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!
(Read 793 times)
