How To Do a Magic Show Proposal final copy II.pdf

FOG Literary Agency Sue Flammang 3800 S. Decatur #214 Las Vegas, NV 89103 (702) 631-7725 www.FOGliteraryagency.com sue.[email protected]

XYZ Books Ms. X Dear Ms. X, Who needs to buy expensive magic props when you can make your own at home? Unfortunately, tunately, most beginner magic books give you the raw data and it is up to you to come up with your own routine. That’s putting the cart before the horse. Also, some beginning magic books teach you tricks that they themselves would wo uld not be caught dead de ad doing. It’s as if they are afraid that a book with real tricks of the trade will reveal too many secrets. No magic book wants the beginner to learn the real workings of this elusive profession. That is until now. With the tricks in this 39,415 word fully illustrated book, HOW TO DO A MAGIC SHOW by Michael Pascoe, the readers not only will learn to do quality magic tricks,

SILK MAGIC 13 Proposal Contents

Chapter 7 Proposal Contents

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13

MAGIC OF THE MIND

Marketing

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Chapter 8

Promotion

8

ROPE ROUTINES

13

14 14

Competing Books

9

Chapter 9

About the Author

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TRICKS FROM THE ORIENT

Endorsements 11

Chapter 10

Chapter-by-Cha pter Summary

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12

12

14

14

NEWSPAPER NEWSPAPER MAGIC

PART PART ONE—THE ANCIENT ART OF MAGIC Chapter 1

14

14

PART PART FOUR-- Doing the Magic Show Chapter 11

14

14

HOW TO DO A MAGIC SHOW

12

PUTTING TOGETHER THE MAGIC SHOW

PART PART TWO-- Close-Up Magic

12

HOW TO DO A MAGIC SHOW Table of Contents

Chapter 2

12

CARD TRICKS Chapter 3

PART PART ONE-- The Ancient Art of Magic 12

12

AT THE DINNER TABLE Chapter 4

1. How to Do a Magic Show 1 PART PART TWO-- Close-Up Magic 12

1. Card Tricks 9

13

Self Working 10

MISCELLANE OUS CLOSE-UP TRICKS PART PART THREE-- Platform Magic Chapter 5

13

13

13

Lucky Seven 10 You Do As I Do

12

The Four Burglars

14

THE PROPS 13

Cut the Lady in Half 17

Chapter 6

3. At the Dinner Table 21

13

9

1

14

Sugar Packet Prediction

21

Tricks with Rice

Salt Shaker Through Table

24

The Indian Rice Mystery

What’s Under the Cap?

31

Rice Bowls

4. Miscellaneous Closeup Tricks The Linking Paperclips Dice Prediction

36

6. Silk Magic 55 Showing or Blowing 55 60

7. Magic of the Mind Mind 68 68

71

8. Rope Routines

76

Stretching a Rope

76

Threading the Needle 80 The Magical Shoelace83 Cut and Restored Rope

86

The Coat Release Trick

96

9. Tricks from the Orient

100

The Cups and Balls

10. Newspaper Magic 116 116

122

PART PART FOUR-- Doing the Magic Show

5. The Props 51

Book Test

110

Saying Thanks with Style

40

PART PART THREE-- Platform Magic

Are You a Square?

105

Torn and Restored Newspaper

36

Nest of Boxes 42

A Plethora of Silks

105

100

50

11. Putting Together the Magic Show 128

128

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW

Can a magic book for laypeople teach them how to perform this wonderful pastime?

Marketing

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Pascoe Pascoe// HOW HOW O DO A MAGIC MAGIC SHOW SHOW 2

There is no questions the popularity of the professional magician. Everyone wants to be the next David Coppereld or Lance Burton. When one attends their shows, the audience falls into their spell. Part of this spell is the envy and the desire to be able to do such wonderful fetes. It is said that magicians are born, not made. This is far from t he truth. Making of a magician magician is no no different different than other profession. Is is said that there there are over fteen thousand magicians in the United States. Magic is indeed a big business. That's why there is a need to teach i t correctly. There should be a training school the same for the other arts like dancing, singing, and acting. That's why a book that covers the details of the art is important. Even though the history of magic goes back thousands of years, today it’s known as a theatrical art. The ability to perform is just as important as the t ricks themselves. Many people spend a lot of money and years of practice to learn how to do magic. What one can save if a book can present good quality magic tricks at anyone’s ngertips is priceless. The original teacher of magic Professor Hoffman said that there is a big difference in knowing how a trick is done and learning it. Even those who should know better have not taken his advice. All the authors t hat followed him have given the bones without the meat. The exception is the next great magic teacher, Harlan Tarbell. There is not a book today especially designed for young and old alike with clear and simple directions that anyone can perform effectively. effectively. Most of the t ricks in here are of those of the professional magician which have fooled and entertained many. Teenagers Teenagers and adults invest their money and time learning the latest tricks. However, However, among those, very few have learned the most important technique… and that is how to entertain with magic. Magic is perfect for any age who wants to entertain socially. Young Young teenagers especially start magic at this age and need a comprehensive course. This book doesn’t doesn’t talk down to the young people. Which means even business men and women can use magic to entertain clients. Also, adults want to use this as a tool to s how off at parties. Michael’s uncle used magic for that purpose. HOW TO DO A MAGIC SHOW contains plenty of tricks that can be performed without special equipment. It shows full instructions to the reader to make their own props as well as mapping out programs programs with all of the necessary dialogue. Then the only thing they have to do is read the clear instructions and practice so they will always be ready to entertain their family and friends or give a show to raise money for school, church, or even to buy more tricks. The past 40 years has shown a great increase in interest in magic among amateurs. The internet displays young people showing off, but with no performing skills. They want to do the latest and coolest moves, but do not know or cannot come up with their own routines. They are only presenting tricks; poorly performed, poorly arranged, and poorly dramatized. Most books on magic feel that dialogue is detrimental to the performer. However, However, as beginners, how are they supposed to know what to do? Show them so they can later learn to create their own routines. With this book, it is possible. possible. The readers gets everything they need to get started; quality tricks, the dialogue to go with them, and a program designed to get them to the most important part… performing. performing. The knowledge of magic will grow condence by increasing social skills. A few past professional magicians magicians have stated how how shy they were were before learning magic. Illusionist Doug Doug


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Henning mentioned that with the introduction of magic in his life, the once shy young Doug gained enough conde condence nce that he presented his World of Magic in front of millions of television audiences. Magic broadens the mind. It i ncreases the thinking power which is valuable to other elds. It does this because magic requires concentration. This is a wonderful way to train the mind and keep it sharp. Performing requires quick thinking. It requires multi-tasking many different things. Coordination of eye and hand as well as thinking of what you will say versus thinking how the audience is reacting to the tricks. Makes you alert and keen of mind Knowledge Knowledge leads to greater heights Improves public speaking as well as presentation skills Some use it for therapy working in hospitals Develops motor skills Self-Condence Self-Condence and Self-Discipline is created Creativity is developed Problem solving skills is sharpened Makes one unique among their friends The best of all... it's the best ice-breaker to meet new friends Most of all, being being a magician is about entertaining. By telling stories while doing a mystery is fun. There is no other feeling than looking at the face of someone that has had their minds blown. The only only reaction is to laugh. laugh. When you you can get your your audience smiling and and laughing, laughing, that is the true power of magic


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ates with groups like the Boy Scouts, Popular Mechanics, and other magazines of that sort. How to Do a Magic Magic Show is Show is a good primer for those starting out. Michael is working on a second book showing more advance work for both beginners and professionals alike with the same step-by-step approach. Competing Books

Thousands of titles have have dealt with various aspects of the performing art of magic over the years, but none directly tackled the subject of the performance end of it. An Amazon search shows a plethora of magic books that deal primary with revealing secrets. Some are ne books and range from the rank beginner to the top pro. It is expected that the books geared towards the working professional will only give the raw data and let you use your experience as a magician to gure out the rest. However, However, even the beginning books do the same thing. While most magic books explain lots of tricks, few provide a foundation in magic for the serious beginner who wants to learn the fundamentals and move beyond brainteasers. Five of the recent titles that deal with teaching beginning magic like How to Do a Magic Show focuses on the barebones of the tricks themselves. Below is a detailed analysis of each title. 110 Amazing MAGIC TRICKS with Everyday Objects by Marvin Berglas crams in the said advertized tricks into 43 pages. One cannot possibly teach that many tricks in that amount of pages. It reduces the tricks to mere stunts and not a theatrical entertainment. A knowledgeable knowledgeable magician could nd material and create good routines, but without that knowledge, it ends up just uff to ll out the pages.

Promotion

Michael Pascoe is prepared to help promote this book by giving lectures, book signings, as well as any other public appearance as a professional magical entertainer. He is also friends with magic dealers who will place How to Do a Magic Show on their shelf. He will create a website that will attract visitors and readers. This website will have a media kit as well as an author’s page to help get media attention and speaking engagements. engagements. He will utilize his social media presence to build anticipation for the book’s release. Michael will get noticed by doing book signings at book fairs while mingling while collecting business cards from everyone he will meet—especially those who express an interest in his book. He will give a short demonstration from the book, then commence with the book signing. Periodically, Periodically, send out yers, brochures and/or notices announcing announcing an upcoming show with the title, "Author of the book, How to Do a Magic Show". He will solicit the Independent Bookstores, Bookstores, Galleries, and Gift Stores to carry his book. Michael will approach booksellers in person. person. Visit Visit those within their community, community, throughout throughout the area. area. Also, Michael will travel to nearby states for access to more independent bookstores. bookstores. He will follow up by doing his part to initiate sales in these areas and by checking back frequently frequently with the store manager to monitor sales and payment. As well as send press releases to magazines and newspapers. As a writer, Michael will publish articles on magic targeting those magazines that associ-

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Magic Tricks Tricks – 50 Quick, Easy Easy and Fun Tricks by Tricks by Joshua Minute Minute is another beginner's beginner's book. The layout of it is a good telling of what the trick looks like to the audience, audience, preparation for the trick, and how to do it, but it just gives the basic modus operandi and no routine so speak. Each routine is about a page long and doesn’t dedicate too much into each effect. The illustrations are week and don't give minute detail like HOW TO DO A MAGIC SHOW does. Easy-to-Do Magic Magic Tricks for Children Children,, author Karl Fulves has selected good tricks for the book, but leaves it to the beginner to create their own routines. A beginner cannot know how to structure a trick and turn it into a mystery. That is missing from Easy-to-Do Magic Tricks for Children. They are just reduced to mere tricks to be gured out. Kids' Magic Secrets: Secrets: Simple Magic Magic Tricks & Why Why They Work Work by by Loris Bree and Marlin Bree. This books covers basic beginner tricks, but without the step-by-step approach. This is primarily an eclectic style book that doesn't entirely reect how the tricks affect the audience which whom it was intended for. Also, Also, the illustrations are crude and have an amateur feel to it. Magic for Beginners: Beginners: Learn Magic Magic The Fun Way! By Joseph Then. Once again a book that displays just mental puzzles not suited for a real performance. What will the reader do with this information? How can they do a magic show from this? About the Author


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Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW Endorsements

Michael Pascoe is an author, graphic artist, and professional magical entertainer. Michael wrote and did the layout for the fashion magazine EVVO magazine EVVO,, which is now out of print. His cartoons and editorial articles where featured in The Las Vegas Tribune as Tribune as well as The Coyote Press. Press. His was rst published in the international magic magazine, Genii. Genii. His novel The Proto-Matter Effect is a Cli-Fi tale of an astronomer that nds a probe from another planet and learns a great mystery hidden inside the scrolls left behind. Because magicians love mysteries, he wrote t he whodunnit about magician detective Richard Henderson in Dead in Dead Men Tell No Tale Tale.. Michael also wrote and illustrated the book A book A 9/11 9/11 Christmas: A Christmas to Remember Remember . Congresswoman Dina Titus and Shelley Berkley both loved the book. Las Vegas Channel 8 news anchor Paula Francis read it before going on air and cried. Even Bill Clinton thinks this a good book to teach young people people about the tragic tragic events of September September 11th. Michael’s interest in magic stared as a kid. After watching a magician on television, he couldn't wait to go the local library the next day to learn this craft. He was disappointed when he went to the magic isle. Just like Goldilocks, the rst book Michael picked was too easy. The effects seemed like baby tricks. The second book was too hard. His head spun seeing all of the hand magic in it that looked like it would take years to learn. He was about to give up when the last book peaked his interest. It said s imply, Hocus Hocus Pocus Pocus . And like that ancient incantation, a spell was cast. Magic was his gateway to everything. He learned acting to better assist his stagecraft. Already drawing everything everything in sight, he used that talent as well sketching out magic moves that was described in the books he read. Not happy with the lack of well written routines, he soon learned the art of crafting words. This led to him pursuing being a writer. writer. Later he became a professional magician performing at places like the Magic Castle and Castle and Magic Mountain Mountain to to name a few. He left his home in Los Angeles to try his luck in Vegas. But, as many would nd out, what happens happens there really stays there. So writing and art became a necesneces sity. After earning an Associates of Arts Degree at the College of Southern Nevada, Nevada , Michael's passion came full circle by by combining all of his talents; magic, writing, and and graphic design. design. While teaching young kids magic, he realized that there is not a good book on magic that teaches the beginners how to perform the tricks. He set out to write such a book and illustrated it to t each each trick in the best way possible. The fruits of his labor is in this book.

POTENTIAL ENDORSERS:

Denny and Lee's Magic Studio Las Vegas Magic Shop The Magic Cafe blog for magicians Pop Haydn professional magician Scoundrels Forum

Contact information: Michael Pascoe 2925 N. Jones Blvd Las Vegas, NV 89108 (702) 870-6895 [email protected]

Chapter-by-Chapter Chapter-by-Chapter Summary

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6


7


Chapter 4

PART ONE—THE ANCIENT ART OF MAGIC

MISCELLANEOUS CLOSE-UP TRICKS

Chapter 1

Three miscellaneous tricks using paper clips, dollar bills, dice, and coins

HOW TO DO A MAGIC SHOW

This introduction section explains: • How magic works • The basic rules of magic • What the readers will get from the book

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• • •

The Linking Paperclips Dice Prediction Nest of Boxes

PART THREE-THREE-- Platform Magic PART TWO-- Close-Up Magic

Part two two goes into the magic routines. The rst set set of tricks are a series series of of short short close-up close-up routines lled with coins and card tricks

The second phase is designed designed for a parlor parlor show. show. The reader can do these routines in front of a small group of people gathered in their living room or even on a st age. Chapter 5

Chapter 2 THE PROPS CARD TRICKS

Four simple cards tricks routined and performance ready. ready. • • • •

This chapter chapter goes over the necessary props used in a magic show like making your own magic wand. Chapter 6

Lucky Seven You Do As I Do The Four Burglars Cut the Lady in Half

SILK MAGIC

Tricks using silk handkerchiefs. handkerchiefs. Chapter 3 AT THE DINNER TABLE

• •

Showing or Blowing A Plethora of Silks Chapter 7

Three tricks that can be performed at the dinner table • • •

MAGIC OF THE MIND

Sugar Packet Prediction Salt Shaker Through Table What's Under the Cap

Mind reading magic • •

Are you a square? Book Test

Chapter 8

7


9

ROPE ROUTINES

• • • • •

Stretching the Rope Threading the Needle The Magical Shoelace The Cut and Restored Rope The Coat Release Trick

How To Do a Magic Show


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Chapter 9 TRICKS FROM THE ORIENT

Tricks from the Orient including the classic Cups and Balls. • • • •

The Cups and Balls Tricks with Rice The Indian Rice Mystery Rice Bowls

by Michael Pascoe

Chapter 10 NEWSPAPER MAGIC

Tricks with newspaper including one written just for this book. • •

Torn and Restored Newspaper Saying Thanks with Style

PART FOUR-- Doing the Magic Show Chapter 11 PUTTING TOGETHER THE MAGIC SHOW

This last section Michael feels is the most important part of book, and one he wishes he had as a young magician. How to do the show. This section will show the readers how to put the Magic Show together. A list of combination of tricks organized for thirteen shows. All of the tricks are taught together, then a program list is given at the end to set up their own show. show. They can do all of the tricks for a longer show, or break it off in smaller parts. • •

A Close-up Act The Platform Act

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A Guide to Learning to Perform the

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW Michael Pascoe 2925 N. Jones Blvd. Las Vegas, NV 89108 (702) 870-6895 [email protected]


39,415 words

HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW By Michael Pascoe

o my childhood friend John. Tis is to all of the hours spent trying to fool each other. Te time spent was well worth it. o my wife Carole. . . who has put up with my obs ession not only to magic, but writing this book And to my agent Sue who made a ll of this possible

FOG Literary Agency Sue Flammang 3800 S. Decatur #214 Las Vegas, NV 89103 (702) 631-7725 www.FOGliteraryagency.com sue.fl[email protected]


Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW Showing or Blowing 55

able of Contents

A Plethora of Silks

60

7. Magic of the Mind 68 PAR ONE-- Te Ancient Art of Magic 1. How to Do a Magic Show 1 PAR WO-- Close-Up Magic

1

Are You You a Square? Book est

9

68

71

8. Rope Routines

76

1. Card ricks 9

Stretching a Rope

76

Self Working 10

Treading the Needle 80

Lucky Seven

Te Magical Shoelace 83

10

You Do As I Do

12

Cut and Restored Rope

86

Te Four Burglars

14

Te Coat Release rick

96

Cut the Lady in Half 17

9. ricks from the Orient

100

3. At the Dinner able 21

Te Cups and Balls

100 105

Sugar Packet Prediction

21

ricks with Rice

Salt Shaker Trough able

24

Te Indian Rice Mystery


31

Rice Bowls

4. Miscellaneous Closeup ricks Te Linking Paperclips Dice Prediction

36

36

51

6. Silk Magic 55

10. Newspaper Magic 116

Saying Tanks with Style

Nest of of Boxes 42

5. Te Props

110

orn and Restored Newspaper

40

PAR HREE-- Platform Magic

105

116

122

PAR FOUR-- Doing the Magic Show 50

11. Putting ogether the Magic Show 128

128


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PART ONE-- The Ancient Art of Magic


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So why should you be expected to write your own routines? The general school of thought is that that each performer has his or her own style. By giving them a full blown routine it may not t that person’s style. This may be true for a seasoned veteran. But, if you are just starting out, how do you know what what your style is? That’s why the tricks in here are written out in detail and properly routined. routined. With suitable

1. How to Do a Magic Show Magic! Even the word alone brings many thoughts and visions of men in evening clothes producing rabbits, oating beautiful beautiful women and and then cutting her her in half. We We all wish that we

practice, you can can learn the basics to the tricks in this book. Then learn the dialogue dialogue that goes with with it and be ready to perform them. After awhile, you will have a feel for what a good trick feels like. You can create your own. For now, do the tricks the way it’s written. How does magic work?

could have a magic wand to do our bidding for us, to wave to and fro. Wave our magic wand to

The central secret of magic is manipulation of interest. Interest is selective. selective. You must

make money appear, to make our foes disappear. When we speak of magic in this book, we are talking about the art of magic. Conjuring, legerdemain, prestidigitation, call it what you want, it is as old as man himself. Magic i s the second oldest profession. The art has been practiced from beyond the reaches of time. Magic’s beginnings go go as far back as the cave cave men. Drawings Drawings on walls show a magician performing performing the ancient trick of the Cups and Balls. Magic originally meant, “The true interpretation of the laws

consciously take part. The audience must give consent to the magician to control that interest and hold it. We magicians know that memory is a poor recording mechanism. People can’t pay attention to more than one thing at a t ime. We either watch the left hand going left or the right hand going right. One hand will catch the eye, but not both if they go away from our frame of vision. We only notice what interest us. We don’t pay attention to things we don’t.

of life.” Magic today is a regulated art form. As an art form, it takes years of study. Fortunately, Fortunately, the tricks in this book are easy to learn and only takes ten minutes a day of practice. The object of these lessons is to help you become a good magician. The tricks here are designed to be per-

Then you can lead up to the thing in a trick that does interest us and that is the magic part. This is where all of the heat is. By heat, I mean the audience will be looking to see if they can catch you. That’s why you you do all of the tricky stuff in the set up phase, if you can. A skilled magician determines what the audience shall pay attention to. This is called

formed in your own magic show. If you read books on magic, they teach the skeleton of the art. It’s up to you to provide the entertainment. Some magic purist say it’s wrong to do a magic routine word for word. This does not make sense. When you l earn how to sing, you are not expected to write your own songs.

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misdirection. So, the real secret to magic is to control this attention. The magician must control that interest not only through misdirection, but showmanship. To To do this is by taking note on what holds our interest.


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In a magic magic trick, what does not interest us is the preparation of the trick. trick. You can make this boring so the audience will not see the subtle maneuvers you are doing. That will be misdi-


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Rule number two: Never challenge challenge the audience

Never perform magic as a puzzle to be be gured out. By doing it like a game, you’re chalchal-

rection. However, However, this is bad showmanship. showmanship. So, the key is to put the emphasis on what you are

lenging the audience. This is dangerous. This causes the audience to be more astute than they

saying as you set up the trick. This should contain the plot of the trick. Since the key word in

should be. Then they may except your challenge and say how the trick is done. If you don’t want

misdirection is direction, the best way to manipulate this is with good showmanship. showmanship. By combin-

to be embarrassed, never challenge the audience. It doesn’t matter if they are right or wrong. A

ing both showmanship and misdirection, you can control what the audience sees much easier.

logical thinking person will see the thread in the hecklers observation. Then he too will think this

The rules of magic

Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, magic magic has has rules. To be able able to be a part of of this fraternity, we must must address address the

is how it’s done. Whether they are right or wrong, the mystery is lost. One way to challenge the audience is to say, “I have an ordinary deck of cards.” This is

basic rules of magic. I have have listed seven.

a challenge. The audience may wonder how ordinary is it. They also may want to examine the

Rule number one: Never tell how a trick is done

deck. If you have a trick deck, or a pre-arrange pack, this request will ruin your trick.

The rst rule is obvious. Do not reveal how a trick is done. Because of the nature of the

Even if you don’t use trick cards, this request will not only slow down the show, but will

magician’s magician’s work, secrecy is important. Magic depends on mystery. Magic routines are interest-

burst that balloon of mystery as if the secret itself was was revealed. You’re supposed supposed to be a real

ing as long as the audience is puzzled. Telling Telling how a mystery is done punctures the balloon of

magician. A real magician doesn’t need to challenge his powers. When you remind the audience

amazement. Once that balloon has been punctured, the mystery is gone. The magic has been

that there is a secret, you are doing the same thing as revealing the actual secret.

reduced to a game to be gured out.

The same is true when you say that your hands are empty. They are supposed to be. When

The closer we conjurers make magic mystery seem like a miracle, so much the better. The

you say so, you are only reminding the audience that magicians palm objects. Even though we

audience wants to believe that magicians perform miracle. The world itself wants to believe. Do-

won’t be dealing with palming, they may still suspect that if t hey are challenged. Instead, just

ing the impossible even when the audience knows that nature’s law says it cannot happen, is part

show your hands empty and let t hem make the observation themselves.

of the appeal. If you reveal the fact that nature’s law can explain what you do, then why would

Rule number three: Never repeat repeat a trick

the audience watch you?

When you have them mystied. . . leave them mystied. What the audience has missed

The old time magicians guarded that secret jealously. To create this aura of mystery, we

the rst time, they will catch the second time. Once is a mystery, second time is education. If you

must depend on secrecy. As you can see, it’s not the secret that’s being revealed, but the mystery

do the same trick the second time there’s a chance the audience will discover the secret. When

behind the secret. secret. Just like the old timers, guard your secrets well.

this happens, you’ve lost your hold on them.

3


5

There is another another reason why it’s not a good good idea to repeat a trick. It’s poor showmanship. showmanship.


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to be a surprise is like not knowing you are going to get a gift on your birthday. You don’t know

You never tell the same joke twice, s o why do the same trick twice? A good trick is designed to

what the surprise is, but you do know there is going to be one. The surprise is opening the gift

reach a logical climax. The climax of a routine signies the end of the trick. Repeating it makes

and seeing what we are given.

the routine anti-climatic. Some tricks have no endings. Routines that go on and on, really do not

Setting up a surprise is l ike setting up a joke. Everyone knows that if you don’t have a

have an ending to them. Just stopping doesn’t make sense. The audience must know where the

proper set-up, set-up, you have no no joke. A punchline that that doesn’t make sense sense to the set-up is not funny funny

end is. Each routine should be a mini story. Beginning, middle, and end. This is not an easy task.

either. A strange variation of the set-up, however twisted, can be funny.

Repeating a trick breaks up this pattern.

The same is true in magic. Magic has its set-up. The magician shows the cup empty then

Some tricks are designed to be repeated. A few here in this book are. More often than not when a trick like this is repeated, it’s designed for it. The story is designed to reach a logical climatic ending. Usually tricks that are design to repeat sometimes change the method on how it’s done. It looks the same, but the secret is different. The point is never never give in to the temptation when an audience member asks to repeat repeat a

sets it down. He waves the wand which tells the audience a surprise is about to happen. Then when the cup is lifted, a ball is produced. The general rule of thumb is; only only tell the audience what they need to know know to understand the plot of the trick. If knowing this reveals the secret, then delay this until the right moment. You can see when I have done this and when I haven’t. Take notice of it because each trick will

trick. They don’t know how to react to what they just saw, so they think of the rst t hing that

contradict this rule. See why it’s done. Discovering this will be the greatest lesson of all.

comes to their head. Do it again. Or How did you do it? They really don’t want to know or want

Rule number ve, six, and seven: Practice, practice, and practice

to see it again. Just go on to your next trick.

Professionals in all areas of entertainment practice. This cannot be over emphasized. Ev-

Rule number four: Never tell what you’re you’re going to do do

Never tell the the audience audience what you are going to do ahead of time. That’s the same as rere-

eryone knows that practice makes perfect. That’s not entirely true. Perfect practice makes perfect. You can practice now until doomsday, but if you practice incorrectly, you’ll never be perfect.

peating a trick. The The audience now now knows what what to look for. for. This is the basic reasoning reasoning given by

Once a habit has been formed, it’s hard to undo it. In fact, i t takes longer to undo something than

most books on magic. There is a problem with this rule. If you don’t tell the audience what you

it is to learn it from scratch.

are going to do, they won’t know what to look for. If they don’t know what to look for, then there is a chance they might miss t he surprise of the trick. No one likes a true surprise. Four must follow three numerically. numerically. People People do like stage stage sur prises. Setting some one one up for a surprise surprise can be pleasant. Without Without actually saying saying there is going

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Practice everyday, everyday, even if only for ten to fteen minutes. Some like to practice more. It’s best to practice in short short spurts than in one long long session. Even if you you want to practice practice all day, it’s it’s best to practice in fteen-minute fteen-minute increments. increments. Rest, analyze, and check check what you did wrong or or right. Then go back to practicing. You You don’t want to take the risk of practicing a mistake.


7

When practicing, it’s best to use a mirror. A full-length mirror is best. You You can can see if your your

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW There was no one else.

I taught him the tricks and he practiced them. However, when the performance performance time

hands are correct as well as your body positions. Professional dancer practice in front of a mirror. Using a mirror mirror will help you see what what you you are doing right and and what what you you are doing doing wrong. If you can see in the mirror how the trick is done, so can the audience. Be critical of yourself.

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came, he froze. His acting background helped him ad-lib, but he did not have the background or the fundamentals of a magician to be able to cover up a mistake like a magician would. You can learn the tricks I’m going to show you, but without the knowledge of why or

You You can catch an error before it becomes habit. Remember, Remember, the audience will not miss a trick

how a trick works, you won’t know what you are doing wrong. Though each trick is set up so

(pun intended). Even though a mirror mirror can be a valuable valuable tool for practicing, it’s best not not to use use it during rehearsals. It will hinder your performance and make you stiff. When you perform, you want to

you can perform a magic show, I have given you more than just mere tricks. I have given you the principles as well. I have have inserted in the tricks, basic basic magic magic fundamentals fundamentals that will show show you why and how a

move around. Even a full-length mirror will make that impossible. In a dance studio, where the mirrors are all around, you want to focus on performing to

trick is done. Certain gestures or pauses help to sell a trick that will not only entertain, but mys-

your imaginary audience. This is a good time to picture your audience in your mind’s eye. When

tify. A magician is not a magician because he knows tricks. He knows the principals behind each

you perform, you want to entertain everyone in the audience. You don’t want to perform for

trick.

yourself. With today’s today’s electronics, you can use your cell phone to video tape yourself. Then play

I drew all of the illustrations in an attempt to explain the moves the best I can. By com bining pictures with with the text, you learn quicker. quicker. Some people are are visuals. They learn better with

it back and see it from the audience’s eyes. What you will get from this book

You’ll get what you put into it. Basic fundamentals are there for everyone. A man once said that a genius makes his work a science as well as an art. A genius is one who works twice as

illustrations. Others are word minded. They see words as pictures. While other still are like me, they are both. So learn each trick carefully. These are the tools that have been passed down for ages as

hard as others. When others give up, the genius forges ahead. The genius knows through experi-

magic is the second oldest profession. With that, comes respect. I’m certain you’ll take the art as

ence how far to go whether to exaggerate or hold back. This comes through time. Time, instincts,

serious as I have. I’m also certain that once it gets in your blood, you will not be able to get rid of

experience, and knowledge. Knowledge Knowledge leads to greater heights.

it. It is denitely a fun profession.

Foundation is a basic to all all learning. learning. Learning tricks without foundation on how or why is disastrous. I found this out once when I was doing a show at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Because I had jury duty, I had to take the day off from the show. I taught an actor friend to take my place.

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PART TWO-- Close-Up Magic

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However, However, we we think the problem with card tricks is the lack of a good good routine. Nothing is more annoying than seeing someone someone doing a boring card trick. It just goes on and on with no real point to it. Each of these these tricks have been routined, routined, so stick to the basic premise.

Self Working

1. Card Tricks

The following tricks are called Self Working , but that’s not quite correct. Self Working implies tha t the cards work on their own without you touching them. You have to do something

Everyone knows a card trick or two. Magicians and non magicians alike. The Magic

of course. The main point is that it doesn’t take sleight of hand to perform these these tricks.

Castle in Hollywood, California is an exclusive club for magicians. They have a beautiful library

Lucky Seven

with stacks and stacks of books. Of all of the categories, the section on cards out number the Effect: The magician writes down a prediction prediction on a piece of paper and keeps keeps it in full

other sections by a staggering amount. We guess the reason is most people have cards. Also, people expect the magician t o be good with them. The most important reason is that so much can be done with playing cards. We will show you simple tricks rst. Tricks you can learn right away. The key is to learn, not per -

view. Then he deals the cards in two piles. A member of the audience audience chooses a pile. The magician shows the prediction proving that he knew ahead of time which pile the spectator would choose. Props:

form right away. Even though these tricks are simple, you shouldn’t rush to perform them. Li ke a script in a movie, you must know your lines well.

A deck of cards

Another thing, resist the the temptation of performing too many card tricks. We feel a balance

A piece of paper or a business card

in any show is important. About About four good tricks is enough in any close-up program. It’s best

A pen or pencil

to mix it up with other close-up tricks and do not get in the habit of being the pest that doesn’t

Preparation: Take out the four sevens from the deck; the seven of spades, the seven of

know when to stop. diamonds, the seven of hearts, and the seven of clubs. Place these four cards on top of the deck. Once you get going, someone will know a trick or two. Some may want to interrupt your To perform: “As I was coming here tonight, tonight, I got an image of a future event.” Write

performance and want to show show you a trick. Most Most of them are mundane mundane and lose the the audience atdown on the paper or on the back of a business card, You will choose the seven pile. pile . Make sure sure tention. the audience sees you doing this, but do not show the prediction. Turn the prediction face down,

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“Instead, you chose the pile with the four sevens.

but leave it in full view. Deal the four sevens face down down on the table. Do not show the faces of the cards. Next to

Take the prediction card and read it out loud please.” When they do, they will be astonished to nd out what your predic -

this, deal out seven random cards cards face down. See gure 1.

tion says, You will choose the seven pile. If they chose the pile with the seven cards, pick up

Fig. 2

the pile they didn’t choose, “This is the pile you could have chosen, but you didn’t.” didn’t.” Count the four cards face down. down. “One, two, three, four. four. This is the four pile.” Do not show show the faces. Then pick up the the pile they chose, “This “This is the pile you did choose.” choose.” Count the seven cards face down out loud, “One, two, three , four, ve, six, and seven. You chose the seven pile.” Turn to the spectator and have him read the prediction out loud. It will of course say, You The seven cards The four sevens

will choose the seven pile. pile. “I knew that the seven would be your lucky number. Now the next Fig. 1 time you go to a casino, you know what number to pick.”

Turn to a spectator, spectator, “Would “Would you help me? Point to any any pile. It doesn’t doesn’t matter which.” He

You Do As I Do

points to one. “Are “Are you certain that that you want that pile? pile? I want to make sure sure that you have a free choice.” Let them change their mind if they want. “You are sure you don’t want to change your mind?” nod your head no. Get the audience

Effect: The magician promises a spectator to teach him a trick. Two different different color

to copy you. “You are happy with the mind you have.” Shake your head yes and get the spectator

decks are brought brought out. Both spectator and the magician chooses chooses a card. The chosen cards are

to shake his also. This should get a laugh. “Good!”

returned.

Now the outcome outcome depends upon upon which pile they choose. In magic, it is best not to tell what you are going to do ahead of time. This way you stay one step ahead of the audience. If

The decks are switched. The magician and the spectator pull out their cards. When the cards are turned around, they match each other.

the spectator chooses the pile with the four sevens, turn over the other pile face up and show the

Props:

faces. “This is the pile you could have chosen. But you didn’t.” Then turn over over the pile with the

Two decks of cards: A red deck A blue deck

four sevens. (See gure 2.)

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spectator is doing what you are doing. “Cut the deck to lose your card in the middle.

Preparation: No set up required.

“Alright, lets exchange decks again.” Change decks from the spectator. Fan the cards To perform: Take out the blue and red decks, “Have you ever heard of the term, monkey

with the faces toward you, “Pull out the card that you looked at and close t he deck when you are see, monkey do? Well, in magic, we have a term; spectator spectator see, spectator do. Sorry, Sorry, I couldn’t nished. I’ll do the same.” think of anything cleverer than that. Look for the key card. When you nd it, look at the card below it. That will be the spectator’s “I will show you how to be be a magician, but you must do do as I do.” do.” Hand him the red case, card. Pull the spectators card out and place it face down on on the table. “You “You look like the type of person that is seeing red, so you’ll get this one. “That’s the card I chose. Put the card you chose next to it.” After he does, ask him to “I’ll take the blue deck, because I’m always always blue.” Take the deck out out of the case. Make turn his card over. over. When he does say, say, “That’s impossible! That is the card I chose.” Turn your sure the spectator follows you. you. Shufe the cards. Once again, make sure the spectator spectator follows card over. I f you’ve done everything correct, it’ ll match. you. “You’re a better magician than you probably thought. Take a bow.” After he does, stage As you shufe, peak at the bottom card of the deck. It must be on the last shufe. shufe. In whisper, (that is whisper so the others can hear) “Remember, “Remember, a magician never tells how he does fact, don’t shufe more than once, or you’ll bore the others. A good way to peak at the card is to a trick.” tap the cards as in gure 1. Your Your motivation for doing this is to straighten out the cards after they

The Four Burglars

are shufed. Peak at the bottom card. card. This is called the key card. card. “Very good, you’ll be a good magician yet.” Change decks with him. Fan the deck and take out a card. Look at it. Make sure the spectator spectator does the same thing. thing. “Look at your your card

favorite limerick... everyone everyone knows it, but can’t tell you who started it. When I was a little kid, this was the rst t rick I learned. I never did magic seriously at that point, but I loved to do this

and remember it. The trick doesn’t have any

trick. I still does this even today.

meaning if you forget your card.” Even though

Effect: The magician shows four Jacks from a deck of cards and explains that these are

you ask the spectator to memorize his card, don’t

four burglars. burglars. The deck is a building they attend to rob. One burglar is placed two-thirds two-thirds of the

memorize your card. The only card you need to Fig. 1

remember is the key card.

The Four Burglars is one one of of those those tricks that just just seem to always be with us. It’s like your your

Place your card on top of the deck. Make sure sure the spectator is following following along, “Place your card on on top.” Cut the deck and and complete it. Then square it up. up. Once again make make sure the

way into the deck. The second burglar is placed half way in the deck, and the third burglar is placed a third of the way in the deck. deck. The last burglar stays on on top as a lookout. lookout. The magician taps the the deck deck and all four four burglars rise to the top. The deck is spread spread out face up and it is normal without any duplicate Jacks.

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Props:

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Take the next card on top and put it in the middle of the deck, “The second burglar goes

A full deck of cards

to the second oor.” oor.” Place the next card after that and put it a third of the way in the deck. “The

Preparation: Pull out of the deck the four Jacks. Also pull out three indifferent cards.

third burglar goes to the third oor.”

Place the seven cards face up in your left hand in this order: three indifferent cards followed by the four Jacks. See gure 1.

Put the deck on the table. Pick up the top card and show the the face to the audience. It’s the Jack. If done nonchalantly, nonchalantly, the audience will swear later on that you showed every card before before

Square up the indifferent cards and hide them behind the rst Jacks as in gure 2. Make

burying it. That’s the way way it is with audiences. “The last burglar burglar stays on on top as a look look out in case case the the police police comes.” Put the Jack back

sure that this four card block looks like one card. Fan out the other three Jacks and hold them in

on top of the deck, “Everything was going smoothly when all of a sudden the police came. The

the left hand.

burglar on top called and told the others to come up and join him,” him,” tap the top of the deck deck three times. Turn each top card over face up and reveal the four Jacks, “And they all came up to the top.” To nish up, spread the cards cards face face up on the table table as in gure gure 3. 3. This way you can show show Fig. 1

Fig. 2

that you do not have any duplicate duplicate Jacks with out saying so. Don’t say that there is a possibility of duplicates. If they are interested they will look.

To perform: Show the fanned Jacks, being careful not to expose the indifferent cards.

Tell the story about the four burglars, “These burglars are going to rob t his department store.” Pick up the deck for emphases. emphases. Then put it back down on the table. table. “They needed a secret plan to rob this store.” Close the fan, “So they gathered together together to discuss what they are going to do.” Drop the packet of seven cards cards on top of the deck. “They met on top of the department department Fig. 3

store late at night.” Pick up the deck in the left hand. Take the top card, don’t show it. It’s the indifferent card, but it’s supposed to be the rst Jack. Push the card into the deck around two-thirds of the way and square it up. “The rst burglar goes to the rst oor.” oor.”

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Cut the Lady in Half When I was thirteen, I caught the magic bug again. This time it was was serious. I never got over it. I started to learn professional tricks that I read in books. This was the rst trick I learned Fig. 2 from that book. Just like the four burglars, this one is easy to do. Fig. 1 Put the envelope in your breast pocket along with Effect: The magician takes a Queen from the the deck. He says he will show how to cut a

lady in half. He places the Queen in an envelope. envelope. With a pair of scissors, the magician cuts the envelope and the Queen Queen in half. He separates them to show that they are really cut in half. Then he puts them back t ogether, ogether, over lapping the cut section. Then the magician waves his magic wand wand over the cut pieces. Then he pulls out the Queen. She is completely restored. restored.

the scissors. Make sure a Queen of any suit is on top of the deck. This is for ease of handling. handling. But, if you are dodoing this after another trick, then just fan the cards out and pull out a Queen. Queen. To perform: “Cut the Lady in Half Half is the most popular trick in magic. The plot

is simple. A lady is placed inside of a box, then cut cut in half. First of course you will need a lady.” Look around, “No volunteers ?” Pause. Pick up the Queen from the deck,

Props:

“Aright, then I’ll just use this little lady here.” Place the Queen face up on the table. table. “Next we need is a box.” Act as if you are searching for something that can be used as

A deck of cards

a substitute for a box. Finally go to the breast pocket, “Failing that, we will improvise improvise with this

One pay envelope

envelope.” Don’t over do this. It should be casual. casual. The impression you want to create is that

A pair of scissors

you are doing t his completely spontaneous. When you take the envelope from the pocket, keep the slit away from the audience.

Preparation: Make sure that the envelope is the kind that has the ap on the longer longer

Place the Queen in the envelope with its back to you. The face of it should be towards the audi-

end as appose to a letter envelopes that have the aps aps on the shorter end. See gure 2. Fold the

ence. Don’t place it all of the way in. Make sure that the Queen goes goes in the slit so half of it

envelope in half as in gure 1. Unfold it. With the pair of scissors, cut a slit in the back of the

sticks out. See gures 3 and 4.

envelope on the fold as in gure 2. The front of the envelope should look normal.

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before the trick is done. done. Don’t cut all of the way. Leave a centimeter still attached. attached. If you cut all of of the way through, there might be a chance that the bottom half of the envlope might fall to the oor and the audience will see there is nothing in it . Put the scissors down. Pull away the remaining piece piece from the envelope. Separate the halves. Be careful that you don’t show the back with the folded Queen. Continue with the dialogue, “Of course it’s also important to put her back together.” Place the two pieces in approximately approximately in the same place that it was before it was cut. (Figure 6) Let go of the folded Queen so it lines up to the back of the bottom bottom half. Pull out the Queen Queen and show it completely restored. restored. There will be a slight crimp in crimp in the Fig. 4

Fig. 3

“We also need something to cut with.” Pull out the scissors from your pocket. “This pair

card. This, unlike the crease, can be snapped back back to its original condition. This must be done if you plan on

of scissors will do.” Open and close them a few times. Look at the same female you did in the

handing out the Queen for inspection. If you don’t, they

beginning, “Aren’t “Aren’t you glad you didn’t didn’t volunteer?” volunteer?”

will see the crimp and probably guess the secret.

