My first magic experience

I still remember the day when my friend took me to see David Copperfield for the first time. It was a gift for my birthday, a gift that changed my life and welcomed me into the world of magic.
We both knew about Copperfield, we also saw him on TV from time to time and obiously we heard a lot about his illusions. We kept talking about how he passed through the "Wall of China" or how he made the Statue of Liberty dissapear. We just couldn't wait to see him live. So a couple of hours later we saw this incredible show of magic, humor and illusion. I still remember sitting in that chair, a few feet in front of him, (we had front seats because we thought that this way we might see how some of the things are done - we never did) being amazed at everything that he did and just could not stop wondering...how did he do it?
A few years later I understood some of the mystery behind the lottery trick, the chopper illusion, the duck in bucket and even the Statue of Liberty dissapearance, but that's another story. The important thing is that this show that I saw made me very curious about this world of magic and illusion.
This was my first magic experience. I will continue in telling the rest some other time...

Card throwing techniques

Here is a card throwing technique that you could learn to impress your audience. It shows you two methods on how to hold the card and how to throw it at a fair distance.
http://rapidshare.com/files/39347087/Throw_cards.pdf

If you want to learn more about it, I would recommend you buying the DVD of Rick Smith Jr. He is the master and actually world champion at card throwing. His DVD is informative and teaches you quite a few different methods on how to go about it.
So if you are curious and eager to learn, look it up. It's called "The Art of Card Throwing".

Coin Magic - Downs palm

The coin is held horizontally in the fork of the thumb by pressure of the latter and the base of the first finger pressing together against opposite edges. Image A shows this position but from a different angle than viewed by the audience (the image does not get to see your hand as in image A).
To bring the coin to this position, hold it vertically between the tips of the first two fingers, as in image B. Then curl these two fingers inward, depositing the coin behind the thumb, where it is gripped against the base of the first finger. When the fingers are straightened the hand appears empty, as in image C.

Magicians - David Copperfield

Here you can download David Copperfield's video that shows the best illusions and magic demonstrations that he performed in the last 15 years.
It is worth watching.
You need to download all 8 files and unrar them in order to get the video.

http://rapidshare.com/files/37280551/D1
http://rapidshare.com/files/37287926/D2
http://rapidshare.com/files/37311111/D3
http://rapidshare.com/files/37317864/D4
http://rapidshare.com/files/37325051/D5
http://rapidshare.com/files/37412767/D6
http://rapidshare.com/files/37445333/D7
http://rapidshare.com/files/37447582/D8

You have to download all files, but I would recommend you buying the DVD.

Card magic - 2 of a Kind (for beginners)

Effect: The magician picks out two cards. He has a spectator cut the deck. He flips over the cards that he picked, then he flips over two cards of the deck that was cut. The cards match.

Secret: Before you begin the trick it would be good to shuffle the deck so the specator doesn't think you have rigged the pack in any way.
Tell them you will pick two cards. Go through the deck making sure you look at the bottom and the top cards of the deck.
Pick out a card that matches the bottom card. (If the bottom card is a Four of Hearts, you would pick out the Four of Diamonds to match it.) Then pick out a card that is the same as the top card.
Ask the spectator to cut the deck once(a simple cut).
Take the first card, the one on top of the original top of the deck, and flip it over. Flip the bottom half of the deck over completely. Flip over the cards you picked.
They all match!

Card manipulation - Card flourishes

If you want to draw a crowd of spectators or just impress your friends, then you should learn how to do a card flourish.
Here you can download a video that teaches you a very cool card flourish. With a little practice you can master it by next day. It is a very well done video with a very good step-by-step explanation.

http://rapidshare.com/files/37106145/learn_tb.rar

Learn magic tricks 2 - Levitation, Head twister, Soda Can

Here are 3 ebooks I found that teach you some cool magic tricks.

1. The levitation book. It teaches you not one, but five ways in which you can levitate.
2. Head twister - create an illusion of how you twist your head 360 degrees.
3. Soda can - This is mostly a party trick. You pick up a can of soda
and open it. A stream of soda shoots out (nearly) hitting someone. You shake the can, but there doesn't seem to be anything inside it. You turn it upside down and nothing comes out of it - it's empty. It's like the liquid dissapeared.

Anyhow, here are the links.
Have fun:
http://rapidshare.com/files/36817923/Levitation.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/36817719/Head_Twister_Effect.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/36818279/Magi-Cola.rar

Coin Magic - The Thumb Palm

The coin is clipped by its edge in the fork of the thumb by pressure against the base of the first finger (figure A). The coin should be held rather loosely to permit the thumb to assume as natural a position as possible. Practice this in front of a mirror.
To place the coin in this position, begin with it between the tips of the first two fingers (figure B). Curl these two fingerss inward until the top edge of the coin touches the upper palm at the crotch of the thumb, then bring the thumb down and grip it by its edge (figure C) as the fingers straighten out.
To transfer the coin from the thumb palm to the classic palm, bend the second and third fingers inward as you lower the thumb (which action brings the coin closer to the palm), press the tips of these two fingers against the flat side of the coin and press it into the palm.

Cyril Takayama - Head to chest magic trick

This is another of Cyril's street magic tricks. He performs his lowering of his head down to the chest trick. It is amazing!

Magicians - Cyril Takayama

Cyril Takayama is a renowned magician. I would personally put him all the way up there with Criss Angel and David Blaine. He was born in California, but he mostly performed in Japan where he is now getting more and more popular due his street magic performance.

He has lots of amazing tricks up his sleeve. My personal favorites are, card through sumbarine window, making a hamburger out of an image, greph to lemon to egg to bird trick, water out of thin air and many other. I will post some of these amazing tricks here:

Hamburger magic:


Card through aqarium window:



Dove magic

Coin Magic - The Classic Palm

The coin is held in the center of the palm by the contraction of the muscles at the base of the thumb and little finger. Basically is like trying to hold something in your hand, but without getting a grip on the object by using your finger.
Not just one, but several coins may be held in this manner. This is one of the most difficult of concealments to master, but it is worth learning it because it is one of the finest. No one thinks it possible to conceal a coin in this way.

If you're an adult try practicing with a half-dollar or a loonie. If you have a smaller hand I would recommend using a quarter.

Learn magic tricks - free download

Here is the link to an e-book that teaches magic tricks for the beginning magician.
http://rapidshare.com/files/35852648/Anonymous.-.Magic.Tricks.for.the.Beginning.Magician.pdf

It teaches you how to perform tricks with a hankerchief, a rope, a rubber band, coins, cards and some every day household items.
Good book for a beginner.
Enjoy!

Magic lights - D'lites

If you read my previous post on how you can make money with magic, you might remember that I mentioned that you could pull out a light out of your Christmas Tree and have fun with it.
If you're looking for some street magic, stage magic or you just want to impress someone then I would really recommend D'lites. You could master it in a couple of minutes, though if you want it to look excellent I would recommend practicing some moves for more than a few minutes.

Here, take a look at this video. This is Divinity performing D'lites:



Advice: Get the blue lights because they are brighter. I would also not recommend using them in plain light.

How to make money with magic

Here are a few ways to combine your hobby with your job and be praised and better paid for coming up with the idea.

1. If you hand out flyers/brochures, or do any kind of business promotion...You can incorporate some tricks into it. For example the rip and tear of a flyer only to make it become whole again. Stuff like this will attract viewrs that in turn you can hand out stuff too.

2. Bar magic. If you are a bartender, your boss will appreciate any magic that you do because that will attract new clients and make them stay longer at the bar. (ex: paper over glass trick -> glass dissapears). Of course at a bar, lots of tricks (even card tricks) can be done, but you should incorporate items found at a bar: cups, straws, glasses, peanuts...

3. Party magician. This is one of the biggest things for amateur magicians...when you perform for kids it is a lot easier than when performing for grownups. You make them happy, you amaze their parents, you have fun doing it and you also get paid.

4. Party themed magician. This is pretty much the same, only that you incorporate theme elements into your act. For example, if it's a Christmas party, you get to make cookies dissapear (not in your mouth) or magically pull a light out of the Christmas tree and play with it.

5. Community shows. If you are a stage oriented magician then this will be good for you. You start out with a small crowd so you'll be more confident and work from there. You might not get paid from your first show, but at least you can get some service in return (free pool passes or something).

Card Sleights - Double Cut to Bottom

Get a break below the top card (maybe by using your thumb). Cut the deck once, holding the break. Now take everything below the break, and transfer it to the top, making another cut. This leaves the deck the same, except the top card is now on bottom.

Card Sleights - Mexican Turnover

On the table is a face-down Ace and in your hand, a blank-faced card or any other card except an Ace.

The right hand takes its card by the lower right corner, thumb on top and first (i.e. index finger) and second (i.e. middle finger) fingers underneath, the second (i.e. middle finger) finger being bent inward a little of the inner end of the card. The right hand scoops the card by going underneath it from the long side. As the right hand turns over, the thumb moves along the second (i.e. middle finger) finger, transferring the grip to the Ace (which is now held between the thumb and the second finger) and takes that card to the left. The blank-faced card remains on the table.

Criss Angel - Cement Block

June 4th, 2007.
Criss Angel is attempting a death-defying demonstration in New York City’s Times Square. He is encased in a 4x4x4 feet glass box with steel bars and cement that is raised 40 feet above the ground. He will try to escape from it in 24 hours. Either if he can escape the block or not, it will drop after 24 hours.

He arrived in Times Square at 6:45 am (local time)and at 7:30 the countdown has officially started. After saying goodbye to his family in case he won't make it, and being shackled by an NYPD officer, Criss goes inside the box and buckets of concrete are being poured.

I'm currently watching it live on A&E's website and so can you:
http://www.aetv.com/criss_angel/cementblock/?
The items that Criss has with him are: a small camera (from which we are getting the live feed), a blanket, an ipod, and a sharpie.

