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: May 1st, 2005 : Issue# 22 :: Rick Carruth/editor : David Breth/contributing editor ~~~:::~~~:::~~~:::~~~:::~~~:::~~~ Hello All.. First.. I want to welcome all the new subscribers since the last issue. I hope you find something here to help you with your goals. I want to remind you to let me know what you're thinking! What's up with you and your career? What do you want to read in Magic Roadshow? I have a small, but very talented, group of experts that can crank out valuable articles on virtually any magic-related subject you can come up with.. Email Me.. I also want to thank all of you who wrote to offer support for my wife, Carolyn. She read your letters and wanted me to thank each of you for taking time to offer her encouragement. She's getting better. Actually, although she can't drive yet, I had to take her to the big city yesterday to get her nails done... ------------------- :: In This Issue -Review - Weapons of the Card Shark (dvd) -Engineering Magic -Trick Magic.com -Joe McLaughlin's Sleights -Gmail -Article - Business or Hobby? -Card in Wallet Prediction -The Modern Mentalist -Plans - Make a Money Machine -Dave Dee ~~~~::~~~~::~~~~::~~~~::~~~~::~~~~ :: Weapons of the Card Shark - A Review :: ( Underground Cheating Techniques Exposed..) Weapons of the Card Shark introduces Jeff Wessmiller to the world of magic. I say magic because many of the sleights of this 90 minute dvd are far more useful to magicians than card players. Jeff himself offers a disclaimer at the beginning of the dvd encouraging viewers to NOT use the techniques in an actual card game, lest something very bad happen.. the most proficient cheats of all time will dare to use an illegal move more than once or twice during an entire session. They understand the consequences of getting caught, and reduce their chances of being detected to slim-to-none. If you regularly play poker with the 'boys', let me say this and then I'll get on with the review - You can bet your last dollar that a few intellectually-challenged players WILL pick up on a few of these moves and try to manipulate a deck during actual play. Fortunately, their versions of Jeff's shuffles, cuts, glimpses, and switches will be far inferior to Jeff's. It takes nerves of steel to cheat with a table of eyes following your every move, and real cheats understand the risk of getting caught. Jeff credits several of magic's greats throughout the dvd. You can easily tell the influence magic has on his skills. Actually, I see Jeff more as a Martin Nash protege than a cheat. He's discovered his niche, and if he's as wise as I suspect, he'll ride this horse to the bank and back a few years yet.. Weapons is divided into eight sections: False Shuffles, False Cuts, Stacking, Hopping the Deck, Glimpses, False Dealing, Mucking, and Deck Switches. False Shuffles, for instance, covers ten different types of shuffles. Blind shuffles, in which the order of the entire deck is not disturbed, is probably the most useful in our line of work. I particularly liked the Blind Over-Under Shuffle, which looked very convincing - even close up. The Push-Through and Zarrow shuffles are both well-know sleights, but I still enjoy watching someone skillful performing those moves for me.. False Cuts are another commonly used sleight by magicians. Once a chosen card has been controlled to the top, or bottom, Jeff demonstrates five different cuts to retain their position. From the simple Scrape Cut to the fancy Erdnase-inspired Jigsaw Cut, all are very do-able for the average magi. Next, Jeff demonstrates six different methods of stacking a deck. These stacks are achieved as the dealer gathers the loose cards from the previous hand. In most stacking scenario's, the crooked dealer is simply looking for a high pair to control, and subsequently deal, to himself or an accomplice. Although not commonly used by the average magician, these are the type of moves you would most likely see a cheat attempt in a game... The section dealing with Hopping the Deck, on the other hand, is full of valuable info for magicians. Starting with Ed Marlo's method of retaining the bottom card, Cellar Keep, to the Classic Pass, Thumb-lick Pass, and Hermann's Tap Pass, Jeff displays his mastery of card magic's most frustrating move. He follows with a an original pass that is nothing short of...hard. Then, two table passes to retain the top card after the deck has been fairly cut by another player ( or audience member). Four Glimpses show you how to discover either the top or bottom card when dealing to other players. I can see this being very useful if you have controlled a card to either location and need to know the value to finish the trick. I can also see someone tryng to use these techniques in a game of seven-card draw to discover your hole cards.. What separates Jeff from other magicians, in my humble opinion, is his ability to False Deal. His bottom deal is very efficient, but just a little 'loud' if dealt in rhythm. One would need to stop and/or pause every few seconds to break the sound pattern. On the other hand, Jeff's Stud Bottom Deal is not detectable, at least not when performed by him. The Flop Bottom Deal and Marlo's Cigar Bottom Deal are fun to watch and very useable in close company. Watching Jeff Second Deal is worth the price of the dvd. Except for a slight variation in his grip, you cannot detect his second deal, or the more difficult Push Off Second Deal. Only a master of the art would stand any chance of detecting the miniscule difference. If you can master any