Adam Wilber - Creative Magic

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LEARN TO SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY

Creative Magic

Lessons in Creativity

Adam Wilber

with

Creative Magic

Copyright© 2013 by Adam \ ilber

All righcs reserved. o part of thi book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or hy any mean wirhour written permission from the author.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the two best things that ever came into my life. My beautiful wife Natasha and my perfect little dude Carter Blake.

If you would like to contact me directly please feel free to reach out and say hello with the provided contact information below.

Phone: 802-578-6633

Email: [email protected]

•.: ._~l • ·-~ :.t" ,,. j '· .s . .•••

Contents

Foreword ...... 7

Introduction ... 11

Pays the Bills ......... 15

Earbuds ... 17

World's Easiest Coin Bend ... 27

A Lesson in Sleight of Hand ... 33

The Backup Plan ... 39

Color Coincidence ...

49

19 Down ... 53 Signature ... 57 Adan1's Aces ... 63 Pop 'Iop ... 67 Pop Production ... 68

Just For Fun ......

71

Sealed Surprise ... 73 Environmentally Unfriendly ... · .. ·· ·· · · .. · 79 Shutterbug ... 83 Boxed In ... 89 Cash Card ... 97 Fah-Q ... 101

5

Concepts & Thoughts ............................................. 105 Adam Wilber ... 107 Alan Rorri 'On ... 115 Arvind

J

ayashankar. ... 119 Brad Chrisrian ... 123 Dan Harlan ... 125 Daniel Madison ... 131 David Regal ... 135 John Guasraferro ... 139 Marc pelman n ... 143 Peter McKinnon ... 149 6

Foreword

3 p.m., the Orleans Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. I'm waiting in the lobby by the slots, across from the coffee shop. Adam Wilber is set to arrive any moment.

l had never physically met Adam at this point. We had a few conversations online, a few via Facebook an<l other social networks. Adam was coming in to help run the Ellusionist booth

for

a magic convention. I was waiting to greet him, help him get his room set up, take him out

for

a drink and welcome him to the team.

4

p.m. No Adam.

8 p.m. No Adam. I had long since left the lobby. In fact, I think I ended up getting in a cab and heading to a rooftop club called Ghost Bar at the Palms. Little di<l I know, while I admired the Las Vegas strip from a rooftop ultra lounge, my new colleague was having a day from hell.

Adam booked his flight two months in advance. He even went as far as showing up to the airport with more than two hours to spare! Adam proceeded to the counrer to check in only to flnd out that his airline had overbook d his flight. Joy.

- ,_,~_;_•·! ._ 'II '

Adam happened to be the one lucky customer [ha[ got bumped to rhe next flight. Now, that ncx[ flight happened to be a glorious four hours la[er. The problem with raking [his next flight was it would have pur Adam in Chicago and rhen would leave him stranded in the Windy Ciry with no connec[ion w Las Vegas. At [his point, Adam's only additional option was to fork out an extra $400 to switch to an entirely different airline that could accommodate his needs.

10 p.m. o Adam.

After Adam switched airlines, and was pleasantly seated in his new booking with Jet Blue, the airline had problems with the jctway, thus delaying his flight causing him to miss his newly booked connection into JFK, ew York ow arriving in JFK with no connection, Adam had to get on a bus to ew Jersey to hop yet another connection from ewark into las Vegas.

24 hour later, Adam arrived.

Despite this enrire helli h experience, we mer up and carried on about om bu ine s I didn't j· Ad • .

. · r a ize am experrise or creative insights unnl I watched him I erform for a large group in the chandelier bar at the Co mopoliran Hore!. One thing you need to know about Adam, i that he is ab olurelv 100 percent fearless He w1'll , 1

, · approac 1 any

group any per on any parry, any table at any time to perform any[hing. And he did ju t char. After warching him perform for these

pc::ople, and receive a thunderous amount of applause and a slew of c::xpensive, free drinks, it left me feeling one thing: Inspired.

Adam's creativity will shine through the pages of this book and you will really come to understand magic from Adam's point of view. There is nothing in this book that cannot be done for REAL people, in REAL situations. These are the things he feeds his family with. These are the things that keep him alive. When he approaches crowds, gets reactions, gets applause, free drinks, bookings, energy, inspiration - these are the tools he uses. They are now in your hands. I remember the feeling I had when watching Adam finish his set, I can only imagine what you will feel after you close this book.

Peter McKinnon Toronto, Canada.

Introduction

Firstly, if you bought this book I'd like to say thank you. Your support makes all the hard work, late nights and long hours worth it.

Today is Janua1y l, 2012. It's the start of a new year and for me, a new adventure. I have been creating my own magic for the last ten years and I have yet to put any of these creations into a book. One of my resolutions for the new-year is to finally pick through my work and put my favorite routines together in fun and easy format. My intension for this book is to present you with my strongest effects, my thoughts on how to be a more likable performer and most importantly how to inspire your own creativity.

John Cleese said about crea ti vi ty "The reason why it is futile for me to talk about creativity is that it simply cannot be explained." While I see rhe truth in this statement I also know with the right tools in place and dedication to an end outcome, creativity can be practiced and harnessed. Cleese goes on to say: "Creativity is NOT a talent, it is a wtiy of operating."

My

hope is that this book will enlighten the reader not only to new ideas and fun effects but also to some tools, rips and tricks that will enable them to become more creative in their own magic and life in general.

I have organized this book into 3 sections: Pays the Bills, Just for Fun and Concepts & Thoughts.

Pays the Bills is a collection of effects that I have used to literally pay my bills for the last 10 years. These arc effects that I have performed hundreds of times for real world paying audiences. ln this section you'll find tricks for all skill levels.

Just for Fun is full of effects and ideas that take a bit of set up and some ans and crafts rime to make. Please don't overlook these pieces just becau e they rake ome efforr ro create. As magicians and creators we hould nor be scared to sit down with some glue, scissors, trinkets and patience - rather, we hould embrace it. Ir's a great way to spark creativity and an ideal opportunity to be a child again. I know you'll have a much fun with the e little gems a I have.