While you are doing this, carefully fold the card toward you. you. See Figure 5. Don’t put a crease in it. If you do, then you

Fig. 5

won’t be able to undo it. You’ll be surprised how far you can bend the card without creasing it. Cut the envelope at the spot where the crease of the envelope is. Do not cut the card. By cutting at the crease, you are getting rid of the evidence of the secret

19

As you do, nish up by saying, “And the Queen is no worse for ware. She can even take a bow.” Tip the card over simulating a bow. Fig. 6


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Preparation: While you are eating, sneak a sugar packet that you’ve already marked

ahead of time in the holder. Use any number, but remember it. Let’s say you chose eight.

3. At the Dinner able Sometimes you’ll find yourself at dinner with someone and the subject of your new skill is brought up. You’ll be tempted to show off, but resist. Do just a few quick tricks and re-direct the conversation some where else.

To perform: This trick is st raightforward in its method. But don’t let its simplicity fool

you. This is a good trick. It doesn’t need any fancy dialogue. “Have you ever had the feeling of déjà vu?” However the spectator responds, say, “I knew you were going to say that. I get it all of the time. Have you ever had the feeling of déjà

Tese tricks seem spontaneous because you use the items that are on your dinner table. All the tricks are impromptu with the exception of What’s Under the Cap? It seems like it is because you will use a cap from a soda bottle if there is one.

Sugar Packet Prediction Effect: While eating dinner, talk about déjà vu. Show a little demonstration of it by tak-

ing a sugar packet from the table. Write something down and put it off to the side for safe keeping. Then take eight more sugar packets. Openly write down a number from one t o eight on each

vu? Didn’t you just ask me that? See, it’s happening right now. now. I can sense the outcome of things. I can’t always gure out the details to take advantage of it, but I am getting a feeling of a future event as we speak.” Grab a sugar packet. This could be Sweet and Low or any other sugar packet you have on the table. Use any number for the prediction. We are using the number eight for example. “To prove my point, point, I am going to write something that that hasn’t happen yet, but will.” Take Take out a pen and write your prediction number. Don’t let anyone see the prediction. “I must assure that no one tampers with this prediction, so I’m going to put this off to the side.” Place this packet so it is

of the packets. Scoop up all of the packets packets and drop them into a spectator’s hand. Have them mix it up. up. Then ask them to drop the packets randomly from their hand until all of them fall on the table. You discard any that land face down. You take the remaining and repeat this until you only have one left. This matches the prediction packet you wrote before the demonstration.

face down tucked under something something like a glass, s alt shaker, or an ashtray. Make sure that it is in plain sight. Grab a handful handful of sugar packets, about eight more. Make sure your pre-set up packet is included. “Déjà vu is a skill that is used to see future events. Some say it’s just luck or coincidence. Or maybe all three.

Props:

“A guessing game relies on pure luck.” Write number number one on the rst packet. Do this so Nine sugar packets packets

the audience can see the numbers. “It would be no test if you had a choice between one num-

Marking pen

ber.” Pick up another packet packet and write the number number two on on it. “Two numbers increase the the odds

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to 50/50.” Pick up three more packets, “If we really want to make this a test of l uck. . .” write

packet. “By random random occurrence, occurrence, we’ve ended ended up with the number eight. I knew knew that would would hap-

the numbers three, four, and ve on the separate packets, “. . . we’ll increase the odds by adding

pen.” Don’t Don’t touch the prediction, prediction, but have a spectator spectator pick it up and show it. “And it is indeed indeed

more numbers.”

the randomly chosen number.” Take the packet with the double side. “Of course you could say

Sugar packets like Sweet and Low have the logo on one side, and the nutritional infor-

that it is just a coincidence. . .” tear it open and pour the sugar into your tea or coffee. “Because

mation on the other. For misdirection reasons, write some of these numbers on the front of the

that means relying on luck.” Crumble up the packet and throw it away. “It must be déjà vu since

packet, some on the back. The reason reason will be clear later on. on.

I never take chances with blind luck.” Look puzzled at the audience, “It’s too bad I can’t do that

Pick up the last three packets and write six, seven, and eight. When you get to the pre-set

to win the lottery.”

up packet, write the same number that is on the back. This will give you a double packet. That is,

Salt Shaker Trough able

a packet with the same number on each side. In our example, we are using eight. So make sure that you write eight on the other side of t he sugar packet. “Hold out your hands as if you are receiving some water. To further make this a game of luck. . .” pick up the eight sugar packets and mix it up. You want a good mixture because you don’t want the demonstration to end too s oon. Place the packets in the spectators cupped hands, “. . . mix them up real well. Let it trickle through your hands like warm sand on a beach. Any that

If you nd yourself at a restaurant and someone wants you to do a trick, t his is the perfect thing to show off your powers. I’ve done this killer effect for years and have rened the misdi rection as I went along. Effect: While eating dinner at a restaurant, your friends have asked you to do some

tricks. After you have done some dynamite close-up tricks, your friends want more. You You try to beg off and and steer the conversation conversation somewhere else, but they insist. So not knowing knowing what what to do

lands face down, we’ll eliminate.” Some of the packets will land face up, others face down. “Luck made some land face down. . .” discard any that are face down. “. . . and some to land face up.” Grab the face up ones

next, you see a salt shaker and cover it with a napkin. You You state that it will penetrate the table. On the count of three, you slam the salt shaker right through the table. Misdirection is the most important technique in magic. If your timing is off, the audience

and put them in the spectator’s hands. Because the force packet has a number on each side, it will never land face down. The subtlety about writing the numbers on different sides of the packet come to play here. An observant spectator might notice that every packet lands the same way except one. They may reason

will discover the secret. At the very least, know when the sneaky part took place. That’s just as bad. This trick is a lesson on on misdirection. The original way I learned this trick was t o take a coin and place it on the tabletop. Then the old books said to cover the coin with an empty facedown drinking glass. From there, a paper

that one is double sided. “Let’s try this again.” again.” Repeat this until until only only one is left. Of course that will will be the force force

23

napkin covered the glass. It said from there to announce that the coin will disappear. disappear. Remember


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the old rule about announcing ahead of time what you are going to do? Well, this was supposed

pear. Then Then he palmed it away away and made it reappear in his coat pocket. pocket. Still, it was a bit too tricky

to be misdirection against the rule effect. Because when the glass was lifted, the coin was still

for me. And he was using the premise about making the coin disappear. disappear.

there. In the action of moving the glass and napkin toward you to reveal this, the glass secretly

So this comes to the second change I made. I altered the moment. Instead of a disap-

was dropped to the lap. The basic shape was seen through the napkin. The misdirection was

pearance, I changed changed it to a penetration. penetration. By doing that it changed the trick. trick. I didn’t have have to worry

when the magician said, “The coin hasn’t disappeared yet.” Then the glass was moved over to

about having a glass or a salt shaker in my lap. Nor did I have to worry about trying to palm it

cover the coin again. Then it was crushed to show the glass has disappeared instead of the coin.

away. away. It only stayed in my lap temporarily until I needed it to reveal that it penetrated through

The misdirection was good, but the trick as far as entertainment value was not. Here is a good example of the misdirection being better t han the showmanship. That’s because it lacked continuity which controls the ow. When I did it the way the book showed it, people in the audi ence would say, “So what. . . you didn’t make the coin disappear.” When you think about it, this is what I promised to do. A good showman would not break up the ow of the routine that way. So how do you combine the rules of showmanship with the laws of misdirection? Find a better a way to do it. First the misdirection must be changed. I got got rid of of the premise premise of making the coin disap-

the table. This also changed the moment of astonishment from, “Huh,” to , “I don’t believe. . . do that again.” As any magician can tell you, this is a complement. The third thing I did was to delay the moment as long as I could. I did this by pretending that the trick had not even started. I would look over the situation and improvise according to the table set up. I covered covered the salt shaker shaker with a paper paper napkin. If a placemat or some other kind of ob ject was in the way, way, I would move move the salt shaker out of of the way by bringing bringing it to the edge edge of the table. I dropped the salt shaker in my lap. Then moved the item out of the way. I moved the

pear. Then Then I concentrated concentrated on the moment moment of the event that is the magic, magic, and the tricky part that is

napkin with the form of the salt shaker back to the center of the table. Then I paused. Smash the

the secret. I nd that if you can change the moment or delay it, the easier the misdirection would

napkin and the made the shaker go through the table. If there wasn’t a mat mat in the way, way, then I’d bring bring the salt shaker to the edge of the table

be. The moment is the vanish of the glass. The secret is to get rid of the glass. Before Before the

and drop the shaker. At the same time, grab a mat and place it in front of me. I would say that I

vanish is revealed, it has to be secretly dropped in your lap. Now the problem is once the glass

needed it to help with this trick. Then I would put the napkin over the mat and make it penetrate

disappears, how to get rid of the glass without being detected? Delay the moment or change the

the table.

moment. So this is what I did. By doing both I came up with a new trick. First, I changed the prop from a glass to a salt shaker. I read the Amazing Randi’s Randi’s version in the book, The World’s Greatest Magic where he did this trick by making a salt shaker disap-

25

That’s the way I’ve been doing it for years. There was still a problem with it. The trick itself was a stunner, but I stil l had showmanship problems. By showing showing the salt shaker rst, then moving the place mat, I broke up the continuity again.


27

Of course it was was not not so bad, but there was still a chance that an audience member may


28

Fig. 1

loose track of the ow of the trick and forget that I placed a napkin over the salt shaker. I ignored the weakness and rened the mystery by adding sound misdirection. I will explain t his when I give more details on how to do it. It got to the point where I hated to do this trick. My wife l oves this trick and always asks that I do it. First, she would say, “Do the trick where you make the salt shaker go through the table.” Well, this of course violated the rule about not saying what you are going to do ahead of time. Now they are watching that salt shaker instead of the table mat. I would decline doing this trick because I stated I don’t like to show off. After enough enough prodding, I’d do it. With all of the attention on the salt shaker, that’s when I nally cleaned up the handling. I came up with a method that satised me. This is now one of my favorite sit down tricks. This is a good teaching trick because it has ve examples of misdirection. Time and sound misdirection, ruse, simulation, and nally dissimulation. Props:

One salt shaker A paper napkin To perform: The use of a paper napkin is important. It’s the secret behind the effective-

ness of the trick. If you wrap a new paper napkin around around a small object li ke a salt shaker and remove it, the napkin will keep the shape of the object. This is called simulation. You look around for something to use as a prop. “I’m sorry that I don’t have anything else. . . wait. This salt shaker will do.” Place the salt shaker in the center of the table as in gure 1.

27

Cross your feet. This is not for luck. It’s so you can catch the salt shaker and not drop it on the oor. You’ll see what I mean when you practice it a few times. Cover the salt shaker with a napkin from the table. See gure 2 and 3. Because of the stiffness of the napkin, it will take the form of the salt shaker. (As in gure 4). This is key to the illusion that will about to take place.


Fig. 2

Fig 3

29

Fig 4

With the right hand, bring the salt shaker to the edge of the table as in gure 5. The grip is important. At the same time say, “The salt shaker will penetrate the center of the table. . .” With the left hand, knock the table, “. . . right here.” See gure 6.

Fig 5

Fig 6


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31

Keep the same same grip on the shaker shaker as if you you are still holding the salt shaker as in gure 8. Not only does does this use sound misdirection, but dissimulation. The dissimulation hides the salt shaker in the lap. Bring the right hand back to the center of the table. See

Fig 8

gure 9. Show your left hand empty and put

Fig 11

Fig 12

Then with the left hand, bring out the salt shaker. If you really believe that the salt shaker

it under the table, “To catch the salt shaker

goes through, then you can convey that to the audience. I cannot stress enough how important the

when it falls through.” What you really are

pause is. The audience audience just doesn’t doesn’t believe what they are are seeing and the pause pause let’s their brains brains

doing is taking the shaker from your lap and placing it under the table. At this point the trick is all done. Don’t rush it. In the eyes of the audience, the trick has not yet started. Relax. Have fun. This is time misdirection. It’s called that because your timing is

catch up. Of coure we don’t it to catch up too quickly. When they try to back track, you bring out the salt shaker and set it on the table with a thud. The audience will ask you to do it again, but resist. Smile. Welcome to the club.

important here. Pause. Count out loud, “One, t wo, three.” With the right hand, crush the top of


the napkin giving the illusion of forcing the salt shaker through the table. See gure 10. Effect: Three coins are on the table in a row; a penny, a nickel, and a quarter. The magi-

cian turns his back. A spectator is asked to cover a lid of WD40 or soda bottle cap over one of the

Fig 9

coins. Then the remaining coins are placed in each hand. When the magician turns around, he not only names the coin under the cap, but calls out the other coins that is held in each hand.

Fig 10 With the left hand, hit the salt shaker underneath underneath the bottom of the table. table. Pause again. Let sound sound misdirection sink in. With the right hand, turn over the napkin and show the

Props:

A cap Three coins; a quarter, a nickel, and a penny Invisible thread or long strand of hair

shaker is gone as in gure 11. Preparation: Find a cap of some sort that will t over the coins. The one that comes

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32


from a can of WD40 will work nicely. Or a plastic cap from a soda bottle is ne. The kind of cap doesn’t matter because the cap is not faked. Two of the coins are.

33

To perform: State that you are going to test your psychic abilities. “When I reach into my pocket for some change, I have trouble telling the difference between the coins.” Pull out the

The original idea of this method uses a long strand of hair. Or you can use invisible thread. This will work as well. Despite its name, the thread is visible. Buy a spool of it from a

three coins from your pocket. “The quarter i s obvious because it’s larger. However, However, if I only had a nickel and a dime in my pocket, I would not be able to know for sure.”

fabrics store. Don’t get one too thick or the spectator will feel it in their hands. Get the thinnest one you can nd. Make sure that it’s as thin as a piece of hair.

Line the three coins on the table. Make sure they are far apart from each other. You’ll You’ll see why soon. See gure 3.

By making it thin, most people will not notice it when it’s attached to a coin. It’s this visibility-invisibility quality you will take advantage of. Just make sure that the surface you are going to set the coins on is a light color so that you will be able to see the thread when you want to. Cut off off about about an inch inch of the invisible invisible thread thread or or hair and glue it on back of the quarter quarter so that a little bit of it st icks out on each end as in. See gure 1. In a pinch you can use a piece of tape, but the spectator might notice it. (See gure 2) Do the same for the nickel, but instead, use two inches of thread or hair. Have it stick out on both sides. See gure 3 for example. After you

Fig 3

prepare the quarter quarter and nickel, nickel, put all three coins in your your pocket.

“I have developed such a delicate touch, I can even do it without coming in contact with the coins. Let me show you what I mean. When I t urn my back, cover one of the coins with this cap.” Illustrate by covering each coin. When your back is turned continue, “Cover any coin you like. Have you done that?” After you hear a response say, “If I turned around now, I can tell which coin is which by process of elimination. So pick up the larger amount coin in the right

Fig 2

Fig 1

hand. . .” Raise your right hand for emphasis, “Then the remaining coin in your left.” Raise your left hand. “Have you done that?” When you hear an afrmative, turn around and face the audi ence.

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34


35

The reason reason you you don’t want to stare at the cap is because because you you want want to put the emphasis emphasis on on

Glance quickly at the cap, but don’t stare at it. Look at it just long enough to determine which coin is under the cap. If you see a thread sticking out, it’s the quarter under the cap. See

determining the value of the coins in the spectator’s clenched st. This will seem more incredincred-

gure 4.

ible. You do this by using logic. Since you made the request to the spectator on which hand to

Fig 4

hold the coins, you can gure out the location of the other two. Because you asked the specta tor to put the larger coin in your right hand, this gives us just two possible outcomes. Either the nickel will be in it or the quarter. The penny can never never be in the right hand. At the same token, the left hand will never hold the quarter. The nickel can be in any of the three places. If the quarter is under the cap, then t he largest coin will be the nickel which is in the right hand. If the nickel is under the cap, then the quarter is the largest coin and will be i n the right hand. Then of course if the penny is under the cap, then the quarter is in the right hand. Take your time in revealing this. Make it seem difcult. Look at t he spectator holding the coins. “Even though you are holding the coins, I can feel its size.” Let’s say the quarter is under the cap. Place your ngers on your temples. “The nickel is smooth in texture. Also, I can feel the outline of Jefferson’s prole on it. Your right hand must be holding the nickel. Don’t reveal it If you see it s ticking out on both ends, then it’s the nickel. (See gure 5) If you don’t see anything, it’s the penny. penny. The secret to the trick is to identify the idenity of the coin under the cap. Once you do that, the others will be simple.

Fig 5

yet.” Concentrate some more, “The penny is small and has a copper copper tone to it. I can denitely feel the image of Abraham Lincoln. Your left hand is holding the penny. Which means the quarter is under the cap.” Reveal the coin under cap. Then ask the s pectator to show the coins. Take the coins from him before he has a chance of examine it too close, “These coins are mine. If you want to try this out for yourself, get your own money.”

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36

4. Miscellaneous Closeup Tricks The last three tricks in this section are random selections that I thought would be nice in a close-up routine. They could be done anywhere you have a few people gathered. They must be pre-planned as they are not impromptu. Thought must be taken on when and where you will be doing these tricks because you have to carry these around on your person already pre-set.

The Linking Paperclips


37

To perform: “China is the land of magic. I would like to perform one of its oldest tricks.

The ancient miracle of the Chinese Linking Rings. Usually a set of metal rings are used, but I


38

Turn the bill over facedown, “He knows it backwards. . .” Fold the bill again from left to right in thirds so the face is towards the audience, “. . .and forwards.” See gure 3 and 4.

don’t have any with me.” Search around your person as if you had a set of linking rings on you. Linking Rings are rather large, so this would be impossible. “I still wanted to do this classic trick for you.” Continue searching until you notice the envelope in your breast pocket. Take it out. Look at it up and down. Notice the paperclips and remove them, “This will do.” Don’t overact. If you really t hink you are searching for something,

Fig. 3

then it will show on your face.

Fig. 4

“This trick is so old, even George Washington knows knows it,” take out your dollar bill. Fold

Put the other paperclip on the right the bill from left to right in thirds. See gure 1. Place one of the paperclips over the fold. Make

hand side of the bill as in figure 5. Once again sure to cover the number one on the bill. See gure 2.

put the paperclip on the number one. Figure 6 shows an above view what it should look like.

Fig. 1

Fig. 5

Fig. 2 Fig. 6 37


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40

Firmly grab the ends of the bills as in gure 7. “George will throw the clips in the air.

Dice Prediction

Watch the ight. You You will actually see the clips link in mid-air.” With a uid motion, pull on the ends of the bill. Figure’s 8 and 9 is in stop motion, but you

Fig. 7

Effect: The magician writes a prediction on a piece of of paper and puts it off to the side.

Then a pair of dice is thrown on the table. The totals are added up. When the prediction is re-

want to keep it moving causing the two paperclips

vealed, is matches the dice.

to link together. Figure 9 shows this.

Props:

A pair of dice A pad of paper

Fig. 9

Fig. 8

A pen Preparation: There is no preparation.

This uid motion will cause the paperclips to y in the air giving the

To perform: This is practically self-working, but try to make it seem like this is a dif-

impression that they linked in mid-air,

cult feet of mind reading. Because it’s self-working, you can’t repeat this to the same audience

as in gure 10. Practice this a little bit

member because the outcome will always be the same. “They say Las Vegas is not built on win-

to get the right timing in pulling the

ners. However, that doesn’t stop many people from trying. Wouldn’t you like to know the out-

bills. If they get caught caught up, you didn’t didn’t

come to a casino game?”

pull it with enough enough force.

Pull out out the dice, pad pad of of paper, paper, and the pen. pen. “I’ve “I’ve been been working working on such an an idea. idea. I haven’t

Fig. 10

Pick up the paperclips and

perfected it yet, it’s it’s still in its planning stage.” Pick up up the dice. Shake it. “Nothing can be be more

show them linked, “Now that you

random than the rolling of dice,” throw the dice on the table. Name the numbers that show up.

know the ancient miracle of the Chi-

Pick up the dice again and hand them to a spectator, “Check these dice out. Roll them a few

nese Linking Rings, don’t tell anyone

times to make sure they come up random.”

how I did it.”

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41


42

As he throws them a few times, call out the numbers. Depending upon what what he rolls, comment on it as if was a game of craps: If he throws two ones or two sixes, say, “You would

Nest of Boxes

have lost. Do you know why they call this game craps? When you lose, you say, Oh crap.” If he throws a seven or eleven, say, “This time you won. But you won’t for long.” If they get anything else, say, “That’s your point. How long do you think i t’ll take before you’ll make your point?” Continue with the routine, “You “You can throw all day and never be able to know for sure

Effect: The magician borrows a coin and has it marked. The magician has the spectator

hold his box of secrets, (a box of Sucrets lozenges). Then the magician puts the marked coin in a piece of paper. paper. That paper is wrapped wrapped in a second second piece of paper. paper. This is repeated repeated with a third and nally a fourth. A spectator is asked to put a nger on top of the package of paper.

what set of numbers will be next.” “Until now. I’m going to write down the results of the next throw of the dice.” Pick up

The magician waves his hand hand making an invisible pass from from the paper to the box, box, then

the pen and pad. Pretend to really be concentrating. Write down, The total number will be 14.

from the box to the paper. The spectator removes her nger off of the paper. The magician opens

Rip it off and fold it in half. Then tuck it under an ashtray for safe keeping.

up package of paper. The last one does not have the coin, but a bunch of matches.

“Throw the dice like you would in a game of craps.” Hand the pad and pen to the spectator. “Write down the top two numbers of the dice.” Let’s say it’s a ve and three. Have him total

The person with the box of secrets opens opens it up. up. Inside Inside that is a matchbox. The matchbox is opened. Instead of matches there is the missing marked coin.

the numbers which will be eight.

Props:

“Turn the dice over.” The spectator does as you ask. “Write down the numbers of that side too.”

An empty box of Sucrets

Those numbers will be the two and four. That’s because on every pair of dice, the top number

Coin slide

and bottom number equals seven. That’s why it’s best to add the numbers separately. If you

A matchbox

added the top number and bottom number separately on each dice, the audience will see that each

A bunch of matches

total seven and the jig will be up.

Packets of paper

Have the spectator total the two and four which will be be six. “Now total the two numbers

A quarter

together. together. What is the answer?” He will say fourteen of course. Have spectator take out the pre-

Seven rubber bands

diction and read it out load. It will match the numbers added on the paper. paper.

A felt pen

“It’s too bad we can’t do that in Vegas. We might break the bank. It looks like they won’t be building anymore anymore casinos off off of us.”

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43

Preparation: Before you begin to set up the trick, you need to make the coin slide. Take


44

Trim it so it looks like gure 3. Finally, tape a paper clip to the back of it . (Figure 4).

a piece of poster board 3 inches by 3 3/16 inch size. With an exacto knife, score the poster board as in gure 1.

1/16 “

Fig. 3

3 3/16 “

Most versions of this trick

Fig. 1

uses a small bag

1“

and a medium size box. I don’t don’t use the

3“

bag because with with the premise of the coin changing places with the matches, matches,

Cut a half circle a little bigger than the size of a quarter in the poster board about an inch and a half in. Then on the other end, cut holes as in gure 2. Then fold on the scored dotted lines. Glue it together. together. 1“ 4

1/16 “

doesn’t make sense. I like the idea of the medium size box, but it doesn’t t into the Sucrets box. Take out the matches from the box and put off to the side. Position the coin sl ide

11/2 “

3 3/16 “

1“ 2

Fig. 4 it

Fig. 5

in the matchbox so it’s not too far in the box, but not too far away. Slip the cover over the box. Place the rubber bands crisscross over

Fig. 2

the matchbox as in gure 5. 1“ 4

1“

Finally, place this into a Sucrets box and wrap wrap it up with the rubber rubber bands bands

3“ 43

as in gure 6.

Fig. 6


45

Now, take take this bunch and and clip it to your right right back pocket. Make Make sure the half circle is


46

Take the two ten inch sheets of paper and glue them back to back as in gure 8.

face up. You want to be able to put the coin through here. Put your jacket over this. Next take some construction paper or better yet, some parchment paper. If you you use construction paper, use different colors. If you use the parchment paper, keep it the same. You’ll use four different size papers. Two six inch squares, two eight inch squares, two ten inches, and one twelve inches square. Fold the papers as in gure 7.

Fig. 8 Put the matches in the smallest bundle. Then put this bundle in the next size. Place this bundle into the the third size up. Turn Turn it around and and open it up the the other side. Then take the other small sheet and fold it up. Put this into the next size up and fold this. Then put this bundle into the faked sheet and fold this up. Finally, put this into the l arges one. To keep it in place, put a rubber band around it. Place this entire bundle in your pocket. To nish the set-up, set-up, put put a quarter into your back pocket next to where where the the box box is. Then take the felt pen and put in your jacket pocket. This is the set-up. To perform: Before you perform the trick, take out the rubber banded packet

from your pocket. Take Take the rubber band off of it and toss it to the side. Open up the paper until you get to the smallest bundle. Leave this on the table and start.

Fig. 7

Borrow a quarter from someone from the audience. The reason it should be a quarter for several reasons. One, quarters show up better. Second, you are going to switch the quarter for the one in your pocket. If you are worried about a spectator not having a quarter, then make sure you

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have a nickel, a dime, and a penny in your pocket in case this happens. Pull out the pen and hand it to the spectator you borrowed the coin from, “Please write on the face of this coin any kind of mark. It can be your initials if you want. You can put a mustache


48

because to the audience, audience, you just just made a couple of of gags to make them laugh. When later the coin disappears, they will not be able to back track. Touch the coin coin to the box, box, making making sure you you don’t expose the head head side of the coin, coin, “This “This

on George Washington Washington if you are i nto that kind of stuff.” The mustache line gets them to put t he

will make the magic rub off from the box to the coin.” Place the coin in the smallest of the piece

mark on the face of the coins, which is what you want.

of papers. Fold it up. Pick it up with the thumb underneath and the ngers on top. Touch the box

After he does, pick up the coin in your right hand and take a quick peak at the initials and remember it. Do this with out the audience being aware of it. You hide your actions by continue

with the packet, turning your hand from the wrist so your thumb is on top, “From the coin to this paper.” (See gure 9).

with your dialogue, “This is so we can identify it later.” Pretend to put the coin in your back pocket. Actually drop it in the the coin slide, “. . .if we see it again.” again.” Put your hand to your si de. Look serious, then chuckle, “I’m just kidding,” reach into your back pocket and pull out the duplicate coin. “. . .when we see it again, you’ll be able to recognize it by the markings.” Make sure the tails side is facing the audience. Look at the face and pretend to read the initials on the coin, “What does M.P. M.P. stand for? (or whatever his initials are). It’s your name. Well, M___, people ask me how magicians do their tricks.” L ook around as if you don’t want anyone to hear, “It’s a secret.” Put the coin in the l eft hand. Make sure the tails are toward the audience. Reach into the back pocket pocket with the right hand. hand. Pull the box straight straight down and free of the slide. Bring the box forward, “I always carry my box of secrets with me.” Show the box of Sucrets. This should bring a chuckle. “Will you hold my box of secrets?” Hand the box of Sucrets to the spectator who gave you the coin. The psychology here is that they are holding the box before the coin has left their s ight. The switch is not suspected because they are not expecting anything to happen yet. By pretending to look at the coin, it burns in their mind that it is the same coin. They won’t suspect anything

47

Fig. 9


49

Turing your wrist back again making sure the thumb is back underneath. Then place this


50

Tell the spectator holding the Sucrets box to open it up. You You don’t want to touch this

packet inside of the the next size paper. paper. Repeat this move. Once Once again, place this packet packet in the next

either. You You want to give the impression that the box was in their possession the entire time. When

size paper.

he opens the Sucrets box, he will see the matchbox. At At this point he might understand why the

This time when you touch the paper and turn your wrist, don’t turn the wrist back over. Keep the

matches appeared in the packet of papers. Even if he doesn’t, don’t say anything. Let him be

thumb on top. What you have done was turn the paper over to expose the other side. “From this

surprised when he opens the matchbox and sees the marked coin.

packet of paper paper to this box over over here.” Match your your action to words. words. Place this packet on the last piece of paper. Fold it up. Again touch the paper to the box. This is misdirection to throw them off of the scent. Place this packet on the table. Turn to a female spectator if you can, and say, “May I have the use of your nger?” Take her nger. Touch her extended nger on the box of the Sucrets. Then put the nger on the packet of papers so it won’t unfold. Everything is all done. All there there is left is the magic. Wave your hands as a real real magician magician would. Make an invisible pass from the packet of papers to the box. Then from the box to the packet. This is the magic magic part. This is where they they are going to watch real closely, closely, but the secret part is over with. Ask the lady to lift her nger from the packet. Unfold the rst two packets. Then hand the rest of the packets to the female and ask her to unfold it. Since the danger packet is out of her hands, it is safe for her to handle the paper. It makes you seem clean because you are not touching anything. When she gets to the last piece of paper, the audience will see the match sticks. Pause to make sure everyone understands what happened. Scratch your head in puzzlement. Tell the spectator holding the Sucrets box to open it up. You don’t want to touch this either. You You want to give the impression that the box was in their possession the entire time. When

49

Some people might say something like, “How did you do that?” If they do, pick up the box of Sucrets Sucrets and say, say, “It’s a secret.”


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52

easy to transport. You can keep your table bare if you prefer. I use what is known in the trade as

PAR HREE-- Platform Magic

a Close-up Mat. It looks like a large mouse pad. This keeps the props from slipping and prevents any noise when items are placed on the table. A soft spongy material will sufce. sufce. Place black felt over over it. If you want, you can drape the table with a velvet table cloth with fringe. Use good taste when dressing up your tables. You

5. The Props

don’t want too much attention drawn to them.

To dress up a magic show, you need certain items. One of those items is the classic

Stores like Marshalls or T.J. Maxx have decorative tables that would be perfect for your

magician’s wand. You can buy one from a magic store, but it’s more fun to make your own. My

act. They come in different sizes so choose the one that’s best for you. They don’t fold, so you

friend John Santangelo made one for me when we were teenagers teenagers out of wood. I still have it

would have to deal with the bulk.

after all of these years.

In choosing tables, don’t be tempted to copy the style that magicians still use. For years

To make your own, take a wooden dowel about a littl e more than a foot long and a half

now, now, many have criticized magicians for their lack of taste in their prop selection. Even now

inch in diameter. Sandpaper it so it’s smooth. smooth. Wrap masking tape to the ends ends about an inch from

modern wizards still use those archaic equipment. The complaint was that the original design

the end of the stick as in gure 1.

was built in the 1890’s and have not changed. The world has changed, but magicians have not. You don’t have to be modern, just smart. Antique furniture can look classy in your act, but keep with current styles. Don’t make it look to eclectic. You’ll give the impression that you do not

Fig. 1

care. Every detail is not too small when performing. performing.

Paint the stick with black glossy enamel. When it is dry, take the tape off. Then wrap more tape around the other side and paint the ends with white enamel. After it dries, take the tape off then varnish it. It should look like gure 2.

Other props you will use are scarves made of silk. Magicians just call them silks. When addressing the audience, call them scarves because that’s what the rest of the world refers to them as. The type of silks are i mportant. This is one item you might want to buy from a magic

Fig. 2

shop. It is costly, but worth it. If you choose not to go this route, be careful in your selection. I

The rest of the equipment you’ll make as we go along. One other thing you’ll need is know someone that made his own. If you can sew or know someone who does, you can save a tables. I use wooden T.V. trays. The metal ones look cheep. The wooden ones look good and are lot of money.

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Never use blends because they don’t fold up as well. If you are going to make your own, buy it by the bolt. bolt. The weight of the silk is important. Six momme momme is recommended. recommended. Anything Anything lighter will be too fragile. Anything heavier will not fold up tightly. If you are going to use the silk as a cover, then the eight momme will be perfect. Bolt sizes comes in two width width of 27 and 36 inches. You can use the 27 inch square as one large piece or economize by cutting it into squares of 15 and 12 inches. Use the scraps t o make other square sizes. Or you can attach them together to form one long strip known as streamers. On the 36 inch bolt, you can cut them down to 12, 18, and 24 inch squares without having wasted silk. Make sure to sew a hem in the silk or it will unravel. You You can dye the silk if you bought white. Tie dying will make it look pleasing when using them in the Plethora of Silk t rick described in this book. The arrangement of the colors for such effects is important. important. I don’t want to go into too much detail here. Just use common sense. For producing silks from a container, a good order would be; lilac, dark blue, orange, dark purple, white, yellow, light blue, pink, emerald green, red, light green, and magenta. When loading them, start from last to rst.

As far as the rest of the props, use the KISS principle; K eep eep It Simple Stupid. You don’t want to focus too much attention on the props. I know magicians that spend thousands of dollars on props. These kind of performers hide behind their equipment. The real performer is a minimalist. He uses his personality to dress up his act. Still, the magician gets some kind of comfort in performing prestidigitation. Stand up comedienne Judy Carter started off as a magician. She said that when she rst started to do straight

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comedy, comedy, she felt uncomfortable uncomfortable performing without her magic props. Little by little s he weaned herself from the props until she was doing pure stand up. You don’t have to do that. You can do a combination of the two. A pleasing personality can hold an audiences attention even if you own a table full of the best magic tricks on the market or not doing magic at all. This book will help you do that. Each trick is design with the dialogue necessary to start performing as well as strong material. So lets gets started.


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56

Preparation:

Take one of the silks and put it in your breast pocket. Make sure a little bit of the corner

6. Silk Magic

sticks up. The device that is going up your sleeve is made by knotting the four rubber bands bands into a chain. This is called a pull. See gure 1. You may

Silk magic is standard in a magic show. There are a varied of things you can do with

need more depending upon your sleeve length. I use

them. They can be the star of the show in production tricks or they can be a supporting player

six rubber bands. But this depends also upon size of the

when they are used to cover something that’s going to disappear.

rubber bands.

Fig. 1

Tie the second silk to one end of the rubber

I know so many silk tricks, but I thought it best just to i nclude a few here. These two take

band about about three inches from the the corner. corner. See gures 2

time to prepare, but they are well worth it.

and 3.

Showing or Blowing Everyone always thinks that everything goes up the magician’s magician’s sleeve. This trick actually does take advantage of your sleeve. This is a nice effect to use as an opener. I have used a similar version for many years. The dialogue is exactly from my repertoire.

Effect: A silk handkerchief is taken out of the breast pocket. Within seconds, the silk vanishes right in front of the audience. In case anyone was wondering, it went right back to the pocket.

Fig. 2

Props: Two 12 inch square silk handkerchiefs of the s ame color Four strong rubber bands The scarf you use is very important. The type magicians prefer is a thin kind of pure silk. These show up big, but fold perfectly. If you have any problems with it getting caught up your sleeve, then the silk is probably a blend.

55

Fig. 3


57


Loop the other end of the rubber band pull around your belt loop on the left side of the

58

To perform:

body. body. See gure 4.

“People always ask me how did I rst learn to do magic. When I was a kid, I use to bug the owner of the local magic store to show

Fig. 4

me a trick. This was his favorite. He’d take out his pocket handkerchief.”

Fig. 6

hand, push the protruding silk into the pocket. At the same time

Hold the silk at the knot between the right thumb and rst nger. Then put on the coat so the rubber band pull stretches behind you and

pretend to pull pull out the palmed silk in your your right hand. hand. Use your your left hand hand to hold back the palmed palmed silk as you grab the corner. corner. Pull it up and it

through your right sleeve. Extend your right arm

looks like it is coming out of the pocket. Shake it up and down a few times. Be careful not to let

out horizontally and pull the si lk knot forward so

go of the pull as of yet. Practice in front of a mirror t o get the general effect.

the chain of rubber bands are evenly stretched and under tension. Accordion pleat the silk as in gure 5. Then hold it in right hand. Make sure that one of the corners protrude

“I said, ‘Ew. . . that’s not the hanky you blow your nose with, is it?’” Make a face. “No, this is for showing. . .” smile. “. . . not for blowing,” pretend to look at the imaginary child. “I said, ‘Well, if it’s for showing, then show me a trick.’” “He said, ‘Alright. I’m going to make this handkerchief handkerchief disappear.’ disappear.’

so you can get to it easily as in gure 6.

With With the both hands, reach over to the breast pocket. With the right

“I said, ‘Most ‘Most magicians won’t tell you that ahead of time.’

Fig. 5

“ ‘That’s because I want to you to watch very closely.’” Move the hands away from the body so as to put tension on the pull. Figure 7 shows it from the audiences view. view. Figure 8

Fig. 7

shows it from your angle.

Fig. 8 57


59


60

Make a motion motion as if you you are going to toss it up in the the air. air. As you you do, release release the silk so it can y up your sleeve. Pretend that it is tossed up by watching the invisible ight. This is so no

A Plethora of Silks

one sees the silk going up the sleeve. (See gure 9).

Many kinds of production tubes have been used to produce scarves. Some use tricked tubes to hide the scarves like The Phantom Tube. However, the amount of scarves from this is limited and only can be increased if a switch i s made. This method doesn’t use such a switch. Clever misdirection is applied so you can produce

Fig. 9

a bunch of silks from an empty tube. To put meaning to the trick, two other effects are added to reach what I hope is a logical conclusion to this colorful trick. Effect: Two tubes used to hold a bottle of wine sets on the table. The inner one is shown

Pause. Brush hands together. “I said, ‘Hey, where did the hanky go?’

empty. empty. To demonstrate that the l arger one is empty, the smaller one is dropped inside of it. This

“ ‘It went right back to the pocket.’”

larger one is also shown empty. empty. The large tube is placed around the smaller tube.

Go to the breast pocket and pull out the duplicate silk. Bow. Bow. Put the silk back back in the the

The magician waves his wand over the tube and produces a plethora of colorful silk

pocket. Look at the audience, then continue to tuck tuck it in. Then look at the audience again. again. Pause.

scarves. From the scarves, a glass of wine i s produced. Then the tubes are placed over the glass

“Pretty darn amazing.” Say this with mock seriousness. “I know darn is unusual, but hey. . . I

and a bottle from the same label that is on the tube is produced.

was just a kid.”

This is a great nale to your act. Music can be added to make you seem like a season veteran.

If the silk gets caught up in your sleeve, many things could be the reason. The length of

Props:

the rubber bands are too long. Maybe you didn’t tie the knot up far enough on the silk. If it still

One hollowed out wine bottle

gets caught up, try moving your arm farther forward. This will put more tension on the pull.

Three tubes of descending sizes

Practice this a little bit to get the feel of it. Once you do, then you’ll be like an old pro.

A bunch of different colored silks A glass of wine A chair

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61


62

Place this bottle bottle in the smallest smallest tube tube as as in gure 2. Around the bottle place the silks one one Preparation: After emptying a bottle of wine, carefully cutout the bottom of it. It is best

by one as shown shown in gure 3. 3.

to take it to an expert who knows how to do this. A craft store can direct you on the best way to go about this. Caution; you don’t want to cut yourself, so make sure that the bottom of t he bottle is well sanded with no jagged edges. Another way to get a bottomless bottomless bottle is to use a plastic plastic one. one. There are some alcoholic

F i g. 2

beverages that now now come in plastic. Rum Rum bottles come this way. You You can cut the bottom bottom then

F i g. 3

paint the inside with brown brown paint to look look like rum. This will will be very deceptive deceptive because it looks like a full bottle. Tubes can be of any sort, but the best is one with a label that the alcohol came in. This will make it logical when you produce the bottle at the end. If you can’t nd one, steam the label off of a bottle and glue it on a tube. The smallest tube will not be seen, so it should not be decoUse as many many silk scarves scarves as as can t. Arrange the colors in the the most most pleasing pleasing order possipossirated. Also, this small tube should be slightly shorter that the other two. This is so you can grip the middle tube while doing the routine. Figure 1 shows the three tubes and the bottle.

ble. Reverse the order order that was given on page 39 starting with the color magenta magenta then light green green and so on ending with lilac. Put in the magenta silk and have the corner stick up. Take the light green silk and twist it around the rst one as in gure 4.

Fig. 1 61

Fig. 4


63

Tuck this in the tube until the second corner is sticking out. Twist this around the third silk like


Sew buttons loops on each corner of the silk. See figure 8. Place the glass halfway on the center of the scarf. Collect the corners of the scarf as in figure 9.

you did the rst. Repeat this until you have four silks left. One of the four should be a white silk, much smaller than the rest. This will be used as comedy, so that’s why the order is important. Twist this one around the corner sticking up. Then repeat this with the rest of the silks. Take the middle size tube and cover it over the small tube. See gure 5. Finally, take the largest tube and cover over the other two. (See gure 6.)

Fig. 8

Then hang it on the nail in back of the chair as in gure 10.

Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Next thing you need to prepare is the production of the glass of wine. Pour water in t he glass halfway so as not to spill the contents. Then use a small amount of red food coloring to tint the water. This will look like wine as in gure 7. If you are using a rum bottle, don’t use the wine glass. Instead, use a regular glass and ll it

Fig. 7

halfway with ice tea.

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64

Fig. 10

Fig. 9


65

To perform: Being that this is your nale, do it to music. The music should be anything


66

with your left hand. Repeat with the fourth one.

contemporary, contemporary, but it has to t your actions. The beat of the music should coordinate with the folfol -

When you get to the fth one, it is just a plain white hanky. hanky. The smaller size

lowing movements. It’s best to have music that starts off slow, then gets faster and louder. As As the

should get a laugh from the audience. Stop and look at this. You should have four large colored

music gets faster, you move faster. Herb Albert’s Zorba the Greek is perfect for this even t hough

silks in the right hand, and the one small white silk in left. Look confused. Put the silks that’s in

it’s not contemporary.

your right hand over the chair so it hangs over the load as in gure 12.

Pick up the middle tube and show it empty. Because the inner smaller tube is shorter, this would be easy. Push your arm through it to further prove that it is empty as in gure 11. Slide this tube inside of the larger tube. Then pull out the large tube leaving the middle one behind. For some some reason, this gives the impression that the large tube is empty. empty. If there was something inside of the large tube, the middle tube

Fig. 11

would not be able to t. This should have one owing motion. Not too fast, but not too slow. Show this tube to be empty.

Put it back over

the two inner tubes. Pick up your wand and wave it over the tube, then tap it. Set the wand down. With your right hand, pull out the rst silk from the tube. Because you twisted the ends together, each one will pop up like a Kleenex box. Still holding the silk in your right hand, reach in with your left hand and produce produce the next next silk. Put this into your right right hand. Then Then pull out the third silk

65

Then show on your face that the white silk looks familiar. Pretend to blow your nose into it. Fold it up like you would a handkerchief and put it in your back pocket. Collect the scarves from behind the chair. Secretly grab the loaded one. Make sure it’s well hidden behind the other four. Now continue continue to pull out scarves from from the tube with your left hand and place it in the

Fig. 12

right hand. Pick up the pace. You can do this by pulling one out out with the left hand and place it to the right. right. Then pull one, one, two with the left hand hand before transferring transferring it to the right. Then one, two, three. You You can even get get the audience involved involved by having them clap every time a silk is produced. If you you pick up the the pace, it will get the audiaudience clapping. Now to make the glass appear, appear, slip your left hand under the load to support the glass. Then let go of the sil k with your right hand so all of them will fall over your left hand revealing the glass. (In gure 13, the silks have been removed for clarity. In reality, you’ll have the produced silks on the palm of your your hand). Take the glass glass in your right hand hand and take a sip if you


67

want. Put the silks down on your table. Place the glass back on your palm as in gure 13. Finally,


68

7. Magic of the Mind

with your right hand, reach into the top of the tube with your ngers. Stick your middle nger

Are You a Square?

into the bottle. With your thumb on the outside of the tube grip all of this together. Cover the glass with the tube as in gure 14. Look at the label on the tube. Look at the

Mind reading effects are always good to insert in any magic show. show. The impossibility of

audience, then the label again. Wave your right hand over the top. Pause. Then lift up all three

it boosts your credibility as a master mystier. The following trick is a great way of creating that

tubes revealing the bottle, (see gure 15) making sure the music strikes a cord on t he production.

aura of mystique. You appear to do nothing more than just walk up to someone and read their

The music should be ending as you take your bow.

mind. Effect: The magician walks up to a spectator in the audience and asks them to choose a

geometrical gure; a square, a circle, or a triangle. After they say their chose out l oud, the magimagi-

Fig. 14

cian shows a prediction that proves that he knew ahead of time that he can read minds.

Fig. 15

Props:

Two 8 x 4 inch cardboard

Fig. 13

One manila envelope Preparation: Before the show, write the words, “You will choose the square” in big bold

letters on a piece of cardboard. Tape this below a spectator’s chair. Then take a manila envelope and draw three geometrical shapes; square, circle, and triangle. On the back of it print in big bold letters, “You “You will choose the the circle.” Finally, Finally, on another cardboard cardboard a little smaller than the envelope, print the words, “You will choose the triangle.” Put t his in the envelope. Make sure the blank side is towards towards the face and you you are all set. To perform: Pick up the envelope and make sure you do not show the back of it. Walk

over to the spectator that is sitting at the prepared chair. “Excuse me, would you stand up? I know nothing about this person, is that correct?” If she shakes her head say, “Well, don’t look so happy about it. What’s you’re name?” After she gives it, say, “That’s absolutely correct.” This

67


69

should get a laugh.


70

Note: Below are the the three selections in bold bold type. Photocopy Photocopy them and cut it as the prediction.

“Usually when normal people meet they ask each other silly questions like that. But as you can tell, I’m not a normal person.” Look at her, “You don’t have to agree. I am psycho. . . I mean, psychic.

YOU WILL CHOOSE

“Being psychic, I am going to ask you an unusual question.” Hold envelope so they see the markings on the front, “Think of a shape. Are you thinking of a shape, or are you thinking of ways to sit down? Go ahead and name it.”

HE SQUARE

If they say square, and most people do, then say, “I knew that because I’m--” if you pause, the audience audience may join with you, you, “--psycho “--psycho yeah. Thanks Thanks for reminding me. No really, really, if you look under your chair that you’ve been sitting on for the entire night, you will see a prediction that I placed there before the show. Go ahead and look at it.”

YOU WILL CHOOSE

She turns it over. Have her take it off. Make sure you don’t touch it because you want to give the impression that you never came near it. Then have her show it to the audience. If she chooses circle, then change the outcome. This is known as the magicians force. De pending upon upon their answer, answer, you control control how it is revealed. revealed. That’s because because you never never said ahead

HE CIRCLE

of time what you are going to do. Continue with the dialogue. Then say, “That’s because I took the precaution of writing your choice on back of this envelope.” Turn it around and show the prediction. If they chose the

YOU WILL CHOOSE

triangle, make sure you don’t show the back of the envelope. Open it up and pull out the card. Toss the face up envelope on your table and turn the card around and show the prediction. Continue with the dialogue but switch the shape to triangle. Take your bow with the spectat or. “I told you I wasn’t normal.” Hand the card to her and let her sit down.

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HE RIANGLE


71


72

Do the same with the other books. You have to search to nd the same word near the same position. It doesn’t matter if the page number is different, as long as the same word is in the

Book Test

upper left hand corner of the right hand page. Remember the page numbers to each book. Set them on the table in a row as in gure 1.

Effect: Three books are shown. An audience member is given a free chose of any of the

three. Before the spectator reveals her chose, a prediction is written down on a business card. Then after the title is revealed, a page number is chosen. The prediction is written on another business card. A blank business card is inserted somewhere in the center of the book. It is opened up and the page number is announced. announced. Finally, the spectator is asked to look at a word on the chosen page. This is also written down. Then the word is revealed. revealed. The three predictions are revealed to match exactly.

Fig. 1

Props:

A stack of business cards

Have a stack of business cards on your table. A marking pen to make make the prediction

Three books

should be next to the cards.

A marking pen

To perform: “Bookstores for years have tried to gure out what books will sell and which

Preparation: The chose of books you use for this trick is immaterial. However, you

probably want want one with out out any pictures. A novel novel of some sort with a short short title will sufce like

won’t. If they hired a mentalist, the bookstores would know before the readers do.” Turn to a spectator, “Do you like to read?” If he says yes, say, “Imagine that the book-

Misery or Contact. Take off the dust jackets. This is so the audience won’t won’t be able to tell if the

stores knew what book you wanted to buy.” Pick up each book making sure not to show the cards

book is right side up up or upside down. down.

sticking out from rear and read off the titles of the three books. “For instance, Contact by by Carl

Insert a business card in one book somewhere near the center. Look at the rst word on the page of the right hand side. Make sure it is not a small word like a, but, and, the, or it for example. Choose a nice action word that is not too difcult to read. This will be your force word.

71

Sagan”, and so on. “If they used a mentalist consultant, this i s how it would work. Think of any book of the three I have here. here. But do not say it out out load.” Read out out the titles again. Pick up the stack of business cards and the pen. “Me being the mentalist consultant, I


73

will know which book you will choose.” Write a prediction on one of the business cards, using


74

“To be able to write down the predicti on of the page number. . .” Turn the book sideways

the stack as a writing surface. In reality, you write the force word on it. Put this off to t he side in

with the left hand covering the business card the spectator has inserted, while still holding the

plain sight. This is calledone called one ahead .

other in end in your right hand as in gure 4. This is an above angle.

“Now say which book you want.” Whatever book she chooses, pick it up. up. “I “I also can tell what page number you will go to.” Make sure the business card that is sticking out is facing you. Cover this with your right hand. See gure 2. With your left hand, give him the business cards. “Insert one of the business cards at random somewhere near the center.” See gure 3. After he does, you must now make the

Fig. 4

switch. This is what you do.

“. . . I need the busi-

As she gives you the stack, push in the

ness cards please.” Let go of

business card ush ush into the book with the heal of

your grip on the right hand and

the left hand as in gure 6.

gesture with it. See gure 5.

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

73

Fig. 5

Fig. 6


75


76

Now pretend to write write the prediction of the page number, but instead, write the title of the book. This is why why it is good to have have a short title so you are not writing so much. much. After all you you are supposed to being writing the page number. Put this prediction off of to the side.

8. Rope Routines

“Finally, the mentalist consultant needs to know what the customer is reading.” Pretend The kind of rope is important. A soft sash is recommended. Do not use hemp. I like nyto write a word on the business card, “I will write down a selected word from this book.” Instead, lon. The important factor is if you are going to use the rope for the Cut and Restored Rope trick, write down the page number. You know which page number it is by which book they choose. the cutting must be done with no effort. Each will be different. Let’s say it’s page 121. Write down on the card you will choose page Sharp scissors are i mportant. There is nothing more frustrating than performing the Cut number 121.. Add Add this to the prediction cards. Place the other business cards off to the side and and Restored Rope trick and you can’t cut the rope because the scissors are dull. Make sure they the pen. are sharp by bringing your own. Don’t borrow anyone’s scissors. Open up the book at the business card. You do this for her because you don’t want her to Some people like to use white macramé that seems like rope. It’s easier to cut, but the accidentally nd the duplicate business card. Boldly point to the page number on the right and draw back is that it l ooks like macramé. Some magicians like to pull out the inner core of the have her announce the page number. Give the book to her. “Read the rst word on the top of rope to make it easier to cut. But, then that will make the rope look at. Instead, just take out page number number 121.” some of the insides and leave just t he cotton ller. Pick up the prediction cards. They will not be in the correct order because of the one ahead system. Don’t worry about about it. Fan out the cards so you are the only one seeing them. Have the spectator call out each prediction one at a ti me. First the name of the book. Pull out the correct prediction and show it to the audience. Then the page number. Pull that out and show it. Then there is only one card left. Build up the moment. The spectator names the word he only thought about. Show prediction.

Stretching a Rope Effect: The magician says he wanted to do a trick with the rope, but the one he has in his

hand is too small. So he pulls on it until it stretches. And stretches, and stretches, until the rope gets longer and longer. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, it grows too large. The magician remedy’s that by cutting off a piece of rope and starts the rope routines.

“So the next time you go to the store to buy a book, remember, the bookseller already knows your purchase.” Take your bow.

Props:

Three yards of rope Another rope about twenty-four inches long White plastic tape

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77

Preparation: Take the three yards of rope and cut about t wenty-four wenty-four inches from i t. Then


78

If you you are going to use this as your opener, opener, then just walk out with with the rope as in gure 3. However, However, even though I have used this to open my show before, I don’t think it i s a good trick to

carefully tape it to the end of the long rope. See gure 1.

start your show with. Tuck the ends of the rope into your sleeve as in gure 4.

Fig. 1

To perform: With both hands, reach into the con-

tainer that you use to hold your props. Pull the rope ends out of your sleeve and quickly place it like gure 5. Then take it out of the container. container. Look at the rope. Scratch your head in confusion. With your right hand, look into your container again. Sigh, “I wanted to do a rope trick for you,

The reason you tape it is if you you cut it for every performance, the rope will become shorter. This won’t be a problem until you’ve use up a good chunk of it. Taping it keeps it the same si ze

but this is all I have left. It is way too too short. Don’t Don’t you

every time. Just use a new rope for t he cut and restore rope trick.

hate when that happens.” Start to put it back. Snap your ngers, “I forgot, I’m a magician.” Hit your forehead with

Double the three yards of rope so the two ends are together. Take off your suit jacket.

the palm of your right hand. “I can make this as big as I

Grasp the two ends with your left hand. Now put the jacket on. Pull the rope through the sleeves. See gure 2. Make sure any excess goes down your back as in gure 3.

Fig. 4

like.” With your right hand, grab the rope as in gure 6.

However, you don’t want any to hang below your jacket. If it does, stick some of this excess in your back pocket.

Fig. 5

Fig. 2 Fig. 6 Fig. 3

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79

To the audience, the following move will look look like you stretched the rope by pulling it up up with the right hand. However, it’s important that you pull down on the rope with the left hand. The illusion of the stretching is greatly affected on how you pull the ropes. The manner you do


80

Then move your left arm and stretch and stretch the the rope again. Now quicken the pace. Repeat this until you run out of rope. Stop. Don’t pull the rope out of the left hand. Put t his into your right hand. Take a deep

this can inuence the way the audience sees it. If you keep your left arm still and pull t he rope

breath. Look at at all of the rope you produced. “Unfortunately “Unfortunately, I made it too big. I don’t don’t need

with the right hand, it will look exactly like what you are doing; pulling a rope from your sleeve.

magic to solve this problem.” Pick up the scissors and cut it at the tape end.

However, However, if you keep the right hand still and move the left arm, it will look like it’s stretching; which is what we want.

Treading the Needle

At rst, just stretch it a little bit in the vertical position until you get about six inches of

This is good for a nice quick effect leading to another rope trick.

rope. See gure 7. Stop and look at it. “Nah. . . not long enough.” Stretch it again slowly. Feel it stretching. Look at the audience again. You You are just as amazed as they are. Now smile at them. “This

Fig. 7

is not witchcraft or sorcery. Nor even nimble ngers. This is hocus pocus indeed.”

Effect: The magician wraps a rope around his thumb forming a loop. The loop represents

an eye of a sewing needle. The magician picks up the other end of the rope and thrusts it forward. Even though he didn’t come anywhere anywhere near the loop, it still threads just like it went through the eye of a needle. Props:

Turn your hand horizontal as in gure 2. Stretch again by pulling the rope rope with the left hand. hand. Once you get about a yard, bring the hands together and make a loop by twisting the rope. See gure 8.

One rope approximately 24 inches To perform: “Old magicians never

die, they just disappear. But they still have trouble threading their needles when they need to sew their magic props.” Wrap the rope around the thumb like in gure 1. Then

A

wrap it two more times as in gure 2.

Fig. 2

Fig. 8 Fig. 1 79

B


81

Make a loop loop with with the B end of the the rope. rope. Put Put in the crotch crotch of of the thumb. See gure gure 3 and and 4. Let the loop protrude.


82

Move it back and forth a few times as if you you are are going going to thread it. Squint Squint your your eye eye as if your are threading a needle. Then move this end forward passing the loop. Pull hard on it and let it come off the thumb. See gures 6 and 7. “. . . and eureka, it’s threaded.” It will appear as i f it was threaded. “Handy stuff magic is.”

Fig. 3

A

Fig. 4

Fig. 6 A

B

Fig. 7

B

“Being magicians, all they have to do is hold the thread thread a few inches inches away. away. . .” Take end A. See gure 5. Point it t oward the loop.

Fig. 5

A

A

B B If you you look closely, you’ll notice that there there is one less loop loop around around your thumb. If I didn’t bring it up, you’d you’d never have have seen it. The audience audience won’t either. either.

A

B

81


83

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW Lift the rope up until the right hand is parallel with the the left hand. See gures 3 .

84 The

right index and middle nger grips the rope at point A as in gure 4. The left index and middle

The Magical Shoelace

A

ngers grip the rope at point B.

B

Effect: The magician ties a bow similar to one tied on a shoe. He accidentally slips the

laces through the loop. When he pulls on it, he ends up with a knot. Just like on a real pair of shoes. Waving his hands over it, he causes the knot to disappear. disappear. Props:

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Same piece of rope from the previous trick To perform: “When I was a kid, I always had trouble untying my shoes.” Hold the rope

over your left hand with the ends hanging down. With the right hand, reach behind the right end Pull through until you have a bow. See gure 5.

of the rope. Grip the right thumb in front. See gures 1 and 2.

Fig. 5 “I do everything alright up to this this point, point, but but what I always always did was accidentally pull the

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

laces through the bow before pulling the ends. Don’t laugh! How many of you have done this?” Put your left thumb and index through the loop on the left bow as in gure 6. Grab the rope that is in front and pull through as in Fig. 7.

Fig. 6 83

Fig. 7


85


86

Cut and Restored Rope

Do the the same with the right right loop loop so you end up in the position as in gure 8. Then pull through until you get a knot as in gure 9.

You You can can do these tricks tricks before before the Cut and and Restored Restored Rope as a good follow up to a series of rope routines. There are numerous methods to do this classic, but one version is done more frequently than others. That’s the one I’m going to show you. Of course, I will show you a routine to perform with

Fig. 8 Pause here because you don’t want to pull all the way as of yet or the knot will fade away at the wrong time.

it. Note: If you do do this in the same program program as Showing or Blowing, you you can change change the opening line of this to: “I went back to the guy at the local magic store, ‘I saw a magician…’” Continue Continue

Show frustration, “To be honest, honest, I still have this problem. But ever since I became a ma-

with the dialogue. .

gician, all I have to do t o remove the knot is take the k out of knot. . .” now pull on the ends, “. . . and the knot is not there.”

Effect: “I went to the local magic shop and I approached the guy behind the counter, counter,

‘I saw a magician on TV take a rope. . .’ ” The performer brings the middle of the rope up and forms a loop. “ ‘. . . he cuts the rope. . . and restores it.’ ” The performer does exactly that. “ ‘Do you have that trick?’ He said, ‘I know the trick you’re talking about. I saw the same s how. how. The magician took a piece of rope. . .’ ” Once again the performer brings up the middle of the rope, “ ‘. . . then he cut’s the rope in half. . . and restores it.’ ” The performer waves his hands over the

Fig. 9

severed rope and restores it. “I told him that was the one, but he said he didn’t carry it. I asked him why not and he said, ‘Because it doesn’t make sense. If you take a rope. . .’ ” The performer once again brings up the center of the rope, “ ‘. . . cut i t. . . there should be only one way to make it one piece.’ ” The performer ties the rope rope in a knot. “ ‘No,’ I said to him, “The magician restored the rope. I t hink if I see that magician that

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I saw on TV, I’ll ask him to do it.’ And I did. He took the rope and pulled on it and. . .” The knot pops off, “. . . he he restores it. The moral of the story is: If you want want something done done right, go to


88

Put this loop next to the ends in the left hand and clip it in the thumb and index nger as in gure 4. The illusion is that you brought the middle up,

the source.” but in reality you looped one of of the ends. The move move is Props:

easy. If you just clip the end as described, you don’t Rope around twenty-four inches have to analyze it to gure this out. Just do it and it will A pair of scissors work. Just think you are bringing up the middle and it To perform: “I went to the local magic shop and I approached the guy behind the coun-

Fig. 4

will show to t he audience that way. ter, ‘I saw this magician on TV take a rope.’ ” Show rope as in gure 1. Bring up t he middle of Most magicians just cut the rope at this point. the rope and clip the right hand piece marked with the arrow as in gure 2. As you do, the right But, if you do, then you will have the ends being hand is going to grab the rope as in gure 3. uneven. This is not a big deal, but think about it. If

AB C D

you are going to bring

A

B CD

up the middle and cut it, won’t it make sense to have two ropes the same size? It may be nit picking, but I don’t don’t want

Fig. 1

to arouse the audienc-

Fig. 3

Fig. 2

Fig. 5

es

Fig. 6

suspicion if I don’t have to. So, x this little dis dis-crepancy before you cut the rope. To do this, just pull on the bottom loop where the arrow is in gure 4 and it will even it up like in gure 5. This is my little contribution to this classic.

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Continue with the routine, routine, “ ‘. . . he cuts the rope. . .’ ” Pick up the the scissors from the table. Cut the rope at the loop (C and D) as in gures 5 & 6.


Take end D in right hand and grab end C. Hold these two ends as if they are stuck togeth-

D

er. See gures 9 and 10.

Pinch Joined Pieces

C Let go of the ends marked A and D. Hold the rope in the left hand. Make sure that

Fig. 9

you cover the section that is looped around. See gure 7. To the audience it looks like two pieces of rope, but to you it’s a short piece looped around a long piece as in gure 8. B

C

Fig. 10

With the right hand, pinch

Fig. 7

Fig. 8

the ends together as in gure 11. Still pinching the ends ends with the right hand, hand,

Pinch Joined Pieces

let go of the ends A and B with the left hand. Let go of the ends A and B. Grab the rope by the middle with the left hand and run your hand to the other A

D

end so it is horizontal. This displays the ropes. See gure 12. You should be holding the short piece with the left ngers. ngers. The right hand should look like the left hand.

89

90

Fig. 11


Fig. 12

91

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW Grab it in the middle as in gures 14 and let go of it as in 15.

Joined Pieces

Continue with the routine, “ ‘Do you have that trick?’ He said, ‘I know the trick you’re talking about. I too saw the same show. The magician took a rope. . .’ ” With the left hand bunch up the short piece while still holding on to this end. With the right hand, let go of its end and let it hang as in gure 13.

Fig. 15 Fig. 14

Fig. 13

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92


93

Then pull through the real middle. Hide the short piece in the the left left hand hand by clipping it to


94

Place your right nger and thumb together like pinchers. Place it under under the middle of the

the thumb. See gures 16 and 17. Grip the ends in the crotch of the right thumb (as in gure 17)

rope. Grab the middle part of the rope where the arrow is pointed. See gure 19. Then rest the

while still holding the scissors. Scissors have been omitted for clearity.

index nger against the rope and raise your hand and pinch rope higher up about a quarter of the

Put the scissors in your pocket leaving this secret piece behind. “ ‘. . . and restores it.’ ” Wave your hand over the rope. Show it has restored in the same manner as before as in gure

way up as in gure 20. This will put you you back in the same position position as in gure 4 except except you you don’t have both ends

11 except you are not concealing any extra ropes. This is for misdirection purposes. To hide one

up this time. Just as before, even it up the ropes. However, this time pull the rope until it is half

move, you repeat it when there is nothing to hide. Other times vice versa.

way down as in gures 21 and 22.

