Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
Today's trick is from a book that I recommend everyone picks up and it also comes from one of my favourite magicians David Williamson.
Today's trick is from a DVD called "Scratch" by Chad Long.
I performed the very first trick on the DVD which is called "Chicago Scratch".The trick was really easy to learn and enjoyable to watch chad perform. Chad is an excellent teacher.
I performed this trick as taught on the DVD to a few people first was a random guy I met in a bar, he really liked it, second was to one of my friends and she said "I had no idea that card had been changed" and lastly I showed this to another friend and he did the "raise an eyebrow" reaction. Which basically means that's awesome but I'm not showing you it is.
I performed this as a opener and a closer and it works perfect as both
Will it stay in my act? Yes but I will do more than the ideas on the DVD. I think scratch is more of a utility device and you should come up with your own ideas using the concept. I have already made something else up that's not taught on the DVD and can't wait to perform it.
Well guys that's it from me for learn and perform a trick. I have learned so much from doing these posts and they have helped me not only make up routines and perform them but also think about my list of tricks I do all the time. I am now on the look out for 10 tricks I can do anytime anywhere with any deck of cards. If you have a trick that you think fits this criteria then get in touch I would love to hear your suggestions.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
First off let me apologise for not doing a post yesterday it was Sunday and I never did much all day so I don't get a chance to perform the trick I learned so I thought I would wait until I had performed it.
Today's trick is from a book that I recommend everyone picks up and it also comes from one of my favourite magicians David Williamson.
Today's trick is from a book called "Williamson's wonders" by David Williamson and it can be found on page 77. The name of today's trick is "51 cards to pocket".
I would like to start off by saying if you have no idea who David Williamson is then don't read on go to YouTube and type his name in and watch him. He is an amazing and very funny performer. I also recommend you check out his awesome DVD set "ridiculous" it's packed with funny moments and even amazing magic.
The trick was really easy to learn and it gives you a great gag at the end. I did do the gag and wow it's amazing.
I performed this trick as taught in the book for a guy called Scott who is a friend of a friend and has never met me before and never saw me do some magic.i got into the routine and it went great he loved it. The biggest reaction came from when I did the gag. Scott and everyone else watching laughed. I think this may be the best gag in magic.
I performed this as a closer and it works perfect there but could be a great opener as well.
Will it stay in my act? No it won't. The trick is very similar to a trick I do in my professional working set from stars of magic and I have worked so much on that routine it would be hard to replace with this. However I will keep the gag in my act and I may just use the gag for every single trick I do. It's that good of a gag.
Well guys that's it from. I will be back tomorrow with the very last day of learning and performing a skipped over trick. Until then see you tomorrow.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
Today's trick is from a that I bought about three years ago and I haven't really looked at.
Today's trick is from a book called "Above The Fold" by Rich Aviles and it can be found on page 30. The name of today's trick is "middle man".
I want to start off by saying that I bought this book as a recommendation from a friend and I have never read any of it until today. Also I until today I never knew much about rich Aviles.
The trick was really easy to learn.
I performed this trick as taught in the book for my friends Lisa and Chris who I was hanging out with and they seemed or really enjoy it. They have seen me do millions of magic in fact Lisa is someone I have preformed alongside on a number of occasions (she's a singer and poet) and she has also helped me write some material. Lastly she is my biggest critic and she will tell me if something sucks.
This trick has a nice emotional hook and I think the patter that is provided in the write up is gat for this style of routine.
I performed this as an opener and a closer as I only did this trick for them. I feel this would be a great middle trick as it has a lot of patter and isn't powerful enough for a opener or closer.
Will it stay in my act? I think I will play around with it and it may just stay in may act. Over all it's a great way trick and can't wait to try it out a few more times
Well guys that's it from. I will be back tomorrow with day 6 of learning and performing a skipped over trick. Until then see you tomorrow.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
Today's trick is from a book that doesn't only have great tricks but also equally as good essays.
Today's trick is from a book called "One Degree" by John Guastaferro and it can be found on page 6. The name of today's trick is "either or"
I want to start off by saying that I am a huge fan of not only Johns magic but his thinking and theory behind magic. I was lucky enough to meet and hang out with John at a recent magic convention and this was great to pick his brains about magic and theory.
The trick was really easy to learn and I had it down in less than 5 minuets.
I performed this trick as taught in the book for a friend who has saw me do a fair amount of magic and this got a poor reaction. The reason was that I know a lot about her and the trick is aimed at learning a bit more about your spectators. However I performed this again for a group of about 6 girls who hadn't seen me do any magic before and it got a really good reaction.
I should say here that the second time I performed this I used a David Williamson move/idea to do what was needed. However the trick in the book isn't about how you do the effect it's about the main presentation and that's what I think makes this a great trick. You can do the exact same presentation as taught in the book using more than one method.
The second time I performed this I used it as an opener and I think it worked great here as I got to know my audience a lot more. I think the information I obtained I could have used later on in a mind reading routine.
Will it stay in my act? Yes, I will keep this in my act but I won't do the handling taught in the book (on occasion I might). I will however do David Williamson handling and use Johns presentation.
Well guys that's it from. I will be back tomorrow with day 5 of learning and performing a skipped over trick. Until then see you tomorrow.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
Today's trick is from a book that was published in 2004 and contains one of my favourite stage tricks and some great essays.
Today's trick is from a book called "Random Acts Of Magic" by David Acer and it the trick can be found on page 88. The name of the trick is "The Flipwiches of eastwick".
The trick was rather difficult to learn but that was my own fault once I read it properly it was very easy to learn. This trick involves a move called "Flipwiche" and this is very cool I like it a lot but it is rather difficult to do.
I performed this trick for a friend who hasn't seen me do much magic and she really liked it. I did this as a middle trick and I think this is where I think it works best. Overall great trick.
Will it stay in my act? Yes, I will keep this in my act but I won't do it all the time.
Well guys that's it from. I will be back tomorrow with day 4 of learning and performing a skipped over trick. Until then see you tomorrow.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
As promised yesterday here is day one of learning and performing a trick I have skipped over.
Today's trick is freon a book that was published way back in 1979 by the man who owns my local magic shop, Mr Roy Walton. Today's trick is from a book called "that certain something" and it can be found on page 13. The name of the trick is "smiling mule".
Let me start off by saying this trick uses a move that a lot of magicians panic about getting caught on not once but twice. With that being said the scond time you do it you have so much misdirection because of a joke that's incorporated in the routine.
The trick is a good one and it was very easy to learn. I performed this trick for some people in my college class. When I did the first phase with the joke I got the response of " really? Come on do a real trick". This gave sme so much misdirection to do the stuff that needed done. The trick did get a "oh that's cool" response but I think this would get better reactions from a different audience.
Will this remain in my act? Well yes and no, I would like to play around with it for a few weeks and see how it plays for different audiences and if it gets the reaction I expect then I will keep it in my act.
Well guys that's it from me for today tune in tomorrow for another post.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
As promised yesterday here is day one of learning and performing a trick I have skipped over.
Today's trick is from a book I have had just over a year called "gold dust the very best of Paul Gordon."
Let me start off by saying I am a huge fan of Paul's work and I think he has some great stuff some of which I even use while out working. That being said a lot of Paul's stuff is very procedural and I am not a fan of magic where you have to either deal or spell to stuff so as a lot of stuff Paul dose uses these concepts it was hard for me to find a trick I liked. I then found a trick called "strollers delight" which can be found on page 245.
This is a nice trick and was easy to learn.i spent my morning reding, learning and practicing this trick. I was in town and stopped by a coffee shop that I am a regular in and they know I am a magician so I knew they would expect me to do a little something. When I arrived it was very quiet so Dean who was serving asked for a trick as I started Samantha who was also working stopped so I went into strollers delight as my opener. I changed the end phase a little to fit the situation. The trick was well received and Dean freaked out (like he always does) when he saw his card was in between the aces.
Over all great trick and good reactions. Will I use this again probably sometime but it won't be a regular feature of my act as I do a trick by another magician that is very similar.
Well guys that's it from me. I will be back tomorrow with another card trick. This time one from a book that every magician should read.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
So let me first apologise for being away for a long time life has just be crazy of the past few months with college, magic and personal issues. To see what I have been up to since we last spoke check out my social medias.
Now this blog post is me issuing a challenge to myself. Let me explain, as a magician I have loads and I mean loads of magic books and DVDs that I have briefly skimmed over and I feel that I have probably missed out on some great tricks. So my plan is to learn a new trick each day for a week and perform it for a stranger. After I have done this I will write a post about the trick, how the performance went and if I will keep doing the trick or not.
Just some or my magic collection.
I think this will be a great learning curve for me in magic and will hopefully help expand my arsenal of tricks and also encourage me to practice a lot more.
Well guys that's it for me but I will see you all tomorrow for my first trick of the week.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
So what exactly is this blog going to be about?Well when I started this blog I wanted to share stuff with magicians with that being performance videos of magicians I look up to, advice on making magic better or reviews of products I have bought recently.
Well today I will be doing a magic product review of a product that I was sent via email by the creator to review. This view will be 100% honest.
Name of product:
Easy to Execute card trickery four by J. JACK
Price:
$8 or £5.50
Available from:
http://shufflethedeck.weebly.com/etect4.html
Quick Description:
SIX PRACTICAL AND IMPROMPTU CARD TRICK
Tralier: No trailer
Quality of the PDF: The quality of the PDF is really good however there is one or two minor spelling mistakes but thats not to bad that it makes the PDF unreadable. there are also a few photos and diagrams. These photos & diagrams that are used in the PDF are really well shot but there could be one or two more photos to make the PDF not only look better but make the learning of the effects a little easier. 7/10
What effects are in the PDF?:
The following section will be split into 4 sections for each trick.
1. Name of effect.
2. Description of effect
3. My honest opinion on the effect
4. Rating out of 10
Name of effect:
Impromptu Observation Test with Aces
Description of effect:
Two red aces transform into two black aces. Stunningly, the red aces then appear out of nowhere.
My honest opinion on the effect:
At first I wasn’t really a fan of this trick but after trying it out for a friend who I was hanging out with she seemed to enjoy it. I then tried this out for a group at a wedding and they seemed to like it. I am still unsure of this trick but laymen seem to enjoy it. I have since looked up Nick Trost`s version and I would say I do prefer this version of the nick Trost one but as I have said I am not sure if I like this one.
Rating out of 10:
5/10 laymen seem to like it but I am undecided
Name of effect:
Random Thot Expanded
Description of effect:
The spectator cuts off about half of the deck. He deals as many cards as he wants from the cut-off portion into a pile. He looks at the last card dealt, places the card back on the pile face down, and places the rest of the cut-off portion on top of the pile. While this is being done, the card expert turns away. After the spectator is finished, the card expert gives the pile several shuffles. When the card expert picks up the pile, he has no idea of where the noted card is. The noted card is then discovered in short order.
My honest opinion on the effect:
This trick is very procedural and anyone who knows my thought on magic will know that I can’t stand tricks with dealing, counting and loads of instructions. With that being said I performed this in a semi-formal close up show (you know like what you get at magic clubs but I was being paid) and I did this in a very comical manner and added a very theatrical presentation to the trick and everyone liked it. I showed this to a magician friend of mine on Skype and he said it fooled him. I am not sure why as the trick isn’t a magician fooler.
Rating out of 10:
8/10 I like this trick a lot but I feel if you’re going to do this well it needs a big theatrical presentation
Name of effect:
B+D Revisited
Description of effect:
The back of two cards are signed (each card with a different word). One card is placed in the card box. The other card is shuffled into the deck. The faces of the cards changes places. The backs of the two cards attach to the transposed faces.
My honest opinion on the effect:
I like this trick I did this as part my card to box routine at a bar because this is when I felt it would play best, the reactions it got was amazing. I also did this for a friend and he wasn’t impressed but think that was just because of the kind of spectator he is. Also I do a Paul Green trick (cant remember the name of the trick but its explained in his lecture notes “take a stroll with me” ) that is similar to this effect and I do however like Paul`s version better because I feel that is more personal to the spectator.
Rating out of 10:
I do like this trick and it got great reactions but I already have a similar effect that I do. 7/10
Name of effect:
Prediction and Change City (with two alternate endings)
Description of effect:
The card pro takes out three cards. Two cards are selected. One selection is shown to be the mate of the three cards taken out of the deck. The other selection is found at a surprising place. Two alternate endings are included.
My honest opinion on the effect:
had one or two problems with learning this but after reading a few times I managed to get the hang of it. I performed PREDICTION AND COUNTDOWN CITY because I liked that one best and it got some great reactions
Rating out of 10:
This is a nice trick and has lots of different variations. Really recommend it 9/10
Name of effect:
No Turn Away Overtime
Description of effect:
A selection is placed on top of the deck. Attemting to push the card into the deck, the cardician pushes down on the deck. The top card is turned over. It's not the selection. The spectator is asked how many cards do they think were turned over. Inexplicably, the top half of the deck is shown to be face-up. The selection is soon seen to be the only card reversed in the middle of the deck.
My honest opinion on the effect:
I am a big fan of David Acer and I do own his great book “Random Acts of Magic” and I think it is a great book and everyone should read it. With that being said when I originally read overtime it didn’t really blow me away and this version doesn’t either. It’s a nice trick don’t get me wrong but it’s just not something I like.
Rating out of 10:
This is a nice wee trick it just doesn’t do much for me. If however you like David Acer`s version I am sure you will like this one.3/10
Name of effect:
From Nowhere to Here
Description of effect:
A quick location of four selections
My honest opinion on the effect:
Before I start I want to say this is based on a Peter Duffie trick called “From Nowhere which can be found in Peter's amazing book Effortless Card Magic. Now I just want to start off by saying I love Peter Duffie and his work not only cause hes Scottish and I think Scotland has the best underground magic scene in the world (Idon't say this because I stay in Scotland but because I have read some AMAZING magic from unknown Scottish magicians) but because I think he is one of the most creative card magicians out there. Now I really like this trick and I think that it’s a little procedural and has some dealing and as you know I don’t like dealing tricks that much but this is one trick that has dealing that I like. I performed this for a magician and he said he was fooled. I performed this routine for a group of friends and one of my friends said that this was one of the best tricks I had even shown her.
Rating out of 10:
Really great trick, people seemed to enjoy this and it is growing on me a lot. 9/10
Overall rating: This is a nice PDF and has a wide verity of tricks and I think although some of the tricks aren`t great the ones that are good make up for it. Over all for £5.50 this is worth the money. 8/10
CONTEST TIME:
I recently received an email from J.JACK the author of Easy to Execute Card Trickery Four and he says he would like to give away 3 copys of the PDF I have reviewed above. So if you want a copy then contact me and I will let you know how to go about getting a copy.
Well guys thats it from me I will be back soon with another post.
Hey people of the interwebs Steven back again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.
Well in today’s post I am going to be reviewing a PDF that has recently came to the market for magicians and that PDF is called Think Tank By Jamie Daws.
In case you don’t know who Jamie Daws is then let me tell you. Jamie is a magician and actor from England who has released effects to the magic community including Gathering, Scared and Phantasm. These were released with big magic producers such as Dave Forrest and his Full 52 Productions and also Alakazam magic with Peter Nardi. As well as these popular releases, he has also released PDFs though his own website www.jamiedaws.co.uk.
Before I start I want to say a few things. Jamie is one of my good friends in magic and he kindly sent me a pre-release copy of his latest PDF that is coming out in the next few days and is available on pre-order. I just want to state that although Jamie’s a friend, I will not be nicer about his product. If it’s rubbish I will tell him it’s rubbish. With that being said let’s get into the review.
Quick Description: Think Tank is the first multi effect project from Jamie Daws. Over the years, Jamie has shared his single greatest effects but has never released a collection of effects to fit the modern day magician. This PDF is packed with effects that Jamie has been working on for the past five years. Some are simple quick hitters and some are full blown killers!
12 Effects - Over 100 HD Photos, 40 Pages of Magic
Trailer:
Quality of the PDF:
The tricks are explained very well and as well as the text, there is over 100 high quality photos. Some of which have arrows pointing to certain parts to help make the learning of these effects a lot easier. As well as explanations on how to do the tricks, there are also photos/ art work included that are required so you can perform some of the effects. The quality is outstanding and is one of the nicest produced PDFs I have seen in a long time. I would love for this to be printed and bound into a little booklet.
What effects are in this PDF?
The following section will be split into 4 sections for each trick.
1. Name of effect.
2. Description of effect
3. My honest opinion on the effect
4. Rating out of 10
Name of effect: Simple Mix Description of effect: Jamie’s elegant handling of the classic Triumph Routine which is flourishy enough to look impressive but simple enough to cater for any performance.
My honest opinion on the effect:
As many of you may know, I am a huge fan of triumph and I have a few that I perform regularly. This is one that I really like and I can see myself performing in the near future. One of the things I like about this triumph is the “control”. It’s a great move. I’ve played with it a lot and it fools lots of magicians just doing the move. Another thing I like about this version is the display procedure. I like this because it really looks like the cards are mixed as you see many faces and backs. However, some magicians may argue that this is a bad thing and could be classed as over proving but this is not the case.
Rating out of 10: I really like this effect. It is simple and to the point. 7/10
Name of effect: Bottoms Up
Description of effect: A cute and quick effect in which two lost selections are found by a master Joker! But the spectators find that he doesn't work alone...
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is a lovely effect. Jamie showed me this one night via webcam and at the time I loved it. This effect has a really nice ending which I really enjoyed. The only thing I didn’t like about this was the method Jamie used to “control” the cards but I have played about with this and found a way that I am happy with. If you like tricks in which the Jokers find 2 selections, then I think you will enjoy this one and with the bonus “kicker” you’re in for a treat!
Rating out of 10: I really like this trick and I think it’s one of the highlights of the PDF 9/10
Name of effect: Ping
Description of effect: Ping has been available for two years as a single download. I am pleased to include it in this PDF! This is a true favourite of mine. Being able to visually penetrate a bottle of water with an elastic band is a magicians dream. But being able to visually pass the corner of a playing card through the bottle is something even cooler!
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is an effect I have seen on Jamies site for a while and have heard people talk about but I never really looked into it. So when I saw it was in this PDF I thought it was time I looked it up. So I sat down and read this one night that I had nothing to do and I honestly wasn’t impressed with it. I honestly don’t know why? Maybe I expected something different. However once I worked on the handling a little and it started to look good I started to enjoy it a little more. I performed it for a friend and they enjoyed it. I honestly wish I did like this trick as the method is really simple, direct and strong. But for some reason I just don’t like this effect and I can’t work out why.
Rating out of 10:
If you wish to perform a trick where a rubber band penetrates a water bottle then this is the effect for you but as I don’t like this effect I would give it a 4/10
Name of effect: Colouring
Description of effect:
Colouring is my overlooked Colour Changing Deck effect. Buried as an extra on the GatheRing DVD, I felt like it should be brought back to the magic community. This is a killer Colour Changing deck effect that has a killer ending and leaves the deck examinable!
My honest opinion on the effect:
This effect is a nice little trick that uses a gimmicked deck. If you are one of the people who is a purest and believe all magic should be done with a regular deck of cards, then you will hate this trick as it uses a few gaff cards, a few different coloured cards and some blank cards. However if you don’t mind using a gaff deck then you will love this trick. In order to perform this trick you will need to do a little arts and crafts to make this deck up. However, this will only need to be done once as this deck would last you a long time. It will only take you about 15 minutes at most to make up the deck. I am kind of going off topic but this effect is worth making the deck up as it is a really strong bit of magic.
Rating out of 10: Although this will take you a while to make up, I think it is a lovely trick and feel it is worth the effort! 7/10
Name of effect: Rebel Aces
Description of effect: A one off production of Four Aces using some very sneaky sleight of hand. Not the easiest trick in the book, but totally fooling to magicians and spectators alike!
My honest opinion on the effect:
First off I want to say that Rebel Aces is not explained in text form. It is however explained in a video which in the PDF Jamie explains how to get access. I think that this trick would be easier to learn in video than it would be in text. The video is explained very well and is also shot in HD quality. This trick is a nice way to produce the four aces and I really like this trick. In the video explanation Jamie teaches a move called the Rebel Cut and it is very difficult to get down so all the move monkeys out there will like this routine also.
Rating out of 10: I like this routine and once I get the Rebel Cut down I will start doing this effect. 8/10
Name of effect: INSTNASE
Description of effect: This is a very small adjustment to the Erdnase Colour Change which is so widely used. Whilst being a slight adjustment, it is this change that led to my effect Phantasm to be created.
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is a nice touch to the Erdnase change which is from the book “The Expert At The Card Table”. I feel it makes the change look more visual and it won’t take too much work to get down if you have a good Erdnase change. However I have an Erdnase change that I am happy with and I won’t change it. Sorry Jamie
Rating out of 10: This is a great touch to the Erdnase change if you don’t have too much work on it you will like this. 7/10
Name of effect: Flip Top Control
Description of effect: This is simply a cute control which with its quirky nature, can hopefully open up a world of effects and creativity.
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is a nice little control that I can see a lot of the young flourishers doing. I do like this control a lot but honestly, do we need another way to get a card to the top? In this case yes, it is needed! It has a few subtlety’s that make this control a good one.
Rating out of 10: This is a great control and you should learn it. 8/10
As well as having the Flip Top Control also included is an effect called “Flip Transpo” and this is a nice quick effect that uses the Flip Control. I like this effect and it’s another one I can see all the young flourishers doing.
Name of effect: Spinning Wheel Change
Description of effect: This is a very simple but visually stunning colour change. When perfected, you can cause the card on the face of the deck to continuously change one after the other in rapid timing.
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is a nice little colour change that is done with a little spin of the deck. I have been playing around with this for a few months as Jamie explained to me how this was done a while back. If you are one of they people who like to learn colour changes, then you will like this one.
Rating out of 10:This is a lovely change. One of the highlights of the PDF 9/10
Name of effect: Moving Business
Description of effect: This is my signature business card effect. A quick moving hole effect that is so visual, you would believe there is far more to the method then there is. What’s more, all you need is a stack of business cards and a black marker!
My honest opinion on the effect:
I saw Jamie lecture this back in 2011 and ever since then I have been meaning to learn this trick and add it into my working repertoire but I have never got round to it. This is a great effect and it gets your business card into their hand so what’s not to like?
Rating out of 10: I LOVE IT. Do I need to say more? 10/10
The contents page
Name of effect: The Burial Description of effect: I taught this effect in a lecture held on line in 2011 and I had tons of requests asking for the artwork. Well here it is, included with the psychological insights to pull off a truly creepy effect. Sometimes the simple effects create a huge impact! Art Work Provided!
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is another effect that was taught in the lecture I saw back in 2011 and it made me feel creeped out. However that being said, if you have a dark side to performing such as a Dan Sperry style then this would be perfect for you. Also, if you perform it to the patter Jamie provides then you can creep people out but not come across as a dark style performer. This trick is perfect for Halloween.
Rating out of 10:I really like this trick 8/10
Name of effect: CUT IT OUT
Description of effect: A cig box is displayed to the audience and the Warning sign is pointed out. The magician explains that, whilst his friends got into smoking, he got into magic. A card is selected and lost in the deck. The cig box is then turned over and suddenly, the Warning sign is the selected card! Then the box is opened and every cig that was inside is seen to have vanished. Lastly, one card is found folded up inside the box, the selection! Art Work Provided!
My honest opinion on the effect:
Jamie showed me this effect one night while we were chatting online and the vanish of the cigarettes fooled the hell out of me! Then he continued to explain it and I was so shocked that the method was so simple. This is a great trick and would be the perfect trick to do if you were a smoker. It is easy to carry this with you and if you are standing out side having a cigarette and someone asks you to do a trick, you could do this. However if you’re a non-smoker then you also present this as an anti-smoking effect for friends who smoke too many cigarettes. I think this is a great trick and with the right type of patter, you would have a little miracle on your hands.
Rating out of 10: This is a great trick I really like it 9/10
Name of effect: X-PENCE
Description of effect: Four coins are displayed and shown front and back. One of the coins has a black X drawn on it. It rests on top of the stack. The magician closes his hand and instantly opens it. In that nano second, the X coin is now second from top. He does it again, it jumps down to the third position and the last time, it is found at the bottom of the stack! For a final kicker, the magician shows the coins one last time and every coin is seen to have an X on the back! NO GIMMICKS NEEDED!
My honest opinion on the effect:
This is another trick Jamie showed me while chatting online and it fooled me! Then he explained it and I was so glad it was so simple. I have been carrying around this trick with me everywhere I go and I really like it. It is almost self-working which is an added bonus!
Rating out of 10: I love it! 15/10 yes it really is that good!
Overall rating:This is a great PDF and it has something for everyone 9/10
Well guys that’s it from me for this post. If you have any questions regarding the PDF, be sure to contact me by commenting below or sending me a message via any of the ways listed below.
Hello people of the interwebs Steven back yet again with
another blog post and in today’s post I am going to do something a little
different.
Well as some of my readers will know at the end of the year
I usually do a review of the entire year where I break down every month and
pick out the highlights of my year. Well this year I am going to do something
different.
This year (2012) has been a great year for me and I have achieved
so much magic wise. I got to meet one of my magic heroes (Dani Daortiz) way
back in June and to be honest it was great.
Meeting Dani DaOrtiz (June 2012)
I also did more magic gigs this
year than I have done in my life and it’s been great. I even got to perform at
Live@Troon which was one of my favorite events to perform at this year and
hopefully I will be invited back next year.
Click here to see some photos of my performance at Live@Troon
I also attended the Scottish Association of Magical Societies
(SAMS) convention which was a great weekend. Review of the weekend can be found
by clicking here. I also became a full member of Kilmarnock magic circle. So as you can see it’s been great magic wise and I have had a
ball doing it. I can’t wait to do it again next year.
As well as all the magic related stuff I also did a load of non-magic
related stuff like going on holiday to Turkey, went to the BBC goodfood show,
seen the Hairy Bikers live, went to the Edinburgh fringe festival, passed my
college course and started the higher level. These were all great.
For 2013 I have set myself a few goals and aims and I have come
up with some great things for the blog. So 2013 is going to be a busy year on
the blog.
As always my new year’s resolutions for 2013 are:
Perform more magic for the public at events
Join the gym and get my health and fitness back
to 100%
Pass my college course
Learn, create and improve my magic
Eat healthier
Work on my stage show and get it to the level
that I am happy with
Work more on the business side of magic as opposed
to the trick/ performance side
Gather more live video clips and performance
photos
Marry Katy Perry (ok maybe that wont happen but I can always dream)
Well that’s it from me for 2012 I hope to see you all in
2013 and I wish you all a happy new year.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven again with yet another blog post.
In today’s post I thought I would share a video I recently added to my YouTube channel and a little bit about how I came up with the concept.
Well I was thinking to myself as it’s the festive season I should treat my readers so I thought what better way to treat them than to post a video as I haven’t done that in about 8 or so months. I then went and thought about what I could do in the video. Would I do a trick to the camera, film some live magic or even do a video that is a little like this one. I then went and ate my dinner which incase you are wondering was pork chops and chips. I then sat at my computer and wrote down a few ideas on what I could do. None of the ideas stood out that much so I was at a dead end.
I then thought why not do a video that showcases both my style of magic and the type of magic I like but never really get the chance to perform. I then wrote down a list of tricks and flourishes that I enjoy practicing but never perform and I then went and got the materials needed for the video. I spent the next few hours in my bed room filming the clips for the video and as I am a little OCD they all need to be perfect so I kept refilming the clips until I was happy with them. I then went back to my computer and started editing the video and I was shocked to find it only took me an hour I thought it would take me ages.
Screen shot of the editing proccess
The next day I woke up with a few ideas about the editing I then Went to my computer and made the final edits before I headed out to go to college. I left the video rendering as I went to college. Once I got home from college I uploaded the final project onto YouTube but once it was finalized etc. I realised that there was a minor editing mistake basically I had used the wrong intro for the video and the intro was not in widescreen. I then replaced the clip with the right one and rerendered the video.
So you will probably wonder why in the video is it not that well lit. Well the answer is really simple I wanted the video to look as if it was shot late at night and under electric light. So when I filmed the clips I only used the light on the ceiling of my bedroom instead of setting up some proper in studio lighting.
Well guys that’s enough rambling on about how I made the video. So without any further ado I present to you After Dinner.
Well that’s really it from me for this post but if you have any questions feel free to contact me on any of the ways below.
Hello people of the interwebs its Steven again with yet
another blog post.
Wow has it been a while since I have posted anything hat wasn’t aimed at either magicians
or clients and was general ramblings and I apologise
for that but I have been super busy with big changes in my life so I thought I would
a short post to bring you up to speed and explaine where I have been hiding.
So the last time I did a post that wasn’t aimed at either magicians
or clients and was general ramblings was way back in august and that was me explaining about my summer
(click here to read the post) since then I have been busy with college and some
other stuff. Lest start with college this year is a big year for me college
wise as I am now studying ICT technical support at a university level so I have
to work hard with that but I don’t
As well as needing to do loads of college work I have also
been busy with magic I have recently became a full member (was a junior member previously)
of my local magic club Kilmarnock Magic Circle which I am really proud to call myself
a member of one of the best magic clubs in Scotland.
As well as that I
have also been working hard performing for the public. Back in September I
performed cabaret and tableside magic at a music festival called Live@Troon this
was a great night and I am sure everyone who was there would agree. Photos of
me performing at Live@Troon can be found by clicking here .
I have also been performing at
a few other events such as charity fundraisers and private party’s. On Wednesday just
there I was also performing at Elliots in Prestwick as part of their 10th
birthday celebrations this also was an amazing night and I had an amazing time entertaining their guests.
I also have some more public shows lined up but I can’t say much just yet but
when I can my readers will be the first to know about them.
As well as college and working hard on magic and business I
have been busy planning some really cool things for my blog. One will be a little
weekly video series that will be coming early 2013 so look out for that. I have
also come up with some ideas for posts that all my magician readers will enjoy.
Well that’s really it from me for this post but if you have
any questions feel free to contact me on any of the ways below.
The life and times of a teenage boy who enjoys the history of magic , performing magic, making videos , editing pictures and is studying computing at his local college.
For more info click the about me tab at the top of the page.
