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Magic Roadshow November 2nd, 2006 Issue# 58 Rick Carruth / editor (C)2006 All rights reserved Street Magic's #1 free newsletter for magicians, street performers, restaurant workers, close-up artists, and mentalists, with subscribers in over sixty four countries worldwide. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Hello All..
Welcome back to the Magic Roadshow! I like to spend my first few moments of each issue offering a sincere Welcome to all the new subscribers who took the time to sign up since the last issue. If I can help you guys and ladies in any way, let me know.. Up front.. this issue is about effects and videos. Video is the future of the internet. It WILL NOT replace the written word, books and magazines did not cease with the advent of TV, but it will firmly establish it's place and define your viewing for the remainder of our generation.. Operating on the internet is a crap shoot. Trying to stay one step ahead of the masses is a never ending process. I initially addressed this issue in this column, then decided it was a little too much info to lead off the newsletter, and moved it to the end. If you make it that far.. give it a read. I really wanted to get this issue out on the first day of the month, but I wasn't totally confident with my material. I felt things needed 'tweaking' a little before I mailed it out. Now, most of you guys will receive this issue on Friday, which is a terrible day to send out an email. So, don't be surprised if you see another 'notification' about Monday or Tuesday that a new issue has been mailed. If I do send out a second notification, I'll include some sort of bonus to make it worth your time to open it.. Remember.. if you like the Roadshow, tell others. If not, tell me... EMAIL ME I have more commentary at the bottom, but for now... on with the Roadshow. -------------- In This Issue -------------- -Times 5 - A nice table trick -Lit Match from Thin Air (video) - careful! -Houdini goes Undercover - Did Houdini have a second job -Free Course in Magic - Coin magic and bill effects -My Book Test - Corinda devised it, I tinkered with it -Speaking of Switches (video) - More video instructions -Performance of the Week - How good is your Japanese -CNN/Money Report.. Getting Started in the Magic Business -Expert at the Card Table - Free Download for Subscribers -John Kinde's Las Vegas Tips - Why pay for great info -Alpha and Omega - Our Place on the Web ------------- "If you want to be creative, stay in part a child, with the creativity and invention that characterizes children before they are deformed by adult society." -Jean Piaget "Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." -Will Rogers _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ Times 5 Here's a nice little effect that can be performed as a table trick. You produce from your pocket two or three quarters and a sharpie. Ask the audience to search their pockets and help you garner five coins total. Quarters work well, if you can get five alltogether. If not, borrow nickle's to go with the quarters. Regardless, make it appear as if you are casually trying to gather five coins for a trick. Once the coins are on the table, begin openly marking each coin with a symbol of some sort. You can number them one thru five, or draw five different symbols, such as a square, a circle, a triangle, a wavy image, and a hexagon. Whatever is easier for you. Take the five coins and either put them in a small glass or give them to a spectator to hold while you take a piece of paper a make a prediction. On the paper write your prediction and fold the paper and give it to a second spectator to hold. Now, you're ready to begin... After establishing that you are psychic, since your grandmother was a gypsie, tell the spectator holding the coins that you are going to eliminate the coins in as fair a manner as possible. Ask him to shake the coins in his hand/in the container and pour them onto the table. Any coin that does not have a symbol showing is eliminated and removed from the effect. Have the spec pick up the remaining coins and repeat the process, again eliminating any coins without a symbol. Once all the coins are eliminated, except one, pick up the coin and show it to the spectators, asking them if they can see that the symbol on the coin is a "whatever it may be". Ask the spectator holding your prediction to open it - and reveal it to the rest of the spectators. It will match the sole remaining coin. This effect works well with the proper patter, which is the difference between "Magic" and "just another trick"... One of the coins you remove from your pocket is pre-marked with a symbol. It goes without saying that the audience is not allowed to see this. In your hand you can prevent anyone from seeing this coin, as you position them to be marked. You will also position the marked coin so you know exactly which one it is once you begin marking them. The secret, of course, is to mark the marked coin with an identical symbol on the side the audience sees. This will be the only coin that, over time, never has a blank side showing, thus never eliminated. Make sure when marking the coins that you put some marks on the front and some on the back ( heads and tails sides ) so the audience is accustomed to seeing coins with marks on both sides... Although it's not necessary, I like to have a second coin in my other pocket with a mark on one side. While the spectator is tossing the coins, I remove the coin from my pocket and keep it palmed in my left hand. After I've shown the remaining coin to the audience, and during the moments when the attention is focused on the spectator opening the prediction, I switch the two coins and drop the coin with marks on both sides into my trouser pocket. Now, any of the spectators can examine the coins without fear of discovery. If one of the spectators gave me a quarter, I make it a point to return the chosen coin to them, so it can be casually seen to have a mark on one side only. Feel free to use more than five coins, but I wouldn't use less than five. Also, if you want to stretch the effect into a longer effect, use a small point marker and thirteen coins. Mark each coin with one of the numerical numbers of a deck of cards; A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,J,Q,K. Use your favorite force to force a card and then reveal the numerical value of the card with your coins. There are many other possibilities. Use your imagination.. This basic principal has been around for many years and I cannot contribute it to any one magician. R.Carruth ============================= Lit Match from Thin Air (Video) What good would producing a cigarette from thin air be without the ability to produce a lit match. Are you actually going to magically produce a cigarette, and then dig in your pocket for a pack of matches? That's lame.. Actually, magicians frequently use fire during a performance, either to ignite flash paper, light a candle, burn a billet in an ash tray, or humor their pyromaniac self.. Here's an interesting nine minute video, detailing how one performer produces a lit match from virtually nowhere. Since these video's are courtesy of YouTube, don't expect great production values. But you CAN expect to watch the video and learn a secret perhaps you didn't know beforehand.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQpYZym8LRA ============================= Do What You HAVE To Do... Do YOU have the tools to become the magician you truly want to be? Do you have the absolute World Class instructions that turns wanna-be's into professionals. If you have the will-power, I have the way... Click Here ============================= Houdini Goes Undercover (maybe..) This month's MUM magazine features a cover story about the ever-popular Houdini, and how he became America's first "Superstar". I can't argue with that. But the stories go on reveal how certain folks think Houdini was actually working as a 'secret agent', perhaps working in conjunction with the British Intelligence. Houdini was always in and/or about a jail or federal building. The thought is, Houdini could not have persuaded so many officials to allow him access to their facilities without a little influence from someone. Because of his superstar status, Houdini toured the world, dined with dignitaries from every type of government, from the rich and free to the improverished, and no doubt saw and heard information that, no matter how insignificant, may have been of value to certain other governments, primarily the United States and Great Britian. In return for his coorperation, Houdini may have been granted favored status that helped clear the red tape and open doors to the venues he needed to knock his competition in the dirt.. All is fair in love and magic.. http://www.conjuringarts.org/news/newyorksun.shtml http://apnews.myway.com//article/20061028/D8L1SJC80.html ============================= Free Course in Magic Here's a nice site, courtesy of Johnny Gentle, with some good instructions on various methods of vanishing single coins and multiple coins. Although this is the free version of a complete video course offered by Johnny, the instructions and effects, particularly the bank note effect, are very thourough.. To quote from the web site: "The first video section is devoted to various methods of Vanishing a single coin or several coins. - Changing a coin from one denomination to another, where you can actual double your money or vice versa. - You can borrow a £2 coin and with a squeeze, change it into a 2 pence coin - always gets a laugh. In the USA, that would probably be changing a silver dollar into 10 cents." Check it out.. http://www.magicalsecret.com/lesson1.html ============================= My Book Test Mentalism 'book test' are a dime a dozen. Well, not actually a dime a dozen - I saw one on eBay last week for $250.00 - but they ARE plentiful, although not cheap. I'm going to add my contribution to the fold, although my contribution is not actually mine, but that of Corinda, from his "Thirteen Steps to Mentalism". I'm not going to quote Corinda, and I am going to add a couple of twist not seen in the original.. What I like about this particular effect is that it plays big or small, depending on where you're performing. You can perform it at a dinner table or in front of a crowd of hundreds. Either way - it's very effective. First, inform your audience that although you try your best to be a decent kind of guy/lady, you cannot be trusted when it comes to revealing the results of an effect on which you're staking your reputation. Admit that you realize the paradox in your statement, but to limit your temptation to fudge, you're going to select a member of the audience to serve as the "Keeper of the Text". Give that audience member the book you intent to use for your book test. It doesn't matter what book you use, and popular and/or well known books work better than lesser know or obscure ones. Take a piece of paper, whatever size you wish, and write three words on it, unseen by the audience. Fold the paper and place it to one side. If you're performing on stage, you can write your words on a much larger poster board or the back of a chalk board. The only requirement is that your action assures the audience that your prediction cannot be tampered with before it's revealed. Pick up a second piece of paper, show it blank on both sides, and clip it to a clip board. Inform the audience that you are going to write three questions on the paper that they, the all-knowing audience, will answer. Write the following on the paper: (A) Select a page number: ________ (B) Select a line number: ________ (C) Select 3 consecutive numbers between 1 and 12: ____ ____ ____ Once done, you're ready to hand the clip board to a random member of the audience and ask them to fill in the first blank. Now, encourage them to pass the clip board to another audience member, and then another, until the clip board is some distance removed from the first audience member. Ask that audience member to fill in the second blank. Repeat the process until you get the clipboard into the hands of the third audience participant. Ask them to write in three consecutive numbers between one and twelve, such as one, two, and three, or ten, eleven, twelve. Giving this example to the audience member is a good thing, as they may have a little trouble with the word 'consecutive'. I'm not 'dumbing down' audience members, but when you put some folks in the spot light they get a little limpy.. Ask the third participant to take the paper off the clipboard. Ask them to fold the paper into until it's about the size of a pack of matches, and then clip it to the clipboard and pass it back to you. Assure them that you cannot possibly see the answers on the folded paper. While the paper is being folded, you should casually slip your off-hand into your trouser pocket. Once the clip board is on its way back, palm a piece of paper that looks suspiciously like the folded paper on the clip board, that has been patiently waiting in your pocket since you put it there before your performance began.. What's on it? The page number, line number, and consecutive numbers of your prediction. It's now time for the little bit of 'dirty work'. Assume the secret slip is in your left hand. Take the clip board in your right hand as it's passed back and turn to walk to a table or some point where you're going to lay the clip board. Turn and face the audience, clip board held in front of you about waist high and left hand at your side. Reach up with your left hand and quickly pull the slip from the clip board. Since you're facing the audience, this little move is primarily hidden by the clip board. Don't look down. Look at the audience. As soon as you have removed the slip it goes into the palm of your hand on top of the secret slip. Believe me, as long as you've used the same paper to create both slips, no one will notice the dual slips in the palm of your hand. Lay the clip board down and walk to the spectator chosen to hold the book. Although this next move may sound awkward.. it's not. Reach into the palm of your left hand with your right forefinger and thumb and pull the slips toward the tips of your left hand forefinger and thumb, enabling you to pinch the slips with your thumb and finger tips. Again, by holding the slips tightly, no one will notice the two slips. Now, we need to separate the two slips. This is accomplished with one simple move. Lay the slips into the right palm. This puts the secret slip on top and makes it simple to then reach into the palm with the left finger tips and pick up the secret slip and hand it to the spectator. The audience saw you reach out with an empty right hand and take the clip board. They saw you reach up and pull the slip off the clip board with your left hand (sort of..), and they saw the slip at the tip of your left fingers as you, I hope, gestured with your empty right hand as you talked to the audience and the spectator with the book. They have NO reason to suspect a switch as you place the slips in your empty right hand and then reach back with your left hand and remove the secret slip. As soon as you removed the secret slip, your right hand, palming the audiences' slip, should naturally fall to your side. I'm not going to discuss ditching this slip, as you don't have to, although you can certainly find ample opportunity to do so before your predictions are revealed.. Ask the spectator with the book to please open the slip, look up the page number, line number, and three selected words, and read those three words aloud. If you wrote your prediction on a poster board or chalk board, you can now recap the series of events and reveal your answer to the audience. If you wrote your prediction on a piece of paper, I would have gingerly hand it to an audience member, recap, and ask them to unfold it and read it aloud.. One of the keys to good mentalism is to NOT treat effects like this as sleight of hand. The audience is not expecting sleight of hand, so don't make it appear