TIll:TI~APDOOI~

••••••WRITTEN AND EDITED BY STEVE BEAM 1 COPYRIGHT 1983 BY STEVEN L. BEAM

••••

BASIC nNE. Hold the card (as infigure 2) around waist (also knOW'n as"waste") level with the "up" side shOW'ingto the audience. The "up" side is rightside up. The right hand nOW' pivots thecard t.:¥ turning the wrist counterclockwise.At the end of the turn, "B" and "c" willhave switched places while "D" and" A" willremain in che same posrttons. See figurestwo and three. Repeat this turn severaltimes at a brisk pace. To the onlookers itwill appear that you are merely turning thecard over. HOW'ever, this turn allOW's youto shOW' both words right side up. Whereas,if they were to knos the truth, roe word isright side up and the other is sideways•

mE REVERSE KNE. NcM you t re going totry the same move with your left hand doing Ithe turning instead of your right. Start Iwith the "up" side tOW'ard the audience. JNcM make the move, rotating your left wristin a clockwise direction. The "A" and "D"

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STEVE BEAMThis is an itan which can be done

close-up, on stage, preset, or impromptu.It t s based on Bev Bergeron t s handling oflttilbourne Christopher's Traffic Sign. Ineffect, the magician shoes a plaque withthe word "up" on one side and "down" on theother. To confusing and amusing patter,the words jump in all directions.

'ID "fAKE. This can be made up inadvance t.:¥ your printer/artist or can bedone while your audience looks on.HOW'ever, for the sake of example, we'll sayit t S made up in advance.

Start with the plaque on the table infront of you. This can be a square pieceof white PJster board. Take a magic markerand write the word "up" on the plaque. NcMturn the plaque over t.:¥ pivoting itdiagonally on its 1000er right and upperleft corners. NcM write the word "down" onthis side. If you turn it nOW' so thatyou t re looking at the "up" side and if youhad x-ray vision, the end result is sheenin figure one.

A , .. 41 '\ B:: H.U~4 (:::-::::-; ?: III •••• I

"":':g:::"':U·'"...' .. ....- .. .. ....... ....

............ ")~.... . .. , ".,..- "

c ; D

1

upB

D

B D UMOpA

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6

c

D

B

3A

upc

A

corners switch places while the ''B'' and "C"corners remain in the same relativepoaitions. This is the exact reverse ofwhat happened with the basic move. If youstart with the "up" side right side up andfacing the audience, at the conclusion ofthe reverse move the "down" word is upsidedown. Repeating the turn several tineswill show the "up" side up and the "down"side upside down. See figures 3A and 4.

CLOCKWISE _.1U.BN.... The clockwise turn~. eeps the same face to'tlard the audienceand just turns the face of card as a clockwould turn. See figure five.

CWNI'ER CLOCKWISE 'lUBN- This is thesame as the clockwise turn, only in theopposite direction. See figure 6.

'IDP '1URN=RIGHT BAND. Start with the"down" side sideways with the "D" at thetop and the "N" at the bocton, The righthand takes the top edge of the card withthe thumb on the down side and the fingerson the up side. 'IUrn the card over keepingthe top at the top and the bottOOl at thebottxm, This will sho'tl the "up" side rightside up. see figures seven and eight_

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'!hese turns can give you almostendless combinations, including the onesnecessary to perform the following routine.

ROUTINE. Now that you know thevarious moves, I'm going to give you theroutine. The introductory lines should becustcm tailored to the group for whichyou're performing. As an example, I'llgive you the lines I use in front of magicgroups.

"Magic has a lot of ups and downs.It's very i.mIx>rtant not to confuse the two.In order to help you understand than, Ihave spared all expense to bring you adetailed graph of the ups and downs." Atthis, pick up the card and hold it with theII up" side showing as in figure two.

"Here we have the "up" side of magic.A good example of one of the ups wouldbe••••When you're a kid starting out andyou save up all your money for two years tobuy a complete set of Tarbells-all sevenvolumes. That's one of the ups. Anotherexample would be••• 011•••when saneone callsyou on the phone and asks,' How much do youcharge for a show?' You tell him $200 andhe says, 'Great! That's exactly what wehad budgeted.' That's another one of theups."

"Finally, another up would be whenyou receive a standing ovation. You'llprobably see one of those in just a fewminutes."

Turn the card over so that the "down"side shows using The Basic Move with theright hand. "On the other side of the cardwe have the down side of magic. An exampleof the down side would be when someonecalls you on the phone and asks you howmuch you charge for a show. You say $200.He says 'That's great, we had $1000budgeted. We'll save $800.'

. Another down side would be when youfmd out that Dover is putting out theentire Tarbell COurse in paperback for$1.98.

'!HE RrnTINE. Now we come to the meatof the routine. Don't try it without acard if you value your sanity. '!he patteris presented first followed by theaccompanying actions in parentheses.

"As I said, it's very i.mIx>rtant not toconfuse the ups and downs. You'll noticethat both the "up" side and "down" side areright side up. (Execute the Basic Moveseveral times ending with the "down" sidefacing the aUdience.)

"However, if I take the "downtI sideand turn it upside down" (Do so using theClockwise Turn), "yOU'll notice that the"up" side ranains right side up." (ExecutetJ:1e Reverse ~ve se;reral times showing bothS1deS and endi.nq W1th the "up" side facingthe audience.) "That Is because we havenItturned the "up" side upside down."

"However, if we turn the r ight-side-up"up" side upside down, you III notice thatboth the "up" side and the "down" side arenow upside down. (Use the Clockwise lOOve toturn the "up" side upside down. Then usethe Basic Move (right hand) to show bothsides upside down. Stop with the "down"facing the audience.)

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D

upc

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"Now if we take the upside down "down"side and turn it right side up" (Use theclockwise turn to do so) and take theupside down "up" side and turn it rightside up, you'll see that both the "up" sideand the "down" side are now right side up."CAs soon as you show the "down" side rightside up, use the Reverse Move-left hand toturn the card over showing the upside down"up" side. 'Iben use the Clockwise Turn toturn the "up" right side up. Finally, usethe Basic Move-right hand to show bothsides right side up. End with the "down"side showing to the audience.)

SEXIJiID PHASE. "Now I'll turn theright side up "down" side sideways (usingthe Clockwise Turn to turn the card onequarter turn so that the "0" is at the topand the "N" is at the bottom) and turn theright side up "up" side sideways, you'llnotice that both the "up" side and the"down" side are now sideways. (use theTop Turn to show the "up" side right sideup. 'Ihen turn the "up"side sideways usingthe Counterclockwise Move. Now show thatboth sides are sideways using the BasicMove several tiDES, ending with the downside toward the audience.)

"Now, if I give it a shake you'llnotice that the "up" side turns right sideup. (Give the card a quick shake followedby the Top Turn showing the "up" side rightup.) If I give it another shake, you'llnotice the down side magically turns rightside up. (Give the card another quickshake followed by the Basic Move. 'Ibisshows the "up" side right side up.eattiooe executing the Basic Move a fewIOOre tiDEs.) "Now both the "up" side andthe "down" side are right side up."

"Ranenber, it's i.nq;x>rtant not to getthe two confused. Now, before you choosesides and ask me to put this.dawn (Show"down" side), I'm going to put it ~ (Show"up" side with the Basic Move).

HINDSm~1 ~1 No wonder this is aquarterly. It seems like it took threemonths to describe this one trick. But-Ifeel it was worth it.

'Ibis is' one of the best p:>ssib1etricks for a trade show. I have severalvariations of it, but this is one of myfavori tea, For a trade show you can usethe opening to give the ups and downs of~ (Farm Machinery), driving(Chevy's) , or Housework (appliances oraluminum foil). You're only limited by

~ your own imagination.

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Finally. you can add a new side to""'1this (sorry 1> by talking about the ins andouts of your topic. 'Iben turn the cardinside out. It, of course, is actually twocards hinged together on one side. Just becareful not to make the routine too long ortoo fast. As it is, it's short and sweet.

STYLE

'Ibis column will be used to add styleto what you perform and the way in whichyou perform it. It may consist of anidea, a theory, a detail. or a method.

'Ibis article's tip is going to be on away to practice. It's one I developed whenI first started practicing magic. Ithelped me to learn tricks quickly laterwhen I worked at a magic shop. 'Ibis is .tb.estrongest piece of advice I can give whenit comes to practice.

This "secret" is to practice yourroutines quickly. As soon as you learn aroutine from a book and are sure youunderstand what the author had in mind,speed the routine up to a lightning pace.'Ibis serves three basic purposes, First,it gives me something to write about.Second, it helps you to learn the routine.

You want the mechanics to become secondnature to you. If you continue to practiceat the regular pace, you will continue tohave to think about each move before andduring the move. This means that during aperformance part of your Randall AccessMemory will be concentrating on executingthe moves. 'Ibis takes away from the amountof concentration you can spend onpresentation and ad 1ibbing.

If you run through the trick quickly.you force your hands to "learn" it. 'IbeyA

will autanatically go to each successiveJX)sition without you having to consciouslypIacethan there. This same result caneventually be achieved through numerousperformances, but this method is muchfaster. It also helps you to retain thetrick in your manory longer since youactually learn the trick better in ashorter SPan of time.

The third benefit of this method ofpractice is that it allows you to locaterough spots in a particular trick. These"slow" spots are areas where you III beforced to slow down the pace to allow youto accanplish a part of the routine. ThisS!X)t my or may not be a sleight or a move.say, for example, that you are runningthrough a routine rapidly and notice thatyou have to pause for two seconds toexecute a move or to get into poai.t.i.on toexecute a move. You can be sure that thistwo second pause will expand several timeswhen you slow the routine down-unless itis eliminated. Use this in all your tricksas you learn than. Then, use this in thepractice for the complete show. This willhelp you to speed up the transitionsbetween the tricks as well as help you tolocate potential problem areas.

Lest you think that this method isproblan free, let me alert you to its onlydrawback. You need to be sure to slow theraxile back down when actuallyperforming. At first this will be aconscious effort, rot soon it will becomea habit•

• • • • •To be Continued.

THE MAEB-Y COUNT(Pronounced "Maybe")

STEVE BEAM

This is a version of the Elmsley CountI came up with in the mid-seventies. Itwas first p.lblished in Magic. The VanishingArt or« Hqd To Turn A Trick For Fun andProfit. I am reprinting it here forseveral reasons-not the least of which isthat it eats up half of a page. However,in addition to spreading myself thin, Iwant to be able to refer to it in futureissues without having to explain it indetail. Finally, I use this and feel itsuits far better than the Elmsley Count inthe routine "Back to Aces" in this issue.

I wonlt spend a lot of timeelaborating on the benefits of this countover the Elmsley-I .want to save someconversation for when we meet in person.This way, weIII have something to lookforward to.

WeIll say you Ire using four cards andwant to count them as four, while hidingthe third card fran the top. The hands areheld almost in poaitdon for the HammanCount. That is, the right hand holds theface down packet fran above at the shortends, The thumb is at the near end, whilethe seond finger is at the far end. Theforefinger is curled on top.

Make sure that the right second fingercovers the front edge of the cards. Thecards are held more from the side than inthe Hamman Count. The right third finger(and this is imp:>rtant), rests along thefront edge of the face of the cards, Thisfinger can tnckle the bottan card towardthe right thumb. This is the key move ofthe count.

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There once was a magician named SteveWho had a peculiar pet peeve.That when his fellow hustler

would perform a boring puzzlerSteve would stick his finger down his

throat and heave.

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STEVE BEAM

As you can see by the illustration,this is a real jewel. This alone is worththe price of my personal subscription tothis magazine.

To start the count , the face up lefthand approaches the right hand packet. Theleft thumb is laid on top of the top cardof the packet. The left fingers gounderneath the packet. The left thumbdrags the top card into the left hand. Assoon as the card is free of the packet, theright third finger buckles the bottan card.The left hand again approaches the righthand. The card in the left hand is left onthe face (bottan) of the packer, as thecards above the break (which was created bythe buckLe) are taken into the left hand.The right hand holds the two cards on theface of the packet; back, as the left handtakes the top two cards. Both hands eachhold two cards now. The left hand nowpulls the two cards from the right hand oneat' a titre. You have now counted four cardsas four cards, while hiding the third.

This is an impromptu all backs routinewith a humorous patter story. A lot ofmagicians will be glad to see this finallyhit print. I have received severalrequests for this routine over the last fewyears at conventions. It is easy to do andfun. I only have one suggestion. I'mgoing to describe this using the ElmsleyCount. Do yourself a favor-learn theMaeb-y Count. It flows much smoother inthis routine. However, you only do thecount once, so suit yourself.

In effect, you show four cards whichhave backs on both sides. Ole at a titreeach one changes into an ace.

SET UP Start with the four aces andan indifferent card arranged from top downas follows. Face down ace, face downindifferent card, face down ace, face upace, and face up ace. Make sure you have 3cards face down on top of 2 which are faceup. The deck should be face down on thetable.

OPENOO REMARKS "Has anyone here everbeen to a playing card oompany-a placethat manufactures playing cards? No?Good! Then you'll believe what I'm aboutto tell you. I took a tour of one and Ifound out a lot of things that reallysurprised me. For example, you would thinkthat when they get the cards in thefactory, they would have backs on one sideand be blank on the other. Then, all theywould have to do is to stamp a four, a ten,a jack, king, or whatever on the blankface.

"But actually what happens is this.When they get the cards in, they have backson both sides. Then they have a guy therewhose full titre job is to erase one of thebacks. That's all he does all day long.He just sits there with a big eraser goingat it. When he gets finished with it, it'sblank on one side and they stamp a face onit. I've often wondered why they don'teliminate this middle step, rot I guessthey know what they're doing."

"Arrjway, I managed to get some of thecards before he erased them and I broughtthem along with me tonight. As you can seethey have backs on both sides. "

WE mRK Hold the packet at the shortends from above between the right thumb andthird finger. Use the left thumb to PUllthe top card over into the palm up lefthand. See figure 1. Now rotate the right

ACESTOBACK

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hand clockwise at the wrist to turn thepacket; over end for end. N<M pull theright hand's new tq> card over onto thefirst card in the left hand. Keep itfanned slightly to the right. Thisposition is shown in figure 2.

AAA

Ix A

Do not flash the bottan card of the packet, \When the palm up left hand meets the righthand packet., the left thumb drags the tq>card of the packet. into the left hand. Nowraise the right hand packet to flash thebottan card. N<M lower the right handp:i7ke~, back to starting position. Repeatthl.s take and flash" 2 more times for atotal of 3 times. After flashing bothsides of the final card (s) place it (them)underneath the other 3 cards in the lefthand. Square the packet.,

The pat.ter that I use with the above"count" is: "If you could see the faces,you would see that they are allaces •••• See?"

DISPLAY 3. The cards are now heldface down in the left hand. Thumb the topcard over into the right hand between theright thumb and first two fingers. Takethe next card underneath this one, fannedto the left. Now take the third cardunderneath the first two, also fanned.This sequence is executed quickly.smoothly, and without pause, Withoutmissing a beat the left thumb takes backthe third card on tq> of the left handcards. You now have 2 hands with(apparent.Iy) 2 cards held fanned in each.Actually, you have 3 cards in the left handheld as two.

As the above spread is done you tellthem, "It doesn't matter which way you turnthan, face up or face down." Now squarethe left hand cards and flip them over withthe one hand. N<M place the right handcards on tq> of the left hand cards. "Nomatter which way you turn them, they arealways face down."

STlillJS REPORI'. You have now seteverything up for what follows and youhave convinced them that there are backson both sides of the cards. Finish thethird display with "So we'll turn thanface up" as you turn the cards over endfor end.

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Rotate your right hand counterclockwise end for end until it's at thestarting position again. Pull the new tq>card onto the two in the left hand, againslightly fanned. Finally rotate the righthand clockwise, again end for end, turningthe right hand palm up. Take the righthand's ranaining 2 cards as one (fanned)onto the left hand cards. You haveapparent.ly just shown backs on both sidesoff all the cards. This is a very strongdisplay. The left hand is now holding 5cards fanned in the left hand as four.

Now take the top 2 cards as onebetween the right thumb on the bottan(face) and the right first and secondfingers on the tq> of the double card.Turn this double card over end for end andplace it beneath the other three cardswhich are then squared.

DISPLAY 2. The next sequence is theOlran subtlety done quickly. Regrasp thepacket; with the right hand between theright thumb at the inner short end and theright fingertips at the outside short end.

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FIRST ACE. Do an Elmsley (or l-1aeb-y)Count upjogging the third card, a face upace. Pivot this card out and place it faceup on the table.

SE<:nID ACE. Turn the packet over endfor end and replace it in the left hand indealing position. Now turn the left handpalm down and execute the Vernon Push'lt1rough Flourish. In this the left thumbpushes the packet out the heel side of theleft fist.

Now hold the packet in position forthe Elrnsley (or Maeb-y) Count. count thefirst card into the right hand. Now pushthe next two cards, as one over onto thefirst card. Now. place the face up aceremaining in the left hand onto the other 3face down cards. Place this ace onto thetabled ace.

STA'IDS REroRl': You now hold a packetin the left hand that looks like theillustration.

X AA

THIRD ACE. Hold the packet in the lefthand in dealing position. Use the leftthumb to push the tq> two cards over to theright as one (rnul tiple posh) , Grasp thetwo cards with the right thumb underneathand the right fingers on tq> of the twocards. Turn the double card over and thenplace it underneath the left hand card.Square the packet.

Now grasp the packet in the palm downright hand with the right thumb underneathand the right fingers above. Turn theright hand palm up by turning the righthand clockwise at the wrist. Now regraspthe packet deep in the palm down left hand

tthumb crotch and turn the hand palm up(thereby turning the packet over).

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Take the packet from above between theright thumb at the near short end and rightfingers at the far short end. Use the leftthumb to pul.I the tq> card into the palm upleft hand. Lift the right hand up to showboth sides of the double card. Now placethe double card on tq> of the left handcard.

Now twist or pop the cards for effect.Grasp the packet again from above in theright hand as before. Use the left thumbto plll the tq> card into the left handrevealing a face up ace in the right hand.Place this double card in the right hand~r~y onto the tabled cards.

FaJRI'H ACE. Place the remaining facedown card onto the tips of the leftfingers. Now. as you turn your hand palmdown, close your left fingers. 'lt1e cardremains face down. Now push the cardthrough your hand and out the other sidewith the left thumb (Vernon Push ThroughFlourish) •

When the card emerges, remove it withthe right hand. Now repeat thispush-through a second time. For the thirdtime, don't place the card on thefingertips. Place the card at the base ofthe left fingers. Turn the palm down andexecute the Push-Through. This tine thecard emerges face up. Place this card faceup onto the tabled cards. (Note: For anal ternate handling of the last card see"carlyle's card" in the ll-19-43 Phoenix#48).

If you want to clean up, pick up the 5tabled cards. Execute the Ascanio Spread,hiding the face down card. Now pulloutthe double card and drop it onto the facedown deck. Follow this with the other 3cards one at a time. You now have 4 faceup aces on tq> of the face down deck.

HINPSIGlfI'. On occasions when I'vedone this a second time for magicians (ona separate occasion) I palm a small eraserin ~ right palm throughout the routine.At the conclusion of the effect, I ask,"You know how I did it, don't you?" Waitfor a gnmt, then "I do it the same Wcrj thecard company does it, with an eraser." Atthis I produce the eraser using one of theSlydini Coin moves. If you can steal aloa.d, you can produce 6 or 8 pencil-tq>erasers and really have a "smash-climax".

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CARD PROBLEMS

For the more mentally agile, I have takenthe liberty of including a few cardproblans in this issue.

1. If you already have 2 cards, andsomeone gives you 3 cards, how nany cardsdo you have?

2. If you have 5 cards (see lastprobl.em) and you lose 4 cards, how nanycards do you have left?

3. If you have one card and you tearit in half, how nany cards do you have?

The first correct answer postmarked beforeJanuary 13, 1927 will receive a brand new,p:irtially used mouth coil. Lock &:. Key

JSTEVE BEAM

There's a new salt and pepper magic duotouring South Africa that's causing quite astir. They continue to make the headlineson a regular basis with their illusionshow. '!'hey call themselves "Siegfried andBay".

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'Ibis is something for which you'llfind a lot of uses. It will be especiallyhelpful in spicing up mental predictionswith humor. Specifically, you can use itin conjunction with "MA'lH" in this issue or"REWARD" which will be in an upcomingissue.

Next time you display a prediction atthe beginning of a trick and then place itout of the way until later, try this.Place the envelope somewhere in full viewof the audience. "Just to be sure thatit's safe, we'll put it under lock andkey. " At this, reach into your pocket andproduce a padl.ock with the key hanging fromthe shank. Place this on the envelopewithout saying anything. '!'hen proceed asif you haven't done anything unusual.

Be sure that the lock you use is largeenough to be recognized by all in theaudience. Also, you want to make sure thatthe envelope can be seen at all timesunless you want to use this as I have inconjunction with a switch. If so, as yourleft hand goes to the pocket for the lock,the right hand goes to the lap and makesthe exchange.

LEFTOVERS

David copperf ield continues to outdohimself and most others. His coneerctafswith Kodak have reached an all tirre highwith the addition of the cOII1ITercial for thenew Trimprint. The reason that theTrimprint is unique is what allows one ofthe better of the tricks to beaccomplished. Kudos to David and allothers involved.

HOOle Box Office has started a new 5minute spot; devoted to close-up magic.Dick cavett hosts this excellent serieswhich has so far featured the talents ofmagicians such as Daryl and Darwin Ortiz.(Those who don't know better are nowasking, "Who is Daryl Ortiz?") If you wantto continue to see these spots between themovies, it might be a good idea to writeHBO and let them know. No, it would not bea good idea to write the letter on the backof one of your ads.

I saw an old George Burns/Gracie Allenshow the other night that featured amagician named (Henry?) Mendoza. It showedGracie Allen as a substitute magician'sassistant and it was one of the funniestcomedy magic acts I have ever seen.

Harry Blackstone, Jr. has been onLarry King's late night talk show severaltimes lately. '!he last tirre he said thatmagic is usually taken up by peopl.e withabove average intelligence. While I wouldlike to think that Harry's statanent isaccurate, he has probably never beenreferred to the Game or Kiddie section ofthe book store for the magic books.

As I write this, it's October 31,1983. This is Halloween., It's alsosupposed to be National Magic Day. I say"supposed to be" because this morning Iwent around the office and conducted asurvey. I asked everyone if they knew what

Important; day this way. You may notbelieve this, rot not one of them said thiswas National Magic Day. Fourteen peopl.esaid it was Halloween, and one said it wasPAYDAY- the most "important." day of all!

I would like to know who suggestedthat we should celebrate our day on thesame day we celebrate ~ople dressing up asidiots. As I see it, we have two choices.We can either change the date for NationalMagic Day•••••Or we can ask all the idiotsto change the date for Halloween. Sincethey already have the calendars printed fornext year which have Halloween on OCtober31, may I suggest we do the honor able thingand change our date so that it doesn'tconflict with arrj holidays or paydays.After all, magicians can easily get showsfrom October through the first of January.Why not use the day to promote magic duringthe slow season. Eliminating the OCtober31 through January 2 season, I am takingthe liberty of suggesting one of thefollowing dates be made National Magic Day.

July 4October 12February 14

First Monday in Septanber3rd Sunday in JuneLast Monday in May

I have checked 11¥ calendar to makesure that these dates don't conflict withany of 11¥ paydays. Also, we can make theholiday fall on the Monday closest to oneof the dates above so that we can get afree three day weekend out of it. An:! ofthese dates are Okay with me. Which one doyou want? This will be our first TRAPI:XX)R

poll. I'm all aglow awaiting yourresponses,

I

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.--_.....~~~~--

MOUTH COIL REWINDER

$2,850

25 YEARS AGO IN THE TRAPDOOR

BY DAWN BEAM

(CONTINUED NEXT COLUMN)

11.- _

11

IN THE NEXT ISSUE

THE BIOGRAPHICAL m -A smartopening routine with a rope which can beused alone or to introduce your (soon tobe second) favorite rope routine.

'.WE 5 KItNS CARD 'IRICK -The onlyfunny way to produce cards. I'm chucklingalready!

PBACrrCE MIRRORS -How to make lowcost tri-fold practice mirrors for under$3.50.

STEAK HOUSE MAGIC -A complete"quickie" routine with a bottle of steaksauce. Comes complete with guaranteedhilariously "saucy" patter.

IXE nmRIS' IMPROOU 'lW(}-FACED -ore ofthose any-timers with one coin.

WAYNE KYZER'S "CAU3HT" -A "Handy" andhumorous bit by the great Kyzini,

AND MUO:I WEE!!!

rCUT AND RESTORED

BELTSTEVE BEAM

For years I wanted to perform the Cutand Restored Tie. I thought the ultinatein humor would be the look in thespectator Is eye as he tried to refrain fromkilling me and even tried to laugh about itsince he was in front of everyone. I couldhave so much fun with that trick rot I Ivenever found a version I could use without astooge or without having a stack ofdifferent colored materials available. ArX3somehow, cutting nw own tie didn It seannearly as funny as doing it to someoneelse.

While still in college, I was asked toperform for one of those weight-lossgroups. That Is when I came up with thenext best thing-the cut and restored belt.After all. there are only so many differentkinds of belts-natching shouldn ' t be anyproblan. In a group of 5 adult men, youcan be sure that at least 3 of them arewearing a belt that is black, brown orwhite leather. ArX3 the sizes ranged from1/2 to 1 inch. The really nice thing aboutit is that you use tape to form thegimmick-not leather. For example, for ablack gimmick, take some electrical tapeand fold it onto itself so that it willpass for a 4 inch section of a belt at adistance of 10 feet. Make a 4 inch X 1inch, a 4 inch X 3/4 inch, and a 4 inch X1/2 inch gimmick. These 3 gimmicks willcover you for almost all black belts. Youcan make up a hundred gimmicks while you Ireat it in just a half hour.

The method used for cutting the beltis to add this gimmicks Loop of tape ontothe middle of a borrowed belt. Then, cutthe lo<:p at its peak as you talk. Finallytrim away the ranairrler of the gimmick tomatch the p:1tter story. The uncut middleof the belt ranains unseen in your fist.This is familiar to any of you who performthe cut and restored rope trick.

F!lJTINE. "For my next effect I needto bor row a gentlemanIs belt. Thank yousir. You'll get it back or my name isn'tHarry Blackstone. 1I

Ladies and Gentlanen. How many of youhave ever been on a diet?" Wait forapplause or hands to go up. IIThatIs what Ithought. Almost everyone. Now they even

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have weight-loss centers to help you takeoff pounds. one of the more popular waysto make you lose weight is to make you wearsmaller clothes. This keeps your mird onlosing weight at all times." During theabove pat.ter you should get the belt andthe gimmick into the position shown in thepicture.

"For example, they would probably cut,00...about 2 or 3 inches from your belt asI am doing." Rananber, you are supposed tobe cutting through leather-so make it lookconvincing. This is where the laughterstarts so don' t say anything. Just standthere meticulously cutting away at his belt(the gimmick).

When the laughter starts to die downlook at the spectator. "See how easy it isto lose weight? •••• I can tell youlrealready losing weight---your pants arefalling off of you!" Pause for a fewseconds. "You look like you could use agood stiff belt!" Pause a few secorrls."You don It appear to see the humor in this.Take my word for it. This will be ~funnier in the morning. 1I

When the laughter starts to die down,"Wait a minute! I just thought ofsomething. I think I was supposed to cut 2inches from the .end of the belt, rot fromthe middle ."

Now bring each of the ends up and tuckthan into the left fist so that it lookslike 2 Ioeps, IIHow do you feel about acouple of dog collars? No?... How do youfeel about revenge? Well. how do yOlJfeel about getting your belt back before I

•

get 'belted'?" At this, slap your righthand down onto your left fist and releasethe middle of the belt-not the ends. Walkforward and hand him back the belt afterstretching it between your hands to displayit.

Finally, look at the audience and ask,"And how do you folks feel about him beingsuch a 9000 s};Ort?", as you lead theapplause. (This last statement willprobably keep him from breaking your face.)

:R:EGUIJlITATIQNS. I oormally locate agentlanan ·before the show and ask him(privately) to let me borrow his beltduring the show. Otherwise you might notbe able to convince someone during a show.Also, this allows you to get a perfectmatch prior to the show-instead of during.

You can, if you wish, locate yourvolunteer, then take one of your rolls oftape and make the gimick right then.

'Ibis routine can be done anytime withjust a manent I s notice. It IS angleproofand can therefore be done surrounded. Ifyour gimicks are go<X1, it can be doneclose-up as well as on stage. It hasaudience pa.rticipa.tion and it I S fmny. So,why don I t you rockle down and learn it?

13

.a.&•••

I received the following letter fromWayne Kyzer of Columbia, S.c. Wayne is oneof liThe Group" in Columbia. This could beCJ<?Od or bad, depending on your point ofv~ew. It seans he found the followingarticle dated Jme 1, 1947 in the 46lstedition of the Chirping Dove-written ~

Doug Thurston edited by FeldoHenning-Proofed ~ Leroy Blackstone. Talkabout your in-depth research.

Talight I am proud to present to yousane background on A GREAT MAGICU\N FAMILY.All of us have our favorite magicians.sane peopl.e like Doug Henning, some likeHarry Blackstone, Cop~rfield and stillothers like the GREAT KYZINI. My favoriteis the Plooster family. First there wasPlunglad Plooster. The brother ofPlunglad was Enos. PIunglad I s wife wasnamed Agnine. They had one son who wasAldeen McFeeb Plooster. Enos, Plmglad'sbrother was the first to perform the cutand restore rope trick on radio. Can youimagine the pressure he felt. Thelistening audience was estimated at 47million ~ople. This was in 1939 whenpeopl.e sat around the radio with greatintensity. Plunglad Plooster died a tragicdeath. On Friday the 37th of July before87 adults and 17 children in Madison SquareGarden he choked to death on a mouth coil.Enos, Plunglad ' s brother tried to unhangthe coil from Plunglad ' s throat with hisap~aring cane rot to no AVAll.. Agnine,Plunglad ' s wife and his son, Aldeen McFeeb,watched in hor ror, They showed no anotionsand with bravery and dignity hel~d toclose Plmglad' s show. With tears in hiseyes young Aldeen McFeeb produced 2 yellowand red doves from his mouth. Agnine,PIunglad I s wife, di.sappeared into thefamous ZJ.V:3-ZN:,. This illusion was inventedby Plunglad. As the curtain closed, gaspswere heard from the audience. As EnosPlooster stood on stage to do his famousFRAG-!-JEN-TA-TIONAL which was to be the lastact, blood was seen trickling from hisneck. It was later learned that he hadfallen on his Needle Thru the Balloon inhis haste to help Plunglad when he was

choking. He died a week later. Agnineretired from show biz and died ofSl'ARVATION. Young Aldeen McFeeb Ploosterwent on to discover and invent manyillusions to help the Magic World. To namejust a few you will be familiar with-WEBRIO< THRU THE BUBBLE--DEAD MANSBIN;o--PICK A CARD IF YOO DARE-and A SLIPOR 'IWO WILL 00. His most treasured was theGO OR BIal ILLUSION where he would get inan old trunk and lie on 5 sticks ofdynamite. Aldeen McFeeb Plooster reverperfected this because of a freak accident.One of his assistants failed to follCM hisinstructions and lit the dynamite. What away to close a shew,

'\please clear your mind. NCM think of anyfive digit nwnber. NCM, divide your nUITt>erby 46. Multiply the result by 723, and addthis to the cube root of 87. "

While the above is being said, themagician hands the prediction envelope toanother spectator with the request that heopen it. "NCM, Sir, what was your finalanswer?" At this point the juniormathematician stutters and stammers andsays that he couldn't do the calculations.The magician then asks the person holdingthe prediction to read it out loud. Itsays, "I predict that a person willvolunteer to help me this evening who isnot as good at math as he thinks he is."The magician takes his bow.

'!he maqicaan displays an envelopewhich he says contains a prediction. "Formy next effect, I'll reed someone who isgood with math. You, Sir? Fine!" Theperformer takes the first volunteer ••pictured bel.ow for clarity. "To start,

STEVE BEAM

I

I

J

Did you hear about the maqrcaan whoused to perform the 1:ullet-catching trickevery night to close his show? It was abig success.

HCMever, the constant fear of injuryfinally forced him to tell his agent thathe quit. The agent looked at him andfrantically replied, ''But where am I goingto find another magician of your caliber?"

2 <o?o '\ 0· ~( )9

-•••

math<9 7

*

14

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--

pLEAse r\ONE.Lf. 'r, KNOW11"'S OUR HoNE},f mooN .... BUT.. ,.rUST WATCH- 01\1£ moRE. CARD TRICK.

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1'------_

TI-Il:TI~i\PDOOI~

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up

COPYRIGHT 1983 BY STEVEN L. BEAM

••••

BllSIC MJVE. Hold the card (as infigure 2) around waist (also known as"waste") level with the "up" side showingto the audience. The "up" side is rightside up. The right hand now pivots thecard ~ turning the wrist counterclockwise.At the end of the turn, "8" and "C" willhave switched places while "D" and" A" willremain in che same poait.Ions, see figurestwo and three. Repeat this turn severaltirres at a brisk pace. To the onlookers itwill appear that you are merely turning thecard over. However, this turn allows youto show both words right side up. Whereas,if they were to know the truth, me word isright side up and the other is sideways.

mE REVERSE KNE. Now you I re going totry the same move with your left hand doing Ithe turning instead of your right. Start II

with the "up" side toward the audience.Now make the move, rotating your left wrist )in a clockwise direction. The "A" and "D" /

1

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/.·:·:0:::>:

U·'"".' .. ..... .:..... ......

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STEVE BEAM

This is an item which can be doneclose-up, on stage, preset, or impromptu,It IS based on Bev Bergeron IS handling ofMilbourne Christopher IS Traffic Sign. Ineffect, the magician shows a plaque withthe word "up" on one side and "down" on theother. To confusing and amusing patter,the words jump in all directions.

'ID f.1l\KE. This can be made up inadvance ~ your printer/artist or can bedone while your audience looks on.However, for the sake of example, we'll sayit' 5 made up in advance.

Start with the plaque on the table infront of you. This can be a square pieceof white poster board. Take a magic markerand write the word "up" on the plaque. Nowturn the plaque over ~ pivoting itdiagonally on its lower right and upperleft corners. Now write the word "down" onthis side. If you turn it now so thatyou're looking at the "up" side and if youhad x-ray vision, the end result is shownin figure one.

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY STEVE BEAM

IL--_m

rrl-I°ErrI~APDOOI~

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY STEVE BEAM COPYRIGHT 1983 BY STEVEN L. BEAM

One way to get and hold a person'sattention is to talk with him about him.People love to talk about themselves andto hear their own name. (Reference: Arrjof the Dale carnegie books. ) Takingadvantage of this inherent vice I wanteda trick involving names. This is whatlead me to develop this trick using toylicense plates. These are the platesthat contain childrens' names that theyplace on their bicycles. Read thefollOlNing routine carefully. You onlyhave to set it up once. It has humor,it tacks flat, it doesn't use cards, andit is visible even in fair sizedauditoriums. Routines with thesequalities are all too rare.

Routine. The magician is performingin front of a group of people, most ofWhOO1 he has never met. He asks for avolunteer to WhOO1 he has never beenintroduced. This gentleman is asked tocome up on stage to witness a majormiracle. The magician displays a stackof nameplates which he proceeds to thumbthrough. "On these license plates, Ihave more than thirty five differentnames. Here is Harry, Tom, Tim,Steve•••• here's Ed•••• here's anotherEd.....Well I've always said 'Two ~d's

are better than one.' Here isGeorge ....Arnold... and Jerry. can youhear me Okay?" (He pauses for aresponse .) ''Well, maybe I had betterspeak into the 'Mike'. " <At this heholds up the nameplate with "Mike" onit.) "Even though I have never met thisvolunteer before, I am going to attempt

to devine his name. HOINever, I wouldask you sir to tum your back while Imake 1'1!{ 'prediction' so that you won'thave any influence on 1'1!{ choice." Aftera few rranents of concentrating themagician removes the nameplate with"George" on it. I believe that this isyour name. So I can't change 1'1!{ mind,I'm going to seal it in an envelope.Would you please tum and face theaudience. I want you to hold theprediction so that I am firmlycommitted. For the first time in thisentire show would you please state yourname, loudly and clearly. " Thespectator sings out, "My name is'William' !

The audience laughs because theyrealize that the magician has made amistake. The magician just stands therewith a surprised look on his face. "No.I mean your first name, Mr. Williams. II

The man informs him that 'William' ishis first name. ''Well, how about yourmiddle name. I didn't say which of yournames I would predict." The spectatorsays that his middle name is "Henry.""Well, have you ever thought of changingit?" The audience continues to laugh asthe magician continues to squi.rm, "HOINabout your father's name? •••• Yourbrother's name? •••Your sister's name?"In desperation, ''Well who was the fatherof our country?" By now everyone islaughing at the magician's predicament.''Would kindly open the envelope and showeveryone the name that your parentsshould have given you?" There should be

a few more laughs at this point since itappears that the magician has grabbed atthe only available straw. The spectatorreaches into the envelope which he hasheld all along and ranoves the nameplatewith..... "WILLIAM".... his name on it towhich the magician replies, "By George,I think he's got it!"

This routine is a lot of fun notonly to watch rot also to perform.Obviously, the method is very simplewhich means it's easy to vary itaccording to the conditions you normallyperform under. Obviously, you have toknow the spectator's name before theshow. I normally pay close attention towho is talking to who about whom. Nextto talking about themselves, people loveto talk about other people. Being alertpays a lot of dividends when performingthis routine. The only other thing toworry about is the switch. I use thesimplest ore that I could think of. Tobegin with, I coated all of thenameplates with tan mailing tape. Thissmoothes thei r back so that they willslide easily and without catching.Don't spare the pennies, roy firstquality tape. I have ''William'' (thevolunteer's name) loaded in the envelopeat the beginning. When I remove mytag from the stack, I also ranove theloaded envelope. I pretend to blow theopen end of the envelope open. <r 'vefound this works much better than tryingto blow the closed end open.) Becauseof the enclosed license plate, theenvelope remains closed. Then, Ipretend to place "George" into ~e

envelope, with the plate actually qoanqbehind the envelope. (That is, behindthe envelope, en the side awcry from theaudience••••• It's more effective thatway. )Then I take the envelope and tuckthe lower end into the outside breastpocket; of II!{ jacket. I leave aboutthree fourths of it protruding. Whenthis is done, the plate behind theenvelope slides all the wcry down intothe pocket; and out of sight. This iswhy I put the tape on i t--to keep itfrom getting caught. Immediately afterthis has taken place and as anafterthought, I ranove the envelope onlyand say that I would rather thespectator hold it.

This simple &witch works because~ there is apparently no advantage to

18

switching anything at this po int, Whywould I do anything "fishy" with theprediction while I still don't know theguy's real name. You can arrange a morecomplicated switch if you wish but thisone works for almost all occasions.

There is at least one otheropportunity for humor in this routine.If I know that the volunteer is going tohave a good sense of humor, I will tryto pick a bald one. Then, as I'mthumbing through the nameplates at thebeginning trying to decide which name to"predict," I hold up the plate with thename "Har ry "; I pause as ifconcentrating to allow the audience tosee the name. "No••• I don't think thisreally applies here. " You can usepersonalized stuff like this or you canchange some of the jokes at thebeginning to match your set of licenseplates. Finally. I like using thelicense plates because of their novelty.You can use regular nametags ornameplates if they are big enough to beseen by the audience. Rananber, if theydon't see the names, they won'tunderstand or appreciate the trick.

'1he Trap)oor is published at leastfour times a year. A subscripcfon tofour issues is $20.00 postpai.d in theU.S. and canada. Single issues are$6.00 while available. The Winter Extrais sent free to all subscribers. Eachissue contains material similar to thatin this issue.Contrirotions are welcome.

Send all cor respordence to:

'!he Trapdoor1058 Mar ilyn st.

Williston, S.C. 29853 USA

'1be Trapdoor is written, illus­trated, published, edited, andcopyrighted by Steve Beam. The viewsexpressed in this issue are notnecessarily the views of the ore whowrote them.

illustration. The fourth mirror isoptional rot it gives you a good view ofthe trick from above. It rests on thetop front corners of the two ootsidemirrors with the aid of a cut up hangerfor supporc, The whole set up can bemade to fold up completely flat where itcan be tucked into your brief case withplenty of roan to spare. You canprobably put together three complete setsin less than an hour.

Other peopl.e have started sellingthese in the last few years with a woodenfrane. These look nice rot aren't asportable as those made from tape. Also,the ones currently rrade don't have acovering over the back of the mirror. Ifyou buy one ($25.00?) be sure to put, s~contact paper on the back before ~t asscratched and ruined.

Now that you have the mir ror madeand ready to use, don't. That is, don'tuse it when first learning a routine. Itmight cause you to blink ~t ~e tin:e ofthe critical move. Also, ~t w~ll cnppleyou into needing to watch your hands whenactually performing. It is best to useit periodically to check your progress oryour angles in a new trick. I repeat.Do not use it continoosly.

STYLE

This section will be devoted to thebuf.l.dinq of a device which should helpyou perform better and smoother close upmagic. This is one of the easiest andquickest items that you'll ever be askedto construct l:y a magic magazine. It'salso one of the most beneficial. It is avery inexpensive set of portable practicemirrors which can be made for about$3.50. I worked in a magic shop while Iwas in college. In a magic shop, it isimperative that you be able to learnmagic tr icks quickly and thoroughly. Aset of practice mirrors is a good startto.vard that end.

Originally, we made them for our o.vnuse. We had so many requests from localand visiting magicians that we made andsold them. Ranember, it doesn't matterwhat they look like since no one will seethem except you. It's only importantthat they do the job you expect of them.

Your local deparbnent store has whatthey call "mirror tiles. It They are onefoot square and sold in boxes of a dozenfor about six dollars. If they are allin good shape (check them before youleave the store for scratches on thebacks) you can make three complete setsfrom one box.

Take four of these mirrors and coatthe back surface with contact paper.This will keep the back surface formscratching and thereby ruining themirror. NCM cover each edge of eachmirror with good quality Duck tape. Thiswill give added strength to the mirrorsand also keep the edges from cutting you.

No.v hinge the mirrors together withthe duck tape as shown in the

.1

19

'!he following routine is by WayneI(yzer of COlumbia, South carolina. Waynehas a lot of funny and original materialwhich I hope to wrench out of him forfuture issues. This will be mycontribution to the magic fraternity. Itmay be the only way we can assure thatnone of his material will be published inrook form. Don't thank me. It's theleast I could do. By the way, Wayne wasthe inspiration for "The Great Baldini"which you Tile'}' or may not hear aboutlater.

You can obtain a chrome platedbear G) trap from MXlotts Magic Co. inCOlon Michigan. According to Wayne andthe instructions, you can place your armin the trap and allcw it to spring shuton same. '!his is not supposed to hurt.I am not endorsing this product because Ihave a very low threshold for pain, J amalso a confirmed coward. Ho....ever, forthose of you who are not cowards, I amproviding the following routine. Readand perform it at your own risk!!!

"You know that magicians are strangepeople. '!hey won't let anyone, especiallyanother magician tooch their equijment ,I feel very strongly about this•••• So, Iplaced some traps around my table to keepthem from disturbing my equiprent , Itworks! I was doing a show over at themall last year and I had to step awayfrom my equijment for just a moment,'!his was just enough time for anotherl magician to snoop. Well it happened,

20

'!here was a loud snap and, "Wharmool",the magician's arm was caught. What'sworse, he started to run away and ityanked his hand off.You may see himaround town. '!hey call. him lefty. Nowhe does his magic "slight a hand." Theselast two sentences are spoken as youremove the trap from your table with arubber (right) hand caught in it. '!heaudience should laugh at this point.

With this, the magician proceedswith the show. Several routines later,while reaching for a wand in the table,the audience hears a loud snap. All of asudden the magician's face starts to turnred. He stares straight into theaudience as his eyes bulge. At this, theaudience should be hysterical. Heremoves his hand from the table and thetrap is on his wrist. After milking allthe laughter possible, he pries the trapopen and removes his hand. Here, thesympathy vote should yield him a strongovation.

Hindsight. When I use Wayne'sroutine, I add a small section to thebeginning. "Many people ask me wheremagicians get the rabbits they do trickswith. I thought I would take a manent toshow you." Reach into your table andproduce the (empty) trap. "The answer isthat we have to catch them." This shouldproduce laughs, since the trap is way toobig to use on a rabbit. You might alsowant a little bit of white hair stuck inthe trap. "See, we just put a fewraisins here in the middle. Then we openthe trap as wide as it will go. When therabbit comes to eat the raisins, the trapspdngs shut and you' vecaught him."

"However, since I don't use rabbitsin my act, I have developed another usefor the trap. You see, magicians arevery strange people••••• " From here I gointo Wayne's routine. When I get to thepart; where he removes the trap with thehand, I remove the rubber hand by itself.This is because the trap is already inview.

'!his is a funny gag. You can usethe latter part to spice up an otherwiseunfunny trick. Or you can do the latterpart; between tricks as you reach for thenext prop. Then you can proceed withsome magical contortions like the ones inJ. G. Thompson's My Best. Another ideawould be to catch a finger of your left

j

hand in the trap as you remove your righthand. This would be funny and would alsobe a qood lead in to some of the mater ialout of Meir Yedid' s Fingertip Fantasies.

$ Reward $STEVE BEAM

This is probably not going to winyou the award at FISM, but then nei therwould COlor l-bnte••••• and you rememberhow much fun you had with that when itfirst came out. I'm going to describethis as a trick in itself but actuallyit I S an idea that can be put to use in alot of tricks-- -preferably not in thesame show.

In effect, the magician has a cardselected and returned to the deck. Hestates that he is so confident that hecan find the chosen card that he iswilling to offer a substantial reward ifhe fails. He removes a large envelopefrom wherever magicians remove largeenvelopes. He boasts, "In the unlikelyevent that I fail (chuckle, chuckle) thisenvelope contains a rather large checkwith your name on it. If I can't findyour card, the check is all yours."

Needless to say, the magician triesseveral times to find the card and fails.Finally disgusted, be reaches for theenvelope. "I guess the check is allyours. You won fairly. I would havesworn that last card was yours••••• I hopeyou can still sleep nights knowing theway you aoqui.red this." The magicianreaches into the envelope and removes alarge six by nine piece of white card.On the card is seen to be a large blackcheck (mark) • In the middle of the checkis a white space with the words "YOORNAME" written on it.

21

'~ell, as much as 1 hate it, 1 guessthis is all yours." When the laughterdies down the magician asks the name ofthe chosen card. Upon receiving ananswer, he turns the card with the checkon it over reveaJ.ing a jumbo card thatmatches the selection. "1 won the betafter all. 1 always thought 1 woulc but1 was just 'checking'."

Of course the card is forced andeverything is set up in advance asdescribed. If you doni t want to use thisas a card trick, you can use it dur ir-qany trick where the spectator is rewardedfor one reason or another. Arx>theralternative would be to give tile "check"to a gooo volunteer as he leaves thestage as a small token of thanks forbeing so cooperative. When he opens ithe gets another laugh along with yourname and address which is printed on theback. Finally, 1 should mention thatthis can be rigged up impromptu ifinstead of the jumbo card you want toquickly draw a large card on the back ofthe check. This way, all you need is amagic marker and a piece of cardboard toput it together and then an envelope tohold it.

For those of you who would I ike tomake it up in advance, I've printed acamera-ready copy of the ore I use forclose up shows elsewhere in this issue.If you want to use it on a large stage,have your printer enlarge it. Theadvantage of the size printed here isthat it can be rubber cemented to tilefront of a Jumbo playing card.

South carolina Electr ic Co.Collection Division444 Past Due Blvd.COlumbia, S.C. 29999January 31, 1984

Steve Beam1058 Marilyn st.Williston, s.C. 29853

Dear Mr. Beam,We regret to inform you that effective the fifth of February 1984, your

birthday, we will have no alternative but discontinue your electrical service.We will attanpt to answer your questions of January 15,1984 with the follcwing.

{l) The answer to your first question is "No. "Weunderstand that you think and expect your "magazine" tomake a profit in the future. Hcwever, we cannot wait thatlong to collect your outstanding bill. We are a largecompany, but even we don't expect to be around then.

(2) The answer to your second question is "NO". I amafraid we cannot accept your unsold magazines in exchangefor your electric bill. After seeing a coW of the firstissue, we realize that you must have been joking when youasked this question. Everyone here got a big laugh fromit.

(3) The answer to your third question is "No". I'msorry, we don't make allcwances for the fact that the daywe plan to cut off your electricity is your birthday.Hcwever, we are not completely insensitive to yourfeelings on this, your special day. If you wish, we canhave our maintenance men sing "Hapw Birthday To You" asthey cut the wires.

(4) The answer to your fourth question is, "moresubscribers". The only way to avoid losing your electricpower is to plead with the magicians of the world. Ifthey are as wonderful as you say they are you shouldpublish this letter so that they will realize thepredicament you are in. Undoubtedly they will rush toyour rescue !::¥ sending in more subscriptions. We onlyhave one suggestion. Please publish it sanewhere wheresomeone will read it. This eliminates 'ft1e Trap}oor:.

We hope we have answered all of your questions to your satisfaction.Please take immediate action to avoid furter consequences.

Sincerely,

7J(Ju4--t(~4Malcolm No-heart, Collector

cc File 13

22

STOPlSTEVE BEAM

This is a gag for use when you wantto have a card selected from the deck.Ask saneone to assist you. Tell thanthat it is very iJIlfOrtant that they havea free choice of any card in the deck.To arrive at that free choice, you aregoing to shuffle the deck. Sanetimeduring the shuffling, they are to call,"Stop." Tell than that since you haveno idea when they will stop you, thereis no way that you can influence theirchoice of cards.

Start overhand shuffling the deckfran your right hand into your left."Please call 'stop' whenever you wish."Keep shuffling until she calls ' stop. 'When she stops you, keep shUffling andsay, "Not yet." Continue shUffling andthen follow with, "Stop me any time youwish." Again she will call "stop." Againyou reply, "Not yet•••••• Please stop meanytime you want." Both of these timesshould elicit laughter from the

audience. During all of this, pretendthat you are coocentrating on theshUffling process. Now, slow it down asif you are counting to the exact cardthat you want than to select. Stop atany random card. You hold cards in bothhands. Repeat, "Stop me anywhere. "Needless to say, you have alreadystopped. They should realize that youare trying to influence than in theirchoice. When she calls I stop' thistime, hand her the top card of those inthe left hand. "And rananber, you had acompletely free choice of cards sinceyou could have called ' stop' at anytime."

Occasionally I have had someonesay, "I thought you said I had a I freechoice I", or ''Ibis is a free choice? I .To this I reply, "By 'free' I meant thatit wouldn't cost you anything. "

There are only a few things toranember when you are using this gag.One is that the audience must beexpecting you to perform comedy rragic.'lWo, it is definitely not an opener.'Ibree, you should use it only when it isobvious that the "choice" of cards isnot critical to the trick.

23

THE FIVE KINGSSTEVE BEAM

CARD TRICK

L

Pretty neqi.c is seldom at the same tine funny. This is especi.alIy true of pretty or'flourishy' card tricks. "':rhat follows started out as a pretty way to reveal the fourkings. While pretty, I seldom used it since I didn't have any pat.ter that went well withit other than the usual, "Let IDe cut to the kings."

I use four kings Or queens instead of aces for most of TI¥ 'ace' cutting routinesbecause the royal cards are much more colorful. The fact that I used kings for thisparticular revelation, led me to the following patter theme.

In effect, the maqi.cier. says that he is going to show the audience the famous "FiveKings card 'Irick." "Duri r.q this trick the kings will be magically produced from ashuffLed deck. Here it is, the 'Five Kings Card Trick. "' The deck is quickly shuf f'Ledand then place in the left hand. Half of the deck pivots over into the waiting righthand. Then, almost instantly, the four kings pivot out so that there are two in each handat the fingertips Ir; a "V" formation. "And there you have it ladies and gentlemen. The'Five Kings card Trick. '" At th ie, there will be boos and catcalls. Shouts of ''Where isthe fifth king?" and "I Let you got this junk out of one of Steve Beam's books" willabound,

The magician suddenly realizes that he is holding only four kings and that hepromised the crowd five. At this, he sticks his head down between the two sets of twokrnqs , becoming the fifth king himself. After taking his bows he apparent.ly hearssomething from the audience. He replies, ''What do you mean I should have done the trickwith jokers?"

Ibe Work. Start with four kings ontop of tile deck und the fifth king on topof ycur neck. Prepare for an overhandshuffle. Undercut the bottom half of thedeck, out jog the first card and shuffleoff. Undercut belo.v the outjog, run onecard, injog the next card, and throw theremainder on top. You can now repositionthe deck ir. the left hand in dealingposition. The deck has two kings on top,and two kings together in the middle.The uppermost middle king in the middleis injogged. Obtain a left little fingerbreak above this jogged card.

Now you are going to split the deckinto two halves. Stick your left ring(third) finger into the pinky break.Shove your whole finger into the break.This is a big break. <If you can stillsee your left arm, the break is toosmall! ) Your right hand is covering theright edge of the deck which assists ingetting the break and also hides theaction from the audience. An exposedview of the left hand is shown in theillustration.

24

Noo, push down on the deck with theleft second finger. This will cause thetop half of the deck to pivot out andaround counterclockwise to the right.This half is cl Ippsd between the leftsecond and third fingers dur ing the wholeaction. This action takes less than asecond and appears as if the deck has amind of its CMn. This posd.t.Ion is shownin the drawing.Both halves are noo indealing poai.t.i.on in each hand with twokings on t~ of each.

Many of you nay recognize thepreceding moves as the beginning of "KingCharlier" out of n:y Magic, "Jbe VanishingArt, or Bow To Turn A 'l'rick For FIn AndProfit. If you would prefer, you cansubstitute the old "Rollover Pass" tosplit the deck into two halves.

You are noo going to execute the exact same moves with each hand. For ease ofexplanation, 1 1m going to describe it with the left hand only. (This way I can write itwith n:y right hand. Those of you who are right handed can hold these instructions in themirror and they will nagically change into instructions for the other hand.)

This production is based on a floorish used to turn the top card of the deck over anddisplay it with ore hand. It was pt:blished in RWal Road To Card Magic by Jean Hugard andFred Braue.This is the same exact thing except that it is oore with the top two cardssimultaneously. When oore this way, it yeilds a surprising result.

Start with two kings on top of the half which is held in the left hand in dealingposttion. 'Ibe left thumb pushes the tq: .twQ cards over to the right as ShCMn in theillustration. The left second finger ndes the face of the seoord king until it iscompletely in the rew break which has been formed by this action. 'Ibis break is not asecret and is as wide as the second finger.

'Ibe left forefinger noo pushes oown on the top card slightly to the left of theposf.t.ion occupied by the second finger. The rear of the two kings (excuse n:y explicitlanguage) pivots upeard as they are clip~d between the first and second fingers of theleft hand. This posdt.Lon is shosn in the illustration. Notice how the left third andfourth fingers keep the rest of the cards squared,

25

l\B soon as the fingers are fully extended, the second finger crosses the first finger.(This is the same action as crossing your fingers without cards.) The Fad of your secondfinger drags the card it's holding with it. This causes the two kings to reverse theirpoait ions relative to each other and to split in oppoait;e directions. The more you cancross your fingers, the farther they will split. The farther they split, the better theeffect. It will appear that the cards are moving all around with little or no fingermovement. You \-lOn't beleive the action that you get on this until you try it. The cardswill end up in a large nV" position. See the illustration.

Since you are using both hands simultaneously, you will have a sudden production offour kings. All that's left is to foll~ the outline of the routine above. Aftersufficient pause , stick your head down between the kings and become the fifth king. If youwish, you can cross your arms first, and then perform the above actions. Keep than crossedwhen you stick your head between them.

This is the perfect way to produce four kings for a routine. In later issues, I willoffer several other flourish productions which you may wish to use with this Fatter thane.If your name is "Jack" you can do a custan made routine using the four jacks. Or, you maywant to produce four queens and let a lady spectator stand up and face the audience. Thenshe could stick her face between the queens. Finally, you may wish to call it the "FiveJokers" trick to start off with. If you have four jokers in the deck, you can be thefifth. (Warning: Be careful if you decide to do the trick with aces and bill it as "TheFive Aces.")

26

STEVE BEAM'S

BIOGRAPHICALROPE

Over the last few years I have usedthis routine to start scores of shows.It's a great little opening routine thatallows you to get a feel for theaudience and lets than get to know you.Isn't it amazing what you can do with atwo minute pack of lies?

You can place this at the beginningof almost any rope routine that startswith a single rope. I use it as a leadin to the cut and restored rope. Itmakes a good routine longer andstronger. You won't have to learnanything new except Kevin Justice's "NoTie Knot" which is in this issue andthat should take you all of fifteenminutes. Everything else is pretty muchstandard stuff put to amusing pacter,

Routine. Start with a five footpiece of rope tucked inside your shirt.Fix it so that it doesn't appear toobulky but at the same tine can becleanly pulled from the shirt. You wantone end to protrude about a half of aninch from the shirt in the area of yournaval. Your tie will cover this end sothat no one will notice it. Walk out onstage at the beginning of your show.(This is something you've probably doneat the beginning of other shows.)

"Good evening, ladies andgentlanen. My name is Steve Beam."<Use your own name here.) Since we aregoing to be spending the next fourtyminutes together, I thought I would tellyou a little about ~ life and my magiccareer. First of all, I was born." Nowreach for the end of the rope hangingout of your shirt behind your tie.Slowly remove it from your abdomen, Youwant it to appear as an umbilical cord.Pull it slowly so that they'll have tineto catch on.

"I started magic at a very earlyage. Like all of the other kids, Ilearned to tie ~ shoelaces." Executethe shoelace knot forming the rope intoa bow. "And like all of the other kids,

27

I also learned how to get the endstangled and form a knot." Pull the endsthrough as in the regular knot flour ish.Stretch the ends out to display a knotin the middle of the rope. "sut , unlikeall of the other kids, I was twentyyears old••••••• and I could make theknot disappear." Now you're going tosucker the audience. Grasp the knotwith your left hand from the audience'sside. This will cover the knot fromtheir view. With your right hand, reachup under the left hand and pretend totake the knot and slide it down theright hand under cover of the rightfingers. Actually, the knot ranainsintact under your left hand. When yourright hand clears the end of the rope,pretend to grind the knot into nothing.Ma.ke this appear as magical as possible.

Stand there as if you have justfinished the American version of theEast Indian Rope Trick. "But; usually atthis point, all of the other kids wantedto see ~ left hand, which I would showthan. You are still going to suckerthan. Cup your right fingers away fromthe audience. Place the knot into yourright hand which hides it from theirview. Now display your EmIX:Y left hand.The audience of course knows what 'sgoing on.

"At this point, the other kidswanted to see both hands ••••• whichlooked someting like this." As soon asyou say "both hands, " tuck the knotunder your chin. Keep it covered as ifyou don I t want anyone to catch on towhat you are doing. Keep your headtil ted downward to hold the knot inplace as you finish the sentence.Garble your words a little because youare holding the rope with some of themuscles you would normally use to talk.As you display your EmIX:Y hands and talkin a funny manner, you will lookridiculous. The audience should belaughing at your predicament.

When the laughter dies down, ranovethe knot from your chin by holding therope six inches on either side of theknot. "This was ~ first experiencewith a tough audience. As I look aroundthe roan tonight, I can see that itwasn't going to be ~ last. " Lookaround at the audience as you say theselast two sentences. Then smile as you A

slide the (slip) knot off of the end ofthe rope with your right hand. Thiswill desolve the knot and appear as ifyou have dore what you said you weredoing all along. The audience willapplaud at this po int; if you tied thecorrect knot at the beginning of theroutine. Donit leave this section ofthe routine out because you feel theshoelace knot is too well known. Inthis instance, it is funqy. (G.W.Hunter I s Shoelace Knot can be found inVolume One of the Tarbell Course inMa.gic and in Al:bott' s Encyclopedia ofRope Tricks, )

"Magic wasn't nw only interest. Inhigh school I took up archery (performthe ''William Tell Knot") but laterrealized that it was (k)not for me."Point to the rew knot as you say thelast part; of the sentence.

This p:1rticular p:1rt of the routinecan be used to do any of your favoriteknots that fit in with the routine. Inmy case, I needed something in nw lifebetween shoe lace ty ing and going tocollege. Archery was as good a thing tobe doing as any. If you use the thisknot, untie it before you continue. (The''William Tell Knot" or "Bow and Arrow¥J1ot" can be found in A Ring And RopeAnd Around ".I.1le Table Lecture Notes l::¥Phil Willmarth.)

"Then came college. ~t was anexr~rience. The first night at thedorm, the seniors on the hall took allof us freshmen out on the town. Theytook us to a local strip joint where wercally tied ore on." Quickly tie aregular knot in the rope but don't pullit too tisht. You'll have to untie itshortly. "That's where I met LULU.Boy, oh roy, was this a girl!! Shecould do things with her body that justcould not be dore , II Here comes yourbi<.Jijest laugh of the routine. Grab therope about six inches from the middle oneach side. This posttion shown inthe illustration. Start spinning eachend of the rope around in circles. The~ight hand moves in a clockwisedirection while the left hand moves in acounter clockwise direction. The wholeth ir.q is execut-ed irnrrediately in frontof your chest. You are imitating theaction of another kind of artist, themuscle control stripper. The ends of

28

the rope become your "pa sties. II

Continue doing this for five to ten~nE, almost until they stoplaughing. Then quickly untie the knotwhich was left in the middle of the ropeafter the previous gag.

Then she took it all off. Who sayscollege isnlt educational? She took itall the way down to a "Gilstring.....GEE!" At this, you are goingto fran the rope into a "G". Grab bothends of the rope with your left hand andlet the middle hang down. The leftthumb should be point.i.nq downward andyour left p:11m will be facing theaudience. The right hand grasps thelower part, of the rope about four inchesfran the middle.The right thumb shouldbe poi.nt.inq downward and the right palmshould be facing to the right. Bothhands now move simultaneously. The lefthand turns counterclockwise a quarter ofa turn until it is palm down to form thetop of the "G". The right hand nowrotates clockwise three quarters of aturn until the right palm is facingupeard, Look at what you hold now. Itis a backwards "Gil. If you look in themirror, you will be holding a "G" shape.Use the mirror to adj ust it to lookexactly like you want. Practice with itand maybe someday you'll be able to formthe "G" shape without using a mirror.

LH•

this short opening to waon than up. Thesame thing applies to this routine as itdoes to Troublewit and Linking RingDesigns. You must go fran one to theother smcothly and efficiently. That'swhy I went through the effort ofexplaining the formation of the "Gil indetail. If you look like you'reflDllbling around then· you are going tolose than. Also, since this might beyour opener, you want to make a 9000impression on than. So what if you areg<;>ing to blow it later. At least youwlil have started off in the rightdirection.

••~ .

c:•

Execute Kevin Justice's ''No TieKnot" (elsewhere in this issue) severaltimes in a row rapidly as you exclaim,"It was love at first sight. But, asyou can see, I wasn't ready to tie theknot. " This is funny as they see fouror five attanpts to tie a knot in therope, fail. Apparently you reallyaren 1 t ready to "tie the knot. "

At this paint in the routine, Iused to execute the rope through theneck penetration from &arne's MagicTricks. I would tell how WLU wanted meto marry her rut I wasn't about to get"hung." I have anitted this sectionduring the last few years because itdidn't sean to flow with the rest of theroutine.

"After I graduated from college, itwas time for ~ first professional magicshow. I wanted it to be sanethingspecial. For ~ first trick I wanted toperform a trick with a rope. I workedreally hard on inventing one and I wouldlike to show it to you tonight. I callit IA Trick With A Rope'. Itlooks sanething like this: Ladies andGentlanen, here we have a rope with onemiddle and two ends •••••••••• "

This is where I go into ~ regularcut and restored rope. In roughly twominutes I have taken than through IY¥life fran birth to the present. I thinkthe reason I get a better response nowon ~ regular routine is because I have

1 2 3 Did you hear the one about a guynamed Tan and his ruddy Milt whoperformed close-up magic table to tableat a restaurant? Every night he left hanearound three in the afternoon andreturned sanetime the next morning. Thenone Saturday morrrinq his wife told himthat he couldn't go that part.Lcular daybecause they were expecting company thatevening and there was no way that she wasgoing to trust him to come home on time.

"But honey! My pa rtner f.1J.I twillsee to it that I leave on time and he cancover for me the rest of the evening. Ipromise that I will be home t¥ sevenolclock tonight. I guarantee it! As amatter of fact, I'll limit myself to onlytwenty tables. After that I'll know it'stime to go home." After several minutesof first class begging, his wife finallyconsented. ''But if you and Mil t aren'tback on time, you'll never do magictogether again!"

Seven o'clock that night came andthe two magicians were nowhere to befound. The guests and eight 0' clock cameand still no sign. 'lWeIve 0' clock wentt¥ as the guests started to leave.

Finailly Tan pulled in the drivewayat four in the morning. His wife wasfurious. ''Where were you? You told methat you would perform for twenty tablesand then come home. How could twentytables have taken you thirteen and a halfhours? I had to entertain sixteencouples for half a day all t¥ IY¥self...just because of your stupid magic. I'mleaving!"

29

L

"But honey," Tan replied. "You've:.lot to listen. I only did twentytatles, I promise. See, fi rst fJlilt carneto pick me up. We got half way to therestaurant when we ran out of gas. Miltgot out of the car and started walkingback to the last gas station that we hadpassed. An hour later he came back toget the gas can out of his trunk and left.iqai.n, Then about two hours later hecame back with the gas. With the ~rrefilled, we drove about c< half of a milewhen we had a flat tire. Well, we both90t out and fixed it. That took aboutforty-five minutes. II

"When we finally got to therestaurant we had to start performinqright away since we were so late. Tanhac1n't performed but for three tableswhen he had a heart attack from the cartrouble and passed out on the floor. Arxlthere I was for the rest of the evening.First, perform for a table, then dragMil t. Perform for another table, thendrag l4il t., Perform for another table,then drag Milt. That's why it took me solong to perform for twenty tables andthat's why I got horne so late.

KEVIN JUSTICE'S

No Tie Knot

This is a move with a rope by KevinJustice of Columbia, South carolina.When I saw him perform this, I knew itwould fit perfect.Iy in my ''BiographicalRope" routine elsewhere in this issue.Basically, it's a way to tie four orfive false knots quickly which will notform. It is ,Ferformed with Kevin'spatter which is also found in the textof "The Biographical Rope."

Gras!: a five feet long piece ofrope in each hand about three inchesfrom the ends. Display the rope. Bringthe ends of the rope together. Placethe left end (End "A") between the right

30

second and third fingers. This will forma loop of rope hanging down from theright hand. Tuck your right hand downunder and through the loop from thefront. It will energe from the back.Now grasp end "A" between the left thumband forefinger and end ''B'' (it's theonly one left> between the right thumband forefinger. Pull in oppositedirections. The knot will apparentlystart to form and then disolvee This isbecause the rope is twisted upon itself.That's all there is to it.

Hindsight... I've found that the moretimes you do the move without lettingthe rope untwist itself, the moreeffective it looks. Also, if yousecretly give the ends of the rope atwist in opposite directions beforedoing the knot, it will nake it lookeven better. Finally, the stiffer therope, the longer the "knot" will appearto be a knot.

I

TWO FACEDDON MORRIS

This effect has a long history whichI won't go into here. Suffice it to saythat it started with a move using acopper/silver coin in my Trapdoors book.It blossomed into a complete routineusing a double-headed coin in Steve BeamOn Coins. Then, two years ago I was up inAsheville, N.C. for my yearlyvacation/tennis lesson with Don r-lorris.Wewere standing in his tennis shop at theGrove Par k Inn & Country Club and we wereperforming close up magic for some of themembera, He started performing theroutine described below. I thought hewas going to perform the routine usingthe girrnnicked coin which I had secretly"bor rowed. " As I watched him perform, Ikept waiting for him to mess up andrealize that he was working with thewrong coins. Unfortunately, that tirenever carne. I later learned that he haddeveloped a short imwompl:u routinedesigned to show that a half dollar canbe made into a two-headed or two-tailedcoin magically on demand. Since iteliminates the need for girrnnicks, Idecided that I would use this instead ofthe original routine. I then asked himif I could publish it and here it is.(Now, aren I t you glad that I didn't takethe tire to go into the long history ofthis trick? It might have taken up awhole paragraph.)

Routine. The magician ranoves a halfdollar from his pocket, and flips it inthe air a few tires. JlHow many here haveever decided a bet based on the outcomeof a toss of a coin? •••••Well, youprobably wouldn't have done it if yoususpected that a two-headed coin wasinvolved. If you flip a coin in the air,the odds are fifty-fifty that it willland with the heads side showing. Thesame odds hold true that it will landwith the tails side showing. Being amagician allows me to make these odds alot more profitable."

Hold the half dollar between the

31

left thumb and forefinger as shown in theillustration. The tails side should befacing the audience. "Next tire you tryit, try 'shaking your tail' like so,which will make the tails side lookranarkably like the heads side. You cansee where this would make the game awhole lot more appealing." During theabove, bring your right fingers over tocover the coin. As it does, use yourright thumb to secretly rotate the coinone half turn. Now slowly ranove theright hand to show the change.

You are now going to take the coinand display it in the palm up right hand.Reach over to take the coin with thefingers at the front and the thumb at therear. As you do, your right thumb againrotates the coin one half turn before yougrasp it. Now relax your left hand asyou turn your right hand palm up todisplay the coin. This action shows thatboth sides of the coin are now heads.

The coin is resting in almost afront palm poait i.on, You are now goingto toss the coin back and forth betweenyour hands showing that both sides haveheads on them. This was the or iginalmove rot read it carefully since it hasbeen changed since it was firstpublished. Raise your right pinky abovethe plane formed by your other rightfingers. This difference should be verysmall. Now rotate your right handcounter-clockwise at the wrist. As youdo, the half will slide towards the right

pinky until it comes into contact withit. Since you continue to rotate yourhand after the pinky stops the coin, thecoin will pivot on the pinky and revolve.When the hand is perpendicular to thefloor, the coin will be tails up andparrallel with the floor. (That is, ifyou could stop the action to view it.)

The fact that the coin is in motionat this poi.nt; keeps the spect.ators fromseeing the tails side of the coin. Thecoin cotinues to rotate until it is heads

up where it lands in the waiting palm upleft fingertips. With practice, the coinwill land in the left fingers ready torepeat the same move in reverse.

Toss it back and forth a few tinesending with the coin resting on the leftfingertips. Use the left thumb to liftthe coin back into the starting position."I've found that a game of chance is alotnoro fun when you remove the chance partof it. However, the other players mightget suspicious if you f l Ipped heads 30times in a row. You can either actsurpr ised at such a renarkable co­incidence or you can learn how to changethe co.in back to tail s." NON repeat theopening sequence changing the coin backfrom heads to tail s.

You now have a choice. You cancont i.nue by showing both sides are tails,or you can pretend that you have justchanqed the coin back to a regular coinand end the routine. Don does bothder~nding on the (separate) occasion.

Hindsigh..t.. Unlike the gimmicked

32

version of this routine, this is just a"quickie. " It's effective for a smallgroup of friends. (Save the puzzlelcardtricks for your enemies.) There areseveral ways to flip a coin into the airand have it land the same on each flip.One way is just pure practice. It's amatter of flipping the coin exactly thesame way every tine. If it's f Lipped atthe same speed, the same height, the samedegree of force, and it starts the tosswith the same side up, the coin will landthe same way every tine. Aoother way isto cause the coin to wobble instead offlip over. It rotates as a loose wheelwould, all due to the way the coin is"fl Lpped, " It's an excellent opticalillusion. If you add either ore of theseto the routine, you will double itseffectiveness.

ROLLOVER KINGS II

STEVE BEAM

This is another production of fourkings. It can be used in place of theon:'! in "Jhe Five Kings card 'l"rick. tJ¥inspiration for it carne from revelationnumber three in Ed Marlo's 1946 booklet,Discoveries. He uses the move to produceore card. I use it to produce the fourkings.

Start with two kings face to faceon the face of the deck. The other twokings are face to face on the back ofthe deck. If you like, you can do thissetting up procedure in front of theaudience. HONever, If you do, youprobably won't fool anyone. (I wouldlike to hear from anyone who can thinkof a good way to secretly get the cardsinto this pos.it.ion without leaving theroan or throwing sand in the audiences I

faces. )The deck is held in the right hand

from above in swivel cut posit.Lon, Useyour right forefinger to pivot the tophalf of the deck over into the lefthand. NON place the right half on topof the left half, injogged for about

three quarters of an inch. Your rightfingers and thumb retain their hold onthe right half. Push the right (or top)half flush with the bottan half. As youdo, the right fingers will upjog the topcard of the lower half autanatically •You now hold the whole deck in the lefthand in dealing position. Ore card (aking) is up jogged about three quartersof an inch in the middle of the deck.

Now you're ready for theproduction. Use your left forefinger topull down on the upj ogged card. Itpulls the card down and around onto theface of the deck where it will be heldwith the left forefinger. This willcause the top half of the deck to pivotover end for end and fall into thewai ting right hand. The left hand nowdisplays two kings whil e the right handis holding half the deck, apparent.lyface down. Actually, the right handcards are face up with a single facedown king on top.

33

To produce the third and fourthkings, you are going to execute the"Brrrrtttt!" move from 'Jbe Phoenix # 231page 924 by Bruce Elliot. Use yourright hand to reach over the top end ofthe half and drag the top card forward.Pull it over the edge of the half. Thenpull it down and around onto the face ofthe half. This sequence is shown in theillustrations. Be sure to produce thekings in a straight line. The finaldisplay is also shown in theillustration.

K

If you want to use this in 'n1e FiveKings card Trick, use the thumbs tolever both halves over. The fingers ofeach hand will keep the jogged kingsfrom falling. Bring the left half up toyour chin. The right half is brought upbelow the left half. Your face isperched on top and it becomes the fifthking.

This is not difficult to do. Theonly problan I had with it was getting

my right hand to learn the "Brr rrtttt!"move, since I normally perform it withthe left. It's another flashyproduction that I didn't have any patterfor and the fifth king theme fitbeautifully. Work on smoothness first.SFeed will not come until you can do themoves smoothly.

COl NS IN BOTTLE

STEVE BEAM

I was in Atlanta a few years agofor the annual convention they hold.Jeff White, John Berry, and a few otherfriends went with me to a local steakhouse to escape the usual hotel garbage.I was scheduled to lecture the nextmorning and I wanted something funny toopen the lecture.

I was staring at a bottle of steaksauce. For some unknown reason, I askedeveryone if they knew Why they called it"Heinz 57 Sauce." Everyone just figuredthat I had run out of conversation. Notwanting to appear stupid, I picked upthe bottle, removed the cap, and dumped57 cents from inside. "It's becausethere's fifty seven cents inside ofevery bottle. " Everyone (there wereabout fifteen at the table) was amusedif not Impressed, Between that momentand the lecture the next morning, thefollowing routine evolved.

You are apparently going to producefifty seven cents from the bottle. It'sbest if you use a half dollar instead oftwo quarters. Neither coin can fitthrough the neck, but a half dollarseems like it woold be harder to do.Anyway, start with the coinsfinger-palmed in the right hand. Thebottle is held mouth up in your lefthand. Remove the cap with your righthand and place it on the table. Turnt.he bottle over toward the right as if

34

you were about to pour oot some sauce.Your right thumb and forefinger grab thetop of the bottle (which has beencleaned of excess sauce pr ior to theshow) • NcM shake the bottle orce as youwould a bottle of "SlCM ketchup". Atthe down J:Oint of the shake, release thefinger-palmed coins. They will land onthe table and it will appear as if theywere produced from inside the bottle.

Rootine. The patter is what sellsthis routine. Put the fol.Iowi nq patterto the above moves and yoo' 11 be a hitat your local family steak house. <Iintentionally refrained from making thepatter too "saucy".)

"You knew, since I've been awayfrom the house a lot, I've startedhitting the sauce a little heavilylately. " Bring out and display thebottle in the left hand. "Well, whatkind did you think I was talking about?"Ranove the cap from the bottle. "By theway, do you know why they call this '57sauce'?" Pause and then dump the coinsfrom the bottle onto the table asexplained above. "Because there's 57cents inside of every bottle. II

As you are standing there receivingthe audience's response, try thefollCMing, giving a sufficient pausebetween each line.

"I don't know about you, rut Iwould rate this trick 'A-I'."

"Those of you who didn't get itwill probably 'ketchup' later. II

"It may not be the best trick inthe world, but it's not the'worst-it' s-sure.'" (''Worchestshire'').To finish, all you have to do is to're-cap. '

That's the routine as I use it. Ihave used several variations. If youare among (fellCM childish) friends, youcan comment on how fresh the red wine(the ketchup) is. ''We will sell noketchup before its time." Ranove thecap and dump out a cherry tanato thatyou have swi~d from the salad bar."Boy! This is fresh!"

I only have one recomrendat.ion,Please check the bottle oot before youperform. Many restaurants water downtheir condiments. It's not your job toredecorate your companions orspect.ator s,

LEFTOVERS (Continued)

Convention last July. I took ore of his"links" just a little bit further. Whenyou clip the ring and the rubberband sothat they appear linked (see theillustration) you have roam for ore moreconvincer. You can move the right handup and down along the side of the rubberband and the ring appears to be slidingalong the band. It's actually takingocvmrtage of the expanding and

contracting nature of the band itself tocreate the effect. This makes a very niceillusion (by Ray Grismer?) into akiller. Unfortunately, you can only doit with a rubber band. I would love toadd it to R¥ ring and rope routine.

35

Now it's time to br i.nq the secondissue to a close. I hope you foundsomething within that you can use. Mygoal is to present things magical thatare practical, useable, and entertainingto read. This is a special expandedissue of twenty pages. I believe you t 11find that this issue contains more goodentertaining magic than several issuesof JOOst of the rest of the magazinescurrently available. This is as itshould be since this is probably themost expensive magic magazine available.I'm going to continue to work hard toinsure that each issue is somethingspecial. If I don't, I' TIl liable to wincup with the world's largest magicmagazine collection.

