The Tim e Traveller Traveller A M ag i c i an B ef o r e His Hi s Tim Ti m e by Kieron Johnson
Volume 1
First Edition Printed by Haresign Press Copyright © 2018 Saturn Magic Ltd All All Rights Rights Reserv Reserved ed No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, neither printed or electronic without the permission of the copyright holder.
Table of Con tents
Foreword by Mark Traversoni.................................... 5 Introduction by Joel Dickinson................................... 7 Introduction by John Morton...................................... 9 Introduction by Kieron Johnson................................. 10 A Litt Little le About my Early Life Life in Magic Mag ic.......................... 12 The The Gandalf Theo Th eory............... ry........................ ................. ............... ................ .............1 ....15 5 Invisible Ice.................................................................17 The La La La Switch .................................................. 24 Radley.........................................................................28 Lolly Lolly 2 .0......... .0 .................. ................. ............... ................ .................. .................. .................. ........... 32 Iced Tea......................................................................45 How to Swallow Smoke............................................. 54 How to Wate Waterp rpro roof of Cards.... Cards......... .......... .......... ........... .......... .......... ........... .......... ....... 60 Flower Power ............................................................. ............................................................. 61 The Anything Deck....................................................66 Flash Flash Paper Advic Ad vice............. e..................... ................. .................. .................. ............. ....68 68 3
To The Max
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Boiling Boiling an an Egg Egg with with the Power of your you r M i n d .............. 75 Light up the World ....................................................... 76 Taste the Rainbow ....................................................... 78 Hot Deck.....................................................................83 Diabetics Nightmare .................................................... 87 Final Thoughts and Thanks ......................................... 91
Foreword: Mark Traversoni
I have been good friends with Kieron for a number of years and writing this book has been quite a journey with him. He has so much going on inside his head that plucking out the items to include here has been quite a task! Kieron is one of the most creative thinkers in magic that I have ever come across and in my opinion has been highly influential in creating the new age of magic we all now enjoy - the magic that moved away from the conventional packet tricks, Ambitious Cards, Chop Cups etc that everyone seemed to be doing at the time. His ideas are still considered to be almost crazy but when you take the time to think about them you can begin to see how they will work. You have to get yourself into a mindset to fully appreciate his ideas and thinking. When Kieron has an idea he is obsessive; he does not give up until he has the solution - which has to include all the movements and reasoning for doing what he is doing. We speak for hours on the phone each week - this has resulted in some amazing brainstorming sessions which has resulted in some awesome items being released and amazing things that are still work in progress. People want to see real magic when we perform for them and Kieron specialises in the impossible - the randomness of his magic is its appeal and audiences just love it. 5
I have heard many people say “Oh that’s so Kieron, I will never be able to do that” - you can, you just need to set yourself free as he has and trust your feelings. As you you would expect, expect, the ideas and concepts in this book book are different. Use them as they are or add your own twist to them. By buying this book you must be part way down the path to understanding that the audience deserves more than tricks that instantly reset and require no preparation. It is a shame so many ma ny judge judg e how good good an effect is on that criteria. Kieron is a great guy. I hope you enjoy his book as much as we have enjoyed collaborating on it.
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Introduction: Joel Dickinson Kieron is a wonderful guy. It is a pleasure to sit and write this introduction. I have performed with Kieron, I have watched him perform and I am lucky to have him as my friend. Kieron has a unique ability to create magic from the most unlikely objects. To this day I do not know how his mind works. Where do his creative ideas come from? I once asked Kieron how he creates so much incredible magic to which he replied “don’t worry it’s just a problem I have”. Kieron is the most committed, creative, inspiring and respectful magician I have met and he inspires me with my own work. If I ever eve r feel defl deflate ated d or stuck stu ck in the world world of magie, agie, I will ask myself ‘what would Kieron do d o ’ trouble trouble is, I would never know. I must tell you about how I met Kieron. I was outside of a bar and as I walked up to the door, I could hear gasps, laughter and applause from the outside. I walked in to the bar and Kieron was sat in the corner with his audience in front of him him and within just ju st a minute minut e I became a layman. I was hooked watching Kieron perform from the back of his enthralled crowd. As I sat watching I could see an incredible amount of preparation and effort which Kieron brought to his performance. However, to his audience, his preparation was completely invisible. Forks were bending and melting like rubber in his participants hands. Mixed Rubik's Cubes were solved in the most impossible way, fire transformed to ice, water spouted from his mouth followed by smoke from the 7
demand of his audience, signed objects appeared inside chocolate bars and so much more. But what exactly does 'so much more' mean. Well, Kieron is not like other magicians I have seen perform. Over the years I have watched many magicians but that one particular evening something special happened. After Kieron finished performing, one gentleman was in floods of tears. The gentleman shook Kieron's hand and thanked him for such a wonderful evening and performance. Being a magician I needed to know why he was crying, “wasn’t that amazing" I said to gauge the gentleman. To which the gentleman replied “yes, his magic is amazing . 丨don’t know why I am crying but he is just such a wonderful guy". Which brings me right back to the start.
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Introduction: John Morton When people think of a magician they think they know what they are going to get, however very few have as many varied aspects to their personality as Kieron. He is a Magician, Regurgitator, Mentalist, Memory Man, Creative Consultant, Mad Scientist and avid hat aficionado. I, like a lot of magicians first heard of him through his outstanding release “To The Max” a trick that is now in a lot of working magicians acts. Like the great Max Malini, Kieron is not afraid to put in a lot of preparation to create a true moment of wonder for his audience, and I recommend you the reader do the same. I’m privileged to be one of the friends Kieron brainstorms with and in the words of Morgan Freeman in the film Now You See Me: "I believe that what's about to follow, is really going to amaze".
Introduction: Kieron Johnson Thank Tha nk you for buying the first volume vol ume of my book. book. I was originally planning to make this one big book but I have now decided to make this a number of separate volumes to speed up the publishing process. In here you will find some brand new, never published work that I have kept close to my chest for years. The hardest thing putting this book together was getting my thoughts in one place. Anyone that knows me knows that I have a lot of thoughts in my head! I wanted this book to be about magic that is different and workable. These effects are still in my working sets and have served me well over many years. I’ve never been one to publish unworkable concepts; at the heart I am a consultant and teacher and I want my work to be performed. I am and always will be a working magician in the trenches having the extreme highs and the lows. One day performing for Royalty and the other day I am in a city bar. I have a passion for magic which could be described as obsessive. I don’t mind putting in work on preparation for my performances - magic should take work. Many people today want instant magic, that’s not necessarily a bad thing but with a little time and preparation you can give 10
your audiences the best you can offer. The end effect is well worth the effort. There are no pipe dreams in this booklet, everything works. The benefit of preparation is that all the hard work is done at home; you will notice I have stripped a lot of the hard work out to keep everything simple. I have to say thank you to my lovely wife Katy for putting up with me and for her support. To Mark Traversoni for his kindness and believing in my work and helping guide me and to Russ Stevens for publishing my first works. There have been others as well, so I thank all of you who have helped and supported me and to those who have bought my creations over the years. I also owe a huge debt to Max Malini and Rocco Silano for their inspiration - we truly do stand on the shoulders of giants.
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т ши
A Little About My Early Life in Magic Many people consider me to be unconventional or weird although I never set out to be that way. In my early magical years I had no desire to just perform the normal packet tricks and plots in magic that everyone else was doing. I had what others considered to be crazy ideas and was told many times by the 'establishment' that no-one would ever do or buy them. It's strange, even today I do not think I am weird or different, I just do things the way I want to do them. It is fair to say that the magic industry had a hard time coming to terms with my magic until eventually Russ Stevens took a gamble on me. Even afterwards it was still not easy to get my ideas published. 12
I have been inspired by many magicians over the years but there have been two main influencers: I never met Max Malini but by reading and listening to what others have said about him then he is at the very core of my magic, not being afraid to prepare and do the unusual. One of my greatest inspirations and mentor is Rocco Silano, as without him none of my magic would exist and my life would not be what what it is now now.. He taugh taughtt me that that free magic is everywhere and we should be aware of our surroundings, that it's not about the tricks, it's that everything around you can create a moment of magic. I was in a bar with Rocco, and whilst standing at the bar he stretched both hands out and to my astonishment a Coke Coke can can on the bar started started to move. move. It moved to the edge edge and flipped off the bar edge into the bin. bin. It was the first first time time I saw a true true miracle. miracle. I asked asked him how he did it, he said there is free magic all around us, you just have to look for it, go to the bar and get an empty can and put it on the bar. bar. I did just ju st that that and to my amaze am azeme ment nt the Coke can can started to move and flippe flipped d into the bin. I looked around and realised there was a cooling fan and the bar top was wet and that was enough to cause the can to move and fall into the bin. Over the following days I had lessons with him and he said during dinner that Slydini once said to him that he was the most passionate magician he had ever met and he said the same to me.
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I always put a lot of passion into my work so I don't let him down. Eight years later I'm in China performing alongside him and after the show he asked to see my metal bending routine. In my routine I use 2 forks, one is in a wine glass on the table, as I'm bending the first fork the one in the glass just started to move as someone leant in and knocked the table by accident. I saw this happening and put my hand out as if I was making it move causing everyone to gasp. Afterwards he asked asked me how did did I make make the fork move in the glass and I looked him in the eye and said “Rocco if you look around free magic is around you everywhere". It dawned on Rocco that his words were being played back to him eight years later and smiling he grabbed me on the shoulders with two hands and shook me saying “Noooooo”. There was no greater pleasure than being able to give him the same feeling back which he gave to me.
The Gand G and alf Th Th eory The reason I call this the Gandalf theory is that I believe that all magic is magic and that all styles and genres can work for you, if they they are are a part of you. For example, if Gandalf came to your table and did linking rings, then sawed a lady in half, then did sponge balls followed by the razor blades it would be a strange thing to see because Gandalf doesn’t do magic, he is magic. What I'm trying to say is that you have to be true to yourself but not limit yourself. It is very easy to be told you can't mix styles. You can and you should do what suits you, not what you are told you should do. I still find today that some magicians don't get me because I’m so different, but that is a good thing and you need to be different to stand out amongst the crowd. I believe the best way to learn is to learn as much as you can. I personally can perform for over 2 hours without repeating effects and not losing the quality of my set. We are taught early on to master a few tricks but personally there should be no limits. Master your effects before performing them but learn as much as you can.
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I have a rough idea of a script when I perform but I find the routining and patter evolve and comes with repeated performance. The mechanics are always sound and well rehearsed, even though my style seems very disorganised and random. Like in a game of chess I'm well prepared and always thinking a number of moves ahead. Mix it up, do what you feel, trust your intuition, it may not always work, but pick yourself up and start again. The greatest gift with close-up magic is that you can always go to another table. As a good friend once said, l,if you do the stuff you always know you will be stuck in a mediocre rut. You may get the constant applause but the only way to be truly great is to push the limits and occasionally fail, only then you can reach true greatness”. This is only my personal opinion and as my Dad always says, listen to everything but do what feels right to you.
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Inv isi bl e Ice Ice
Effect
A block block of ice is on display with a pack of cards clearly inside. A card card is chosen during the show, show, and and when the ice is broken the cards are spread and one card only is found to be the wrong way around in the deck, - it’s the chosen card.
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Explanation
This is my version of the Invisible Deck. If you're not familiar with the plot, it's where a card is thought of and found to be the only card turned the wrong way in the deck. I wanted something different for my stage show and I loved the idea i dea of it being on display disp lay for the entire ent ire show. show. I have also used this in parlour as well. What You Will Need
An Invisibl Invisible e Deck, eck, these can be bought for less less than £10 £10, a plastic container bigger than the deck, a microfibre cloth, Scotchgard spray and cling film or a freezer bag. Preparation
The first thing I do is to Scotchgard spray my box inside and out as this water wa terpro proofs ofs the the box. I then let this dry. dry. If you don't have Scotchgard then many shoe shops sell a general waterproofing spray for shoes which is basically the same thing. I then wrap the box with the cards inside in cling film, alternately these can be placed in a freezer bag. (Personally, I prefer cling film as this looks more impossible when I have to unwrap the deck during the reveal.)
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The cards are then put in the box. box. Make sure the the cards card s are wrapped well or sealed in the bag so the water will not get into the cards. I then boil the kettle because we need water to form the ice ice. Boiling Boiling the water wat er will help help produce clearer clea rer ice than if you just used water wa ter straight straight from the th e tap. tap. In some areas a reas you may be lucky and find your water produces clear ice anyway. I fill the container around a quarter with water and let it freeze. Once frozen I place the cards in and pour a little water in and and let let it freeze, freeze, fixing fixi ng the deck de ck in position. I then complete the process once the deck is frozen in place and fill the container with water ensuring the card box is well covered. You must do this in stages otherwise the deck will just float to the surface. Anot Anothe herr option option is to use use unboile unboiled d norma normall water wa ter which will will usually freeze so that it is obscure at the bottom and when you add the deck the top portion of ice will be clearer due to the way the impurities in the water freeze. This means the ice could be stood up throughout your show with the obscured side showing and turned around to reveal the deck inside to stop people getting ahead of you during your routine.
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When frozen make sure that you have at least 12mm of ice all around the deck to ensure good travel times with the ice. Now you're ready to transport this to your show. I wrap the ice in a microfibre cloth and place in my cooler bag. The size of the ice and the microfibre cloth should give you a good eight hours travel. Most people do not believe that you can travel for so long with ice outside of the freezer but for many years before electricity and the invention of freezers ice was transported long distances across continents to our country. Keeping ice dry is the secret to making it last longer. The reason ice normally melts quickly is because in a glass (for example) it comes into contact with water melted from the ice which is now warmer than the block of ice, this simply accelerates the melting process. By keeping the block wrapped in a microfibre cloth and in an insulated bag any water that melts from the ice is absorbed by the cloth and pulled away from the surface of the ice keeping it dry. Therefore it will stay a good size for much longer than without this preparation.
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Set up I place a plate on the stage with a microfibre cloth folded on top to absorb any melted water during the performance time and on top of that I then place the ice. Performance Ideas
When I perform this, I use the concept of time travel in my show and this is one of the kickers of that routine. It could be done as a standard prediction. I haven't detailed my routine as I think this is something you will be able to take and run with, I'm quite excited to see what is done with the plot.
Deck fixed in the ice.
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Tips
The Invisible Deck handling comes as standard with the deck. You could also pre-show this instead with a normal deck, or this could be done as a card force and the prediction is in the ice. To remove remove the ice form for m the the container, container , run cold wa w a ter te r on on the underside of the container until the block of ice falls out, ensuring you keep the water away from the blo block itself. itse lf. Once removed put the ice block back in the freezer until the surface that will have melted away during the extraction process refreezes stabilising the ice once more. If you are not going to use the ice straight away seal, it in a plastic bag and keep it in the freezer. Most freezers will keep the ice in good condition for at least a week but as time goes on the ice will start to get a white coating over it if left in the freezer for too long and the block may start to shrink.
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The La La La Switch What is it and how to do it
What is the La La La switch? Well it's a very bold switch done on the offbeat. One of the things that worries magicians the most is switching things; it can be a scary process and be quite daunting at times. When it comes to switching, I always have the Nike slogan in my head - Just Do It.
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But that’s tha t’s easer said than done. How do do you get over o ver it and how do you get over your own fear? I could tell you cliche things like “don’t run if you’re not being chased” I could could tell that tha t you no-one no-one will notice it, I could tell tell you no-one dies, it's just a magic trick so stop over thinking it. But the truth is that there is no right or wrong answer there is only you. So how do I do it? Often I put the object to be switched in a different pocket, for example, in Diabetics Nightmare I have the pen with the sugar in my right pocket and the normal pen in my inside jacket pocket. The spectator signs a card with the pen that works, I take take it back bac k and it goes back to where wher e it came from. On the offbeat, I casually casu ally take out out the other ot her pen and ask them them to hold it. it. I am now ready ready to perform perf orm the effec e ffectt when ever ever I want. I don' don'tt have to do it there there and then the n I can wait wai t and as Max Malini famously once said “I can wait a week”. But what about the Skittle effect (Taste The Rainbow) or the soil (Flower Power)? Again it is all about timing, there is no heat on you as this is all about tinning and learning to slow your environment and mentally calculate the
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situation. I can tell tell you from my own experien exp erience ce that they they are not all the same. Experience only comes from the doing, risking it all on the line, throwing the dice and all that cliche Hollywood crap we have been fed. As I said at the start only you will know how to move and think like you. These ideas I'm suggesting are bold, crazy, brazen and should not work but somehow they do to great effect! I think somehow if you are relaxed and casual in your performance your audience relaxes and their vision is general rather than pinpoint focused on what you are doing, giving you scope to get away with very bold moves, as I said above - Just Do It! I love this La La La switch, it makes me smile and also scares scares me at the same time. I, like some of you, you, have have fear if only for a second but I can tell you it is worth it for the pay off. History
I came up with this accidentally. Doing switches on offbeats is a very old Max Malini idea; he was a master of the offbeat and the idea must even pre-date him. The La La La switch gets its name for when I'm performing it, I'm often going La La La La in my head as I'm doing it it so I can time the offbeat in my head.
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"Wha "Whatt is the offbeat offbeat?" ?" you may ask. ask. It is that tha t moment moment when the effect is over as such or a process is finished. Everyone thinks that something is over and they relax, at that time they think you are finished and their vision is generally generally not not focused focu sed eg. eg. maybe they are clapping clappin g or saying how amazing something was. This gives you ample time to switch anything you like. In Taste the Rainbow for example, it is a little different as you switch when you put the sweets away. They think the packet is now insignificant as they have chosen a sweet so all attention goes off the packet as you put it away. The focus is now on the sweet as you told them not to show it. When everyone no longer cares about the packet that is when you switch it.