of the false shuffles, you could put on one heck of a cheating demonstration, one that the public couldn't detect even when 'burning' your hands.. The Mucking and Deck Switches are more legitimate cheating techniques. Mucking (stealing cards from the deck and bringing them back at an appropriate moment) is one of those moves that could get your opponent in serious trouble if not performed to perfection. Jeff can do it - but most retarded card cheats can't. It's one thing to perform a move so fast that your fellow players are not sure exactly WHAT they saw... It's something else to get caught with a card in your palm, or a deck in your lap.. All in all, I give 'Weapons of the Card Shark' a 4.5 out of 5. There is definitely a world of information here, and Jeff is a very good instructor. This is a professionally produced dvd with high production values, proper sound and lighting, camera angles, and navigation. Topping out at 90 minutes, there is a full hour and ten minutes of instructions and another twenty minutes of Jeff performing a number of the moves during actual game play. Combine an interest in magic with the current popularity of poker, and you will find enough genuinely useful sleights to keep you busy for many nights to come.. :: Available from - http://www.expertmagic.com :: $25.00 instant download , $30.00 DVD w/fr'ee shipping ======================== :: Engineering Magic ASME The more you know about engineering, the more you’ll know about magic. No, engineering isn’t magic, but magic is a combination of skill (art) and engineering. And, as you’ll learn in this website, magic requires a knowledge of science and the help of engineering. Without science and engineering, it would be impossible to do magic. In science we seek to understand our physical world and in engineering we put science to work to improve the quality of life--but who can have a quality life without having some fun!? Join us in taking a look at the science and engineering of magic! (Brought to you by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) floating dollar egg in bottle disappearing milk piercing a balloon http://www.asme.org/education/precollege/magic/default.htm =============== :: Trick Magic.com Effect: The cards are spread out between the magician's hands and the spectator is instructed to touch one card somewhere in the middle of the pack. The touched card is turned face up. The deck is squared up, and the spectator cuts the deck several times. The jokers found the card! One joker is on top of the card, and one joker is right below the selected card. Truly a card masterpeice! Secret: I'm not going to give you the secret! You've got to go to TrickMagic to get it. http://trickmagic.com/card_between_the_jokers.htm =============== :: Gmail Remember.. if any of you want a fr'ee Google Gmail email account, so you can get every issue of Magic Roadshow without interruption, let me know. I have forty-eight invitations at the moment and will be glad to send you one. =============== :: Joe McLaughlin's Sleights Let Joe teach you a nice little one-handed shuffle. Now, I'm not telling you it's going to be easy, but it is do-able. Good photo's.. http://home.att.net/~sleights/ =============== :: Business or Hobby? :: David Breth / contributing editor "Most people do not buy reality, they buy perception". When I heard this statement used, my first thought was 'hummm this seems dishonest.' The more I pondered and studied this statement, the more I began to see that this was not a justification to be dishonest, but it was just being honest about most people. "Most people do not buy reality, they buy perception". I recall a story I read years ago about several bakeries located on the same street each located only a few shops down from one another. One of these bakeries placed their sign out front of their store and it read "The best bakery in the universe". Another had a sign reading "The best bakery in the world", yet another displayed a colorful sign with bold letters "The best bakery in the state". The one that is always packed with paying, repeat customers is the bakery that has the sign that simply says "The best bakery on this street". You see whether they were actually the best bakery on that street or not, the perception is that they are from what their sign says. An example that is closer to home, I am one of only a few magicians in my area that offers all my customers a "100% GUARANTEE. If you don't like, you don't pay". I have my share of 'well meaning' magicians telling me ..."oh, you should not offer a 100% guarantee. There are always gold diggers out there looking for a bargain"... That statement is true, yet for me I have never had any one take me up on my offer. Then these same 'well meaning' magicians ask me ..."what if they do decide to take you up on your offer then what?" ..."If they do, I will tear their check up".... Real to life: I live about 30 miles outside of Baltimore, MD just this year 2005 I am on the phone with a potential client, we are chatting about their son's fourth birthday party. When I told them about my 100% GUARANTEE Mr. and Mrs. X said "really, wow". They secured my services right then and there. Now you may be saying OK neat, but what is the big deal? Oh, yeah I have not mentioned to you the fact that they live just outside of Boston, MA. This means they have to fly me in, put me in a hotel, and take care of my meals and ground transportation. Mr. and Mrs. X are not just a couple that have flown off their rocker, they are real to life folks like you converse with each and every day. They were not buying the reality that it would cost them more to have me travel there than to have a local drive ten minutes to their house, they were buying the 'perception' of me being the 'best', and giving them a security blanket (100% Guarantee) in case I said I was the best and did not come through. Disclaimer: You must be able to deliver what you promise or you will be taken up on your guarantee. I strive to over deliver. Give them more than they had agreed to... Notice I said more - not less. Footnote: I am not in anyway putting down the 'well meaning' magicians that tell me I should not offer my 100% Guarantee. 