A

C D

Continue with the dialogue, “I told him that was the one, but he said he he didn’t didn’t carry it. I asked him why not. He said, ‘Because it doesn’t make sense. If you take a rope. . .’ ” Point your right index nger near the top of the rope and slide down until you get to the center as in gure 18.

Fig. 19

Fig. 20 Fig. 22 Fig. 21

Fig. 16

B

Fig. 17 Fig. 18 Continue with the dialogue, dialogue, “ ‘. . . cut it. . .’ ” Take Take the scissors scissors from the pocket pocket and cut at at the loop and drop the ends. You will be in the same position as in gure 8. Put the scissors away. “ ‘. . . there is only one way to make it whole.’ ” Take Take the short piece from the front as i n gure 23. Wrap it around the loop and tie a knot as in gure 24.

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The Coat Release Trick

This trick has been done for years in one form or another. One version called Grandmothers Necklace was even in the rst magic book called Discoveries of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot. A more up-to-date version is called The Cords of Phantasia by Ottokar Fischer. It is a beautiful routine using silks and a fan.

Fig. 24

Fig. 23

Grandmothers Grandmothers Necklace utilizes a secret thread attached to t he string. This is a good method. However, However, all of the other routines based on the Cords of Phantasia, suffer one fatal aw. The

Drop one end of the rope and show the knot in the middle. See gure 25.

stick in which the cords are tied around have to be released rst before the magic happens. The

Continue, “ ‘No,’ I said to him, ‘He restored the rope. I think if I see that magician

aws are always covered up in explanation. For instance, if the stick is a wand, then it is needed

on TV, I’ll ask him how to do it.’

to so it can be waved over the ropes. This is weak. It would be more impressive if you can just tie

“And I did. The magician on TV took the rope. . .” hold the rope horizontally as in gure 26. , “. . . pulled on it and. . .” pull the rope. Because of the way the knot is tied, it will fall off as i n gure 27. Show rope restored, “. . . he restored

up the items to be released, pull on the ropes, and have them magically free itself. This version does that. It comes from t he book Magic Digest by George B. Anderson. Effect: A coat is borrowed from a member of the audience. Two ropes are tied to a coat

the rope. The moral of the story is: If you want something done right, go to the

hanger. hanger. Then the two ends are placed through the coat. Each end is held by members of the audi-

source.”

ence. They are asked to tie the rope into a knot. On the count of three, they are asked to pull on the ropes. Then the magician walks away from the ropes still holding on to the jacket. The spec-

Fig. 26

Fig. 25

tators are left holding the two ropes. Props:

Two pieces of rope about ve to six feet long A wooden coat hanger

Fig. 27 95


97

The coat hanger should be the type that has a wooden cross-bar and wire between to hang the pants on. The wooden cross-bar swings free at one end and can be slipped back on. See ggures 1 and 2.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Preparations: There are no preparations. Just set the props and go into the routine.

To perform: Go to a spectator from the audience and ask him to volunteer. Then


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99

Instruct the volunteers to switch ends so they can tie it in another knot. See gure 7.

Fig. 3

Fig. 7 Fig. 4 Tell them to hold the ropes rmly, but loose. As you are doing this, reach inside of the coat and unhook the wooden cross-bar. Slip the ropes off of it. Then re-clip it. Now tell the spectators spectators to pull gently but rmly rmly on the ropes. ropes. “But no matter how much you try, it seems that you cannot stop a thief when he has his mind made up.” Walk away from the ropes as they release and the spectators are left holding the ropes See gure 8. “Thank you so much.” Look at spectator, “I suppose you want your coat back? The moral of the story is crime

Fig. 5

does not pay.”

Fig. 6 Fig. 8

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9. Tricks from the Orient


101

Preparation: Any set of disposable cups will do as long as they have a recessed bottom.

Dixie has a nice set that are large and show up nice on stage. The balls can be anything that is When everyone thinks of magic, they always think of the Far East, especially especially the Indian soft, but has some weight to it. This trick depends on gravity so you don’t want anything that will Fakir’s and their marvels. I’m not going to teach you how to charm snakes, but I will show you a be too light. Go to a craft shop. They They have plenty of selections of these kind kind of things. They They must few of classic tricks from the Orient.

The Cups and Balls The Cups and Balls is the oldest trick in magic. As stated in t he introduction, pictures

be squishy so when when the cups are are stacked, the balls will squash. squash. In a pinch, you you can take a paper paper napkin and rip up four pieces and roll them up into balls. To set up, put the ball between the rst and second cup so i t is hidden as in gure 1. To practice, set up the cups as in above. Grip

of this trick are on caves. Magicians from East India would sit crossed legged and do this with wooden cups. At the end, they would produce baby chicks. This trick made its way t o the West.

the bottom cup with the right hand as in gure gure 2. As

Art work about ve hundred years old that show strolling magicians, always show him perform -

you can see, the right hand is twisted. As you take the

ing this classic. There are many versions of this. Some can be complicated and difcult to do.

A

cup off of the stack, you are going to untwist your wrist

Sometimes the simplest method is the best. This is the rst version I learned. It’s easy to do and

and turn the cup over and place it on the table. You do

looks great.

this in one motion as you turn the hand over in an arch

Effect: The magician takes out three cups and dumps dumps out three balls from it. He places

B

and place it on the table. See gures 3 and 4.

the cups in a row on the t able. The magician places a ball on the center cup. The other two are

Fig. 1

placed on top of it. The magician taps taps his wand on the the cups and lifts them up. up. The ball magically penetrates it. This is repeated with the other two. two. Finally, the magician magician takes an invisible invisible ball and places it on the center cup and stacks the others on top of of it. When the cups are are lifted, a fourth ball is produced. produced.

Fig. 3

Props:

Fig. 2

Three Styrofoam or plastic cups Four small balls A wand

Fig. 4 100


102


103

Grip the second cup now on the bottom the same way. The ball is in this cup. This time when you turn it over, the ball will ride along. Gravity keeps the ball in the cup for a split second as you place it down. Do this in a lazy motion. Don’t rush it. Practice doing it real slow, slow, letting the ball fall. Then do it a bit faster. faster. Keep doing this until you nd the right tempo. It’s this even rhythm you want. want. This is the basic Cup and Ball method. Repeat this with the other cup. Once you’ve practice practice this, set up the cups for the routine. Put the ball back between the rst and second cup so it is hidden. To To complete the set-up, put the three remaining balls in t he top cup. You can put it in a black cloth bag like the pros do or to make it seem spontaneous, you

Fig. 7

Fig. 6

Lay the cups in a row. row. A ball should should be inside inside the center cup. See gure 8. Place Place one one of the balls on the middle cup as i n gure 9. “The rst ball is just for fun...”

can put the Dixie cups into the plastic bag is came in. Then open it up and take out three cups. Place the three balls in the top face up cup. Then pour the balls out and do the penetration portion. To perform: “This is the oldest trick in magic.With the left hand, take out the cups from

the bag, making sure you keep the same order. “It involves three cups. . .” hold the cups in t he

Fig. 8

Fig. 9

left hand making sure to keep a grip on the three cups. Continue with the dialogue, “. . . three balls,...” still holding all three cups, dump the three balls on the table. “...and “...and a wand.” Take Take out your your wand and place place it on the table. With the cups still in your left hand, tilt the cups so the mouth is facing the audience as in gure 5. Then do the Cups and Balls move and put it on the t able as in gure 6 and

Stack the the outer outer cups cups over over the center one with the ball ball on top as in gure 10. Tap the cups cups

7. Each time you take a cup, briey show the inside of the stack

with the wand. With the right hand pick up the stack of cups and show the ball has penetrated.

cups. For some odd reason, the audience thinks you are showing

Transfer the cups to the left hand. Repeat the cups and balls move to place the cups on the table.

each cup empty. In reality, you are just showing the inside of the same cup.

When you get to the center cup, cover the ball that was just produced.

Fig. 5

Now you should should have the cups in a row with with two balls in the center cup. cup. Place the second second ball on top of the the middle cup. “. . . ball number number two is just for you...” you...” Stack the two end cups on

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the middle one. Tap it with the wand and reveal the two balls. Repeat this with the last ball. “. . .

105

Tricks Tricks with Rice Ri ce

ball number three. three. . .” point to yourself, yourself, “... is just for me.” Rice is a very very popular theme in Oriental magic for obvious reasons. There is so much of

After you produce the last one, do the cups and balls move

it there. The symbol is very important to those in this region. To have a bountiful supply is im-

again covering the three balls. Look around, “...the fourth ball is...

portant to them, that’s that’s why the the most famous trick is that of the Chinese Rice Bowls. Bowls.

oops... there is no more balls left.” Put hand on chin and think. Then look up as

if

My rst magic kit had the Rice Bowls in it. I love this trick and own several different ver sions of it. However, none is better than the basic concept that is submitted here.

you have an idea. Look out towards the audience and reach out as

The Indian Rice Mystery

if you grabbing something. Pretend to take an invisible ball from the air. “Do you see the it? Of course not, it’s invisible.” Panto-

Effect: The magician explains that he will "hypnotize" a red ball so it will do what he

mime placing it on the center cup as before. Stack the cups and tap

asks it to. After hypnotizing the ball, it is dropped into the jar. A bag of rice is poured into the

it with the wand. Lift up the cups and show the four balls. Unstack the cups and place then on the table as i n gure 11.

empty jar until it covers the ball.

Fig. 10

“The oldest trick in magic... the cups and balls.” Spread your arms

He waves the dagger over the jar like a wand and commands the ball to rise to the top of the rice. Within moments, the ball mysteriously appears as it comes forth to the t op of the rice.

showing the cups. If the spectators want to examine the cups, let them.

The ball is t aken from the jar. The knife is plunged into the rice. The handle is lifted and the knife clings to the blade. It is suspended without visible means of support. When the knife is removed, a spectator is asked to do the same thing, but fails. Props:

A jar A knife A bag of rice A rubber ball

Fig. 11 104

Preparation: Make sure that the jar you choose is the HOW type with that turns inwards. 106 This jar Pascoe/ Othe DOtop A MAGIC SHOW


107

should be narrower at the top than at the bottom as in gure 1. For the trick to work, the opening must not be more than three to four inches. The smaller the better. The knife can be any kind even a table knife, but it must have a point. If the blade is wide on the bottom, it won’t work. Whatever you choose, the more impressive looking the knife the better. If you can get one with a handle with a hole in it, you can tie a rope or sash to it to make i t look East Indian. See gure 2. Use a rubber

Fig. 2

ball from a set of jacks.

Fig. 1

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Pour the rice from the bag bag into the jar until until it covers the ball. Continue Continue pouring until you have about a couple of inches to the top. Clip the bead between you nger nger tips and pull on the string just a little bit to get the ball free from the rice. Then re-grip the jar so it is on the palm of Next, get a spool of of black silk thread. Thread Thread it on a needle needle and tie a knot on the end. Pierce it through through the left hand. Make sure your thumb is above the second bead as in gure 5. the ball. Pull the thread through until you get to the knot. Then tie a knot on the other end. Now the thread is Take the dagger and wave it over the jar. Command the ball to rise to the top of the rice. locked onto the ball. The string should be double the length of jar. Put a small button or bead halfway. halfway. Then put “The grains will part like the oceans did for Moses.” Pull down on the bead and the ball will rise another bead on the end of the string. bursting through through the top. See gure gure 6. To perform: Pick up the ball and the string in your hand but only show the ball. Say you are going to

Pause so the audience can grasp what just occurred. Take off the ball from the jar and hypnotize it. Stare at it and pretend to hypnotize it. Drop it into the jar. Make sure the button hangs over the place it off to the side. side. edge of the jar. See gure 3. Pick up the bag of rice and pour it through your ngers to show that it is normal. Take the bag of rice and ll the top of the jar so it overows. Make sure to pour more rice Don’t say so. Never ever use the words ordinary when performing. performing. It reminds them that there is a possibility than it’s needed. Rap the bottom of the jar sharply against the table a few times. It seems like you that it might not be. are just getting rid of the surplus rice, but in reality you are packing it ti ght in the jar. Brush off Hold the jar as in gure 4 so the bead or button does not fall in the jar. any rice that may be above the lip of the jar.

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108

Fig. 5


Fig. 7

109

Fig. 8

Fig. 6 Grip the bottom rmly. Give the blade a slight back and forth twisting motion. The knife will come free, but most important, it will unpack the rice. Now you can give the knife to a specPick up the knife, “Now the sea will will become become hard as cement.” cement.” Jab the knife into the rice a few times. This looks like you are just nding the right spot, but what you are really doing is

tator to give it a try, but the blade won’t stick for him. This is a trick that you need to do several times to get it right. With experience, you’ll

packing the rice even harder. harder. You You may need more rice, so pour pour more in. Plunge the knife again a

nd out that the more the rice that is packed into the jar, the more likely it will stick to t he knife.

few times. The last plunge should feel tight. Push it a little, but not all of the way. You You don’t want

You will not get this the rst few times you try it. If you have trouble, then the jar or the knife is

it to stick yet. When the rice is rm enough, grip the knife tightly and pause. Then plunge it into

not right. Remember, once you plunge down, don’t go all of the way. Then push it in until you hit

the rice about three quarters down. See gure 7. Pause for affect. Then push down until you hear

the bottom. You can feel the resistance when you do it this way. You’ll surprise yourself when it

a crunching sound. The knife now should be wedged into the rice.

works. Once you get the feel, you have a trick that was done by the ancient Hindu fakirs.

This takes practice to get the right feel. Now pick up the handle of the knife and the jar will come with it. You can even swing gently on the sash. See gure 8. Catch the jar in your palm of your hand.

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111

perimeter of the bowl. bowl. I like to leave a lip on the disk so it will be easy to take off later. later. See ggure 1.

Rice Bowls his trick is known as the Chinese Rice Bowls, but it actually has its origins in India. It is a good trick by itself or with t he Indian Rice Mystery. Effect: Two ceramic bowls are face down on the table. One is picked up and rice is

Fill one bowl with water. Dip your nger into the water. Wet the lip of bowl. Then put the disk on it so i t sticks. Put this face down on the tray. Stack the other bowl on top of it as in gure 2. Make sure that the tray i s dry before putting it on or might stick to the tray causing an accident during the show

poured into it. This is covered by the the other bowl. They They are turned over over three times for good good luck. When lifted, the rice doubles in quantity. Then they are covered again. This time they are turned over twice. When the bowls are lifted, the rice changes to water. The water is poured back and forth between the two bowls. This can be used in conjecture with the Indian Rice Mystery. The dialogue at the end of

Fig. 1

the explanation combines the two effects. Props:

Fig. 2

To perform: Pick up the bowl that is s tacked on top of the one with the water and set it

Two china rice bowls

face up on the tray as in gure 3.

A plastic disk A jar of rice A tray

Preparation: Any bowls bowls will do, but it is best to use a set that has a wide lip. The brims

of the bowls should be grounded down down so they are perfectly at. If you can nd plastic bowls that t this criteria, so much the better. Find a clear sheet of plastic. This should be thick enough so water does not leak through, but thin enough enough so the bowls bowls can stack on top of of each other. other. Cut this so it is the same size as the

110

Fig. 3


112

Pour the rice into the bowl making it overow. Take the bowl that is face down and use


113

Pick up up the two bowls bowls again again and turn over over twice. It’s It’s not necessary, necessary, but but this is needed needed to

this to trim off the excess rice. See gure 4. Leave it stacked on top as in gure 5. You’ll notice

disguise the turning over the rst time. Set the bowls back down on the tray. Wave the wand and

in this illustration that j ar if lled with rice. This is for when you combine it with the the Indian

pause. Lift off the top top bowl. As you do, losen the disk by pressing pressing down on the lip. Lift up the

Rice Mystery. If you are going to do it as a stand alone trick, then discard the jar and just pour

disk with this top bowl. Set it down on top of the spilled rice as in gure 8.

the rice from the bag.

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Pick up the two bowls as gure 6. Turn them over and back three times. Three always means good luck. This will invert the bowls so the one with the water is now on the bottom.

Fig. 8

Place them on the tray. Wave the wand over the bowls. Then lift up the top bowl and the rice will overow because it is on top of the plastic disk. See gure 7. This looks like the rice has doubled in quantity. Use this bowl to trim of the ri ce as in gured 4 & 5.

With the left hand, pick up the bowl on the table and show the water. Then pick up the bowl that is face down. down. The rice that is on the disk will blend with with the spilled rice on the the tray. Now pour the the rice back and forth between the the bowls. Combine the two tricks:

“In ancient India, rice is used used as as a symbol of marriage just like like in this country country.. However, However, instead of throwing it at the couple, it used by a Hindu fakir to tell i f the marriage will be successful.

Fig. 6

Fig. 7

“One day a Hindu girl named Roni wished to marry her love Rajah, the village’s fakir. However, However, her father forbid it. She was set to marry the rich man of the village Sahib. Before they can get married, the test performed by the village fakir must be conducted. Being a respected

112


114

member of the village, the fakir does the test with the rich man. “Rajah tells them that this crystal jar symbolizes the prospective bride, and this knife rep-


115

“That’s ne for now, now, the father says, but what will you you do for the future?” Lift up up the bowls and turn it over three times. “Three symbolizes symbolizes good luck.” Wave Wave your hands hands over the

resents the groom.” Pick up the ball, “This is no ordinary ball. It is a sovereign sphere. Spheres Spheres

bowls. Lift up the upper upper bowl and show that the rice has has doubled. “He “He proves that he can can pro-

are regarded as the circle of life. It has supreme authority which contains complete power even

duce food when ever he wants. The father is still not impressed.

over time itself.” Drop the ball in the jar. Put your hand in the bag of rice and let some of it pour

“He wants to know know what will he do incase of of a draught.” Scrape off the rice from the botbot-

through your ngers, “Since rice is considered the staff of delity, it is poured into the jar.” Pour

tom bowl with the top one as in gures 4 and 5. Turn it over two times. “This means t hat the two

the rice into the jar.

shall bond together.” Wave your hands over the bowl. Lift up the top bowl and set it down releas-

“If the sphere rises, that means one of them will be unfaithful.” Make the ball rise. “There was a hush amongst the family.” Take Take out the ball. “Roni’s father was not convinced, “Who is the one that will break the bond?”

ing the disk. “Rajah proved his worth to Roni’s father by producing an endless supply of water.” Pour the water back and forth. Set both bowls down. “Soon they were married and they lived—well, you know the rest. The moral of the story

“The fakir says, ‘It is uncertain.’ ” Pick up the knife, “ ‘If the groom joins the rice. . .’ ” insert the knife several times into the jar, “ ‘. . . the two will become one.’ But the knife blade never clings. The marriage is considered to be doomed.” Take out the knife. “Roni’s father says this symbol proves that she will never marry and her fate is that of an old maid. “Rajah says he will save Roni. The fakir performs the test with himself as the groom. He proves to her parents parents that he is the right right man for her.” her.” Pour more rice rice into the jar. Stab it a few times. Then pause. Plunged the knife into the rice and push down. It will stick. Lift up the blade of the knife. “They and their lives adhere in one solid unit.” Swing the sash gently. “This miracle proves that their marriage marriage will be divinely blessed. “But the father is sti ll not impressed. He thinks that Rajah is not good enough for his daughter.” daughter.” Pull the blade out. Don’t offer anyone to duplicate this, go into the Rice Bowls routine. “Rajah must prove he can provide for her.” Take the jar of rice and pour it into one of the bowls making sure it overows. Cover Cover it with the bowl bowl as in gures 4 and 5.

114

is love always prevails.”


122


123

Saying Thanks with Style Sometimes when a performer performer has reached the end of his act, it is difcult difcult for the audience to know for certain. This trick denitely tells the audience that you are done. And you do it with

The Daily Tribune Sunday,August 12, 2014

Space probe lands on earth least Ihope it’sa meteorJamie thinks to himself.

Incredible. That’swhat witnesses said when said when they they sawa sawa probe probe streaking acrossthe night sky.

style. Effect: The magician bows to his audience after his last trick. He shows a page from to-

day’s newspaper newspaper and folds it up. He takes his scissors and quickly makes a few cuts in the paper. The magician unfolds the paper and in large cutout letters reads; THANK YOU. The show is over and the magician takes his bow. Props:

Two single sheets of newspapers A pair of scissors Preparation: Take a double sheet from the newspaper and rip it in half so you have two

burstsintoo aa beaming It burstsint beaming green green glow. glow. More like a greenish blue. Kind of One such One suchwitnessis witnessis a Valencia Valencia man man like the colorofhisgas colorof hisgasstove. stove. named Jamie hearsa sound like Jamie’sphotographerinstinc sphotographerinstin s photographerinstinc photographerinstinctstake tstake neverbefore. He looksup at the the over. He Hetakesout takes out hisOlympic hisOlympic and and over. southwest. Alarge bright fireball is setsit setsit for a one oneminute minuteexposure. exposure. He He in the distant horizon. He freezes clicksaway asthe light streaks and can’t move. Alump isin his across. Jamie staresright into the throat. Jamie watchesthe meteor meteor. It changesfrom green to a racing towardsthe San Fernando sky and heading towardsSy towardsSylmar. lmar.At At bright white light.

thank

Scientist at Griffith cannot explain fireball in the sky in Valencia, Ca

Griffith observatory could not be reach for comment.

“Ihave a team thisvery moment moment “Ihave team at thisvery studying it.” Hetells them that aa crack squad oflinguistsand cryptolo cryptologistsare ogistsaregoing overeach letterbyy letter. word, letterb letter. However, However, that that doesn’t seem to satisfy the reporters. They jump on the scrollsalright, but a little bit too much. They want to know everything, and they want to know now. “Idon’t know” will not do.

you

An astronomercan go hisor her entire life and nevermake any kind ofd iscovery ofdis covery that will require any kindof mediaattention .Aspace attention.Aspace rock here, a newstar there. Though Though damn exciting to them, boring to the average media outlet. That’swhy so many ofthem are ill prepared for them.

Dr. Franklin Stewart isso excited. Withthepermissionofthe laboratory, he announces his findings findingsto to the themedia. media. He Heisnervous isner vous because he has never been on television before. Susan made sure that hissuit was waspressed pressedand andclean. clean. But, he can’t chase away those butterflies. How do those reporters remain so calm and cool?They just

seem to not care that thatmillionsofpeople millionsofpeopleare arewatching watchingthem themat atonce. once. Franklindoes. Franklindoes.

He walks walksup up to to the the podium podium that that isis set up forhim by the Observatory. Some Some ofthe ofthe microphonesare microphones are set setto to a PAsystem PAsystem so sothe thevisitorscan visitorscan hear hear it aswell.The othersbelong to the national media. Franklin starts to talk into the microphone and feedback squealsthrough the speakers. Hismouth is dry. He licks licks hislip sto keep them moist. moist. He He hislipsto keep them wished he brought bottled water with him.

isinterrrrupted upted by million of Franklin isinte questions questionsfrom from the themedia. media. He Heis isso so bombarded, he can’t hear any of them. He pointsto someone that has a friendly face. “Lee Cowan, NBC News. News. You You say say that th at this…thing this…thing hastraveled hastraveled million million ofmiles, ofmiles, but but what whatroofdo pr oofdo p you you have?” have?”

single sheets. Use the want ads so no one can tell it’s two different pages. Or if you are doing the Torn and Restored Newspaper, use a duplicate page from the left over newspaper.

It comescrashing down and slamsin slamsinto to the thesurface surface towards towards Valencia. Jamie jumpsout of his skin. hissk in. Shockwave follows and spread and spread all all overhim overhim throwing himto the ground. When he getsup, he looks toward Valencia and shakeshis head. It lookslike lookslikeaawar warzone. zone.

Fig. 1

Print out the THANK YOU sheet at the end of this section. Put a piece of cardboard

repeatswwhat hat he said that Franklin repeats the team isworking on it, but they won’t stop. Ascientis Ascien tistt nevertells what he doesn’t know. Even though and knewwhat knewwhat he studied the data data and he was wastalking talkingabout, about,Franklin Franklin i n is isill ill prepared for thesl the slaughter aughter he just got from the national media.They made him look like a fool.

l . o o f a e k i l k o o l m i h e d a m y e h T . a i d e m l a n o i t a n e h t m o r f t o g t s u j e h r e t h g u a l s e h t r o f d e r a p e r p l l i s i n i l k n a r F t , u o b a g n i k l a t s a w e h t a h w w e n k d n a a t a d e h t d e i d u t s e h h g u o h t n e v E . w o n k t ’ n s e o d e h t a h w s l l e t r e v e n t s i t n e i c s A . p o t s t ’ n o w y e h t t u b t , i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F

” ? e v a h u o y o d f o o r p t a h w t u b , s e l i m f o n o i l l i m d e l e v a t s a h g n i h t … s i h t t a h t y a s u o C B N , n a w o C e e L “ . r e c a f y l d n e i r f a s a h t a h t e n o e m o s o t s t n i o p e H m . e h t f o y n a r a e h t ’ n a c e h d , e d r a b m o b o s s i e H . a i d e m e h t m o r f s n o i t s e u q f o n o i l l i m y b d e t p u r r e t n i s i n i l k n a r F

r e t a w d e l t t o b t h g u o r b e h d e h s i w e H . t s i o m m e h t p e e k o t s p i l s i h s k c i l e H . y r d s i h t u o m s i H . s r e k a e p s e h t h g u o r h t s l a e u q s k c a b d e e f d n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t o t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n e h t o t g n o l e b s r e h t o e h t a h t , r a e h n a c s r o t i s i t v e h t , o s m e t s y s a h t ’ n s e o d . o d . o d o t t s e s r a s n o h p . o d o r c i m e h t f o e m o S k c i e l e H . e t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w o n w o n k ’ n s e o d . y r o t a v r s b O h t m i h r o f p u t e s t a h t , e t e a h t y , b o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i h t y r e v e w o n k s i t t a h t m i d o ’ n p s e e o h d t o t p u s k l a w e H . o o d a h t , u o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o t t i b e l t t i l a t a h t , . o d ’ n s e o d t u b t , h g i r l a s l l o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T . e c n o t a m e h t g n i h c t a w e r a e l p o e p f o s n o i l l i m t a h t e r a c t o n o t m e e s d . s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d . o

u o y

t a h t , r e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” t . i g n i y d u t s t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “

a C , a i c n n i a l p x e t

Fig. 2 A ’ n o w y e h t t u b t , i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F

d n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t o t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n e h t o t g n o l e b s r e h t o e h t a h t , e h n a c s r o t i s i t v e h t o s m e t s y s r a a h t , ’ n s e o d o t t s e s a . s e n o h p . o d o r c i m e h t f o e m o S k c i e l r e H ’ n s e o d . y r t o t a v r s b O t m i h r o f p u t e s a h t , e t e a h h t y , b s i t a h t m i d o ’ n p s e e o h d t o t p u s k l a w e H t a h t , u t a h t , . o d ’ n s e o d e r a c t o n o t m e e s

u o y

. o d . o d t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w o n w o n k o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i h t y r e v e w o n k o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o o t t i b e l t t i l a t u b t , h g i r l a s l l o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T d . s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d . o t a h t , r e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” t . i g n i y d u t s t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “

. e c n o t a m e h t g n i h c t a w e e r a e l p o o e p f o s n o i i l l i m t a h t


Fig. 3

You should be looking at page 2 as in gure 4. Place the glue around the edges and turn it under this and cut out the letters using an Exacto knife. Use it as a stencil and trace the letters on over. Then glue it in the upper left hand side of the duplicate paper. See gure 5. Notice how the one of the single sheets of newspaper with a pencil. Don’t put it in the corner as that’s where the packet is slightly lower lower than the edge of of the paper. paper. This is so nothing sticks sticks out. Pre-crease the duplicate will go. Instead, place it near the center as in gure 1. Place the cardboard underneath paper folding it against the natural fold. fold. Then open it up. This is for ease of handling handling during during the the newspaper and cut it out using an Exacto knife again. performance. performance. Make sure the THANK THANK YOU YOU letters are facing correctly correctly when the the sheet is opened Fold this sheet three times. First you are going to fold it against the natural fold bottom to up so it’s not upside or sideways. top so the front of the paper is inside. Crease it with your thumbnail. Next, fold it right to left and crease it as in gure 2. Finally, bottom to top.

122

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW A ’ n o w y e h t t u b t , i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t

The DailyTribune

Sunday,August 12,2014

t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F Sunday,August 12,2014

Recording Artist new album Incredible.That’swhatwitnesses said when they sawa probe streaking acrossthe night sky.

Jamie’sphotographerinstinctstake over. He takesout hisOlympic and setsit fora one minute exposure. He clicksaway asthe light streaks One such witnessisa Valencia man across. Jamie staresright into the named Jamie hearsa sound like neverbefore. He looksup at the southwest. Alarge bright fireball is in the distant horizon. He freezes and can’t move.Alump isin his throat.Jamiewatchesthemeteor racing towardsthe San Fernando sky and heading towardsSylmar. At least Ihope it’sa meteorJamie thinksto himself.

meteor. It changesfrom green to a bright white light. It comescrashing down and slamsinto the surface towards Valencia. Jamie jumpsout of A ’ n o w d n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t hisskin. Shockwave follows y e h t t u b t , i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t o t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n and spread all overhim t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F e h t o t g n o l e b r e h t o e h w t a s ’ t a h T . e throwing him to the ground. t ’ a h e n t n t a h t , e n t ’ n s e o d t . o d i d ’ a h . o n I n d l b c n T . e s k c i l e H . b When he getsup, he looks i d e r t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w n w o n k T . e i a o b . y r o t a v r e s O b e h t y b m i h r o f p u t e s l b i a h w s ’ e t o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i h t n y r e v e w o n k toward Valencia and shakeshis l b i i d e n t s i t a h t m u i d o p h t o t p u s k l a w e H w s ’ t e a o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o o t t i b e l t t i l a ’ t a h t a h c n head. It lookslike a warzone. s e o d r e n t . I o d n I ’ n t u b , t h g i r l a s l l o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T r c

a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” . t i g n i y d u t s

a friendly face. “Lee Cowan, NBC t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “

News. You say that this… thing

It burstsinto a beaming green glow. More like a greenish blue. Kind of like thecolorof hisgasstove.

Broadway made him a star An astronomercan go hisorher entire life and nevermake any kind ofdiscovery that will require any kind ofmedia attention.Aspace rock here, a newstarthere. wstarthere. Though damn exciting to them, boring to the average media outlet.That’swhy so many ofthem are ill prepared for them. Dr. Franklin Stewart isso excited. With the permission ofthe laboratory, he announceshis findingsto the media. He isnervous because he hasneverbeen on television before. Susan made sure that hissuit waspressed and clean. But, he can’t chase away those butterflies. Howdo those reporters remain

socalm and cool? They just seem to not

hastraveled million ofmile s, but what proofdo you

have?”

“Ihave a team at thisvery moment studying it.” He tellsthem that a crack squad oflinguistsand cryptologistsare going overeach word, letterby letter. However, that doesn’t seem to satisfy the reporters. They jump on the scrollsalright, but a little bit too much.They want to knoweverything, and they want to knownow. “Idon’t know” will not do.

lionsof people people are watchingthem watchingthem at once. at once.Franklin Franklindoes. does. care thatthatmilmillionsof

He walksup to the podium that is set up forhim by the Observatory. Some ofthe microphonesare set to a PAsystem so the visitorscan hear it aswell.The othersbelong to the nationalmedia.Franklinstartsto talk into the microphone and feedback squealsthrough the speakers. Hismouth isdry. He licks hislipsto keep them moist. He wished he brought bottled water with him. Franklin isinterrupted by million of questionsfrom the media. He isso bombarded, he can’t hearany of them. He pointsto someone that has

e r a c t o n o t m e e s

c n

. s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d

t a h t , r e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w Griffith observatory could not h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c be reach forcomment. d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c

. e c n o t a m e h t g n i h c t a w e r a e l p o e p f o s n o i l l i m t a h t


d n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t o t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n

e t o t g n o l e b s r e h t o e h w t h a t ’ a h T . e t a h t ’ a h e n t n t , e n t ’ n s e o d ’ . o d i d t a h . o I n d l b c n n T . e s k c i l e H . b i d e r t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w n w o n k T . e i a o b r o t a v r e s O b e h t y b m i h r o f p u t e s a h i . y w s ’ e t o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i h t n y r e v e w o n k l b l b i i d e n t s i t a h t m u i d o p h t o t p u s k l a w e H w s t ’ e a o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o o t t i b e l t t i l a ’ t a h t a h r c n I ’ n s e o d e n t . o d n I t u b , t h g i r l a s l l n o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T r c e r a c t o n o t m e e s c . e c n o t a m e h t g n i h c t a w e r a e l p o e p f o s n o i l l i m t a h t . s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d t a h t , r e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c sphotographerinstinctstake d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c . He takesout hisOlympic and a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” . t i g n i y d u t s t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “ setsit fora one minute exposure. He

a C , a i c n x e t n i a l p

clicksaway asthe light streaks One such witnessisa Valencia man across. Jamie staresright into the named Jamie hearsa sound like neverbefore. He looksup at the southwest. Alarge bright fireball is in the distant horizon. He freezes and can’t move.Alump isin his throat.Jamiewatchesthemeteor racing towardsthe San Fernando sky and heading towardsSylmar. At least Ihope it’sa meteorJamie thinksto himself.

Broadway made him a star

Fig. 4

An astronomercan go hisorher entire life and nevermake any kind ofdiscovery that will require any kind ofmedia attention.Aspace rock here, a newstarthere. wstarthere. Though damn exciting to them, boring to the average media outlet.That’swhy so many ofthem are ill prepared for them.

Franklin repeatswhat he said that the team isworking on it, but they won’t stop. Ascientist nevertells what he doesn’t know. Even though he studied the data and knewwhat he wastalking about, Franklin isill prepared forthe slaughterhe just got from the national media.They made him look like a fool. It burstsinto a beaming green glow. More like a greenish blue. Kind of like thecolorofhis gasstove. Incredible. That’swhat witnesses said when they sawa probe streaking acrossthe night sky.

Fig. 5

Dr. Franklin Stewart isso excited. With the permission ofthe laboratory, he announceshis findingsto the media. He isnervous because he hasneverbeen on television before. Susan made sure that hissuit waspressed and clean. But, he can’t chase away those butterflies. Howdo those reporters remain

socalm and cool? They just seem to not


125

Take out a pair of scissor s, “You’ve been such a great audience.” Turn the paper sideways

The DailyTribune

and use the scissors as i f you are cutting out letters. See gure 6. meteor. It changesfrom green to a bright white light. It comescrashing down and slamsinto the surface towards Valencia. Jamie jumpsout of hisskin. Shockwave follows and spread all overhim throwing him to the ground. When he getsup, he looks toward Valencia and shakeshis head. It lookslike a warzone.

D r . F rr a a W li i t thh nn kk l i nn S t te l a e p e e w a abb oo t hh e w rr err m rr a mi s t i t i s a too rr s f ss i nn dd s i i nn t y i oo n o s oo e xx e g s , h e c ci b e i t te D r . ec thh e t oo t hh a nn nn oo uu f t e dd . c a e a uu s F rr a nn c se e e m e h ce a nn kk t e e s el W l e s i e dd i evv i e e h a l l i i t t hh inn i i a a a . H h i s s s s i i s s oo nn t hh a t e n e l a e p e S t ew a abb oo t hh e at e vv e rr t i s ef err b e i s s n e rr m i w f o rr e r at m t i t i s s s uu b e t oo rr e B u t h i e e e f rr vv oo uu s ss i nn dd a e enn e s i oo s oo i it w nn s , h e t w a . S u s , h e i nn g s s s y e a nn i e c a a nn m o nn o t e xx c ci b uu t s s p rr sa b e i t a t e e tt edd . n n nn f t hh e t e c c err f ’’ t c es e a auu s t oo t hh e t c hh e s s fl i s e nn c e m oo uu e dd a a dd e s uu r e i e e e h e ce es . em a a as t e e s el m i s e l e vv s s h i e a w e dd i r e e n n H o w e e inn s d d h ia is i is as a . s s i w d wa c l e i oo nn a s n e ea t hh a a nn . a t evv e oo t hh y t hh oo l t h i b e rr H e i s e e s e f f s i o o o h i e e s s s se B u t rr e . S b e is s uu i ee enn s l i e r e rr vv oo uu o n e i t w i p s e p oo , h e t w a e u s s s s n n e c a a a t oo k rr t e b s s n n t e u u ann ’’ t c rr s t tt m e ee p s t e e rr f e s t t p rr e w i t s s f l i s e dd e a a dd e th h e r e ie h hh e m e s em a as s c hh a m i s e m m e a e i m nn dd c s uu rr e w i t m. e inn w . H o w w w th w h o i l e ea is w i t s t a nn . i t w i t t h t . m. h i m o t hh a y t hh oo l h h i d o th h h i m h th h m l o h s e oo s m m. e i m oo k H e se m i i m w i t m. e r e r e t h em h h i . m e p oo w i t w i t i k ke a in t h th h l i n m m. h h h r t he m a i te e rr s f o o t h i im . m m. r e s w i t em a i m . m l . th h

Griffith observatory could not be reach forcomment. a friendly face. “Lee Cowan, NBC

News. You say that this… thing

It burstsinto a beaming green glow. More like a greenish blue. Kind of like thecolorof hisgasstove.

124

hastraveled million ofmile s, but what proofdo you

have?”

h i m m w i t th h . h i m m.

“Ihave a team at thisvery moment studying it.” He tellsthem that a crack squad oflinguistsand cryptologistsare going overeach word, letterby letter. However, that doesn’t seem to satisfy the reporters. They jump on the scrollsalright, but a little bit too much.They want to knoweverything, and they want to knownow. “Idon’t know” will not do.

t h he e m .

Fig. 6

i in t h h m n w i t t h h e m . w i t m th h h i m h t h he m im . . m . i t h he m m. t h he m .

care thatthatmilmillionsof lionsof people people are watchingthem watchingthem at once. at once.Franklin Franklindoes. does.

He walksup to the podium that is set up forhim by the Observatory. Some ofthe microphonesare set to a PAsystem so the visitorscan hear it aswell.The othersbelong to the nationalmedia.Franklinstartsto talk into the microphone and feedback squealsthrough the speakers. Hismouth isdry. He licks hislipsto keep them moist. He wished he brought bottled water with him. Franklin isinterrupted by million of questionsfrom the media. He isso bombarded, he can’t hearany of them. He pointsto someone that has

Franklin repeatswhat he said that the team isworking on it, but they won’t stop. Ascientist nevertells what he doesn’t know. Even though he studied the data and knewwhat he wastalking about, Franklin isill prepared forthe slaughterhe just got from the national media.They made him look like a fool. It burstsinto a beaming green glow. More like a greenish blue. Kind of like thecolorofhis gasstove. Incredible. That’swhat witnesses said when they sawa probe streaking acrossthe night sky.

“I know know that’s just a clique, but my wife (or mother) would not sit through through this…” Fold it in half again as in gure 7. Make some more cuts. “. . .so you should be congratulated.” congratulated.”

Fold the the duplicate duplicate in half around around the glued glued packet locking it in. Set this off to the side on top of a stack of newspapers on your table. If you are doing The Torn and Restored Newspaper trick, place this on top of the THANK YOU set up. Then after you are done, put this off to the

A ’ n o w d n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t y e h t t u b t , i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t o t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F e h t o t g n o l e b s r e h t o e h w t a t ’ a h T . e ’ t a h e n t n t a h t , e n t ’ n s e o d ’ . o d i d t a h . o I n b c n n l s k c i l e H . b T . e i d e r d t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w o n w o n k T . e i a b l b i . y r o t a v r e s b O e h t y b m i h r o f p u t e s a h w s ’ e n t o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i l h t y r e v e w o n k b i i d e n t s i t a h t m u i d o p h t o t p u s k l a w e H w s t ’ e a o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o o t t i b e l t t i l a t t a h ’ a h

bum

r c n I

s e o d e n t . o d n I ’ n t u b , t h g i r l a s l l n o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T r c e r a c t o n o t m e e s c . s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d t a h t , r e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c Jamie’sphotographerinstinctstake d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” t . i g n i y d u t s over.He takesout hisOlympic and t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “ setsit fora one minute exposure.He

To perform: Pick up the newspaper from the table. Make sure your left hand grips the

packet as you unfold unfold it. Show the normal side to the audience audience and keep keep the load facing facing you. Fold it in the other direction so t he load is still toward you. For some unknown unknown reason, the audience thinks they have seen both sides. It doesn’t matter, because they don’t know what you are doing anyway.

clicksaway asthe light streaks reaks One suchwitnessis aValencia man across.Jamie staresright intothe namedJamie hearsa soundlike neverbefore. He looksup at the southwest.Alarge bright fireball is inthe distant horizon.He freezes andcan’tmove.Alumpisinhis throat.Jamie watchesthe meteor racingtowards the SanFernando skyand headingtowards Sylmar.At least Ihope it’sa meteorJamie thinksto himself. It burstsinto stsinto a beaminggreen glow. More likea greenishblue.Kind of like the colorof hisgas stove.

meteor.It changesfrom green toa bright white light. It comescrashingdown and slamsinto the surface towards Valencia.Jamie jumpsout of hisskin. Shockwave follows lows andspread all overhim throwinghim tothe ground. Whenhe getsup, he looks towardValencia andshakes his head.It lookslike a warzone. Griffithobservatorycould not be reachfor comment.Dr. FranklinStewart isso excited. Withthe permissionof the laboratory,he announceshis findingsto the media.He a.He is nervousbecause he hasnever

Fig. 7 124

A ’ n o w n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t y e h t t u b , t i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t d t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F o w t a t ’ a h T . e t a h t ’ a h e n t n t , e n t ’ n s e o d . o d i d t ’ a h . o n I n b c d n l s k c i l e H . b T . e i d e r t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w o n w o n k T . e i a b i h r o f p u t e s a h l b i . y r o t a v r e s b O e h t y b m w s ’ e n t o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i l h t y r e v e w o n k b i i d e n t s i t a h t m u i d o p e h t o t p u s k l a w e H w s ’ t a o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o o t t i b e l t t i l a t t a h ’ a h n I d s e o d r c e n t . o c n I ’ n t u b , t h g i r l a s l l o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T r

c n



side under the THANK YOU set up.

TheDaily Tribune

. s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d t a h t r , e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” . t i g n i y d u t s t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “


Jamie’ over


One suchwitnessis aValencia man across.Jamie staresright intothe namedJamie hearsa soundlike neverbefore. He looksup at the southwest.A large bright fireball is inthe distant horizon.He freezes andcan’tmove.Alumpisinhis throat.Jamie watchesthe meteor racingtowards the SanFernando skyandheadingtowardsSylma skyandheadingtowardsSylmar.At r.At least Ihope it’sa meteorJamie thinksto himself. It burstsinto tsinto a beaminggreen glow. More likea greenishblue.Kind of like the colorof hisgas stove.


126

Now comes the switch. It’s the same switch in the Torn and Restored Newspaper trick (see gure 12) This fold brings the load in front. Then turn it 180 degrees so it’s right side up as in gure 8.

t explain explain ncia, Ca

A ’ n o w d n a e n o h p o r c i m e h t o t n i k l a t y e h t t u b t , i n o g n i k r o w s i m a e t e h t “I have a team at this very moment o t s t r a t s n i l k n a r F . a i d e m l a n o i t a n t a h t d i a s e h t a h w s t a e p e r n i l k n a r F studying it.” He tells them that a e h t o t g n o l e b s r e h t o e h w t a ’ t a h T . e crack squad of linguists and t ’ a h e n t n t a h t , e n t ’ n s e o d ’ . o d i d t a h I n cryptologists are going over each b c n . o d n l s k c i l e H . b T . e i d e r t o n l l i w ” w o n k t ’ n o d I “ . w o n w o n k T . e a i b word, letter by letter. However, that r o t a v r e s b O e h t y b m i h r o f p u t e s a h i . y w s ’ e n t o t t n a w y e h t d n a , g n i l h t y r e v e w o n k l b b i doesn’t seem to satisfy the reporters. i d e n t s i t a h t m u i d o p e h t o t p u s k l a w e H w s t ’ a o t t n a w y e h T . h c u m o o t t i b e l t t i l a ’ t a h t a h nc alright, but seem to not care thatmillionsofpeoplearewatchingthematonce. r c n I They jumptne on the scrolls s e o d do. e n t . o d n I ’ n t u b , t h g i r l a s l l o r c s e h t n o p m u j y e h T r c Incr doesn’ Incr e r a c t o n o t m e e s c n hat’ hatmuch. They want to a little bit too . e c n o t a m e h t g n i h c t a w e r a e l p o e p f o s n o i l l i m t a h t w He walks up to theat’s podium that is tne . s r e t r o p e r e h t y f s i t a s o t m e e s t ’ n s e o d ibl d i they want to and tne ’s whasetupforhimbytheObservator y. ibl know everything, t a h t , r e v e w o H . r e t t e l y b r e t t e l d , r o w b a i e. T know” will not redib e. Tknow now.“I n Incdon’t bl n do. hat’ . He licks h c a e r e v o g n i o g e r a s t s i g o l o t p y r c dido. tne , that e. T doesn’ hat’ d n a s t s i u g n i l f o d a u q s k c a r c ntne hat’ w to the he others at belong a t a h t m e h t s l l e t e H ” t . i g n i y d u t s Franklin repeats what he said that national media. Franklin starts to t n e m o m y r e v s i h t t a m a e t a e v a h I “ the team is working on it, but they talk into the microphone and won’ A


Fig. 8

It is now ready to be revealed. Before you do, make some more cuts being careful not to cut the loaded packet. “Maybe just a simple thank you will do.” Unfold the loaded paper and reveal the letters as in gure 1. Hold it close to your body so your suit will act as a background. Hopefully Hopefully you’ll be wearing a dark colored suit. Take your bow, bow, but not too deep. deep. Set the newspaper newspaper down and and look to you left and bow. bow. Then look to your right and bow. Finally, face center and bow full from t he waist, hands to your side.

Note: The Thank You stencil You stencil is given in the following page in full size. Photocopy this and use it to cut out the newspaper with.

126

t h y o a u n k Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW

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128

PART FOUR --- Doing the Magic Show


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will practice more for the next time. You You will make mistakes in the beginning. Heck, I still do. But not as often. This is the reason you want to perform your rst show for those you know. They will excuse your nervous ness and encourage you. One of the mistakes you will make is accidentally revealing the secret. Don’t get upset

11. Putting Together the Magic Show Now that you practiced the individual tricks, it’s time to think about performing that

if this happens. Ignore it because there is a possibility the audience didn’t notice. Make a mental note of what you did wrong and practice it the next time.

show. You probably were tempted to show off what you learned here. The results I’m sure was mixed. The reason is because you weren’t ready yet to perform. Thought must be given to what and how long you are going to perform.

Coordinating the secret movements and the stage business is difcult at rst. You may put the emphasis emphasis on the wrong set of movements. Doing Doing close-up is an easy way of learning learning this

The best way way for rst time magicians to break in is by doing close-up magic. That’s why

skill. When you have gotten use to working with the magic props, you’ll want to venture off to

I included it rst. It’s tempting to do the entire selection in one sitting. However, you’ll bore your

the bigger stuff. The stage is a wonderful place, but scary at rst. Your rst few stage perfor -

audience if you do. One to three tricks would be best. Don’t be tempted to do more at rst. Do

mances will be in your living room. This is called parlor magic. I prefer this kind of magic even

one trick and stop. You will be asked to do another. Do one more. Once again the request will

on the stage. It is intimate and leaves room for your personality to come out.

come to do still another. Do a third and stop. Leaving the audience wanting more is a show biz saying. If you give in, they’ll regret asking.

You You will st ill be performing for your friends and family here. This is how comedian Billy Crystal started off. His many imitations of his family members he performed in their living room

The style of close-up has changed. One way is to sit at the table with the guests and

gave him the experience that he used to launch his career.

perform. The most popular is walk around magic. magic. You You carry some kind of table with you you and ap-

This is also how I started. started. Everyone Everyone had a shtick shtick in my family. My uncle played the acac-

proach the subjects subjects that you will perform perform for. Then pull out your your props from from your pockets. pockets. I used

cordion, my mother sang, my dad told stories, and I would do impressions. When I learned to

a leather fanny pack to carry my props in.

do magic, I practiced on my family in the li ving room. A lot lot of the tricks I do today were formed

Your Your rst performance will be the sit down variety. variety. The reason is because you’ll be doing your show for your friends and family. Say, “I have learned something new and would like to try it.” They will be surprised at your new skills. Don’t over do it. Say that you are only learning and

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there. The next next logical logical place is kid shows. You You don’t don’t have to dress dress up like a clown to perform perform at kids parties. This is a very popular eld. If you like to do this kind of thing, you can make a lot of


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131

money. You have to like kids and be willing to put up with packing and repacking as you go from

props that are used. used. Then this card goes goes alphabetically in a card le or Rolodex. Rolodex. When I want want to

one party to another.

do a show, I thumb through this and choose the tricks that will be best.

Even though you can perform most of these tricks for kids, it is not recommended be-

For right now, I have put together a series of tricks for your act or show. The reason is be-

cause the routines are too talky. When I did my act for kids, they would sit mesmerized. I thought

cause the order of your act is very important. Below is a list of tricks t hat should go together. together. I’ve

they didn’t like it, but on the contrary. They liked it too much. The magic mystied them so

taken the twenty-four tricks provided in this book and assembled them for your convenience.

much, they didn’t move. Kids like silly stuff. Distinctive tricks and routines are specially designed for them. Audience involvement is a must. You can learn more in the book Kids Stuff by by Jay Marshall.

A Close-up Act Impromptu at dinner: Sugar Packet Prediction

The next logical place to go is the stage. Acting lessons would pay off for this type of work. This is very ambitious as there are not t oo many places anymore for stage magicians. Night clubs are the the last destination for platform platform performers. However, However, these these gigs are far and few few

What’s Under the Cap? Salt Shaker Through the Table For family and friends:

in between. Even in Las Vegas where magic once was a bountiful place for magicians. Now it’s

The Four Burglars

hard to nd a venue anymore.

Cut the Lady in Half

Amusement parks like Disneyland and Six Flags are still a good place to go. Here t he work is long and hard. It is gratifying though. Also, it’s good training ground for the determined performer. performer.

Dice Prediction Nested Boxes At a party:

The Magic Show

The formation of the magic act or show is paramount. paramount. Keeping it all straight is also im portant. I have every trick I have have ever done typed typed out word for word in my my computer. computer. Also I keep keep a hard copy in my ling cabinet. Another thing I like to do is write out each trick on a 3 x 5 index card. I head it with the name of the trick. On the right of t he card I put the time it takes to do the trick. Then I list the

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Lucky Seven The Four Burglars The Linking Paperclips

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW When you only have a deck of cards:

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133

You can do the Cups and Balls as a close-up trick or platform. My own routine I use

Lucky Seven

strictly for platform. However, the one I included in this book works well with both. The Cut the

You Do As I Do

Lady in Half can be used for platform. The queen can be seen from the distance. Other card tricks

The Four Burglars

are not good on stage because the audience cannot see the identities. You You can also use a Jumbo


Deck and a larger envelope.

Mix and match any of the above: The Four Burglars

The Platform Act

The Linking Paperclips What’s Under the Cap?

Short act: 1. Showing or Blowing

You Do As I Do

2. Cut and Restored Rope


3. The Cups and Balls

Salt Shaker Through the Table

4. A Plethora of Silks 5. Saying Thanks with Style

Lucky Seven Sugar Packet Prediction

1. Are You a Square?

Dice Prediction

2. Rope routines


3. Torn and Restored Newspaper 4. The Coat Release

Nested Boxes Cups and Balls Salt Shaker Through the Table

132

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW Longer act:

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135

The full act:

1. Showing or Blowing

1. Showing or Blowing

2. Rope routines

2. Rope routines

3. Book Test

3. Cut the Lady in Half



5. Torn and Restored Newspaper


6. A Plethora of Silks

6. Book Test

7. Saying Thanks with Style

7. Torn and Restored Newspaper 8. The Indian Rice Mystery


9. A Plethora of Silks

2. Book Test


3. Rope routines

That’s just a sample of the different combinations. The opening trick should be short,

4. Cut the Lady in Half

sweet, and to the point. Showing or Blowing gets Blowing gets right into the magic. This has been my opening


for years. Once you establish yourself t o the audience, then you can slow things down. Combin-

6. The Indian Rice Mystery

ing the rope routines sets up a theme with one prop.

7. The Coat Release

The middle is a nice balance of effects. At this point you can go into the audience and ask


for volunteers to assist you. As we reach to the end, a long trick like The Indian Rice Mystery that has heavy dialogue is inserted here. This will segue into our nale. The two basic rules for a closer is either to do s omething quick and ashy or perform a strong mind blowing effect. Logic might dictate that you open the show with a production, then close with a vanish. Actually the reverse is true. A vanish stuns people. It causes your audience to just sit and stare at you like a deer caught in the headlights. For the nish, you want people apap plauding.

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136

That’s why a colorful production of items is best. A best. A Plethora of of Silks ends Silks ends the act with

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW 1. Showing or Blowing

music. It is colorful and quick. The silk lls the stage and makes the act look big. The Coat

Two 12 inch silk handkerchief s of the same color

Release does Release does not do this, but it is a strong effect. It breaks another rule about having volunteers volunteers

The rubber band pull

on stage for the nish. You don’t want to take your nal bow with spectators from the audience on stage with you. However, ending with Saying Thanks With Style will Style will end your act with you on

2. Cut and Restored Rope A piece of rope twenty-four inches

stage alone. It can also be used following anything. This provides a double closer. A closer. A Plethora of Silks Silks

A pair of scissors

is fast with no dialogue. Saying Thanks with Style puts Style puts you at one with the audience. It is not a strong effect, but it is cute. The audience will recognize this as the end and will reward you with

3. The Cups and Balls Three cups

an ovation.

Four small balls After you decide which program to perform, perform, type it up. Keep this on stage with you.

The wand

Trust me, with all of the stress of remembering all of your dialogue, you will forget what comes next. You You don’t want to fumble. Just glance at the list and go on. It’s alright if the audience sees this. They will respect you as a professional who cares for details. Next you need to type up a prop list. This comes in very handy. handy. You don’t want to forget

4. A Plethora of Silks Wine bottle Three tubes of descending order

something silly like your scissors for The Cut and Restored Rope trick . I have included the list

X amount of silks

of props in each trick. Only include what you use. I listed i n the routine things like four rubber

A wine glass

bands for the pull. pull. This eventually got got linked together together and made into the pull. It shouldn’t shouldn’t be on

Colored water

the prop list, only the pull its elf should be. The list below is an example of how I arrange my

A chair

own list.

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139

behind you you towards the left corner. corner. Avoid Avoid that when ever ever possible.

Two single sheets of newspaper A pair of scissors

Then I set my nale nale on on the table to my right. right. This is a strong position, but not not the stronstrongest. Then I do a trick li ke Saying Thanks with Style facing Style facing the audience front and center. This is the strongest position.

This list you don’t bring on stage with you. This is for you to check check before you leave home, as you set up, and before you go home. You don’t want to leave something important

Once you have it set where things go, practice it that way. You’ll be surprised when you get on stage how automatic it becomes. This will become one less thing for you to worry about.

behind. When When you are done done checking your equipment, equipment, leave this list in your container container that you packed your your props in.

Now the show begins. I hate when when someone asks asks a beginning performer performer if they are are ner-

This container can be a sports bag or suitcase. Experience has shown me to be very care-

vous. This puts the evil thought into the performer’s performer’s head that may have not been there before.

ful when packing. For anything breakable, breakable, I cover it in bubblewrap. I make a bag out of it so I

People just expect performers to be nervous before a show. Don’t let yourself be in that position.

can reuse it. This may be a pain to do all of this, but in the long run it pays off.

Practice so you know your material, be prepared by making sure you have brought everything,

Once you set up, keep the bag or suitcase backstage. You could build a box to carry your

and give your self enough time to set up.

stuff in. I have one that has legs hinged onto it. I open it up and use it like a table. Then I put the props I’m nished nished with in there as I perform. perform. Place your props on your table with care. Nothing is worse than seeing a performer search for something. The performer should reach for it and nd it instantly. Think about this. You can put the rope in your suit pocket, the envelope for the Cutting the Lady in Half in in your

A little anxiety is alright though. It is natural. After all of these years, I don’t get as nervous as I use to. I use to pace up and down until it was my turn to go on. This was tough the year I worked the illusion show at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Mountain. I was pre-set i n a box and couldn’t move. Now a days, I just just take it all in stride. I still feel a little nervous. I pray that they never call call

breast pocket, and and your business business cards for the Book the Book Test Test in in your pants pocket. This will help to

my name. “Delay more,” I think to myself. Then I have the Catch 22 situation. I want to get it

make your table less cluttered.

over with. However, I know that experience has shown me that everything will be alright. If I put

Place two tables on your stage; one to the right, the other to left. This leaves the center open for you to walk down. Since this is the strongest position, you want to leave it open. I always start off doing the Showing or Blowing front Blowing front and center. Then I place the rst half of my act on the table to my left. This is the weaker of the three position. The weakest is

138

in a new trick I have never done before, I get a little more nervous than usual. To overcome overcome any stage fright, I lick my lips. There is a tendency for your mouth to be dry when you are nervous. Licking the lips helps to cure this. Usually if I’m nervous, it goes away once I’m on stage. Nothing is worse than than the performer performer coming out lackadaisical. lackadaisical. This happens happens because you you


140


141

sit backstage so l ong waiting for them to call your name. You should come out bursting with

to go by sl ower for the audience. I think because the words are jumble and cannot be understood.

energy. energy. I remember one particular instance recently where I was not up to my usual standards.

When this happens, the audience loses interest in it. Once they do, everything seems to take for-

It was a long lay off between performances, so I lost that spark. My dad even commented that it

ever to nish.

looked like I lost the joy of performing. This was like a challenge to me. I racked my brains try-

When we pace our words properly, time on stage seems to go by faster. I don’t mean talk

ing to nd a solution. “No,” I said t o myself, “I am not washed up.” So I remembered something something

real slow as to bore the audience. I mean, pick spots in your dialogue that is very important and

that the legendary master illusionist Howard Thurston use to do before each show. He would tell

pause before you you get there. Stop dead. Don’t Don’t move. Nothing. Nothing. Wait Wait for one to three seconds, seconds, then

himself, “I have a great audience. I am going to be great,” etc. What he did was psych himself

deliver the line.

up. He entered the stage full of vim and vigor. I did this. In fact I over did it. However, However, as things usually happen, when you enter with a lot of energy, the moment drags you down. So I’m glad I came on with too much energy because it evened itself out. The audience caught my energy and responded. Then they fed me to keep the

The following is an example of what I do with a script when I rst get it. With a pen or pencil, I put slashes where where

I want to pause. One One slash is a one count count pause, like between between com-

mas. Two slashes is a much longer pause. This is usually something that I want to emphasize. “People always ask me// how did I rst learn/ t o do magic?// When I was a kid,/ I use to

energy going to the end. It was one of the best performances I had in a long time. I proved I was

bug the owner/ owner/ of the local magic store/ store/ to show me a trick.// trick.// This was his favorite.// He’d take

not washed up.

out his pocket handkerchief.//”

You You might say that the size of the audience had a lot to do with it. In this case it was not true. There might have been maybe ten people in the audience. I was not going to let the lack of

Read it this way in practice, but don’t set it in stone. stone. You may feel that your emphasis was wrong. If you do, change it. Don’t memorize these slashes. It should come naturally as you

attendance pull me down.

practice. Also, Also, if you’ve discovered discovered that right feel for for the dialogue, write write it down. A pause or or a As you perform, control your pace. There should be no dead time between tricks. Novice performers do the opposite on what they should. should. They speed up the presentation of their tricks, and then slow down in between.

movement that is affective should be noted so you can always do it the same way every time. Move with purpose. Don’t dget. When you pick something up, don’t move your hands around a hundred times. I’ve seen the best magicians do this. They pick up a deck of cards and

There is a natural tendency to let nerves speed up the act. Don’t let it. Your act should be fast paced, but not you. You may have said the same dialogue over and over, but it’s new to your audience. They want to hear every word. It’s It’s a funny thing, but when we talk fast, the time seems

140

rotate it around and around. This makes the audience nervous. You don’t want to be a permanent xture behind your table, but you don’t want to pace around the stage either. Stand still. Deliver a line, then move forward or right to left. Then stop


142

again. You can do the tricks that are on your table, then when you get to something like the rope trick, you can take it out of your pocket and move towards the audience. You may deliver something with a burst of energy, energy, then slow it down. Don’t repeat the same actions too soon. Chris Rock is a great performer, performer, but but he he makes makes me uneasy when he paces back and forth. He has that nervous energy that makes him dynamite. But that pacing. . . It drives me crazy. Bill Cosby paces his act nicely. He starts off by sitting down. Image that. . . a stand up

Pascoe/ HOW O DO A MAGIC SHOW well. Those that are tried and true.

The hardest thing I found in putting together a magic book is the ill ustrations. Being the perfectionist that I am, I have have gone back back and reworked reworked the sketches until until I felt they were right. right. With that, the second book will take sometimes because I want it to be complete. Thank you so much for your purchase. I hope we can explore together this inner journey that is shared by the writer and the reader. It is you that I had in mind when I wrote this.

comic sitting down. Then he builds the act by getting up. He moves his body acting out the situation he is describing. He gets really sill y, then he stops. He looks at he audience with those

Magically yours,

incredible faces he makes, then he slows down. Finally, he delivers the punch. I don’t want to spend too much time on performing. By taking an acting class you’ll learn what you need. The most important thing to remember is to have fun. I know this sounds silly, but most performers performers I know forget forget this. They are so busy trying to get get through it as fast as they can, they don’t spend the time enjoying their act. This will help relieve the nerves. It will make performing addicting. addicting. You will not be able able to get enough of it. Then you’ll you’ll want to perform more. If you do, I wish you success.

I am glad you took the time t o practice the tricks I have provided for you. Certainly, this is not all that you can learn from magic. I encourage you to go and explore by going to the magic shops. Be careful because one can go crazy and buy all sorts of stuff you may never use. Remember, routine is the most important thing to the magical performer. performer. Soon, I will work on a second book that will cover all that you can learn in magic. It will be a book for for all levels from the beginner beginner to the advance. advance. Basically, Basically, it will be a book from from my career starting from a young teenager all the way through to the present. I will give pet effects as

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Michael Pascoe 2014

How To Do a Magic Show Proposal final copy II.pdf

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