This is the continuation of conversation that started in a "Deck Reviews!" topic.
http://aethercards.com/discourse/deck-reviews!/(vid)-americana-deck/I did two tricks from an early Brad Christian video, one where he "reads your mind" using two decks of cards and one where he shows a card as being simultaneously face-up and face-down at the same time.
Cool. I actually just ordered a bunch of Brad Christian DVDs (both package deals they offer) while trying to hit a certain reward tier at Ellusionist. Some of his material I have already seen years ago..... but I thought it would be good to have the whole collection. My plan is to go through it all and take notes.... we will see if I ever find time to put that plan into action! :-D I'll be on the lookout to see if I can find which effects you were referring to. I learned my favorite double lift on Brad's DVD where he covers the ACR.
I still would love to "get down" his two-card-monty routine where the spectator ends up holding two queens at the end instead of the aces. (Blaine does this trick too.) I know Brad has a whole DVD specially dedicated to teaching this effect.... but I've never learned it to the level of feeling confident performing it. Primarily because of the TC move!! That's a hard move to practice for me.... I try in the mirror.... but in performance it really takes guts to attempt. It would be a complete failure if someone caught you on this.... which seems likely because the move is so focused on misdirection and timing. The TC makes me sweat. In fact the only routine I've been able to use it on (85% success rate) is the Lucky Coin routine by Roberto Giobbi, largely because of the built in misdirection when you flip over the half dollar showing a miniature card attached underneath.
I also performed two tricks from Michael Ammar's "Easy to Do Card Miracles Vol. 1" - love those early '80s fashions! For the first, the spectator makes an unforced card draw and through the use of card control and the Biddle count (at least I think it was Biddle), you make the card appear face-up in a face-down pack of cards. The other trick involves the same count, a little palming and a few other simple sleights to make ten cards turn in to thirteen, then into sixteen, all while the spectator is holding the cards.
The first trick you described sounds like "The Biddle Trick"... which I know Brad teaches (on Inside Magic perhaps?), and is also sold on Theory 11 as a streaming video. Funny you mention this one. It was on my list to learn for quite a while... and I finally learned it a couple months ago. I like this trick because it is fairly safe, yet it has a decent effect on the spectator since they are holding the deck when the card is found.
The second trick you mentioned, I believe I saw Blaine performing on his most recent TV special. That seems like an excellent trick. I haven't graduated palming school yet though... :-(
The final trick was something I worked out for myself but I'm certain others have done before me, because I've seen David Blaine do it in his first TV special - using an Erdnase exchange and double lifts, the spectator picks a randomly chosen card, I pick a card (in this case, a joker) and I make the two cards switch places with the cards in view at all times, while the spectator is holding their card firmly held between both hands.
I believe I have seen this effect. You have both cards signed in this routine?
The kids are usually very appreciative of the performance, as are the parents, since they're usually present as well. I did get one kid who wasn't interested, and one parent who wouldn't let me perform for either cultural or religious reasons - he stated "they don't believe in magic". The staff also appreciates it as well - there are times where I get kids who were in pain that have completely forgotten it by the time I'm done, or kids that smile who haven't done so in days. The roughest performances I've had to date were performing for a girl with an open head wound and performing for a group of kids to keep their attention away from the premature baby being wheeled out of the peds ER on a special heated bed.
Glad you appreciated the info. Hope you had a good holiday!
That's very interesting, thanks for sharing. I love reading about people's experiences performing.
I recently performed walk around for some children and parents and my two sets where like so:
Set 1
Sponge Balls
Little hand (Ammar)
Red Hot Mama (Ammar)
**Force -- (if it works --> Lucky Coin - Giobbi)
(else do ACR)
Set 2
Short D'Lite routine
Extreme Burn
**Force -- (if it works --> Insurance Policy)
(else do Batey w/ key card)
OOTW
I also threw in a healthy dose of rubber band tricks:
Crazy Man's Handcuffs, Ladder type effect w/ bill on Daniel Garcia DVD, and a couple others...
Hope you had a nice holiday too!
I remember seeing that in Blaine's latest special - I had to laugh, because I actually performed that in front of his staff when I met him last year!
The two-card monte trick is something I do as well, but I replace the trickier of the two card exchanges with a much simpler Erdnase Exchange. With a good deal of practice, I've become very smooth with that move; it's nearly impossible for people to spot. My version needs some fine tuning, though.
I have a few other stunts I like doing for the kids. WOW is a big crowd pleaser, and I have the ungimmicked version for examination purposes as well as the gimmicked version for the trick. I also do two key-card tricks, the two-deck mind-reading bit and the spectator card prediction trick, where they choose cards after you predicted what they'd pick. Again, they're from either Christian or Ammar.
I have a really cool routine I do where I rig a Rising Deck with a Hovercard gimmick as well - they see the card rise from the center, then they see it float freely in air! If I could combine that with something like Hummingbird card, that's a complete routine in a single gimmicked deck!
For someone a little older, say, closer to my age, I'll pull out a deck called the Mirage deck. It's a Svengali rigged in the same way as an Invisible deck in terms of friction. I can do the ordinary, basic Svengali routine - then melt their minds a little when I can spread the deck and they see the key card isn't every card in the deck, even though you just showed it to them in a riffle. That's especially effective with people who bought Marshall Brodien's "TV Magic Cards" back in the 1970s - they know how a Svengali works, and it can't spread like that without giving away the gimmick!
But my real killer favorite is when I combine a Gambler's Deck with an Invisible Deck. I let the spectator choose their card with the Gambler's and do a spooky "deck haunting" routine, using the Invisible deck for the reveal. Gambler's decks are great - when correctly stacked, you can read the marks to identify not just the top card of the deck, but also the bottom. I spread the deck, let the spectator see it (but not too closely, because they work with a stack that PERFECTLY alternates the suits, a dead giveaway to an observant person), cut it several times, let them make the final cut and reveal the deck's bottom card. "Not only can I not see your card, I can't even see the back of it - even if it was marked, it would do me no good!" Best part is that you can straight-up do the trick twice, just like most any other Invisible deck trick. I've been using a Maiden Back Gambler's made by Boris Wild and sold through Meir Yedid with a Crown Invisible deck. (I also have the rare and out-of-print Rider Back Gambler's Deck, but they're very scarce now.) The trick COULD be done with a basic marked deck, but then you'd need to see the card's back when the spectator chooses it.
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