the Internet age. Go out to youtube.com and watch other magicians perform the same effect - especially the masters of the craft!

If you study one form of magic for 1-2 months and you are willing to put in an hour or two each day, you'll be ready to begin impressing your friends and co-workers. Don't try to learn 20 tricks - just 2-3 killer tricks to get your feet wet and you'll fry people's brains with the simplest of illusions.

Note: In The Linking Rings section to the right is a link to the Theory 11 Beginning Magician's video. This is highly recommended as a place to start.