They encountered a small problem because they got pounded by the remnants of the tropical storm Barry. Some water was dripping into the box through the breathing holes so Criss was given some towels so he can mop up some of the water that got inside. In an interview from the box Criss said that is concerned that this effort is going to take up too much energy and he wants to save as much of his energy as possible for the escape.
After about 8 hours they have stopped puring the cement and Criss is totally sealed in.
After 12 hours from his imprisonment he gets rid of his handcuffs and over the next couple of hours he is using them to poke a hole through the box.

At this point this is all I know about his situation, but I'm ready to make a prediction. My prediction is that sometime in the last hour (depending on how dramatic they want it to be), Criss Angel's camera will run out of power or lose feed in some way and Criss will disapear from the block. The thing is, they do not show the live feed from inside the block that much so he might be doing stuff we're not supposed to see. I'm sure he'll make it out in a spectacular way as usual.

Anyhow, I know it will be something amazing. Don't miss it! Just so you won't get bored with the live feed of a suspended box or just seeing Criss Angel inside the box (though I would like to see that more so we can see what he's doing at all times), they are showing previews of the new season and fragments of his previous ones.
Unfortunatelly I don't think the Cement Block will be shown in this comming season (Season 3 - airs June 5th at 10 pm), but maybe a special will be made and it will be aired sooner than the 4th season.

The 24 hours have now passed and I am pleased to inform you that Criss Angel successfully escaped in the last minute.
(As I predicted -> he shot off his camera before he escaped)

Rope Magic - Ball balanced on rope

The Effect: A 1m, 1m and a half of rope is held tightly between the
performer’s hands. The performer proceeds to balance a ball on the rope and mystically the ball rolls from one end of the rope to the other.

The Secret: A thin piece of black thread almost as long as the
rope is used to build a track for the ball to roll on. Tie both ends of the thread near the ends of the rope leaving just a little slack. Facing the audience, hold the rope tight with both hands at opposite ends. The black thread should be behind the rope. Insert your thumbs between the rope and the thread to spread them apart from each other, this is what creates the secret track. Now your ball can be rolled back and forth on a single piece of rope.

Advice: Wear black clothing in order to conceal the black thread. Use a ping-pong ball for an easier performance. You might try it with a tennis ball, but make sure the black thread is sturdy enough.

Rope Magic - Color Changing String

The Effect: A white shoestring is held up for everyone to see, the magician passes his closed fist down the string, instantly changing it from white to black. The shoestring is then handed out for examination.

The Secret: Two shoelaces are used in this performance, a black shoestring and a hollow white shoelace. Cut a small opening in the white shoelace and thread the black shoestring through the hole, so that the black lace is completely covered by the white lace. Hold up the lace with your right hand covering the hole in the white lace. Using your left hand, slide the white lace down while holding the black string with your right hand. The black string can be glued into the white shoelace for convenience, but for a better effect don't glue it so that the white shoelace can be hidden and the black shoestring can be examined.

Card Sleights - False Cut

Imagine that you divide your pack into 3 smaller (try to make it equal) packets. Let's call them from the top to the bottom, X, Y and Z.

Hold the original pack into your left hand and with your right middle finger and thumb bring packet Z into the right hand. Take Z over XY and with your right ring finger and thumb get packet X.

To recap: in your left hand you have the remaining packer Y (the original middle one) and in your right hand you have X on bottom and Z on top (still keep them separated - one is held by middle finger and the other by the ring finger).

Now bring Y on top of Z and grab them in your left hand. This means that in your right hand you will only have packet X that you should put on top of YZ that's in your left hand.

Therefore you will end up again with the original XYZ pack.

Card Inside Eggshell

For all of you who know the card to ashes to arm technique, this is a nice alternative.
Get some ALUM (Amonia Aluminum Sulphate) and mix it with a pint of vinegar. You paint a 5 of Hearts (or anything else) on an eggshell and leave it to dry for an hour. After, you boil the egg so it hardens and let it go cold (don't put it in the fridge). After you crack the egg, the 5 of Hearts can be seen now on the inside of the eggshell.
I'm sure you can all use your imagination and integrate this into a charming effect.

Apperantly you can buy ALUM from the drugstore, but I found it at the grocery store in the spice section. Check your local Safeway, Save-On, Wall-Mart, etc...

Card Sleights - Double Undercut

I would like to start a few tutorials on how to perform some card sleights.
This is the first in this series and I hope it will be useful to beginners in card magic.

Double Undercut

Let us suppose that the top card is to be moved to the bottom of the deck. The right hand holds the deck from above (in the Biddle Grip/Count). A break is held beneath the top card with the right thumb. The left hand then cuts the bottom half of the deck off and places it on top of the top half. This is repeated, with all the cards beneath the break going on top. The deck has apparently been fairly cut twice, but in fact the only change is that the top card has been moved to the bottom.

Here is a variation of the undercut on how to cut the deck and bring the top card in its original place again: