Archive for September, 2011

Magic eBook Review: Crazy 8 by Dan Harlan

Monday, September 26th, 2011

Dan Harlan Crazy 8Dan Harlan has contributed a lot to magic over the years. He’s probably best known for his wildly popular Card-Toon, but his creativity doesn’t stop there. From tricks with cards and coins to rubber bands and popcorn (really), Dan is sort of a legend in magic. After going missing from the magic world for a few years, Dan has returned recently with some new products… and has rereleased a few of his classic routines. Crazy 8 is one of them. Here’s the dealer’s ad:

Innovative! Brilliant! Impossible! As seen on TV! So, what is Crazy-8? A signed piece of paper is torn, rearranged, and restored MIS-MADE… and it’s still signed. No tape, no glue, just magic! The spectator keeps the cool souvenir of your awesome magical powers. Plus, you’ll learn how to do it with a borrowed dollar bill. Imagine that!

The basic effect is this. A piece of paper with a weird design printed on it is presented to the spectator. The magician announces that if the spectator writes their signature in the circle, he will be able to read their mind. A card is selected and hidden from the magician. 

The performer asks if the audience “would be impressed if I were able to write your card on this piece of paper.” Of course, they answer affirmatively. The magician writes the words “YOUR CARD” in the circle with the spectator’s signature. After the groans subside, the magician tears the paper into four pieces and rearranges them to form the image of a playing card. 

He then offers to create a lasting memory of this moment. With that, the pieces fuse together in their mismade condition with the torn edges on the outside and the corners on the inside. The end result of the restoration can be seen in the picture above. Of course, everything can be examined, and the spectator is given the paper as a souvenir of the occasion.

When I first saw the effect advertised, I worried that there would be much magic taking place at one time for an audience to experience the full impact of the effect. A signed piece of paper is ripped up and restored in a mismade condition to reveal a selected card. Oftentimes, when disparate effects are combined into one, the resulting whole is LESS than the sum of its parts. This is not the case with Crazy 8. Harlan’s solid script ties everything together nicely. The audience gets to appreciate the revelation of the card separately from the mismade restoration effect. This is genius of the effect.

The eBook is really small (only 5 pages), but everything is explained clearly. Also included are the templates for the design used in the trick. You can print out as many of these as you want. The papers are small enough to fit into any wallet making this a great impromptu trick. Something that isn’t talked about in the directions is printing your contact details on the back of the giveaway. You would have to play around with the positioning because of the mismade nature of the final product, but it still strikes me as a good idea.

“Crazy Cash” is a bonus routine included in the manuscript, but it will require the extra expense of obtaining the necessary gimmicks. If you do perform it, it’s definitely something you would save for special occasions.

This is a fantastic trick…especially for the price. I cannot imagine any close-up performer not being satisfied by the handling, script, or overall effect on an audience. For $10, there’s no reason to not buy this. Highly recommended.

-Available for $10 from Lybrary.com

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Magic eBook Review: Enigmaths 1-6 by Werner Miller

Wednesday, September 14th, 2011

Math Magic from Werner MillerMany cardmen immediately disregard mathematical based tricks, classifying them as “boring” or “too complicated.” As a overarching rule, these characterizations of mathematical magic are untrue (although we have all witnessed our fair share of dull card tricks). Anyone who has seen Steve Beam perform or has read his popular Semi-Automatic Card Tricks series can attest to the strength of math-based material when performed by a capable magician.

As with tricks made possible through sleight-of-hand, effects based on mathematics must be careflly crafted and honed to the point where a lay audience will be entertained by them. After all, that’s the result we’re after. How we get there, of course, should be invisible to the audience anyway, right? So, it’s up to each individual to look at ALL of the tool’s in his toolbox and decide which ones should be used to accomplish this end goal.

I say all this as an introduction to this review, because it’s important that you understand that I’m not automatically opposed to mathematical material. In fact, I’m highly interested in it. I taught high school math for three years and have even developed a show for students that uses exclusively mathematical material. So, when I heard about Werner Miller’s series of Enigmaths eBooks, I was actually excited to dive into them.

Unfortunately, I was left feeling underwhelmed. An overall description of the effects in these books might be this: if you take a certain number of cards, apply a specific shuffle to them, deal them into a certain number of piles, and spell a specific set of words, the chosen card will appear. There are many variations of this theme. That isn’t to say that all of the tricks are bad, but this is a collection of MANY such items. Even if you enjoy this type of thing, you’ll probably just want one or two versions in your repertoire.

The audience of magician’s who are interested in these types of tricks is small. The audience of laymen who are willing to SIT THROUGH these types of tricks is even smaller. On a positive note, the tricks are all very simple to execute. There is really no sleight of hand involved. Besides dealing the cards, knowing how to perform a few simple shuffles (Klondyke, Reverse Faro, Monge, etc) is all that’s required. Also, there were certainly some interesting and clever tricks described. I just don’t think I found any that I wanted to add to my performing arsenal.

In Peter Duffie’s review of Werner’s eBooks in MAGIC Magazine, he mentioned “I love playing with mathematical principles, even if the end result is a monstrosity.” If this describes your magical interests, then you may well be pleased with the material contained in these pages. For most of us, however, I recommend you spend your money elsewhere.

- Available for $15 each from Lybrary.com

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Magic eBook Review: Subliminal Squares by Dr. Bill Cushman

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

Dr. Bill's Magic Square eBookWith so many magic square routines in existence, sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish what one routine different from another. In the case of Dr. Bill’s Subliminal Squares, the difference is simple: instead of the square being influenced by a chosen number, the chosen number is influenced by the square. That may sound complicated at first, but the effect on the audience is quite simple.

The magician talks about the history of submilinal messenges, giving examples about how movie theaters used to splice the words “eat” or “drink” into movies to increase concession stand sales. He offers to attempt an experiment to prove how easily the mind can by influenced by such messages. He flashes an already completed magic square to a participant and asks him to call out a number between 20 and 100.

The performer shows the magic square to the audience once more, revealing that although the numbers look random, every column and row add up to the chosen number. The diagonals are also shown to sum to the target number. Even the four corners add up correctly. In all 24 combinations of the chosen number are shown to the audience, proving the power of the human mind and subliminal messenges.

There are many methods detailed in the eBook, each with its own share of trade-offs. Some work better for close-up while others are more suited for stage work. The techniques involved are standard magic and mentalism fare (that’s not a bad thing). Experienced performers will be able to adapt to the mechanics of the routine easily. If you’re interested in the effect, I’m sure you’ll find something to fit your performing situation.

Seven other performers (ok, really six- one contributor’s seems like sort of an inside joke) also contribute handling tips and additional routines. Rich Hennessey’s is probably the most interesting, so I’ll describe it here. The magician removes a picture of a blank drive-in movie screen and shows it briefly to a participant. He explains how movie theaters used to flash submliminal messenges to movie-goers in an effort increase concession sales.

The picture is replaced in an envelope, and the spectator is asked to close their eyes and imagine buying a snack at the drive in. He is also asked to imagine parking his car in a numbered space from 1 to 100. The picture is removed and held up to a light. The name of the spectator’s chosen snack appears on the movie screen. The spectator announces the parking space number. It is revealed to be written on the back of the envelope.

Overall, I found the eBook to be very informative. Then again, I’m a total math geek and am interested in magic square work. There are a lot of different approaches to the presentation of a magic square that were new to me. Most of these focus more on the mind power of the audience rather than the mental prowess of the performer as is usually the case. This was a welcome change.

Really the only negative I have to comment on is the price tag. The eBook is fairly lengthy at 63 pages and magic square template pages for business cards, index cards, projector sheets, and PowerPoint Presentations are included. That being said, $50 is a rather hefty price for those who are simply curious. On the other hand, if you’re looking to add a magic square routine into your show, you will find some fine presentational ideas here.

- Available for $50 from Lybrary.com

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AmmarFacts.com

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

You’re probably familiar with the popular series of Chuck Norris facts that have invaded our popular culture over the last few years. Here are a few of my favorites:

- Chuck Norris’s tears can cure cancer… too bad he never cries.

- Chuck Norris can divide by zero.

- There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard. There is only another fist.

- How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris? All of it.

- Once, a cop pulled over Chuck Norris… the cop was lucky to leave with a warning.

- Chuck Norris grew a beard at the age of 18… seconds.

- Chuck Norris is a man of few words. Chuck Norris is not a man of few roundhouse kicks to the face.

magician Michael AmmarThe popularity of these types of “facts” have led to ones based on other celebrites. A friend of mine has compiled a bunch of these types of jokes about magic legend Michael Ammar. Check out a few of my favorites. Then, visit  AmmarFacts.com for more. 

- Michael Ammar can do Mac King’s fork in the eye trick… without the creamer.

- Michael Ammar can perform the hot rod without spelling. Ever.

- Michael Ammar will one day cure all known diseases as a kicker to a coins across routine.

- Ammar doesn’t need to do a complete coin vanish. No one would dare say, “Show me your other hand.”

- At a young age, Michael Ammar actually witnessed four robbers enter a building in four separate locations and appear all together on the roof.

What’s great is that Michael is in on the joke as well. What a great sport. Check out this video.

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