TOP STOCKSTEVE BEAM

This is another gag with cards whichis similar in use to the shuffle gagpresented earlier. It can be usedinstead of the other gag but not alongwith it. In effect the magician handsthe deck out to the audience to beshuffled. UFon the return of the deck,he reaches into his outside breast tx>Cketand removes ten or so cards withoutcalling attention to it. These cards areadded to the top of the deck. If anyonesays anything about it, he replies, "Oh,these aren't Import.ant; cards anyway. "

Another ending would be to take thecards back as you remark, "Oh, I forgotabout these cards. Let me add than backto the deck. II Here you do as you toldthan.

As with the gag presented earlier("Stop") this should only be dore whenthe arranganent of the deck has nothingto do with the trick. It would beludicrous to do this immediately prior toa "guess the top cards of the deck"routine. (ActUally, I saving that usefor R¥self.)

*LEFTOVERS

Talk about ItinEly' • Here is thesecond issue not only on time, rotearly. '!bis brings the complete file tothirty six pages. (For the mathe­rragicians, that's 16 plus 20. Detailson the method sent upon request., ) Mostof the corrn:nents that subscribers havemade have been favorable. Thosesubscribers that made unfavorablecomments won't be receiving this issue.That'll teach you.

You'll notice the more compactappearance of this issue. I'm learninghow to work this doggone word processorbetter and I'm becoming more proficientat laying the issue out. I'm alsotaking better advantage of my printer'sreducing machine. I've used it tocompress the non-rragic portions of thisissue so that I can include more ofeverything in the same space. I hopeyou approve since this is how all futureissues will look, both in layout and inmaterial. (This is with the exceptionthat this is a special large issue asdiscussed below.)

There have been many comnerrts aboutthe January 1984 issue of Playboy. '!beynot only taught a few card tricks, rotprovided punch out ginunicked cards.What I really don't like is that theygave (?Way the old penecrating matchtrick which I use. I guess I'll stopdoing it for the next six months or so.To get even, rraybe magic magazinesought to start having centerfolds.

And now for the manent that you'veall been waiting for. The results ofthe first Trapjoor poll. (See Leftcwersin the last issue.) I was veryimpressed by the response. Overfourteen and a half million Trapjoorsubscribers sent in their choice ofdates for National Magic Day (to get usout of competition with Halloween).Thewinner is•••••• The second Sunday in May.Act now to get your mayor, congressman,

or governor to proclaim that day in 1984as National Magic Day. I would like tothank all of you who took the tinE torespond personally.... rot I can It takethe time to respond personally.

As I write this it's Christmas Eve1983. For those of you who would liketo be prepared for next year, why donItyou roy your 1984 Christmas cards now?11m talking about Christmas playingcards. Aren't they just the thing touse when doing table to table during theholiday season? I'm looking at thedecks I ordered now. '!be backs of thecards are beautifully done in red andgreen with Santa and his sleigh. en thefronts, the king is Santa, the Queen isMrs. Claus, the jokers are the elves,and the jacks are Jack Frost. The Aceof Spades is a Christmas tree. I wouldimagine you can order than direct fromthe ARRCD Playing card Co. or get than(as I did) from It's a Good Deal, Inc.,P.O.Box 10880, Chicago, Illinois 60610.They are $3.95 per deck, postpaid. Ireceived my order in less than ten days.

Because of several requests, I'vestarted on a complete issue on how toinvent your own tricks. This is a tooghsubject to cover and it has been sadlyneglected by rragic authors. I'm goingto give the methods I use to createmagic tricks and effects. If you haveany ideas which you use which might beuseful to others, send than in. It oughtto be ready by about issue number five.If things go as I plan, it should be1984's Winter Extra which will givesubscribers four regular issues plus one"freebie" for the twenty dollarsubscription price. This puts the costper issue to subscribers at $4.00,postpaid. That's less than most picketcri~ and most lecture notes.

The September 1983 issue ofRichard's Almanac had an excellentroutine by Bill Kalush where a fingerring links onto a rubber band. I sawMike Ammar perform the same thing inGreenville, S.C. at the Close up

36

TIll:TI~L\.VDOOI~

WR.1'.l".rm AND EDITED BY STE.VE BEAM • OOPYRIGBT 1984 BY STE.VEN L. BF.Al4

This is not only one of IT¥ favoriteambitious card moves, it could also be agreat name for a magic book by HarryRiser. It could also beeai?Y to do butdifficult to explain but you III find thatout for yourself shortly.My basiccomplaint with the ambitious card plot isthat you don't normally see the cardrising to the top. There are notableexceptions to this including one locatedin Expert Card Technique, Vernon'sroutine, and IT¥ cwn "Rapid Transit."However, usually you have to be contentwith the audience "hearinq" the card as itrises to the tcp (with the infamous andirritating 'riffle'). I always thoughtthat it would make sense that if you heldthe deck vertically, the card should startto rise up out of the deck. After all,what is "The Ambitious card" if it is nota repeatable, horizontal, but less visualversion of the "Rising Card" plot?

In "Early Riser, II the card is putinto the middle of the pack in a flourishyway. The pack happens to be heldvertically at the time. The cardiII1lIediately starts rising from the packuntil the magician stops it and pushes itback flush with the rest of the deck."Wait until I say 'Go! '" He then turnsthe deck back horizontally and says, "Go."

yY

fI

IIIII

STEVE

a •••aBEAM

The top card of the deck turned overand shown to be the ambitious card.

Start with the ambitious card secondfrom the top of the deck. Double lift andshow that it is on top. Flip it (them)face down back onto the deck. Now takethe deck in the right hand between theright thumb and second finger as youwere about to start a Hindu shuffle. Yourright forefinger is curled and the tip ofthe right forefinger is resting on the topcard of the deck. This poai.t.i.onshown in the illustration.

The left hand now takes half of thedeck in the same pos i t i.on it would for aHindu shuffle except that it takes thelower half of the deck. This half is heldin dealing pos.it.Ion in the left hand.

Now use your left thumb to lift upthe t.op half of the left hand cards into apoaitaon resembling the Charlier pass irprogress.

37

If the deck is not already in theposition shown in the illustration,reposition it so that it is. Notice thatthe forefinger is on the far end of theprotruding cards. Other than that. thetelescoped deck is basically held indealing position.

If you'll now look at the side of thedeck, you'll see that the above sequencehas created a "plunger" similar to thoseused in many rising card effects. Lowerthe front edge of the deck downward sothat the deck is now held vertically atabout; belt level. Use your leftforefinger to pull the extended cardsflush with the rest of the deck. When youdo, you'll find that the "ambitious card"(really the substitute) rises out of thedeck. Act surprised. As soon as itreaches its highest point use your righthand to square the cards and bring themback to a level position. You want tocreate the impression (without saying so)that if you didn g t squa re the cards, theambitious would keep right onout of the deck.

Finally, with the deck held level.utter the magic words, execute the riffle,or whatever you do to make the ambitiouscard ambitious. Then turn over the topcard of the deck and reveal that it hasarrived. (When you can read some of I1¥writing, buddy. you too have arrdved.)

I really like this sequence. Ask meto show it to you at a convention sometirre

preferably one that we're bothattending. When the card rises up out ofthe middle of the deck and you push itback into the middle of the deck, it sellsthe fact that the ambitious card really isin the middle of the deck. (Why would youdo all of this with a card Impe rsorat.Lnqthe ambitious one?) This makes theeventual revelation at the top of the deckall the more impressive. I hope you'lltry it.

The right forefinger now pivots thetop card of the right half around the

finger so that it at rightwith the rest the deck. Seethree for the at this

p.J..l.1H•• 'I'his prctrudinq (supposedly theambitious card) now "stuck" intomiddle of the left hand's half. It shouldremai,n protruding (injogged) for abouthalf of its length. the left packet; nowcloses on the injogged card.

The right hand now comes away for asecond. At point (follow closely)the right finger comes to rest onthe right long edge of the deckimediately above the right second finger.This finger now lifts up the top half oft.he half, pivoting it upon the rightthuno, It forms sort of a sideways 'tv"with right thumb at the point and the

and second finger at the tip ofther branch.

The left hand now takes its half withinjogged card and it into the

far end of the opening of the right half.In other (not necessarily clearer) words,the left half is sandwiched in the righthalf, rot only half way~ The right halfactually sandwiches the injogged cardwhich leaves rest of the left handcards sticking out of the end of the righthalf.

38

DOWNS' UPPERSTEVE BEAM

This is a totally different handlingof the Downs Change which I use as part, ofmy Ambitious Card routine. Unlike theoriginal. you doni t need a table for thisone.

Start with the ambitious card secondfrom the top of the deck. Double lift todisplay it then turn it (them) face downagain. Take the top card of the deck andplace it in the middle of the deck.Rif fle the deck (or whatever you do tomake the magic happen) , Now double liftagain to show (to your surpr Lse) that theAmbitious card is not on top. Place thesetwo cards face up as one on top of thedeck jogged for about half their width tothe right. This position shown in theillustration. Notice that your left thumbis stretched across the face of theindifferent card. This is important.

v

Now bring your right hand palrn upwith its fingers podnt.Inq to the left. Itis held flat and about three inches to theright of the left hand. NCM turn yourleft hand palm down at the wrist. As youdo, the left thumb drags the indifferentcard flush with the rest of the deck. TheAmbitious Card still jogged. The topright corner of the face down ambitiouscard is now cli.pped between the rightthumb and the base of the rightforefinger. Retain a left little fingerbreak between the indifferent card and therest of the deck, This is easy to obtainas the Ambitious card is removed, Your leftl_ hand relaxes rut be careful to keep theleft hand cards tilted so as not to flashthe reversed card on top.

39

The right hand now holds theAmbitious Card face down. The audiencethinks this is the indifferent card,Rotate your right hand pal.m down. Bringit up slightly higher and blCM gently onit. This bit of delaying is importa"1t.Now use your right thumb to push the cardon through the fist. It will emerge fromthe pinky side of the fist.Push the cardthrough as far as it will go. (This isthe Vernon Push Through Flourish.. See"The Human Printing Press" for details.)~en the card emerges, it will app:ar thatlt has changed into the Ambitious card.

J\low comes one of the really niceparts of this move. It resets for thenext double lift. Keeping the top card ofthe left hand half hidden, bring this halfup directly beneath the ambitious cardwhich protrudes from the right fist. Nowuse the left thumb to drag the protrudingcard onto the face of the indifferent

WILMOT

If you'll get a rubber chicken, alaugh box, and a blank gun you'll have alot of fun with this routine. Wayne Kyzerhas been using this for the last six yearswith a lot of success. I laugh every tireI read it so I know I' 11 use it (maybe byputting it in a magazine) •

Cut a slit in the back of the chickenlarge enough to put a laugh box through.This slit is placed between his legs rightwhere nature intended it to be. You wantthe speaker of the laugh box ai.ned at theinside of the chicken's chest.Furthermore, you III cut a few small holesin the chicken I s chest so that the soundwill penetrate. The chicken is in yourtable with your loaded blank gun. Here'sWayne I s routine and patter.

"Everyone has someone they look up toand admire. I admire the great Houdini.And I have someone who looks up to me. Asa matter of fact, he told me that hewanted to travel with the best.... He'sbeen traveling with me nON for two years.

"I don't want to stand up herebragging on JJ¥self. I'd rather he tellyou about me. Let me bring him out. Hisname is Wilmot." Bring out the chickenand hold him between the thumb and fingersof the left hand. Sa:! to the chicken,"Now look. I don't want to stand here andbrag in front of these peopl,e, Would youtell them loudly and clearly. what youthink of !IE as a magician. Go ahead.It's okay."

Smile at the audience while you waitfor him to sp:ak. Secretly push thebutton on the laugh box. At;pear to beshocked and ernbarassed when he startslaughing. Mumble; "C'mon now." (Pause , )"Hey look. We're in front of thesep:ople." The audience should be howlingat this pofnt., Meanwhile, you're tryingto talk the chicken in to shutting up.

Finally, you say loudly. "Look! Idoni t have to take this." Reach in yourtable and get the blank gun with yourright hand. Take aim and shoot him in thehead. After a few practice tries, you'llbe able to time it so that you can shootthe gun at the exact moment that thelaughing tape runs out. When you shoothim, use your left thumb and forefinger to ,~

L/'( card. While the left hand is still tilted

back teward the magician, use the leftfingers and thumb to square these two faceup cards together. Continue to retain thebreak beneath the beneath the lcwer of thetwo. When the two cards are completelysquare, lower the deck to display thelImbitious card on top of the deck.

That is the move and the reset. Younew resume the Ambitious card routinealready in the middle of a Cbuble lift.You can now go into any of your favoriteambitious moves that begin with a Cbublelift. The combination of the Downs Change,the Vernon flourish, and the delay, alongwith the elimination of the table reallyhelp to create a very pretty and visualAmbitious card move.

pip pickerSTEVE BEAM

40

WAYNE KYZER

r bend the chickens neck hor ontally.Again, the audience should be laughing.It really looks funny for the chicken tofall over dead.

After the laughter has died down,turn to the audience. "See, I don't haveto take this kind of.... " As you say thisand while you I re looking at the audience,use your left thumb and forefinger tolever the chicken I s head and neck back upto a vertical poait.i.on, The audienceshould not be able to detect any movementin your thumb or fingers. It will appearthat the chicken is corning back to life.When you get to the end of the lastsentence ("take this kind of") reach overand without even looking, shoot him again.Again he will fall back down to concludethe routine. If you wish. you can eitherput him (Mayor use him in your nextlivestock vanish.

This routine will get laughs. Thereare several funny parts in it. Dependingon your personality. it is equallysuitable for children and adult shows.Or, you may just want to do it around thehouse when you're feeling down and need achuckle.

~GREATPSYC.I1I N~~wu.4/', (Ytl'.6AflO'\ri¥\EIIITALI?"'T !

"tDi I' IL A'.l".rEMPl' TO IDENTIFY mE IJ\DIES IN'JBE ADDIENCE BY mE SENfE OF mJQl AI£IiIE!"

41

THE FINAL MONTHS?

HL: You knOVl. the item by Tony Ramirez inlast month's issue was really wellreceived by "the boys." Many wrote andsaid that that trick alone was worth theentire subscription price.

RK: Corne off of it, Harry. No one wroteit. That's all a bunch of "bull. II * Nocre could even understand yourdescription of the effect, much less themethod. Besides, everyone gri~s aboutthe subscription price. (* RK secretlythinks to himself what a great name thatwould make for an editor ial section.)

HL: Oh yeah? Well if you hadn't drawnallover the Iage, maybe I could haveexplained it better. You and your damnswishy illustrations!

RK: Oh yeah? Well, memorize this! (RKgestures with a finger contortion thatwould have made Meir Yedid proud.)

HL: Well if you like to draw hands andfingers so much. illustrate this! Thisone's for you!

FADE ClJT••••

ALL BACKS ADDITION

STEVE BEAMThis is a move you can add to your

favorite impromptu All-Backs routine. Itallows you to apparent.ly show backs onboth sides of all the cards in a perLod ofabout six seconds.

Start with ore card face down on topof the face up deck. Hold the deckupr ight (perpendicular to the floor) inthe left hand at chest level as shown inthe illustration.

The spectat.ors are Innedi.ately infront of you. Your right fingers restalong the top edge of the deck and yourright thumb along the bottom edge.Theright hand's poait i.on is also shown in theillustration.You are going to riffle thecards from the front to the back.

However. rather than moving the righthand to do the riffle, you are going tomove the left hand counter-clockwise at

--------~-- --~ ~---

the wrist. This will cause the cards toslCMly spring off the right fingertips.The audience can view the backs of thecards .iInrrediately before they spring butyou must be sure that the faces of thecards which have already sprung do notenter into their angle of vision. Whenyou have rotated the left wrist to thepoint where they can almost see thesefaces, release the ranaining five or socards in a group from the right fingers asthe left hand pivots all the way down asfar as it will go. The deck should nCM bepointing slightly downward at this point.It will be at about naval-level.

You have just shown them OlE side ofthe cards and are nCM apparent.Iy going toshow them the other. Your right handslCMly takes the deck and turns it overend for end. Keeping the deck aimeddownward, you are nCM going to riffle theedges upsard, Your right hand grasps thecards as before with the thtnnb at theICMer end and the fingertips at the upper ,However, this time, you will riffle thecards upward by moving your rightfingers upward, not t¥ rotating the leftwrist. You will lift the front edges ofall the cards upsard just enough to al.Lowthe spect.at.ors to see the backs of thecards as they fall. This time you want tomake sure that you don't lift the edges upenough for them to see the faces of thecards before they spring.

In the illustration with thespectator (at the top of the next column)you can see the spect.at.or ' s two differentangles of view which result from the deckbeing held in different positions.(Please note that it is not necessary tohave the spsct.ator jumping and pointing tomake the illusion work. A short hop willsuffice. )

42

That's all there is to it. Try it afew times in front of a mirror to get yourangles down and you're ready to go. Here'sone other "quickie II you might want to addto your routine. At the end of mostroutines, you're left with one card facedown on top of the face up deck. For thechange you might want to take the deck inthe right hand and execute the One HandTop Palm. If you accompany the move witha slight up and down movement of the righthand, it will appear that the deckinstantly changed from backs to faces.(If you want more details on the use ofthis move. see They Don't Make TrapdoorsLike They Used Too, Or Yoo Too can Walk OnWater. )

These are both simple things that yousee in someone' s lecture or while hangingaround in a magic shop and kick yourselffor not coming up with them in the firstplace.

* 5 COIN STAR*

JOHN RIGGS

This is an addition to the standardRoll-down flourish or coin star. ItalLows you to take it one step further andmake it into a five point.ed star or acircle (depending on your irragination)with only one extra coin. It's from thefertile (able to reproduce) mind of JohnRiggs from Knoxville, TenlEssee. I am notgoing to waste space describing theregular flourish. (I have plenty of othergood things to waste space on! )If youcan't do it already. you probably aren'tgoing to be interested in an addition to

/~

r it. (Something about displaying onecoin••• it seldom draws applause.) Theoriginal flourish is described in J.B.Bobo's classic ~m Coin Magic. If youalready do it, this addition should onlytake a couple of hours to learn.

Execute the regular flour ish with theexception that you should do it with fivecoins. The bigger the coins, the easierthe flourish. At the finish of theflourish. two coins should remain betweenthe right third and fourth fingers. Youwill notice that these two coins have atendency to spread, the lower protrudingslightly beneath the upper; This will aidyou later when you want to split these twocoins. To help describe the moves, I'mgoing to number the coins. The one beingheld by the thumb is coin #1. The nextCoin in line is #2 and so on down theline. The bottan coin of the two betweenthe third and fourth fingers is coin #5.

43

To start, bring your right thumbaround to meet the right third finger.(It's best that they should know eachother since they are going to be workingtogether.) As it does, coin #1 willautanatically pivot back beneath coin #2.They don't collide since the originalproduction leaves coin #1 slightly belowcoin #2 on the first finger. In order forthe thurnb to meet the third finger. boththe third and fourth fingers have to cornein some. When this is done. the thurnb cangrasp the protruding edge of coin #5. Itis grasped between the thumb and pinky androlled out on the pinky. This actionsimultaneously rolls out coin #1 and youwind up with a circle of coins. This isthe improved flourish.

To aid in the final roll-out, you maywant to rotate your hand at the wrist sothat the fingers are above the thumb.When done this way. gravity steps in tohelp in the splitting of the two coins.

Here's a final thought on a similarsubject. I used to produce four coinsusing John Murray'scoin roll routine foundin his lecture notes, Mostly Openers.Using the same moves, I would produce afifth coin and ask the audience if theywould like to see a "Five Coin Roll".They always said "yes" (thank goodness!>.Then I would stack all five coins togetherand roll them in a group on the table.This always got a good laugh. (Well. itdi.d l ) For those of you who were fooled byit, remember, you read it here first.

r\ •

Dear Mr. Beam,

I would like very much to tell youhow much we enjoyed your act at ourbanquet. It can hardly be put into words.

Everyore was thrilled your giantguillotine trick. Little Susie Long wasreally scared when you put her neck in theguillotine. And boy, were we surpr i.sed,We never really thought you I d actually cuther head off. It was really colorful.

And spaaklnq of color. you showedgreat creativity by doing the show inblack-face for our local chapter. 11m

sure. the national N.A.A.C.P. would also, like to see it.I Those tricks you performed using

Iadult language and r i squet; pat.ter storieswent over well considering the large

. number of children in the audience.I, Chi Ldr en really enj oy magic ian s ,I And finally, TIW personal. favorite was! when you' poured that gallon' pitcher of inkI into that paper core and pretended that: you were going' to make the ink di.sappear,I I just about died when you smashed the,; core and the ink went allover the place.'I You must have practiced that surprisedI look on your face for a week. The new, carpet; we ordered should be in thisI Friday.

Ii Again we thank you for taking theIi time to provide distinctively differentII entertairnnent performed in an interesting

manner. If you need any references forfuture shows, please use us.

Sincerely.

Inetta R. Staley

PAPER GAPERS.L.B. et 01

This an idea from an oldaccounting professor of mine which I'veapplied to magic. During a card trick,the magician says that he doesn I t wantto see where the spectator replaces thechosen card and wants to make absolutelysure he doesn't see the sFectatorshuffle. These points are r epeat.ed, Asthe magician picks up a newspaper andstarts to read it, "1 111 just stand overhere reading the newspaper ,"

46

For a while, peopl.e are watchi.nqthe spect.ator shuffle. Gradually,. tl;ei rattention shifts back to the maqi.caan,He is seen to be straining his eyeslooking through two big eye holes whichare cut in the paper , After thelaughter subsides, the show continueswith the magician building up the factthat he was reading the newspaper andtherefore couldn't possibly have seenanything.

Regurgitations. Whilethe effect above, I used the gag Inconjunction with a card trick. Thegreat thing about this is that you canuse it to spice up almost any trick(card or otherwise) which needs a littlehumor.

"Jhe TraIXbor is published fourtimes a year. A subscription to fourissues is $20.00 postpaid in the u.s.and Canada. Single issues are $6.00while ava:D.able. The Winter Extra issent free to all subscribers. Thesubscription price includes membershipin the exclusive club, the WillistonInternational Magic PractitionersSociety (W.I.M.P.S).

Send all correspondence to:

'!he Trapdoor1058 Marilyn st.

Williston, s.c, 29853 USA

The Tra{ldoor is written, illus­trated, pubLd s h e d , edited, andcop!{righted by Steve Beam and it employscheap labor to do the rest of the work.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *SUbscription A];plication

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *(Please complete and return.)

Dear Steve,Enclosed you III find TIW check for

$20.00 for a SUbscription to TheTrapdoor. I knos that any publishedcontributions will extend mysubscription by one issue. I understandI can cancel this subscription at anytime. I also understand that this wouldbe foolish since you wonI t refund any ofII¥ money.

(Sign here as a future subscriber)

'lhe Effect Of Alcohol on PerfOCllling Magic*****************************************Sd:ler. I~oy, this is a tough audience.They told me before the show that theydon't like magicians. Maybe those newbilliard ball droppers won't workproperly. I should have practiced withthem more. I should have practiced thewhole show more. Why am I here?"

an "e", (In one of our previous letters Ihad spe.l.Led his name, "l'lickeyHades. ")Therefore, in order to keep harmony in themagic fraternity and to advance Canadian/American relations, I will nov.' address himin all future cor respondence as, "NickyHaas. " (I want to knoe if he and "R."from above have been talking behind rrrYbaok, )

Effective this issue, the last issueof your subscription will be printed onyour mai.I ing label. If you notice anyerrors, please let me know immediately sothat I can ignore them. (Rana'llber, if youpaid through issue # 5 and contributea twotricks that were published, your lastissue should be :If: 7.)

I have two things I thought I wouldmention about tricks previously publishedin these paqes , First, in "Pip Picker"(issue :If: 3, page 40) you can use theErdnase Color Change from "Jhe Expert At 'ftleCard Table in leiu of the palm color changegiven. This makes the trick/gagpractically angle-proof. Second, in "AllKeyed Up" (issue :jj: 3, page 47) you can usehood ornaments or key chains with the car'sembl.em or trademark on it instead of thecar keys them se1ves, This would make thetrick more visible from a distance withoutmaking the trick any more difficult.Cannon ernblans which would be easy to findand to use for the tr ick would be thosebelonging to Volkswagen and to l'J.ercedes.

Let me bring this fourth issue to aclose. Remember that the next issue isthe Annual which is sent free to allsubscribers. It is devoted entirely tothe invention of trLeks, Until then letme leave you with this thought: The greatthing about performfnq Wonderbar is thatit allows you to floss during the show.

After One Drink. BarelyNerves and butterflies"This audience is okay.

any effect.dissappear.No need to

67

worry about those new billiard balldroPfers•••• they'll work out fine."

After 'lWo Drinks. "This is a greataudience. After alL, they helped me pickup the playing cards I dropped, Tbeythink I'm the greatest thing since adouble lift without a get-ready. f".a.yr...ethey would like to see n~ ball dropper ,I don't guess it matters. I justranernbered that I forgot to load it.. "

After Four Drinks. (After magicallyproducing a ball dropper and thenexposing a double 1 t without aget-ready. ) "I'm funnier than Bob Hope.The whole audience Lauqh inq, Hey,maybe I should start trying to do comedymagic. Do you good biddies want t.o seeJI¥ finger chopper routine?"

After Six Drinks. (After wiping up bloodand attempting to rubber cement fingerback on irate spect.at.or ' snub.) "Here,nub a card! Hee Bee. I,(X)k at thebright side. You've got one less nailto trim. Aw, C'mon back. I'll show youJI¥ head choppar • "

After Eight Drinks. (After tripping overball dropper and falling on fingers usedin the double lift without a qet--ready.)"ZZZZZZ."

~, BOYS AND GIRLS, I'M GQDI; 'lO SlYlt'#YOU A TRICK WITH A SPONGE••••• "

LEFTOVERS

This is the fourth and final regularissue of the first volume of 'lbe Tra[door.This also a s~cial IINo LevitationIssue." I think you'll agree with me thatlevitations have been greatly overworkedby magic magazines in recent years. Inysel f had four or five scheduled for thisissue. However, in the interest ofadvancing I have decided to holdthem for publication --- after thecurrent craze down. That willprobably be next year. Speakingof next year,subscription renewals are notdue yet. REmember that your next issue isthe "Annual" and sent free to allsubscribers. The issue will be onOCM to invent your own tricks.

I would like to this month byoffering an idea or suggestion to theInternational Brotherhood Of Magicians.Almost everyone in magic would like tohave a complete directory of the magiciansof the world. Obviously, the I.B.M. is theonly organization around that would havethe information necessary to produce sucha directory.A few years ago I read in 'lbeLinking Ring (poasi.bly in Heward Bamman'scolumn) that the I.R.M.. couldn't afford toproduce and mail this undertaking alongwith putting out the regular monthlymagazine. I tmderstand this completely.M)rsuggestion that the I.B.M. produce thisdirectory in leiu of one of the regularmonthly issues every other year or so.The cost of the mailing and the productionwould therefore come out of 'lhe LinkingRing's budget and would not cost themembers any extra money. Also, ads forthe directory would sell at a praniumwhich could produce a healthy profit forthe L.R. Furthermore, there could be abox to check on the dues envelope for

those that would not like to have theirname included in what could possiblybecome a magic junk-mail list.

I also have a qr ipe regarding I.B.N.Ever~yone in magic knows and respects SidLorraine. But, did you know that Sid hasheld membership number 164 in the I.B.!"I.for over fifty years? Clmon now, guys.Isn't it about, time we gave him a newnumber? And I don't mean 1651 Let's givehim a number that shows respect; Even Ihave a five digit number. Let's start awrite-in campai.qn to give him at least at.en digit number.. Their mailing address

Int.L, Brofherhood of MagiciansDept. of High-numbersKenton, OhioUSA

Michael Beam contributed thefollo;.ving bit for those of you who doni thave any taste. Mike (as he doesn I t liketo be has had to wear a retainerfor the ten years or so. Onfront of retainer, there is one tooth.When the retainer is in place,this appearsto be the tooth immediately to the side ofone of his two front teeth. Unless you haveyour dental probe wi th you, you can' t tellthe difference between this and a regulartooth. Those of you who may have asimilar set up might like to try this thenext time your friends are eating. Reachup with your hand to apparently remove thetooth. As soon as your fingers cover thetooth, the tongue pulls the retainer backinto your mouth. Pretend to pull the toothout and smile at the audience. They willsee one tooth missing and will assume thatyou have it in your hands. You can thenvanish it by your favorite method. Thereare several potential patter ideas,Lncl.udi.nq changing it into a quarter asyou talk about how you used to put itunder your pillaw for the tooth fairy.You could follow this with a vanish of thequarter (french drop) saying that if you

68

rrl-I°ErrI~l\PDOOl~

1984 NRJAL

WRIT'1'EN AND EDITED BY STE.VE BEAM ,. OOPYR!GBT 1984 BY S'l"E\1ER L. BEAM

CRJEA'JfJlNG MAGJlC

Creating magic, while notdifficult, is a complicated process.The raw material for the process is yourentire body of knowledge. The supply istherefore unliwited and unique to you.lob one else has the same material towork with.

The desired outcome is not aconcrete one. You don't know what itwill look like when you start and youmay not be sure when you are finished.

Inventing magic tricks is not foreveryone. However, it is~ choice tomake. Almost every magician with asincere desire who is willing to p.1t inthe necessary effort can invent magictricks.

Don't kid yourself. however. Itdoes take work. Creating magic, likeperforming magic, is an art which mustbe developed, practiced, and fine-tuned.The more you put into it, the moreyou'll get out of it.

In addition to the thrill ofcreating and performing your ownoriginal magic, there are severalnon-magic benefits which will alsofollow. Have you noticed that years ofreading books of magic instructions hasmade you a better non-magic instructionreader? I used to hate to read mathbooks because they were eithercomplicated or not interesting enough tohold my attention. My mind would

69

wander. Now, because of the disciplineI have gained from reading complicatedmagic texts, I can keep my mind on eventhe most sleep-provoking books. Thishas further helped me in my work where Ihave to read complex <and dull!)manuals.

By the same token, creating magicwill improve your general problemsolving ability. You will find yourselflooking at problans in different ways.You will attack them with a greatervariety of solutions and these solutionswill be better thought through than theones you might otherwise have offered.Where one or two ideas might appear toothers, you'll be able to offer several.Then you'll be able to decide which oneis the best of the ones that have beenoffered. It's similar to everything else.SOOleone who does a lot of publicspeaking, tends to become good at it.SOOleone who spends a lot of time solvingproblans and being creative, also tendsto become good at it.

In this issue, I have tried toexplain some of the different methods ofcreating magic which I have used in thepast. Most of these ways were notintentionally developed in order tocreate magic. They just seemed toevolve unconsciously over the lastfifteen years. I know they work. Ihope they wor:k for you.

WARNING!!

Before I st.art., let me warn youabout a trap you should avoid fallinginto. (Magicians should always be carefulabout falling into traps.) Don't be tooquick to discard someone else's trickfor one of yours, simply because it isyours. I have invented several thousandmagic tricks/routines/variations overthe last fifteen years. However. in allbut about 500 of these, I decided thatan existing trick or routine was better.Also, many of the others I had createdwere simply no good. I may have spentseveral hours, days, or weeks working onsomething which was, when finished, noteven as good as the averaqe, ItiIl1p)rtant that you learn to honestlyevaluate your cr eat.Lons c nont usesomething just because you invented itwhen it might be inferior to othermaterial which is available.There arealready too many volumes out there withlittle or no value. Just as you don'twant to buy one. you don I t want to be inthe poai.t.i.on of having to sell one"

GETTING IN 0THE MOOD

There is a definite mood conduciveto creating magic. It not alwaysentered into intentionally ~ You'll findthat ideas come in clusters. One idealeads to another. This may be becauseone idea forms a logical transition toanother idea" Or, it may be that thefeeling of success from the first ideais a form of reward or gratificationwhich entices you to produce another.Whatever the reason, it seems to workboth ways.

That is, ideas lead to more ideas,while slumps lead to more slumps. If Iam in a slump, I don't try to force it.I just try later. If I haven't come upwith something of value within areasonable period of tirre, I flip on thetube to a M*A*S*H rerun. There isnothing more trying than unsuccessfullytrying.

70

-_..~---_.

Ule production of other ideas whichmight otherwise accompany it.

You should write down everythingthat you think will some day turn into atrick. It may be an effect, a method, agag, or a sleight. If it seems like ithas future p::>ssibilities, write it down.If it I S a completed or almost completed

Y,.,

trick, don't rely on your memory. ou abe amazed at the number of trLeks I'vecome up with that saw tile light of printonly because I went for aging through astack of rapers in a drawer before Ithrew them out.

Necessity is the mother ofinvention. OUts are the product ofnecessity • Combine these two ideas andyou have another source ofinventiveness. Occasionally during atrick yeu'll have to change a part of itspont.aneoualy , Many times, this changeis in the form of an out or an ad lib.Both of these are exarnples of instantinvention. If you don I t have a penc i I &paper handy. you'll lose the newadditions to the magicians in theaudience who 00.

As I said, you must carry pen andpaper with you wherever you .go. I triedcarrying a little note1J?ok With m~ rotafter a while I would e.ither lose it orforget it. Then I used to write on slipsof paper in my wallet since I ahlayscarried my wallet with me. HO\vever, I'mafraid a lot of original magic vanishedwhen :r;:eriodically I decided to stopsitting lop-sided and would clean out mywallet. About eight years ago I came upwith something that worked :r;:erfectly forme. I always carry IT¥ check book withme. Always. There are two otherwiseblank paqes in the back of the checkregister with the words flFigure Here" onthem. I use these two rages to writedown enough to (in) jog my memory at alater date. I've Lncl.uded a copy ofwhat a few of them look like. Thewriting is slopPi because I'm usually ina dark theater. listening to someonespeak, or riding in a car.Many ?f !l¥friends must figure that I take bei.nq anaccountant; seriously because I ahraysappear to be balancing my check book. Ifyou look closely. you can see the startof several itaus which have ended upei ther earlier in t.bis magazine or inone of !l¥ books.

read this andrut will not

Those are thehundreds of

through their

hhat you are about to read isprobably the TIlOf3t Impor tant suggestion Ican give you on how to create your CMI1

magic. It applies to all methods ofinventing tricks.

lV'any of you willthink it sounds fineactually put it into use.maqi ci.ans who will letposnibl.e inventions slipfingers.

The only tools necessary to createmaqic are a pencil and paper , You neverknow when an idea might occur to you.When one does, you must write it downimnediately. This Ls Important , Firstof all. it qives you a sense ofaccomplishment when you see the pile oforiginal ideas start mounting. up on ~.he

desk in your magic roan. 'I'lllS feelingof success is what gets you through themore unproductive sessions. (It is a~so

orounds for divorce when your Wifedecides to help you by cleaning up yourmagic room and throwing out your"trash. ")

~iore Important.Iy , if you don'twrite the idea down you will forget it.You may think you'll remember it byconcentrating on it rut you will forgetit. Also, ideas normally come in groupsof severa.l at a time. If you areconcentrating and trying to remember tnefirst idea that arrives, you will stifle

-Do you get the funny feeling someho~

that this guy is gonna win?-

71

BACKGROUND

Read a lot. Familiarize yourselfwith all practical methods foraccomplishing effects. This will form alarge part of the body of knowledge withwhich youlll attack the desiredeffect.You are reading to develop asolid background in methodology.Without this exposure to what is alreadyavailable, you will spend countlesshours reinventing the wheeL

I know of at least one exception tothis rule. Jer ry Andrus read verylittle of others while he was developinghis own very unique style of magic.This allowed him to create and pioneermany sleights and concepts. This wasvery successful for him. I often wonderwhat would have been the resul t ofapplying his creative talents to thewide body of knowledge alreadyavailable.' Also, keep in mind thatJerry had to start from scratch. He notonly had to invent the effect and themethod, but he also had to construct thesleights which made up the method. Ifit's the effect that you I re after. youdon't need to spend your time creatingsleights. There are already more thanenough sleights to accomplish just aboutanything imaginable. If however , youwant to develop your own brand of magic,you might like to try it J er ry' s way.Renember, there are no hard core rules.

SECOND GUESSING

AUTHORS

The way in which magic effects areusually described in magic literature(and I use the term "literature"loosely) nakes posaible an excellentopportunity to practice creating magic.Most authors split the effect and themethod into two distinct part.a, v]henreading this type of description, stopwhen you have finished reading theeffect. Before reading the method, try

12

.""to second guess the author by deci.dinq 'which is the best method to accomplishthe effect. Work at it. If you likethe effect, come up with severalmethods.

Decide which method is the best and'tId¥. This is Important , It 'lrlill helpyou later to discard methods whichyoulll never use. It will also help youclarify in your mind the type of magicyou want to create and what type youdon't. For example, sUPIXJse the effectgiven in the book was to float a playingcard in the air. Your first thoughtwould be to use invisible thread.(ThatVs thread thatls visible toeveryone except the magician and peoplewho write magic bcoks.)

Before going any further on how torig up the thread, I would discard themethod. To begin with, I perform magica lot of times on short notice. I liketo keep in practice on all the trLekswhich I normally perform. Personally. Iam too lazy to rig up thread duringpractice. One reason is that I wouldhave to find it first. Those of you whohave seen ~ magic roan know that 'this

no easy chore. Secondly, I doni tlike tricks that have to be continuallyrigged and rerigged. I like to set themup once and forget about ever having toset them up again. Most thread tricksare not of this nature. Finally. Inormally perform close up with whateverhappens to be in ~ pockets at the time.I never have a spool of invisible threadin ~ pocketa, Since I never usethread, I don't have to spend any timethinking about thread as a method.

This is not to say that you shoulddiscard thread as a method. Ieliminated it because I know in advancethat 1 1 11 never use it. I create tricksfor II¥self, not for you. (Then why am Iwri ting a maqazineP) If you will usethread, keep it in your list of methods.By leaving it off of II¥ list, I havesaved a lot of wasted time whencreating.

Do the same type of reasoning withall of your posaibl,e methods. Be sureto think them through to make sure thatthey would work. If the materials areconvenient, try working through some ofthe methods. Sanetimes a method isperfectly workable in theory but not in

practice. The more that you like theeffect, the more time you should bewilling to spend trying to come up withthe best method.

After you become efficient atmatching up the right method to a giveneffect, you 1 11 want to take the nextlogical step--- inventing you r owneffects. This same way of secondguessing the author can help you tooriginate your own effects. Many timesan author's description of an effect canbe quite lengthy. Use this disadvantageto your advantage. As you read theeffect, jump ahead in your mind and tryto guess what the effect is going to be.If you turn out to be correct, fine. Ifyou are wrong, you may have a new effectthat you can use. If so, work onfinding the right method to accomplishit.

OTHER MAGICIANS

73

~

If you invent a method for accomplishinghis effect that works for you, then hismethod is no longer imp:>rtant to youother than to add to your arsenal. And,what better method is there to add toyour body of knowledge than one that youknow works because it fooled you?

