Friday 30 September 2011

Finders Keepers by Roy Walton



The Complete Walton Vol 1. by Roy Walton 1981
Page 37 et seq.

Personal Comment: Why, why is some Walton stuff so dry? This is. Sure the technical construction is brilliant. But the structure of how the effect unveils seems unbearable to me. Hopefully in some others hands (besides those of Mr. Walton) this could be good. I fail.

Difficulty 3/5

Thursday 29 September 2011

A Pocket Discovery



The Royal Road to Card Magic (1948) by Fred Braue & Jean Hugard
Page 18 et seq.

Personal Comment: This would be gold, if it were not over exposed over the years. But imagine loading a coin into the pocket during the trick. Later you could vanish a coin and given the fact that there is plenty of time in between the two tricks you can create a nice miracle.

Difficulty: 2/5

Wednesday 28 September 2011

A Poker Player's Picnic



The Royal Road to Card Magic (1948) by Fred Braue & Jean Hugard
Page 16 et seq.

Personal Comment: Spectator cutting the aces. Turning this into a do as I do effect would be better. Instructing the audience is always kind of hard. But as far as self working effects go, this is one of the better ones.

Difficulty: Self Working

Tuesday 27 September 2011

Topsy Turvy Cards



The Royal Road to Card Magic (1948) by Fred Braue & Jean Hugard
Page 13 et seq.

Personal Comment: A nice oldie. Really easy to do and if you have a little bit of card skill you will improve the suggested method drastically right away.

Difficulty 1/5

Monday 26 September 2011

Three Before by Jed B. Smith



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 17, Number 6 June 1994
Page 2365 et seq.

Personal Comment: I am torn about this. In one way it is great great, as you get the Time Dislocation plot three times, but it also takes away the clarity when it is just one card. In the book it says, that Jed Smith has only one card signed and then goes into the Between Your Palms trick by Alexander Elmsley. Knowing that really puts perspective on this trick here. In fact it is a nice lead in to Elmsley's trick. Or better to Brother John Hamman's The Signed Card. The later one also uses the aces. Jed's trick sets the tone for the impossibility to come. Also... not having all the cards signed is a great way to arouse some fake suspicion and leads to false solutions. Enough to lead them down the garden path, and then to turn on the sprinklers. Seeing it from that perspective I like it. As a stand alone trick it has not as much of an impact as one would assume.

Difficulty 3/5

Sunday 25 September 2011

Quick Match by Lee Snyder



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 17, Number 2 February 1994
Page 2323 et seq.

Personal Comment: Really nice quicky. In terms of method this is obvious, but not for laymen. So this is great. Gets to the point quickly.

Difficulty 1/5

Saturday 24 September 2011

Common Wealth Collectors by Allan Slaight



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 17, Number 2 February 1994
Page 2317 et seq.

Personal Comment: Needlessly complicated, that's for sure. Check out The version by Jim Surprise and Roberto Giobbi. Much better. You can also work in the little extra that is present in the above routine to get a much cleaner version. Personally I don't think the initial switch is that deceptive, even if executed properly. The ATFUS is the way to go in my humble opinion.

Difficulty 4/5

Friday 23 September 2011

Face it, Kings are Ambitious by John W. McClure



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 16, Number 11 November 1993
Page 2274 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is so forgettable, so very forgettable. But it ain't bad. The face up approach to the appearance is good, I think. But this is a personal trick. Tailored to one person, the creator. This makes me appreciate my own version of finding a four of a kind. So I guess there is some merit in the above routine.

Difficulty 3/5

Thursday 22 September 2011

Un-Sandwiched! by Tom Daugherty



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 16, Number 10 October 1993
Page 2274 et seq.

Personal Comment: I like the plot. The card vanishing from a sandwich. A prisoner on the run. A crime he didn't commit. I like that. In fact this would be great with a signed card. That makes it special and personal. Suddenly it is part of the spectator that is trying to escape. In a weird way it would give the cards way more character than they have. Personally I would change the ending. This whole second selection bit makes no sense. The card wants to escape. So any impossible location would naturally fit into the scenario. Card to wallet/box/pocket all of those are great. So I am divided on this trick as it is presented. I like it, but only because it sparks off so many greater ideas, that sadly aren't offered in the first place.

Difficulty 2/5

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Maxi-Twist X by Harold Cataquet



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 18, Number 11 November 1995
Page 2576 et seq.

Personal Comment: Good. And not too difficult either. Unlike previous versions you don't end dirty and you got a strange fulfilling climax. I tried it and it played well with my usual test audience (The bar next door). So I have good confidence in saying that this trick is a worker. The setup required for this works well with me, as I usually do tricks with the kings. So they are usually together in the deck anyway. So cutting them to the top while removing the aces openly makes this piece of cake.

Difficulty 3/5

Tuesday 20 September 2011

SW Elevator by Chris Kenner



Out of Control by Chris Kenner
Page 153 et seq.

Personal Comment: I learned this while riding the train. It takes a while. But it is nice. Really nice. A great one on one trick. It has angle issues.

Difficulty 5/5

Monday 19 September 2011

Twin Peeks by Chris Kenner



Out of Control by Chris Kenner
Page 102 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is clearly designed to be a magician's fooler. The ludicrous setup the overall fairness. And I have no doubt that the majority of magicians are fooled by this. So this is a good trick for the right target audience. For the rest I would certainly go for a much more practical method.

Difficulty: Self Working

Sunday 18 September 2011

The Indian Rope Trick by Ken de Courcy



Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 124 et seq.

Personal Comment: The version in the book is much easier and can be done with any card. But in that version no tearing/restoration happens. The version here was described to me by Jochen Zmeck himself years ago. I tried to do it justice. Does anybody know the original source? I'd like to read it.

Difficulty 3/5

Saturday 17 September 2011

Doppelte Kartenwanderung by Jochen Zmeck



Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 115 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is not ungaffed so I'm breaking my own rule here. But it wouldn't be the first time I do it. But this time I got a reason. You don't have to use the deck, making this a perfect "in your wallet trick". If my wallet wouldn't be so small (smaller than a card) I would carry the needed cards with me at all times. Seriously. A transposition from the spectators pocket to the magicians. You cannot get very much stronger than that. And technically speaking this is self working. So I love this. The main idea is not by Jochen Zmeck, but as far as I know he is the one who came up with doing it with the spectators pocket.

Difficulty: Self Working

Friday 16 September 2011

Schwarz Rot Asse by Jochen Zmeck



Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 120 et seq.

Personal Comment: Basically a color change, Two reversals and the black aces finding the red mates. So naturally this is a little routine that people tend to appreciate. It has surprises, flows naturally and is easy. If I had to teach someone slightly advanced card magic this is the routine I would go for. It's practical (the setup is within reasons) and with little tweaking this could greatly benefit from advanced moves.

Difficulty 2/5

Thursday 15 September 2011

Nur gedacht und doch gefunden by Jochen Zmeck



Handbuch der Magie (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 114 et seq.

Personal Comment: I tried it. It played well. Damn it, I could have sworn that it would suck. Is my commercial sense really that screwed up?

Difficulty 1/5

Wednesday 14 September 2011

Ein König findet die Karte by Jochen Zmeck



Zauber-Abc (German book) by Jochen Zmeck
Page 114 et seq.

Personal Comment: Another one from that very good children's book on magic. A spelling trick. I had to change the effect slightly, as I needed to convert this to English. The actual trick is self working. This uses a force. In the actual trick the German word for king is spelled out (KÖNIG) which has five letters. That means that four cards wind up on the table. And those happen to be the four aces. This makes no sense, yet feels very good and makes the selection of the card a free choice. Normally the selection or the spectators name is spelled out to find the selection. This here makes it so easy. And I think the audience doesn't care.

Difficulty: Self Working

Tuesday 13 September 2011

T.N.Two by Phil Goldstein



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 8, Number 1 January 1985
Page 1018 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is a tricky little trick. It can work in quite a few different settings and fail in a lot of others. In fact you should not riffle shuffle the deck near the tabled cards. The effect is not new, but I guess this could fit in a gambling demonstration. I kinda like it. Kinda!

Difficulty 3/5

Monday 12 September 2011

"Trite" But All Right by Ed Marlo



Apocalypse by Harry Lorayne
Volume 8, Number 1 January 1985
Page 1010 et seq.

Personal Comment: Sorry, but this is a pipe dream. An eight for four pipe dream. And it is needlessly complicated. I'm sure Mr. Marlo would get away with this, and even other top card men. Yet this should not be in the book. This is clearly a filler item. I don't like it, even though the effect is strong. If you want a four for four change you better check out different sources. Phil Goldstein comes to mind.

Difficulty 4/5

Sunday 11 September 2011

Angle Jogged Placement of a Card



I would like to know who came up with this. There a plenty of sources for the side jogged version of this. But the angle jogged version is simply better. It seems more disconnected from the deck. I would love to give the creator proper credit. So who came up with this, whom shall I credit?
I can seen that most magicians won't use this, as the first card remains on the deck in a face up condition. That scares most of the people. But a simple palm get's rid of that issue.
I love that method. It looks so disconnected from the deck, so much like the real thing. So again... Who's to blame with the fame?

Saturday 10 September 2011

Mark A Place Mates by Simon Aronson



The Aronson Approach by Simon Aronson (1990)
Page ? et seq.

Personal Comment: Good. But strangely it feels not as good as just finding one mate. I don't know why?

Difficulty 2/5

Friday 9 September 2011

Under Her Spell by Simon Aronson



The Aronson Approach by Simon Aronson (1990)
Page 3 et seq.

Personal Comment: I don't like spelling tricks. But I like this one. I suggest you look it up. It is practical and the suggested patter is even funny.

Difficulty 3/5

Thursday 8 September 2011

Fly Sport by Robert E. Neale



Life, Death & Other Card Tricks by Robert E. Neale (2000)
Page 3 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is a magic gag. If this sort of presentation works for you, then by all means do it. Also check out Eddie Fechter's stuff. As this trick reminds me a lot of him. Only this has a bit more class, if you "catch my drift".

Difficulty 2/5

Wednesday 7 September 2011

S/He Loves Me by Robert E. Neale



Life, Death & Other Card Tricks by Robert E. Neale (2000)
Page 37 et seq.

Personal Comment: This is good for the right audience. Most often this is not a thing to do. And I wouldn't do it like that. I would do it face up with "random" cards. And the card left in the hand would have a red back while the rest would have a blue back. That way you get rid of the awkward addition of the Queen/King and you'll get rid of the crimping. Seemingly it would be all about "love or not" and as a kicker the last card would have a red back. Just my two cents.

Difficulty: Self Working

Tuesday 6 September 2011

The Bedwell Control by Steve Bedwell



Closely Guarded Secrets by Michael Close (ebook)
Page 136

Personal Comment: If seen this control many times before. But never in print. This is the first mention of it's creator. It's a good control. I use it from time to time. Great if you wanna fool magicians.

Difficulty 1/5

Monday 5 September 2011

Strange Harmony by Harry Lorayne





Cardmagic by Richard Kaufman 1979

Page 9 et seq.



Personal Comment: Good. It requires a seven card setup. Getting into that is harder than just culling any four of a kind and doing Monarch's Quartett by Larry Jennings. The effect is different, but it still feels very similar. VERY SIMILAR. This one is easier.



Difficulty 3/5

Sunday 4 September 2011

Ham and Cheese by Mark Levy, Ken Krenzel and Richard Kaufman





Cardmagic by Richard Kaufman 1979

Page 5 et seq.



Personal Comment: Don't you just love discrepancies? I do! If they're reasonable. This one is a border liner. But my love for sandwiches is so great that I was willing to give it a try. And it went great. A little too great the first time I did it. People figured out what I was doing because it was so move less. So I added a riffle and now this is fine. I like it. Really like it. The second version in the book is even better, but I couldn't do that because the cards I used were a bit too sticky to have worked properly for that one. But you should check it out.



Difficulty 1/5

Saturday 3 September 2011

Ambitious Card by Jim Abrahams



The Lecture That Has Never Happened by Jim Abrahams
Page to be added

Personal Comment: This is personal. Look at the structure. This is not geared to be liked by every magician. Just Jim I guess. But the last phase has something to it. And you got this build in three times conditioning thing, which kind of helps to get away with the last move. I don't like it too much, but I don't have to to appreciate the structure and the practicability.

Difficulty: 4/5

Friday 2 September 2011

That Joker! by Ed Marlo





The Cardician by Ed Marlo 1953

Page 10 et seq.



Personal Comment: Great quick trick. I own a Hat. Why not do tricks with it? Easy to do stuff. Lovely. Seems like a trick that could be in Tarbell. I agree with what is said in the book. The tossing of the card into the hat is important. A simple DL won't do it. The disconnect, the letting go of the card, that makes it seem so impossible. There are angle issues. And if the situation is not right... well then don't do it. But if you gonna do a transposition, why not include the hat?



Difficulty 2/5

Thursday 1 September 2011

Watch Me Fly by Jim Abrahams



The Lecture That Has Never Happened by Jim Abrahams
Page to be added

Personal Comment: Practical, funny, easy filler. Certainly nice. Also works great with any other object. Coins are great. But this blog is about card tricks.

Difficulty: 2/5