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Radley
Effect A clear bag with lots lots of animals inside inside on slips of paper is is shown. One is selected and you tell the spectator to focus on it as you pick up a modelling balloon. You focus on them to read their mind and behind your bag/case bag/case you you twist twist and turn the balloon bal loon and you say “ I think I’ve got it!” You ask them what the animal is, they say a bird. “A bird” you say, looking puzzled.
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f
You say "ladies and gentlemen a bird in fancy dress as a dog" - they laugh. You say “you don’t believe me do you?” You then let go of the dog and it flies away or floats up and remains suspended in the air on a fine piece of thread attached to your case/table.
History
This This was a chall cha lleng enge e I set to myself mysel f years years ago. I read it was impossible to make a modelling balloon float. I took this as a personal challenge and I went out and bought a helium tank and sure enough it didn't work. Then I had a thought what if I stretch the balloon first, pump it up let it down and pump it again, well sure enough it floated. I found that yellow balloons work best but this may vary depending on your brand of balloon. Why call this the Radley trick? Mark Traversoni and I were sitting down talking about how great this is and that it needed a name and his dog Radley was with us and the connection was made.
What You Will Need
A way of forcing forcing the word ‘dog’ for example is to use use my Any Anyth thin ing g Deck or a force bag of some some sort with slips of 29
paper with random animals on them, 260 modelling balloons, a helium cylinder and some fine thread.
Preparation
Weaken the balloon by blowing it up several times and letting it down. You then fill the balloon with helium and make the dog. If you do not know how to make a balloon balloon dog then watch a Youtube tutorial. Once made you have approximately a 20 minute window from blowing it up until it stops working because helium leaks through the balloon, but it's enough time to be able to do it in a show. I put the balloon in my case which stops it floating away Tips
This is really a comedy effect but you could use this effect to produce a dove by popping the balloon and having the dove appear. appear. I use this this mainly mainly for when I perform for younger kids but I have used it with adults with great success. Another idea idea is to have have the balloon balloon inside inside a gift bag bag on your table with the bag taped or clamped shut so the balloon cannot escape. When the animal is revealed you look at the bag in a puzzled way and internally solve the problem as if having to quickly think up a response as to why it is not a bird.
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You can then open the bag reveal the dog and for the kicker let it go - the dog floats up a metre or so held by a fine thread tied to the bag making the whole thing selfcontained. Anot Anothe herr presentational idea for Radley is to put some Octopalm or double-sided tape on the dogs feet so you can place him down on a hard floor. As the laughter dies down then tug on a fine thread tied to the ballon and it will ‘fly .
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Lo lly 2.0
Effect
A lighter lighter is placed on the table, a deck of cards is introduced and removed from the box and a prediction is placed on the box written on a small piece of paper. The deck of cards is blank and they have words written on them listing various random objects. A word is chosen and the cards placed back in the box. You ask them to look at the paper, it says nothing so you ask them what their word was and they say 'lolly', you set fire to the paper and produce a lolly. 32
You hand it to them and as a kicker the box of cards is now full of lollies.
History
I have loved the plot of making things appear in fire, to me it’s my favourite type of magic as it looks like real magic. I also love the plot because not only is it magical it also makes people of all ages smile. Since I created the original basic version, I have updated it and come up with various versions. All have their own strengths, but this my favourite version.
What You Will Need
You will need a blank deck of cards to write words on (the Any Anyth thin ing g Deck) Deck) - 1will will give you a list of words that will come in handy. Alternatively for international appeal you could have pictures on your deck, either thin stickers or custom printed for the effects I use in this book. You will also need mini lollies, flash paper and a Zippo type lighter that will stand lit upright on its own. If there are candles on the table you can use those instead of a lighter.
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Setup
Place three lollies in a card box identical to the box with the cards in, I place this in my left jacket pocket. I store the flash paper required in my waistcoat. (Check the section on how to store flash paper.) I have the lolly in my right trouser pocket.
Explanation
The first thing you need to decide is what force you will use to have them pick the lolly loll y card. card. My favour favourite ite is the Swing Cut Swindle Force, but you can use any card force you are comfortable with. After the word is forced you ask them to look look at the paper. As they look at the the paper the the deck is put put into into my pock pocket et and switched for the box with lollies inside and put down on the table (The La La La Switch). The paper can be blank or have some strange writing on it. After the moment dies down with the lack of a true prediction you bring out your lighter. Sometimes I ask someone to hold the lighter for me, sometimes I use the table. Just be careful if asking them to hold it as they do get hot. The reason I love a Zippo is because it is freestanding and frames the moment that something happens. 34
The next thing I do is to crunch the flash paper which puts air into it. it. By doing this th is it create cre ates s great grea t tension and also make the paper burn faster. As As you you do the the La La La switch switch or remove remove the lighter you you steal the lollypop from your pocket and put it into lollypop palm (hide it in your hand!). I take the flash paper in my right hand with the lollypop palmed which frames the hand so it looks natural; I dip in to the lighter flame to light the paper and extend my hand to show the lolly has magically appeared at my finger tips. Once they have stopped freaking out, as a kicker you snap your fingers over the box and now the cards have turned to lollies. I don't always do this finish even though the box is there with the lollies inside, but if someone says (and they often do) do) ‘can ‘can I have a lolly’ lolly ’ this is a great great moment momen t where whe re you take advantage of the moment and produce more. Tips
This a super strong effect which may seem to be aimed at children but this is a powerful piece of magic for all ages ages.. If I ask of of you only only one thing, then that that would wou ld be to go out and try this, even if it's just the production. Some of you may like to sleeve the lolly, please see the pictures below. 35
Remember always be safe when using flash paper and fire.
Dip into the flame keep your arm and hand still and produce the lolly. 37
Palm the lolly and sleeve it - Stage 1
Stage 2 39
Stage 3
Readjust yourself. 40
Drop your arm and catch the lolly.
Cover with your thumb and proceed as normal. 41
1
No Hat!
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Iced Tea The effect
A mug of tea is made made and and the spectator spe ctator can drink and and stick their finger in it if they are careful as the the liquid is boiling hot. At At any any moment, moment, with their hand hand on top of the mug, mug, you can start to cool it down and the tea starts to freeze and a block of iced tea forms in the mug. How it wor w or ks
I know you will be already thinking that this is impossible! That this is some crazy chemical solution or a switch of some kind. Everything, and I mean everything, is selfcontained. There are no switches and no chemicals. This is strangely the most mind-blowing bit of the effect, the science. As As some some of you may know I love ice magic, magic, I always have. It's my favou favourite rite type type of magic and I discover discovered ed Iced Tea in one of my many experiments with this concept. If you take a block of ice and pour boiling water on it the liquid will cool down to freezing cold. From there came my greatest greatest discovery. If I kept the ice on on the bottom botto m of the mug and poured hot water on it the bottom half with the ice would stay cold and the top would stay hot. This is 45
because the hot water was only in contact with the top 〇f the ice and not allowed to flow around the bottom or the sides. I then realised if I let the ice rise from the bottom of the mug it would then cool the rest of the liquid and leave the ice floating at the surface. I then started working on it and realised a magnet in the bottom of the ice and a magnet under the mug would keep the ice held at the bottom of the mug stopping it from floating as the tea was poured in. The hot tea does not reduce the volume of the ice by much at all as long as the ice is a snug fit fit in the the mug. ug. I make sure the mug is at least half full of ice and the effect is amazing. This has to be be seen seen to be believed - 1really do urge you you to have a go!
What You Will Need
Two magnets, a Thermos flask or cool bag, a microfibre cloth and a large mug with parallel sides. Note: you only need the Thermos flask or cool bag and microfibre if you're planning on travelling with the ice. See the Invisible Ice effect for more details on this.
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Preparation
The prep is not hard at all and the effect is more than worth it. Make some tea and then pour a small amount (2-3mm) in a mug, then place in a freezer and let that freeze for a hour. If planning planning to do it a lot you could could buy some cheap che ap mugs so that you can make a few at a time. Next, take the two magnets (size will depend on your mug) but around 10mm x 2mm or 3mm is a good starting point. The purpose of the magnets is to hold the ice at the bottom of the mug because when the tea is poured in it would normally cause the ice to float. The magnet therefore needs to be strong enough to keep the ice in position. When your thin layer of tea has frozen in the bottom of the mug, place a magnet in the centre and the other magnet under the mug ensuring they are attracted together. Then Then pour in the rest of the liquid. I fill fill it just ju st below below half way so your mug ends up just above half full of iced tea after it has frozen and expanded. It should be a frozen in few hours and you have just done the hardest part, it is pretty easy from here on, don't be put off by the prep. 47
Once the ice has frozen you need to remove it from the mug. I run water on the outside of the mug ensuring no water goes inside. This will free up the ice so it will fall out easily. You do not want to lose much volume so don't over warm the mug for too long or use cold water. You need to lose some volume to extract the ice, that is normal and it will help later on in the effect. Allowing the ice to freely float upwards with no resistance. Once removed place only the ice back in the freezer for around half an hour to an hour, this will refreeze the exterior of the ice. Now that the block of tea is solid if you wish you can store it in the freezer free zer for a few days. days. Prior to your performance put the ice inside a plastic bag so that any air that enters your freezer over those days does not erode the ice. The ice will stay stored like this for a long time but after a while, maybe a week or so depending on your freezer, the ice will start to get a frosty layer around it and can start to revert to gas evaporating inside the freezer and lose some of its shape, so long term storage is not recommended for this effect.
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Set up
You take the ice and place it in the mug with the magnet side facing down. The other magnet is placed on the bottom of the mug. Once set up, you are ready to perform. Make a cup of tea how you normally would. The ice is quite big but it will start to melt in the mug so you do need to perform the effect reasonably soon after putting putting the the ice in the the mug, 10-15 minute minutes s is a rough guide gui de but you can experiment with how long the ice lasts in your area.
Pei-ormance
As Ask a spectator to come up and and help you you.. Offer them them some tea (you can also use any other dark hot drink). Pour the drink into the mug ensuring the participant and audience don't see you only tipping a small amount in due to the large volume of iced tea in there. As Ask the the spectator spe ctator to put a hand on top of the mug mug and the、 the、 will confirm confi rm that tha t the tea is hot as they the y can feel the heat from the tea. The only thing left to do now is to remove the magnet from the bottom of the mug.
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You have a couple of options, you could wear a PK ring and steal the magnet off the cup, or I just steal it off the bottom of the mug - as I ask the spectator to put their hand on top and I do the steal at the bottom. If you are holding the bottom of the mug you only need to move the magnet to one side to release the ice inside, letting the magnet fall onto your hand covered by the mug. As soon as you you remove remove the magnet, magnet, the ice will will float to the surface hidden from view by their hand. Wait ten seconds or so and ask them to feel the mug with their other hand, they will confirm it is now cold and when they remove their hand from the top of the mug they will see the frozen block of tea. You should note the bottom half of the mug is freezing so ensure their hand only goes on top. Once the magnet is released, the ice will float to the surface and cool the liquid.
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Frozen tea.
1
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........ .... ............... .
Run water on the mug to extract the ice.
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The final reveal.
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How to Swallow S mo ke
The first thing I will state is that I do not recommend this to anyone and I do not encourage smoking. т putting this here as I want to document docume nt this skill skill.. If you do choose to use it then it is at your own risk.
Effect
At any time in your show you swallow smoke covertly or in front of the audience and you can then drink some water if you would like to and continue to freely talk. You can then, within the next minute or so, bring back the smoke.
What You Will Need
A smokers vapour vapou r device, device, I use use zero nicotine nicotine so all all I am swallowing is vapour. You may also use covert vapour devices that have been released by other magicians. magici ans. Using these the se you may not not be able to bring back as much smoke as you would by openly doing it.
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History
This skill is very old and it dates back to the yogis and was used as a cleansing ritual. It has in recent years been mainly used by sideshow artists and regurgitators. As As there is something about a bout this skill that looks magical magical it can be done as a skill or done as magic. Some of you reading this may get it more quickly than others. When I learnt this it took a long time to get it to loo look natural. natural. It's definitely defi nitely harder with vapour vapou r than smoke, and with vapour you only have 1-2 minutes before you cant get it back. If you are a smoker you can use smoke at your own risk which can be brought back after longer lengths of time. This practice is not recommended for health reasons and should not be attempted by those under age for any reason at all.
The Method
The original method is that you basically swallow the smoke and burp it out. This is true but it is only half the met lod, there is more to this than meets the eye. The first thing you need to practice is to take the vapour into your mouth and let it drift out of your mouth without swallowing it at all. The reason you do this is get used to smoke being in your mouth and allow even a small 55
amount of smoke to look bigger than it is by letting it drift out slowly. The next thing is to practice gulping in air multiple times and swallowing it, trapping it and burping it back up. The more air you swallow the longer and bigger your burp will be. It sounds disgusting in practice but the bigger and longer the burps the better. The next step is to learn to control your burps so you can release the air slowly and silently. When mastered you will be able to bring back the vapour nice and slowly. Tensing your stomach will also help control the smoke. During this practice your lips should be closed and pursed so the air cannot escape and your cheeks will fill with air. Once mastered you are now ready to move onto using smoke or vapo vapour. ur. Repeat your you r practice but this time swallowing the vapour as well as air. When you burp back up, your mouth will fill with vapour and on opening will slowly slowly exit your you r mouth as thick thick vapour. If you were were to blow or force it out it would not last as long or be as thick. If you follow this technique you should be able to master this quite quickly but some may find it harder than others.
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A vapour device device..
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How to Waterpro Wa terpro of Cards Cards Being able to waterproof cards or paper is very handy when doing ice magic, card in orange, egg or anything where paper or cards get wet. This is a very simple process. The first thing you will need is Scotchgard spray or any waterproof spray used to waterproof fabric fab ric or shoes. shoes. I will explain the process for playing cards, but you essentially do the same for other papers and the likes. Lay your cards card s out ou t on on a tray tra y then spray s pray the cards. Let them dry and once they have dried turn them over and spray the other side. If the card is going to be folded when put inside your object then fold the card as it will be in the object and then unfold it to waterproof it. This way the creases from the folds will absorb the spray and make a better seal. If you waterproofed and then crease the card or paper you will break the waterproof seal on the card. If the card is going into liquid directly like inside an egg I often spray the card up to 3 times, letting it dry each time to ensure it is properly sealed. The spray dries quickly so it is not a long process as long as you are in a warm room. You can now put the card in ice, oranges and even eggs and this will protect the card. 60
Flower Power Effect
This is a similar effect to Lolly 2.0 but with a few differences. The performer takes a piece of paper and hands it out. The spectator is shown a bunch of cards with words on them. They pick one and shuffle it back in the pack of cards. The cards are placed in the box and the magician asks them what their word was. They say flower, the performer takes the paper they are holding from them lights it and produces a flower from the fire. As As a kicker the the box is stood stood vertically and pulled pulled from the cellophane leaving it full of soil, the flower is now planted in the soil and presented to the spectator. Explanation
Read Lolly 2.0 for the mechanics of the movement it is very much the same movements and switches to produce a snail flower no bigger than a lollypop. The only difference is that I alter the box so the soil appears visually.
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How to make th e box
First of all take a new deck of cards and carefully remove the cellophane cell ophane from the top. Pull Pull off the remaining sleev sleeve e of cellophane from the box and keep that safe to one side.
Open the box and remove the cards, carefully peel open the bottom of the box and cut all the flaps off the box.
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Once done take Scotchgard spray or similar waterproofing spray and spray the inside of the box. Once dry do the outside as well this will protect the box from the soil if it is damp. Now close the top of the box and put the soil in through the bottom opening and level it off so that the soil is around 18mm below the edge of the box. Now put the cellophane back on the box. What happens now is when you pull the box upwards or cellophane down you produce the soil which is retained by the cellophane.
This way you get a visual production of the soil and you can plant the flower in it. As a extra thing you could also 63
have a ribbon and and business card with a hole punch and give it to them as a gift, it’s a interesting giveaway.
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Tip
When giving out your business card, do it in an interesting and memorable way. This will help will help you get more work.
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T he An yth ing Deck
… 薄—
丨 丨 丨 丨 丨 丨 丨 丨 丨丨 *" 丨
""
The Anything Deck is my deck of blank cards with writing or pictures on. I have been using this deck and principle since my very early days in magic and the basic concept is that you force a word or item and then produce that item or have an item appear in that random chosen object. A few people people have have said to me that it is an an old idea idea but but I have yet to see anyone use this idea to flash produce items before myself. I guess it is one of those ideas so
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simple everyone assumes it must have been done before. You can use any blank faced deck and words of your choice but the picture above shows some of the common ones I use. Others I often use are: Rolos, Wine Gums, Fruit Pastilles, Dog, Crunchie, Budweiser, Balloon Dog, Balloon, Chocolate, Lottery Ticket, Sugar, Alarm Clock, iPad, Car, Jack Daniels, Marmite, Coca Cola, Goldfish, Wine, Lemon, Egg, Hamper, Kit Kat, Diamond Ring, Love Hearts and Helicopter. At At any any one time I have have at least six of of these items on on me that I can produce and because of this I can ask if they would like to change their mind from the chosen word or objec object. t. If they they say say yes I just just force force a differ dif ferent ent card.
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Flash lash P aper A dv ic e I am often asked questions about flash paper, here are some thoughts on the subject. How do you store your flash paper? I store mine in a tin in my shed only taking out enough for that days performances. Can you take flash paper on the plane? No, it is a criminal offence and can come with a prison sentence. No magic magic is worth the risk so just jus t buy some some in in the country you are travelling to. How do you carry it on you when your working? I carry mine in my waistcoat pocket but you can also cut yours up in to strips and put in a 'Rizla' packet or any small container. When using flash paper don't use too much, a small piece the size of a large postage stamp can be enough to flash produce a lolly. If you are using larger pieces, scrunching them up helps them burn quicker and longer pieces can be lit in the middle rather than the end to help the piece burn faster.
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r
Do you need to special insurance to use flash paper? Yes you need to have public liability insurance, do not use flash paper publicly without insurance. Equity in the UK cover this but many others will also. When you receive your flash paper products from a magic dealer they are quite often supplied wet or damp for safety reasons. This means they will not burn properly until dried out. You can dry the flash paper in a warm room for a few hours spreading it out to ensure it is properly bone dry before using it. Failure to do this will result in a slower burn rates which can spoil the effect.
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^
To The Max
Effect The spectator is handed a lighter to hold and your hands are shown empty, a piece of paper is lit and a block of ice is produced.
History Ever since I heard of Max Malini I have been obsessed with ice magic. Max would produce a huge block of ice from his hat while surrounded by the best magicians and they could not figure it out. What makes this more interesting and amazing is that freezers didn't exist like they do now. I discovered that ice does not work the way you would think, as long as you keep it dry it will lose its volume at a very slow rate. In the old days they would transport ice in sawdust as this helped keep it dry. I found a cloth made from microfibre will do the same thing and that slows down the effect of ice melting. 70
Not all microfibre clothes are made equal the thicker the better but they will all work. I keep mine in my pocket but if you want to save pocket space you can sew a belt loop on it or you can buy my Element gimmick which is pre-made. Seiup I make my ice in a small plastic container. I fill it half way or you can use a balloon to get round ice, ensuring the final lump of ice will fit inside the gimmick and through the mouth of my Thermos. Once the ice is frozen I then place it in my Thermos and transport to my gigs. My own Thermos lasts a good ten hours.
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I place the ice in my gimmick and place it in my right side pocket. When I want the ice I grab the ice with my right hand readjust and sleeve the ice as shown in the Lolly 2.0 effect. Display Displaying ing my hands as empty, empty, I then take take the flash flash paper with my left hand as my right hand lowers catching the the ice, I tran tr ansf sfer er the pape paperr to my right hand and set itit on fire. I bring both hands ha nds toge togeth ther er squeezing squeezing the ice and letting it fall into their hands or into a glass. All this is done in the same frame so it appears that the burning paper is turned into ice. Never do this to the person holding the lighter (they may drop it) the reactions to this are startling and very loud, it never fails to get amazing reactions reactions.. TIP: When doing this, wait as long as you can - the gimmick will let you keep the ice for a good hour and 30 minutes in somewhere like Dubai or if outside on the beach in the sun.
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The gimmick is a simple pouch made from microfibre cloth.
Hold the ice. 73
As the flash paper burns bring your hands hands together an and produce the ice.
Boiling an Egg with the Power of your Mind
Effect An An egg is borrowed or introduced and and checked. checked. The magician then holds it in his hand and by mere thought causes the egg to get hot and become boiled.
What You Will Need A To The Max' gimmick, gimmick, see the To The Max' section. section. A Thermos filled with hot water and eggs eggs..
Explanation I parform this at house parties the most as I can borrow the egg. I put the boiled boiled hot egg in my pocke poc kett or in the the To To The Max Max holder. I ask ask to borrow bor row an egg, egg, I casu casual ally ly switch switch the egg and place it on the table, this is all done on the offbeat using the La La La switch and time misdirection. I then talk about Uri Geller and energy and I hold on to the egg and focus and to their shock it is now boiling hot. It’s a very odd trick but it’s nice to link in if you are doing metal bending demonstrations or other PK mind effects.
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Ligh t up th e World
Effect A deck of blank blank cards with OFF written written on all of them them is introduced. You have them pick one and cross out the word OFF and write ON and their name. The cards are now shuffled. A light light bulb is introduce introduced. d. You spread the cards and and pass the lightbulb over them. The lightbulb lights on an area of cards, you separate the cards and you now have a few left. Repeat the process until eventually it lights on one card - their card. What You Will Need Two decks of blank cards, one which has Bicycle Rider backs and another which has Mandolin backs and a magic light bulb that lights up when a magnet is close to it. Explanation I set up both decks of cards with the word OFF written on them. I then take take one one Mandoli Mandolin n card as a force force card in the Bicycle deck and keep the rest of the other Mandolins for future performances. You now force the Mandolin card and have them cross out the word OFF and write ON on it. Then have your 76
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participant shuffle the cards, which you take back and ribbon spread on the table. The slightly different back design will be easy for you to spot so you just use the magic bulb to narrow down the selection eventually stopping on their card. I tend to perform this more frequently in a parlour rather than close-up, but it can be used for either. I like it as it's a different way to find a card. This was one of my first ideas, the light bulbs are now mostly plastic when I first did this they were glass. It is a fun effect and something a little different.
Taste the Rainbow Effect
A packet of Skittles is introduced, introduced, you start to talk abo about that in the 1960's they did experiments on children testing for psychic powers. They found with sweets they got a ninety percent hit rate and you would like to do a similar experiment with them. You offer the bag of Skittles and ask them to take one without looking and keep it in their closed hand. They take one and you ask them if they can guess or feel what colour they have picked. They say red, you then say did you get any other colour? They say green. They open their hand and it's red, to their surprise the kicker is that you pour the packet out and into a wine glass and they are all green. They have managed to select the only red sweet from the packet of green. This is a very simple powerful effect with a kicker that they don’t see coming.
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What You Will Need
First of all you need to buy some packets of Skittles. You need 2 normal size bags for the performance so do not rip them open, carefully cut off the top of the bag.
Empty these in to a bowl, I wear gloves when preparing this effect. You need to separate the red and the green, the rest I eat or my wife eats! Once separated I place the red in one packet and the greens in the others. If you don't have enough red and greens to at least half fill each bag just buy some more.
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Explanation
I place the green Skittles in my outside jacket pocket and the red Skittles in my inside pocket. I pull out the packet with the red Skittles in and I talk about the how I'm going to test for psychic abilities. I ask them to pick one without looking so they don’t see they are all red. Once they have picked a Skittle I place the packet back in my inside pocket and execute the La La La switch while asking them if they can guess or sense which colour they have. There is no heat on you now, so I casually pull the other packet packet out and place pl ace it on the table. I then ask them to focus on the Skittle and ask them to guess what colour is in their hand. I say in the packet there are no blue Skittles. For some reason this pushes them towards two colours red or green 90 90 of the time. Here are a few variations of what may happen - either way you get a strong effect. If they say red or green you have a hit. What happens if they don’t say red first and instead they say green?
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You say “are you you sure?” sur e?” they say “yes” they open their thei r hand and it’s red, you say “that’s amazing, you picked a red and that's the only red one in the pack" you now pour out the rest and they are all green. The same goes if they say yellow purple or orange. You say “that’s ok, you’re still amazing you picked the only red in a packet of green" This is definitely worth making up. It's a very different type of magic and can be a super powerful effect. I should just like to thank Timmy Taylor for the inspiration of this effect as he inspired this effect so a big thanks to him.
Pots of Skittles are good for transporting the effect. 81
I use 2 containers to keep the colours separate and to top up my bags during the performances.
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Hot Deck
Effect
A playing playing card is selected selected and and you state you have have a prediction drawn on a box. You ask what was your card, they say the three of hearts. Unfortunately you have drawn eight of spades. Under your control the ink melts slowly turning it into their selection. Method
This is one of many things you can do with the hot deck. I first came up with the concept many years ago working on the Troy TV show. This is something I have played with off and on and I thought someone might find a use for it. What You Will Need
A Peltier tile, tile, a 9v battery and and connec connector, tor, a magnetic switch, a deck of cards, a PK ring and a felt tip pen that has heat sensitive ink and a Sharpie. The concept is very simple - you wire the battery to the tile with the magnetic switch breaking the circuit. When the PK ring comes near the switch it will connect the 83
circuit powering up the tile. The tile is in contact with the box surface below the ink drawing, the resulting heat activates the ink causing it to vanish revealing the permanent ink below. Setup
You draw the three of hearts on a box or a Post-it note in Sharpie (3H), you then take your heat sensitive ink pen and draw an eight and spades over the top of the first drawing so it now looks like the eight of spades (8S). Ensure the tile is pressed well onto the surface of the box below the drawing so the heat transfers when the switch is activated. You will need to hold your hand in place above the drawing while the ink fades because if you move your hand away the switch will turn off and switch off the tile.
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The Peltier tile and magnetic switch.
Battery connector.
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The assembled unit is shown above without the battery in place. The tile is mounted on a deck cut in half so there is room for the battery inside the box. As shown below the box and deck looks normal when everything is inside the box.
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Diabetics Nightmare Effect A Sharpie is introduced introduced during your show to have have a card card signed to do any signed card effect you like. After signing you ask them to hold onto the pen or just put it down on the table. After the card effect you you pull pull out a sugar packet packet and say you will make the sugar disappear, you pour it into your mouth ready to eat it. You ask the participant to tap your mouth with the Sharpie and the sugar is now gone. They laugh or groan and you ask them to tap your mouth c.gain, the nib of the pen is now in your mouth. They take the lid off the pen and now sugar pours out of of the pen for a good 10-20 seconds. Setup 丁he
first thing you need to do is prepare the pen.
Take a pair of pliers and pull the nib out of the pen, place it in a bowl to dry out, or another way to dry out the nib is to burn it with a lighter this is also a good way to make a no-write Sharpie. Once done take the black part of the Sharpie in one hand and the grey in the other and gently open the pen and lake out the insides. To do this grab the Sharpie firmly 87
and wiggle it apart, remove the ink supply inside the pen and throw it away. Fill the grey part of the pen with salt and put the black part back on and finally the pen cap back on the pen and the nib in your pocket. I find popcorn salt is the best as it pours longer. Explanation
The sugar pen is set inside your pocket. During any signed card/coin routine I casually take the pen back and place in my pocket. I then take it out straight away and hand it to someone to hold (having switched the pen for the sugar pen). I do an effect or two as timed misdirection so they forget I even put the pen away awa y momentaril moment arily. y. I'm now set up to do this whenever I like. I choose to keep the Sharpie end in my mouth during the set I’m performing. I find it’s stronger but it isn’t needed, I just like like it that way. way. You You could easily put it into your mo mouth just before you would like like to do this. this. You take the sugar packet and tip the sugar into your mouth and swallow the sugar being careful not to swallow the nib that is in your mouth. When you show the sugar gone it gets a laugh and you say we can make it come back. Have them tap your 88
mouth with the pen and slowly move the nib around your mouth and then into view clenched between your teeth. Take it out and look at it in a puzzled way and then internally think to yourself and then look at the pen. Ask the participant to remove the cap and see the nib is missing, you take the pen and pour out the sugar in a dramatic way. Using the popcorn salt will result in a good long pour.
See pictures for the making of this - it's very simple and the effect is a nice bit of business.
Final inal Tho ug ht s and Thanks Well here here we are at the end of my firs firstt book. I don' don'tt intend intend this to be my last and there will be lots more of my crazy ideas in the next volume. I hope I have now converted you, if you were not already, into a magician that will prepare for your performance and deliver the most stunning effects possible. Please don't just be a clone, performing the same old tricks everyone does just because they are classed as workers eg. being instant reset etc. Once again I would like to thank you for being interested in my magic magic and for suppor sup porting ting my work, I really really do appreciate it. Until the next time....
Kieron
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