The Magic Portal

Poker & Magicians

2012-01-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

Throughout time, people have had a fascination with card cheats and card cheating techniques. Many magicians include gambling exposes in their shows, both as a means to educate and entertain their audiences.

Poker has risen in popularity over the past ten years. There are now thousands of web sites dedicated to the game of poker; there are dozens of poker publications, and the World Poker Tournaments and World Series of Poker are some of the most popular television programs on the networks.

Everyone wants an opportunity to learn the strategy of poker and to have a shot at winning the big jackpot. Truth be told, while the rules of poker are relatively easy to learn, counting cards, calculating odds, and learning to bet and bluff properly can take a lifetime to learn.

Of course, at the end of the day, people want to know if they are in an honest game or being taken for a ride. In an effort to level the playing field, many magicians entertain their audiences by exposing common gambling tricks such as the second deal, the bottom deal, false shuffles and false cuts.

More advanced card experts may include demonstrations of mock poker games to demonstrate how they can stack the deck right in front of the other players and then deal specific winning and losing hands without ever generating any suspicion.

A number of popular magicians have developed huge reputations for their expertise at the card table. Martin Nash, known as the “Charming Cheat” was perhaps one of the best known gambling magicians. Jimmy Grippo, the former house magician at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, also was quite well known for his ability to deal cards. Lastly, John Scarne’s gambling demonstrations and magic with cards could be seen in beer commercials back in the 1970s.

As long as there are gamblers interested in real money poker, magicians will always be ready to demonstrate how anyone – even the best poker player -- can be a sucker on any given day.

BuyiJet: iJet Nav - iJet Nav Pro Reviews

2011-08-17T12:21:00.000-07:00

As a professional magician, I frequently need to be my own roadie, stage manager, lighting and sound man. It means I have to know a little bit about everything, and I need the right tools to make my job easier.

One of the biggest challenges entertainers like me have is controlling their background music. There are several niche audio products targeted at magicians that allow them to control their music, but most are quite expensive and complicated to use. I've seen some systems north of $1200.00; that's a major investment for just about anyone breaking into the business.

Recently, I came across a company called BuyiJet that sells a family of extremely affordable and powerful RF wireless remote controls for your iPod, iPhone and iPad devices. The basic iJet Nav consists of a small square adapter that plugs into your iPod and a wireless remote control you can carry in your pocket or wear on your belt. The 9 function remote control enables you to control the volume, pause, play, rewind or fast forward the music, or move forwards or backwards a track.

The adapter plugs into the slot where you normally plug in your iPod's synch cable and it also has a pass-through, so you can plug it into your computer or you could also use an iPod to USB/AC adapter to keep power running to the iPod if you wanted to. The adapter draws minimal power from your iPod, but if you are going to be running it for an extended period of time, using some type of AC cord is recommended.

Unlike its competitors, iJet Nav boasts a 150 foot range for their RF signal which travels around corners and through walls. The iJet Nav RF remote control works at considerable distance and does not need to be line of site to work well. I initially tested this on my daughter's iPod in her upstairs bedroom and connected it to her stereo quickly and easily. I then stepped back and started playing music. I walked outside of her room into another bedroom and was still able to control the music without any meaningful delays or problems.

Included are a bunch of accessories to help you connect your iPod to your stereo or loud speaker system. The clarity of your music is exceptional and there's no static or other audible interference or loss of quality. You plug in the right angle connector into your headphone jack, and then the supplied audio cable into the connector. The standard RCA jacks plug into your stereo, and bingo, you are ready to go.

The iJet Nav remote control is comfortable to hold, the buttons have a nice soft feel to them that respond well to your touch, and it is water resistant. The remote uses a standard round flat CR2025 battery available at any drugstore. You also receive additional mounts and clips to attach your iJet Nav remote control to your belt. This is a nice touch and great added value to the basic iJet Nav product which presently retails for around $24.95.

If you want to spend a little more money for enhanced functionality, the iJet Nav Pro sports a convenient docking station and 2-way RF wireless remote control with LED readout.

With the iJet Nav Pro, your iPod will draw power through the docking station, and there is no need for a separate adapter. You connect the docking station to your stereo or sound system using the audio cables supplied. Again, this is very plug and play and is a breeze to setup and use. Simply drop your iPod into place, and you are ready to go.

This iJet Nav Pro's wireless remote is rechargeable (from the docking station) and has the same easy-to-use functionality as the iJet Nav but it also features an LED readout so you can see what's playing. This makes track selection and navigation easy peasy!

The LED remote displays the Artist List, Play List, Song List, Current Song/Next Song, and Current Song/Artist. The controls include Equalizer Settings, Shuffle, Pause, Play, Next Song, Previous Song, Volume, Power Up/Down. Fast scroll through the Play List / Artist List / Song Lists real time via the RF wireless link and much more!

The iJet Nav Pro currently retails for under $75.00. That's a bargain at that price. To learn more about the iJet family of products, visit BuyiJet today.

Review: Nathan Kranzo's EZ Add a Number

2011-07-19T09:40:00.001-07:00

I just received a copy of Nathan Kranzo's new "EZ Add a Number"
DVD. I enjoy Nathan's approach to mentalism. He has the unique
ability to take old principles and transform them into powerful
new routines. In the past, I have raved about his dictionary mind
reading effect, Diction, and I use it in all of my shows. I have
also seen him lecture, and he has technical chops. But the magic
I tend to enjoy most is the stuff that's easy to do and strong on
presentation. Effects that leave the audience wondering how you
did it, and that can be funny and play for 7-10 minutes.

"EZ Add a Number" is a mentalism effect with great audience
interaction. A watch is set to a random time by an audience
member, and placed into a bag which they hold for the duration of
the effect. Then you ask five people in the audience to think of
important years, and you ask them to write down the last two
digits of those years on a business card. You then have the
numbers totaled by another audience member, and the sum is
revealed aloud.

A comedy "sucker" prediction is revealed for a big laugh, but
then you ask the audience member holding the watch to reveal the
time and it is the same as the total of the freely selected
numbers. Then you ask three audience members to reach beneath
their chairs and reveal three giant numbers placed there before
the show, and they create a giant revelation of the same number!

"EZ Add a Number" is a great DVD. It features two live
presentations of the effect in two different venues and a
thorough explanation of the routine. The effect is very easy to
learn. The methods employed are simple to execute. The effect
packs very small and can be carried in your pocket or close-up
case. It presents wonderful opportunities for audience byplay.

I think Nathan has a huge hit on his hands. I'll definitely be
adding "EZ Add a Number" to my act. If you'd like to see a video of
his performance and learn more about the effect, please go here:

http://kranzomagic.myshopify.com/products/nathan-kranzos-ez-add-a-number

Until next time,

Steven

Best Online Casinos for Magicians

2011-03-14T10:26:00.000-07:00

Magicians seems to have many things in common besides a love of magic. Magicians also seem to share a love for computers, sci-fi, and gambling. Over the years I have played a variety of online casino games. I tend to enjoy slot machines, and there's certainly no shortage of such games available online.

I used to like it when you could use your credit card or PayPal account. It was quick to deposit and quick to withdraw your winnings. Things have changed a bit, and every online casino is a bit different. They do make it easy to get started by offering a variety of bonuses -- everything from matching your bank to enhancing your bank many times over. It pays to shop around for the best deal you can find.

When looking for online casino games, you need to consider several things including the quality of the graphics, customer service, the variety of games offered, and most of all, the available tutorials. Game play differs from casino to casino, and sometimes subtle rule changes can make all the difference between winning and losing.

Personally, I like to play roulette online. I remember the first time I played it in Atlantic City back in the 1990s, I was instantly hooked. Somehow I managed to place and win 18 out of 20 bets in a row. I was only gambling $5-$25 a bet, not even playing individual numbers -- just betting color, odd/even and the occasional cluster of numbers. It was great fun.

Until next time,

Steven

Trade Show Magic and David Regal's "Passport"

2010-12-07T09:50:00.001-08:00

Greetings, friends, to the show that never ends! This week I
review David Regals' "Passport" and share my adventures serving
as my own trade show magician.

Late last week I received an invitation via LinkedIn to attend a
local "super" networking event called "Chocolate and Blues".
Apparently the woman behind this event has been holding similar
events in 22 different cities and they tend to attract a
good-sized crowd. Last year's Tulsa event had 950 attendees which
is great for a small town like ours.

In discussing the nature of the audience and the event, it became
clear that this is something I could attend as a vendor -- though
my wallet is rather thin right now. I asked her if she hired
entertainment and offered my services as a magician. She said her
budget didn't allow for paid entertainment but she would be happy
to trade vendor booth space for free entertainment. A deal was
made.

I was given a table in a corner in front of a Christmas tree. I
had a round 10 seater table. A few years ago I invested in a
tri-fold table-top booth display. I spent the weekend laying out
the marketing samples I wanted to showcase, and set that up on
the table and used a rolling table to perform close-up. I
included business cards and displays for my upcoming magic
appearances, too, essentially killing two birds with one stone.

The attendance was not as good as last years -- perhaps a few
hundred throughout the course of the day. I spoke to 50+ people
over 4 hours and handed out and received a lot of business cards.
The attendees were not my target audience, and I may not get any
marketing business from it, but at least I received visibility
and awareness and entertained a lot of people. Practice makes
perfect and some may attend one of my upcoming local appearances.

Back in the day when I ran marketing services for WilTel, I had a
$10 mm annual budget which included many trade shows. We had a
100' x 100' booth space, a theater with lots of seating, and
plenty of kiosks. In our earlier days we hired Tim Conover and
Bill Goldman. Later we added a killer juggling team and even a
ventriloquist. I always wanted to work our own trade shows but I
could not convince the execs to pay me what I wanted.

Yesterday gave me a good idea of what it would be like to be a
trade show magician. I worked at gathering crowds, integrating a
marketing message into my magic, and encouraging people to ask
questions about my services and to share their needs with me. It
felt real comfortable and I enjoyed it immensely. I want more.

I did Triumph, my no-palm card to wallet, card in mouth and
Pressure. Over and over again. Wow. That was easy.

Since I am always looking for new material to create "perfect"
sets for close-up, strolling, and stage, I recently took
advantage of Hocus Pocus' Thanksgiving Day sale and picked up
David Regal's "Passport". Whenever something new comes out that
makes me go "hmmm" I bookmark it. David's effects usually make me do
that. This was a good deal, so I bit.

"Passport" is a no-palm signed card to wallet and while there are
many variations of this on the market, I like the way this one
flows. You ask a spectator to select a card and write the name of
any destination on it. The card is returned and a leather
passport wallet is displayed with rubber bands around it. You
remove the rubber bands and open it to display a passport inside
an inner pocket. You remove the passport and as you page through
the stamps in it, you announce the destination they wrote on the
card. Then you show there is a face down card in the passport.
When it is slid out, it is their signed selected card.

The wallet and gimmicks supplied are well made by Steve Shufton
and the accompanying DVD by David walks you through the set-up
and performance. I think the extras he adds on are much stronger
than the basic handling initially taught. Handling the gimmick
takes a little practice, and some of the moves require faith in
your spectator not questioning or reaching for your props. That
said, I hate palming and this now gives me a very strong signed
card to wallet without palming. I like it and recommend it
highly.

Until next time,

Steven

Sophisticated Sorcery Relaunch and Product Reviews

2010-12-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

A quick email to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and to thank
you for your friendship and support over the past year as I have
re-launched my career as a performer.

I have completed the next version of my web site here:

http://www.sophisticatedsorcery.com

My goal was to create a quick loading site that is visually
engaging and tells a simple but compelling story. It is search
engine optimized, includes stills and a video I produced,
testimonials, fan club subscription, a contact form and hopefully
makes my show look a little more substantial and different with
my kids included in the graphics. I feel like I captured most of
my vision. New business cards and posters are being printed by
VistaPrint now.

In December I picked up a handful of shows ranging from Boy
Scouts to Hospice to Nursing Home to private business holidays
parties. Next Monday I am participating in Chocolate and Blues, a
large networking event where they expect 950+ attendees during
the course of the day. I negotiated a free vendor table in
exchange for providing some entertainment as I push both my
marketing consulting services as well as my magic shows.

I've already started to promote myself through all of the
top-rated third-party entertainment and business directories. As
a result, searches for "Tulsa magician" display my info in about
6 different places on page one and two search results.

Next I will begin to develop a marketing plan identifying venues
for a one-man show as well as targets for corporate and high
society. I have begun to develop a proposal package that emulates
the look and feel of the site so all the marketing material
focuses on building brand and awareness.

It's all pretty exciting.

I picked up Optical Ropes from Mark Mason thinking I could teach
it to my son so we might have some fun with me doing the
Professors Nightmare and him doing Optical Ropes. I don't like
the full routine it comes with, but the initial transformation of
3 ropes to 2 ropes to 1 rope as you merely stroke the ropes looks
amazing. I think the trick should stop right there.

I did a strolling gig for the Tulsey Awards which recognizes
local entrepreneurs. Several hundred people in the historic
Cain's Ballroom. Very cool night. Very dim and noisy so I worked
the room with sponge balls and Pressure and card manipulation.
Was very well received. Made lots of good contacts including with
an event planner who wants to offer a cabaret show early next
year and he invited me to the dance!

Have you seen the video for Rizer? You draw a deck of cards on
your arm, the drawing animates and the selected card rises from
the deck. I have no idea how it works. Looks great. A reputation
maker for sure. Hoping ellusionist sends me this one for review
soon.

Picked up the Bill Neff Miracle Rope gimmick. Reminds me of
something Dick Zimmerman did in his lectures. Almost identical
effect except for the construction of the gimmick. I always a
copy of this classic though now that I have read it, I am
uncertain it is worth the work.

I also came across some digital downloads at TrickShop.com which
were all classics at one time. I am digging into some of this
older material as well as some of the updated manuscripts. Liked
Seven Keys to Baldpate (though I never understood the effect's
name) as well as the Paul Fox Miracle Gimmick. Going to put some
time
into these to see if I can really make them work for me.

Still wanting an old illusion for the show. In fact, if you have
any old gear you want to get rid of at a reasonable price or
trade, please send me your list of stuff.

That's it for now. Have a great turkey day.

Best,

Steven

Jay Sankey's "Hardcore"

2010-11-03T12:27:00.001-07:00

Greetings, friends. This week I share some news about my
forthcoming debut at the Spotlight Theater as well as review Jay
Sankey's newest DVD, Hardcore. I hope everyone is well and is
preparing for the holiday season. I have a few gigs planned, and
while my magic biz isn't exactly a barn burner yet, I am still
very pleased with the visibility and opportunities that have been
coming my way without any meaningful promotional efforts or
advertising. Best of all, I seem to be attracting the crowd I
wanted to target, corporate and higher society private parties.

Being a marketing guy at my core, I decided to apply a little of
my talents to make my magic web site rise in the organic search
results on Google. After a very short time, I am happy to say I
appear on Google's first page for the search phrase "Tulsa
magician".

I am showing up on the local Google map along with 7 other
magicians. I was invisible a month ago and I've recently risen
from 7th position to 6th position. In addition, I am also popping
up in third-party directories on page one including PartyPop.com,
Decidio.com, GigMasters.com and MyPartyPlanner.com.

Now all I need is a decent web site! The cobbler's kids always
have the worst shoes!

If you want help rising in the search engines, drop me an email.
It's not really magic.

It was confirmed last Friday that I am officially joining the
cast of the "Olio" at the Spotlight Theater. I will start in
December but may play a date during November if a spot opens up.

I have already lined up my first show. I will be opening with
Harry Anderson's Three Card Prince, then doing my Dollar Bill in
Balloon Doggie and closing with the Straitjacket Escape --
somewhere between 12-15 minutes. I'm still going to use the
character of "Steve, the Sleeve" and will use my son as an
assistant, bringing things on and off stage with "an attitude" as
"The Kid".

Since I will be performing on a real stage I need to obey fire
codes and have come up with an alternate handling to my Bill in
Balloon Doggie. I typically burn the spectator's dollar and we
roast marshmallows over it as it burns. It's a very funny moment,
but it won't work in the new venue. So I found a hand-held
shredder. I will now shred the bill into their hands under the
auspices of checking to see if the bill is counterfeit or not.
This, too, should be very funny. I need to add some blinking
lights to the shredder to make it look more like a contraption.

This week I want to highlight Jay Sankey's new DVD "Hardcore". It
is a collection of 11 effects that will work well for either the
newbie or more experienced performer. These are workers. Like a
good Beatle album, there are no bad tricks on this DVD -- no
fillers.

My favorite effects are "Climber" where a drop of coke visually
rises up a straw, "Wrapture" where a borrowed quarter is softened
and wrapped around a borrowed penny, and "Babylon Band" where the
name of a selected card appears out of a jumble of letters
written on a wide rubber band. Each of these is strong, visual
and exceptionally easy to perform. You will find yourself
practicing these within minutes of watching their explanations,
especially "Climber" with a gimmick that is just plain fun to
play with.

Other effects worthy of mention include "The Main Attraction"
which is a signed torn and restored card that uses no dupes or
special inks or even a ton of difficult sleight of hand. It's
bold and fresh and would make a great new addition to your
close-up show.

Jay has packaged gimmicks and materials with this new DVD, making
this an even greater bargain at only $35.00.

To see previews and get your copy, go to:

http://www.sankeymagic.com

Until next time,

Steven

Wayne Houchin Lecture

2010-08-10T10:06:00.001-07:00

Greetings magic buds. Attended a great lecture in Tulsa last
Friday night. Wayne Houchin performed a number of his most
popular routines and how he performs them for real audiences. He
is a very nice guy. Young, but very talented, and extremely
creative. He puts a lot of thought into the development of his
routines and the psychology behind the words he uses and the
actions he takes. He is quite busy lecturing around the world
through next year and apparently recently relocated from
California to Hawaii.

The lecture included performances and explanations for Sinful,
Thread, a brief talk about success in magic, and finally the East
Indian Needle Trick with a twist. He displayed a cherry with 40
needles in it. He had a spectator withdraw them, place them in
shot glass and he drank them down with some water. Audience was
very surprised when he pulled them out threaded. Reminded me a
bit of Teller's Needles in Apple routine.

Anyway, one of the card effects he did fooled me badly so I
bought it it. The effect is called Influence and it uses a Monte
Cristo deck -- something I have never seen before. Came up with a
bunch of ideas for the deck and now just trying to figure out
where to go with it.

Saw the demo for David Regal's new Red Streamlined Convertible
which is an assembly of four red backed Kings and blue backed
indifferent cards. For those who know my effect, Card Marx, you
know I like effects where cards change color at the end. This is
different. A MacDonald's Aces like effect but the four cards that
assemble have red backs. Looks very good and there are no gaffs.
Looks like a winner. You can learn more at DavidRegal.com --
apparently Wayne Houchin is helping David with the video.

Well, it's time to trade magic. Look through your closets and let
me know if you want to trade anything from my list:

- 20th Century Bra
- Balloon Detective
- Branded
- CAPtivated
- Card Marx
- Cobra Deck
- Collapsible Beer Can
- Cruch
- Emergency Stop
- Flash Burst
- Gilligan's Prediction
- Head off Shoulders Illusion
- Magic Flask
- The Modifier Wallet
- No Gravity Cards
- Sand Frame
- Sudden Deck
- Super Sharpie
- Tagged
- Sprtizer
- Traveling Knot
- Vernet Multiplying Billiard Balls w/Climax Production
- Walk Around Silk to Egg
- Window
- Wonder Dog

More reviews coming soon.

All my best,

Steven

Mental Frisbee, Ghost Images, No Sleight Card to Wallet

2010-08-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hope all is well on your side of the screen. Since my last
newsletter, I have been feverishly working on researching new
routines and material as well as developing an aggressive local
marketing budget for my target audiences.

I have a ton of new routines in development, many of which will
give me really good closers and some lengthier routines designed to
fill time. I want to have more spontaneous comedy and require
less in the way of props so I can simply walk on and walk off.
It's more elegant that way.

New items received include:

Nathan Kranzo's Mental Frisbee: This comes with five colored
collapsible Frisbees and a booklet with the routine and handling.
The general effect is you throw out the five Frisbees into the
audience and bring the spectators on stage. Then you do a humorous
reading for each spectator, explaining how the color they caught
says something about their character. Finally, you bring up a
sixth spectator and they read your mind and pick a color you are
thinking of. There is a ton of good ideas, funny moments and
great magic in this booklet. I love the way Nathan's mind works.
I am anxious to customize this to my needs and try it in
September at my next performance.

Andrew Mayne's Ghost Images: Cell phone magic effects are so good
because you can always perform them -- everyone has a cell phone.
The fact that you do the magic trick using their phone totally
removes any thoughts of secret preparation or trickery. It just
looks like magic. What Andrew has done here is to bring back the
old spiritualist's miracle of producing spirit photographs and
videos using a cell phone. You can create images of playing
cards, words, footprints, hand prints, ghoulish faces, and even a
shadow of a man walking across their screen. It looks bizarre and
the method is very simple. It will require some minor prep work
and some practice to get the angles and effect right, but it
kills.

No Sleight Card to Wallet: This is from Wayne Dobson and comes
with a finely crafted leather Z-Wallet that looks like a small
billfold and works like a Himber wallet. I found the design
fascinating and it looks great and totally natural. The
instructions, however, consisted of one sheet of text with no
diagrams or photos and frankly I had some questions that needed
to be answered. I later found a Z-Wallet book. Some dealers sell
this with the wallet and some without. I picked it up but this 12
pager had some pretty mundane routines -- including one that half
resembled the routine that came with the wallet -- also no photos
in this booklet. Shouldn't be called a book and shouldn't be sold
separately. It should come with the Z-Wallet and the No Sleight
Card to Wallet. While I love the wallet and found the included
routine for card to wallet to be easy to do, I was just annoyed
with the packaging. I recommend you buy the wallet with the
booklet. You can get it for around $20. The wallet is worth much
more in my opinion. Very clever and classy gimmick.

Brass Bill Tube: This will make the third one I owned. The first
was sold off on eBay years ago. The second actually broke -- the
brass outer tube cracked when a spectator tried pulling the lid
off prematurely -- the lock was still on. Somehow they cracked
the brass. Very strange and very embarrassing as they stood there
with the outer tube in one hand and the slide in the other. So I
ordered another one I found online for $15 at Madhatter Magic and
it is gorgeous. I don't know who makes it. It is about 1 1/2
times larger. The only problem is it did not come with a little
padlock so I had to go through my magic drawers looking for an
extra lock. No gimmicked hanky was included either but for the
money it was worth it.

I recently purchased a large Shrinking Head disc with stand on
eBay and am anxious to see how I might add this to my stand-up
act. I first saw this performed at an OK City magic convention
many years ago by Brad Henderson and was quite surprised by the
positive audience reaction to this simple optical illusion. It
was quite funny and a good way to open and pull an audience into
your crazy world.

You know they say one man's junk is another man's treasure, so
please look through your collection of things you don't use
anymore and send me a list to look over. I might take something
off your hands or have something to trade.

I am especially looking for the following:

- Eric Buss' Phoney Magnet (magnet catches cell phone)
- A Gag Rags (dirty hand prints appear on rag)
- Frame Fantastique (lucite frame allows silver dollars to appear)

One more thing: this metal bookmark makes for a cheap, killer
handcuff shim:

http://www.cardsandcraft.co.uk/jewellery/1021-gold-shepherds-hook-metal-bookmarks.html

Until next time,

Steven

More Cool Magic Ideas

2010-06-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Good morning, magic buds. Been brainstorming material with my
son who turns 11 Sunday! He has a really keen wit about him and
one-liners fly out of his mouth all day long. Got thinking that
it would be really fun to develop either a segment or an entire
act around "magical impersonations". What would it be like if Mr.
Rogers or Clint Eastwood or Robert Deniro did magic? To me, this
opens the door to some very ludicrous and insane stuff.

Imagine having the Mr. Rogers music playing in the background as
you put on a red cardigan sweater, some loafers, and talk to the
adult audience as if they were children. "I knew you could". Then
segue-way into magic that is so opposite the nice guy archetype
like the razor blades. I think this could be so funny and also very
memorable.

Imagine spaghetti western music playing like the theme to "The Good,
The Bad, and The Ugly" playing. You bring up two "gringos" from the
audience and put Mexican hats and serapes on them. Make them pick
cards. Squint like Clint Eastwood while you try to find their
cards. When you get them wrong, you draw your gun and ask them,
"Did I get your card right, punk. Well, did I?"

The impersonations don't even need to be dead on. So long as you
get the line and facial mannerisms right. It's all in the staging
and props and acting, I think. Yeah, so this is a new direction I
am investigating.

OK, I have to ask: has anyone ever done a linking ring routine
with 3 key rings? Why? I'm blind and my hands sweat so I am
having a hard time finding the lock on my key ring. I figured by
switching to three key rings instead of one key ring and two
single rings, I can use any ring and either hand at any time to
link and unlink them. I think this could also blow magicians away
and fool spectators who are in the know. Now to find someone who
will sell me three matching key rings that I can afford.

I can't say enough good things about Powerball 60 and Diction.
My office mate brought some clients into the office on Monday, and
they commented on his Lego toys and my magic props. He introduced
me and they asked to see a trick. I did Powerball 60 and got booked
on the spot for a 30th birthday party in mid-July!

By the way GigSalad handled the formal inquiry and the service works
very well. I really recommend it. And best of all it's easy to
use and cheap. Check it out here:

http://www.gigsalad.com/r/225

Yeah, so Powerball 60 is so powerful it actually got me a gig.
So I carry it in my wallet and look for opportunities to perform
it everywhere. You'd be crazy not to carry it with you. It's
brilliant and the props are so common looking and innocent that
they pull people in. Everyone can relate to playing the lottery
at one time or another. You can pick it up at ellusionist:

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=176260&u=68489&m=22312&urllink=&afftrack=

Diction is also a killer effect. It's effortless mentalism that
kills with a completely ungimmicked dictionary and a technique
for determining the selected words that can easily be applied to
other mentalism routines. In fact, after playing with Nathan
Kranzo's ingenious method, I was able to vastly simplify the
Dracula Book Test. Version 1 which I purchased cheaply a few
weeks ago requires a mnemonic and numeric code and frankly when
I'm performing I don't want to work that hard. So I adapted
Nathan's idea to Dracula and it works like a charm. I love it, I
love it, I love it. Check it out here:

http://kranzomagic.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/diction-by-nathan-kranzo

I also recommend you check out his new effect: Instant
Everything. The videos are wild:

http://kranzomagic.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/instant-everything

Lastly, I want to talk about the importance of understanding
body language. There's lots of stuff out there on
neurolinguistics and how to influence people by speech. But
understanding body language is probably even more important
because it provides non-verbal cues about what people are
thinking, feeling, and how they are perceiving you. I taught a
class in non-verbal communication for a while and have not really
found anything that touches upon it until now.

My friends over at Love Systems sell a lot of ebooks and DVDs
about seduction. They are pick-up artists who teach you how to
verbally and non-verbally seduce women. But their material is
excellent fodder for learning how to seduce an audience. Let's
face it -- our success as performers is not just focused on
fooling or entertaining. It's also about making them "want" you
-- to watch you, see you, look at you, get close to you, want to
be your friend, want to know you, and ultimately to hire you.
It's a sales job for sure but it's also a seduction. If you are
curious enough and have an open mind, check out their latest DVD
here:

http://www.lovesystems.com/pages/affiliate_link.php?f=/beyondwords&kbid=2600&m=253

Until next time,

Steven

P.S.: I'm now designing product images for magicians who sell
their own products. If you need a DVD or ebook image or even a
banner ad designed, please drop me a line. Images start at a low
$49.95.

Salt Pour: Part Two

2010-04-06T12:56:00.001-07:00

Well, I finally had a chance to spend some time by myself and watch
Levent's Salt Pour DVD and play with the accompanying gimmick.
Suffice to say, it is a masterpiece.

As I said in my last newsletter, I used to smash a silver
glitter ball into a stream of glitter at the end of my
manipulative act when I was a teenager. I just used an empty film
canister because it was small enough for my hand to get the job
done. But it was cumbersome to handle and start the stream
flowing.

Levent does a deep dive into the effect and provides not only
detailed history of the evolution of the effect, but also
performs variations from famous performers who popularized the
effect over the past 50 or so years. He also reveals several
different gimmicks and explains the benefits of his gimmick
design over the others. Lastly, he shares his own handling from
his act and explains exactly how to perform it, one step at a
time.

It's clear that Levent has a deep affection for the history of
the trick (and magic, in general). As he frenetically explains
the evolution of the effect, he holds up several books throughout
the video and explains why the books are so valuable in learning
the effect. His DVD not only educated me, but made want to rush
out and buy all the books he held up. It reminded me of the old
dealer pitches we used to watch at Larry Weeks' conventions!

His performance of the variations on the theme are all
excellently done and well explained. If you are looking for
high-end, lavish special effects and sets, sorry, this ain't it.
It's Levent in front of a backdrop, lecturing to you and teaching
you the effect. There's plenty of time spent on the movements and
misdirection and finesses with the gimmick, with lots of
close-ups when needed. He is a wonderful teacher. You will learn!

I am amazed that he has priced the DVD and gimmick for only
$39.00. He could easily get 3 or 4 times the price. It is very
generous of him to make this so affordable for the magic buying
public, and you should buy it while you can.

You can watch him perform the Salt Pour and purchase the DVD and
gimmick here:

http://www.LeventMagic.com

Until next time,

Steven

Salt Pours: Part One

2010-04-06T12:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the other side of the screen. Hope all is well.
Thanks to those of you who purchased some of the items I had up
on eBay last two weeks. Trying to save up some cash for a new big
screen TV. I thought I knew the model I wanted, but after a
lengthy education from the Sears TV Manager I learned I needed an
LCD instead of a plasma due to the lighting in the playroom. Having
two windows on one side and two skylights above really washes out
the image. Who knew TVs could be this freaking complicated?

I'm still trying to figure out just what I am going to do for
this upcoming church show on April 17th. So far I only have an
opener -- B'Wave -- and a closer -- a straitjacket escape. I
rehearsed the straitjacket in the privacy of my office with my
office mate, and I discovered I have put on a few pounds since I
last performed it 7 years ago. So that combined with my lack of
flexibility is definitely making even a gimmicked straitjacket
escape a bit of a challenge. Heck, I'm only 10 pounds heavier ;)

I thought the last MUM issue with Bob Little on the cover was a
good read. I first met Bob at a Tannens Jubilee in the 1970's and
thought he was fun and cool as all get-up. Over the years I hung
out at his booth at conventions more than anyone else's.

One of the articles that really caught my attention was Dennis
Loomis' variations on the old salt pour. Back in the 1970's when
I was working on my manipulative act, I used a set of silver
rhinestone billiard balls and smashed the last ball into a long
pour of silver glitter. I just used a Kodak film canister with a
hole punched in the top with a little cork in the hole. I thought
that's how everyone did it.

Loomis' article actually encouraged me to revisit the Ethereal
Salt Shaker from Vernet. I always loved this prop but never owned
it, so I searched online using Froogle to find the least
expensive deal at Penguin and bought it. I've been playing with
it all week. I love it.

Then I purchased Levent's gimmick and CD. I knew Levent way back
when through Eric Decamps. The kid always impressed me with his
mad manipulative skills, ideas and knowledge. The CD and gimmick
arrived yesterday and if I get some time this weekend, I will
check it out and let you know what I think next week.

Back to the church show, I think I can use the salt vanish with
a D'Lite (though I'll need to pick one up) to talk about how we
are called to be the salt and light. I was looking for my FISM
flash to vanish the salt in a burst of light, but I found out it
is broken. Then I searched for my Flash Burst but haven't a clue
where it is. I may have sold it after I bought it because it looked
too complex to control.

If you have any other interesting ideas, let me know. I am
experimenting with a Professor's Nightmare routine but want to
end with one long rope. The good thing about YouTube is that there are
enough routines lifted off DVDs to give me some good ideas. The
bad news is there are a lot of videos on YouTube which should not
be there.

Until next time,

Steven

Rose Petals

2010-01-22T07:32:00.001-08:00

Hope all is well and that the New Year is starting off great for
you and yours. Last time I wrote to you, I said I was going to
make a concerted effort to practice magic more and look for
opportunities to perform more. To that end, when I get home at
the end of the day, I am now walking around with a deck of cards
or a stack of silver dollars, practicing my manipulation and
flourishes. Funny, how it's like riding a bicycle. My roll-outs
and one-handed shuffles are still pretty fluid. Now to do
something meaningful with it!

One of the churches I belong to has asked if I would do a magic
show at their next family event. That's sounded fun so I said,
"Sure!" Only problem is I have never performed for a church. If
any of you have some gospel or spiritual material you can share,
I'd love to know about it.

I have started to "invent" a series of simple but flashy
in-the-hands false cuts. I'm going to continue to explore this
area and then put it on video to share it. Maybe I have something
or maybe I am re-inventing something from long ago. So hard to be
entirely original when it comes to this type of stuff, especially
with all of the cardistry sites out there.

I went away this weekend to Branson for a low-cost couples
conference called Love & Laughter. It featured marital
counselor Gary Smalley, the pastor of the Woodland Hills church
in Branson, Ted Cunningham, and Paul Harris a local comedian and
entertainer. It was a lot of fun and it was nice to get away with
the missus without the kids.

Friday night we attended the conference dance where they gave
away bags of rose petals and all of the tables were lit by
candlelight and had more petals scattered across the tabletop.
Very romantic. Of course, it's difficult to keep a good magician
focused. My wife looks at the petals and candles and thinks, "Oh,
this is so pretty!" I look at it and think, "Wow, what kind of
magic can I do with these?"

Immediately I secretly rolled up a rose petal into a small ball
and palmed it in the crotch of my thumb. Then I had my wife pick
up a petal from the table, hand it to me, and I tore it and
restored it. Invariably, I was asked to perform it a few times
for other couples around the table. Luckily, the wife was balling
up extra petals for me. She was a good assistant!

They also had playing cards distributed by a church organization
called Two Ignite focused on renewing and revitalizing marriages.
Each playing card had a normal card index but also asked an
insightful question, so the deck could be used to play cards or
also pose questions for discussion and exploration. Of course,
being the ADHD magician, I again started looking for duplicates
so I could do a torn and restored card, but had to settle for Card
Warp instead. But the concept of having questions on the cards got me
thinking about the possibilities of using such a deck for mind
reading. If the deck used marks, you could not only tell the
value of the card but also the question which would position you
for cold reading. What do you think of this idea?

I just put the finishing touches on an article for Stan Allen's
MAGIC Magazine. It should appear in your February issue. Last
year I wrote a thread of newsletters about the biggest mistakes
magicians make with their web sites. This two-page article goes
into more depth, and I know you will like it. If you are not yet
a subscriber to Stan's fantastic magazine, I urge you to visit
his site and subscribe today or to rush on down to your local
magic shop when the new issue comes out in a few weeks. Here's
his URL: http://www.magicmagazine.com/

Well, that's about it for now. Do write to me and let me know
how it's going for you.

All my best,

Steven

Review of Digital Conviction

2009-12-17T10:53:00.001-08:00

Greetings magic buds and I hope things are going well for you on
the other side of the screen. Been a busy end of year with not a
lot of time for magishing though I'm going to make a concerted
effort to change that in 2010. I know I made a similar resolution
in the beginning of 2009 and completely lost sight of it. Not
this time. Gonna start practicing more, regain my mojo, look for
opportunities to perform and work with my son more to help him to
develop a deeper love and respect for magic.

This week I want to tell you about something interesting I came
across from Paper Crane Productions, the same people who have
previously brought you The Sleeping Queen among many other
unusual and visual performance pieces.

Digital Conviction is a cell phone trick. I like cell phone
tricks because there's always one handy - either yours or a
spectator's. The more you can do with something that someone else
owns, the more you can screw with everything they hold holy.

In Robert Smith's newest effect, you remove a joker and place it
aside and have someone select a playing card. Free choice,
honest. The selection is returned and lost in the deck. Then you
write the spectator's initials on the corner of the joker and
take a picture of it with their cell phone. The phone is placed
face down on their hand. You then visually transform the
initialed Joker to the selected card -- with their initials on it
now! Then when they turn over the phone, they find the photo of
the previously initialed Joker has also transformed into a photo
of their selected and now initialed card!

The video may be downloaded or purchased on DVD. In either case
it is an informally shot video - which may be a turn off to some
people who are expecting a higher quality production - and the
spectator who helps him to demo and explain the trick and its
nuances doesn't exactly light up the screen. Robert is a pensive
individual and he tries very hard to explain the intricacies of
the handling. The effect itself is not terribly difficult to pull
off; most folks should be able to do so quite easily. It's less
sleights than it is about performance and subtlety and nuance.

I found the explanation, psychology and handling very well
thought out. He includes many touches and finesses that truly
make this a keeper. While some individual cell phones may present
slight challenges to his suggested handling, he provides some
work-arounds and ideas that are very practical.

This is an effect that people will talk about and it leaves them
with a photo souvenir on their cell phone which they can send to
others to help promote you. That's clever back-end marketing like
Out to Lunch for the cell phone. I strongly recommend this and
advise you to watch it very carefully and with an open mind. You
may not care for his handling of how he gets from the beginning
to the end. You can change that up yourself if you want. But this
one is quite clever and offers tremendous opportunity for
self-promotion. Learn more here:

http://www.papercranemagic.com/digitalconviction.htm

Sidebar: Over the past year I have provided a ton of free advice
about how magicians can improve their marketing, both online and
in TV, print and radio. If you are thinking about upgrading your
web site in 2010 or want to discuss ways to improve your overall
marketing and visibility, I would be pleased to speak with you.

I really want your business. While you may find many web
designers out there, you will find few who can design a site and
write compelling copy. Remember, I not only have over 25 years of
marketing under my belt, but I have also been involved in magic
(performing and writing about it) for 45 years. You and I are a
good match.

Another reason to reach out to me before end of year is because
I am raising my prices in 2010 from $150.00/hour to $200.00/hour,
but if you contact me NOW rather than LATER, I will grandfather
you in at the $150.00/hour rate even if we don't start until some
time in 2010. So review your stuff and then drop me a line. The
first hour is on me!

Have a great holiday season!

All my best,

Steven

Man on Wire

2009-10-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

Good morning, magic buds. This past weekend I had the opportunity to watch an award-winning film about French tight rope walker, Philippe Petit. I remembered seeing him receive an Oscar for the documentary earlier in the year and made a mental note to try to catch the film when it became available for rental at my local Blockbuster store.

Man on Wire chronicles Petit's life and focuses on his historic crossing of a tight rope wire strung between New York City's World Trade Towers in 1974. It is a remarkable film with Petit and his original cohorts unfolding the story from the inception of the idea to the final implementation that historic day.

I remember hearing about Petit occasionally in Central Park one summer when some friends and I tried our hand at street performances in front of the Central Park Zoo. He was a legendary figure, almost ghost-like. You would hear people in the crowds whispering stories about watching Petit's amazing street performances. I never saw him live, but I followed the little stories I heard, always trying to find him. Like other street legends such as Lou Lancaster, it was always a challenge to find the really good talent in the Park. You almost had to stumble upon them by accident, and when you did, there was never any doubt you were witnessing genius at work.

The film is shot in a combination of black and white and color, showing Petit as a youth in France, teaching himself circus arts including magic. Practicing on some land out in the country, he set up a long wire to practice his incredible ballet-like walk on.

Unlike the famous wire-walking family, The Flying Wallendas, Petit was less focused on performing wildly dangerous circus stunts then he was on wire-walking as an art form. He was, in all appearances, simply out for a morning stroll. The only differences was he was balanced precariously in a thin wire high up in the air.

Place was always as important as the Walk. One of his first well known public appearances was walking across the towers of Notre Dame in Paris. High up in the air he pranced across the wire he and his friends had secretly set-up in the dark of night. Inside, church services continued as he seemed to walk on air above them. Very poetic and beautiful.

But the real dream was to walk across the Twin Towers. When he heard about the plans to build the tallest twin buildings in the world, he knew then and there that one day he would cross it. After years of practicing in the wide open fields in rural areas of France, plans were put into place to fly to NYC and enter the buildings by day in disguise as delivery people, to bring the materials and people hidden in rolling carts up to the roof, and then to set things up in the dead of night.

For months they practiced and pondered how best to complete their mission. In the end, it was decided there would be two teams, and one would shoot an arrow across from the roof of one tower to the other. Fishing line would be attached to the arrow and once the arrow was caught by the team on the opposite tower, they would begin to feed gradually heavier string, then rope, and then finally wire until they had established the main wire and its additional security lines.

At time more like The Three Stooges and other times like the Mission: Impossible force, the team pulled it off and Petit began his initial crossing early the morning of August 7, 1974. As the crowds started gathering in the streets below, they marveled at the little Frenchman prancing in the air above them. As Petit laid down on the wire to stare up at the sky, floating among the clouds, he knew he had achieved the impossible.

While not magic in the classical sense, I enjoyed watching this film immensely and strongly recommend watching it with your kids or grandchildren. It takes that old "sense of wonder" to all new heights and proves that there is magic after all.

Until next time,

Steven

Instant Radio by Magic Gadget

2009-10-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all. My son and I got diagnosed yesterday with
Swine Flu. So I am spending some time playing with my new Instant
Radio from Magic Gadgets in the UK.

Over my many years in magic, I have frequently seen a trick
described in a magic catalog and mentally added it to my wish
list. Sometimes I buy them, and other times I wait too long and
the trick is no longer available. Such is the case with Al
Cohen's trick where he draws a radio the back of his business
card and then plays music from it. The card may then be given
away as a keepsake. I always thought this was the best way to
give away a business card. Unfortunately, when I eventually got
around to wanting to buy this effect, it was no longer available.

Shahid Malik has released Instant Radio and admitted it was
heavily influenced by Al Cohen's original effect. Shahid has
updated things by using a custom made miniature radio gimmick
that works very well. It runs around $45.00 US.

You receive the radio gimmick, a set of extra clips and velcro
to fasten the gimmick to your jacket, and a booklet of
instructions. A few things need improvement. First, the pairs of
wires leading to the on/off switch and the speaker are not twisted
together. This makes it easier for the wires to get caught or
otherwise tangled. I'm tempted to twist them myself and fasten
black electrical tape every few inches just to make it easier to
use. I also found the on/off switch to be a little noisy. It
makes a prominent clicking sound when switched on/off. Inserting
the two AAA batteries was harder than expected. It took me a few
tries to seat them correctly. I was afraid I was going to break
the casing.

Lastly, the instructions were a little lacking in diagrams.
Considering the many one trick DVDs out there selling for $29.95,
I think Instant Radio would greatly benefit from either a
companion DVD showing set-up and handling for various effects, or
simply adding pictures to the instructions. While there are 4
small diagrams on the back of the instruction booklet, they
really are not as clear as they could be. Adding a DVD would not
be very cost-prohibitive.

Now Instant Radio is not an effect or a routine. It is a gadget
that allows you to create a magical moment. This could easily
become the next squeaker. If you remember when squeakers became
all the rage, you also can remember seeing magicians overuse the
gimmick and making everything they touched squeak. Likewise,
that's the danger with Instant Radio. You might become tempted to
make everything play music. That would be a bad move. The key is
to look for moments where you can catch a spectator off guard and
make a lasting impression.

For instance, when I was vacationing in St. Martin in 1984, I
plucked a flower from the vase on the cafe's table, and I tore
off the flower and made it float for the waiter. Then I plucked
the petals and gave them to the waiter. It was an unexpected
moment, took him completely by surprise, and baffled him.

So with Instant Radio, while there are a number of ideas for
performances included, you really need to show some restraint and
choose the moment. I could see borrowing a stick of gum and
wrapping the tin foil wrapper around a pencil and sliding it back
and forth to create a make shift radio, play a few seconds of
music, and then take it apart and hand it back to the spectator.
The same could be done with dining utensils. You simply need to
look for an opportunity to use it, and then not use it again.

Anyway, I just wanted to share my early thoughts about Instant
Radio. It does appear to be well made, and I am sure I will use
it once I do some modifications to it.

Until next time,

Steven

Rich Ferguson's Serial Biller from ellusionist

2009-10-02T16:21:00.001-07:00

OK, I received my copy of Serial Biller by Rich Ferguson yesterday and checked out the DVD last night. This is a no-brainer purchase guys. The base effect is direct and astounding. You borrow a dollar from a spectator, have them write down the serial number and then have them tear it to pieces. You then restore the pieces visually and hand them back the bill to confirm the serial number is the same. It simply can not be done.

Now I can't tell you the method, but Ferguson has taken advantage of a natural occurrence in U.S. currency. He mentions this should also work for Canadian and other currencies with serial numbers. This is a very clever exploitation of how currency is printed. Once understood, you will be able to prepare your own gimmicks, so there's no need to purchase anything else. It's all done with real money.

The DVD is much more than a one-trick pony. Like his prior release, Tagged, this DVD covers the thinking and handling of the base effect and then goes off to cover variations on the theme. It covers philosophy, body positions, multiple what-if scenarios, patter suggestions, preparation and more. So at the end of the day, you've received multiple effects, each routine powerful and able to standalone on its own, or be combined for further impact.

One of the best things I noted on the DVD is Ferguson combining Serial Biller with Tagged. At one point in a variation, he borrows a bill, has the serial number noted, and then makes the serial numbers vanish from the bill and appear on the spectator's arm. Freaking awesome.

Frankly, I am rushing out to my bank to go get some money to start playing with this. The effect can be done by novices and advanced magicians alike. He includes multiple handlings for all skill levels. I think Serial Biller should have been called Serial Killer because it is going to slay your audiences. This is a reputation maker.

Click the link below to receive an immediate discount on your purchase:

http://www.shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=176260&u=68489&m=22312&urllink=&afftrack=

All my best,

Steven

Friends and Rubber Bands

2009-09-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Greetings. It's been a few weeks since last I wrote to you. I've had my head down like many of you, just trying to stay ahead of the floundering economy. I hope you are all still getting plenty of bookings and that the magic business is still going strong.

I recently received an email from a very old magic friend, Greg Solomon, from Florida. Greg and I first started exchanging mail back in the mid-80's when I was publishing my newsletter called Ruminations, Magic That Makes You Think! It frequently included challenges for magic routines, and subscribers were invited to send in their solutions. Greg sent me routine ideas as well as challenges of his own.

Like me, Greg loves to meander through toy stores and novelty stores and office supply stores looking for unusual things that could become props in new magic effects. When I finally met Greg, and his wife, Connie, it was in NY during a magic symposium. The three of us hung out and played with toys he brought along for a brainstorming session. We had a lot of laughs and came up with some good ideas.

A lot of time went by and about a year ago Greg reached out to me. It was like it was yesterday. We were both very happy to be back in touch, and the brainstorming immediately started like only a day had passed instead of 20 years.

Magic has blessed me in so many ways, but chief among them is the ability to make long-term friendships. My best friend is Eric DeCamps and even though we are miles apart, we speak weekly and exchange emails, too. He introduced me to Meir Yedid and for years Meir and I worked together on projects. These guys introduced me to other guys, and then my publications and columns yielded even more friends like Greg. I hope magic has blessed you in a similar way.

One of the recent brainstorms I got was when I started playing with these animal-shaped rubber bands Greg sent me about a year ago. I remember laughing when I saw them, and then put them away in my magic junk drawer (you have a couple of those, don't you?).

Then the other day the routine hit me out of the blue. That's the way it happens, right? So imagine you step up to a little boy and blow up a balloon so you can make him a doggy, but in the middle of your twisting, the balloon breaks. You don't have another balloon but you do have a rubber band. So you stretch the rubber band the way you would a balloon. Then you pretend to blow it up, stretching the rubber band as if it was getting bigger as you were blowing. Now, using a thumb tip, you switch the regular rubber band for one of the animal rubber bands (matching color). All you need to do now is pretend to twist the rubber band into shape, and then display the animal rubber band. Voila! Perfect for walk-around.

Until next time,

Steven

Search & Destroy and Intellectual Property Theft

2009-08-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Just got back from DC on the vacation from hell
where the car broke down coming and going and cost
me $1400 just to get us back home. Now I need a
vacation from my vacation, if you know what I
mean, and I think you do.

So before I left I received this invitation to
send in a "move" to ellusionist for a new project
they are working. I actually have a couple of
things I would like to shoot and send in for
consideration but I have little free time to do
so.

While surfing the ellusionist site I came across
this effect from Aaron Fisher called Search and
Destroy. You may have heard about it. It is a
twist on a Larry Jennings' card sandwich effect. To
watch Fisher's video promotion, the effect looks
great. I could not bring myself to spend $29.95
though to learn a single card trick. The fact that
the DVD cover actually includes a reference to the
Nowhere Pass started making me suspicious. I can
usually reverse engineer effects like this, but
the video was so edited that it made the trick
look better than I suspected it really was.

So on the heels of my last Dan & Dave debacle
where I tried to purchase David Jade's Pixel but
was unable to download the trick and subsequently
found dozens of videos on YouTube which tipped the
method, I decided to search for Aaron Fisher's
Search and Destroy.

Voila! Another two dozen videos of the effect
being performed by young teenage magicians wanting
to prove themselves to be the next great
performer. While some of the videos were well
produced and the effect performed well, there were
many more which inadvertently tipped the handling
in its entirety. The effect isn't worth $29.95,
but if it came with a book of a few dozen effects,
then I might have considered buying it for $29.95.

One guy actually teaches the effect which kind of
amazed me. Another was talking about posting a
tutorial on his site that explains the handling in
detail. I was taken by the balls of these
youngsters who believe a) that learning a trick
and performing it on YouTube makes them into some
kind of pseudo magic God celebrity and b) that
learning the trick gives them the right to teach
it to others with blatant disregard to the creator
and ellusionist.

Why aren't the SAM and IBM teaching respect for
intellectual property? Why aren't magic shops
reminding youngsters that they need to keep the
secret, secret, and not to perform for friends
until they have mastered the effect?

So much thrust has been placed on producing DVDs
instead of print books these days, but video is so
much easier to rip off. Kids rip portions of magic
DVDs and post them on their sites or on YouTube.
This is blatant copyright infringement and
punishable by law, but first you have to identify
the culprit who hides behind a YouTube account. Try
getting a video pulled off YouTube over copyright
infringement. Try suing a teenager. Maybe his parents
would take away his webcam.

I know this is hard because for the past 4 months
I have been trying to get Amazon to pull two
ebooks of mine from their site. Over the years I
have written and sold many ebooks including Make
Your Ebook Sell and Publishing with EbookoMatic.
Make Your Ebook Sell is sold with reseller rights
which enables a buyer to resell the ebook as is to
others and pocket the profits. You may not,
however, repurpose the content of the ebook on
another platform. Well, if you go here you'll see
someone has repurposed my ebook and content for
the Amazon Kindle platform:

http://www.amazon.com/Make-Your-Ebook-Sell/dp/B002ASASXY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250697658&sr=8-1

I lose a buck every time someone purchases this
ebook from Amazon.

Likewise, Publishing with EbookoMatic was a free
ebook written and distributed to promote my
electronic publishing venture at EbookoMatic.com.
So someone has repurposed my free content and is
also selling this title on Amazon here:

http://www.amazon.com/eBookoMatic-ebook/dp/B0026L6NCU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250697798&sr=1-1

My only recourse was to publish reviews of my
ebooks explaining the copyright infringement.
Maybe Amazon will publish those!

Anyway, my point here is that I am getting
disgusted with paying through the nose for
one-trick DVDs only to see the effects revealed or
performed badly on YouTube. I think we should go
back to print books. I don't have an issue with a
friend teaching my effects to another friend, one
on one, in the privacy of their home or at a club
meeting, etc. I do have a problem with people who
blatantly steal your intellectual property and get
away with it because the Internet has empowered
them to do so without reparation and blatant
disregard for the creator.

Tag, you're it.

Steven

Dan & Dave Buck and David Jade's Pixl

2009-07-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks for subscribing to the Magic Portal/Magic
Reviews newsletter. I appreciate your support and
responses to my newsletter and blog postings. This
week I want to tell you about my recent experience
with Dan & Dave Buck's web site and a new card
effect called Pixl by David Jade.

For those of you who have been long-term
subscribers, you know that I have reviewed Dan
& Dave Buck's materials ever since they first
emerged as young teens. Early on, they sent me
their first spiral bound set of lecture notes as
well as a VHS video of them doing strange things
with cards while trying to explain how to do them
in a dull, monotone style.

At the time, I was impressed with their acrobatics
with cards, but could not get into it because the
explanations were so difficult to follow.

Obviously, they have come a long, long way since
those early days. Now they produce DVDs with
top-notch packaging and presentation. You know
going in that you are going to get a great
product. They've learned how to teach and taken
advantage of the newest technologies to produce a
superior DVD product. I purchased their last set
of DVDs and had nothing but good words to say
about it.

Last Saturday I decided to visit their site to
see what was new. There I discovered an effect
called Pixl by David Jade. I watched the demo and
must confess that while I had some suspicions as
to the handling required to bring about the
effect, I was fooled and found it to be a perfect
ending for The Ambitious Card routine.

Pixl enables you to shuffle a selected card into
the deck, wrap the deck with a rubber band, place
it on the table, and then slam your fist on the
table to cause the selected card to rise to the
top free from the rubber band. That is to say, the
selected card actually appears on top of the
banded deck. Looks fantastic.

So I decided to spend $8.00 on the streaming
video and paid for it with PayPal. Now while I was
surfing the site and making the purchase, I
experienced some issues with the site's
functionality and payment process. Database and
SQL statements crossed my screen more than once,
and after the PayPal transaction was over, I was
informed by the D&D site that my purchase did
not go through.

Well, not according to PayPal who debited by
account $8.00. So I sent an email to D&D. No
response. Then I submitted a trouble ticket. No
response. Then I posted a message in their forum.
The only response I got was that D&D were
probably tied up in Texas on a video shoot. After
four days of non-responsiveness, I decided to try
attracting their attention by filing a complaint
with PayPal.

This morning I found out that they refunded my
$8.00. But I still don't have access to the video
I wanted. So even though they gave me my money
back, now I'm pissed because I never got the trick
I wanted to buy. Bad, immature customer service.

So I did what anybody else in my shoes might do.
I went to YouTube and searched for Pixl. There I
found a dozen bad performances of the trick by
young kids trying to show off the effect they had
no doubt only learned minutes before shooting
their YouTube video.

The comments posted on each video explained how
the trick was done. Within minutes, I was
recreating the effect. For free.

Now I am not condoning this, but I think there
are a few lessons to be learned here. First, if
you are going to run an online business, you ought
to have at least one dedicated person monitoring
the site. When I created EbookoMatic.com, I
designed it to be a passive revenue machine
capable of publishing and selling ebooks while I
sleep.

Still, I created a very sophisticated back
end that empowers me or anyone working for me to
monitor transactions and correct problems through
a web-based administrator's interface. At the very
least, D&D need to have someone watching the
shop while they are away. If you have an online
magic shop, please consider your customer service.
It takes one bad transaction to get someone angry
enough to dedicate a newsletter and write a
negative blog review, and that gets read by
hundreds, if not thousands of people over time.

Second lesson to be learned is that magic
societies ought to include some language about
revealing secrets via online videos. It's one
thing to teach online, but if it's not your effect
and you are doing this for your 15 seconds of
fame, then SAM and IBM should boycott YouTube and
put something into their rules and regulations
that puts members on probation for this type of
activity. Think of how embarrassing this would be
for their magazines to have a probation page with
a list of members who are revealing secrets
online. It's kind of like a newspaper publishing a
"John's list" for local guys seeking out the company of
prostitutes in your city.

As for Pixl, I think it is a good trick -- very
visual. I liken it to Darryl's effect "Ultimate
Ambition" where the deck is tied up with a rope, and
when the selected card is clearly slid into the middle
it still jumps to the top of the tied deck. It would
be very easy to have a card selected, top changed
for an indifferent card, the deck wrapped with a
rubber band and tabled, and the "selected card"
slid into the middle, only to have it rise to top
quickly and visibly. A poor man's approach,
totally impromptu, and only $8.00. I like it.

I do recommend you visit D&D's site as it has
a lot of interesting and provocative effects. They
have become a force to be reckoned with. I only
wish they handled their business as well as they
handle a deck of cards.

Until next time,

Steven

Review of the M5 System from ellusionist

2009-07-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I just spent a good part of my weekend
watching the Basic and Advanced M5 DVDs from
ellusionist. Not being familiar with M5 I wasn't
sure what the DVDs would be all about. For those
of you like me who live in a dark cave and rarely
come out, M5 refers to a powerful magnet that
may be worn around your wrist, beneath a jacket.
With this magnet in place, you can accomplish
miracles.

The Basic DVD covers the general use and
performance of effects with the M5 system which
includes the magnet, an elastic band, a safety pin
and other accessories required to perform some of
the illusions. The material in both the Basic and
Advanced DVDs is presented by Justin Miller who is
on the ellusionist team. Justin is a
straight-shooter, and some of the best tips come
as apparent after thoughts as he is demonstrating
and teaching the effects.

The Advanced DVD focuses on the use of the M5
system and the Raven. As Justin explains what
comes in the kit, he refers to additional notes
from both Chazpro and ellusionist. They include
shims and steel coin shells and gaffed objects.
You get everything you need to recreate the
effects on the DVDs.

Justin says that ellusionist challenged him to
play with the M5 for a few weeks to see what he
could create. Some of the material on these DVDs
is very, very good. Spooky, visual magic.

Now the last time I played with magnets and magic
was the old Poltergeist effect that started it all
several decades ago. It consisted of a heavy and
bulky magnet that many people strapped to their
legs or put inside their cowboy boots. For me, it
was impractical.

Since then magnets have gotten stronger and
smaller and thus easier to conceal and use. I've
seen David Blaine and others work some apparent
miracles. These DVDs have some reputation makers
on them, but they will take practice. Too many
magicians, especially the younger set, will
probably rush out to perform these effects and
draw suspicion. It's all in the finesse. And that
takes time to develop and master.

Among Justin's better effects is a Haunted Pack
where a deck cuts itself inside a ziplock bag to a
selected card. I've always liked self-cutting
decks like the Cobra Deck but hate ending dirty. This
is a way to get a similar effect and end virtually
100% clean.

Another effect he got a lot of mileage out of was
a dime and penny exchange. I laughed when he
performed it because most of us have an old
shimmed penny shell somewhere in our drawers, and
probably forgot how great an effect this can be. I
think my penny shell came from an old Adam's Penny
and Dime trick, but now I have an actual way to
use it to accomplish a real neat exchange in the
spectator's own hands and end clean. This is
simple but powerful magic.

Justin shows a few effects where he stops the
hands on a borrowed watch and shuts down a cell
phone. Both are returned unharmed to their owners.
This is where I draw the line. He says you can do this
without harming either device, but he advises not
to try it on an iPhone because you might wipe the
micro hard drive. A lot of devices these days have
micro hard drives, so this kind of scares me. It
looks freaking great, but I'm not sure it is worth
the risk.

He gets an amazing amount of mileage with making
a gaffed matchstick stand up in a spectator's
hand. This is the effect that started the whole
Poltergeist thing so many years ago. Justin is
doing it in people's palms while the old effect
had the match rising and falling under a glass.
Both look good, but having a spectator involved is
stronger.

Since no M5 kit was included, I could not try
performing any of these effects, but they all look
doable and commercial. One of my only complaints
about the kit they show on the DVD is that Justin
goes through a very thorough explanation about how
to modify the elastic strap to resemble Brad
Christian's set-up. This requires you to sew a
pocket into the strap to hold the M5 magnet and to
add some velcro straps to secure it around your
arm.

My question is would it have really cost that
much to include a prepared elastic strap? When you
are going to spend almost $100.00 for the two DVDs
and advanced kit, one would expect to be ready to
go when the stuff comes out of the box. It might
be a disappointment to those who make the
investment to have to first make the modifications
to the elastic strap themselves. It doesn't
require a lot of effort, so why not include a
properly prepared elastic band to begin with?

Other than that, I found these DVDs to be
well-produced and the material well thought out
and implemented. If you want to add some powerful
effects to your magic, then the M5 DVDs might be
the way to go.

If you want to receive a 5% discount on your
purchase of the m5 system and DVDs or any ellusionist
merchandise, please click here.

Until next time,

Steven

Sudden Deck 2

2009-07-14T08:27:00.001-07:00

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

Magic Review: David Stone's Window

2009-07-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

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". If you
would like to purchase this effect and receive an
immediate 5% discount on this or any other effects
from ellusionist, please click here.

Until next time,

Steven

Ringtone

2009-06-01T07:29:00.000-07:00

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.

If you are interested in receiving an immediate 5% discount
on your purchase of Ringtone or any other ellusionist effects,
please click here.

All my best,

Steven

What Are Your Three Favorite Kid Show Effects?

2009-05-09T10:35:00.000-07:00

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

"Pressure" and New Site for Eric DeCamps!

2009-04-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

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

Modify This!

2009-02-06T06:21:00.000-08:00

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.

G&L Magic: A Dealer with Integrity

2009-01-31T10:30:00.000-08:00

"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

Juggling Knives and Loose Change

2009-01-27T10:30:00.000-08:00

Here's some quick reviews and thoughts about how to improve
your business.

First, I finally received a new set of Juggling Knives.
Ever since I saw Penn juggle them with the Asparagus
Cultural Society, I knew I wanted to learn how to do this
feat. I already know basic club juggling, so this should be
relatively easy to master once I get past the fear of large
metal pointy objects falling all around me.

Unfortunately, the first set I purchased for $69.00 on eBay
arrived with cracked wooden handles. I asked for a
replacement and the vendor quickly agreed to do so if I
would return the initial set for examination. I did, they
apologized and credited me for my return postage, and then
they sent me a new set. These were perfect and came with a
carrying case.

After practicing for a few minutes I quickly realized that
the handles hurt when I caught them. They were hard. I
started talking to my 9 year old son about my problem and
he suggested we visit the local tennis store his Mom frequents
to pick up some foam tape they use on tennis rackets.

After taking my knives out of the bag, and seeing the shock
on the tennis store owner's face, he settled down and made
some suggestions. We bought the tape and off we went.

Then I realized these cheaper knives needed some type of
rubber bumper on the bottom to avoid splitting the handles
when they hit the ground. I knew what I was looking for,
but did not know where to begin. We wound up in Home Depot
searching in vein for some type of rubber washer we could
screw into the base of the handle. Finally, a Home Depot
employee led me to a rack and pulled out these little tiny
once inch gaskets.

A few minutes later, I was home, taping and screwing in the
rubber gaskets. Bingo! For the extra $14.00 I spent, I had a
set of juggling knives that looked great and felt great. And
I still saved a ton of money over buying the more expensive
$138.00 set of professional knives also available on eBay.

Now to practice without taking an eye out.

I also received my new Loose Change Chop Cup from Colin
Rose in the UK. I bought mine off eBay for $75.00 because
it promised you could produce a stack of loose coins at the
conclusion of the routine.

Well, the cup arrived and it is a thing of beauty. It's
smaller than I expected -- maybe 2.5 - 3 inches high. It
comes with two balls and a sack and that extra gimmick
required to produce the stack of coins.

Unfortunately, the gimmick comes in multiple sizes and the
seller was not sure this was for U.S. coins and frankly
neither am I. I contacted Colin Rose directly for
assistance and he promised to make sure it works fine if I
send him 20 pounds to cover postage and his time. I want to
make sure I have a working effect and will probably do this
next week. But it kind of bugs me.

When I tried to produce the coins, I found it would not
work with a stack of 18 nickels without the gimmick
dropping from the cup. Nice production. And when I was able
to dislodge the coins, I had to use a lot of force, and that
kind of destroys the effect for me. So the jury is still out
on this one.

The materials I ordered for my Frame Fantastique idea
arrived, but I am having a difficult time putting the
pieces together to make this work. I'll let you know how
far I get next time.

On the sales and marketing side, I've begun to hear from a
bunch of you about your web sites and your questions about
sales letters, email communications, and promotion.

One thing I will continue to hammer through your head is
the need to put your email follow-up on auto-pilot. To do
this, you need to write a series of email messages and
schedule them for delivery through an autoresponder
service.

If you can't afford to hire me to write your email series,
go buy this product to help you right now:

Email Follow-up Creator Pro

Some of you have asked about the best way to use Google
AdWords or Yahoo Ads to compete in your local marketplace.
Here is the best ebook on the topic and the one I make all
of my clients read:

Agency AdWords Revealed

And lastly, if you can't hire me to write your sales letter
or improve your web site content or marketing collateral,
please consider this tool:

Push Button Sales Letters

Until next time,

Steven

New Effect Reviews and Fresh Ideas for an Old Trick

2009-01-20T09:08:00.001-08:00

Greetings, fellow magi. Steve here with a few updates of
interest. After my debacle with the Appearing, Floating
Microphone and Gecko, no one wants to buy it from me on
eBay. Not only that, I have been unable to sell virtually
any of the items I recently relisted. Oh, well ...

Been trying to find a Frame Fastastique for some time. This
was a clear Plexiglas frame that displayed four silver
dollars. You remove the coins, cover the frame, vanish the
coins and the coins reappear in the frame. I saw Jose de la
Torre use this in a coin routine back when I was the VP of
the IMPS in NYC. It looked great. I've been wanting to
recreate the routine, but not even Mario Carrandi could tell
me where to find a frame.

So I started searching for coin dealers to see what I could
find in available coin displays, figuring I could gimmick it
up once I got it. Finally, after months of searching, I
found a family that specializes in making coin displays. I
ordered one to see how it goes, along with spare parts, and I
will try my hand at recreating the gimmicked frame next
week. Wish me luck. If it works out well, I may start
taking orders for them.

How far can you carry a running gag without it falling? For
those of you who have been following me for years, you know
I am obsessed with spring raccoons and yearn to put
together an entire MC act with running gags including doing
a Take Apart Vanish, Mini-Blamm Production and Raccoon
Levitation. How about a Raccoon Wringer? Was speaking with
my friend and master woodworker, Thomas Clark, and we may
take a whack at one of these. Only problem is I need to
find a flat raccoon. Thomas recommended I bring a picture
of a raccoon to a sign making shop and have them create one
for me. That's a pretty cool idea.

I just received a new rope routine I stumbled upon. It's
called 3 Way Traveling Knot by Gay Llungberg and it's dated
2006. Back this summer, when I saw Justin Flom perform in
Branson, he did a traveling knot with one spectator. He tied
one end of the rope to the microphone and the spectator held
the other end. Then he cut the rope, tied the ends, moved the
knot about two thirds of the way, untied the rope, retied
the rope, moved the knot towards the spectator and then let
the spectator untie the rope. It looked quite good.

I know Pavel has a complex and very expensive version of
this effect, but this one cost only $29.95 so I took a
gamble. Surprise, it is not crap. This is easy to perform
and should please the crowds. I am anxious to try it out on
my kids.

Also got a set of juggling knives for $68 from an operation
called El Paso down in Texas, but two of the wooden handles
were cracked when I received them so I sent them back and
am waiting for replacements. Hope they are better next time
around. What makes this set a steal is that you also get a
heavy canvas bag that you can wear on your belt. Good deal.
While better knives exist, they typically surpass the $138
range.

Can I juggle? Well, my friend, Scott Morris, started teaching
me three ball juggling back in the 1970s, and then I taught
myself from there, working my way up to rings and clubs. I
bought torches but eventually sold them and finally opted
to try my hand at knives. If I don't blind myself, this
should be a fun addition.

Also received the original Ammar Topit Book, his original
VHS tapes, the original pattern PLUS Carl Cloutier's Topit
Pattern. Now all I have to is lose some weight, so I can fit
in my suits and ask my wife to start cutting and sewing.

More soon,

All my best,

Steven

Magic Duds

2009-01-20T08:57:00.000-08:00

Good morning magic fans. Hope all is well in your
respective part of the world. As I continue to develop
routines for a potential MC/table hopping gig here in
Tulsa, I am always lurking for good deals on eBay.

Today I want to tell you about two things you might want to
stay away from on eBay or elsewhere. The first is the
Appearing, Floating Microphone Stand and the second is the
Cut-No-Cut Scissors from Bazar de Magia.

I thought an appearing mike stand that floats could be a
great way to open an evening. You look for a mike, can't
find one, so you produce your own. Then you make it float.
Seems logical.

But the second I opened this package I knew I would be
disappointed. From a distance this probably looks great but
from a foot away, the mike stand looks too thick. The silver
pipe appears to be about 4 inch around. It's big.

As to its ability to float, all I can say is you better
have really long and strong fingers. The traditional Zombie
gimmick is too short and the included foulard is too big.
The net result is a mike stand that floats about a foot
away from one end of the three foot square cloth. Looks
silly.

And considering it is largely made of a tube of mylar, it
is extremely heavy. The gimmick slides into a hole wider
than a cigarette -- it is a loose fit -- so you get this
kind of swaying, dancing mike stand effect which looks,
frankly, like the stand is hanging on something, which it
is.

A big disappointment and reposted to ebay faster than you
can say "Omar Pasha".

I also have been working on a cut and restored rope routine
where I actually place the rope in the spectator's hands --
bold but helps sell the fact the rope is actually cut in
two pieces. I remembered back to my youth, which is getting
harder to do these days, and remembered seeing Bob
McCallister do a cut and restored rope routine on Wonderama
with a variety of different gimmicked comedy scissors.

You can buy this collection of scissors from Bazar de Magia for
over $300.00, but I thought it might be wise to check out
their basic Cut-No-Cut scissor before further considering
the entire set. Good move on my part.

Again, maybe it is the size of my hands, but I could not
open or close this scissors with my right hand. Even with
two hands it was difficult. Oddly enough, I could work the
scissors with my left hand only. Even then it took some
working at it before I could do it semi-reliably. Bottom
line: I understand the gimmick must be made a certain way
to prevent a spectator from ruining the effect, but Lord,
what's the purpose of making the scissors so tough to open
or close if the magician can't do it either.

I've reposted a bunch of things to eBay, so take a look at
some bargain basement merchandise.

I've also been developing my own web site to promote myself
as a magician. This is a real challenge for me since I have
no referenceable act or business. I'm just another rank
amateur, so I've taken a more personal approach, sharing
pictures and anecdotes about my life in magic. It's still a
work in progress, but it's coming along. You can check it
out here:

http://www.sophisticatedsorcery.com

Your comments are welcomed.

Until next time,

Steven

Importance of Character/Review of Departure

2009-01-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

Good morning, folks. There is a great article in this
month's MAGIC magazine about comedy magician, Mark
Kornhauser. He is a character-based performer with dozens
of different personas -- one for every imaginable occasion.

The article got me thinking again about who we pretend to
be when we perform. What I have frequently seen are
magicians who emulate popular comedians. For example, back
in the 70's when Steve Martin was big, everybody was "wild
and crazy" and when Robin Williams was big, everyone was
throwing in "Nanoo-Nanoo" or the occasional "Shazbat!"

Younger, less experienced performers tend to fall into this
trap because they have not fully developed or become aware
of who they are. The resulting performance tends to become
a poor imitation instead of an original success.

The old adage about us being "Actors portraying magicians"
rings true for me. I know when I perform I tend to try to
be myself though I find myself quicker with the wit and
more the Mr. Professional Magic showman. I become more of a
wise guy and jokester, and the magic is almost a by-product
of the humor. I spend more type kidding around with people
then I do performing magic. In sharp contrast to my
sarcastic and witty performing persona, in my actual daily
life, I have become more introverted as I have gotten
older. So performing is becoming harder, more of a
challenge, more of a stretch.

I also find myself going on auto-pilot when pressed to
perform magic. I'll ask for a deck of cards and do the same
4 card tricks: Cutting the Aces, Ace Transposition,
Ambitious Card and Folded Card to Mouth ("sleight of
tongue"). It's a 10-15 minute set and it flows and I know
exactly what to do and when to do it.

Being able to put the technical part of my performance on
auto-pilot means I have more time and flexibility and focus
to banter with the audience. I can spend time trying to
entertain and less time worrying about what I have to do
next from a technical perspective.

But performing magic on auto-pilot can also endanger your
performance. It can come across as stilted, overly
rehearsed or robotic. You need to be careful. You don't
want to lose your edge.

As I begin to work on building new routines and acts for
future work, I find myself wondering more if I should try
to develop some characters like Kornhauser. I know what I
can get away with and what fits me. I tend to get a sudden
rush of ideas and then I have to consider what's
appropriate for the most likely type of audience I might
encounter locally.

For instance, I started getting an interesting idea for a
mafia magician who basically threatens spectators when he
gets the trick wrong, borrows money and then asks for
interest, and then even switches places and makes the
spectator perform for him (OK, Magic Boy, you think magic
is easy -- amuse me!).

I envision Andrew Dice Clay meets Mr. Magic from Little
Italy. A playful bit with an assistant standing on the
side, dressed in typical gangster suit with arms folded,
acting an enforcer for the magician: "When Mr. Magic says
'Clap!' you clap, get it? You want me to hurt him, boss?" I
also envision this magician character using a lot of
expletives: "Pick a card, any 'f--king card at all!" In the
right nightclub (East Coast/West Coast) it could work and be
very funny BUT it's not appropriate for Tulsa, OK.

Then I started thinking of a hypnotist character called
Will Power who comes out with a bag of Pepperidge Farm
cookies and talks about how he can use his "will power"
(think melodramatic - straight face - over the top arched
eyebrows delivery) to help people stay on a diet and lose
weight. Meanwhile he polishes off the entire bag of
Milanos. A gag with maybe some simple cold reading jokes --
"I knew you would say that because I am -- Will Power." This
might be more appropriate and could work as an MC bit
between acts. More appropriate for local performances.

And so, I will continue to ponder this and I recommend you
consider the possibilities for yourself. Look at the
success of Rudy Coby and his mad scientist or Jeff
McBride's masked man of mystery. Characters can be very
strong, very entertaining and help build a brand to
differentiate you from other acts. And differentiation is
what counts in any business. Plus it's easier to market
yourself when you are truly different from the next guy
listed in the Yellow Pages under "Magicians/Clowns". Think
about it.

Reviews
========

Recently, I bid and won on a magic table from G&L Magic
(aka Magic Daddy). I really like these guys. They are a
magic shop and manufacturer and tend to create less
expensive knock-offs that look good and function well.

A few years ago I purchased a roll-on side table, and liked
it so much that I asked if they would make me a second one
and send me some new bases with chrome trim to match the
trim on the tables. No problem and very affordable. I
suggest you check them out on eBay. They are a dealer and
manufacturer who will give you good value and good service.

I recently received Derek Robert's Departure (aka Ring
Flight). What makes this version markedly different is that
the reel is built into a car alarm fob. I had previously
purchased and used HotTrix version which had the reel
hidden in the key, but it frankly looked odd to have a ring
hanging from a key. Departure is more logical, and it is an
everyday object people carry. Most people to not carry key
wallets anymore.

The gimmick is well constructed though the entire fob is
black, even the buttons which are normally white or grey,
red and blue. I am probably going to try painting these by
hand with some acrylic paint to add some realism. I don't
know why he didn't go the extra mile and add these details.
It would make it look more realistic.

So overall, though this is a more logical gaff, it does not
look 100% authentic and ungimmicked. On a scale of 1-10, I
give it a 10 for concept but only an 8 for delivery.

The other thing which is somewhat troubling is the
double-sided carabiner clip that is attached to the gimmick
and to which you attach the borrowed ring. The clip, while
easy to engage, is longer than the car alarm fob. I would
much rather see a smaller clip for this purpose. It looks
unusually large and suspect.

Until next time,

Steven

Tag, Your It!

2008-12-26T09:31:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas dear readers. I hope you had a wonderful
holiday with your friends and family, and that you took
time to reflect on the true meaning of the season with
respect to your own lives. Reflection is not something most
people do well. We tend to move on, never looking backwards.
This only sets us up into making the same mistakes -
personal, business, spiritual - and that's not healthy.

Speaking of reflection (get ready for a really bad
segueway), I finally received the lost DVD that was
supposed to accompany my set of Mirrors. The DVD is called
James Prince's Menu of Miracles, and I have yet to have
time to watch it, but hope to this weekend when guests leave
and I can go to my man cave for an hour of magic DVD
watching.

One reader had recommended that I check out a new effect
called Tagged by Richard Sanders. Well, I went to Richie's
site to watch his video demo of the effect and was not blow
away by it. I know it is rather popular. Then when I visited
ellusionist's site in a search of more information, I found
another effect called Tagged by Rich Ferguson.

Now if memory serves me right, there is also another Tagged
which I own by Shawn Farquhar which can be used to end an
Ambitious Card routine. In this version the selected, signed
card appeared pinned to the inside of your jacket with one
of those electronic security tags they put on clothes in
department stores so you can't walk out with them. I like
that effect a lot. Very clever and very funny.

Rich Ferguson's Tagged is quite different though and the
video demo is a mind blower. It makes Stigmata look like a
kiddie trick. Basically it a mind-reading climax where a
selected word or series of numbers of even a phrase appears
on a spectators' arm -- not yours. This element of having
the prediction reveal itself on the spectator's body is
amazing.

Now we're not talking about a one inch prediction. We're
talking a prediction that is an inch high and several
inches across. Go watch the demo to see what I am talking
about:

http://www.ellusionist.com/product/dvd+training/intermediate-advanced/tagged-by-rich-ferguson.do

I watched it and frankly never saw Rich "tag" the
spectator. Of course, the video is well edited, but it
definitely sparked my interest, so I purchased and
downloaded it.

Now the idea of imprinting something on a spectator is not
new as you all know. I'm not a historian but the first
effect I ever learned using this type of reveal was from
the Jerry Lewis Book of Magic (does that bring back any
memories for any of you?). It involved you drawing a
symbol, selected by the spectator, on the face of a sugar
cube. Then you dropped the cube into a glass of water, and
asked the spectator to hold their palm over the glass. As
the symbol dissolves off the cube (thus vanishing), the
spectator turns his hand over to reveal the symbol is now
on their palm! A very strong effect indeed for a kid's
magic book.

Next, I saw Jeff Spiller during my college days make
cigarette ashes penetrate the back of a spectator's hand so
they appeared in their palm. I think the effect was called
"Hex" and I have no idea whose effect this was originally
(nor do I really care). I developed my own handling for it
and had great success with it. Amazingly simple but very
strong effect because it happens in the spectator's own
hands. But as cigarettes became passe, ashes are not
usually readily available and I don't really want to carry
ashes with me. I don't like getting my hands dirty.

Next, came Rocco's Stampede which enables you to imprint
one of several different symbols on someone as well as
yourself. The gimmick was nothing special, but the
accompanying VHS tape showing live performances of Rocco doing
different performances was worth the price of the effect.
And it came with a kit of different rubber stamps and pads
to play with. I bought it but never used because at the end
of the day - while it was novel - it lacked the awe that Hex
created. It was a little too cute for me. Not quite as
mysterious as the simpler Hex.

Well, Tagged is a horse of a different color. The gimmick
approach is relatively easy to construct in a variety of
sizes and may be customized to reveal literally anything
you want. I could see using this at a trade show and making
the name of a company or product appear on the arms of many
people during the course of a work day. Rich says he has
made his own phone number appear on an entire room of
people. Neat promotional opportunities though you probably
need to be selective about the type of person you imprint.
Some people will probably be amazed while others very
pissed off. It is, after all, ink on their arm, and a lot
of it.

The best part of this video is the performance tips and
live demos of Rich tagging various people on the street as
he performs his mind reading. Here is where the effect
shines. It seems as if he never touches them. And some of
the predictions run down the length of a spectator's arm,
making it seem virtually impossible. The spectator must
wonder how and when did this guy get this on me, and how
did he know this is the word I was thinking of? As Rich
suggests this double bang climax really messes with
people's brains. It is a mind blower of an effect. Having
had great success with Hex I am anxious to build my Tagged
gimmicks and start trying Tagged. I recommend you check it
out, especially for restaurant work, trade show or walk
around work.

If you want to receive an immediate 5% discount on Tagged
or any other ellusionist effects, please click here.

My new Christmas gifts to myself, Hello My Name Is and
Departure have arrived. I've just cracked open the packages
but will share my findings with you next week.

Until next time,

Steven

P.S.: Please, please, please, share this blog with other magicians!

Give the Gift of Satan for Christmas!

2008-12-18T10:10:00.000-08:00

I was just preparing to leave town when I checked my email
one more time. I found a "Happy Holidays" email from
Diamond's Magic in Peabody, MA.

Among the holiday DVDs he was recommending was a biography
of known satanist, Aleister Crowley. Here's his product
description:

"Aleister Crowley was an accomplished mountain climber,
poet, chess player and writer. He is also the most well
known and influential occult magician of modern times. His
admirers saw him as the prophet of a new age, whose goal
was a spiritual awakening for himself and all humanity. At
times his unique message and unusual behavior led to
misunderstandings and contempt. His detractors denounced
him as a Satanist, a drug addict, and a sex maniac. The
tabloids labeled him a Black Magician, The Wickedest man in
the World and the Man We'd Like to Hang. The Great Beast, as
he called himself, continues to be an influence on the
spiritual world today."

Occult magician? I don't recall Crowley's finesses on
popular card tricks or tips on presenting bizarre magic, do
you? He was misunderstood? He wanted to awaken humanity?

What kind of crap is this for a magic dealer to be selling?

I ask you, is this the type of DVD we want to buy and have
on our magic bookshelves?

Is this the type of tasteless material we want our kids to
spend their money on? Do I want my son watching this in his
bedroom, so he can develop a kinder and gentler acceptance
of "The Great Beast"?

Is this the type of holiday message a magic dealer should
be spreading at Christmas.

What does the Magic Dealers Association have to say about
this?

This offends me as a Christian and as a magician, and if
you share a similar belief, please let Eddie at Diamond's
Magic know this:

Diamond's Magic, Inc.
515 Lowell Street, 2nd floor
Peabody, MA 01960
(978) 535-8950
Toll Free: 1-800-330-2713 (Orders Only)
Fax: 978-535-8947
Website: www.diamondsmagic.com
E-mail: info@diamondsmagic.com

Remember the season, folks,

Steven Schneiderman

Issacson's Prophet

2008-12-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

The sound of a buzzsaw outside my window makes me think
about the day I saw Richiardi perform his bloody illusion
at the World Festival of Magic and Occult back in the 70's
at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum.

It was quite a show and included folks I never heard of
and many I never saw again. Richiardi was the headliner and
he was supported by a huge cast of acts from around the
world, many specialty acts, but not what I would
necessarily call bizarre. Otto Wesley was probably the only
magician I can remember. I remember his canes and razor
blade productions were nothing short of amazing.

But the buzzsaw outside my window is cutting down dangerous
branches from the trees outside my house. You see, last year
Tulsa got hit by the ice storm of the century and many of us
were out of power for days as a result of huge tree limbs
falling on power lines.

We're actually under a freeze right now. I've been iced in
for the past two days and going stir crazy. So last night I
decided to watch the Issacson Prophet video on Theory 11 one
more time before making my decision to buy and download the
instructional video.

A few months ago I had purchased Richard Sanders' Extreme
Burn DVD and while I believe it is one of the most magical
looking transformations of dollar bills I have ever seen, I
had a terribly difficult time constructing the gimmick and
making it look as flawless as Richard's demonstrations.

I know there are many versions of Page's Easy Money and I
actually own a copy of Fred Kaps' Flash Cash from his
lecture notes -- that's the version I knew and performed. But
having seen this flurry of new releases over the past two
years and wanting to perform a more magical, less "movey"
version for business and pleasure, I took a shine to
Prophet.

While Prophet looks different than Extreme Burn in its
performance, I have to say the illusion is just as good and
appears to involve less handling. Less monkey business. I
scavenged the magic forums for reviews of all the versions
out there and Prophet got good reviews. So I bit.

I have to say I am not disappointed. While the gimmick you
must construct is virtually identical to all of the other
versions out there, Issacson includes some tips which
Richard Sanders' did not, which in my opinion, make a big
difference. There's also no inertia to play with. And the
method whereby you perform the transformation actually looks
just as good if not better.

I have not constructed the gimmick yet, so only time will
tell, but if you want an easier handling with a better
looking packet of bills, this is the product to purchase.

Go check it out at Theory 11's site.

Stay warm,

All My Best,

Steven

Mirrors

2008-12-15T15:07:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon, magical buds. It's freezing here in Tulsa
today. Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I walked hand in
hand to the local cafe, it was sunny and a balmy 72
degrees. A few hours later we got hit by a cold front, and
it started sleeting. This morning it was 22 degrees with a
wind-chill factor of -2 degrees. Thankfully, this type of
weather does not occur often and it never lasts very long
either.

Schools were closed today, so Daddy is having a hard time
working with the kids screaming at each other in the
background. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids
-- but I love them more when they are in school.

Trilogy: 3X Dan and Dave Buck
-----------------------------

I wanted to tell you I have been reviewing the content from
the Dan and Dave Buck DVD set, Trilogy, which I mentioned
last time. Sad to say I will probably not learn a lot from
these DVDs. There is some very cool stuff, but very little
of it is actually explained by the kids. Most of it is
captioned: do this, do that, kewl, right? I can't learn
this way.

What I want to know is why does my LePaul Spread look
crappy compared to theirs? What do they do to their cards?
I'm using the same deck of cards, mine have been broken in,
and they have been treated with fanning powder. Still my
cards zig when theirs zag. I guess it's back to practicing
for a few hours a day until I get the knack. The problem is
most of their stuff is so damned complicated, that I am
afraid my knicks will get knacked before I get knocked.

Mirrors
-------

I also wanted to tell you about a neat thing I came across
while reading a magic review in The Linking Ring. They
mentioned this new DVD featuring the magic of James Prince
that has an effect called Mirrors. Before I get into it,
let me explain my interest.

Back in 19XX when Paul Harris came out with his effect,
Solid Deception, I was intrigued by the idea of a deck of
cards turning into a solid block. I played with it and came
up with my own routine called Rent-A-Deck where a rented
deck (solid) requires a deposit of a dime to be used
(loose). You put the dime in the slot in the deck, and the
cards transform from a solid deck to a regular deck --
until the time expired buzzer sounds -- and then the deck
is solid again.

I entered this routine in the 1976 SAM Close-Up Contest and
it was about the oddest act going that year. I give myself
credit for going against Imam and Peter Maloney (Peter was
very gracious, but he won hands down).

I later marketed the effect and years later actually found
someone who bought it and performed in his restaurant magic
-- Ken are you out there? You are my favorite subscriber.

Well, as luck would have it, this solid deck theme
continued to perpetuate with a Screwed Deck, a Glass Deck,
and a few other renditions. I owned them all at one point
or another, but this new one called Mirrors seems to be the
best application yet.

You do an Ambitious Card routine and then hand them their
card and the deck and ask them if they know how the trick
was done. Of course, you explain, it was done with mirrors.
When they examine the deck, they discover it is really a
stack of 5 mirrors! I think this is brilliant -- a perfect
ending.

RSVP Magic makes a limited supply of these mirrors, so I
ordered a pair immediately. They are cut the same size as a
poker-sized deck and you must glue 5 cards onto the back of
the 5 mirrors. The corners are rounded, the edges are a bit
rough, and the mirror surfaces are covered with protective
plastic which should be removed before performing.

I used a spray adhesive because I was impatient and that
got glue everywhere. I spent more time cleaning the edges
than if I would have just rubber cemented the 5 cards on
the backs of the mirrors. When stacked they look somewhat
like a deck. You need to hold them in a deep grip after the
switch.

The mirrors are supposed to come with a DVD showing a
routine, but mine did not arrive with the mirrors. I'm
waiting for my replacement. To order your own set, go here:

http://www.rsvpmagic.com/mirrors

You can order by sending an inquiry to info@rsvpmagic.com.
They are UK-based.

Cap Through Bottle and Magic Cafe
---------------------------------

You know, it doesn't take me long to get sick of magic
forums and magicians. All I have to do is spend enough time
surfing through the Magic Cafe and I realize what a bunch of
a--holes there are out there. Back when we used to share
ideas on USENET news groups, I used to call them forum
nazis -- these are self-proclaimed, self-righteous,
self-appointed guardians of magic -- who tell you what you
can and can not do online.

I love it when these guys get into it over something stupid
on the Magic Cafe. They start arguing about anything. Don't
these guys have a life or is this it? Pathetic, sniffling
bunch of losers.

Anyway, so I was surfing around looking at reviews, trying
to find some sensational effects for some possible
restaurant magic I might start doing in the near future.
The Cap in Bottle effect intrigues me if for now other
reason than there are so many versions out there. It's hard
to know which one to choose.

After careful consideration, I selected Aquarius and
Elmwood Magic just sent me an email to let me know it
shipped. I'm excited. Of the many example videos I saw,
Aquarius displayed a performance that absolutely killed me.

You show a clear bottle of water with no label and water in
it. You come up from behind with the white plastic bottle
cap and push it visibly forward through the back of the
bottle. You actually see it vanish from the hand as it
penetrates the side of the bottle, and then, and this was
the coolest part, you watch this same bottle cap slowly
float to the top of the bottle. I have absolutely no way to
reconstruct that effect, so I made my deposit and ordered
it. I'll let you know how it is when I receive it.

If you have any recommendations for earth-shattering
effects for restaurant or walk-around work, please share
your list with me.

Until next time,

Steve Schneiderman

Dan & Dave Buck Trilogy Review and Preparing for Q1/09 Marketing

2008-12-02T07:41:00.000-08:00

Good morning readers. Steve Schneiderman here with a
quick review and some more end-of-year recommendations to
help position you for greater success in 2009.

First, the review. OK, I admit it. I used to think I was
pretty good at flourishes and manipulation. I remember when
I was 16 seeing Jeff McBride billed at a Larry Weeks
convention in New York as "Manipulationist Supreme". OK, I
give Larry Weeks credit for coming up with new ways to bill
performers.

But in those days I could do a coin roll-out with silver
dollars with relative ease, coin rolls in both hands like
Gosh, split fans, card springs, spinning and shooting cards,
pressure fans, arm spreads and catches, billiard ball rolls. I was
pretty good. Maybe no Manipulationist Supreme like Jeff,
but I was pretty good for my age.

Like Dan and Dave Buck, I practiced magic incessantly. I
had no life except for magic. Not necessarily a good thing.
I hope Dan and Dave have a life and occasionally are not so
serious and do goofy things like sneak up on each other and
give each other wedgies. Somehow I doubt it though. These
guys never ever smile.

But magic has changed. We no longer speak of manipulation
and flourishes. Now is is XCM: Extreme Card Magic with a
million swivel cuts, kick cuts, spins, flips and other
extreme combinations. It is referred to as "cardistry" which
is actually a pretty cool term but you can't call yourself
a cardist, can you?

Dan and Dave sent me their first lecture notes and a very
rough VHS tape back when they were around 15 or so. I
thought they were very creative and did some amazing and
new things. I also thought they were very strange young
men. They ran through their series of moves with very
little thought on performance. They were like zombies
running through moves without thought -- like robots
pre-programmed to run through complex series of moves over
and over again. They spoke monotone. Their direction was
poor and almost impossible to learn from. Every sentence was
punctuated with the words "like" and "cool". Like cool, OK?

Now Dan and Dave have grown up and not long ago they
released a trilogy of DVDs that includes flourishes and
tricks and over 20 basic moves. Having watched their demo
reel on Theory 11 one too many times I decided to go for
it -- an early Christmas gift to myself. I also purchased a
deck of their cards.

I have to say I really like their deck design. The backs
come in either black or white with a design based around
their DD monogram. The Ace of Spades and the Jokers have
unique designs and the court cards are simplified in design
with less details and brighter colors, making them more
easily seen from a distance. I found the card stock softer
and fanned better even fresh out of the box. They went to
some expense here and they are not cheap. Like Theory 11's
Guardian cards, they come packaged with a double backer
which is a nice added touch. I am also becoming a fan of
black backed card designs. Don't know why there haven't
been more of these.

As for the DVDs, I have only watched the performances on
the Flourishes DVD so far. There are at least two moves
that I like and want to learn to add to my repertoire. Much
of the other flourishes are comprised of an insane number of
fast running swivel cuts in the hands. I'm sorry, this does
not look like magic to me or even juggling. I don't even
find it entertaining. I like Daniel Madison's stuff better
from the XCM2 DVD. At least he breaks up the cuts with some
throws and other movements.

I'm anxious to get through the other DVDs, and I'll fill
you in as I watch them. Thus far, I would say the
production value is high, but if you are looking for
detailed explanations -- forget it. I am assuming that Dan and
Dave still don't talk much. These DVDs use slow motion, stop
motion and animation with textual subtitles to break down
and explain moves. I'm not sure the vast majority of people
out there can learn this way without some form of verbal
explanation and interview like the L&L DVDs.

I have additional concerns because other than seeing D&D
perform this crap on the side of the road or in the dessert
(in a break dancing - can you top this style), they don't
offer any tips on performance at all. Like when and where
is the best way to integrate this type of cardistry into
your own routines? In walk-around? On stage? On the street?
I'd like to know what to do with my new skills once I hone
them. Without a reason, this becomes a form of masturbation
with cards.

I remember Johnny Hart catching my attention on the Tonight
Show when I was 15 with his ability to spin cards from one
hand into a hat held in the other hand. I learn this technique
from Jackie Flosso. I mastered it and added it to
my act. Later, I taught Jeff McBride and he added it to his
act in a bigger way. His card spinning is a major highlight
of his act. It works for him and he knows how to sell it.

But where does this XCM D&D stuff come into play? I'm not
sure. Jeff may be the only one who can sell it.

--------------

OK, so January 2009 is around the corner and you need to be
preparing for the next quarter. Competition is going to get
tough as people get tighter with their funds. There will be
less cash to spend on parties and events. People will become
very selective of who they hire for entertainment. How can
you survive?

The most important thing you can do is to work on improving
your relationship with prospects and customers. The majority
of people out there who you will be competing against do a
crappy job of this. They do not understand the value of
building and deepening relationships. You do the opposite.

Reach and touch people repeatedly -- at least monthly -- if
not bi-weekly. Let them know what you are doing, where you
are appearing, what's changed in in your act, new
testimonials (critical), new photos and videos of you in
action, funny stories, party and event planning tips, etc.

Now the best way to do this is to use software or services
to send personalized emails to your entire list on a
scheduled interval. Lots of tools to choose from here.

For those who prefer to do it themselves, check out
GroupMail:

http://www.emailmarketingassistance.com/groupmail.htm

For those who prefer greater automation and scheduling,
check out Get Response:

http://www.getresponse.com/index/35884

Once you have the system in place to deliver your
personalized emails, you need to write the series. I advise
a minimum of 20 touches these days. I used to use the direct
mail approach that said 7-10 messages were required to warm
up a prospect to the point where they would either contact
you or buy from you, but I believe in highly competitive
times like these that you need to touch them longer so your
name becomes second nature to them. You want them to think
of you, and only you, when they think of "entertainment".

I can write a series of 10 emails for $500.00 or a series
of 20 emails for $1000.00. You can break that into two
payments by PayPal. Send the first payment to
info@schneiderman.net to reserve your space in my schedule,
please. Do it now. I'm getting very busy.

Why pay me to write these messages for you? I write for a
living and understand your world better than any other
copywriter out there. I'll study your site and talk to you
to get the info I'll need to produce a custom series of
messages just for you.

I strongly suggest you add a newsletter subscription form
to your site. Every visitor should become a subscriber. You
need to provide a compelling reason to subscribe. Just
adding a form is not effective marketing and will do little
to grow your database. Offer a bribe, whether it's a free
report, a downloadable trick, or a discount coupon. If you
need help creating these things, I can help you with this,
too. Check out the way Michael Kett does it on his Amazing
Flea Circus site:

http://www.amazingfleacircus.com

Yes, we designed this site for Michael about 2 years ago.
We also designed his corporate site:

http://www.michaelkett.com

We'll be updating this subscribe form later today with the
same free report offer.

You need to tell people to subscribe to your newsletter on
every page.

You need to tell people to use your contact form to get
info on every page.

If you don't tell them, they won't do it.

If you don't ask for the sale, they won't buy.

We recently completed a new site for Eric DeCamps but it's
not public yet. We've added some pretty slick stuff to his
site including slide shows of performances, videos of his
new show and one-on-one performances, too. And we added a
blog so he can interact with his visitors, clients and
fans. The second we launch it, I'll show it to you. It does
everything right.

And it is focused on building relationships.

The more your prospects and customers think of you as a
close and trusted friend, the more business you will get.

Want to discuss your site? Call me at 918-298-9531 or email
me at info@schneiderman.net.

All my best,

Steven Schneiderman

Winterize Your Business

2008-11-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

Greetings friends. A quick pre-Thanksgiving update before
the holiday season begins. We're in the process of getting
ready for a long cold winter here in Tulsa, winterizing,
taking precautions, bringing the plants indoors, making a
list of things we need to repair before Spring.

Just as you winterize your home or car, now is a good time
for you to be winterizing your business. Ask past customers
for referrals, market to cold prospects to warm them up for
the Spring, contact corporate customers to see if they have
money left in their budget for a Christmas Party or if they
want to pre-pay you for an event next year so they don't
lose the remainder of their 2008 funds.

Make sure you update your web site, add new testimonials
and photos and videos. Freshen the graphics and sales copy
up. Maybe update your business card and letterhead. Put
some polish on your props and costumes. Get ready for a
bigger 2009 while it is still 2008.

Most people don't prepare for the year ahead, and when they
find their businesses languishing they blame everyone but
themselves. Look at where the bulk of your leads came from.
What can you do to improve that? What other avenues can you
try to grow the amount of leads coming in? Can you try to
book yourself a quarter in advance or two quarters in
advance in 2009?

What would it mean to you to book 1-2 more shows each
month? Another $5-10K a year? $20-50K? Little changes in
your marketing strategies can make all the difference in
the world.

If you want a second opinion on your current marketing
strategy, please call or email me. I'd be happy to chat
with you and look over what you have at no cost to you.

--------

You know every web site has a personality of its own. Like
dogs, they tend to resemble their owners. Here are some new
sites we just launched:

ESPO Construction
http://www.espoconstruction.com

InsidePM
http://www.insidepm.net

Clubhouse Tulsa
http://www.clubhousetulsa.com

I'll show you some more in the weeks ahead.

----------------------

Heinstein Shuffle: I did it, I dropped $25.00 and
downloaded the video from Penguin. I can't say I agree with
shooting the inventor of this shuffle against a green screen
with a very loud suit on; however, he seems like a really
nice guy who has invented a very cool way of false
shuffling cards in the hands in a very fair fashion.

I watched it over and over again and could not catch it.
Now I have read on some of the magic forums that as people
are learning and practicing this false shuffle that their
hands are aching them.

There's a good reason for this: the inventor has huge
hands. Most of us will need to stretch out fingers and
apply pressure to the deck in some new and uncomfortable
ways.

The shuffle is not hard to learn. It is after all a Zarrow
shuffle in the hands. But like the Zarrow shuffle, the
Heinstein shuffle will require practice to perform the
sequence in a convincing manner.

I would give it a thumbs up, but my thumbs hurt from
practicing it ; )

------------------------------------

New items to look at for Christmas:

Control: http://www.theory11.com/tricks/control.php

Frozen:
http://www.ellusionist.com/product/dvd+training/beginner/frozen-by-adam-grace.do

-----------------------------------------------------

I'm out of here folks. Leaving for Canyon, TX to spend
Thanksgiving with wife's family. Have a happy and healthy
holiday.

All my best,

Steven

Wayne Houchin's Control

2008-11-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

Good morning, fellow magi. Wanted to give you a quick
review about Wayne Houchin's latest DVD called Control.
After watching the promotional videos on Theory 11's site,
I was instantly hooked. So I went for the video download
option last Friday and went into my man cave on Saturday
afternoon to watch it.

Wow. This guy is good. I had previously purchased his coin
in soda can penetration that Criss Angel performed on his
show, MindFreak. At that time, I thought, "Not only is Wayne
clever, but he seems to really think his effects out to
new levels." He also seems like a helluva fun guy to hang
out with.

Well, a long time ago I watched a mentalist by the name of
Darwin perform a pulse stopping effect at a private magic
get together at my friend, Eric DeCamps' house. I was
fascinated. Other than Kreskin on TV, I'd never seen anyone
else stop their pulse, and never right in front of me. I had
no clue how it worked until some years later when someone
tipped the method to me.

Now I have always liked this type of stuff. I used to do a
whole psychic key-bending act in high school for the English
Department. There was this retired nun who used to teach a
class about the supernatural. She asked if I could bend
keys and I took the challenge.

The first time I used a Zanadu Key Bender on a pull, and
then another time a student gave me a skeleton key to bend.
I told them I would need to borrow the key to examine the
metal, etc. He gave me the key and I used a jeweler's saw
to make a hairline cut and then glued it back together.

When I returned the next day, I laid the key on his palm,
and asked him if this was the same key he gave me yesterday
to examine. He said "Yes." I asked him if the key looked like
it had been tampered with and he said "No".

I then had him hold the key between his thumbs, and I
placed my fingers over the hairline cut. I then began to
gently move the key up and down until it looked like it was
softening. Of course, the screams started, and then I used
my psychic power to break the key in two. He felt the heat
in the key where it broke and swore it melted in his hands.
I developed quite a reputation for this performance. It
really surprised me because it was a very emotional
experience for the kid and his classmates.

Psychic magic has this effect when it is performed well.
I'm not blowing my own horn, but rather just trying to set
up Wayne Houchin's promotional video for Control. Go watch
it on http://www.theory11.com and you'll see what I mean.

He was invited to perform at a small, intimate dinner
party, and after doing a variety of effects he tried
something new. He had a young lady sit beside him and count
off his pulse beats. When she got to 27, it stopped and the
look on her face as Wayne apparently died for a few seconds
was utterly priceless. Wayne played it very subtly but he
is damn good. He knew exactly how to look, what to do and
say. He understands drama and how the effect is perceived
by the person assisting him. It's that powerful. He looked dead.

He revived himself and his pulse started beating again, and
the young lady was both joyful and horrified, afraid, even
uneasy. Wayne recovered, asked for a drink and took his
leave. The guests continued to speak about what they saw
for several minutes. This is all captured on tape. It does
not look staged to me. I think this performance was really
well captured and we could all learn a little about acting
from it. I'd give Wayne the Oscar for this one.

OK, now for the instructional aspect of the video. Wayne
warns you, with the assistance of Daniel Garcia (obviously
good buddies who can complete each other's jokes), that you
will probably want to throw something at the screen once he
reveals the method.

It is not using the standard method that appears in popular
magic literature. To me, it is a totally new method. Albeit
a simple method. But it is totally impromptu and requires
zero gimmicks or preparation. Anyone can do it.

But you do need to pick your assistant carefully and
wisely, and there is some acting required to sell the power
of the effect. Done correctly, Control will become the show
stopper for you.

Included is Daniel Garcia's effect where he stops his
heart. I don't know that I liked it as much nor that I
would do these back to back, but you might stop your heart
for the same audience rather than try to repeat Control and
lose the impact.

I really enjoyed Control and could see myself doing it
under the right conditions for the right crowd. The next
time someone asks if you can read minds or bend keys,
consider stopping your pulse instead.

OK, quick shout out to everyone to go see Eric DeCamp's new
show at the Metropolitan Room in Manhattan. Details may be
found on his site here:

http://www.EricDeCamps.com

He is performing his one man show on Sunday afternoon's at
4 pm through December 28.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving guys and gals,

Steven Schneiderman

Riot by Dan Hauss

2008-11-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

Morning friends. It's becoming a regular thing for me to surf the magic sites Saturday evenings after the rest of the family has gone to bed. I came across two things that are hot that I wanted to share with you.

The first is called Riot by Dan Hauss, the same guy who brought you the Sleeping Queen. This is an instant download from Theory 11. It's another version of the Elevator where a selected card is seen to slowly rise through the deck.

I watched the video many times and was completely fooled because the illusion, while simple to achieve, is amazing to watch -- in the same way Panic fools you.

You receive a video and a PDF file with full instructions for constructing the simple gimmick. It looks like it should not fool the eye, but I assure you -- I looked at it in the mirror and it does. The kudos to Paul Harris should have tipped the principle being used, but even then I would not have figured it out. For $14.95 this is a good buy.

Much better than Gecko.

The other thing I stumbled upon by accident was something called the Heinstein Shuffle. It's an in the hands riffle shuffle and bridge that resembles a Zarrow -- though it is all done in the hands. This makes it very impromptu and frankly looks great. You can see the video and learn more about it from Penguin.

Until next time,

Steven

Happy 50th Birthday to me!

2008-10-23T09:12:00.000-07:00

Good morning magic fans. Got some new toys on Friday. Still
getting late 50th birthday presents to myself.
Didn't get one from you, though? Have something you want
reviewed? Send it to me and I will share it with others
through my newsletter and my MagicReviews.com web site.

This week I received the biography of John Calvert and I am
excited. This man fascinates me. I can't think of anyone
else alive who has accomplished as much as he has. I grabbed a
used copy on Amazon that was autographed "To Stephanie, We
have a secret, John." Hmm, I wonder if I could white-out
part of the name and then forge "To Steve ..."

I also received Aaron Fisher's Panic. This is the effect
Blaine performed on his last special where he puts 4 Kings
in his back pocket and then visually makes the deck
disappear and change into the 4 Kings, and the deck is now
found in the back pocket.

I watched the Theory 11 video over and over again and was
convinced it used a pull. Boy, did I feel stupid when I
received the gimmick. I am amazed at how good this really
looks and how easy it is to perform. Just takes a little
guts and salesmanship. Very powerful effect. Aaron's video
teaches the nuances very well. You can't go wrong with this
one.

I also received a new Bicycle Guardian deck from Theory 11.
Beautiful cards. Now I just need to break them in and get
some fanning powder so I can start practicing all those
cool fans Ciappi teaches on Extreme Beginnerz 2. Do they
still make Suzzee to powder cards? How do you get your best
results?

Can I assist you in your marketing efforts? Drop me an
email and let's talk!

Stay well,

Steven

Gecko Schmecko

2008-10-23T09:07:00.001-07:00

Good evening, folks. A quick review on a hot item for you.
I know many of you will reach for your wallets when you
see the online video for Gecko, and if I can save you the
money, I'd like to!

I was surfing the online shops when I stumbled upon the
promotional video for Gecko, one of the latest visual
vanishes from ellusionist.com.

When I saw the video, I smiled. First, the guy makes a cell
phone vanish (he's wearing a light jacket with sleeves
rolled up) and then he makes an empty can of Coke vanish
followed by a long glass beer bottle. I looked at the video
multiple times and even though logic dictates it is a pull
or a holdout, I could not figure out how it vanished things
so quickly.

So I bought it and it arrived within 2 days. I opened the
box and found two devices, one for vanishing light weight
items and one for heavier items (presumably phones and
bottles).

The packaging and DVD warn you not to vanish glass or metal
items, and to be careful that you don't damage things
belonging to a spectator.

I pulled out the gimmicks and added up the raw costs for
procuring the materials and making this device: about
$1.00-2.00. The effect sells for $59.95. This is really
nothing new with one small exception and that is in the way
you affix items to the device prior to vanishing them. Think
about how Gecko's catch flies and you'll be close.

Now, normally I would not cry over a purchase if it allows
me to perform the effect as advertised. But first they warn
me not to do the effects they show online and then they do
not show how to do them on the DVD. Instead Andy the
narrator teaches you how to do semi-lame-o tricks like
changing quarters to half dollars or restoring a bent
bottle cap. Can someone say French Drop?

For $59.95.

For a box with cord elastic, catgut, safety pins and, oh
yes, that certain something special that you can only buy
in an office supply store for about $2.00.

Granted, some thought went into this. About $2.00 worth.

Yes, the video looks fantastic. You will laugh when the beer
bottle vanishes. Of course, in real life (you know that
place where these guys do not live), you probably can not
vanish a beer bottle without attracting a lot of attention
to that man behind the curtain, or in this case, the big
lump under your jacket. And if it flies too fact, it might
hurt you or the guy standing beside you.

So I've decided to come out with my own version of Gecko. I
am going to call it Skink. You know those little blue/green
lizards you see around your pool or backyard and when you
grab their tail, it snaps off and keeps moving by itself as
if it has invisible thread on it. I once watched a tail wiggle
for over 20 minutes while sipping a beer on my porch. Looked
better than Sean's Dancing Handkerchief. No threads either.

Only with Skink, it will only cost you $9.99 for the $2.00
worth of raw materials. I figure I will still make $7.99
profit on it, and people will love me because I am honest.
I'll teach how to use Skink to vanish a pencil or a packet
of sugar or a coin, but no borrowed rings because I would
not want to worry you about liability insurance or
something like that. And I would not want you to have to
invest an hour to learn a French Drop to accomplish the
same illusion.

Repeat after me: Magic can be dangerous.

Especially when dealers package this crap and position it
as if it was something unique and new and different to
justify the exorbitant price and it really turns out to be
a piece of inexpensive crap with very expensive packaging.

Gecko. Skinks.

Who needs them.

If I were president, we'd take all these dealers out behind
a barn somewhere and tie them up with Geckos, and we would use
that "special something" you can buy at office supply
stores and stick them all over their bodies and peel them
very slowly, until they scream and writhe in pain.

Gecko. $59.95.

Skink. Only $9.99.

Watch for it at your favorite dealer.

Cardistry: Magic or Juggling?

2008-09-18T12:29:00.000-07:00

An Evening of Intimate Magic with Eric DeCamps

2007-05-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to announce that my best friend, life-long pal, and all-around nice guy, Eric DeCamps, is starring in his own one-man show, back in my old hometown, The Big Apple.

Over the years I have watched Eric develop many of the routines he is performing in this special limited appearance, and I can promise all that attend that Eric will baffle you and leave you wanting more.

You can catch the show on Wednesday evenings through the month of June, at the 3 West Club, in The Lincoln Room, in Rockefeller Center. For info and to read the latest rave reviews, please go visit Eric's site at http://www.EricDeCamps.com.

And be sure to read the full two-page review of the show, written by Ryan Oakes, in the June issue of Magic Magazine, coming to a magic dealer near you (http://www.magicmagazine.com).

We've Moved Our Mailing List to GetResponse.com!

2007-05-08T08:42:00.000-07:00

Please be on the look out for emails from GetResponse.com asking you to confirm your subscription to our monthly newsletters. The only way you can continue to receive our newsletters is by opting in again.

While this process is sometimes confusing, it's done for everybody's own good, to prevent misue of email for spamming purposes. We're trying to eliminate dead email addresses from our lists and improve the delivery of our weekly newsletters.

If you are concerned that you've accidentally been removed from a list, drop me an email at info@schneiderman.net.

My Most Memorable Magical Experience

2007-02-21T09:49:00.001-08:00

While Eric DeCamps will continue to chide me and say my most memorable magical experience was having Jeff McBride produce my Jumbo Circle of Cards at a Larry Week's convention, my most memorable magical experience was actually with another friend, Scott Morris, when we were vacationing together on the island of St. Martin back in 1984.

We were having dinner and drinks at a little cafe' in Marigot where we were staying. Jean Paul, our waiter, was the perfect audience. When I asked for sugar for my tea, he handed me a packet. I opened and poured it into my fist and transformed it into sugar cubes. Then I said, "Sugar is sweet, but money is sweeter" and transformed the cubes into two dollar bills for a tip.

Jean Paul quickly called over his boss, the chef, the waitresses, and I was put on the spot to perform. I did some card tricks and coin tricks, but then I got an idea for the ultimate magical moment. I removed the flower from the vase on my table and broke the bloom off the stem. Placing it on my palm I then levitated it and had it move from hand to hand a la The Floating Bill. Then I gently pulled the petals from the bloom leaving nothing else for them to find. I handed the petals to the ladies at the table and took my bow.

When we are truly inspired by the moment, we can perform miracles. What about you?

Stage Names

2007-02-15T09:31:00.001-08:00

When I did my first public performance in 4th grade at P.S. 162 in Bayside, Queens (NY), I was Houdini, Jr. Not sure if I picked that because of my fascination with Houdini at the time, or if my father or teacher picked it. I wore a black cape and red Fez hat. I even had an assistant.

Then when I started getting serious about doing kids' parties, I changed my name to something my father suggested: Shandu, The Greatest Boy Magician. I later found out that I was spelling it wrong. There was a Chandu and a movie character, too. Among the older Jewish set, I also discovered that there is a similar Yiddish word that means "He's finally here!"

When I got to college, I simply used my name, but during a stint at The Rainy Nighthouse, I found my name written on the marquee as "Secret Steve." They apparently took the word "secret" from a Sidewalk Shuffle routine I did where the Ace always wound up in the “secret spot”, down the front of my pants.

As a more experienced adult, I have frequently contemplated doing shows again, but found my last name difficult for many to pronounce or spell properly, so I think I would just use Steven or Stefan if I wanted to be fancy.

What about you? Do you use a stage name?

Reflections on How I Got Into Magic

2007-02-15T09:24:00.001-08:00

Reading Andy Dallas' article this month about how he got into magic reminded me about my early influences.

When my parents took me to the World's Fair in NY around 1962 -- I was probably around 5 or 6 years old -- we saw The Amazing Randi perform a levitation and a straitjacket escape. Years later as a teenager I had the good fortune of meeting Randi at Tannens, and he spent hours chatting with me and entertaining me with his unusual brand of magic. Later that day I bumped into him again at Flosso's, and he told me he was planning a week of special news stories about magic in NY for Channel 4, and he invited me back a week later to the shoot at Flosso's.

I showed up and they shot footage for hours, including me and a few other magical youths Randi had rustled up. We had a blast and it was very exciting. Unfortunately, the kids got edited out of the segment, but Randi did send me several autographed photos and a poster. It was a big thrill for me to hang out with the guy that was an early influence on my interest in magic.

About a year later I was in Tannens looking for a dozen red-backed Aviator decks for a trick I was going to be selling at an upcoming Larry Week' convention. Tannens was all out. Suddenly, Randi walks in and yells out "Skinny Steven Schneiderman!" I was amazed he remembered me. He asked what I was up to and I explained about my search for red backed Aviators.

He then took me all over NY to little, out of the way places, to find these decks. Eventually we wound up at Ace Sporting Goods, a well known underground gambling hang-out. It was a very cool and sinister looking place. Unfortunately, nobody had the decks I needed, but I did get to hang with Randi for another day. Lots of good stories and laughs. He is a warm and congenial man who knows kids look up to him and he does what he can to maintain that awe and respect.

Again about a year later he performed at a local theater in Queens and my friend and I went to see the show. Sure enough, when we went to say "Hi" during intermission, he remembered me by name, and this happened several times again at various conventions year later. I was always flattered when he remembered me by name, and I am still always in awe when I see him.

Who was your influence? Drop me a line and let me know!

P.S.: Bev Bergeron sent me an email to clear up my foggy memories: The World’s Fair in New York was in 1964-65. Mark Wilson had the magic show at the General Cigar place. Mark hired The Amazing Randy as one of the magicians. You may have seen Randy do the straitjacket on another show, but he did not do it on this one. Mark wanted the magician to reach into his upper coat pocket and remove a handkerchief with an appearing cane attached to it. Mark used to close all his shows with this. Randy reached for the items one show and the cane came shooting into one of his eyes. So that eye was patched up. Later he returned to the show with a patch eye and encountered some rough teenagers – big guys I was told, who were yelling up vulgar language at the girl assistants. Randy yelled to them to see him after the show. He got poked in the one good eye he had. I saw him soon afterwards and commented: Randy we are paying you to do illusions not your blindfold act. I thought it was funny. See you down the Road, Bev - b

What Will History Say About You?

2007-01-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

I have been enjoying the historical exchange of letters between the magicians of yesteryear that are being published in MAGIC magazine. I am fascinated by the attitudes of those magicians, and the language they use to describe their acts and issues with magicians of their times. I also enjoy the stories written in The Linking Ring by one of our subscribers, Bev Bergeron. I love getting that slice of history and perspective. And these things make me wonder. What will people say about me when I am long gone?

Unlike many of you, I am not a professional magician. It's always been just a hobby for me, with some occasional performances for friends or small groups, usually free or for a low fee. I've always wanted it to be more, and I've been encouraged by many to make it something more, but until the day comes where I feel I am called to do it, I probably won't. So will anybody even remember me when I am gone? Will they say I was funny, a good manipulator, or the second best card man in New York?

No, my name will probably not be meaningful to anyone in years to come. At least not in magic.

The few books and effects I have had a hand in will be dust in the wind by the time I croak.

Seems like a wasted life: 40+ years in magic and no legacy to leave behind.

But what about the smiles I brought to people's faces? What about those memories I etched in the brains of some people who later became professional or amateur magicians? Nah. Probably nothing.

But I have made a difference to at least one person I know -- and not in magic -- but in teaching.

Many people do not know that I taught college English for three years at Queens College in New York. I was a damned fine teacher and my students loved my classes. I actually had students begging the Chairman of the department to get into my class -- crying even -- and the disappointment when they did not get in was not a pretty sight. I did not realize though that I had made that much of an impression until many years later when I had transitioned to the corporate world and left academia far behind.

I was standing in line at the Fresh Meadows movie theater with fellow magician, Scott Morris, one summer evening. I noticed a very attractive young lady towards the head of the line who kept looking over her shoulder at me. Since things like that never happened to me often, I was very intrigued and surprised. Then to my shock, she walked back to me and asked me if I was Mr. Schneiderman.

I was crushed. Nothing is worse than being called "Mr." by a beautiful young woman. It puts age and respect in the middle of all fantasy.

"Yes, I'm Mr. Schneiderman. Who are you?" I asked.

"You probably don't remember me," she said, "but I took you for college writing classes for two years in a row."

Suddenly her face and voice clicked. Her name was ... Lorraine. She was one of my favorite students. A good writer and a good person.

"You will never know what an impact you had on my life," she said somewhat sheepishly. She looked down and smiled and then lifted her face up. She had turned into a beautiful woman. Her smile was radiant.

"I knew after I took your classes that I wanted to teach writing, and now I do. And it's all because of you. Thank you so much for everything you did."

I was speechless. She asked me where I was teaching, and I told her I had left that career long ago to go into the corporate world to make money.

"That's a shame," she said. "So many people will never have the pleasure of learning how to write from you. I hope you return to teaching someday."

Then we exchanged some small talk, she thanked me again, and rejoined her husband on line.
I was dumbfounded.

I had made an impact on someone. All those years spent trying to make the lightbulb go off over someone's head, and finally, someone got it and validated my value to the world.

It only takes one person to make a difference -- to you -- to them -- to the world.

So what will the world say about you when you're gone?

Who did you touch or inspire?

Think about it. Then go make a difference.

I Stole Mark Wilson's Steak Bone

2006-10-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well, at least I thought about it.

Back in 1974 I was at a Tannen’s Jubilee in the Catskills, and Mark Wilson was a performer and I think he was receiving the coveted Louie award.

That night I saw him eating a few tables away and I watched him eat his steak.

Wow, there was my idol. For years I had watched Mark and Nani and family on Magic Circus specials. I wanted to do all of his effects and be just like him.

And there was his steak bone.

I waited patiently until most of the dining room had emptied and then I sauntered over to Mark’s table.

I wanted to introduce myself but what was I to say? I was about 14 and pimply faced and could think of nothing unique to say, so I just kind of stood there and smiled.

He smiled back awkwardly and left the table with his wife. I watched him exit the dining room, and then I turned and looked at the table, hopeless looking for some souvenir I could have to remember him.

Nothing.

Then I saw the steak bone with some meat still on it.

I looked over my shoulder. The waiters were hurriedly cleaning tables and moving this way. I panicked. I thought about taking the bone and wrapping it in a napkin, but I knew it would only begin to stink.

How does one preserve a steak-bone in the middle of a magic convention?

I reached for it. Suddenly a waiter appeared and asked me if I was done with my dinner. Yes, I said. He picked up the plate with Mark Wilson’s steak bone and threw it into a basket with other plates and leftover steak bones.

I thought about following him to the kitchen to retrieve the steak bone, but how was I to tell Mark Wilson’s steak bone from another.

No, it was too late.

And life was never the same.

Criss Angel Pulls A Lady Apart

2006-09-28T19:36:00.000-07:00

Caught the video of Criss Angel pulling apart a woman on a park bench today. Sorry, I've been out of touch with his series, but when I stumbled upon this video online I just about plotzed. It looked great. Of course, it only took a minute to register that the girl who crawled away was NOT the same girl who first laid down on the bench, meaning the illusion was well orchestrated and the video was well edited.

As I searched online for more info, I found many blogs from laymen who had linked to the video and presented their method for the illusion. Some thought it was voodoo -- interesting thought -- others thought there were robotics -- and others eventually found Ricky Jay's references from The Learned Pig book about The Legless Wonder, Johnny Eck doing a similar illusion with his twin brother.

What this reminded me of more than anything else was Richiardi's Buzzsaw Illusion. The first time I saw this I was about 15 at Madison Square Garden's show in the Felt Forum. The World Festival of Magic and Occult. When the Master did this effect, I was blown away. I walked on stage and was baffled. Close up magic I understood, but stage illusions mystified me and still do.

So is Criss' presentation better or worse. Well, having never seen the Eck presentation of yesteryear, it's hard to say, but having seen Richiardi, I would say Criss' is a lesser illusion because it was not done in front of a live studio audience -- it was staged. Richiardi cut his daughter in half every night in front of a live audience of thousands of people, and when her blood splattered the back drop, everyone screamed, and everyone raced to look at her body on stage.

Good try, Criss, but no cigar. Of course, that's only my opinion.

Beware The Naked Broad Wearing A Thumbtip

2006-09-18T11:37:00.000-07:00

I usually won't click on links friends send me because I don't have a lot of time to waste, and what one person finds funny may not float my boat. So when a friend -- who has never seen me do magic -- sent me a magic oriented link, I figured what the hell. Big mistake.

When the site opened I found myself watching a video of a woman who looked like an ugly librarian. The second she pulled out a silk, I knew I was in trouble. It completely telegraphed everything that was going to happen right up to the climax.

For those of you who have already seen this, you can skip this description: the woman pushed the silk into her fist and instead of nonchalantly showing her hands empty proceeded to do what most magicians are taught NOT to do. She quickly shook her hands back and forth -- she looked spastic like she was having a fit -- and she had this strange smile and look on her face like she was amazed or just stepped out of Reefer Madness.

I covered my face, muttered, "Oh, no" and as she quite badly pulled the silk from her jacket pocket, I could see exactly where this was going. She made it vanish again, and then took off her jacket and blouse and reproduced the silk -- with both hands mind you -- from her bra. Then she took off the bra and vanished the silk again. This time she disrobed to her G-string and reproduced the silk from there. All along after each vanish she went into these strange spastic movements showing her hands empty. It was as if life as we knew it had just changed.

Finally she removed her G-string, and standing there stark naked made the silk vanish one last time. This time she bent forward and with both hands apparently removed the silk from one of her nether regions. I could not tell which one nor by then did I care.

Folks, is this what magic has evolved to -- a stripper's tool? The audience seemed somewhat puzzled as if the magic trick truly fooled them -- that was scary by itself -- and then -- they applauded wildly.

This reminds of a time a lady magician/stripper appeared in a special adults only magic show at a Magic Symposium in Manhattan. With a morbid sense of curiosity I went along with the guys and was only mildly amused and not aroused. I don't see the purpose. It's not that it goes against my religious beliefs; it simply goes against my beliefs as a magician.

Magic mixes well with mime, martial arts, juggling and other art forms. It does not mix well with strippers. If you receive the link from a friend -- no, I will not send it to you -- my advice is NOT to watch it. Maybe if we just ignore it, it will go away by itself. I don't know who the performer was, and I really don't care. She looked like an ugly librarian. Maybe she should pursue that livelihood instead. Then again, this might result in a lot of late library books. And if you happen to come across any used thumbtips for sale on eBay, let the buyer beware. You don't know where that thing has been.

Product Review: Mirrors by Diamond Jim Tyler

2006-09-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Diamond Jim is a long-time subscriber. I've reviewed many of his older items in past issues. Last week he was kind enough to send me two of his latest products to review: SentiMental Postcards and his new DVD entitled Mirrors. Today we'll take a look at Mirrors.

When I first looked at the DVD case which features a silver sticker about the size of a poker-faced card on it, I had flashbacks of an old Ed Hollins effect called Flipped Out which was a Twisting the Aces type effect ending with mirror backs on all the cards. Emerson & West later marketed the effect and it was a best seller for years.

Diamond Jim's approach is fresh and creative. His DVD is filled with many interesting applications for using mirrored back cards. The routines are quite well thought out, and they are relatively easy to learn with Jim teaching the required sleights. Most of the routines involve familiar counts and moves, and the experienced card man will not be challenged.

The DVD features six effects and 20 mirror stickers (19 in an envelope inside the DVD case and an extra one attached to the face of the DVD case). I was glad that he called attention to the extra one on the case during his DVD explanations. Jim includes some useful folk lore about mirrors which you can choose to incorporate into your own routines. He also includes a short brainstorming session where he quickly demonstrates several different applications for these mirrored cards.

The stickers are nice. They appear to be mylar and are very reflective. Jim spends time showing you the best way to apply them to playing cards. Some of the routines require "broken" mirrored cards and he shows you his technique for making these cards, too.

Most of these routines have their basis in familiar routines like Wild Card and Twisting the Aces, but they all include a mirror pay-off. Jim warns you to select a single routine to add to your show rather than use several mirror routines. The applications I liked most included "Broken" where a mirrored back card visually breaks when tapped against your finger, and "Superstitious" where a selected card appears to have either the only broken mirror in the pack (unlucky) or the only whole mirror in the pack (lucky).

I can see some cross-applications with Jim's ideas and Chance Wolf's Shattered which use mirrored paddles that smash and restore. Jim, himself, shows ways to incorporate the mirrors on the back of cards with Paul Harris' Twilight effect. The ideas are limitless.

I highly recommend Diamond Jim's Mirrors DVD. You can learn more about it at http://wwwdjtyler.com.

Would you like to reach over 700 magicians world-wide for free? Send me your items and I will review them here.

A Great Giveaway for Adult Male Assistants

2006-09-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

In my Linking Ring Parade this month, I explain my technique for creating cubes out of six playing cards. I wanted to stress that these make a great giveaway to an adult male assistant. They are more appealing than balloon animals and if you incorporate a poker sized business card into the cube then you not only have a great giveaway item that you know they will keep BUT now they have a way to contact you for future gigs! Great for table-hopping!

The Best Solution for Online Video

2006-09-14T08:07:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, I wrote a review about Instant Video Generator, a new tool brought to market by Armand Morin and his friends, the same team that brought AudioGenerator.com to market a while back.

I enjoyed playing with it during my free trial period (21 days for only $1.00). It was extremely easy to use. All I did was login, and started recording. Then I clicked a button to produce the code that was required to add the video to my web page. Instant Video Generator took care of everything else. It saved my video and Flash encoded it on the fly within a few seconds. No rocket science here. Since that time I have experimented with a variety of new video production tools. Here’s what I found:

Serious Magic is incredibly powerful (and expensive), and with it you can produce studio-grade videos with animation fairly easily; however, you need a honker of a PC to do it. Folks with older PCs like me will either need to upgrade their video, audio, processor, RAM, and drive space or more simply buy a new PC! I had a helluva time making this application work.
Lesser tools offer less automation and it takes a greater number of steps to produce your final Flash encoded video. The quality of the video may be sub-standard, and you need to consider storage requirements when recording the video on your PC and server requirements when streaming it over your own server. Bandwidth issues may present themselves if the video is particularly long.

So I guess it is no surprise that when I made the decision to start implementing video more widely across all of my web sites that I needed a tool that was easy to use, did not require me to upgrade my PC, created high-quality video, and removed the concerns over bandwidth and video streaming. In this regard, Instant Video Generator is worth its weight in gold.

Instant Video Generator takes care of the encoding and compression.
It does not require anything other than a cheap webcam and microphone.
My videos get stored on their servers not mine.
They provide a very generous monthly bandwidth allowance.
Adding video to your web page is cut and paste easy.
They provide you with an on-screen teleprompter so you can look into your camera and maintain eye contact with your audience.
They also provide a number of other tools such as templates and postcards you can use to send videos via email.

All in all, I have to rate Instant Video Generator as a very cool tool. I invite you to check it out for 21 days for only $1.00. You’d be crazy not to at least try it. My bet is you will get hooked on it.

Yea! My One-Man Parade Appears In The Sept 2006 Issue Of The Linking Ring!

2006-09-07T19:04:00.000-07:00

This was two decades in the making. While I have had the privilege of being a regular columnist for other magic publications, getting my own 20 page parade in the IBM’s Linking Ring Magazine is the most rewarding and exciting thing that’s happened to me. I noticed a few typos and some of the explanations could have been clearer, but overall, I am very happy to be given the opportunity to share this body of work with you.

Welcome to The Magic Portal

2006-09-06T14:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome. My name is Steven Schneiderman, and I am the webmaster of The Magic Portal and Magic Reviews web sites. I publish and distribute an electronic newsletter to over 700 magicians world-wide every two weeks. I re-publish my newsletter columns and product reviews on this blog as time allows. If you want to read the latest and greatest magic news from my point of view, then you should subscribe to the newsletter by doing so here:

http://www.m-a-g-i-c.com/lists/subscribe.htm

I have been involved with magic since I was five when my Dad taught me my first card trick. As I grew older, my Uncle Harry began teaching me sleights like the French Drop and routines with the Cups and Balls. My Uncle used to own a magic and joke shop in Manhattan, and my Dad used to work in it as a teenager making effects like the Chinese Sticks.

In the 4th grade I appeared as Houdini Jr. in P.S. 162’s variety show. I did a few tricks from a store purchased magic set, created a tree from newspaper, and ended with a mind reading card trick which failed due to an inept assistance who did not understand the meaning of a key card. As the curtains closed on me, I boldly walked forward and parted the curtains to tell a joke I heard Red Skelton tell on television the night before. I saw the look of shock and disbelief in my parents’ and teacher’s faces. This was not in the rehearsal. At age 11 I was winging it. I told the joke I had heard the night before — the joke about a bigamist going to heaven. There wasn’t a dry eye or seat in the house. As the audience of 600 stood and applauded, I got a feeling in my gut that I can’t put into words. I was hooked.

Not wanting to disgrace the name of Houdini with my blue humor, I changed it to Shandu, The Greatest Boy Magician, and performed at kids parties and school shows until I became a teenager. At that time I dropped the stage name and joined the IMPS, a teenage magic club in NYC under the wing of the SAM. I became vice president during my second year and learned a lot from the adult lecturers that visited us.

In high school I got hooked on close-up and manipulation and made friends with folks like Eric DeCamps, Meir Yedid and Jeff McBride. I did the Tannen Jubilee every year and the Larry Weeks conventions every quarter. I lived and breathed magic. I honed my close-up skills to become the second best card man in NY or at least that’s what I told Eric and he believed it for a while, I think. Meir and I would get together and hang out in fast food joints doing magic for the folks who hung out there, and we would brainstorm new effects for his books and column. This is back when Meir had all his fingers. I’ve got a great picture of Meir shaking hands with Sgt. Slaughter of WWF fame (with only 9 of Meir’s fingers showing — prophetic because Meir had his accident soon after the show)

Eventually Meir landed at Tannens full-time and he recruited me to write a column for Tannens Magic Manuscript for a few years. Around this time Eric was working the Magic Townhouse, and between both friends, I was pretty busy. I helped Eric write his first set of lecture notes and was there to lend support during the production of his first magic videotape. I also coached him on an unforgettable water escape at the Cresthaven Country Club (pix on my site). And you thought he only did close-up. Meir produced one of my card effects, Card Marx, and kept me pretty busy editing his instructions and books. We did a number of projects together. It was fun while it lasted.

I also hung out with a former circus clown, juggler, fire eater and magician, Scott Morris. He frequently kept me out all night, hanging out in clubs like CBGBs watching Jeff Crozier do magic and sing. Scott is quite the world traveller and he taught me the circus arts. Little did I know that years later these skills would come in handy entertaining my own children on rainy days.

During my college years I started writing my own effects and routines down, and when I was 25 I began publishing my own little magazine called Ruminations, Magic That Makes You Think! I had a small list of subscribers including folks like Penn & Teller, Mac King, Jay Sankey, Steve Cohen and others. I did this for two years until I could not handle it anymore. Working full-time and doing magic did not mix for me, and I dropped out of magic pretty suddenly after I wrote Rocco Silano’s first book on sleeving. Most of my stuff got packed away or given away, and as I moved, first to New Jersey and then to Oklahoma, my magic stuff stayed tucked away in boxes.

When my first child, Alex, turned two I rediscovered my magic and starting buying stuff like crazy. I could finally afford what I wanted, and I started reviewing and publishing my reviews online. I started my web sites, published a column for GENII for a year, and basically got back into magic part-time.

As I end this entry, the culmination of almost 40 years of magic ideas is getting ready to appear in the September 2006 issue of The Linking Ring in my own one-man parade. I am very proud and happy to bring to this magic fraternity.