793.8 jeff stone

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793.8 WHERE IS THE MAGIC?

JEFF STONE



























































When you confront the boundary of your ignorance, you you are a child again. If you can cross the boundary, you learn. –Clay Neves

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A Lot Lot of Magic Starts at The The Fingertips . . . ends at the Wrist Wrist Paul Starts at The Brain and it Goes to the Heart –Andrew Mayne*



























































Astonishment Over Over Moves. Moves. –My Mantra



























































793.8 WHERE IS THE MAGIC?

Written by Jeff Stone H

Cover Cov er Design De sign Jimmy Gibbs H

Inspiration Brad “Scarnecky” Gordon Jay Sankey Paul Harris Melvil Dewey



























































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Thank You H

There are always so many people I owe a debt of gratitude by the time I complete any of my books. So let me start by thanking all of you, my fans who have waited patiently for this book to nally be completed. So many times I thought I was so close only to discover that I was so far. Thank you to Brad Gordon for always being a true friend and a true inspiration when it comes to thinking about magic. Thank you to Jay Sankey for constantly nagging me about the progress of this project. Thank you to Andy and the rest of the Murray Taco Time gang for letting me take up a booth for many hours on end while writing until my laptop battery gasped its last breath. Thank you to my family for the rest of the writing time down in my man cave that is Stone Cold Magic Headquarters. While I’m there, my family merely senses my presence . . . they don’t see me. Finally Finall y, thank you to my daughter Courtney Courtney.. It was her nal challenge to the entire family that we each work on a goal every day that nally got me to buckle down and complete this quest.





























































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IMPORTANT IMPORT ANT NOTE TO PAPERBACK PAPERBACK READERS READ ERS Throughout the book, there are several references to YouTube videos and many other links that can be clicked on if you are reading the PDF version of the book. However, However, for those of you who are reading the printed copy of the book, all of the links and their cooresponding page numbers can be found neatly organized at www.7938.info. Additionally, you’ll nd the bonus PDF download and the bonus .xls receipt maker as well.

SECOND EDITION © 2014 Stone Cold Magic, LLC





























































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Foreword H

Jeff couldn’t have written this wonderful book at a better time. After far too many years of rabbits hopping out of hats, overly serious magicians staring ‘mysteriously’ at their audiences, and the pompous presentations of pointless puzzles, magic is nally changing. Audiences and performers alike, are re-evaluating the dustcovered idea of ‘The Magician,’ especially in light of Google and our so-called ‘Age of Information.’ When the secrets to most tricks can be readily found on YouTube, where does that leave the art of magic? In Jeff’s book, he asks again and again: where is the magic? Jeff offers offers a thrilling range of answers to this question, suggesting that magic can be found in the element of surprise, in classic card trick books, in the emotion behind lines of script, in connecting with people, in not knowing, and in so many other lush places.





























































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And when it comes to the important subject of scripting, Jeff really outdoes himself. I can’t remember the last magic book I read that offered such an ambitious analysis of scripting. Truly inspiring stuff. Where is the magic? Between the covers of this book, that’s where. Jay Sankey Oct 31, 2013 Toronto, Canada





























































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Dedicated to Dodd Vickers for his continued effort to remind us all what real magic should be.





























































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TABLE OF CONTENTS THANK YOU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 FOREWORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 PAR ART T ONE ONE - GET GETTI TING NG IN TH THE E RIG RIGHT HT FR FRAM AME E OF OF MIN MIND D . . . . . . . . . .17

MAGIC IS A DRU RUG G AND DRU RUG GS ARE DANGER ERO OUS . . . . . . . . . . . 18 YOU, ME AND DUPREE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 THAT REMINDS ME OF A TIME BACK IN ‘NAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 .26 6 PART TWO – “EFFECT”-IVE ESSAYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

DEDICATED TO THE ART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 YOU CAN’T BE A KING IN YOUR HOME TOWN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 .37 7 SHERLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45 THE INVISIBLE DOOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 SELF-WORKING LAY PERSON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 52 THE BLACK HEART REVEALS ITSELF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 55 THINKING OUTSIDE OF THE BOX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 YOU’RE RIGHT - STACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 PAPER BALLS UNDER THE HEAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 SPECTATOR’S CHOICE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72































