MAGIC CATALOGS

Magic catalogs are excellent forboth of the above uses. Many magicdealers tap dance all around the truthwhen describing their wares. If you'llwork on inventing methods that conformto the guidelines that (they say) theirproduct does, you'll probably inventseveral new methods. You may also makea dream into a real trLck, Rane:nber,the catalog descriptions a:' magic atits best. Sane of the methods areliterally garbage. If the givenmethods for a trick aren't worth using,then in Tl'\Y mind, the trick does notexist. If you can take one of theeffects that fall into this category andprovide a practical method, you haveinvented a trick. (This is not to saythat you invented the effect or plot.You just made the existing plot capableof being performed I::¥ someone other thanthe guy pictured in the ad , )

If the description in the catalogadequately reflects the truth, you canstill use it to help you practice. Youcan second guess the method or jumpahead in the effect as described withregular books above. As you can see,this is not the IfLazy-¥lCU1' s-Method11

for catalog browsfnq, As with all ofthe other methods of creating magic, ifit works for you, it can be fun. If itfails, it is work!

LAYMEN~ have invented tricks from

listening to a layman's distorteddescription of what the first or lastmagician he saw :r:erforrried. These areobviously tricks that had a strongenough effect to be (partially) recalledlater t¥ a non-magician. They have the

~

added advantage of having been enhancedl:¥ the unsuspect.inq layman. This makesthe effect even stronger (and in somecases, Imposaible) ,

Listening to laymen might alsoalert you to tr icks which you thoughtwere real foolers which aren't (unlessmembers of the audience are 'realfools'). Many times magicians can't seethe deck for the cards. A secondopinion is almost always of someuse••••• even if only to blackmail yourbrother magician.

I invented my One-hand Faro Shuffle( 'ibey Dcm' t Make Trapdoors Like '!heyUsed "1'0, Or You Too can Walk On Water.1977) after Jim Culver described theregular one hand shuffle (from Vernon'scard book) to me over the phone. We werejust kids starting in magic when hemoved to Indiana}X>lis. I had read aboutthe one hand shuffle but had never seena description in print. He saw someonedo it at a ring meeting and learned howto do it himself. Then he called me toenlighten me.For two years I thought Ihad followed his instructions to theletter. I later found out that Istarted with the deck held l:¥ the shortends while you were supposed to startwith the deck held by the long ends. Istill use my accidental discovery and Ilike it better than the original.Remember, Columbus thought he had founda new way to the Far East when hediscovered America. Take the advice ofmy lawyer••••make the most of youraccidents.

74

LYING

Just as laymen tend to exaggeratethe accomplishments of the magiciansthey have seen, I tend to smooth overthe rough areas when describing one ofmy new inventions to fellow rragicians.Just l:¥ describing the effect in detailto another magician it magically seemsto grow and mature. I normally use thisto come up with a presentation for atrick I've already invented.

I realize that if I describe theeffect without describing thepresentation which usually helps tocover the method, they have a betterchance of guessing the method. This isthe same as performinq an effect with nopatter or presentation. The audiencedoesn't have anything to occupy theirminds except the workings of the trickand they stand a much better chance offiguring it out. Therefore, to keepthem from figuring out the method I usein the description, I add some sort ofplot or theme to it.

This method was evolved totally l:¥accident. One weekend I invented atrick I really liked. The followingMonday some of II¥ magician friendscalled me at work and I described thetrick to them. Later that afternoon Irealized that each time I had descr ibedthe tr ick I had added something to itand it became better and better. Inother words, I had lied. However, as Idescribed the trick, I was altering themethods or presentations to allow for mysmall additions. By the time I wasready to show the trick, it was as goodas its description. (I think many magicdealers stop before reaching thispoi.nt., )

While I'm not advocating lying, youcan see the benefits of a littleexaggeration. It can help at any poi.nt;in the evolution of the trick and isesp=cially effective when putting on thefinishing touches.

I'm glad I explained this method,but I know it has one drawback. In thefuture, you'll never believe the"Effect" I give for my tricks when Iwri te them up.

PROBLEMS

One of the most productive ways tocreate magic is to set the desiredeffect up as a problem. Do it as youwould l:uy the accessories on a new car.If you want something, include it in theproblem. Later when you find out theprice you'll have to pay for thatluxury, you may decide it's not worthit.

Sane of the options you may want ona trick are for it to be:

ImpromptuAngleproof

Performed without a matPerformed standing

Accomplished without lapping

As you work on the method, you mayfind that you may have to sacrifice oneoption to gain another. I normallydecide on where I want to perform thetrick. This usually dictates theoptions I want it equipped with. Thoseare normally the only conditions onwhich I remain inflexible. I try toretain as many of the others as posstbreas I start mrrowing down the solution.

Many tirnes there is a trade-offbetween effect and method. For example,you may want to show your hands empty atthe end of the trick where you are leftwith a palmed coin. If you are seated anddon't want to lap or sleeve, you maywant to ditch the coin as you reach forsomething. If not, you might trybacking up and changing an earlier partof the routine to allow you to be cleanat the end. If you don't want to changeany of the rest of the solution to theproblem. you may just have to forgetflashing the hands at the end.

This is the kind of give-and-takewhich occurs in the preliminary stagesof almost every trick. This is theactual designing of the trick where youdecide what you want and what you arewilling to do to get it.

It's interesting to see how boththe method and the effect evolve duringthis process. It's a good idea to writethe problan down when you start. Be sure

75

to include all of the oonditions andoptions. Then, after you have finishedcreating the trick, compare the finishedproduct with the initial dream. Manytimes you'll be amazed at the differencein the two. It might also ranind you ofsomething you wanted included at thebeginning which you forgot as the trickevolved, It's never too late to try toadd back some of the options which wereeliminated along the way.

Many magicians have a pet; problem.They refuse to change any of theconditions, just to see if it can besolved as is. A good problem cangenerate several methods. '!Wo examplesof these are Paul Curry's "OpenPrediction" and Jon Racherbaurner's"Dream Prediction. " These are wellthought out problens which oontinue togenerate a lot of discussion amongmagicians today. (Refer to "TheHeirophant" for more discussiongenerated on the "Open Prediction" thanyou ever cared to listen to.)

Another approach to problan solvingis to put yourself into someone else'smind. Look at the problan and try tofigure out how other magicians wouldsolve it. Ask yourself. "How wouldJerry Andrus solve this partiCUlarproblem?" Karrell Fox? Ed Marlo?Steve Duscheck?

Many different ideas oome to mindwhen thinking about these differentmagicians. While playing Jerry Andrus,I would try to solve the problem with adifficult and angular sleight. If Iwere Karrell Fox I would look for acomedy presentation and do I'IW best toeliminate the sleights. If I were EdMarlo I would use a set-up, anunpublished sleight, 26 crimps, abridge,and a quarter pound of wax. . Ifthere's some magician in particularwhose tricks you enjoy reading andperforming, try figuring out how hewould solve it. (Then write to me andI'll tell you if you guessed correctly• )You get the idea. Work with it and seejust how productive this method can be.

BRAINSTORMING NAME DROPPING

EXISTING TRICKS

effect, free-stylestart the trickno guidelines. Youyou start where itcareful. the results

Brainstorming can best be definedas creating magic by committee. Itinvolves a group of at least two people"putting their heads together" to inventtricks, invent effects, or solveproblems. It is based on the clichethat two heads are better than one. Themore people participating, the moreknowledge and experience you have todraw from. It allows you to get instantfeedback on your ideas which greatlyspeeds up the creative process.

It is best to plan the meetingwhere you'll be free from interruptions.Also, you want it held some place whereit will be easy to keep your mind on themagic. A women's dorm. for example, isnot a good place to create card tricks.

The only rule is that there are norules. This should be strictlyenforced. If someone has a possiblysilly idea, you don't want them to beafraid to express it. (You can alwaystalk about them later on the way home,)

Some of the best ideas that I I veheard produced from this type of sessionstarted as joke solutions to problems.I really think that humor adds to thecreativity of the group. It also helpsto pass the occasional unproductivesessions quickly.

sane of the disadvantages to thistype of creating arise when there is aconflict regarding who invented thetricks produced during the session.l-l.hile I personally have never had thisproblem <r beat the others into printwith it) I can see where it could resultnot only in creating tricks, but also increating conflicts.

There is one other caution I wouldkeep in mind. Be careful that you don Itdiscard an idea on someone else's advicebefore giving the idea your best effort.Negative feedback is something youshould consider but base your decisionon your own feelings. (This laststatement regarding negative feedbackdoes not apply when you are in front ofa lay audience which is throwing thingsat you.)

76

This is an interesting way toinvent a trick which I believe wasoriginated t¥ Jerry Andrus. Many tirreshe starts with the name of the trick.He comes up with a unique, novel, or"catchy" name, and then thinks of aneffect or a sleight to go with it.

Take an example of his, say,"Tracker Jacks" , and see what you cancome up with. Cbvious solutions wouldbe any of the hundreds of jack-sandwicheffects around, See if you can go alittle deeper. Or you might want to trya name he invented for a sleight, "ThePanoramic Shift." After you give it atry, consult J erry Is books to see whathe came up with. I guarantee you thatyour end product will be totallydifferent from his.

If you would like a few dozen tricknames to practice with, check DanGar rett Is column "Pandora Is Box" in theMoO.II. magazine. Each month for thelast couple of years, Dan has ended thecolumn with sample trick names. Many ofthese are very clever and would makeexcellent starting points for this typeof inventing.

This is, ininventing. Youbackwards and havehave no idea whenwill lead. But, bemight not be pretty.

Another way to invent tricks is tomodify existing tricks. Who says that"cards Up The Sleeve" must be performedwith cards? Who says the cards have togo up the sleeve? Why don I t they godown the sleeve or penetrate through thesleeve proper? Where is it written thatyou have to use a sleeve? What other

..-!!

objects suggest themselves which mightalso offer presentatioml ideas? Theseare all wCf:!s to change existing tricks.

Probably the most common wCf:! toalter a trick is to do it backwards .Agood example of this is the "ReverseMatrix." After the coins travel to onecorner of the mat, they inunediatelyreturn to the four corners from whencethey came. All you are doing isperforming the same effect backwards anddoing it all at once rather than onecoin at a time.

Another example of a backwardsclassic is Allan Ackerman's "ReassembledFinale" in Close-up Fantasies - B<xlk II.

This is the standard four ace assemblywhich has been putting audiences tosleep for years. However. at theconclusion, each ace returns instantlyto its respective racket.

I get a lot of use out of KarrellFox's "Plural Card Thru Hank" fromAnother Book. First you perform theclassic effect where a chosen cardpenetrates a handkerchief. You offer torepeat. When you shake the handkerchiefthe second time around, all the cardsdrop to the floor. All, that is, exceptthe chosen card which is still insidethe hank.

There are unlimited wCf:!s you canchange existing tricks. Try changingthe props, the sequence of events, orthe method. Can you add something to itwhich would add something to it? Canyou take something away from it withouttaking something awCf:! from it? Try andlook at the same trick in ways whichnobody else would think about. Work toimprove each effect.

However, you must also know when tostop. If it's not broken, don't fix it.If the deck is really shuffled, there'sno need to cut it. In other words,don't change something just for the sakeof change. Remember AI Baker'scutting observation: "Many a tr ick hasdied of improvanent."

ROUTINES

Once you have invented what youfeel is a good trick, you need to

77

originate a presentation for it.Every trick which is performed has

a presentation. You may decide that theright presentation for your tricks is nopresentation. That is still a form ofpresentation since that is the wCf:! youwill present them. Unless you areperforming for magicians, you willbecome one of the "MagicallyUnemployed. "

I don I t have much to offer you onthis subject other than a few ideaswhich have worked well for me in thepast.To start with, when I come up witha trick, I decide how and when I want toperform it. This usually dictates whattype of presentation I'll develop for itand how much of a presentation isnecessary.

Then I look at the props involvedin the trick to find out if there is away I can get some humor out of them. Ifthey aren't inherently funny, can I makethem funny? That is, can I do somethingwith them that would be funny? Can Irefer to them or compare them tosomething which might be funny?Can Imake the audience look at them in a waythey never have before?

If not, can I exchange them forsomething which would do the trick whichis funny?For example, if I'm using aknife to force a card, can I change itto something with more humorouspossibilities such as a comb. (Those ofyou who don't think a comb is funnyhaven't seen what it looks like when I'mholding one. Besides, I don't haveanything else to do with II¥ old combs.)

What you are looking for here issomething you can grasp onto and use fora foundation to tuild a routine. Yourfirst few ideas for presentation willproblably bear no resemblance at all tothe finished product. You just wantsomething which will make this trickei ther different or entertaining.

Once you have exhausted yourpreliminary ideas for the routine,consult some of your other routines forgag lines or ideas. Or, you may want totake an already published presentationand alter it to fit the trick you haveinvented.

Next you'll want to perform thetrick for a few close friends. These[;J' e the people whom you have alienated

A

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from society by forcing them to becomemagic buffs. These otherwise normalpeople can sometimes make suggestionsfor patter themes. More iIflIX>rtantly,the purpose they serve is simply being aliving, breathing, body. The first fewtimes you perform a trick in front of alive audience are the most importanttimes in the evolution of thepresentation of that trick. Since youmust say something while performing thetrick to avoid a vacuum type of effect,this is where you might ad-lib thepresentation which you will use in thefuture.

We will assume that by using someof the techniques above, you have comeup with at least a bare-bones pattertheme. It is now time to practice thetrick prior to showing it to a realspectator. This is one of the mostimportant steps in the evolution of thepresentation. You must believe thatyour intended audience is in the roanwith you and that you are actuallyperforming a live show. That is, youmust act and perform exactly as youwould if there were an audience therewith you. If you make a mistake, youmust cover for it with an out. If youforget your patter r you must ad-lib. Donot consult your notes. This is wherethe new ideas come from.

It's the feeling of pressure causedby the imaginary audience which fuelsthe creative process. However, you mustgo all the way. You must visualizetheir responses to what you say and do.You must also anticipate all of thepossible responses to what you ask themto say and do. The combinations areendless as are the presentationpossibilities. The more you act likethey are really there. the more resultsyou'll have to show for your effort (andthe more schizophrenic you'll become).

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4,192366823561628131

1,44,514087

Lock & KeyLorraine, SidMaeb-y CountMailMarlo, EdMathMcduff, AlgolX}uinMorris, DonNamecallingNew Modern MagiNewspaperNo-Tie KnotPaper GaperPen ReversePensPen VanishPettit, HenryPieces Of EightPip PickerPracticeRewardRiggs, JohnRollover KingsRopeRosenthal, HarveyRubber BandsRubber Chickens"Style lt

Stop!Taylor, HaroldThompson, Jr.,J.G.Top StockTranspo-lTranspo-2Trick Brain, The'!We-FacedUpside DownWilmotWhite, Jeff

1984 INDEX

Advertisements 11,50All Backs 41All Keyed Up 47,67Ambitious Card 37Andrus, Jerr-r 72Back To Aces 6Beam, Michael 68,66Beam, Steve 1,5,6,9,12,14,17,21,23,24,27

32,34,35,37,39,40,41,46,47,5354,55.56,57,58,59,61,62,63,64

Bergeron, Bev 1Biographical Rope 27,66Buff. R.C. 66Business Cards 47cards 5,6,21,23,24,32,35,36,37

39,40,41,47,50,55,59,61,63card Sharp on Duty 52Caught! 20Christmas Cards 36Cleveland, Dexter 50,51,83,88Coins In The Bottle 34Coins 31,34,42Cul ver , Jim 66,74Cut & Restored Belt 12Diminishing Deck 63Down IS UfPer 39Farly Riser 37Erasers 53False Faro 59Faro 59Finger Rings 35Five Coin Star 42Five Kings Card Trick 24Fitzkee, Dariel 81Floor Fan 55Flowers (Jumping) 58Gardner, Martin 51Garrett, Dan 51,76,88Givens, Donna 52,87,88Hades, Micky (No "Elt 1) 67Hayden, Allan 52Hole Flight 51Hot Dog 64Human Eraser 53Human Printing Press 47Jumping Flower 58Justice, Kevin 30,88Keys 47,67Kyzer, Wayne 20,40,52,84,88License Plates 17

19

80

SEE -TOOLS· ON PAGE 70

THE TRICK BRAIN

"It is a tiresome, tedious, arduousmental process. And most magicians donot care for mental processes, eventhose of minor difficulty."

This is how Dariel Fitzkeedescribes the creation of magic tricksin the third chapter of The Trick Brain.~ then performs a fascinatingdissection of magic, its methods andeffects, in this second volume of hisclassic trilogy.

The approach given in "Jhe TrickBrain is to narrow the 'tyFes of effectsdown to nineteen. From here, Fitzkeenarrows down the methods available toaccomplish these nineteen effects. Heprovides between five and fifty-twobasic methods for each effect.

To invent a trick you have only tomatch an object with an effect. Thenselect one of the given methods toaccomplish the effect.

For example, let's say you'replanning a series of shows for somebowling leagues and would like to use abowling ball in your show. You now havean object. Of course you want to dosomething magical with that object soyou turn to Fitzkee' s list of nineteendifferent effects. Suppose you select aproduction. You now have an object andan effect. You now turn to the back ofthe book and look under "Appearances andProductions" where you J 11 findforty-eight methods to acoomplish aproduction. You have merely to decidewhich one suits your style, your show,arrl your performing conditions.

J:.1ow all you need is a presentationfor your new trick. No doubt if thetrilogy had been made into a quadrology.the final book would have been thevarious methods of routining, :r;:attering,aod entertaining----possibly. "ThePatter Brain."

This book, as well as the rest ofthe trilogy, is required reading forevery student of magic-:r;:articularlythose of you who want to create theirown magic. It should be read andcarefully studied--don't wait for theCliff Notes.

81

LIVING WITH AN IDEA

I J ve been asked where I get theideas for the Leftovers section of thismagazine. I write this magazine severalmonths in advance. Most of each issueis written at least six months before itgoes to the printer. That is, all butthe LeftOl1ers section. I usually startthis section before I write up any ofthe tricks. I write down what I thinkmight be of interest to the readers.When I finish writing whatever happensto be on my mind at the time, I startwriting the tricks. However, during thenext several weeks of writing andillustrating, I always know in the backof my mind that I have that unf inishedcolumn. Every time I read, see, orthink of something which I feel shouldbe added to the column, I write it down.I literally live with the next column inthe back of my mind. I am activelyseeking th ings to put in the column.Gradually, the article takes shape andbecomes the last few paqes of thismagazine.

This is also the method I used towrite this issue. If I had tried tostart and complete it in a weekend, youwould be holding a two paqe issue inyour hands. Instead, from the moment Idecided to write this issue 7 monthsago, I started accumulating ideas andpaying more attention to the creativeprocess. Each time I recognized some part;of the process which I had repeatedlyused with success, I wrote it down.When I finally sat down at the wordprocessor, this list became thefoundation for the article.

I believe I am one of the fewproducing a magic magazine who also hasan unrelated full-time career. Thisother time-consuming career is what hasforced me to write each issue over aperiod of time. This seemingdisadvantage has worked out to be in myfavor because it forces me to writetricks up in sections. And each time Icome back to oontinue writing, I rereadand usually alter what live alreadywritten. It is the length of timeinvolved along with the number of times

which I think about something which isresponsible for whatever containedwithin"

'Ihis is also the way I treat manyof II¥ tricks. At any given time, I haveat least 5 or 10 tricks which I amactively trying to complete. That is, Iam constantly involved in a dynamicprocess of adding, subtracting, andaltering different parts to arrive at II¥desired goal. These are always in theback of II¥ mind.

I don't have to consciously thinkabout them. As a matter of fact, I canforget about them and still be workingon them. I'll be sitting in II¥ office,taking a shower, talking to someone,watching T.V., or even sleeping whenI'll tie the unfinished trick togetherwith something previously unrelatedwhich will complete the trick. I don'tknew why it works, it just

Periodically I go back to the listof unfinished tricks just to surethat I haven't completely forgottenabout t:hem. Then, normally within a fewdays, I've got at least one of themfinished. As old problans are solved,new ones are created to replace them,<It kind raninds you of your day job,doesn' t it?) Try "living with lJ some ofyour ideas to see how productive thismethod can be"

STEP BY STEP

This is to illustrate how you canarrive at several different methods ofaccomplishing an effect using some ofthe methods I've already explained.. Thesedifferent methods only took about twohours of goofing around. I picked arelatively simple but powerf'ul effect.

Basically, I want to hand a deck ofcards to someone and have them leave orgo to the far side of theroan. They were to note a card andreturn the deck to me. I would thenreveal their card in some manner , Itdidn J t matter whether the cards werewearing their case, in a rubber band, ornaked. There were no restrictions onthe effect except that I didn't want itto be mathematical. For example, I

82

didn I t want to use something that calledfor a lot of dealing and/or instructionssince the person would be out of theroon, 'Ihis eliminated the 9/19/29 force("add the digits and deal back thatnumber so that we arrive at II¥ forcecard.... "). I also didn't want to walkaround with a card index in my pocket;since I am inherently slow with thethings. Finally. I eliminatedestimation just to make thingsinteresting (and because I I m limited to20 }?ages).

There are already several solutionsin print for this very problen, Thefirst that comes to mind is the SvengaliDeck with a rubber band around it. Aslong as they f01100 your instructions onwhich way to open the deck to peek atthe card, you can I t go wrong. I oncesaw Orson Welles perform this on theTonight Show. He sent the girl out ofthe rborn at least three times to get herto do it ri.qht , Personally, I've neverhad to send them out more than 40 or 50times. This method would still suit mypurpose since I only plan to use it forintimate work (my honeymoon, forexample) •

One of It¥ favorite solutions waspublished in Betwem. '-Wo Minds py J.G.'l1lompson, Jr. and Ned Rutledge.. It wascalled "Without Benefit of Magician. II

It used a 000 way deck but nice thingwas that the spectator handled the deckthe whole tire. 'l1le magician doesn'ttouch it. In other words, the magiciancaused the spectator to unwittinglyreverse his selection while he holdsboth the deck and the selection.

Another good solution was EdMarlo's in Tricks with Daub. Thespectator in removing the cards from thecase would get some daub on his thumband during the course of the selection,he would transfer this to the chosencard. I had a nightmare one night whereI tried this method. When I handed thecase to the spect.ator , the daub got allover his clothes and his hands.Finally, he said, "What I S all this crapon the card case?" Then two weeks laterI received a $200.00 cleaning bill.Anyway. I think it I S a good solution ifyou don J t mind that dreaded printers I

disease---Blue Fingers.Before I started playing with the

...I!l

problem seriously. I called Don lilorristo see how he would solve it. I'vealways been able to count on him forsome good suggestions. He said that theproblem was too easy. He would use astooge. His subscription was imnediatelycancelled. You know. I used to be ableto count on Don for some goodsuggestions.

DonI s idea did remind me of an"Instant Stooge" version already inprint. I beleive it was Dai Vernon's.This version was for use in arestaurant, preferably when sitting withother magicians. In it, you give the caseof cards to a wai tress and have herleave the roan to make her selection.Unknown to the magicians at the table,there was a note and a $10.00 tip in thecase along with the cards asking her togo along with the magician and "pick If

the two of clubs. The note also askedher to keep the method a secret. Myonly problem with this method was the$10.00 associated with it. Although.now that I think about it, Dai probablystiffed her when they finished withtheir meal and it was time for herregular tip. (And, when she realized it,she probably ran after his compani.onsand explained the whole miracle to themin detail.)

'Wow! - '!bat !llpISM FlashlV really is aneat device. :HQi much did yOCI say ywpaid for it?"

83

Later in that same phone call. Donsuggested using the old force where youglue the top half of the deck together.Ask the spectator to leave the roan tocut the pack and then to look at theface card of the group he cut. Theyalmost always cut between the gluedportion and the regular cards and willtherefore peek at the bottan card of thegimmick. If you don't want to glue anycards together, a short card would servethe exact same purpose,

After I hung up on Don, I made mysecond mistake. I called DexterCleveland. Dexter suggested using aone-way force deck (52 cards all thesame). I guess the spectator was then tobe placed on the honor system to keephim from peeking at the other 51 cards.

At this point, one questionprobably stands out in your mind. Thatquestion is, ''Why did Steve call thesepeople? n Well, just when Steve wasasking himself the same question, Dextersuggested using a set-up deck. Youcould have the whole deck set up in (forexample) the Eight Kings Set-up. Handthe encased deck to someone and ask themto go into the next roan. They let youknow when they have removed one card andonly one card from the case. 'When theydo, you tell them to manor ize it andthen to replace it in the case. Theodds are greatly in your favor that theywill replace the card in a differentp:>sition(out of sequence) which willallow you to locate it later.

(Of course I should mention that itis posaibl,e to elaborate on the forcedeck idea. You could have the 15 middlecards of the deck all alike. They wouldthen cut the deck in the middle to oneof the force cards. This would have theexact same appearance during performanceas the glued deck idea mentionedearlier. Or, you could use a variationof the Koran forcing deck with the same4 to 6 cards rotating in cyclesthroughout the deck.)

Several of the ideas up to thispoint are very good. Some areexcellent. (And some are Don' s, ) Sofar, the desired effect can beaccomplished by either: using a trickdeck, putting gook on a card case vputting glue on some cards, bribing awaitress, using (or calling) a stooge,

employing honor systen. or settingup a deck. If nothing , we have achoi.ce ,

Algonquin Mcduff was the next tohave an idea. It uses the "ImpromptuStooge" concept from Vernon's method butin a different way. His was to use therub-on card indices <Haines House Ofcards) on the flap of the card case.Put the name of the card where wouldbe invisible when the case closed.But when the spectator leaves the roanto remove a card from the case, it willbe imrrediately spotted. you don Itwant to use rub on letters, you couldsimply write the name of the card onthere with a magic marker.

The next stop on our tour wasinspired by an old Bill Simon trick,."'Touch ' Retouched" from Effective cardllfagic. This was an impromptu variationof Paul Curry's marketed effect,"Touch. " Wayne Kyzer and I had beendiscussing the trick earlier. My ideawas to have a sp:!ctator shuffle thedeck. He was then to walk to the otherside of the roan and place the deckbehind his back. He would rEmove a cardand place it face down in the face updeck without looking at it. The magicianwould then take the deck face up to showand to make sure that there was only oneface down card. He would then take thetop card of the deck and write the nameof a card on it. It would turn outlater to match the reversed card.

To accomplish, take the face updeck containing one reversed card backfrom the spectator, Spread the cardsto make sure there is only one face downcard. As you do, note and remember thecard immediately to the left of the facedown card. AlSO,. obtain a break beneaththis card. For explanation purposes,let I s say this ql.impsed card is the twoof clubs. &juare up the pack and doublecut at the break. This brings thereversed card second from the bottom ofthe face up deck.

Turn the deck face down.. Triplelift and turn the cards over onto thedeck. This will cause the card theyreversed to turn face down the cardyou turn face You;11also have a ) up indiffere.l1t card ontop of deck" Write name of thecard glimpsed on the face of th i.s

84

Lndi.f'ferent; placeon the table. Cut the deck,face up and for theremove the down card.It will matchwhat you wrote on the indifferent card,

""TOUaI" REIaJaIED" REHASHED

This is probably the ultimatesolution to Bill Simon I s prohl.em,'nTouch' Retouched" from Effective cardMagic. Have a spectator shuffle a deck.He then to take the cards behind hisback and reverse one card and replace itin the middle of the deck. No one knowsthe name of the chosen card.

'!he magician takes the deck and fansthan face up to make sure only one cardwas reversed. He then takes anindifferent card off the top of the deckand writes the name of the card which hedid not see face up. The deck is spreadon the table and the reversed cardremoved, '!he magician is correct. Let IS

assume you want to do it as ademonstration of your ability to rememberplaying cards. The only sleightnecessary is the glimpse which isassociated with the standard peek. Whenyou take the deck back from thespectator, spread the cards face up fromhand to hand "+-0 see which one ismissing. n When y<-_, square up the cards,obtain a left little finger breakunderneath the face down selection. Theleft hand nCM flips the deck over usingthe left thumb to lever the deck\'lidth-wise. As the cards flip over, thebreak will cause the chosen card toprotrude enough for you to glimpse it.'!he right hand is there for cover sinceyou are going to i:rrnrediately remove thetop card to write the name of theselection on. I actually start to removenw little finger from the break as I flipthe deck over. It only flashes for afraction of a second rot that I s plenty oftime to see the card.

Another similar rot not impromptumethod occurs to me. The spectatortakes the deck and leaves the roan. Heshuffles the deck and peeks at one card.He shuffles them again before hereturns. The magician takes the deckbehind his back reverses one card.He then asks the name of the chosencard. He spreads the deck to show that

he reversed the chosen card.How is it accomplished? While the

magician has the deck behind his back,he switches it for a single colored backBrainwave (or similar) deck. The suitof card determines whether the deckis turned over before it is brought backinto view.

Getting back to the impromptusolutions, I like the idea of having thedeck rubberbanded as mentioned earlier.This brings three similar ideas to mind,the effect differing only in how youhave the spectator peek at the card.

Spring the face down deck from handto hand. '!his puts a downward J::xJw inall of the cards. A rubber band is thenplaced around the width of the deck .. Thespectator is then requested to go to theother side of the roan. He is to liftup about half the cards and peek at thecard he sees.

When the deck is returned to you,you simply look for the natural breakformed by his peek. The cards will J::xJwin two different directions thanks tothe beginning downward crimp and hissubsequent llpW'ard crimp.

A slightly more risky nethod is tostart the trick in the same way with thedownvlard bow and the rubberband whichencircles the cards. The spectator isto hold the deck in his left hand sothat he can i t see the faces of any ofthe cards (dealing position). He is touse his thumb to draw one card justslightly out of the near side of thedeck. He is to peek at the card -­being sure to keep the faces of theother cards facing the floor so that hecan't see them.

When he has seen the card, he is toremember it and push it squarely backinto the deck. He is then to hand thedeck back to you.

When you get the cards back, aquick glance at the edge of the deckwill yield the location of the peeked-atcard.Because of the instructions yougave him. there will be a crimp in thecorner of the card he looked at. Thiswas due to the fact that he was told tohold the deck face down. In order topeek at the extended card, he had tobend it upward, This upsard bend,reverses the original downward bowplaced in that card.

85

CONCLUSION

I've just shown you most of themethods I use to invent magic tricks ona repetitive basis. Each trick isdifferent and the evolution of eachtrick is unique. You are applyingeverything you are to create somethingthat you want. It is hard to putcreativity on paper , It is even harderto put it into practice.

I hope that you will reread thisissue from tine to tine and implanentthe advice given within. These methodsreally work. If you'll put in thenecessary effort I think you will bemore than amply rewarded.

you might be able to come up with. Or,go backward to see if you can furtherdevelop one of the ideas already given.

If you would 1 ike me to steer youforward. try thinking of a sleight whichyou perform well (not marginally well>and see if it would be possible toaccomplish the trick with thatpart.Icular sleight. What changes wouldyou have to make to be able to use thesleight. If that sleight doesn't seanto work well. try another. Keep ontrying until you find one that works.(This is the "Trick Brain" approach.Later you can try the "Trick Knee"approach.)

fi;· ,h cards, extra jokers are usually

enough.) The trick is thenself-working. The card case wasdesigned to hold 52 cards---not 54­When the spect.at.or tries to place hiscard into the encased deck, he will havetrouble and will not be able to squarethe cards. He won't even try. Nobodysquares cards which are already in thecard case.

We have just discussed nineteendifferent methods. Each of them ispractical in its own place. We couldhave continued and would probably haveinvented three or four tines that manyif we were that interested in theprobl.en, You don't have to come up withthis many solutions every tine you tryto invent a trick. Many tines It¥' firstsolution is the best solution. You justkeep trying until you find one that youlike and will use.

You now have several from which tochoose. If you were going to do thistrick by itself or as an opener (whichit isn't) you might opt for setting upthe deck. Otherwise you would probablyeliminate this solution. You mighteliminate the Daub, Brainwave, Glue, andBribery methods because either (A) youwant it to be impromptu or (8) you'recheap. You would also probablyeliminate the methods using duplicatecards for the same reasons. This stillleaves several good methods, includingthe variations of "Touch-Retouched" andthe ideas with the rubberband, Fromthese you may prefer to eliminate themore risky. feeling that cowardice isthe better part of valor" You willeither be left with sanething you willuse or you'll be right back where youstarted (less the cost of this issue).

You should now start to see how theprocess works, Although it may seemlike a hit-and-miss proposition, itreally is a distinct progression fromone idea to another which has proven tobe productive and successful ,

This was not meant to be anexhaustive treatment of the effect Iproblem. Instead, it was meant toillustrate the direction of thought inthe evolution of a trLck, From thispoint, if you haven't already foundsomething you would use, continue thethought process forward to see what else

'~m;;;;;,;;;;;;;;;~~;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;~~;;;;,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;tII

86

LEFTOVERS (CONTINUED FROM PG. 88)

X,X,X,2.A,3,2 u4 . 3 , S, 4 , 6 , Sv7 , 6 , 8 , Etc.

You can see hCM this could be quicklyset up using a Faro shuffle. Thebiggest advantage of this set up is thatyou can fan cards more freely sincethey aren't grouped in pairs.

(As a footnote", I've submittedKevin i s name to the appropriate localauthorities for illegal gambling. I've

submitted a Form 1099 to IRSwinnings. )In Jeff White's Visual Inspira-

tions, Volume 2 there is apenetration of a linking ring (key)through performer's hand. I thinkit woul.d blend well into Martyn IS

Linking Ring rout.i.ne, Arr:jWay, you needto make one addition. As soon as thering penetrates the hand, execute theVernon ring spin flourish from ~~or~ Of The Rings. That's the move

i] where you apparent.ly rotate the ring inyour hands displaying the whole ring.Actually. you're keeping the key hidden1i'lith one of your hands. The ring itselfnever moves. It's a great illusion.

Combine the two and-you don't needto cover the opening. The nature of thepenetration through the hand hides thekey. The ring spin f.Louri.sh / illusionmakes it appear that you are spinningthe ring through your hand. It's aweird effect.

Donna Givens found an article inthe July 3,1984 issue of ~ NationalExaminer by Walter Gibson. It describedhow Harry Blackstone, Sr. used a man whowas full-bodied only from the waist up.He didn I t have any hips or legs. Theman had a twin brother who Blackstonewas supposed to have used with him toaccomplish a production and later acutting in half illusion. If nothingelse, the article is amusing reading.

I just heard of the pasuinqof Lloyd Jones. Lloyd was anauthor, a publisher I' a maqazLne editor,and a book reviewer. He was a characterand a codger. But most of all. he wasa friend. He will be sorely missed. Hissharp wit and cutting delivery made hima delightful sparring partner. (He'sprobably up there nem circling thetypo's on the entrance examinat.Lon.)

87

Since the last issue there has beenanother great loss to the magicfraternity. Doctor James Bazemore ofAugusta. GA died of cancer. Although hewas getting along in years, he neverfailed to attend any and all magicrelated events which were within drivingrange. Furthermore, he always hadsomething new to share with his fellowmagicians. He truly earned his placeas one of the most respected magiciansin the southeast e

It's now time to bring the fifthissue and the first year to a close.I'm very proud of the way first yearhas turned out and I'm particularlyproud of this issue. I think !beTraploor has earned a place in mostmagician's libraries.. When I firststarted I had a hard time deciding whatto charge for a subscription. I dido' twant to charge more than the material inthe magazine was worth. I really wantedto provide value for the money, I cannem honestly say that I feel that youwere undercharged. As a matter of fact,I estirrate that you were under-charged$8.50. I know that this is highlyunusual, but please mail a cashier'scheck for this amount to: mE~1058 Marilyn st., Williston, SC 29853 .. Tokeep your account current, this shouldbe received no later than October 31,1984 (Formerly knoen as "National ~1agic

Day. )Finally. what better way to end an

issue on creating tricks than with thecreation of life~ On September 6, 1984at 2:13 PM casey Lauren Beam made herappearance. I, of course, was in thedelivery room supervising the production(while at the same time performing the"Color Changing Magician. If) Myassistant Dawn came through everythingokay. <Between you and me, she couldhave phoned her part Int ) Arrjway, maybenext year's Traploor Annual will givethe details on the method I used for theproduction. But for no«, practice,practice, practice.

NE~~ARRIVAL"'~

LEFTOVERSThis issue brings the first full

year of 'l'he Trap:loor to a close. It hasbeen a lot of work and a lot of fun. Ithas brought me many new friends as wellas many new printing bills. As closeas this is to being strictly a one-manoperation, there are many people whom Iwould like to thank for their help.They are, in no part.i.cular order:

Dawn BeamDon Morris

Wayne & Arm KyzerJim Beam (the person, not the bottle)

John RiggsDexter Cleveland

Donna. GivensJim Beam (the bottle, not the person)

Jerry and Polly Sanders

I can now really appreciate howmuch effort it is to put out anewsletter for the different magicclubs. And a part.Lcul.arly good exampleof a newsletter comes from MorrisHersberg i s Atlanta group. '!he Equinoxis the monthly ring newsletter whichincludes a little bit of everything.fl'bst of the work is from Dan Garrett andPaul SIX>naugle who must really enjoy itbecause the effort shows.

Along with some cartoons, JohnRiggs sends his favorite line for the"lUI Backs" routine & lI'rhis card has twobacks••• sort of like a girl I used toknow."

YouI 11 want to get the new book,Inside by John Murray. John has beendoing most of these tricks for the lasttwenty years so you know they are good.He taught several of them to me when Ifirst met him ten years ago. Mypersona.l favorites are the Professiona.lSVengal i routine, all backs routine, andhis card switch. This book is highlyrecorrnnended.

88

From Kevin Justice comes a neat wayto end one of tlJose birthday cardtricks. You remember the tricks thatend by revealing the spectator I sbirthdate. Nav for a clinax, you holdthe card box up to the spectator I searand it plays "HapP.i Birthday To You"•Kevin found these birthday cards whichwhen opened play the music. The girrnnickconsists of a tiny computer chip, aminiature speaker, and a circuit. Itplays all the time unless you stick apiece of paper between two pieces ofmetal which breaks the circuit.The wholeset up is about the size of a nickel andthe cards sell for five dollars. (Toobad it's not the other wcr:I around. )Glue the gimmick inside your card casenext to the opening on the side with thehalf moon. Fix it so that you can usethe flap as the circuit breaker. Thecase rests on the table during yourcard tricks. When you finish with thebirthday card trick, hold the case up tothe spectator and squeeze it at oppos.inqsides. The flap will r;op out of thecase and out from between the two piecesof metal. This will cause the music toplay. This seems like it would be theperfect trick for a birthday party showwhere the people are old enough toappreciate card tricks.

While I'm talking about Kevin,there's another way to invent trickswhich I didn I t include in the main partof this issue. Gambling. I performedBernard Billis' triumph for him a whileback. It fooled everybody who was therebut Kevin said he thought he couldfigure it out. WelL I didn't think hecould and so we made a $5.00 bet on it.I knew at the time that he was familiarwith the sleights tut I didn't think hecould come up with the set up. I wasright. Bowever , he came up with atotally different set-up whichaccomplishes the exact same thing withthe exact same sleights. It is givenbelav. Compare it with the origina.l andsee the difference. From the top of thedeck: