I just visited the Mac World Expo in San Francisco and saw something even more amazing than magic. Out of the hundreds and hundreds of dealers, there were absolutely ZERO magicians!! Why is this? They had some of the most horrible techniques for dragging people to the booths. It went like this: Fill out a piece of paper or let us "swipe" your pass and then stick around for the demo. After the demo, we'll give away a t-shirt, coffee cup or what have you. Bad, bad, bad. So... to all the budding trade show guys and gals, I say get out there and start doing these computer shows.... And here's a couple of ideas for you.
#1- CD's. I gathered about 20 free demo Compact Disk programs. So CD's are in. There are several commercial effects out there that use CD's. Slap the companies logo on them or use your printer to print CD labels up with the company name.
#2- Use your printer and print up "gaffed" Three Card Monte labels for the CD's. Divide the CD (mentally) into the "top half" and "bottom half." You can treat the CD like a card and use the top half like a regular card, the bottom halves as if they were gaffed pips.
#3- Since CD's have two sides you can combine them with a Brain Wave type of effect. Use your printer to make the labels.
#4. Use the envelopes the CD's come in to make up a "Compass" routine. Pointers: Talk about how the company's product will never lead you all over the world looking for support products.
#5. Make up your own vanishing CD's. Plenty of envelopes out there.
#6 Change a computer disk into a CD to show how updated the new systems are.
#7. The trend is now to DVD- Digital Video. Rig up CD's and Video's for magic. (Meir Yedid had an effect with Videos).
#8. Make up 9 competitor CD envelopes with your printer. Then make two envelopes for your sponsor- different enough to pass cursory inspection. Use the 10/11 force to predict your sponsor's product.
These are just a few ideas I jotted down for us all. Go do it.
Chris Faria
The question is:
I have another question about doing restaurant work with thumb tips and such. It seems to me that being that close and at kind of a weird angle at tables it might be dangerous. I would appreciate the advice or words from all those who have had experience in this area.
Well, yes... the angles can be tricky and you do need to be aware of your gimmicks i.e.: thumb tips, but at the same time you have a major advantage in that it is much easier to use misdirection up close and the ability to hide a loaded hand behind a chair, a person's body, or even a tabletop is very, very handy. Most of the time you can check your angles with other tables while they shuffle, examine something etc. If necessary hold the bad hand in front of you but under the table edge. Bending forward to make a comment can give you enough time to fold a card right at your crutch if you need to. I speak from hundreds of tables where I have done just that. With a thumb tip in particular keep it moving during the trick, keep it out of sight before the trick and plan a good, non suss way to get rid of it as soon as you can. Just to get started try this...once you have stolen the tip back, lean your hand on the edge of a table and hang your thumb underneath the table this keeps your thumb out of sight while they blow on your other hand etc.You then dust your hands off and get out your next trick. Hope this helps. JIM
You might want to try a combination of 5 parts rose water to 2 parts
glycerin (this proportion works nicely for me). You can pick up either of
these items at a local drugstore such as Walgreens (here in the States). If
you should find a premixed formula of glycerin & rose water, you'll probably
need to add more glycerin to get the right feel.
It keeps my hands from drying out and gives me a tackiness that almost
simulates a mild sweat. Experiment with different proportions to get a combo
that works just right for your hand condition. I think you'll be
surprised.
Geoff Williams
geoff_williams@bigfoot.com
Your tip reminded me of an original impromptu way of performing Floating Match without any
gimmicks. Pick up a box of wooden matches of the longer variety. You are going to burn the
match and it will float while it is burning. Open the box and take out one match and pinch
it with the thumb and middle finger as you prepare to strike it. Basically you are wedging
the lower side of the shaft under your middle fingers finger nail. First practice without
striking it and burning your fingers . Don't worry you will have lots of opportunities to
burn your fingers later in the learning process. In the meantime pantomime works fine till
you understand what you will be doing while the match is burning. Try holding the match
vertically and take your thumb slowly away. The match should remain wedged into the finger
nail. If it stays fine if it drops out then try, try again. If you just cut your
nails or if you bite your nails, then this is not the trick for you. Let your nail
grow just enough where you can do the job. OK, you have the match where it stays stuck to
the middle fingernail (If you are really desperate you can stash some magicians wax under
your middle fingernail, but then it is not impromptu.) Next with the match held with you
thumb and middle finger interlock your two hands. Yes, you are missing a finger that is
sticking out the back and pressed to the thumb press the other thumb to the other
side of the middle fingernail. From the front it will appear that you are holding a match
behind your interlocked fingers. It is a good time to look in the mirror and see what it
looks like from the front. I find that if I raise my two interlocked hands to eye level
then I know what the sight lines of the observer are. Now raise your thumbs up and away
from the match that is firmly wedged into the middle finger nail. Looking into the mirror
it looks like you released your thumbs and the match is suspended in mid-air. Next start
to move the middle finger to your left and then back to your right slowly. Then bring your
thumbs back to the middle finger and grasp the match with the thumbs. Now separate your
interlocked fingers including the middle finger .You are now holding a match between two
thumbs and are ready to blow it out. The trick lasts as long as it takes for the match to
burn down to be blown out. No, you can't do it surrounded, but by checking the sight lines
so that no one is looking down on your middle finger you have a
very convincing Floating Flaming Match. From the front it is a minor miracle.
From the Wizard Of Ahs! Selah! Magic love & smiles,
Paul (Whitestone) Hargitt, E-mail
Phargitt@indy.net
HOW TO OBTAIN STRONG UNITY IN A TRICK
- ------------------------------------------------------------------------
This article originally appeared in the Ring 2100 newsletter.
Many thanks to Dr. Rodney King for allowing me to share it with my visitors.
Unity is one of the most important but neglected concepts in magic. Perhaps, it's because
"unity" is abstract and difficult to grasp. For me, unity in a trick is the
integration of all its elements. If, after a trick, I hear a (lay) spectator say, "I
can't put my finger on it but
something just didn't seem right or make sense!", I know that the spectator might be
saying that the trick has inadequate unity. Some spectators indicate lack of unity in a
trick with the question, "what's the purpose of the trick?" or "why did
(s)he do it?"
Strong unity enhances not only coherence and memorability of tricks but also spectators'
emotional involvement. Although spectators may not talk directly about the unity of a
trick, they have an instinctive feel and desire for it. After all, nature and real-life
constantly display unity. We are aware of cause-and-effect relationships as well as
web-like structures of events and interdependencies that occur in everyday life. By
nature, human beings are always searching for "connections". In fact, a deeper
reason for the exploration of outer
space may be due our search for unity with the extra-terrestrial world - that's so much
for philosophy or I'll have my fingers burnt!
Two books that discuss unity in far more detail than others are SHOWMANSHIP FOR MAGICIANS
by Dariel Fitzkee and STRONG MAGIC by Darwin Ortiz. However, the most in-depth discussion
of unity may be found in TRICK ANALYZING THE CLOSE-UP MAGIC OF DAVID COPPERFIELD. In this
article, I shall touch on a few but important aspects of unity.
There are many ways to obtain unity in a trick. A conjurer could start with any element
but a good starting point would be a theme/subtext or type of character. In order to make
the discussion in this article more concrete, I shall use an example to illustrate HOW
STRONG UNITY MAY BE OBTAINED IN A TRICK.
About six weeks ago, I read a description of a trick that could be described as
"self-working". It's basically a pick-a-card trick using a pile of cards. A
selected card is revealed by spelling a few words; "LOVE" is one of the
words. Always searching for ways to make spectators experience more than magical surprise
in a trick, I decided to use the theme of LOVE to enhance unity in the trick. I wanted to
link, to the theme/subtext of LOVE, elements such as the trick's OBJECTIVE, PROPS,
CHARACTER(S), PATTER, and MAGICAL EFFECT.
The author of the original "self-working" trick suggested diamonds as the suit
to be used. My OBJECTIVE for the trick was to act not as a magician but as a
"FACILITATOR" in testing the magic of strong emotions like love and hatred. I
chose the suit of hearts since the picture of a heart generally symbolizes love. Next, I
decided that the PROTAGONIST in the trick would be the helper, while the ANTAGONIST would
be someone whom the helper frequently thinks of; this suggestion encourages or mildly
forces the helper to think of someone (s)he loves. Finally, my PATTER for the trick deals
with finding out if the person, whom the
helper thought of, REALLY loves or hates the helper (protagonist). For
the climax, the helper spells "(person's name) ... LOVES/HATES ... ME".
And if the card on top of the pile matches the helper's selection, it's a confirmation
that the "thought-of" person loves or hates the helper! For those, who
might begin to worry, I have a justifiable and enchanting "out", should the
helper have indicated that the "thought-of" person hates him/her.
My version of the above trick, I call "THE MAGIC OF EMOTIONS". Although not
technically demanding, "THE MAGIC OF EMOTIONS" is one of the most talked-about
tricks in my repertoire of card magic. Initially, I was surprised that lay people talked
so much and favorably about this effect. So, I began to ask myself, "Why is this
trick so memorable?" First, the theme of love has a universal appeal. However,
this theme would not have stood out, if the trick was incoherent or had weak unity. I
suspect a deeper reason is that the trick has strong unity. The degree of unity in
this trick could be seen if the main elements of the trick, i.e., "objective",
"props", "character(s)", "patter",
"theme/subtext", and "magical effect" are written round an imaginary
circle, and a line drawn between any two elements that strongly relate to each other. The
resulting diagram would be a "dense" network or web. Like nature or life, a
dense web indicates strong unity. Strong unity is what makes people say, "The whole
(which comprises elements and linkages) is greater than the sum of the parts
(elements)."
In the magic literature, some writers have observed that classic presentations of
tricks/routines like Cups and Balls, Cigarette Thru' Quarter, and the Four Ace (Card)
Assembly lack "meaning". If the exercise of linking elements is done for any of
these tricks/routines, it would be seen that the resulting diagram has a "sparse
landscape";
few elements would link with each other. In other words, the tricks/routines would display
weak unity, especially if they have "kickers" that have little or no relation to
other elements of the trick/routine. The solution in any of these cases is to improve
unity by modifying the nature of some elements and consequently improve their linkages,
believability, and memorability.
Yes indeed, I've come to the end of this short but bumpy journey! To those who've
accompanied me whether as supporters, critics, or just neutral observers, I'd say, THANK
YOU. To those who neglect so-called "theory" because they feel it would not
contribute to the deception and conviction of their tricks, I'd say, THINK AGAIN; it's
never too late! To those, who've discovered that magic is not only a craft and an art but
also a science, I'd say, SPREAD THE WORD. For I believe that when more lay people realize
that magic is a serious and complex discipline and not a mere novelty, the regard for
magic would be higher and higher, and even untouchable by indecent exposures.
Once again, thanks for your interest.
******************************************
Dr. R. King, Bell College of Technology
Almada Street, Hamilton, ML3 0JB, Scotland
Tel 01698 283 100
work e-mail R.K.King@bell.ac.uk
Home e-mail R.K.King@strath.ac.uk
******************************************
Here is one of my beginner tricks.(My first trick to do)
Restored Paper:(Can also use with Kleenex)
Effect: The Magician takes one piece of paper, rips it into shreds, makes it into a ball
and puts it in his left hand. Then he reaches his hand into his pocket and sprinkles it on
his hand, takes a paper ball out and the paper is restored.
How To Do: Come out to the audience with a non-ripped crumbled piece of paper in your
hand(palming it: Classic Palm). Take a piece of paper and rip it up, and make it into a
ball. Put it into your head and reach into your pocket for some magic dust(but while doing
that with your right hand switch restored paper ball with your left hand!)pull out the
restored paper ball. The audience will love it.
From: XUDerekUX