Concepts cf Thoughts i a ollecrion of ideas and d10ughts on creativity from ome of rhe mo t creative magicians alive today. As the manufacturing ' project manager of Ellusionist.com, l have been lu

k:·

enough to pend rime with some of the most creative and ralenred magician on the planet. During my meetings with these arri ts T alway a k them the ame que tion, "How do you get yourself into a creative mindser?' The diver iry in re ponses I get has always greatly inrriaued m . Thi lat section of the book focuses on the thoughts and in iahr on reariviry from some of the most talented magicians I know.

I want to thank you again for purchasing rhi book and I truly hope you enjoy reading it a much as I have enjoyed purring it together.

Donald McKinnon describes che faciliry chac enables a mood of creativity as "The Abiliry to Play". With that said, welcome to my first book: Creative Magic. Now turn the page and lee's play!

Pays

the

Bills

Earbuds

Effect: Similar to a card stab premise, a cord, necklace, earphones or something similar that a spectator is holding between their hands penetrates a signed card. The only way to get the cord out of the card is to tear it out.

Setup: You need to split a card to set this effect up. There are plenty of good sources to learn card splicting and it's also covered in the Earbuds download. (You were provided with flvc pre-made gimmicks. You can also purchase refills on my sire if you don't want to make them yourself.)

A card is made up of three layers: a thin piece of paper with the face design, a slightly thicker cardboard piece for the middle and another thin piece for the back design. You will need to split the card so that the middle layer and face of the card stay together, leaving you with the back design as one thin layer. There are many ways to split cards but I will briefly describe my method.

Take the card at its extreme corner with your first and second finger. Tap the corner on a hard surface a few times to loosen the fibers and weaken the glue. Using your fingernail or a razor blade gently peel away rhc back design layer of the card for about 1/8 of an inch.

~ay

peeled down with one finger. Car fully peel c:hc face and middle layer rogerher for just under half the length of the card (Pharo 1).

Turn th ard face down and bend back the middle and face layer you ju t p led so that it i flat. The face of rhe card should look traight and c:he thin ba k de ign layer should be sticking upwards (Photo 2). Bend and crease the back layer flat (Photo 3). Lacer on, thi crease will be automatically disguised by rhe earphones, necklace or whatever is u d for the revelation of the card.

Apply ome rubb r cement liberally on both flaps - rhe entire white portion - making ure to get it in the crease, comers and all the way to the edg (Photo 4). Allow the gimmick to dry.

Once dried, place rhe gimmick face down on top of rhe deck so that the flap is oriented away from you. Pia c an indifferent card face

down on top of the gimmick. The beaury of the gimmick is that it sticks the two cards together just enough but not permanently.

You will also need some kind of cord or wire which you can borrow or have on yourself: such as a pair of headphones, a necklace, etc.

Performance

There are many different presentations possible for this effect and a basic one is described here. Be encouraged to come up with a good presentation for your style. This is a powerful effect and you need to find out what works best for you to see its true potential. You'll have a true miracle for years to come.

Explain, "This is an old, cltissic card trick, but with a new take on it. The old cltlSsic would be that the magician would have a card picked, signed, shuffled in the deck. Then a knife would be inserted into the deck marking where the card was. I'm not going to walk up to strangers with a knife because that would be quite awkward. We 're just going to use the headphones (or whatever it is that you are using) for this but we'll come back to it in a minute. "

You arc going to force the top card on your pccrator and it is going to seem like you how the fronr and the back very fairly. Say,

'1 want

to make sure this is a free choice and you can pick any ccird you like." As you say this, push off the top two cards together as one into your left hand, which is almost automatic and then spread the rest of the deck over the doubl (Photo 5). The double is now riding undernearh the

pread.

From the top it looks very fair and you ask the spectator tO touch the back of any card they like. Break the spread at this point so that it's on the bonom of rhe pread in the right hand. They can clearly see the back of the card they selected (Photo 6). 'quare up the spread against rhe rest of rhe deck in the left hand. The double card riding underneath the pread i now on the bottom. When you lift your right hand to how them the card, the force card

will

show. Rea embl th d k o rhar rhe selection is on che bottom.

A k them to ian che face of the card and give the deck a cur at about the middle. You an xecure a few Hindu shuffles face up using the card abo,·e th gimmi k co give the impression that the card is lost in the deck. Ir i ea

r

co 'i ually look to know where the gimmick is. Turn the deck _{ace own an r} d d _{peat a rew more} c _{Hin<lu shuffles.}

Next you need to prepare the gimmick and this requires a little bit of misdirection. Based on what you will be using for the revelation, you now make a comment about it. If you are going to use their necklace, ask them for permission to use it and to kindly remove it. lf you are going to use headphones, tell them that you need them to be prcpan.:d.

Use this opportunity to find rhe break and

lift

up on it above the gimmicked card. Your right hand comes from above with the thumb at the back and lifts up at the break. In a continuing action it moves forward, providing cover at the front for what's going to happen next. This is done while gesturing to your spectator asking them to hold the cord out between their fingers like a tightrope. The left thumb goes into the break and slides the flap of the gimmick backwards and towards you (Photo 7). The right hand comes back and places the deck back on top but making sure to keep a big break between the top flap of the gimmick and the middle of the card (Photo 8). You do not want them to come into contact yet, because the rubber cement on both sides will stick together.

T

0 make the insenion of the cord into the Jeck look like a free I · - · g co riffle force rhe break bur from the back. Say, ci.OJct:, you art: go1n

'Tm going to have you place this into the deck, kind of like a card stab. Similar to when a magician would have someone stab into the deck and find their own card. }t-tst call out stop where you like." Riffle down the front corner wirh your lefr rhurnb. Because the break you are holding is quite large, use your right hand as cover to ensure that it doesn't show at the front.

Go nice and slow so that they call out stop before the break. Once they call our stop, say, "We're going to insert the cord here but we'll actually do it from the back." Move both your hands under the cord they are holding and rhen above.

A

you do this, drop the break at the front and lift up at the break behind (Photo 9). Lower the break on top of the cord and you will feel when rn stop where the card is split. quare rhe deck up and in the act of holding the deck, you are squeezing the card pu hing the adhe ive rogerher between the right fingertips (Phoro 10). A rip h re i to ensure that they are holding rhe cord very still and you move around the cord.

A few subtleties: Give the deck a little twist from right to left and back and ask them whether chey felt that. They will acknowledge char they foel something with the cord because you are moving che deck. Nobody else around knows what they arc feeling but this is a good cue for the magic to be happening.

J

usr keep squaring it up and pushing down. There are many different ways to reveal the selection.

Recap by saying, "Hold on to it tight and think of your card. You've picked 11 card, signed a card and you inserted the cord somewhere in the deck. Let's see

if

it worked." At rhis moment you can let go of the deck with your right hand and give it a little jolt from underneath with your other hand. This will cause the cards to fly a bit before falling down, revealing just one remaining on the cord. Step back and let chem look at it. It will slowly sink in that their signed selection is not taped bur actually threaded through the card itself. After the reactions have settled, explain this to chem and eve1yone else. Once they see that, twist the cord a little bit causing the selection to spin around. They can take everything with them and you can leave the card on there like that. Make sure to go slowly so they have time and space to

feel

the magic.

A nice added bonus to this is that if they pull the cord out themselves, they can feel it really being pulled through the card. Ensure that the effect has already set in and people have understood what just happened. Then say, "The only way to get this out is to actually tear it. And you can pull the cord right out of the card." As you say this, tear one side where the cord enters the card a little bit to start

23

.•

'

,_,

-with and then as rhey pull d1e cord will rip through and come our. This gives a very nice feeling to the spectator of pulling something out from inside their card which they just signed.

Creativity Exercise

You'll need ro er aside an hour for rhis exercise. Make sure that during thi hour you will be undisrnrbed by any outside distractions.

To rarr you will need to ask your wife, parent or friend ro name three mall items normally found in a kitchen. If you don't have someone to a k, th n use a sponge, a Lwist tic and a butter knife. Take rhe e three items and go inro a guiet space with a notepad and pen. sing all three items put together an effect. Try and make it as abstract as po sible. For example, maybe you make a knife our of aluminum foil o its natural properties are altered and a sponge is sprayed wirh 3.\1 glue, so instead of being soft and flexible it is ridged and hard. The point is to come up with something that you have never een before. rather rhan developing a new way to bend metal or multiply a sponge.

Take the entire hour - don't stop working on this until 60 minutes have passed. Write down every id ·a and thought that comes into your head.

After an hour you might ha\'e com up wirh a kick-ass effect, or you may have a bun h of jumbled narc wrirren on a piece of paper. 24

Eirher way rhis exercise will force your mind to work in ways it's not accustomed ro working, and chat is a great tool to spark uncapped creativity. It's like going ro the gym and working on your mind. The more ways you can exercise your brain in ways it is not used to being exercised, the easier it becomes to spark creative moments and ideas. I ny and do this exercise at least once a month. I keep all chc notes and ideas I come up with in a dedicated notebook and revisit it from rime to time when I need inspiration.

World's Easiest Coin Bend

I came up with the handling of this simple two-phase com bend while working in a magic shop in New Orleans. l wanred something easy to perform that I could do in the spectator's hands. My requirements were simple: The coins must be signed and I didn't want to use any bending device during the performance. While there is nothing here that will change the world of coin bends, once you try it our for yourself I think you will sec how big a payoff this simple and direct routine can give you.

Effect: A nickel and quarter arc borrowed from a spectator. The nickel is signed by the spectator and placed in their hand with their fists closed around it. You sign the quarter and rub your finger over it causing it to bend right in front of their eyes. You then place the bent quarter on the back of the spcctaror's fist and ask them to focus

all

their energy onto the coin in their hand. As you remove the quarter and they open their hand, they can see their signed coin is now bent as well.

Setup: The requirements for this effect are a pre-bent quarrer with your initials on the face of it. The direction thc coin is bent is important (Photos 1, 2). You also need a pre-bcn t nickel. Place a Sharpie in your left pants pocket and both pre-bent coins in your right pants pocket.

To pre-bend che coins, you can use a pair of pliers. Wrap some insulation tape on the ends (Photos 3, 4) to avoid any scratch marks

Performance

Borrow a nickel and a quarter from the audience. ay, 'Tm going to try something with one of the coins and we'll see

if

you can accomplish the

same effect with the second coin." Take the nickel from them in your

left hand as your right hand goes into your right front pocket (apparently looking for your Sharpie) and continue, "I'd like you to

sign this nickel. " Grab th pre-bent nickel and come out with it in a

finger palm as you now look roward your lefr pocket (your mental dialog is, "The harpic i. n'r in my right pocket so it must be in my

left one").

Two things will happen at once now. Your right hand precends co pick up che coin from your lefc hand as you bring the right hand's palmed coin into view. In the same action your left hand wrist kills while finger palming the non-bent coin as you go to your left pocket to dump d1e coin and bring out the Sharpie. This is Juan Tamariz's

double-crossing the gaze swicch (found in The Five Points in Magic). Note that it is important to hold the bent coin so the small bend is concealed by your thumb and first finger (Photo 5).

At this point ask the spectator to sign their initial on the nickel. This may seem odd to have them sign such a small coin especially while

you are holding it but just be casual and it will Ay by without

suspicion. Once they have signed the coin ask them to raise their

hand palm up and place the coin in their hand (Photo 6). You want to rest the bent part of che coin directly on the end of their palm to make sure they won't feel any bend in it. Gently close their hand and

turn it palm down as you say, "We'll get back to that in a minute."

Take the Sharpie in your right hand and the quarter in your left. Sign

the quarter with your initials in the same orientation as you signed

the pre-bent quarter (Photo 7). Place the Sharpie into your right pocket and come out with the pre-bent quarter finger palmed. Say, 29

"I'm going to try and use my brute strength to force this coin to bend, " and pick up the unberu coin from your left hand and toss it back inrn your left hand. Make a fist around ir and squeeze. Repeat this action as you try again to forcefully bend the coin. On rhc third attempt execute the Bobo Switch (found in Modern Coin Magic by

J.B.

Bobo), throwing the bent coin from your right hand to your left while ar the same time retaining the flat coin in a finger palm in the right hand. As then bent coin hits the p;1lm of your left hand make a fist around it and say, "Let's work together on this."

