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Magic Roadshow December 15th, 2005 Issue# 37 Rick Carruth / editor (c)2005 All rights Reserved ----------------------------------------------------- Hello All
I'm so glad to be back with what will probably be the last issue of 2005. It's been a good year in the Roadshow's little world, and I'm looking forward to next year with outright vigor.. I must first say a heartfelt 'Welcome' to all the new subscribers who have joined our community since the last issue. I hope you find something to help with your particular brand of magic in each issue. Always feel free to write with any comments, request, rants and raves. I listen.. Email Me.. This issue is dedicated to you, the readers. I have received a number of request the past couple of weeks to include articles and/or information about various subjects which may not normally fit into a themed newsletter. Actually, as I started putting together this issue, I realized there was a theme- I'm sure you'll notice. I think everything tied together rather nicely.. In this Issue: 01) Nailing The Eye Contact- John Kinde's right-on advice 02) Dice - Magic and dice mingle 03) Dice Vision - An effect to underscore The basis of Dice Magic 04) 'Die' Vernon Mental Magic - A compelling mental effect with dice 05) Pentagram Magic - My favorite mental effect with dice 06) Did You Know - A little history 07) Derren Brown - 14 video's on Derren in action 08) Spectacular Psychology or Silly Psycho-babble? - A writer takes issue with Derren 09) Card Cheaters - Works from the most knowledgeable of magic's performers 10) Whit Haydn - Great video's of a master magician at work 11) Your Christmas Bonus - ????? Without further ado - and with a very , merry Christmas.... ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Nailing the Eye Contact Master the number one skill for connecting with your audience. Many people think that giving a speech or a comedy routine is quite different from being in a normal conversation. In some ways it is, but in most ways there is very little difference. Thinking that it IS different, results in the speaker entering "speaker mode" or the comic or magician turning on the auto-pilot. Keeping in touch with your natural delivery is critical to connecting with your audience. Don't forget that your delivery is never a monologue. Your talk or routine is always a dialogue. The members of the audience may not be speaking to you, but they are clearly giving you communication and feedback. This feedback is in the form of body language and eye contact. There is the nod of the head, the crossed arms, and the audience member in the back row sleeping! You're always giving energy and receiving it during your talk, says Lee Glickstein, author of Transformational Speaking. Let's look at eye contact as an example. Good eye contact, in my opinion is "conversational". You genuinely look at one person at a time while speaking. Don't spray the room with eye contact. Start your talk by delivering your first three sentences to just one person. The truth is, when you make solid eye contact with one person the whole audience feels included. As coach Max Dixon emphasizes, when you're delivering a critical point or funny line..."land the line"...deliver the entire line to just one person and then maintain the eye contact after delivering the line for a beat or two. Experiment with this to experience the impact. When you come to a punch line deliver it to one person, nail the eye contact and maintain it after the punchline to magnify its impact. Hint: You'll have even better results delivering your funny line to an audience member you've already noticed having a good time, smiling, or giving you positive body language. Copyright 2005 by John Kinde Motivational Humorist from Las Vegas, NV. (702) 263-4363 http://www.humorpower.com ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Dice Dice have a long and storied history in both gambling and magic. Publishing the article about John Scarne in the last issue stirred a conversation about John and his highly informative "Scarne on Dice". I knew little about dice and gambling with dice in my younger years, except that you needed two dice to play Monopoly. So, I picked up Scarne's voluminous work on the subject and educated myself. I was amazed at the information one man could collect and publish on one little subject. Now, Rick Feltman and I have put our heads together and decided that it would only be appropriate to publish a few magic tricks utilizing either a die or dice. Let's see what we can dig from the "Magic Roadshow Archives of Unpublished Magic Tricks Involving Dice as the Principle Component".. First, if you are not familiar with the basic mathematical principle of a die (one dice), then lets discuss that before getting into the effects, as it is at the center of most dice magic. "The two opposing sides of a die always total seven.." I call this the 'rule of seven'. Never forget it. If you roll a die and the top number showing is a four, then the bottom number will be a three. If the top number is a five, then the bottom number will be a two. If the top number is a six, the bottom number is a one... always. Here's a trick using both the mathematical certainty and three dice. (Note.. you can buy a nice pack of five dice, Bicycle brand, at Target for ninety-nine cents..) ~ Dice Vision Ask someone to stack three dice, one of top of the other, while you turn your back. Turn back around and immediately ask the spectator to cover the dice with a cup so you can't see the sides of the dice. Make a mental note of the top value of the top die. Now, announce that you can successfully predict the sum of the five hidden faces of the dice..( the bottom and top face of the bottom and middle dice, and the bottom face of the top die) Mention that others in the audience could have noted the side numbers of the stacked dice, but no one could have seen the hidden faces. Write your prediction on a chalk board or a piece of paper and put it to one side. Ask the spectator to look at the bottom number of the top die, then the top and bottom number of the middle and bottom dice. Ask them to total the numbers. Give them a pencil and paper and/or calculator to help them keep the numbers straight. If they mis-count, your trick is toast.. After they total the numbers, display your prediction with the proper flair. The Secret? The correct answer will always be twenty-one, minus the top number. If the top number, the number visible to you as you turned around, was a three, for example, the total of the top and bottom or all three dice is seven, plus seven, plus seven, minus the top number( a three) which leaves eighteen as the correct prediction. Remember the "rule of seven?" It's really easy to use a couple of spectators at once for this trick. The only problem is if they have identical top numbers the predictions will be the same. You can easily glance at the top number of the two stacks and get the correct predictions. Different predictions helps convince the audience of your skill. You can just as easily perform this effect with four or five dice. Four dice will be 4 x 7=28, minus the top number. Five is 5 x 7=35, minus the top number . This is the 'rule of seven' at work.. ~ 'Die' Vernon Mental Magic This is a nice little bit of mental magic, utilizing nothing more than dice and a book. Begin your effect with a blank piece of paper and a sealable envelope. Announce that you are going to make a bold mental prediction, using a normal set of dice. Write a word on the piece of paper and seal it in the envelope. Hand this to someone to hold for the duration of the effect. Give the spectator two dice ( you can use any number of dice ) and ask them to toss them out. Have them add the two top numbers. Almost as an afterthought, ask them to also add the bottom numbers to the total to make the trick more complex. Have them add the two top numbers first - then the bottom numbers - to prevent the spectator from seeing the 'seven' pattern on multiple dice... If they use two dice, what will the total be? Fourteen, of course. (7+7=14) Ask them to please open the book to page fourteen and place a bookmark on that page. Now, to make the effect even more random, tell them that you are giving them a third die and ask them to toss them out. Again, have them total the top three numbers, then flip the dice over and add the bottom three to the total as well. Their total will be twenty-one.. ( 7+7+7=21). Ask the spectator to count down to the twenty-first word in the text and read it aloud. Ask the spectator holding the envelope to open your prediction and read it aloud, much to the satisfaction of the audience.. Of course, you will always know in advance the word to be chosen by the number of dice you bring into play. Two dice, then three, as illustrated, will always be the 21st word on the 14th page. Personally, I use a Websters New World Dictionary, and I ask them to count down to the twenty-first definition, which in my book is the word "alarming". My prediction reads " I hope you find this little bit of magic rather 'ALARMING' " ~ Pentagram Magic This is a great effect. I've never took the time to try to figure 'why' it works.. I just know that it does. Needed: Two dice and a drawing of a pentagram (five-sided object ). A calculator and/or pencil and paper always helps.. Begin with suitable patter about the magical qualities of a pentagram. Ask someone to roll one of the dice and cover it with a cup or cloth, without letting you see the number rolled. "Note the pentagram has two sides facing upward, so multiply the number you rolled by two." "Note also that the pentagram has five sides total, so add five to your total." "The pentagram is unique among all the grams in that it has five points, so multiply your total by five." " Again, I will turn my back, and I would like for you to take the second die, roll it, note the number, and cover it as well.." "If you would, please add the number you just rolled to your total and write the Total Only in the center of the pentagram." When you turn and study the number inside the pentagram, you will immediate know not only the two numbers rolled, but the order in which they were rolled.. You will be able to point to one of the dice and state.." this is a __", and then turn to the other and name it as well.. How, you ask? Subtract twenty-five (25) from the number in the pentagram. Your answer will be the two numbers rolled - in the order in which they were rolled. Lets say you rolled a five, then a six. It would total like this... Multiply your rolled number by the two sides facing upward... 5x2=10 Add a five for the five sides of the pentagram... 10+5=15 Multiply this number by the number of points.... 15x5=75 Roll a second number and add it to the total..... 75+6=81 When you see the total (81), simply subtract twenty-five, and you have.. 81-25=56 You now know that five(5) was the first number rolled, and six (6) was the second. Getting the two numbers correct is good. Getting the two number correct AND in the order they were rolled is real good.. Works every time! ---------------- Did You Know.. Dice probably evolved from the ankle bones of hoofed animals (such as oxen), almost universally known as "knucklebones". Even today, dice are sometimes colloquially referred to as "bones", as in "shake them bones". Ivory, bone, wood, metal, and stone materials have been commonly used, though the use of plastics is now nearly universal. A loaded or gaffed die is a die that has been tampered with to land with a selected side facing upwards more often than it would simply by chance. There are methods of creating loaded dice, including having some edges round and other sharp and slightly off square faces. If the dice are not transparent, weights can be added to one side or the other. They can be modified to produce winners ("passers") or losers ("miss-outs"). "Tappers" have a drop of mercury in a reservoir at the center of the cube, with a capillary tube leading to another mercury reservoir at the side of the cube. The load is activated by tapping the die on the table so that the mercury leaves the center and travels to the side. Often one can see the circle of the cut used to remove the face and bury the weight. In a professional die, the weight is inserted in manufacture; in the case of a wooden die, this can be done by carving the die around a heavy inclusion, like a pebble around which a tree has grown. A variable loaded die is hollow with a small weight and a semi-solid substance inside, usually wax, whose melting point is just lower than the temperature of the human body. This allows the cheater to change the loading of the die by breathing on it or holding it firmly in hand, causing the wax to melt and the weight to drift down, making the chosen opposite face more likely to land up. A less common type of variable die can be made by inserting a magnet into the die and embedding a coil of wire in the game table. Then, either leave the current off and let the die roll unchanged or run current through the coil to increase the likelihood that the north side or the south side will land on the bottom depending on the direction of the current. Transparent acetate dice, used in all reputable casinos, are harder to tamper with. It's also worthwhile to note that common dice with the hollowed-out dots (values) are NOT truly random. The removal of more material by the hollowing out of, say, six dots on one side to create a number six, renders that side lighter than the corresponding one dot on the opposite side, and means that, statistically, the lighter 'six' will be rolled more often than the heaver 'one'. Some of these facts were gathered at Wikipedia.. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dice ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Derren Brown Derren Brown is one of my very favorite mentalist in the whole big 'ol world. I've located a site that has fourteen of Derren's videos at one location. You can go here and watch the best of his best, and, read the corresponding articles that offer his explanations... including: Are you feeling sleepy? People mysteriously fall asleep in public telephone boxes. Find out what trick Derren has borrowed from the politicians. » The lost taxi driver A London cabby manages to lose London's largest landmark. Read about how Derren distracts the driver. » Silent responses Before she's even opened her mouth, Derren knows this saleswoman's going to lie. Read his explanation and see how easy it is to tell. » First kiss This salesman describes his first kiss, but something's not right about the detail. Read about how Derren detects the lie. » The art of distraction Derren diverts people's attention so they don't notice him picking their pockets. Read his explanation of the oldest con trick in the world. » Memories are made of this How does Derren remember every card that's been played in a game of blackjack? Read how he maintains his winning streak. » http://www.channel4.com/entertainment/tv/microsites/M/mindcontrol/video/index.html --------------- OK, now that you've watched the effects, read what Simon Singh thinks of Derren and his mind control.. Spectacular Psychology or Silly Psycho-babble? by Simon Singh The Daily Telegraph Derren Brown is one of the biggest TV sensations of the year, and now he is bringing his amazing mind control to the West End. But is he a genius of psychology or merely a skilled magician? Read it here... http://www.simonsingh.com/Derren_Brown_Article.html ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Card Cheaters Ever been cheated playing cards? If you have, there's a good chance you didn't know it, unless you happened to catch the scoundrel. Card Cheaters is dedicated to catching those who feel a need to take your money, without actually robbing you at gun point. Some of the top magicians in the world have written material about cheaters, and how to avoid being cheated.. You can read biography's of guys like Harry Anderson, Darwin Ortiz, John Scarne, David Malek, Simon Lovell, Ricky Jay, Steve Forte, Penn Jillette, and Dai Vernon, as well as view the material they have written that pertains to gambling, cheating, and cheats.. "The majority of information on the subject is written and produced by researchers, journalists, consultants, gamblers and magicians who have studied the art of cheating." "The people who are represented here should not be confused with "card cheaters" and we do not recommend that anyone pursue this as a career. Acquiring knowledge about the subject is however invaluable to anyone who plays cards." http://www.cardcheaters.com/index.html ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Whit Haydn While we're on the subject of card cheats, let's not forget Whit.. He has graciously published a number of great video's on his site, available to all. I so enjoy watching the performances of other magicians. I usually learn more watching the performing aspect of great magicians, than buying a dvd to learn the secret of their tricks. Don't get me wrong, I love knowing the secrets too, but it's the performing that money can't buy. Seven of these videos were recorded in the past few days in the W.C. Fields room at the Magic Castle. Others were recorded in October and July. Watch as five-time Magic Castle Award Winner: Magician of the Year in Close-up, Stage, and Parlor performs- "The Ambitious Card", "The Phoenix Aces", and "The Chicago Surprise" among other great effects... http://www.whithaydn.com/video_clips.htm ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Your Christmas Bonus Yes, it's almost Christmas. And yes, I definitely celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ. I wish for ever one of you a Blessed Event this year, and hope you prosper spiritually and physically this coming year.. " May your double lift be undetectable, your palms without fail, and your misdirections in the form of a wonderful smile.." I realize too, that not all of you celebrate Christmas, and to those of you who don't - I wish you a Happy Holiday! Since this issue has been devoted to things 'not necessarily magic', my gift will be something a little different as well.. I have eighteen ebooks for you.. all you have to do is download the whole package as one zip file, then open the various ebooks. Please note.. the download page will only be available through January. I'm giving this to my readers, not the whole world o<];o) Included is: - Derren Brown Style Illusions + Mind Control - Hypnosis for Beginners - Seven Success Secrets of Hypnotism - How to get the Truth out of Anyone - Hypnosis Advanced Hypnotic Techniques - Self Hypnosis - Hypnotic Inductions And eleven more... http://snipurl.com/hypnomagic ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ Ellusionist Ellusionist has a number of brand new effects and DVD's on their site. I encourage you to take a moment and visit their homepage and look around. Some of the new effects include: RELEASED: Criss Angel - Self Levitation DVD RELEASED: Ghost Gaff Deck RELEASED: MERCURY Download by David Kong RELEASED: Criss Angel - Coin in Soda Can RELEASED: GLASS DVD by Adam Grace RELEASED: INFUSION DVD & DL by Geir Bratlie RELEASED: Ultimate Card Through Window RELEASED: FUSE - Fire Writing RELEASED: 50 Ways to Rock a Lighter Visit Ellusionist ~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~ That does it for 2005. Again, may you have a wonderful Holiday Season.. My dear wife, Carolyn, and I have been blessed this past year and we hope the Spirit of Christmas will touch YOUR life in some way or another - regardless of your religion. In other words.. We wish you the Best.. See you Jan.1st, 2006 with a new issue full of... actually... I don't have a clue. As usual, things seem to come together when they need to most.... I hope you found something useful, or entertaining, in this issue. It was my pleasure to put everything together and send it your way - regardless of what corner of the world you live in. (At last count, I think I have readers in about thirty-seven countries ...) Email me Don't forget to visit http://streetmagic.info and http://magicroadshow.com . Also, check by Magic Bullets - the blog every couple of days and see whats new. If you enjoy Magic Roadshow I suspect you'll enjoy the blog too... http://streetmagic.info/blogger.html -------------------- May my next issue find you well.. Rick Carruth / editor ------------------------------ |
