Archive for February, 2010

FOUR QUARTERS by Magick Balay

Posted by Jamie on February 8th, 2010

What The Audience Sees:

“Okay, so Friday was really strange- I think we were all hypnotized! Jamie shows us an American one-dollar bill, right? Nothing crazy. But then, all of a sudden, it changed! It morphed itself inside out or something! Jamie told us that he had temporarily hypnotized all of us and that the bill should look different, and did it ever! It was like all reversed, backwardsy, split into quarters, kind of magical weirdnessness! None of us could believe our eyes! And man, did we ever have a great weekend because of it!”

How It Went:

You know, I’ve never really given the Mis-Made Bill premise a go before and I have to say, I’ve been missing out. I only wish I had been able to do it with borrowed money, which all you guys and gals in The States will be able to do. A Mis-Made Loonie just wouldn’t be the same, lol (a Loonie is a Canadian one-dollar coin). On that note, those of you in the US do have a real advantage. Up here, the smallest bill is a Five, but people are never really carrying them around because the smallest bill that most ATMs give out are Twenties. So, if you’re in the US, take advantage of it. However, I digress…

Even though I was using my own bill, and a foreign one at that, it still rocked the house. I was a bit surprised myself, actually. People were giving each other looks like, “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” The magic really played with their minds on Friday. I’ve been thinking about it all weekend and I’m still trying to dissect why it went so well, and I think it’s because, unlike normal paper, people know how impossible it is to “make” a bill. And a bill has a feel to it that can’t be faked (well, not legally, lol) so I think as soon as people touched it, they simply fully believed. There is also something more believable about it being the same denomination, I think.

And I have to say, I love Magick Balay’s handling of the switch! It has a more natural sort of feel to me than previous switches I’ve used and it went by everyone on Friday. There is something about the “turning” in Magick’s method that I really like and it seemed to help both me and my audience. I’ll talk about it more in the video portion but I just found it a more believable way of folding something. I found people weren’t burning my hands as much as when I’ve done switches before- perhaps it comes across as more casual.

The Difficulty:

This took me a while to get down and, as you’ll see, I still have to force myself to not look at my hands (when performing for real people, I find that an easier task because you have conversation going on, but it still took a while to get confident). However, this should be well within the capabilities of a solid magician. 3/5.

Best Lines:

“OMG, it’s backwards…no, it’s sideways, OMG! How did you do that?!”

~It’s always better to have someone ask, “How did you do that?” as opposed to, “Where did the other one go?”

“Holy %$^$! This is the same dollar, too!!!”

~I’m not sure what convinced them of that, but hey, I’ll take it!

Angry Bob Rating:

For those of you reading this article for the first time, Angry Bob is a co-worker who has an understanding of some magic because his uncle was a magician. Angry Bob knows that TT’s exist, for example, but he has no desire to become a magician himself. He also has an anger management problem that can be experienced first hand if he can’t figure out how a trick is done. A high rating means he has no idea.

“You %$^$%#n switched it. That’s pretty cool, though.”

3/5. I’m giving this a higher mark than you’d think after Angry Bob’s reaction, but that’s because he still has no idea how I did it. I’ve used a bill switch for a few Magic Fridays in the past, so I’m pretty sure Angry Bob has looked into how it works but I know he can’t do it himself. If you were to do this to someone with no magic knowledge, you’d fry them.

My Rating:

Magic Friday Approved!

Well, I’ve decided to switch (Ha, Ha, get it? I said…never mind) in Magick’s new handling as the one I’m going to be using in the future. When you watch the DVD and you see how fast he is with it, you can see how it will get light years better than how I’m currently performing with it. And, when it gets to Magick’s level (hopefully), I think it will be perfect. The “turning” combined with the “kickup” of the bill is just enough to make me put my old switch back on the shelf.

The JDG Tip:

Watch it here!

The iTricks Idea:

Make sure you crumple your bill up a ton before going live. What I did, was I always kept it in my pocket with another bill. It seemed like the other bills age rubs off a bit on the new one.

Closing Thoughts:

Congrats to NYMP for making such a great DVD. It was nice to watch something that just showed me the performer going through the steps. Sometimes Magic DVDs get so complicated that I want to throw myself out the window and this was a refreshingly straightforward instructional video. Very well done.

Have a Great Week Everyone!

Jamie D. Grant
www.whatizit.net

Aaron Fisher ONE-HAND POPOVER

Posted by Corey Martin on February 8th, 2010

popover

Corey Martin is a regular contributor to iTricks Raves.