Instruct your specrarnr(s) co grab your dosed hand and squeeze. As they let go one at a time, open your hand to show that the coin now has a signifi anr bend in it. The Aac coin can be ditched into your pocket as you direct attention to the spectator holding the nickel. Say, "ft took all of us together to get this quarter to bend but J am confident that you ha11e enough force inside of you to bend that nickel on your own." Conrinue, "Focus all of your energy into your hand." Ask them ro open their hand, r \'Caling they have bem their signed nickel.

Creativity Exercise

For this you will need a voice recorder that you can keep on you at all times for two weeks. The easiest way to do chis is by gerring an app for your cellphone that allows you to quickly record a voice memo and store it for as long as you need. Once you have this set up, bring it with you everywhere for two weeks.

Anytime you think of anything magic related pull our your recorder and speak your mind without hesitation. These can be ideas on presentations, ideas for tricks you want to create, methods that come to mind and inrercsting things you see or hear throughout the day. The idea is to record as much information as possible and not censor it at all. The more crazy ideas and rhoughrs you come up with, the better. Try and record something first thing in the morning and last thing before you go to bed. Don't cheat yourself on this and really try and fill up your voice memo app with hundreds of entries.

Once you've done this for two weeks and have a bunch of entries, sit down with a pen and pad and go through these one at a time. Listen to each ent1y a couple of times and write down whatever comes to your mind. If the entry doesn't spark an idea then skip it and move to the next. By the end of going rhrough each entry, you will have a bunch of notes that can be turned into effects, presentations for existing effects and possible methods to play around with. Keeps rhese notes and continue to go back to them when you feel you're in a creative slump. Having a voice recorder on you at all times is a great 31

tool to help capture spur-of-rhe-moment ideas

rhar

can

pay

off tenfold if you concinue to use it.

A

L

e

s

son in S

leight of Hand

This is probably the trick I do mosr ofren when asked ro "show me something." It's quick an<l visual while still packing a lot of magic into a small routine.

Effect: A card is selected and lost in the pack. The magician explains that this trick is pure sleight of hand and asks the spectator to watch as closely as possible. The top card is mrned over and shown to nor be the selection, then in the blink of an eye it visually transforms into rhe selection. The magician then ralks about the age-old technique of palming a card. He demonstrates it by having the selection vanish and reappear mulriple times after which it ends up in the magician's pocket rwo times in a row, in rhe most impossible manner.

Setup: A deck of cards and a pocket. Unfortunately this is one of those effecrs where you DO need ro be clothed to perform.

Performance

Say to your spectator (let's assume it's a woman), "I'd like to give you a

lesson in what's called sleight

of

hand.

To

do

so, 111

need you to select a card." Have her select any card and return it to the center of the deck. Control the selection to the top. Execute a double turnover to show chat her card is not at the top. Keep a break under the double as you turn it face up. One way ro get this break is to outjog the double slightly as it is turned face up. As you square it flush with rhe deck your left first finger pushes on the upper right corner of rhe card as 33

1 f 1 . ·d nd fourth fingers relax the tension. This allows rhe

your et t:i.lI a

double co buckle just enough co catch a break under it as it is squared with the <leek (Photo 1).

While you go through these actions, say, "Sleight of hand allows me to take any card and change it for another. It looks like this." You' re now

going to execute the Paintbrush Chang<:: by Roy Walton (The

Complete Walton Books, Vol. 1). Alrernarively, if you don't do the Paintbrush change you can turn the double face down onto the deck and deal uff a single to show that the card has now changed into the

selection. Pause a beat and let the change sink in. Place the selection face up on the deck.

In the action of squaring the deck, side steal the bottom card into

your right palm. When doing the side . tt:al, make sure there is no visiblt: movement of your left hand while it pushes the bottom card into position. A good way ro en ure rhis is by pushing the bottom

card over with your left fourth finger instead of the first or second fingers. This will allow rhe acrion to be hidden under the deck. As

you execute the side steal say, "Now I'll demonstrate one of the oldest documented sleight of hand moves in existence called the palm." Bring

your right hand over the deck for jusr a moment as you release rhe

palmed card onto the selection. You want to give the appearance that you are palming off the selection so as soon as the palmed card drops flush onro the deck, keep your right hand in a curled position as you

move it away from the deck. This will convince your spectator that

you have just palmed their card from the deck. Say, "] use a very special palm called an invisible palm that can't be seen by the untrained eye. "As you say this, slowly turn your right hand over showing it to

be empty. Continue by explaining, "The card now sttiys invisible until that perfect moment in a card game when I need it. "

Turn your body slightly to the left as you raise the deck in your left hand to a vertical position (Photo 2). Your right hand comes over and

grasps rhe deck at the top and bottom short edges (Photo 3). Let go

with your left fingers as your right hand rotates the deck 180 degrees clockwise (Photo 4). Re-grip the deck in your left hand. Repeat the rotating action and this time execute a one-handed top palm with

your right hand. Doing the top palm as the <leek is being rotated makes for a beautiful appearance of the selected card (Photo 5). Make sure to rotate the deck one more time afrer the card is palmed (this is why you turned your body to the left to conceal the palmed card during chis final rotation). At the end of this final rotation you should be in this position (Photo 6) with a card palmed in your right hand.

6

Pause for a beat and then repeat the actions of dropping the palmed card on top of the seleCLion as you act as though you arc palming the selection off. During this acrion, say, "The great thing about the invisible palm is I can be very natural with my movements while it's palmed. I can sprerzd the cards, cut the deck or even take a drink. "While explaining this, march your actions to your words and spread the cards but taking care nor to flash the face up selection second from the top. Double undercut the top two cards to the bottom of the deck. This will place rhc face up election on the bottom.

Ar this point you explain, "Sometimes it's best to just Leave the card you need in a safe place until the time is right." Execute a no th er side steal of the bottom card and palm it int0 your pocket showing that the spectator's selection is now in the afe t place of all, your pocket.

lf you want an added kicker at the end you can place an indifferent card in your pocket (face towards your body) before the trick starts.

Once you reveal the selection has magically jumped into your pocket

the first time, you can offer to repeat it. Openly place the selection

back in your pocket and switch it with the indifferent card as you say,

"Did you see it go to the pocket?" When you bring the indifferen c card out they will think it's still the selection. Offer co demonstrate again

by using the "hardest palm of all the middle palm out move." Place the indifferent card in the middle of the deck and panromime palming a card out of the middle. Show your hand empty then pull the selected card out of your pocket.

Creativity Exercise

Broaden your horizons. Evc1y week or so get yourself two or three magazines char you would never normally read.

J

use go to a bookstore

and pick up a couple completely random magazines about subjects you don't know anything about. Read through chem and see what

new insights and ideas stem from chis. Ir's always good to increase

your knowledge base and look into things you aren't familiar with.

This may seem like an odd way to spark creativity but by learning

about new things chat are unfamiliar to you, you open your mind to new ideas and concepts that can help you in creating your magic. For

example: I have a friend who uses this exercise regularly. He had been

working on a presentation for a mencalism routine for months and

one of his wife's gossip magazines and read it cover to cover. As soon as he finished his wifo's "smut mag," as he calls it, he had an idea for a presentation that fir his routine perfectly. He built his presentation around an article about one of the Kardashian girls and has been using ic with great success even since.

The Backup

Plan

Effect: This is a variation of Ed Marlo's classic "Think-Touch-Turn" where an ace reverses itself several times and finally changes into the selection. My inspiration for this came from Bill Malone's version of this effect from his DVD set "On The Loose."

Setup: Remove the four aces and place them on the table. (This trick can be used at the end of an ace production.)

Performance

Have a card selected and control it to the top using your favorite method. Here's a method I like to use (Bill Malone's On the Loose Vol. 1 ). Swing cut half the deck into your left hand. Have the card replaced on top of the left-hand packet. The right hand then picks up half of this pile in the left hand at the front short edge with the right middle finger (while still holding its original half). The right ring finger grips the bortom half of the packet in the left hand and keeps them separate. At this point you should be holding diree separate packers in your right hand with rhe spectator's selection on top of the middle packet (Phom 1 shows selection face up).

Now it's going co look like you drop all three packets one by one onto your lefr hand. You first drop the lowermost packet into your lefr hand with a large up-and-down motion. In the guise of throwing the middle packet, you are actually going to throw the top packet into your left hand. Use the san-ie large motion, which covers this smaller deception. To finish off, drop rhe original middle packet remaining in your right hand onto the packets in your left hand. This whole.: sequence should be done without any hesitation in three beats. The selected card is now on top.

Pick up che aces in your right hand, spread them out an<l say, ''Now we 'LL focus on these and do the trick with the aces. Out of the four aces,

which ace do you Lilu?"While you speak, establish a pinky break under the top card of the deck in your left hand. Lay the aces on top of the deck and pick up all five cards once they name an ace. Your lefr hand pulls away, rotates and lays the rest of the deck face up on the table in a natural, continuing acrion. Spread the four face-up aces berween your hands with their selection secretly hidden behind the lowermost ace in your left hand. This is a Paul LePaul spread and you can wiggle the aces with your thumb making sure to keep the double square (Photo 2). Name the aces as you spread them. When they name an ace say, "So that's the ace we wilL use.

If

I screw the trick up with the ace

of hearts, then I'll go through and find your ctird. " Point to the card showing on the face of the deck and ask them if that is their card. Make sure to always ask them that. It's obviously not their card but this action subtly reinforces that their card is still somewhere in the

deck. You can make a little joke out of this and say, "Well, that's not the trick then, "when they reply, "No. "

With rhe four aces spread in your left hand, outjog the card they name and n::move it with your right hand. Say, ''J'm going to try to

mcike the ace of heclrts go .fom face up to face down without you seeing it.

If

you see it, I screwed up and I'll go through the deck and find your

card." Place the ace face up on the botrom. The cards should be

spread and displayed (Pharo 3).

In case they name the lowermost ace right above their selection,

square the other three aces against the base of your left thumb, bur injogged so the ace is still visible. Use your right middle finger to push and omjog the selected ace as the group of aces aligns with the

selected card underneath. Rotate the ace out with your right hand

and place it on the botrom of the packet as described above.

PHASE 1: Square the packet, snap and say, ''Just like that, one ace is

foce down. "Hold the packer in an overhand biddle grip in your right hand and peel off the top three aces into your left hand leaving you

with a facedown double. This makes it look like that ace has gone face down.

PHASE 2: Say, "That went fast so I'm going to slow it down and show you exactly what to loo le far. "Take the three ace in your left hand, use your thumb to rotate them face down and place them on top of the faccdown double in your right hand. Square everything up in your left hand. Next, push over the top card into your right hand, push over the next card under the firsr. Push the third card over partially but then downjog the double and place the third card back on top of

it (Photo 4). Now you arc in a position with two single facedown cards in your right hand and a single card outjogged on top of a double card in yom left hand. This is a very clean display of supposedly four facedown cards. Line up the two cards in your right hand under the cards in your left (Photo 5).

You are now in position for a very visual reversal of the selected ace. Point to the third faccdown card from the top and say, "Watch the ace of hearts." To get ready, pull rhe second card from the top a little bit towards you. This creates a little break on the underside, which allows the left index finger ro singly contact the middle of the short

~dge of the face up ace (Photo G). All this is covered by the top faccdown card of the packet. Pull down the ace a linle with the index Anger and push it towards you, flushing it with the card below it (second from the bottom). , hake your hand gently while doing this 42

ro cover this morion (Photo 7). Pause ro let that sink in with your spectator.

PHASE

3: To continue, grab the double from the edge and pull it out with your right hand and place it on top. You can push over the ace and flick ir. Square everything up and get imo a Biddle grip with your right hand. Say, "You could have picked any ace but you picked the ace of hearts, "while you peel the face up ace off onto your left hand. Continue peeling off the next two facedown cards onto rhc face up ace bur slightly spread. This leaves you with a double in your right hand. Turn your wrist to show the face of the ace and call our its name. Turn your wrist back and take back a facedown ace from your left hand sidejogged underneath the double. Turn your wrist again to show this ace and call out its name. Repeat with the remaining ace. This gives a nice display of the three aces held between your right middle finger and thumb (Photo 8). Repeat, "But you chose the ace of hearts. "Tum your wrisL facedown, place the face up ace on top of this packet and square everything up. Their selection is now underneath the acc.

You need to get this ace second from the top. Pick the ace up and ask a question while you get a break under the top card, ''Are you right or left handed?" Turn the ace face down and place it on top of the packer getting a break under two cards. This break is held in an overhand grip with the right thumb at the back. Gesture with your left hand, and ask them to hold their hand our. In this action, your right hand

stays still, holding the double card at the break. As your left hand

moves forward to point, the left thumb peels the top card or the deck

along with it (Photo 9). This leaves you holding the original second

card singly in your right hand.

You may also execute a top change which i similar to this sequence of actions and leaves you in the same position. Bring your left hand

back and place the single card right back on cop. You are now in

position to do a double lift showing their card. Show the ace of heartS

and say, "This time the ace of hearts is going to turn under your hand. "

Turn the double face down and deal off the indifferent card (their selection) onto the table or their hands while asking them to put their other hand on rop of it to cover ir. Make sure they cover it well so they don't peck and ruin the climax of the effecr. You can also ask multiple people to cover the card.

Turn rhe packet in your hand face up and say, "!don't need the other aces." From Biddle grip, peel off the top rwo aces calling out their names face up onto your left hand and spread sligh dy. Place the double as one on top of rhe orher two aces. quare everything up and put them on the deck which i lying face up to the side. Turn it

facedown and riffle the cards towards the spectator's hands as you say,

"One, two, and three. Slowly lift your hands." Emphasize "slowly" to

avoid the card sticking to their hands and turning face up

prematurely. You are expecting to see the ace of hearts face up, but

act disappointed and say it didn't work but you would now find their

card as your promised initially. Play it up in any way you want. Draw

attention back to the deck and say, ''I'm going to find your card in a very cool way." Buckle the bottom card. You are going to pretend to

cut the deck but in reality you are just cutting one card from the

bottom to the top. Execute a variation of Daryl's Hot Shot Cut.

This is a knacky move but it's described below. Hold the deck in the

grip shown (Photo 10) between your left index and middle fingers. Your left thumb reaches across to the bottom right corner lifting up about rwo-thirds of the deck. The middle finger releases pressure as it pivots the packer around the index finger until the corner clears and you reach the position shown (Photo 11).

The packet on rhe left is balanced by the index finger and thumb and the packet on the right is balanced by the other fingers and the pinky. Begin to close your fingers bringing the deck together dropping the right side packet on top of the lefr with your index finger still in place between the packets. Push up and out with your index finger, releasing what was the original bottom card of thc deck. The card will

pivo( ou(wards in a clockwise direction agains( (h oc ,-our left middle finger. The other fingers close (he

deck

o

rely. Your middle finger pushes up and out on the borwm of (he card sricking

out (Photo 12) and this will cause it to rotate and shoot outwards.

Ca(ch it with your right hand. This is a knacky move and requires

some practice. While executing the spinout say, :'Right out of the middle, one card comes flying out. Th<zt would ht' 11rnazing

if

chis was

your card. It would be more amazing

if

it was ace of hearts. "As you show the card, let (hat sink in. Continue, "And the card under your hand was the one you selected. "

Creativity

Exercise

This is more of a lifestyle ra(her than an exercise, but

if

practiced and

done regularly it will have a dramatic impact on your creativity and your lifo in general.

Simply put: Learn to meditate. Yep, ma( s ir. Learning how to

properly meditate and just enjoy being in rhe momem is one of the best things I've done for my magic and my

elf.

There are some grea( books and DVD's on me ubjcct that will get you practicing mediracion in no (ime. Being able to take 20-30

minutes a day for yourself to just be and breathe will help calm your

mind and rid you of a lor of rhe fear and anx:ierie that can get in the

way and hinder your creativity. \\"hen you are first learning to

meditate it can be frustracing and may eem like you are doing it

wrong, bur just stick with it and before you know it you will be looking fo1ward to your special time away every day. Please don't

overlook this one. Take the time ro change your lifo in an amazing way. I didn't mean to get all Tony Robbins on you for this exercise but I really can't stress enough the power of learning to meditate.

Here are a few key points of how meditating can help your creativity.

47

l. Meditation he! ps inspire insight, perception an<l revelation.

These are all traits that creative people possess and use when

creating.

2. Mediration eases anxiety and allows you to tty things you may not otherwise.

3. Meditation improves concencration and attention; both of which are great traits to have when going through a creative

Color Coincidence

Effect: You invite the spectator tO take part in an experiment to demonstrate coincidences. Three card are selected and their mates

are found with a surprising twist.

Setup: Remove six cards from a differently backed deck. Suppose you are using a red deck: Place three blue-backed cards face down on the

bottom of the deck and three blue-backed cards face down second from the top in positions 2, 3 and 4.

Performance

, wing

cue about 15 cards into your lefr hand. Riffle force to the break

and cut back to the top. Second deal the three blue-backed cards face up onto the table in a row. ecktie the deck while dealing to hide the backs of rhe cards. Draw out rhe second card at the top right corner

with your righr thumb on the back and fingers on the face. Pull the

card ourwards and upwards, rotating it face up towards you so that

each time you deal, they only see a red back. This further sells the

Say, "I'm going to see

if

you can get lucky with some coincidences. As l dribble down, you're going to call out stop anywhere you like." While

you are saying rhis, you mimic the acrions of a riffle force. Break the deck when you stop dribbling and push over the top card in the left hand. Take the facedown card wirh your righr hand between your index and middle fingers a you gesture with it to the three face up selections on rhe rable (Photo 1 ). Conrinue, "You can then decide on which card I'm going to put chis card on. " Replace rhe card and

assemble rhe packers back rog rher o your erup is srill on the bottom.

You are now going w execure the Wichita Slip by Jay Sankey three rimes in a row. This move force the bottom card while hiding the back. In brief: With the de k in mechanics grip, riffle down and ask your specraror to all our · top." Break rhe deck ar rhar poinr and

push over the top card of the bottom half over to the right. Ask, "Which card would you Like to put this on?" At _· the _{same tune} · _you buckle and push out the bottom card aligning it with rhe top card (Photo 2). Again they only see a red back. Your right hand holds the top packer. in an overhand grip and turns palm upwards. The first two fingers are stretched out and take the buckled card in the left hand packet with the index finger on the face and the middle finger on the back (Photo 3).

Next, three actions happen at once in a continuing motion. The right hand pulls the bottom card out as rhe palm rotates downwards turning the card face up. The left thumb pulls the top card of its packet back square with the deck. Finally the right hand drops the card face up on top of one of the three selections on the table. The indifferent blue back is never seen during this sequence (Photos 4, 5).

This card will not be a mare of the selecdon they picked on the table so say, "That's close but it didn't still quite work. We'll try again." Repeat this rwo more times for rhe orher two selections on the table . • pread rhe deck facedown to subrly show chat all rhe cards are red.

ay, "Unfortunately, you didn't have much of a coincidence or Luck on that. And sometimes when coincidences don't work out, thats when magic comes in. Have you ever done a magic trick before? Go ahead and just touch all three pairs. "

Start turning the pairs on the table facedo,,·n co show rhat even though they don't pair ar rhc faces, they selecred the only differently backed cards that match perfectly.

Creativity Exercise

For this you will need to rake an effect that you love and perform regularly. This can be an effect of your own or someone else's effect that you've put your own pre entation on. Write down yom entire performance script word for word. Walk through the effect in your mind as

if

you were performing it for someone and write down exactly what yo Lt find yourself saying.

Now go through the script and highlight everywhere you have written the following words: "/," "me," "mine" or "my." Now rewrite the same script, but And a way to replace these words. In doing so, you will probably have to come up wirh a completely new approach to the presentation of this effecr.

This one will be a lot harder than it sounds. Take the time to do it and you may be surprised with how it adds a bit of new

life

into this cffecr that you know and love. I have done this with multiple effects and have created some of my favorite presentations using this exercise. Tty it out and you may surprise yourself with the direction you are forced to go with it.

19 Down

Effect: You are able to rel! just by sight, rhe exact location of a

selected card in a deck and then insrnntly produce it at that spot.

Setup: This effect utilizes a crimp. All you need to do is crimp the

borcorn right corner of rhe top card. The corner is bent upwards

(Photo 1) allowing you to cur to the card below ir.

Performance

A you are discussing and explaining, casually spread the deck facedown between your hands. Sight count five cards from the

bottom and cut them to the rop. Repeat this, bringing the crimp

under the top 10 cards of the deck. Square up and undercut about half the deck and go into an overhand shuffle. Run seven cards and

throw the rest on the bottom. The crimp should be clearly visible and

is now under 17 cards from the top of the deck. You can set this up

beforehand or do it on the fly as described above.

Execute a big block pushover and have any card selected from under

the crimp. Retrieve the card and control it to the top of the deck. The

flip flop control (described in Backup Plan) is a nice method to

achieve this. To start with, make sure you first swing cut under the crimp (more than 18 cards) into your right hand. Have the selection replaced on top of top of rhis packer. For rhe next cur, once again cut

off under rhe crimp. Finish the control like before. The selection is now on top of the Jeck, followed by 17 random cards and 1 crimped

card.

Spread freely to show thar there are no breaks. You can also include any false cuts or shuffle that retain the top stock. Say, "I'm going to try to find exttctly where your card is from the top of the deck just

by

looking. It's somewhere in here and that's all I know." As you're

explaining this, spread the deck casually and square up. Then look

directly at the crimp and get a break under it. Continue, "!believe it's actually 19 cards from the top." Now you lift up a double in an

overhand grip with the thumb at the inner short edge and the index

finger on the outer short edge and flash the face. Say,

"This is

the top

card; I 9 cards below this card is your ct1rd. "This just proves that their

card is not on the top.

The deck rests in your hand with the left thumb across the top card.

Lift

up at the break holding the packet between your right fingers at the inner and outer right corners and execute the pop move. The

selected card should now be visibly ourjogged in the middle of the deck. Finish the effect by counting down the 19 cards to reach the

selection.

Creativity Exercise

One of the hardest things about creating a magic trick is coming up

with the fl.rst idea or image. Here is a simple exercise that has proven

very effective for me.

There are a lot of website out there that can aid you in becoming inspired in ways you may nor have thought of on your own. Kicksrarrer is one of my favorites. What you do is get your notepad

and pen and spend 30-60 minutes looking at random projects and designs. I personally look through the technology and design sections of Kicksrarter. Jot down all the ideas and images that pop into your

head. If you spend an hour looking around sites like Kickstarter,

Gizmodo, RocketHub, etc., and jot down everything that comes co

mind, you

will

develop a long li t of ideas to revisit and pick through.

Without a doubt one of these ideas can easily be converted into a

hard-hitting effect for you. Don't go into this exercise looking for a

specific effect but rather with an open mind and no expectations.Just

look through and see what others have created. Use these creations for inspiration and try to figure our how they can be made into some sort of magic effect. This is one of my favorite exercises to do when I feel like I'm in a creative slump.

Signature

Effect: In this multiphased effect, a pecraror signs a card on the face with a "magic" marker and you mark it on the back. The marker vanishes and reappears. The signatures vanish and reappear and finally you visually remove and peel your signature off of the card into a little ball of ink, which also vanishes back into rhe marker. Inspiration for the signature pull off came from David Williamson's 51 Cards to Pocket.

Setup: There is some preparatory work involved for this effect. Take some dectrical rape and lay it our on some phoropaper. Use a scissors and cur out a long thin line of rape. The hardest pan abour this rourine is to figure our how to write your initials in one continuous line. Stick this thin piece of rape on the back of a card in the shape of your initials. If you need two line then make sure ro stick one line onro the other. For example, the horizontal line in rhc "A" is a separate line bur stuck onro the single main strip. Take the duplicate of this card without any signatures and place it face down on top of the deck. The gimmicked card goes under the top card face down in rhe second position.

Have a Sharpie on you. Smudge a little ink on the rips of your right index and middle fingers.

Ir is good to be sranding while performing chis effect, which allows you co make rhe Sharpie disappear and appear easily.

Performance

Pick up or gesrure at the Sharpie and say, "Have you ever wondered why they call these things magic marlurs? it's weird. right? What's so magicrJl about it? I'm going to show you. "

Cut the deck holding a break and go into a riffle force. When they call out "srop," cut the deck and bring the deck back to order. Execute a double lift and ask your spectator to sign the face while you hold on to card on the deck. They are actually signing the face of the gimmicked card. Turn the double face down and wrice your initials on the back of the card in the same way as you stuck the tape during the initial setup. Let the audience watch as you sign che card, because this really sells the effect. Place the deck aside faced.own and pick up the Sharpie in your right hand.

PHASE I: You are going to make the Sharpie disappear using the f1ipstick vanish. Pick up the Sharpie and say, "The marker does some cool things. ft can disappear. And actually reappear in my pocket. "

Hold the Sharpie between your finger tips of both hands (Photo 1) and move your hands up and down three times. On rhe last time

' your left finger tips let go and right finger tips curl around and pull the pen inwards in an acrion similar ro a Tenkai palm (Phoro 2). Your spectator hould be slightly ro your right ro cover your angles. 58

The pen is hidden from view by the back of your righ r hand. Jmmcdiarely turn boch your hand palm down and par your thighs in the guise of searching for the pen. how your left hand empty and move both your hands around w the back. Once behind, your righr hand tosses the pen over to the left hand. As soon as this happens your

right

hand comes back forwards ro show chat it is empty.

imultaneously, rhe left hand goes into rhe left pocket with rhe

Sharpie. After showing your right hand, your

left

hand comes our of

the pocket and produces it. Ir should look like you make rhe Sharpie

vanish, show borh hands empry and rhen produce ir from your

pocket.

In

reality, the moves arc a little our of phase because one

hand is always dirry, but done ar speed and smoorhly, the larger

actions of rhe hand moving always cover the smaller acrions making everything look very fair.

Phase

2: Place the Sharpie aside and pick up rhe deck once more. Say, '1'lf show you what the 1ictuaf ink of the marker can do." Execute a

double turnover to show their signature. You can pick up the double

and blow on the face casually displaying the back with your signature

as an added convincer. Place the double face up on rhe deck and outjogged for half its length and say, "Focus on just the signature.

If

I

rub it just right ... " Your right hand comes over and rubs the face of the card three times. On the third time you are going to steal the second card underneath into Tenkai (Photo 3. for more extensive information, you can explore the section on the Miracle Card. Change in Ed Marlo's Revolutionary Card Technique). Once again, the back of your right hand covers the hidden card from the audience, so make sure to watch your angles. Your right hand stays in motion and wave

over the outjogged card with the signature.

The next two actions happen simultaneously. The left index finger squares the ourjogged card with the deck. At the same time, your right hand drops its card in palm on top of it. Your right fingers rub against the face slowly revealing the visual vanish of their signatur . Show your fingertips and say, "You can actually see the ink go off Notice there is no signature on the front but the back still has mine. " When you say this, do a wrist kill as your right hand takes the tap

card off the deck to show the back (Photo 4). Hand the card to your spectator to examine. At this moment you arc left with the duplicate

faceup on top of the deck. While they are looking at the card, you have all the misdirection and time in the world to rum the top card facedown and keep a break under it. You can do it openly under cover of your hand or a leg rurnover.

Continue to keep the top of the <leek with your ignature our of sight in a wristkill position. Take the card back from the spectator and place it face up on top.

Phase

3: Give them the marker and say, "But

if

you take the marlur and just pretend to toss the ink back on ... " Pick up the double by the opposite corners and execure the swirl change while moving your hands. Continue, " ... it'll look like the ink jumps right back." Stop and allow the effect to ink in. Say, "We've done something with your signature, now I want to show you something with mine. "Take the top card off the deck while you wrist kill to hide the next card. Place the deck into your pocket and out of play. Show both sides of the cards with the signatures very cleanly. Blow on the back of the card with your signature on iL as you say,

"If

I heat it up, I can actually loosen the ink and peel the signature right off the card." Start to slowly peel off the tape and completely remove your "signature." Hand them the card with their signature as a souvenir. Roll up the tape into a ball and pick up the Sharpie. Execure the striking vanish to make the ball vanish as you finish, ''For the ink, I'm just going to roll this up a bit and stick it right back into the pen to save it for later. "

Creativity Exercise

For this you'll need to find a magician friend to team up with. To get the most out of this exercise you should tty and meet once a week

either in person or via Skype. The idea is simple. Both of you need to come up with an effect you want to see come to life.

For example, at my last meeting l presented my friend with thi effect: I want to borrow a coin and have it signed. Without any switches of any kind I want to be able to bend the coin with one hand. His problem to me was to make an ice cube catch on flre by itself at his command. While these are both far-fetched ideas, it's this kind of thinking that sparks methods for some of the best magic effects. The key is to dream as big as possible and then find a way to make the effect come to

life.

Most of the magicians and creators I look up to say that when they create something they start and the end and build around that. Don't think of what is possible. Instead, think how you would make the seemingly impossible, possible.

Have these meetings as often as you can and when you are presented with your problem make sure to spend at least 30 unimerrupted minutes a day working on the solution writing down every thought and idea that comes to mind no matter how absurd it seems at the time. Then during the following weeks meeting discuss all the ideas and concept that you came up with and as a team or group rry and put the pieces together. Of course you won't be able to work om a method for eve1y trick that's brought up, but just getting the ideas on the table is the firsr step ro creating some amazing magic.

Adam

's

Aces

Effect: This is another fun and visual production of the four aces.

Setup: Four aces on top of the deck. You can have these palmed out and then load them in after allowing a spectator to shuffle.

Performance

Start by saying, "A lot of magicians are actually rated on their skill level

by

how quickly they can locate the four aces from a shuffled deck of cards. It's like tl rite of passage." Execute a few false shuffles and cuts which retain rhe top srock. Use a pinky count to get a break under the rop four cards. Continue, "Sometimes l get lucky and l can cut an ace to the top. Let me show you.'' Do a block push off and turn over all four cards to reveal the first acc. Next you will do a spin move. Pick up the four cards as one with the right middle finger on the outer left corner and the thumb on the inner right corner. Place the rest of the deck a ide. Use the right index finger to pull up on the bottom left corner and give the card one complete spin, keeping the card in motion to conceal the thickness. At the end, flick the packet ensuring they stay square and grab them in your left hand in a deeper grip to cover any edges from the front.

Say, "I can actually peel the ace and split it into two." Your right index finger comes to the right long edge to

feel

for two cards similar to a strike double

lift.

Hold on to the double with your right thumb on top and fingers underneath as your left hand comes away, flicking the