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Magic Roadshow April 17th, 2006 Issue# 45 Rick Carruth / editor / copyright (c) 2006 All rights reserved _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Hi All..
Welcome back to the Magic Roadshow. I know it's a couple of days late, but I've been busy trying to justify my income for the past year. Plus, I know you guys will be more forgiving than the Internal Revenue Service. I hope all of you who celebrate Easter had a great one! I did.. Now.. I must welcome all the subscribers who have signed up in the past two weeks. It's been a busy one. I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as I enjoyed putting it all together.. Please let me know if I can help with your magic in any way. And if you have an article or effect you would like to share with a thousand other magicians around the world, send it my way.. - - Email Magic Roadshow - I went to the doctor last week and he told me I only have ten more weeks in this abysmal brace. Great. What started off as ten weeks is going to turn into twenty. No problems.. just wants to take it real slow.. Enough about me. Lets talk about you, and what I have lined up in this issue.. ----------------------------------- In this Issue: 01) Make it your Own 02) Internet Marketing Secrets for the Entertainer 03) Criss Angel Auction and Video's 04) Uri Geller - the Good and the Bad 05) Al Mann Bibliography 06) Ace Starry 07) Buskers Central 08) Miracles for Mortals 09) Marking Cards 10) Derren Brown Interview & Free eBook 11) Cyril's Place 12) Just a Touch 13) Expert at the Card Table 14) Magic Roadshow Resource of the Week _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Make it your Own.. This article comes with instructions. It's not actually an article teaching you a new trick, or reminding you of an old one. It's not an informative article full of tips and tricks to make your audience clap wildly with appreciation. And it's not a tell-all intended to disclose the secret of a fellow magician. What it is... is an article to make you think, and to make you aware of one of the most important 'secrets' in all of magic - the ability to take a trick or effect and make it your own. I smile each week when I hear Simon and Randy on American Idol telling the singers- " to win, you need to take a song and make it your own.." Exactly. That's what it's all about. You DO NOT need every new effect that comes out to make your performance timely and entertaining. Performers on American Idol do not need to write and perform a new song each week to succeed. They need to take an old one and put their personal touch on it... This little bit of information is one of the most important I can pass on to a fellow magician, and it's a personal challenge I'm going to issue to each of you... " I want you to look through your 'classic' books of magic, pick out an effect you like, and turn it into a 'personal' effect by adding your own twist, which may be as simple as changing the patter or handling." Do it... you'll be glad you did... Did you see David Letterman the night of April 12th? One of his guest was close up magician Jason Randal. Among the various effects he performed was one that I know as "match 'em up". I do know that this is not the original name, and that it was published in a couple of early, now public domain, works. Jason put his own twist on the effect by using a deck composed of a number of different-backed cards from casino's. The deck was removed from his pocket and shown as being a deck composed of cards from various casino's. Jason then removed two jacks from the deck which were already face up, the only two face up cards in the otherwise face down deck. The jacks were given to David and he was asked to put one of the jacks, face up, onto a stack of face down cards as Jason dealt them onto the desk. Once done, Jason put the remainder of the cards in his hand onto the jack, leaving the jack out-jogged so as to allow David to keep his eyes on it.. Next, Jason picked up the deck and began the dealing-onto-the-desk process again, and ask David to place the other jack face up onto the pile whenever he wanted. Again, Jason placed the cards in his hand on top of the stack on the desk once David dropped the jack onto the dealt pile. After a minute of recapping the effect, Jason picked up the whole deck and began to thumb through the deck looking for the two face up jacks. When he found the first one he put it, and the card above it, to one side. Continuing until he found the second jack, he again removed the jack and the card above it and set it to one side. The remainder of the deck was set down and Jason, after suitable patter, revealed that the cards on top of the two jacks were both jacks as well. They had matched up, magically of course.. After a little more patter about the probabilities of such a feat, Jason then flipped over the remainder of the deck and ribbon spread the cards to reveal that they were all six of hearts. Sometimes we forget how a really simple card trick can fool an audience of millions - if done correctly. As they say, it's all in the presentation. Jason had the deck set up before-hand, with one of the face down jacks on top of the deck, and the other on the bottom. You can set up a regular deck the same way, and see how this effect is almost self-working. Put a jack on top, another on bottom, and you're set. When removing the deck from the pack, or your pocket, announce that you need a couple of jacks, and thumb through the deck until you find the two other jacks, and flip them face up onto the table. Begin to deal cards face down onto the desk and have one of the jacks put in face up wherever the spec chooses. When you drop the remainder of the cards in your hand onto the stack on the desk, you are putting the jack that was on the bottom on top of the face up jack... got it? The jack that was on top to begin with, is now at the very bottom of the stack, since it was the first card dealt onto the desk. Now, by repeating the process - deal a stack onto the desk, have the second jack placed face up onto the stack, and dropping all the cards remaining in your hand onto the second face up jack - you have now put the remaining face down jack, which is on the bottom, on top of the second face up jack. The trick is complete at this point, with all that remains is for you to gather all the cards, or ribbon spread them on the desk, and remove the two face up jacks and the cards directly above them. Set these to one side and you are ready for your reveal. Jason's use of a deck with all sixes increases the visual aspect of the trick, but it's not necessary to make the trick work. I've performed this effect in the past and I do not use a prepared deck. I let the spec examine the deck and shuffle it as well. This eliminates any doubt as to multiple cards or a gaffed deck. When they're happy, I take the deck, tell them that I need a couple of aces, ( my card of choice..) and I thumb through the deck looking for the aces. When I come to the first one, I secretly thumb it from my left hand onto the top of the right hand packet, whereas it would normally go on the bottom, but if done quickly no one will notice. When I come to the second and third ace, I drop them face up onto the desk. I 'quickly' ribbon spread the remainder of the cards looking for the fourth ace, and separate the deck at that point, last ace in my right hand, and out-jog it just enough that I can slide the remainder of the left hand packet in front of this ace and square up the deck. I now have an ace on top, one on bottom, and I'm ready to begin. If done quickly, no one will notice that you prepared the deck right in front of them.. Just walk through the steps slowly, trying to increase your speed as you go along. Jason's version looks good on tv, but requires a set up and a special deck. Mine doesn't require a special deck and can be set up on a moments notice, but lacks the 'all sixes' effect. Either one is a good example of what you can do with a really simple card trick and good patter. Don't get caught up in believing that all good effects must have bodacious sleight of hand to be successful. This trick works for the same reason an Elmsley count works. If done with confidence, 99% of the people will not pick up on what you're doing... R.Carruth ================================ Internet Marketing Secrets For The Entertainer by Dennis Regling. The internet is a wonderful sales and marketing tool. Unfortunately, very few of us learn how to use it effectively. There is the idea that if you build a website and get lots of hits, you will make money. The common thinking is "more hits equals more money." A lot of money is spent to generate hits. There are companies that will guarantee you hits in exchange for your hard-earned cash. Although this sounds logical, it does not work. Unless your product or service has a very wide appeal and is an impulse buy, this will not work for you. It's like mass mailing your offer to everyone in the phone book. Lots of hits does not necessarily equal lots of money. If you are paying for unqualified hits, it could mean a great loss of money. For the entertainer, the webpage is a great place to quickly and inexpensively get your sales message to your prospect. Everything you once put in a package and mailed to your prospect can now be delivered over the internet. As an entertainer I am interested in only two types of hits. I want my webpage easily found by individuals or companies actively seeking services I offer. I also want my webpage available to prospects responding to offers I have made through my sales promotions. I get a handful of inquiries from churches and other groups each year who find me through search engines and listings on pages for entertainers. You may use Google AdWords to generate hits only from those searching for your "key words." Unfortunately, unless your key words are very specific, you may be paying for hits from curiousity seekers. However, key words that are too specific will not generate leads. Sadly, too many businesses are depending on just this method exclusively. It will generate leads, but you are also competing with the other magicians on the web. The hits I really want are from those prospects I have sent a postcard or sales letter to. My prospects have been pre-screened, and my offers sent to those that can use my services. The offers are designed to send them to my webpage for more information. If you want to attract event planners, you might mail a postcard to a mailing list of prospects offering a free report at your webpage. On your webpage, you will collect their personal information and introduce them to your services. If you wanted to do Blue & Gold Dinners for the Cub Scouts, you might mail every Scout troop in your market area a postcard offering a Free Report on "How To Make This Year's Blue & Gold Banquet the Best Ever!" On your webpage you would have the report. Of course, the report should be full of good information, but especially, it should explain how hiring you will benefit them. After reading your report, they can then check out your other links with testimonials, details and contact information. It is good business to have your business easily found by customers who are ready to buy. A nice website, some good meta-tags, and search engine submission make it simple for people looking for your services to find you. It is better business to find qualified prospects, send them to your webpage and then stir them to action. ------------------- Special Thanks to my friend - Dennis Regling. You can read other valuable articles by Dennis at http://www.bellaonline.com/site/magic . Also, visit Dennis at his personal website.. http://www.bibledefender.com/ ============================ Criss Angel Auction and Video's I received an email less than five minutes ago inviting me to meet Criss and appear on one of the new episodes that begins Wednesday, May 31st. I'm not sure whether to take Criss up on this, as I'm going to have to go to eBay and bid for the right.. I knew there was a catch somewhere.. Yes, beginning Monday night YOU can bid on the right to meet Criss and appear on his show. I'm interested in seeing what kind of money this auction brings. I'm sure there's someone, somewhere, with enough money and ego to bid this thing out of sight.. That said.. A&E has put up a new site with about seven video interviews with Criss. You can discover who he idolizes, what got him into magic, meet his family, watch him train, listen as he talks about his beginnings, and who has been his great inspirations. ( And if you have a web site, go to the A&E message board, sign up, leave a message that will certainly be read by Criss himself, include your url - as html is allowed, and get a good link, spidered by Google, for your web site...) http://www.aetv.com/criss_angel/criss_meet_criss.jsp ============================== Uri Geller - The Good and the Bad Many people have many different opinions of Uri Geller. I recently featured a link to an interesting article about Uri in an issue of Magic Roadshow. Afterwards, I wished I had done then what I'm about to do now.... ------------------ "Many of the top Mentalists in the world have no idea how Uri Geller can make a compass needle move. Since he does so in his bathing suit and has been checked over by ultra sensitive equipment for metal or magnetic radiation, he obviously is NOT using a hidden magnet to move the compass needle. Since reliable sources (and knowledgeable magicians) have not only witnessed Geller make spoons bend but have witnessed them to continue moving long after Mr. Geller has left, I would challenge these so called protectors and magic geniuses to explain how he does it. If they reply, "I don’t know for sure" then they have no right to say that he is a fake." Paul Alberstat .... PSIncerely Yours - No.4 June 2000 ------------------- "I will say I think he is a very clever man and a very clever performer... I have worked on the same stage with Geller and in the same room. I have seen him cheat." Banacheck (Steve Shaw) -------------------- Editors and writers have sources that they are reluctant to reveal to the public. It's not that the source is a great big secret, it's that the source can be a source of numerous articles over time. For instance, I have links to web sites by certain favorite writer friends where they have posted almost every article they've ever written. Since I publish their articles from time to time, their sites are of great value to me. If I'm looking for an article about a particular subject, I can go to this link, find the article I need, thank my buddy, and publish the article... I don't want to disclose the link to these articles since you could go there, read all the articles, and turn your little noses up when I publish one in Magic Roadshow. Over time I'm going to publish all the good stuff anyway, so everything works to both my advantage and my readers. Since Uri Geller is a central figure in the world of magical entertainment, although I'm not quite sure which category of magic, writers have enjoyed writing, discussing, disputing, and saluting his career. As a result, Steve Knight has put together the definitive work on the career of Uri Geller, including links to hundreds of articles published in magazines and newspapers worldwide. No dispute, this is a totally impartial site devoted to the good and the bad. A really good writer could easily compose a three or four hundred page biography solely based on the information garnered from Steve's site. If you have an interest in mentalism, "Uri Geller - a Bibliography" is one site I highly recommend you bookmark for future reference. http://www.zem.demon.co.uk/ -------------------------------------- Al Mann bibliography If you're into mentalism then you are very familiar with Al Mann. Al was a mainstay in mentalism for many years, and one of it's primary writers, developers, and inventors. Uri's site above features a great link in the sidebar to an Al Mann bibliography, featuring images and descriptions of many of his published works. ============================ Ace Starry Ace is a renown magician who has performed his street magic shows across the country. But there was a time when Ace, performing the streets of California, struggled to make ends meet as a performer. Why? He didn't know the techniques that successful street performers used to gather a crowd and get those fat hats.. "At first I didn't know what to do. I tried doing cups and balls, sponge balls and small tricks, (coins and cards) much the same as David Blaine. They were okay, the reaction of the people is great for the ego, but I just couldn't make enough money to get by. It wasn't until I discovered the real secrets to street magic, that I learned how to make good money. The two biggest secrets lie in using your voice and the working area to maximize the audience participation. Make sure that as many people can see and hear you as possible." One of the pages on Ace's web site is devoted to offering street magic tips and tricks that have worked for him through the years. It's all good stuff, and can be accessed here... http://www.starry.com/magic/street.htm And if that's not enough, Ace has another page devoted to getting a job in a magic shop. He relished the time he spent working in magic shops, and admits that it was working these shops that turned him into a real performing pro.. http://www.starry.com/magic/shops.htm ============================= Buskers Central While we're talking about street magic, one of my favorite reference sites is Buskers Central. Not strictly for street magic performers, Buskers Central is devoted to helping anyone who works the streets, whether they be magicians, baloon artists, musicians, or a long list of other performers. To quote from their web site... "Busker Central is one of the web's largest busker reference sites and a non-profit co-operative promoting busking around the globe. Made by and for street performers, the Busker Central photo gallery displays a large amount of images with hundreds of pictures. The Busker Central video gallery hosts over 100 street performer videos freely available to download for your viewing pleasure. Street performers new and old can benefit from the worldwide busker videos, photos, songs, comics, and community." In addition to the videos, there are dozens of links to different performing genre's, such as.. Gypsy, magicians, mimes, fortune tellers, buskers, contorts, clowns, musicians and on and on... You can spend lots of time exploring the corners of Buskers Central. Look for a link to the calendar of events with many of the very best busking events worldwide.. http://www.buskercentral.com ==================================== Miracles for Mortals I have two videos I want you to watch. Yes, these are Ellusionist products, and yes, I sell Ellusionist products. I'm confident that if you want it, you'll buy it... and if you don't - you won't. But I want you to see it anyway. This is magic, and I cannot figure it out. I take great pride in watching trailers and saying " Oh, I saw the move. I know it, I don't need to buy it.." But I can guarantee you that if I am to perform THIS magic, I'm gonna hafta buy it.. There ain't no figuring this out... David Mitchell of Team Ellusionist said... "The two preview videos shown on this page demonstrate just two of the effects you'll find on these DVD's. When the core team of Ellusionist got together recently, we screened many products for the site. One team member was watching this DVD and could not believe he was seeing what he was seeing. This is what real magic ought to look like. That staff member ran and brought in another member, and they watched it together, and the reaction was just as powerful. Finally they brought Brad in to watch this effect, and the look on his face made it clear. A WINNER." This will give you something to think about.... http://www.ellusionist.com/cart/?aid=1018 ==================================== Marking Cards Don't think for a moment you can't be suckered-in by someone using marked cards. With the current success of Texas Hold-em, and poker emporiums sprouting up everywhere, you are at a greater danger of getting fleeced now than ever before. Remember, some folks are so competitive that they will do 'anything' to win.. The old adage is, if you don't want to get burned, insist that a new deck of cards be opened and brought into play. Unfortunately, that doesn't work anymore. Anyone with a acces to the web can purchase sealed, marked decks. This site has ordered these decks, examined them at length, and published photos of the markings.. This quote is from their site... "Any complex back design may be marked. One of the only two ink colors--navy blue or medium red--will suffice for the well-known U.S. Playing Card brands. The trouble with marking cards at home, however, is that the deck's seal must be broken." "Premarked cards, favored by serious players, come from Lous Tannen, Inc., a New York magic supply house. Tannen's marked decks are genuine U.S. Playing Card decks that have been opened, marked by hand, and resealed with a duplicate U.S. Playing Card stamp, cellophane wrap, and a white tear-band bearing the brand name. Each deck comes with separate instructions for decoding the markings. Big Secrets ordered Tannen's Aviator, Bee, and Bicycle decks to see how the markings are concealed." Take advantage of their research and visit "Marking Cards". http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/jcgcardman/cardmark.html ============================= Derren Brown Interview and Free eBook Derren Brown's 'Trick of the Mind 2006' has begun it's new season in sunny England. Regardless of whether you love him, or hate him, Derren is important as a performer because he is one of the new influences on a new generation of magicians/mentalists. Channel 4 recently featured an interview with Derren, although not excessively long, on it's site at : http://www.magicweek.co.uk/magic_articles/article_derren_brown_march_2006.htm (Q) "You have a new series of TRICK OF THE MIND coming up. What can you tell us about it? How different is it to the previous series?" (A) "It follows the format of the previous series, only this time I get to go abroad. The first series was all in London, and then the next was across England, so it made sense to go world-wide for segments of this series. Of course I was very opposed to the idea of being handed any sort of exciting paid-for holiday and it was only with great reluctance that I suggested we go and film the US, in Venice, Vienna and Monte Carlo. Not sure where to go for the next series. ‘Moon Control’, maybe. Also, the feel of the series is a little different: we’ve shifted things away from the cool 60’s look of the previous shows to a darker 50’s tone. Has a more Hitchcocky feel, I suppose. I think it looks rather good. And it means I get to occasionally wear my trilby which I’m more than happy with." --------------- Free eBook Here is a link to a free ebook of Derren's magic. I know very little about the book, other than it is about one hundred and twenty pages long and can be downloaded at: http://www.newsbackup.com/about658874.html If it's worthy, let me know... -------------- Links A-plenty You can find dozens of links to 'things Derren', including the good and the bad, at Wikipedia. Like most, I do not necessarily trust everything I read on Wikipedia, but the links are valuable as a source of reference.. http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_brown ============================ Cyril's Place I'm sure most of you, if you're a regular reader, are familiar with Cyril Takayama... commonly known as Cyril. His videos are posted across the web. You can go to youtube. com and enter 'cyril', and discover about sixty videos. Of course, if you read the last issue, you would already know this... Anyway.. Cyril actually has a page on MySpace, if you're interested. http://www.myspace.com/cyrilmagic ============================ ~ Just a Touch ~ Mental magic... This effect will serve you well if you will take the time to work out some interesting patter. I will briefly summarize the effect and leave the rest to you... Effect: Have someone mentally select a name (or object, or favorite sports team ). Give them a writing pad with five lines drawn and ask them to write the chosen name on one of the lines. Then, four other unrelated names on the other lines. Take the pad.. study it.. audibly call out a name and announce that you do not think that name was the chosen name. Call out two more names and tell your audience that your are sure they are not the chosen names either. Down to the last two names.. study hard.. and announce the chosen name. Secret: Give your spec a RED fine-point or micro ink pen. I use a Uni-ball micro. A short time before the effect, touch the tip of the red ink pen to the felt tip of a BLACK marker, like a Sharpie. When your spec writes their chosen name on one of the lines, the very tip of the first letter will have a "dark" appearance. If you practice for a few minutes before you perform this effect, you will learn exactly how hard to touch the tips together to achieve a virtually un-noticeable 'smudge'. NO ONE will notice this smudge, but you.. It will appear as if it's just a little excess ink on the tip. Note how simple the technique is.. yet it can be played big if you take the time to work up a Good Story to go with this effect, and you will have a little bit of impressive mental magic to add to your repertoire... ============================= Expert at the Card Table.. If you are a new subscriber, then I owe you an ebook. Not just any ebook, but Erdnase " Expert at the Card Table". Here is a download link for the ebook, which will be in a zipped format.. If you have a problem downloading EATCT, email me and let me know - I will send it to you via email... Remember, this link will only be here for about four days, so if you want it, get it now and enjoy... (A new Link will re-appear in Issue 46 on May 1st ) ============================ Magic Roadshow Resource of the Week.. Two things.. I would like for you to have a free trial of SpyZooka, and I would like for you to visit one of the other sites I edit, 'Shareware and Freeware' for BellaOnline and read an article I wrote. SpyZooka is the only anti-spyware program I've found, in years of surfing the web, that guarantees to remove 100% of the spyware from your computer. And if you surf as much as I do, and particularly if you engage in p2p (file sharing), this little program can save you hundreds and hundreds of dollars. I know firsthand.... http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art41129.asp PS.. my resource of the week is going to be a non-magic item or resource that I have found useful. Some will be free and some won't, but they all will be good... I promise. ============================= Discover the Magic Tricks and Secrets of professionals in the privacy and comfort of your own home, and get a free newsletter and magic ebook in the process.. http://www.301url.com/procourse ============================= I encourage you to send any resources my way. If you know of a site that has a free ebook or a wide assortment of magic related material, let me know. I'm sure all the other readers will appreciate it.. I've been busy this past two weeks redesigning Magic Roadshow.com . Have a look and tell me what you think, honestly.. Email me.. --------------------------- Please don't forget to visit some of my other sites.. see what's new - http://www.streetmagic.info http://www.magicroadshow.com http://www.streetmagic.info/blogger.html http://www.streetmagicsecrets.info http://www.bellaonline.com/site/shareware --------------------------- May my next issue find you well.. Rick Carruth / editor _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ |