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BOOK TEST SUBTLETIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .117 FAUX-QUIVOQUE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 INVISIBLY SUBTLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 TWINKIE PICKER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 130 PART FOUR – ACTUAL EFFECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

THE FAKE FALSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 LEAVING DECKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 145 MARTIKA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 150 I NEED A HERO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158 ACE RE-REVISITED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 165 STONE COLD MAGICARD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174 NO ESP CARDS . . . NO PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182 GEMINI SHOPPING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190 MEMORY RELAPSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 201 TOWER OF BABEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 2 12 PART FIVE – THE MALINI EFFECT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 220

MOAB UTAH

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Introduction H

A standard 3x3x3 Rubik’s Cube has 43 quintillion (that’s 43 million, million, millions) different congurations that it could possibly be twisted into, yet I (and many, many others in the world) can take a mixed cube in any one of these 43 quintillion congurations and solve it in about 35 seconds . . . 45 on a bad day.































































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793.8: Where is the Magic?

Oh . . . did I mention that all six six of those recor records ds are held by by one person, Feliks Zemdegs? Yet in 1974, when the Hungarian professor Erno Rubik invented the cube, he wasn’t even sure if a solution was possible. Now, Now, I’m no Erno Rubik, but this book and his tool to explain three dimensional geometry gone international super-star puzzle have a lot in common. The mission of this book is many-fold. One of the “folds” is to get you thinking. Very Very often when I create an effect, I have no solution. I may have a rough idea of how I might accomplish it, but that’s about it. Many of the essays or effects in this book are very much like the Rubik’s Cube in its rst year . . . I’m not even sure if a workable solution is possible. Yet as I began extracting my thoughts and notes from my journals to create this project, the methods, presentations and further developments came as I wrote. However, though I’ve captured these thoughts for your benet, it is not the not the point of this book – far from it. There are plenty of cases, in fact, where I give no method. I leave it as a puzzle for you, the reader, to solve. The point is the effect, not the method . . . Astonishment Over































































Introduction

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affect is correct, the audience experiences a moment of astonishment or wonder. When I was very young, my father did essentially the coin from the ear trick (it was really denim pants back pocket label from mouth), and to this day, it still feels like real magic.

It was the moment that started me down the path that I am still































































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or you thought, “Hey isn’t 793.8 the Dewey Decimal code for Magic books in the public library?” If you fell into the latter category,, you very likely remembered egory rememb ered being at the library as a young child checking out magic books. You might have remembered the excitement, the thrill or the feeling you felt as you were studying and learning magic. I remember the feeling . . . the feeling of thumbing through books like 101 Easy To Do Magic Tricks by Tricks by Bill Tarr . . . those illustrations of things I’d never seen before. And other books with the colorful pictures with cheesy kids dressed in even cheesier top hats and capes. The colorful owers and silks and apparatus that looked so cool. It was wonder-full – full of wonder. wonder. That feeling is the feeling that I contest is lost among just about every magician out there. I’m trying to bring it back to you the reader/magician and to the collective world population that we call our audience. Too many magicians have forgotten about wonder. Hopefully by the end of this book, you’ll be on this side of the fence remembering wonder. At the end of each effect/essay/etc. will nd section

































































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1

P A R T

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Getting in the Right Frame of Mind

































































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Magic Is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous H

As many of you know know,, I publis publish h a monthly magazine, Stone Cold Magic Magazine. Magazine. One of the columns that I write each month is entitled Roots and Branches. It’s essentially my attempt at nding forgotten concepts, methods, principles, etc. in magic

































































Magic Is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous

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from mouth, or maybe it was when you were a little bit older and someone nailed you with the glide or magician’s choice or a double lift or maybe even the 21 card trick. Root