99% of them that tell me this are not full-time and perform less shows in a few months than I perform in one month. I AM NOT BOASTING, PLEASE KNOW I AM HUMBLE WHEN I SAY THIS! Hope this helps. A fellow entertainer, David Breth http://www.davidbreth.com ================= :: Card in Wallet Prediction The magician lets a spectator pick a card from the pack. Then, the magician takes a card out of his or her wallet and it matches the card chosen by the spectator.. The Secret: First, you need two of the same card (they don't need to be from the same type of deck). Let's say it is the queen of diamonds. Take one of the queens and put it in a wallet. Put either double stick tape or a loop of tape on the bottom of the wallet, and put the wallet in your pocket. Take the other queen and put it on top of the deck you want to use. Now you are ready to do the trick. Take out the wallet and tell the spectator that there is a prediction of some sort inside (make sure the spectator does not see the tape). Tell a spectator to pick a card and not to look at it. Take the card and put it on top of the deck. Now, start to talk about telepathy & magic and casually put the wallet over the deck of cards. When the wallet is removed, the card the spectator selected is on the bottom of the wallet, and the queen of diamonds is now on the top of the deck. Put the queen of diamonds on the table and flip it over. Slowly open the wallet to build up the suspense and finally reveal that the cards match. ================= :: The Modern Mentalist "Derren Brown has reinvented TV conjuring and amazed viewers with his mind control acts. So, is he a psychic or just a master manipulator of our need to believe? JACK PHOENIX met him to discuss perception, illusion and spoon- bending." Following Alaine Nu's two TV specials on TLC this past week, I thought you may find this interview with 'Brown' interesting.... I did. Very in-depth, and very informative, check out this article in ForteanTimes (forteantimes.com). Remember, you heard it here first... Mentalism WILL be the next 'Big thing' in the world of magic and magic-related arts. Learn everything you can today, and be a step ahead of your competition tomorrow... "In another show, he predicted the exact campaign that two advertising executives would come up with, and in a rare departure showed us how he’d done it. Brown and his team had put pictures and phrases on T-shirts, parcels, and pub signs the execs would encounter on their route to the office. The execs were unconscious of the information they had absorbed on their journey, and amazed at how predictable their response was." http://www.forteantimes.com/articles/185_derren1.shtml =================== :: Make your Own Money Machine Convert ordinary white paper into real banknotes! Works with American dollars as well as other currency like German marks, Dutch guilders and English pounds This little site will give you detailed instructions for constructing your own money machine. Put plain paper between the wooden rollers, turn the crank, and watch as banknotes come out the other side. Click on the " can I have this banknote press" link on the home page.. http://home.planet.nl/~geldpers/home.html ============ :: Dave Dee "Recently I came across a website for magicians created by Dave Dee. For those of you who don't know, Dave is the marketing expert for magicians and is the author of the all time best selling "Ultimate Insider Secrets Marketing Program For Magicians". I can tell you that Dave is the real deal. He went from averaging 3 shows per month to averaging between 25-30 shows a month in only three months. His materials have really helped me book a lot more shows and make a lot more money doing magic. His stuff really works. You really owe it to yourself to check out his website. http://www.davedee.com/cmd.asp?Clk=1065751. =================== I've put up two pages of contracts you can reproduce to use as needed. If you are performing, and not using a contract... you need to download these. The easiest way to find the links is to visit my blog at ... http://streetmagic.info/blogger.html Also, I've begun work on the MagicRoadshow website. by this time next year, I plan for it to be the #1 source for magic resources on the web. You can visit http://magicroadshow.com and read the first two 'best of' Magic Roadshow issues. Originally constructed as pdf ebooks, I have posted them on my site for easy bookmarking and reading.. Well.... I'm pushing the limits of my email. I cannot mail emails that are too big, or certain systems will automatically kick them to the spam bin.. Let me know if you didn't get this issue.. ;-) Email me with questions, rants, raves, or request. If you have original material you would like to see published, let me know... May my next issue find you well... Rick Carruth __________________________________________________ Magic Roadshow - Magic's Premier Newsletter
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