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Magic Roadshow May 2nd, 2006 Issue# 46 Rick Carruth / editor (c)2006 All rights reserved _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Hello All..
First.. a big 'thank you' to all the new subscribers. There have been more new sign-ups the past two weeks than any two week period in the history of Magic Roadshow. I hope I can do you guys justice... Well, the next two weeks should be interesting. David Blaine has a new special on ABC TV May 8th, and Englands Keith Barry will star in his own special on CBS four days later. The opinions have always been varied about David Blaine as far as his viability as a magician and an entertainer. My thoughts are simple.. David single-handedly pulled magic out of the doldrums ten years ago, and magicians worldwide have profited greatly from his popularity. What else can you say? Yes, magic has undergone a change during the premier of Street Magic ten years ago, and not all the changes have necessarily been for the best. But, changes are inevitable. As magicians, we HAVE to keep an open mind and be prepared to adapt to whatever comes our way. Love him or hate him, just pay him his dues for the attention he brought to all the rest of us. Keith Barry will perform in a vein similar to that of Derren Brown and Criss Angel. Think of him as a cross between the two... a street magician/illusionist who is also a mentalist, or vice versa.. I think this show may be the more interesting of the two, as I'm not a great big fan of escapeology and physical stunts, since the public seems to associate magicians and escapes with trickery.. Just my humble opinion... I would also like to take a moment to thank Trent Codd III and the Western North Carolina charter of SAM for inviting me to attend a lecture two weeks ago featuring Justin Miller. Many of you are familiar with Justin and his fantastic and highly visual form of magic. His lectures are equally entertaining. And I couldn't wait to get him to perform an effect using Ultra Smoke 2000. Although I've seen the video many times, I wanted to see it in person.. and I ceertainly wasn't disappointed. In the event you aren't familiar with Ultra Smoke 2000, take a quick look at the short video featuring Justin.. http://www.ellusionist.com/cart/?aid=1034 If you've got any comments about this issue, my sanity, or my choice of resources.. Email Me OK.. I've rambled enough. On with the Roadshow.. -------------- In this Issue -------------- 01) 7 Sure Fire Ways to Overcome Stage Fright 02) Heads or Tales 03) The AXIS Color Change - a Review 04) Coin Thru Ashtray 05) Is This Erdnase? 06) Erdnase "Expert at the Card Table" download 07) Free Magic Tricks and eBooks 08) Cardmaker - Bernd Maucksch 09) David Stone Interview 10) Magic Roadshow Resource of the Week ---------------- And this week, whilst practicing your form of magic, keep this in mind... "One man may hit the mark, another blunder; but heed not these distinctions. Only from the alliance of the one, working with and through the other, are great things born..." "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." Antoine de Saint-Exupery _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ 7 Sure Fire Ways To Overcome Stage Fright When Speaking Or Performing By Michael Bresciani (Great advice comes from many different places - and people... editor) Meditation or Prayer: If you’re a believer you can pray - if you are not at least take time to clear your mind and meditate. (On clearing your mind) A short prayer for God to guide you and give you the right words can’t ever hurt. God has promised to give believers words even when they are under a heavy persecution; Mt 10:19. Why wouldn’t he also help when there isn’t any persecution? He would. Obviously you must do this before you speak. If you don’t pray before you speak you might find yourself praying in the middle of your presentation for God to get you out of it as quickly as possible. Do not overlook this little gem because although it seems unimportant, it can actually be what makes or breaks your performance or presentation. Concentrate Only On what Your Doing or Saying: Finding something to focus on in the room, the podium or in your own head is the quick road to failure. If you are concentrating on some external matter your attention is divided and everyone will see that as clearly as a red blinking light on you head. One hundred percent of your attention on your subject, your music or anything else leaves zero percent wasted on fear, faces and nerves. It also goes without saying that you should never give any attention to time. It is another great false detractor. If you’re in a hurry, it shows a lack of confidence, if you go over time you must be approaching expert levels in your field. Take that as an unspoken compliment. Ask Yourself One Single Question: Before you begin speaking ask yourself one all important question. Who in this entire audience could do or say what I am doing or saying? If you consider the answer very carefully you will always arrive at the same answer which is, few to none. When I was playing American and Irish Folk music I constantly reminded myself that I had a repertoire of about one thousand songs. I wasn’t trying to feed my ego but I was reminding myself of one fact. If I were to ask my audience how many people could do one thousand songs, I would get no answers at all most of the time. When I get up to speak I am reminded of years of schooling, hours of personal preparation, scores of published articles and two published books. Ego, no, it is only the answer to the all important question. The bottom line is that since no one can say or do what you are saying or doing just get on with it. Waste no time on what anyone thinks. If they could do what you are doing they would be in the podium and you would be in the audience. Get Emotional: If you stuff doesn’t move you it won’t move anyone else either. This is an immutable rule of presentation. If you are singing your interpretation of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star pour yourself into it. If you are speaking about the nocturnal habits of fire ants do it with gesticulations, reverberations and tremors. Ridiculous you say, think again. One of the greatest influences in my days of performing music was a man I had never met and I never heard even one note of his music. His influence came from the remarks I heard others make about him. They all agreed that his shows were amazing because he was so overwhelmingly emotional and caught up in what he was doing. I soon discovered that when I got all wrapped up and emoted in my music that even when I thought my performance was poor the audience did not. Try it you’ll like it. Use Humor: Not everyone is good at telling jokes and humorous stories but almost everyone knows at least one or two good ones. Nothing breaks the ice quicker than humor. If you get them laughing early you have already invoked at least one basic human emotional response, provoking others will be a great deal easier from then on. Don’t comb the joke books looking for the best jokes. Think of the jokes you have heard others say recently. The key is twofold. Pick a joke or humorous story that is somewhat related to what you are presenting. And do not pick jokes that you alone think are funny. Use jokes that you have seen bringing others to a belly laugh. Use humor that has worked in the public domain. Don’t overdue the humor angle because people can recognize filler material very easily. The other side of the coin is not to ignore this useful tool of the trade. Laughter is a great equalizer for both audience and speaker. Get Personal: This is far more than good advice, it is a rule that if ignored will become the difference between success and failure. I have watched skilled musicians who never once addressed their audiences. Their performance may have been impeccable but in the end met with little acclaim. I’ve heard speakers who know their subject forward and backward but left people yawning and fidgeting. What was missing was often if not always the personal touch. You must get a rapport going with any audience on the personal level or will get nothing else going at all. How can you do that? Take a cue from the stand up comedian or the storyteller. They ask mundane questions and they wait for someone to answer or acknowledge it with a gesture or murmur. Where are you from, any one here from New York? Hey, does it ever stop raining here in Washington. Let me see how many of you are here tonight; if you’re here raise your hand. For those of you that didn’t raise your hand I have a question, where the heck are you? I often started off by saying, thank you for having me here tonight and it is good to see you all here to hear my music, now get out of here every one of you. Some were shocked, some giggled some roared but all came to attention. Sound silly, it is but make no mistake, it works. See The Crowd As Only One Person: No science is available to prove how or why this little tool works, but be assured it will never fail. Always speak to the audience as if you were talking to only one single person. It makes them feel that you are being very personal with each individual, they can feel the difference. It shrinks the crowd on a perceptional level for you. Remember that perception is often the better part of reality. It moves the entire matter to a, one on one. Who wouldn’t admit that they are more comfortable talking to their neighbor or some stranger but not a whole crowd? Approach your performance or address as if you were doing just that and you will succeed. ---------------------- Rev Bresciani is the leader of a non-denominational ministry in the New Orleans area. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote, Hook Line and Sinker or What has Your Church Been Teaching You, published by PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book recently released by Xulon Press entitled An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ. Rev Bresciani has his own website at http://www.americanprophet.org =============================== Heads or Tails? Onto the table you place a sealed envelope and a 10, 20, and 50 pence piece ( or nickel, dime and quarter). The spectator chooses one of the coins and the others are discarded. The chosen coin is flipped so it lands heads or tails. The envelope is opened, turned upside down and a folded piece of paper falls out. The spectator opens the folded paper to reveal a prediction. You have correctly predicted the not only the chosen coin but whether it would land heads up or tails up. This simple routine introduces two important concepts important to mind reading and mental magic. The first is known as magician’s choice and can used in many mentalist effects. Although the spectator appears to be getting a free choice, they are choosing exactly the coin you want them to. For instance, if you want them to choose the 20p piece, invite them to choose two of the three coins. If they choose the 10p and 50p, you ask them to push those to one side, leaving them with the 20p. If they choose the 10p and 20p, ask them to push the 50p to one side. Then ask them to choose either the 10p or 20p. If they choose the 20p, say "You chose the 20p. Then that’s the one we’ll use," and ask them to push to 10p to one side. If they choose the 10p, ask them to push it one side and say, "And you’re left with the 20p. That’s the one we’ll use." Then ask them to flip the coin. See whether it lands heads or tails and ask them to call it out. This is where the envelope comes in and as you’ve probably guessed by now, all is not as it seems. This is our second important concept - multiple outs. We've already seen this used in the first effect, where two outcomes were covered by two different predictions. Effects that use this concept have more than one way of finishing, so you need to have all possible outcomes covered. You will need two identical brown pay envelopes. Take one envelope and trim off about 1mm from the bottom and sides. Trim off the flap so you are left with what used to be the front of the envelope: a rectangle of paper just slightly smaller than the envelope. The trimmed envelope slips inside the other envelope, creating two compartments. You’ll also need two predictions, one that reads "You’ll choose the 20p and it will land head side up" and another that reads the same but ending "tail side up". Place one prediction into each compartment and stick down the flap. When you slit open the envelope to reveal the prediction, slip your first and second fingers inside to open up the envelope. As you do so, push the flap back or forward depending on which prediction you need to reveal. Once the flap is in place, hold it there with your thumb and finger, then tip the envelope upside down so the appropriate folded prediction falls out. As the spectator is unfolding and reading the prediction, slip the envelope into your pocket. ----------------------- The following is an effect taken from "Easy Mentalism", an excellent ebook for readers who are in the beginner to intermediate stage of mentalism. This ebook, written by JP Jacquard and in excess of one hundred pages, guides readers through a series of effects that detail the basics of the art of mentalism. Many of the effects performed by the leading mentalists in the world are based on these principles. If you would be interested in purchasing 'Easy Mentalism', I've set up a web page where you can purchase it for only $ 2.95 ... You'll be provided with a link to immediately download your purchase.. http://www.301url.com/EasyMentalism ( editors note.. the ebook includes drawings of the pay envelope and how and where to make the cuts.. ) ================================ The AXIS Color Change - by Parth Dalal Here's the hype ... and the facts.. But first things first.. Go to http://www.ellusionist.com/cart/?aid=1023 and watch the short video so you'll have an understanding what we're talking about... ----------------- The Hype ----------------- The AXIS color change by Parth Dalal fulfills all of the requirements a serious performer would appreciate in an effective, ultra-visual, high-impact color change. It's one fluid motion that produces a result. The performer holds the deck, face up, in his left (or right) hand in mechanic's grip. Without moving a muscle, he simply waves his other hand (empty) over the cards, and the top card visually, smoothly changes into a completely different card. Your eyes won't believe your hands, and you'll fool yourself watching it in the mirror. Designed for an intermediate level performer (ability level 5 out of 10), the change is remarkably simple in technique and absolutely effective in performance. Created by up-and-coming close-up performer Parth Dalal, this is a color change that you will love to learn and actually USE on a daily basis. Available from Ellusionist as an instant download for $ 11.95 http://www.ellusionist.com/cart/?aid=1023 ----------------- The Facts ----------------- OK.. this move does fulfill the requirements for a color change. It is very visual and can be carried out in one quick motion. This may be one of, if not the quickest, of all the color changes. "Without moving a muscle.." is a tad bit misleading. You must move a muscle to perform the change. I'm not quite sure what this statement is intended to accomplish. If performed correctly, it 'appears' as if you didn't move a muscle, but don't think you can make the move without moving a muscle.. I will allow this - the AXIS change is performed with less movement than any other change I'm familiar with. I know you will find this hard to grasp, but the color change is performed with one hand. Your other hand has absolutely nothing to do with the change, other than providing cover for the change itself. "Intermediate level"... Maybe. This is not an easy effect, by any means. You will have to do some serious work to perfect the color change, but you can do it. Think 'practice'.. Getting the card to vanish is not that difficult, but getting it to reappear is a little tricky. This is where the real practice applies. Actually, a recent discussion on Ellusionist's forum found several users complaining about the difficulty of the return. (what else is new..) I made a post clearing up the return problem and the post abruptly ended. My idea was so simple that it actually makes the color change unbelievably simple. (Think.. " a small piece of double sided tape".) Like the tenkai palm, the AXIS color change is angle-sensitive. You cannot perform the change surrounded. If you can deal with the angle situation, you will have yourself a beautiful little change with a minimum of movement. I can't see using the color change in a variety of tricks, but I can see using it as a reveal and as a stand alone effect. Is it worth $11.95? Depends on your love of color changes. If you're looking for something unique and very visual, and you're willing to deal with the angle, get it.. If you have a problem with angles, skip it.. I bought it for myself and don't feel as if my billfold has been abused. I can definitely see myself using it during a special performance... RCarruth ============================ Coin through Ashtray Here's a fairly simple effect thats been around for some time, but it usually requires a little prep that makes it difficult to perform in a walk-around or restaurant location. I've simplified it to the point where it can be performed at a table with a minimum of preparation. Begin ideally with a small tin ashtray. It can be one of the little disposable foil ashtrays like those seen at fast food restaurants. If the restaurant you perform at doesn't have them, you can purchase your own a grocery stores. You don't have to tell your audience what you're going to do... just do it. Take the ashtray and place it on top of a glass. Remove a piece of paper from your pocket, about the size of an index card, along with a coin about the size of an american quarter. If you want to be brave, you can also take out a sharpie and ask someone at the table to please make a big 'X' on both sides of the quarter. Specifically tell them a " big X " to eliminate the possibility that some highly focused individual will make really small X's. Once done, recap the Sharpie and casually lay it on the table in front of you. Take the quarter, put it in the center of the paper, and fold the paper from top to bottom - folding the quarter inside. Fold the paper again, from left to right and then right to left. If you're using fairly thin paper you can hold the folded paper, coin inside, in front of you using both fore fingers and middle fingers on one side and both thumbs on the back side - facing you. Momentarily make a little 'small talk', like " has any of you ever seen a real coin pass through a solid object ?", as you squeeze the coin front and back, forcing it to leave a raised impression in the paper. Secretly allow the coin to slide out the bottom of the paper packet into your palm, as the coin is only sealed from the top and the sides. There are other ways, detailed in many magic books, to fold the paper, but this is the most straight-forward. Taking the packet in the hand without the coin, reach down almost as an after-thought and pick up the Sharpie with the other hand and drop it - and the coin - into your shirt or jacket pocket. Put the packet into the ashtray, take out a pack of matches or lighter, and light the paper. As it burns, focus everyones attention on the glass - where they will shortly see the quarter pass through the ashtray and fall into the bottom of the glass. All you need as a set-up is a quarter with two X's drawn on it, attached to the bottom of the ash tray with a small bit of wax. Of course, the heat from the fire will melt the wax and allow the quarter to fall into the glass. Use the right weight of paper to give the wax enough time to melt. Flash paper is way to quick, and cardboard may take too long to burn or produce to much smoke. Experiment. A glass full of water will increase the amount of time the spectators have to watch the quarter as it falls. If you're using your own ashtrays, you can have the quarter already attached. Glass ashtrays are usually too thick to heat up properly. Since an 'X' is fairly generic, the spectator is not apt to realize that it's not their X on the coin. If you're confident with your coin work, you can have a spectator initial the coin, palm a second coin in your hand with some initials written on it, find opportunity to stick the spectators initialed coin to the ashtray, fold the second coin into the paper as described above, and watch as the actual signed coin floats to the bottom of the glass. It's worth the effort - if you take time to develop the proper patter and presentation... ============================ 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 ============================ Is this Erdnase? I'm assuming that all you guys who are getting free copies of Erdnase "Expert at the Card Table" are familiar with the controversy surrounding the book and it's author. You see, no one really knows who Erdnase is... or was. Many have offered theories on his identity. Todd Karr offered one of the most plausable theories at Magical-Times, the Online Journal of Magic History... ------------ "I have been chasing Erdnase since I was a teenager. I’ve read the findings and theories of detectives like Martin Gardner, Richard Hatch, and others, and in sorting through the available information, it’s clear that any theorizing about the identity of a shadowy figure like Erdnase must rely on solid facts and common sense. His story is so intoxicatingly romantic that a number of writers (see Bart Whaley, The Man Who Was Erdnase) have succumbed to the temptation to follow flimsy trails, offer wild speculation in the absence of evidence, and attempt to make the facts fit into unlikely theories. This is just plain sloppy journalism and historical research, and the man who wrote The Expert at the Card Table will never be found if we don’t stick to the facts. The truth is that we may never fully determine the author’s identity. He published the book under a pseudonym and any possible witnesses have long been dead, and unless we find evidence of someone involved in magic, gambling, or card work, we may be condemned to making educated guesses..." ------------- Todd presents newspaper articles, municipal court documents, and reported first hand observations to make his arguments. Whether you have a genuine interest in magic history or not, I think that reading this article will help to spur your interest in discovering the secret behind one of the most intriguing mysteries in all of magic... http://www.illusionata.com/mpt/view.php?id=194&type=articles ================================ Erdnase "Expert at the Card Table" download For all you guys and girls looking for the Erdnase download, here it is.. This link will be active for about four or five days, and then it will come down until next issue. http://www.freewebs.com/realsecrets/Erdnase20.htm =============================== Free Magic Tricks and eBooks This past September I lost a friend in magic.. Dan Turcotte. Dan and I had corresponded for many months and I had interviewed Dan for the Magic Roadshow. Not just a typical interview, Dan was the consummate professional and offered insight that only a full-time working pro could offer. Dan's "Anywhere - Anytime Close Up Magic" DVD set was, and is, one of my all time favorite magic dvd's. In addition to his master work, Dan broke his work up into a staggering series of pdf files and video's, allowing his customers to literally pick-and-choose the specific magic they wanted. All of Dan's work is available at his web site.. You Do Magic. Like most good marketers, Dan collected email addresses in order to send out a periodical email with current offers and/or specials. ( once every several months..) Despite Dan's passing, his loved ones have continued the work he started and still offer a great package of pdf ebooks and video's for everyone who signs up for his mailing list... Sponge Balls Magic - e-book and Video, Dan Turcotte's "Just Say Stop" e-book, Jeff Ezell's Triple Revelation e-book, Paul Alberstat's Phone Telepathy e-book, Mike Giusti's Demolished Bill routine e-book, After Show Presentation Tips e-book, and the Self Folding Bill instructions are several of the effects and bonuses you receive simply for giving You Do Magic your email address.. ( The Self Folding Bill effect sells on the internet for $ 9.95 ) You Do Magic has recently re-designed their site and added yet another couple of bonus effects to this free package... one by Ron Bauer and another by Peter Marucci. You'll find the link on the home page... http://youdomagic.com ============================== Cardmaker - Bernd Maucksch Need a very special card, gaff, or design? Germany's Bernd Maucksch can make virtually anything your heart desires. To quote his web site.. "Single cards with your desired layout are printed with a very professional laserprinting machine onto real and genuine Bicycle Blank Cards; blank face, blank back or doubleblank cards." "Starting from at least 50 up to 5,000 of the same card printed with your desired layout are printed according the way the USPCC does onto Bicycle Blank Cards, blank face, blank back or doubleblank cards. These printed cards are of the same quality like any regular card. There is no apparent difference!" Shimmed cards, magnetic cards only one card thick, split cards, narrow, short, double-faced, custom faced, and almost anything else not named is possible... Be creative.. http://www.magicbycardmaker.de/index.html ============================== David Stone Interview If you are fortunate enough to live in the Pacific Northwest then maybe you had the pleasure of attending one of the recent lectures presented by France' David Stone. Noted for an amazing array of close up magic and effects, David is preparing an up-coming book on restaurant magic which should, by the way, be out about now.. Lee Asher, busy with his own " X-elent Series " at the time, caught up with David and recorded the following interview.. which you can read -or- listen to on Lee's web site... David on working restaurants.. "Because, I consider that, if you have only five minutes to show a part of your act, you can’t show them the best things. You have to show them what could give them the feeling to, to go further. You know what I mean? It’s the same thing as if you go in a very beautiful, very good restaurant and someone tell you "O.K. you have ten minutes to eat what you want." You can’t really appreciate it. So, but if you go in this restaurant and the guy give you one, two, three little pieces of the kind of food he can propose, you would taste it a little bit and maybe one day you will come back to see him. My magic is about the same. I try to let them taste a little bit of what I can do, but I can’t show them the best magic. It’s not possible. That’s why restaurant magic is just the opportunity for me. To meet people then they book me at home for their private parties... " Read it -or- hear it at.. http://www.leeasher.com/david_stone.htm ============================= Magic Roadshow Resource of the Week I love free stuff. Especially if it entertains me. Of course, bright lights and flashing inanimate objects have been known to entertain me for long periods of time.. Custom Sign Generator can easily occupy my feeble mind for a couple of hours at a time. Have you ever wanted to see your name in lights? How bout your name on a McDonalds sign, or a Wal Mart sign? Custom Sign offers free dynamic JPEG and PNG image creators that enable you to create logos, buttons, banners, comics, signs, barcodes, 3D pictures, and on and on.. Everything is maintained on their website, so there are no programs to download. Simply create it, click 'save as', and save it to your computer. Here is a sample of some of the signs you can customize on Custom Sign Generator.. ------------------
--------------------------- Go entertain yourself.. http://www.customsigngenerator.com/ ======================== Well folks, that's all for now. Look for another brand new issue in two weeks. I already have several resources in my favorites file to point you toward, and I think you'll be pleased. Remember, if you have any questions, comments, rants, or raves you can contact me HERE -------------- Visit some of my other sites at: http://www.StreetMagic.info http://www.MagicRoadshow.com http://www.StreetMagicSecrets.info http://www.BellaOnline.com/site/shareware -------------- May my next issue find you well.. Rick Carruth 625 N. Brown Beaver Ct. Moore S.C. 29369 USA =========================== |