that you are performing sleight of hand. Be casual, comfortable, and confident, and the audience will respond in kind.. R.Carruth ============================= Speaking of Switches.. (Video) Magicians have the 'classic palm' and the 'double lift'. Mentalists have the 'billet switch'. Yes, there are many other moves, but nothing has been written about quite as much as the billet switch. To quote a popular dictionary.. "Archaic.. a written note, short letter, or the like." And that's exactly what a billet is.. a small note. Here are four nice billet switches for your enjoyment. These are not reveals, but performances. If you watch each video with the knowledge that a billet switch is taking place you do not need an explaination. Simply deduct in which hand the secret billet is hidden, and watch as the switch takes place. None of these are very sophisticated, but each has been practiced until they look very natural and straight forward. Simple as they may be, I can promise you that if you want to duplicate the moves, and DON'T take the time to practice them extensively beforehand, you WILL fail to impress... One Handed Billet Switch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyIOKwLxxUU&mode=related&search= One Handed Forward Move http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8N8c2iWuCg&mode=related&search= The Transparent Glass Switch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yVZAIV8RH4&mode=related&search= The Tear Up Switch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvYUS9NUMNc&mode=related&search= ============================= Performance of the Week (Video) This great little video shows several impressive effects, displayed by the same Japanese performer. His name? I don't have a clue. But I do know good magic when I see it. His misdirection is excellent, his double lift's smooth, and his commentary... well, it 'looks' good.. The balloon swallowing effect is my personal favorite. I've seen it before, but it never fails to impress others.. Again, this clip goes to show the power of video. Despite the fact that we are from different cultures and fail to speak the same language, I 'understand' everything the performer wants me to know, and I 'see' exactly what he wants me to see... and I'm entertained in the process.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDe0QPboP_8 ============================= ~ CNN/Money Report.. Getting Started in the Magic Business ~ I first published this resource almost two years ago, and it's still as informative today as it was then. It was part of a series of articles dealing with making a living in a variety of different occupations and the earning potential of each. One of the occupations reviewed was, of course, that of a MAGICIAN. NEW YORK (CNN) - From Harry Houdini's death-defying escape numbers to Harry Potter's magical battles against the dark forces, magicians have been a source of entertainment and intrigue for all generations. Their ability to pull objects out of thin air and then - abracadabra - make them disappear again has inspired awe among audiences for as long as magicians have been pulling white rabbits out of top hats. But being a successful magician requires more than just a fancy wand and a deck of marked cards. It takes years of practice, patience, energy, and above all, a true passion for the craft. Throw in a talent for showmanship and a willingness to take a few risks and you just might have what it takes to become the next David Copperfield. Read one magicians story... HERE ================================== John Kinde's Las Vegas Tips My Las Vegas buddy, fellow editor, and Roadshow contributor, John Kinde, has extended his Las Vegas Tips web site. If you're planning on going to Vegas to hob-nob with the superstars of Magic, visit John's site, print it out, and take it with you. I promise you'll save money, enjoy your stay more, and write John a thank you note when you get back.. John, editor of the popular John Kinde's Humor Power newsletter, is a professional speaker, magic lover, and Las Vegas resident who's put together the perfect web site for Vegas visitors. He knows where to eat, the best buffets, what shows are the best value, and what tourists attractions are worth your time and money.. And best of all, John loves to help others.. that's why there's nothing to buy when you visit John's site. This is simply a GIFT from one entertainer to another... Here's just a very small sample: Sights to see: Top of the Stratosphere Tower. Recommend the view at night. Revolving restaurant. Dinner is high price. Lunch menu is under $20. About $8 to take the elevator if you are just going for the view. Fountains at Bellagio. Free. Best seen at night. Also visit the Atrium just off the lobby while you're there. Fremont Street Experience. Millions of light bulbs illuminate a four-block long canopy. Downtown. Free. Antique Car Show at Imperial Palace. Very impressive. $7. Liberace Museum, $12. If you are a Liberace fan, you will enjoy it. 1775 East Tropicana. 702-798-5595. Three afternoons a week Wes Winters plays A Musical Tribute to Liberace, at the Museum, excellent, $15. Free shuttle service. Art Museums at Bellagio and Venetian, about $15. Venetian. Check out the hotel registration lobby and the gondolas in the shopping mall. Silverton. Free acquarium shows. Incredible sporting goods store. And many more... http://www.humorpower.com/lvtips.html ================================ Erdnases' Expert at the Card Table - Download You can download your free version of Erdnases' classic ebook at this link.. http://www.301url.com/erdnase If you have a problem, let me know and I will send you the ebook as an attachment.. =============================== The Greatest Collection of Magic eBooks Ever Assembled for Sale to the Magic Community Establish an instant library of invaluable magic info.. Get complete electronic copies of each of these classics.. Erdnase "Expert at the Card Table" Bobo's "Modern Coin Magic" The Royal Road to Card Magic Anneman's "Mental Miracles" Jean Hugard's "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks" Houdini's "Paper Magic" The Fitzkee Trilogy 202 Methods of Forcing Tarbell's Original Course in Magic.. all sixty courses. "Tarbell's Course is worth WAY more than the cost of the entire package!" R.Carruth / Magic Roadshow Click Here ================================ Alpha and Omega - Our Place on the Web Operating on the internet is a crap shoot. Trying to stay one step ahead of the masses is a never ending process. In 2001-2003 I was heavily into internet marketing and selling info to other potential marketers. I edited another newletter, the eBiz Beacon, and sent out thousands of emails to interested readers worldwide. In late 2003 I saw the end of email marketing on the horizon and had to step back and make some serious decisions about my future on the web. A marketing company from Washington DC expressed an interest in purchasing my newsletter and mailing lists, and I jumped.. The Magic Roadshow was brewing in my imagination, as I already had a couple of magic related web sites selling magic ebooks. So, in early 2004 I went from being listed among the top 250 internet marketers in the world.. to having a magic related ezine with one subscriber - my wife. Knowing souls told me that I couldn't do it. They said that using emails to promote a venture was dead, dead, dead.. That I couldn't get them around the spam filters.. That subscribers wouldn't open them.. That web users were determined to find whatever info they wanted via search engines and that I had nothing to offer.. Fifty eight issues later I have more subscribers than I could have possibly imagined. They come from around the world.. They've signed up to receive emails.. They DO open their emails, and they DO follow the link to the newsletter. ( Which was my way of beating the filters and driving visitors to my site simultaneously ).. And they DO defy the logical internet protocol about permission based marketing. What the other knowing souls failed to account was that some people simply enjoy free stuff! I do... And that's what inspired the Magic Roadshow. I subscribed to various newsletters, read them, got tired of all the peripherial junk and offers that I had to tolerate, unsubscribed, and subscribed to some more.. Through it all, there was one that I regularly opened and read without fail... The Cool Tricks and Trinkets Newsletter ( http://www.tricksandtrinkets.com/index.htm ) Oh, there was an ad or two, just as there is in mine, but the basic premise was - scour the web, find the most interesting links, and give them to others. In each issue I would find at least one link that I was compelled to bookmark. And when I was trying to decide on a format for the Roadshow, CT&T served as my roadmap. My philosophy became - give my readers as much as possible, from as many different sources as possible, and DON'T send out a bunch of really annoying emails.. I try to limit my ads to a couple in the body of the Roadshow and a couple of small image ads. You guys click 'em, and I'm eternally grateful, they pay the Roadshow's bills, but that's NOT what the Roadshow is about. It's about being the #1 magic-related information site on the web. Are we there yet? I doubt it.. But that's not a proclamation for me to make. I'll leave it to you guys to make that call. In fact, I'll even leave it to you to define 'magic related information'. And for the record, I'll give you a hint where the internet is headed in the next few years. Can you spell V-I-D-E-O ? This issue features six different video's aimed at teaching you a new effect via video, just to prove my point... If any of you have resources you would like to share with others, a favorite link or file, or if you would like to write an article or share an effect, feel free to send it to me. I welcome your contributions.. EMAIL ME .. ---------------------- To position yourself on the 'Roadshow's Frappr World Map' with other readers from around the world.... http://www.frappr.com/magicroadshow ---------------------- To view a sample chapter of our best selling magic-related ebook 'Astounding Magic', click http://www.StreetMagic.info/astounding.html ---------------------- To watch sample video's from our favorite teaching web site CardTricks1.. click http://www.301url.com/cardsleights ---------------------- Remember to visit some of my other sites at: http://www.StreetMagic.info http://www.MagicRoadshow.com http://www.Mentalists.info http://www.StreetMagicSecrets.info http://www.BellaOnline.com/site/shareware http://www.StreetMagic.info/blogger.html http://www.MadMarketing101.com ----------------------- May my next issue find you well.. Rick Carruth / editor ============================= |