Let’s remember remember our roots. roots. The root root is . . . wait for it . . . “remember our roots.” That’s right, the ultimate in self-referential self-references. Follow me here. When you rst got into magic, you did the glide trick where you have a card selected . . . shufed in the deck . . . show the audience four cards that are not the selection (using the glide) . . . have them hold the four cards between their knuckles in a st . . . slap the cards and bam . . . their card is staring them in the face . . . or the variation where you use magi-

































































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trick on the market. Show me a move I’ve never seen. Show me a trick that’ll fry me. Oftentimes we get to the point where the trick ONLY ONLY fools the magician, and leaves the audience wanting. Magic is a Drug and Drugs are Dangerous. Like a junkie, we become obsessed with ourselves and lose touch with those around us (family, friends, audience members, etc.). We are more interested in what pleases us (heroin, 23 phase ace routines) and we forget what matters . . . the audience. We need to get back to the roots. What sparked this whole thing was Derrick telling a story of an old trick that he thought was child’s play and does not belong in the repertoire of a pro. Yet a pro (who shall remain nameless) uses it all the time and totally nailing people with it. By “nailing” I mean, of course, cre-

































































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You, Me and Dupree H

First, check out this YouT ouTube ube Clip. This is a traile trailerr for the movie You, Me and Dupree. It’s Dupree. It’s all part of the story, so take a moment to watch it. Pay particular attention to the relationship between



































































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have seen, heard, etc. . . . This movie pushes the PG-13 rating to the fringe edge. Anyway,, I’m not here to critiqu Anyway critiquee the movie. I’m here to give you a root that you can use to branch out. Root

Let’s remember our roots. The root: Context and perception.



































































You Me and Dupree

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Of course each effect/trick will be different and will have different components. So what do you do with this information? Change the order and change the tone. Like the music for the parody trailer, your voice can set the tone for the performance. Take the sentence below for example. It is repeated 7 times. Each time with a different emphasis:



































































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I never said he stole THAT THAT car. car. Implied: It wasn’t “That” car, it was this car.

I never said he stole that CAR CAR.. Implied: He didn’t steal a car; he stole a truck; a computer; whatever. whatever.

As Jerry Seinfeld said in his book Seinlanguage, Seinlanguage, “I’ve “I’ve written the words. The deliver is up to you. Remember, timing, attitude



































































You Me and Dupree

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Where is the Magic?

Eugene Burger has, on more than one occasion made the point that words seem to have lost their meaning. Generally he’s referring to false claims in magic product advertisements. While I agree with his point, and I understand what he’s saying, I would dare argue that on some level, words have no meaning to lose. The word “bloody” to an American is a description of



































































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That Reminds Me of a Time Back in ’Nam H





































































That Reminds Me of a Time Back in ’Nam

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Depending on your age and how much television you’ve watched over the years, you likely got at least one of the answers



































































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I possess, for your entertainment. What is my unique skill? I’m extremely observant and perceptive. I’ve trained myself to hone in on



































































That Reminds Me of a Time Back in ’Nam

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She did! The emphasis of one word in the sentence changes the meaning and even can imply another hidden meaning or subtext.



































































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Further, you may consider changing up which pop culture refFurther, erences you use. Mine are, admittedly, dated. However, they still



































































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Spectator’s Choice H

Another concept inspired by my favorite question: “What if we went the other way?” If the “standard” way is Magician’s Choice, what’s the “other” way . . . spectator’s choice? Effect

The Spectator Predicts an ESP card that you will choose. Then he uses Magician’s Choice (without realizing it) to force you to pick the card he predicts. Method

I’m assuming that if you’re reading this book, you’re familiar with and have used Equivoque a.k.a. Magician’s Choice. Basic Idea

You start by placi placing ng a predicti prediction on of an ESP card (Let’s say the Square) face down on the table. Then you spread out ve facedown ESP cards on the table which are marked. Using standard Equivoque procedures, you force the Square on the spectator. You then tell the spectator that he can try it. Have him write a prediction down without you seeing. Then he mixes the ve cards face down and spreads them out in a row. Then he repeats



























































Spectator’s Choice

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procedure, some examples and the presentation. Additionally, we’ll look at this from 2 different angles: you force the card on the spectator (phase I) and the spectator forces the card on you (phase II). Before we dive into that, let me just give one frame of reference to consider while reading. Both phases need to look identical to each other. The only thing different is that in phase II, the roles have reversed (i.e., you are the spectator, spectator, and the spectator is the magician). The idea is that you are giving the power to the spectator and in order for him to have the same results, he must repeat your every move. The Prediction

As mentioned before, the cards are marked, so you can read the backs of the cards no matter how well they’re shufed. So in Phase I, it’s a no brainer. Write the prediction down and have the spectator shufe and lay out the cards. Then use Equivoque to force the correct card. However,, in Phase II, you need to know what the spectator However predicts you will choose. There are many ways to get this information. Just remember that the key is that both phases must mirror each other identically. identically. So for example, let’s say you choose to do a no-tear center tear like Osterlind’s Perfect Center Tear ear.. In Phase I, you’ll unfold the pre-folded business card and write your prediction in the correct place and refold it. Then you’ll hand it to the spectator to hold for a moment in an “attempt to get in tune with the prediction.” Then in Phase II, the spectator will write his prediction on one of your pre-folded business cards and he’ll hand it to you so that you



























































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However, the way I would prefer to do this is to have 2 sets of However, ESP cards. Both marked. Five of the cards are on the table (one of each symbol). The other ve are kept in i n a separate envelope to be prediction choices. So in Phase I, I just choose one of the ve cards for the prediction. The remaining four are out of play and placed aside. Then during Phase II, the spectator will do the same thing. Of course, since the cards are marked, you’ll know which card is used for the prediction. Finally, when using this card method, an effective way to present it is to display the faces of both packets showing that each packet is a copy of the other. Then shufe each packet individually and use one packet to choose the prediction from and the other to be spread out on the table to be used for the force. The advantage of this is that your prediction card will truly be a random card. Again during Phase I, this is impressive, but in Phase II when the spectator mimics your actions it becomes much more impressive. The Force Procedure

For some serious work and tips on Magician’s Choice, check out Eugene Burger’s work and Max Maven’s work, particularly in his relatively recent DVD, Multiplicity DVD, Multiplicity.. I would highly recommending studying the above resour resources ces before performing this effect. There are so many subtle ideas and additions that really make the Magician’s Choice totally kill. Meanwhile, I’m going to, for the sake of explanation, use a very simplistic description of the concept. If you had two face-down cards, a red card and a black card, and you wanted to use Magician’s Choice to force the red one – in a very oversimplied explanation – it would go like this:




























































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Please pick up one card and . . . Turn it over - Or Please pick up one card and . . . Toss it aside The idea is that you change the ending based on which card the spectator picks up. If he picks pi cks up the red one, you go with the rst line. If he picks up the black one, you go with the second line. Of course, the spectator never suspects a thing. As far as he was concerned you were always going to say “toss it aside” regardless of which card he picked up. If we were to do the above ESP effect (Spectator’s (Spectator ’s Choice) only using two cards (red and black) instead of 5, it might go like this: I’ve placed a color prediction aside right here. It predicts what color you will decide upon, red or black. Place these two cards (one red and one black) face down on the table and mix them up so that neither of us know which is which. Remember, the cards are marked. Now that the cards are mixed, please pick one up and . . . toss it aside. Now turn over the remaining card. [Spectator turns over the card.]

It’s red. Take a look at the card I placed aside. Turn it over and you will nd that it too is red. Now it’s your turn. Place a card aside face down to be the prediction. Then place the other two cards face down and shufe them so that I don’t know which is which.



























































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Of course, you know which card is which . . . all all of the cards are marked. So just make sure you pick up the card that does not match the prediction and toss it aside. That’s the concept. However, when we bring in 5 cards and a little more procedure the effect becomes much more impossible seeming. So let’s move on using ve ESP cards. Imagine that the ve ESP cards are face down with the prediction card face down in front of the ve cards. They can be in any order, and it is unknown to the spectator and supposedly unknown to you as well. Remember, the cards are marked so you know which card is which. The prediction card that you are going to force is (let’s say) the cross. The following procedure shows the possible scenarios you may nd yourself facing. I start by singling out a place on the table and saying, “We’re going to eliminate some cards; here is where we’ll place the discards.” This wording will be valuable in a moment when you direct the proceedings. Basically after each decision is made by the spectator you will either tell tell them them to put some cards in the discard pile, or you will put them there yourself. there yourself. In the diagram that follows, you will nd in “quotes” the places where you tell the spectator to do it, and in [brackets.] you






























