There are countless DVD’s out on the market that focus on the art of card flourishing. Many are rich in visual “eye candy” but very difficult to master. Then there are the select few that look fantastic but are much simpler to master. hedshot Aaron Fisher’s One-Hand Popover is a beautiful piece of slight of hand that can be used as a visual production, a slight or even just a flourish. It combines elements that many magicians use everyday combined with Aaron’s incredible insight and teaching to create a fantastic piece of magic. The DVD is broken down into sections to focus all the attention on the most important parts of the move.  The Grip, The Popover itself, and then taking the actual move an applying it to effects and routines, both as a visual production and a slight.

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DE’RING by De’vo

Posted by Jamie on February 1st, 2010

What The Audience Sees:

”So Jamie has become some sort of ninja, apparently. You should have seen it man, this guy is so quick! He showed us his ring, but then he took it off his finger so that he wasn’t wearing it, but simply holding it. Then…BLAM! It was right back on his finger! We were all like, “WHHAAAAAA??!” So he does it again- Ring On, Ring Off, BLAM! It was like Bruce Lee stuff! Or maybe he took his ring off, hypnotized us, went out for a coffee, hung out with some druids, wrote a few spells, had a hamburger, came back, put the ring back on, and unhyptnotized us. Who knows! All I know is that it rocked. ”

How It Went:

I’m a huge fan of ring magic. Ring Thing, Pinnacle, De’Ring, all of this stuff- I really enjoy it. I can also confidently say that the audience enjoys it too. De’Ring is a bit of flash that just looks super cool! And rings just have a sort of magical quality about them- I think that if I was going to do magic with something I’m wearing, then a ring seems to make sense, as opposed to, say, a belt, lol. De’vo, if you read this, I would love to see a wicked belt manipulation video! That would be fan-tastic.

So Friday went over really well. De’Ring is one of those effects where it it’s not such a mystery as to what’s going on but as to how it’s going on (literally). Well, maybe that’s not a fair thing to say. Because De’Ring does fool people. Most people won’t know how you got it back on your finger, that’s for sure. I think people come away with a feeling that I’ve done a specific task and that I’m good at what I do. It’s almost like a confirmation of skill in all aspects of what I’m performing. In a sense, I felt like people thought, “Of course, Jamie can do that. He’s so good,” which puts them in a fantastic thought process of “What’s next?!” And people’s reactions were great! It’s just such a shock to see it back on.

And of course this is all thanks to De’vo, who is such a talent it’s freakin scary! The things he can do are absolutely stunning and look like the kind of things you’d only expect someone with superhuman gifts (which he has) to do. I think he’s not into magic so much as manipulation but, I’m sorry De’Ring, when done well, is real magic. It was especially powerful when people didn’t realize that it was back on my finger right away. Instead of a ‘travel’, it was a ‘disappearance’ and an ‘appearance’, Two for the price of one!

The Difficulty:

I’m not going to lie to you and say that you’ll be busting this out in ten minutes. It takes practice. It’s not as hard, by any means, as some of the other stuff that De’vo puts out though. Also, you’ll also be throwing your ring all over the place (well, at least I did!) so don’t practice with something expensive, lol. 3.5/5.

Best Lines:

”WHHAAAAAAA??!!! DO IT AGAIN!”
~Lol, Imagine walking up to someone and slapping them in the face. But instead of it hurting, it feels good. That’s what this is like.

”How the %#^# did you get that back on there so fast?! That’s amazing!”
~Simple, Practice.

Angry Bob Rating:

For those of you reading this article for the first time, Angry Bob is a co-worker who has an understanding of some magic because his uncle was a magician. Angry Bob knows that TT’s exist, for example, but he has no desire to become a magician himself. He also has an anger management problem that can be experienced first hand if he can’t figure out how a trick is done. A high rating means he has no idea.

”You %#%##’n put it on your finger, ^^&$&((*$.”

Yeah, I know. I put it there. So does this “fool” Angry Bob? I guess not. 1/5. But, does it impress Angry Bob? I would think so. I mean, it’s a display of skill, as well as being a great effect. For me, it’s almost a no lose situation, If someone has an idea how it’s done, it doesn’t phase me because it simply looks so great.

My Rating:

Magic Friday Approved!

Like I mentioned above, I love Ring stuff and De’Ring is an effect I use daily. No kidding, I probably do De’Ring for someone every single day of my life. How many other effects do I have that I can say that about? So for me, De’Ring is an absolute must-have! I also love the fact that it doesn’t take up any more pocket space. If I could wear a deck of cards on my finger, I probably would, lol.

The JDG Tip:

Watch it here!

The iTricks Idea:

Check out your finger before you walk out the door. Lol, this might sound crazy, but depending on the weather, how much ice cream you’ve eaten, etc, your performance can really differ. So just do a quick check to make sure you’re ready to roll before you bust it out!

Closing Thoughts:

Thanks for reading and watching! If you’ve got a minute, please leave a comment and let me know you came by for a visit! And…

Have a Great Week Everyone!

Jamie D. Grant
www.whatizit.net