Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sudden Deck 2

Good morning. Today I wanted to send you another
review of an effect I recently picked up from
David Regal. It's called Sudden Deck 2, and if you
want to see it in action, go visit his site at
DavidRegal.com. Videos also are available on
YouTube.

The premise of Sudden Deck 2 is simple: you show
a disassembled, blank card case as it comes from
the factory before printing and assembly. With a
snap of your fingers, you print the card case
design. You then fold the case up like a normal
card box, open the top flap and pull out a real
deck of cards.

If I were shopping for tricks online from
descriptions alone, I may not have jumped at this
one, but watching the online videos got my
attention real fast. The printing of the card case
in plain view looks amazing. The production of the
deck has some angle limitations, but it looks
great when done dead on.

One of the reasons I am taken with this effect is
that I am always looking for an ice breaker. I
hate just coming out with a deck of cards and
doing some flourishes. That comes across weakly as
if I am trying to show off.

I have always thought if I was a real magician,
wouldn't I make my deck of cards appear magically?
And so, this is a simple way to do it. The effect
is self-contained. You will be able to set this up
with your own deck in about 10 seconds. Learning
to print the case is nothing. Learning to produce
the deck is everything.

You obviously could not do this very easily with
someone standing behind you or to your sides.
You'd have to play it very close to the vest to
get away with it and use some very bold
misdirection. However, in a controlled performance
environment like a stand-up performance and
perhaps in some walk-around or close-up venues
where you can block your angles, you can have a
miracle on your hands.

I think one of the neat things about this effect
is that your audience will assume that the
transformation of an unprinted card case into a
printed card case is the actual trick. By the time
you are folding the case up, they will assume the
trick is over, and the sudden appearance of an
actual deck of cards will absolutely stun them
with a one-two punch.

Additionally, people will assume the deck - not
the case - is the gimmick. So as you place the
deck down on the table or hand it to the
spectator, you will have all the time in the world
to pocket the card case. Can the case be examined?
No, that would reveal how the transformation and
appearance work.

David is kind enough to provide two blank cases
and two pre-printed, gimmicked cases, one red and
one blue Bicycle. The instructions come in an
over-sized 4 page booklet format with photos. I had
a little difficulty setting my gimmick up, but an
email to David cleared up my confusion quickly. He
is accessible which is much more than I can say
about other professional performers and lecturers.

You will find Sudden Deck 2 available from many
dealers, both online and in your local store;
however, David sells it direct from his site for
$25.00 with postage and handling included, so you
might want to start there first.

Next time I will send you a review of Captivating
and then a review of the M5 kits from ellusionist.

Until next time,

Steven

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Magic Review: David Stone's Window

Good afternoon, magic buds. Today I want to
provide you with the first in a series of new
trick reviews. A few weeks ago, ellusionist
contacted me and asked me to review a new effect
from David Stone called "Window."

Frankly, when I watched the introductory videos I
was quite astonished. There were several
variations on a theme, and each one looked more
and more like real magic.

The basic premise is a card taped to the back of
a window changes to another card. This can happen
in many different ways including with a pass of
your empty hand, by rubbing a handkerchief against
it, and by waving a fan of playing cards. Each one
looks distinctly magical in its own way. In fact,
when you watch the demos, you will be convinced
that it is trick photography or CGI, but the plain
fact is you can accomplish this new illusion
without anything quite so complicated.

My DVD and kit arrived last Friday and the effect
is quite ingenious. It involves a special gaff,
and when you play with it, you will smile to
yourself. It looks as good as it does in the
video. You will want to immediately show every
relative, friend and layman within distance what
you have learned, but do yourself a favor and give
this one the practice it deserves.

Stone and his colleagues are French, and so the
demo videos and the DVD teach by way of pantomime
and graphics to highlight certain things. That's
not a problem for me. In fact, I would guess that
all of the video doesn't run more than 15 minutes,
so if you can't get the hang of this effect in
that time frame then you are doing something
wrong. It's that easy. Tape the gimmick to the
window and watch the magic happen.

Now "Window" is not angle-proof. How many effects
are these days? Still, you can get away with this
one from some pretty wide angles with the right
performance and blocking. Obviously, no one can be
behind the window, or inside the car or telephone
booth unless they are a stooge. You need your
audience in front of the window, and preferably
dead center to see the effect head on.

This is something that does not require a great
deal of set-up and could be carried in your wallet
or pocket and set-up when the environment is
right. That by itself makes it a great trick. The
five performance ideas that are explained on the
DVD are quite good. My favorite is a version with
the revelation of two different selections in a
very clever and simple way.

Best of all, the clean-up is quite good, allowing
you to remove the taped selection from the window
and apparently hand it back out for examination or
as a souvenir.

I highly recommend David Stone's "Window". For
more information and to see a demo of it, please
go here:

http://www.ellusionist.com


Until next time,

Steven

Monday, June 01, 2009

Ringtone

Good morning, folks. Been working on a stand-up performance
which would have me entertaining a group of ladies at a non-profit
event for 30 to 60 minutes. Any suggestions would be
welcomed. I am thinking black tie and mentalism. Tell me if
I am being sexist, but I don't think women relate to card
tricks very well. They need more effects with engaging
stories. Let me know what you know ...

This week I received ellusionist's "Ringtone". After seeing
the videos and listening to the trash talk on The Magic
Cafe, it was easy to surmise how the trick worked, but I
was interested in the performance nuances, so I made the
purchase.

Suffice to say Adam does a good job teaching technique to
sell the effect of changing someone's ringtone. I am
particularly interested in following this up with Daniel
Garcia's "Pressure" where you push a cell phone into an
inflated balloon (there's also a real nice twist on this
available on YouTube which has an inflated balloon with the
phone inside of it resting on the spectator's hand).

Anyway, the DVD is well produced and informative and the
accompanying gimmick is well-made.

It is a good trick and I am anxious to try it out. Adam
suggests routinely visiting your local electronics store to
play with the newest phones so you can stay up-to-date on
their differences. The truth is this is probably
unnecessary. Most phones work in very similar ways.

If you have any questions, let me know. Overall, I give it
a thumbs up but you are paying for a gimmick that is
readily available elsewhere if you know what you are
looking for.

All my best,

Steven

Saturday, May 09, 2009

What Are Your Three Favorite Kid Show Effects?

Hey there, gang. Been awhile. March and April were dead
months for me. You gotta love this economy. Anyway, things
have been picking up and I recently became a strategic
partner of SpiritBank, one of the largest banks in
Oklahoma, and I moved into a new office in their Business
Resource Center this week.

I'm sharing space with some friends I have worked with on
other projects, and I am thrilled to be back in a real
office. Working from home was getting to be a challenge,
especially with the summer approaching and the kids being
out of school soon.

Well, I let myself get talked into doing a magic show for a
friend's three year old son and his 15 friends next weekend.
I have to start pulling props out of the closet this weekend
and practice. May use my kids for assistants. Be good
experience for them. Picked up some balloon animals and have
to find my hand pump because I don't want to blow up those
260E's by mouth. It was hard enough when I was a teen, but at
age 50 it's going to be hell without a hand pump.

Speaking of blowing up balloons, is there anyone out there
who can explain just what the painful sensation is when you
blow too hard and something pops beneath your ears and hurts
like hell? Is that like a squeeze you get while scuba
diving? I never have understood it but know it hurts like
hell.

I'm kinda looking forward to doing this show. While I have
more fun performing for adults (who get my humor), there's
something about kids that makes me smile. No, I don't want
to become a kid show performer again as I was when I was a
teen. I know there's good money in it, but that's not me
right now.

What are you three favorite kid show tricks. Give me some
ideas and I'll share the results of the show and your
favorites in 2 weeks.

All my best,

Steven

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

"Pressure" and New Site for Eric DeCamps!

Good day to all my fellow magi! Business is a little slow
this past week so I have had some time to hunt for new
magic and play.

I found a very visual and powerful little effect from
Daniel Garcia called "Pressure" and it is available from
Theory 11.

When I saw it, I just smiled. It is exactly the kind of
magic that I love. Easy to do, very visual, extremely
powerful impact and priced low.

You blow up a balloon and then borrow a cell phone from a
spectator. Then you visually push the cell phone upwards
into the bottom of the balloon as you allow it to rapidly
deflate. Instantly, the cell phone appears wrapped inside
the balloon. In fact, you have to bite into the balloon to
tear it open and allow the spectator to free their phone
themselves.

It looks wild.

And I am happy to say I nailed it on my first try.

It's so easy. Now my daughter actually thought she figured
out how it worked, but after the clean-up she was fooled
badly. My son flipped. My Mom freaked out. She just held
her phone in the balloon and stared at it with her mouth open.

So I recommend you check it out. You'll be carrying
balloons in your wallet all the time. Best of all, you can
do it with a deck of cards and even a credit card. Lots of
applications here outside of the stunt itself.

I am happy to announce that we have launched Eric DeCamps'
new web site here:

http://www.EricDeCamps.com


There may be a few little tweaks left but we hope you enjoy
your visit. If you are interested in discussing a web site for
yourself, please drop me a line ASAP at 918-298-9531.

Until next time,

Steven

Friday, February 06, 2009

Modify This!

I recently read a review about a new product called "The
Modifier" which enables you to easily transform any
standard wallet into a Card to Wallet. It comes from
Anthony Miller. When I was able to grab a copy on sale at
Hocus Pocus last week, I jumped at the chance.

It just arrived today, and I have to say I am quite
intrigued. It can stand alone as a smaller leather pocket
wallet - say for photos - or with the addition of a magnet,
become a money clip.

Ideally, it is meant to be attached via velcro to a normal
hip wallet. It looks like a leather envelope with a snap
enclosure. It opens to a clear pocket window where the
selected card would appear.

I played with it and it works quite smoothly. I am quite
pleased. I love the smell of leather, and this ones smells
great.

If you are in the market for a quality card to wallet but
don't want to spend the money on one, this might be a low
cost solution. It can easily be affixed to a breast wallet,
too. It's quite well made, and the ideas in the accompanying
booklet are also very good -- very commercial and easy to
do.

I also wanted to keep you updated on my experiment to
recreate the old Frame Fastastique effect where you make
four coins reappear in a covered coin display frame.

I've come up with a solution and just need to purchase some
black cloth for the slide and I think I am done. My daughter
watched me work it out last night during the fourth quarter
of the Super Bowl (neither of us could care less about
football).

Anyway, the total cost of raw goods was about $30.00 and
this one is all wood instead of the lucite frame originally
provided. I have to say this will be a nice looking prop
when done. If any of you are interested in what I'm doing
with this, drop me an email, and I'll shoot some photos or
videos for you to see when it is completed by end of week.

John Calvert is coming to town Thursday night and my family
will join me in the lecture. I am totally psyched about
seeing him again and getting him to sign my copy of his
life story.

That's all for now.

All my best,

Steven

P.S.: Do you have a friend whose magic web site totally
sucks? Help him and help me, and introduce us to each
other. 10% goes to you if he buys my services.

Saturday, January 31, 2009

G&L Magic: A Dealer with Integrity

"Wow!" That's all I can say is "Wow!" I love it when a
magic dealer exceeds my expectations. Given the sad state of
the magic resale business, it's so unusual when you come
across someone with integrity and who over-delivers. Let me
explain.

Last month I bid and won a combination of a side table with
Viking base and a gravity box from G&L Magic on eBay. I have
purchased some of their tables in the past and always
thought they looked great and offered great value when you
consider the cost of the base to begin with. Greg (the G of
G&L) also produces many different props and sells used and
new magic. He usually bundles custom made props and tables
with packaged goods, and you can frequently get a bundle of
good stuff for a great price.

Well, when my stuff arrived, I liked the table and base but
I did not want the gravity box. I already invested in a
really expensive one last year and thought I would just
resell the new box. Unfortunately, it did not work, so I asked
him if I could return it and if I could get another table
top. He said no problem.

A few weeks went by and yesterday I received a huge box.
Surely this was more than a table? It was! It was a new
table PLUS a new base (so now I have a matching pair of
custom made side tables) PLUS he sent me four other tricks
"for my trouble". These four other bonuses easily added up
to $100.00 worth of props and included:

- A One Way Forcing Deck
- Gilligan's Prediction
- Impossible Card in Bottle
- Mikame's Mystery Key Holder

I was and am still amazed by the stuff he sent me with my
table. I just expected a table top not another base! Plus
all this stuff including a Mikame collectible magic. So now
you know why I am saying "Wow".

I have only played with the Mikame effect and it has become
my new favorite toy. It looks so good and it fools me when I
look at in the mirror. I am astounded by how cleverly made
this prop is.

It reminds me of the fun I had when Tenyo first came out
with the Zig Zag Cigarette back in the 1970s. I saw it and
was fooled immediately and even when I bought it, the
illusion was so good I fooled myself for hours on end. Same
thing with the Mystery Key Holder. If you are looking for
something new to add to your close-up or stand-up act then
this would be it. Golly. It is amazingly made. Don't think
twice. Trust me.

Don't forget, search on eBay for G&L Magic. Here's his
current offerings:

http://shop.ebay.com/merchant/magidaddy_W0QQ_nkwZQQ_armrsZ1QQ_fromZR9QQ_mdoZQQ_sopZ1

Until next time,


Steven