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Get out ve ESP cards in a row face up and follow the directions below. Follow different options and outcomes to get a feel for how it might go in performance. Equivoque Procedure Outline





























































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Now that you understand the procedur procedure, e, you realize that each time you perform the effect, the procedure will be different. This one keeps you on your toes. Each time you perform the effect, you need to memorize the procedure for that instance that you are performing. You must then make the exact same choices that the spectator did when it’s your turn to play spectator spectator.. So if he initially i nitially pointed two non-force cards, then, pointed to the two not force cards, you must do the same. The idea that you are conveying to the spectator is that before the show even started, you had a planned procedure that both of you were going to do. Then when each of you do the procedure you end up “selecting” the same card. In advance, you inform the spectator that he will have to play the role of the magician in a moment so he’ll want to make sure he’s paying attention to the procedure. Of course, when wh en you play the role of the spectator spect ator,, you can coach him and remind him what the procedur proceduree is. This effect is a bit weird to explain in print. It’s kind of like Vernon’s The Trick Trick That Can’t Be Explained. Explain ed. Y You ou can’t really explai e xplain n it because every single time you do it, the procedure is different. The best way to master this is to perform it over and over until you get the rhythm and hang of it. I can show you some examples, but the real knowledge will come when you start practicing it with another person. Grab one of your magi friends and just






























































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to develop. However, However, I’d like to try to develop such a connection with you in the next few moments. moments. I have here two sets of cards that where designed by Dr Dr.. Rhine at Duke University for just such purposes. As you can see, these ve cards here, the circle, square, cross, star and wavy lines match these ve cards over here. here. As I mix these ve, I will remove one without knowing what it is and I’ll place it aside here. The rest can be slid back into the envelope. The other group of ve, I’ll mix and spread out on the table for you. What I’ve learned is that if you stop and think about trying to be in sync with someone, you end up over thinking it, and it rarely works. So I’ve decided to remove the thinking from our experiment today. I’ve come up with a procedure of eliminating and selecting cards that we will each participate in. We just follow the procedure and neither of us will have to think. We just act. It’ss a very simple and quick procedur It’ procedure. e. We’ll use this part of the table as a discard area. [Point to an area on the table to act as a discard area.]

First, with your left hand touch one card . . . and with your right hand, touch another . . . now slide them to the discard area. [The above assumes they did not touch a force card either time.]





























































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It’s the It’s the circle, circle, and and as you can see, see, the card I put aside from the beginning is also a circle . . . a perfect match. [Turn over prediction card.]

It would certainly seem that you have empathy empathy,, but I made the claim that we would also synchronize, so let’s let’s do this one more time, but this time, I’ll let you play the director and I’ll be the experiment subject. Do you remember the procedure? [Wait for response.] [Remind them by grabbing the four cards from the envelope and the prediction card while explaining.]

You shufe these cards and place aside a card for the “target” card. Then you spread out the other set of ve cards over here after you’ve also shufed them. them. Then nally, you have me eliminate four cards two at a time. Can you remember all of that? Ok, let’s give it a try. [Spectator shuffles one of the packets and randomly puts aside a “target” card and replaces the other four in the envelope.] [She then shuffles and spreads out the other five cards.]






























































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[She then tells you to turn over the remaining card along with the predictio prediction.] n.]

It would appear that not only do you have true empathy empathy,, and we’ve truly made a connection tonight, but are we in sync? [Turn over both cards.]

It would appear that we are. Post Effect Palaver

I’ve toyed with the idea of doing this effect where the spectator and I do the performance at the exact same time. This would require 20 cards, however. But it would basically go like this. We each get two sets of the 5 cards. We each choose one card to be a prediction and put the other four cards away. We each then spread s pread out the remaining remain ing 5 cards in a row. row. Then I give the rst set of instructions to the spectator. spectator. I tell her to place each hand on a card. I mimic her actions. If she places her hands on 2 non-force cards, then I do the same. If she covers one nonforce and the force, then I do the same. Keep in mind that the ve cards I’m using and the ve cards she’s using are not necessarily in same order as each other (although you could do that since the cards are marked) and the prediction cards are not the same either. either. She might choose a circle for a prediction, and I might choose a square.































































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aside a face down prediction card apparently at random – neither of you have looked at the faces. You You each put aside the remaining 4 cards from those piles. You direct her to shufe the remaining ve card pile and to deal them onto the table in any manner she sees t. You do the same. Shufe your 5 cards. Then deal them out so that they are in the same order as her cards. If her row from her left to her right is square, circle, wavy lines, star, cross, then your pile from your right to left should also be square, circle, wavy lines, cross if you’re sitting across from her. This makes your row mirror her row. However, if you’re sitting next to her, you would make your pile the same left to right as her pile is. During the proceedings, do exactly the same moves that she does. Let’s say that after all of the Equivoque procedures, you each have eliminated four cards from your respective piles and you are each left with one card in front of you face down that neither of you have looked at yet. Of course you know (thanks to the markings) that not only do these cards match each other, but they also match the predic-
































































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thinking on our part, but merely following directions and creating randomness. According to Dr. Rhine, this is the ideal scenario for testing his theory about synchronicity and empathy. So let’s start by turning over your chosen card. [She turns over her forced card.]

It’s a square. Interesting, the square with its perfect angles and It’s four corners repres represents ents balance between the elements (earth, wind, re and water). This suggests someone who is even-keeled and very empathic, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. Now, turn over your target card and I think we’re going to nd Now, that it’s a match. [She turns over her prediction card.]

So it’ it’ss clear that you have empathy empathy,, but are we in sync?































































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ESP COLD STATEMENTS:

Keep in mind that these statements are just things that I made up to t with the theme of the effect. SQUARE: Interesting, the square with its perfect angles and four corners represents balance between the elements (earth, wind, re and water). This suggests someone who is even-keeled and very empathic, so it’s interesting that in this experiment ex periment that’s the card you chose. CIRCLE: Interesting, the circle without end or beginning represents innity or forever, symbolizing patience and endurance. This suggests someone who can relate with people on an empathetic level, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. STAR: Interesting, the star represents the heavens and the mysteries of space symbolizing openness and love. This is the type of person who is very loving and open and lled with empathy, so it’s interesting that in this experiment that’s the card you chose. WAVY LINES: Interesting, the 3 lines represent a owing riv-
































































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SUMMARY:

Basically,, you have two general ways to perform this effect: Basically 1) A 2 phase approach: Spectator does the procedure once; then you switch roles and become the spectator (Uses 10 cards). 2) A 1 phase approach where you both do the procedure at the same time (uses 20 cards). Each of the two techniques can be performed with 2 possible variations: 1) Your target card and “selection” match each other othe r but are different from the spectator’s target and selection. 2) Or your target target and “selection” match each each other and match the spectator’s spectator ’s target and “selection” thus all 4 card match. In the cases where the spectator spectator’s ’s cards are different from yours, I think the cold reading doesn’t quite work because the idea of the cold readings is that the one card she chose is the only one that represents empathy and that any other target card would































































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two sets of cards. But in case you like the idea of using less cards I thought I’d mention the above idea. One other drawback, however however,, is that doing the one phase approach (where you and the spectator do the procedure at the same time) may unnecessarily complicate the proceedings. Credits

Stuart Judah has an effect called, The Spectator’s Choice, found in Annemann’s Card Magic. The Magic. The effect has nothing to do with the above effect. However, the name inspired me to create what you’ve just read. Where is the Magic?

It’s always fun to fool someone who knows Equivoque by using Equivoque. However, the magic goes beyond merely fooling a spectator with a familiar principle. A true connection with a spectator as you both reveal your synchronicity is a moment of pure wonder won der.. Where is the magic? It’s found in the exact moment when you

































































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3

P A R T

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Miscellaneous Mischievousness

































































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Next we’ll further the discussion on luck and magician’s choice and how their paths often cross as we learn the principle of FauxQuivoque. Y Quivoque. You’ll ou’ll further nd a brand new use for a Svengali Deck, and an excellent essay on Equivoque and similar techniques will open your mind to the power of this combination of tools. With Invisibly Subtle, you’ll Subtle, you’ll nd a simple way to modify your invisible deck to take all the risk out of this power tool, and nally, we’ll wrap up this section with Twinkie Picker , a handling and presentation of my effect (from Gemstones Gemstones), ), Epicenter Epicenter (bill (bill in sealed Twinkie), Twinkie), to a brand new place with perfect logic, fun and presentational clarity that makes me wonder why I didn’t do it like this in the rst place. The goal of this section is to load up your arsenal with some

































































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Force Schmorce H

Worst patter ever: Mage: “Pick one of those two decks.” decks.” [Spectatorr – Picks the blue deck.] [Spectato

































































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The rst question you have to ask is why you are using two decks. The assumption is that the other deck will play a part in the effect. In other words, you didn’t just decide to give them a choice of decks and then discard the one not chosen. The blue deck also has a purpose. Next time you’re in a similar situation, try this: Have two spectators help you out rather than just one. Then ask each of them to choose the color of deck they would like l ike to use. Then whoever picks your force deck . . . start with that person. Of course, don’t be foolish and say say,, “Ok, since you have the red deck, we’ll start with you.” Looking at the guy who chose the force deck, I’ll just say, say, “Let’s start with you sir.”

































































Force Schmorce

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Best patter ever: Mage: “Sir, here’s the red deck. We’ll start with this one.” Where is the Magic?

The Professor once said that a good effect could be described in just one sentence. I’m paraphrasing, but that was the gist. Though I don’t entirely agree with that statement in its most literal sense, I certainly support the sentiment. Simplicity. There’s nothing wrong with a force; there’s nothing wrong with Equivoque (when it’s done right), but why bother with it if it doesn’t add anything to the effect? Where is the magic? It’s found in the raw purity of simplicity. Stay away from awkward procedures when the effect can be ac-



































































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Notes on Miscalls H



































































Notes on Miscalls

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Then I proceed with the effect. Subtlety wins out every time. So much so that if you’ve got the guts, you can try and pull off this little subtly sneaky stunt: The preloade preloaded d dime is 1989. You borrow a coin which is NOT 1989. You look at it and squint as you say, “What is that, 1989?” Just as you say that you briey show it to one of the spectators near you as if you’re asking them to read it. However your tim-



































































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What’s the Deal With the Down Under Deal H



































































What’s the Deal with the Down Under Deal?

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others have done this type of effect. In fact, the one that inspired this chapter is Max Maven’s effect from Redivider Redivider called Pseudo D/U ESP (p. ESP (p. 12). There are plenty others out there. (I promise; a point is coming soon). There are variations of the procedur procedure. e. For example, you might deal one to the table. Then deal the second one to the table next to the rst one and place the packet on top of it; then pick up the



































































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goes “under” the deck, under the deck with the claim that you’re not sure if this is their card or not – internal subtext: “so we’ll get back to this one in a moment moment and try it again.” again.” What makes this really deceptive is that each “round,” I change it up a little. First round, I’ll deal the top card and place the second card to the right. Do my “feel the cards” business. Then place the packet on the card on the right (the “Under” card). Then on





































































What’s the Deal with the Down Under Deal?

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Obviously I won’t be tipping that method. You need to pick up your own copy of Redivider. Redivider. I’ve I’ve read that book over a half-



































































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Card Memory

The idea is (can be) a simple joke:

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Post Effect Palaver

When “performing” this quasi-gag, particularly in the context



































































Card Memory

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der and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead—his eyes are closed.”

























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































793.8 jeff stone

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