Roberto Giobbi Live Penguin Lecture (1) 26th January 2014 Stand-up Card Magic 00:00:00 - Dan Harlan Intro 00:03:12 - Call to the Cards - A stack deck trick. Cards are shuffled between spectators. Ten cards are dealt face down onto the table and the magician names them correctly. One card is left behind and revealed as defective by a letter from the U.S.P.C.C. 00:10:50 - Thought of Card to Cigarette The magician plays a game of Swiss poker with a spectator and the thought of card appears inside a cigarette. 00:17:45 - Card Stab Magician gets spectator to choose a card, lose it in the deck, shuffled and spread haphazardly on a sheet of newspaper. A second sheet covers the cards and the paper is stabbed with knife. The paper is ripped away and the knife has penetrated one card. The spectator selection. 00:27:15 - Red Card The magician gets one card chosen by three spectators with each spectator giving a select attribute (colour, suit, value) for that one selection. The very fair selection ends up being the only red-backed card in a blue-backed deck. 00:33:25 - Explanation of Call to the Cards This includes an explanation of the stack required to make this work. How the deck is shuffled by multiple spectators yet the stack is retained. Also discussed is Prologues, epilogues and bringing an effect to an elegant closure. 00:53:30 - Explanation of Thought of Card to Cigarette There are thoughts on theatrical performance and context to use a cigarette in an artistic situation. Due to societies social acceptance of cigarettes, the performer can take artistic liberties. Mind-mapping is discussed. Divide an effect into:What's the effect? Staging Props Method Various This will help you create and interpret an idea. Learn lots of tools to help find the solutions required for each of your effects. You can be more creative and original with more tools. The Tampon index can be applied to other index required effects. There's instruction on converting cigarettes for the index system. Intuition and intellect (sleight/tools & Knowledge) must work together to get the best results. Fred Kaps used 16 matchboxes that were distributed in multiple pockets. Pocket space is very important to the modern performer so this is very impractical. The cigarette index system is practical as it all fits in one pocket. 01:13:50 - Swiss poker A very nice forcing technique. It's more suitable for informal situations. Doing TOCTC as a walk-around piece requires a different force technique. The pacing is different in regards to people coming to see a magician (stage-show etc) vs. walk-around magic. There's a discussion on multiple forces for the twenty cards required. The invisible card force is the choice from a royal flush. "Another four and you'll have a Royal Flush. What card do you have?"
01:17:15 - How to invite spectators up onto the stage "How many of you play poker? often? ...Not so often?...or maybe not at all?" This is verbal rouse into getting lots of people to raise their hands. You can get a spectator to choose a number between 1-10 and the performer counts to that number to find a different spectator who 'wins' the prize of helping. Treat your helpers in their age bracket. Treat those your age or younger like your brother or sister. Anybody older like your father or mother. Laugh at yourself, the situation and not at the person (spectator) After showing you treat people with respect, it will be easier to get people on board. They will see the fun with the attitude established during previous routines. 01:25:00 - Pausing on the revelation Any revelation, the audience anticipates the effect. Raising the suspense. It becomes an emotional and intellectual effect as well as visual. It's important for spectators to develop this. Simplemind is the mind-mapping software used. 01:32:30 - Explanation of Card Stab Discussions on alternate presentations. Blindfold presentations have risks. You lose contact with the audience/helper and you can't see what they're doing. Discussion on what tricks need a card signed. Card Stab does not require a signature. 01:42:00 - To carry the props through customs All related articles are in a zip-loc bag. Pictures, literature and knife are placed inside with a note relating to the knife as being for magic performance only. For the technique of getting the right place to stab on the newspaper, you can mark the paper with felt-pen. This is all to do with selective perception. Marking the newspaper only apparent when you know about it. 01:45:15 - Making a spectator comfortable How to pick spectators in a particular age range. Not too young. Don't pick teenagers. Too unpredictable. Not too old as you may come across unseen problems. (Hearing difficulty, mobility issues etc). You don't want to embarrass them. Use reactions from other tricks to find the 'mothers' in the audience. Those that are genuine in their reactions and appreciation. Spectator rapport is every important. Selected spectator even more so. 01:50:10 - Gag Functions Never do a gag for gags sake. Dai Vernon said, " There is no room for comedy in magic except that which comes out of a situation". 01:52:00 - Riffle Force Plus a discussion on body language/openness. Using verbal (native) language and body language to enforce communication. Projecting on stage vs. projecting close-up discussed with looking at your watch used as a comparison.
01:56:00 - How to talk/look at an audience (multiple directions discussed) Card magic in a Parlor situation must be clearly understood. The effect must be able to be defined in one sentence. There are appropriate gags for the spectator when they are too early or too late for the 'stop' in the riffle force. You are opening up yourself to the audience and the same can be said of them to you. Two worlds come together. 02:05:00 - Strategy of being able to leave the spectator on stage. Every moment on stage counts. Every action to have a reason. Speak to the heart and mind. make it captivating. Scripting should be done in the beginning, as you are learning, to see what things you need to eliminate as unnecessary. Leave the spread cards under the newspaper, slightly out-jogged, so the spectator can push them in. This re-confirms that the spectator putting the cards on the board/newspaper. Alternate handling for signed -card but card signing not necessary. 02:19:20 - How to reveal a card Hold the card face towards you to do a dramatic reveal. For a mistake, have the card revealed to the audience first before you see it. Design outs. Think about possible situations where things can go wrong and design outs for each phase. It's only a card trick, so mistakes can and will happen. 02:26:40 - Five Operational Principles All great, classic card-magic is based on five operational principles. False shuffles Forces Controls Palming Top Change 02:27:40 - Twice as Difficult (Vice-Versa) Presentation covers what needs to be done. Give the procedures drama, then all moments are justified. A double break on a peek is discussed. Also keep double-lift cards in the same space if you are doing a transformation. 02:42:50 - Soldier's Card Trick Discussion on the classic force and the top change. Card tricks are not boring. Only boring card tricks are boring. Why do some card tricks appeal and others don't? All to do with symbolic content. Don't kill the essence of an effect and it will speak to the spectator. Finding a lost card is not a trivial thing if you understand how to interpret it. 02:50:20 - Every good trick has three levels. 1) Technical construction 2) Dramatic level 3) Psychological level Creativity comes from identifying these three levels and finding good solutions.
02:53:15 - The Classic Force First choose a spectator who is not an antagonist. Dai Vernon preferred to use "Choose a card...", instead of " Take a card...". Take a card has a command inside its verbal structure. A spectator might oppose this command. Choose makes the spectator feel like it's their choice. Beginners have a rapport with their own indulgent things. (looking down while shuffling cards etc) It's important to learn how to engage the spectator. This leads to a discussion on the Top Change. 03:04:55 - The Top Change This is a complete treatise and the video needs to be watched for Giobbi's points. All body language and mis-direction for the move is here. 03:08:45 - Homing Card + (with explanation) An effect from the Card College series that teaches how to use the Top Palm within the confines of a trick. Juan Tamariz's ' No Hands Ma' strategy is discussed. Take any three tricks and find out at which points you can put the deck down. 03:21:00 - Dr. Ron Wahl's Degrees of Freedom Freedom of choice when choosing a card needs to be the same/similar when replacing it. This, this and that strategy is explained. 03:26:00 - The Spread Pass This pass is more suitable for line of sight. The situation of you standing and the spectators are sitting. 03:38:50 - How to get Comfortable Palming Comfort and executing is based on the individual. Some may get comfortable in a few months, others a few years. Even if it takes two years, those two years will pass, so you can take those two years and do something or nothing. Understand a palm's details, construction, management etc. Use a palm in three tricks to practise its use. Apply the 'Not Necessary' strategy. Palm cards just for the sake of palming cards in tricks where a palm is not used. 03:44:15 - (Hofzinser) Past, Present, Future (with explanation) A trick using three double backed-cards and a handkerchief. For good stand-up magic, search the older books, as before the 1950's most magic was performed on a stage or parlor/stand-up situation. The Riffle Force for stage is described as well as the lift shuffle and it's variations for controlling/retaining the three selections to the top of the deck. 04:01:15 - Red Card (second performance) + Explanation A different method is used in regards to the earlier performance. This uses the method of the sticky double-card. Three roses are passed out to several spectators. They each select a different attribute (colour, suit, value). Going through a binary process for card selection is best for dramatization.
+04:17:20 - Discussion with Dan Harlan (list of topics/ideas follow) Card Moves Solve problems. No new problems need to be solved. Most new moves are variations of existing moves. There are more handlings than there are problems. Don't destroy the moment of wonder with flourishes or comedy. Flourishes mixed with productions is good magic. Card fan productions - Cardini. Vignettes of card spreads, fans and then single card productions is good use of flourishing. How to practise magic -essay in Card college vol.2 Pinky count and how to develop/use hand exercises to produce smooth finger strength. Nervousness - recognise what type you are (cardio or abdominal) . Practise more. Difficult sleights - break them down and find tricks that use them. Dr. Elliott Top Change Second Deal Handlings - Push off second vs. Strike Second. For all sleights - Time, Practise and understanding. The Glide and Key-Card undervalued. Roberto has over 35 different lectures. Once a principle is understood, it can be applied to other things. Vernon Multiple-Shift and the Triumph Shuffle. The trick that cannot be explained. The Tilt. Don't need a large break. Daryl's' Tilt illusion also discussed. Conditioned naturalness - A normal /natural move followed by the sleight. Card Clips Professionals operate at 60-70% capacity. Know too little and you won't be able to solve problems. Too much and you'll make mistakes. All cards are good and bad with Tally-Ho's a preference. Wallet's and props, Leather, silver and wood preferred. Discussion on leather. Cliff Green Double Lift. Treat double cards like a single card. Protect the thickness. Turning double cards. Turn them however you like. Juan Tamariz Double Coincidence mentioned as best self-worker. How to learn a new language - learn Spanish for magic. Take coaching for languages. Get direction for your tricks/acts. Hennig Nelms book contains everything required for a magician to learn stagecraft.
Copyright © Gary Scott 2015
