48 EucrNn BuncER "Have you done that? Well ... you're under anestt" Showing my hands empty without sayrng anything about that fact, I take the bill from the spectator and continue: '7 am going to take the bill that you'ue just defaced!-it sounds a lot more serious now, doesn't it?-and fold it in half once, twice, three times and four times---cunningly transforming the bill into a small, folded packet." I drop the bill on the table and lose interest in it. Picking up the matchbox, I say: A box of matches." I look at the person who originally loaned the bill, smile, and say, "You're beginning to get the picture, aren't you?" obtain the duplicate bill from my lap with my right hand. With my left hand, I toss the matchbox in front of the spectator on my right (who initialed the bill) (fig.2) and ask her to open it. Once she begins this action, the eyes of the other spectators will naturally move to her and I then switch the bill for the duplicate: I reach over with my right hand and cover the bill (frg.3) and move it back to the edge of the table, drop it (fig.4), and continue on with the palmed bill. Granted there are more elegant and subtle ways of doing this, but here, with the audience's attention on the spectator and what she is doing, why not just do it!The important thing is that the deed be done without any quick motion. You, aft,er all, are looking at the spectator too. Just reach over, cover the bill with your right fingers and move it back to the edge of the table. Allow it to drop and, continue on with the other bill. It all happens quickly even though the motion is not done quickly. It is performed without interest. I am watching the spectator and what she is doing and I simply pick up the bill. There is another aspect to the timing of the switch that I want to explain. The spectator has picked up the box of matches because I have asked her to open it. Once she has the box in her hand and is beginning to do that, I immediately say to her: "Hold your left hand palm upword." This request-since she is beginning aruother action generates a touch of confusion. I say, "Like this'-holding up my own left hand palm upward. It is at this point that my right hand picks up the bill and switches it (fig.5). I say, "Here, hold the bill in your I
Sncnprs AIvD MvsmRrES FoR THE CLosp-Up ErutnntnINER 49 hand. Close your hand tightly. Now dump all of the matches out of the box here on the carpel (my close-up pad)." The underlyrng principle at work here is that my own devious actions are hidden behind the larger actions of the of the audience's attention-what the spectator is doing is what is happening. My \ action of handing the spectator \ after the audience has become i g, \ with the spectator, what the matchbox contalns. As the spectator is closing her hand over the bill, ffiy left hand drops to my lap and the borrowed bill is loaded into the duplicate matchbox and it is shut. The spectator has poured the matches onto the carpet. If she doesn't close the matchbox in her hand, I ask her to do so. She will now do one of two things. Either she will hand me the closed matchbox or she will place it on the table in front of her. In either event, I will pick it up with my left hand and place it to the left of my carpet-as if I wanted to move it out of the way because it is no longer needed, no longer important-and I lose interest in it. "In ancient times, rnagicians, sorcerers, wizards, people of sometimes questionable reputation, were said to do amazing things with, on the one hand, fire and, on the other hand, with certain secret or occult symbols." I form the matches into a rough circle about three or four inches in diameter and place three matches in the center in the shape of a triangle (frg.6), as I say: "Here is a magic circle made with rnatches and, in it, a triangle, the symbol of intuitiue wisdom ... and uirginity!'If someone laughs, I add, "Don't laugh at the old ualues!" As I am doing this, I make sure the spectators perceive that my hands are empty. Do not make a point of this, however! "I want you to look at the matches and select one match, but not from the triangle, that is, of course, inuiolate. Do you haue one match in mind?" Asking this question will keep the spectator from picking the match up before you want her to move. She replies that she has. "Pick it up.'I look at the matches, my right hand drops into my lap and picks up the matchbox. I switch the matchboxes exactly as I switched the bills: I wait for the spectator to begin her action (of picking up her chosen match) andthen I begin my action toward the matchbox (frg.7 is an exposed view, frg.8 is an audience view). I toss the loaded matchbox in front of her and continue, "and light it." The important thing, again, is that you don't hurry or rush it. Take your time. Allow the spectator's movements-and the interest which they naturally generate among other spectators-to cover your movement. In other words, don't move until the spectator begins to reach for the match-all
The folded bill is held between the right thumb and first fingertips. As the hands come together, and the bill is shielded by the left fingers, the right second finger moves beside the first finger on the far side of the folded bill. The second and third fingers are thus able to clip the bill between them. 11 The right second and third fingers curl inward toward the right palm, removing the bill from the left hand. 50 EucrNp BuncER the time keeping your eyes and attention on what the spectator is doing. This is really easy to do-and yet writing about it makes it seem more diffrcult. Origrnally, you took the matchbox and placed it off to the side-as if to put it out of the way. It was plac ed off the performing surface (the carpet), thus telegraphing that "we don't need this anymore." Now, the spectator is going to light the selected match and so you pick up the box and toss it in front of her. As I am doing this, the spectator's hand and arm are in mouementbetween the audience and my innocent action of giving the spectator the matchbox so the match can be struck. As the spectator picks up the matchbox, I say, "Now we're going to moue quickly." I say this because I want the spectator to light the match and not to shake the matchbox or open it: I intentionally hurry her a bit. Once the match is lit, I say: And hold it about fourteen inches aboue the triangle, giue or take three inches." This often confuses the spectator a bit and she may hold the lit match only a few inches above the table. If she does this, I say, "Does that look like fourteen inches to you?" (For some reason, this usually gets a laugh.) "Nou) drop the bill, but not the matctq into my hand." I receive the dropped bill in my right hand, pretend to place it in my left hand, but actually retain it in my right. "Waue the burning match ouer mry hand," I lap the duplicate bill when the spectator begins her action, "and now blow it out." It's all done but the Woo Woo. I show my hand empty,looking at the original lender of the bill and smiling. I let the vanish register. I sometimes add-looking at the person who loaned the bill: "Kind of tacky, isn't it?" I suddenly become much more serious. I smile and look the spectator right in the eyes.'Look, there is a matchbox (pointing) that I have not even touched. Open it up!" The spectator does and finds the folded bill. And make sure this really is the bill and I'm not just a common charlatan." Of course, I haue touched the matchbox (when I picked it up, switched it, and tossed it in front of the spectator so she could light her match). But why not say that you haven't touched it at all? I have found that a direct and bold falsehood at this point-spoken with some force-is most effective. I am telling them what I want them to perceiue and not what has, in fact, happened. The direct lie makes it all so much stronger. You will be surprised at the number of people who will repeat, "And you neuer touched that matchbox!" Ah! It is the stuff of which miracles are made! You will frnd that if you sit farther back-away from the edge of the table-this all becomes much easier to do deceptively. Consider the point where you apparently place the signed bill in your left hand, immediately prior to its vanish. If you are sitting back from the edge of the table (frg.12),the bill is dropped in the lap os the hand nloues forward toward the table. Just as it reaches the edge, the bill is released
Sncnprs AI.rD MysroRIES FoR THE Closn-Up ENIpnTAINER 51 12 13 (frg.13)-and the hand keeps mouing a bit over the top of the table before it stops. Thus, the bill is lapped during this forward movement. This is much better than having the hand move back to the edge of the table to drop the bill and then move forward again-as is so often seen when articles are lapped. There you are; I've told you all I can about it. Wear it in good health! Tou0atflru As a teenager interested in magic, I always felt it was fortunate that I lived in Chicago. You could see excellent close-up magic any night of the week in Chicago-and you still can. In the 1950s I spent untold hours in Chicago's magic shops; L.L. Ireland, Joe Berg, National Magic Company, the Abbott branch store in the Woods Building presided over by George Coon. The Chicago Magic Round Table was flourishing at Drake's Restaurant-and visitors always did the rounds of the magic bars: Schulien's at 1800 Halsted, where DonAlan held forth;Schulien's at2L00 Irving Park where Charlie Schulien was beginning to come into his prime (and where Matt could sometimes be seen); Johnny Paul's, "Senator" Crandall, Johnny Platt at the Gay Nineties Tap of the LeSalle Hotel, Jim Ryan, and in the early 1950's, Bert Allerton at the Pump Room. Those were exciting days. I spent a good deal of time as a teenager with Don AIan who showed me how to fan cards, stack dice, and who utterly baffled me by performing the "Haunted Pack" with my own deck. On Friday evenings, my father very often would take me to my favorite magic bar-Dix and Norb's Magic Inn-where I drank innumerable cokes andAlex Berecz taught me how to palm a card, execute a top change, and one day stunned me with "Out of this World" (an effect I had never heard of until that performance), and also taught me the frrst version of the Torn and Restored Card which I ever learned. AIex did not have an extensive repertoire but everything he did he did uery well. The plot of tearing and restoring a card has interested me since those days. The move upon which this present version is based-tearing the corner of the card-came to me in L977 when I was playrng around tear-
52 EucBNp BuncER ing some cards. At that time, the move got no farther than my notebook. I did not apply it to the torn card plot until early L979. ' Tearing the Corner: The purpose of this move is to tear off the index corner of a card for the purpose of identification and to substitute the corner of a duplicate card in the process. This duplicate corner is given to the spectator to retain. The index is torn at the bottom of the small Heart below the numeral Four-and directly through the center of the large Heart pip. Tearing the card along these lines (I personally never use picture cards or Aces, Twos, or Threes since they do not have a pip in the upper conrer through which I can tear) will result in corners which are roughly identical. The corner is torn toward the back of the card-that is, so that it naturally folds backward. This is done by holding the card with its face toward you and with the long side on the top, parallel to the floor. The left thumb and first finger take hold of the corner and rip the card just below the small pip below the numeral. The right hand rips away from you while the left hand pulls back toward you. Stop when the tear comes below the center of the large corner pip (fig. 1). Turn the card counterclockwise one-quarter turn. With the left thumb and frrst frnger, gnp the corner and rip down through the center of the large pip-pu1ling away from you with the left hand and pulling toward you with the right (frg.2). Rip until the two tears almost meet. Tear the corner away. The card sarus corner is now folded in half, then in half again, and then once again. A small rubber band is wrapped around the long edge of the card two times. The small corner, with the index facing outward, is slipped under the rubber band (fig.3)-and the card is placed in your closeup box. I have several thus prepared. To execute the substitution, a duplicate card has been forced. I obtain the duplicate index from the torn card and hold it as in frgure 4. The forced card is torn as described above to the point where the two tears almosf meet. The index corner is still attached and can swing backward. With the corner bent slightly backwards, about one-half inch, I take it in my left hand. I display the card to the spectators (frg.5), turning it over and over with my left frngers so that both sides can be seen. While doing this I say: '7 haue been a cardripper for a long time and it is absolutely irnpossible to rip a card identically twice. There is always a difference no matter how minute, just like snow flahes." As I say these last words , "ju.st like snow flakes," my right thumb pushes the palmed corner fonvard (fig.6) so that it rests just behind the tips of the right fingers. The card is held with its face toward the spectators. The right hand approaches the card with the first and second fingers covering the corner for a moment. The right
Sncnnrs AtrrD MvsrnRrES FoR THE Closp-Up ENrpnrArNER 53 thumb kicks the corner back where it is held by the left thumb (frg.7).The left thumb presses against the corner (fig.8) and then moves toward the upper-left corner of the card, thereby tearing the original corner free (fig.9). At the same time, the right thumb and first finger (still holding the concealed corner) pinch the card and pull away to the right-seemingly tearing the corner free of the card (fig.10). As this is done, the right first and second fingers pull back slightly, exposing the duplicate corner (fig.11), which is handed to a spectator-the right hand being seen empty. The actual corner may now be disposed of in one of several ways. First, the left hand can move forward toward the edge of the table (I am sittin g back from the table, remember) and the duplicate corner is dropped into the lap. Second, the left thumb can move the corner to the center of the back of the card and drop the card (and corner) on the table. The card is dropped from about one inch above the table. Drop it. Do not place it on the table as one sees in so many Matrix routines (wherein the card is placed on the table with the right thumb under the card so that the thumb is inelegantly pulled out from under the card as it is placed on the table). This communicates that there is something under the card. Just drop the card-and later, when you go to pick it up, slide it back and allow the corner to drop into your lap as you pick it up (fig.L2). Third, the card can be folded and the corner can be folded into it. Fourth, the card is torn further and the corner remains with the pieces. Routine: Reach into the close-up box and obtain a small rubber band and the banded, folded card. The rubber band is placed on the table; the folded card remains in the lap. Note the index of the card. Bring the duplicate to the top of the deck (or wherever) and force it. As the spectator shows the card to the audience, obtain the dupli cate corner as in frgure 4. Tear the card as explained and show it as you talk about how cards are always different when torn. Tear off the corner, substituting the corner of the duplicate card.
54 EucnNB BUnGER Drop the card (and corner beneath it) on the table. Pick up the card, allowing the corner to slide into your lap. The card is slowly torn in half and the two pieces placed on the table about an inch apart. Each half is picked up and torn again. The four pieces are stacked-with the torn piece either in second or third positiorr. The four pieces are then folded once more-and are handed to another spectator along with the rubber band. This spectator is told to wrap the rubber band around the pieces two times. I say this with a gesture that clearly indicates exactly what I want done and where I want the rubber band placed. People, when placed in the spotlight, often become easily confused and are happy to be given clear directions so they aren't later subjected to ridicule and laughter from their friends. While this other spectator is wrapping the pieces, my left hand drops to my lap and picks up the banded duplicate card. This is finger palmed the left hand. I take the card which the spectator has just wrapped with the rubber band in my right hand. Looking the spectator in the eye, I say,"Hold your hand out like this." I turn my left hand (with the duplicate card still concealed) palm upward with the frngers curled (fig.13). If you watch your angles, it appears to the spectators that your left hand is empty-whereas the duplicate folded card is concealed at the base of the frngers. The pieces are retained in the the pieces onto Now together make were apparently placed in my left hand-actually they are right. Now two things happen. First, my left hand drops the spectator's palm-as I say, "Squeeze them a bit." I squeeze my own left hand. Then I open it and let everyone see how it is empty. Second, the right hand moves toward the table and drops the pieces in my lap. Again I repeat that this is done with a forward motion-with the hand moving toward the table. we see the reason for the rubber band. It keeps the pieces in your hand and lessens the sound which they would they separate when they landed in your lap. The deed is done, but the magic isn't. "Do you feel anything happening?" I ask the spectator who is squeezing the card. I go with the response. I ask the spectator to open his or her hand and remove the mbber band from the pieces. (The reason that I had another spectator band the folded pieces is that rubber bands vary: here, the person who does the banding is not the person who removes the band-so any discrepancy in the bands will not be noticed.) The card is restored, my hands are empty, and the corner matches perfectly.
Sncnprs AND MvsrnRrES FoR THE Cr,osp-Up ENISnTAINER bb Travulitlg0atflru As you have no doubt guessed by now, I am rather fond of the magical plot wherein something vanishes from here and reappears over there. The "Traveling Card" is simply that plot applied to playing cards. With a Fire Purse; The Magic Hands Studio in Germany makes a wonderful prop called a Fire Purse. It is a finely made, leather coin purse which, when opened, is able to produce a good-size flame by a flick of the small cigaretteJighter wheel in the purse. The fire portion covers half of the inside of the purse and a small flap hinges and can cover and extinguish the flame. Into the other, empty half of the purse a folded, banded card is placed-the corner has been torn off as explained previously. The corner rests in my close-up box so that it can be easily obtained. The purse is introduced with the line, "This is one of those new purses for areas of the city, whcre there is a lot of mugging."With that, I open the purse, flick the wheel, and the fire springs forth. I add, "Euery grandma should haue one." The purse is closed and placed on the table-near a spectator. The duplicate card is forced and the corner torn offas in the "Torn Card." (Never do this corner tear twice in the same program!) I give the corner to the spectator and slowly fold the card-folding the corner right up into the folds. The card is banded and placed on the table. I extend my left hand palm upward and say to a spectator on my left, "Hold your hand out like this." As the spectator begins his movement, my right hand sweeps the card into my lap and continues its movement (as if holding the card) to seemingly deposit the card in my left hand (which closes as if holding it). "Hold the card like this." I move my hand to drop the card onto the spectator's palm. When I open my hand it is empty. "Rernember that purse?" My hands are seen to be empty as I pick it up. I do this slowly, deliberately. I open it. Flames again. I flip the flap so the flames are extinguished and immediately turn it over so the banded card drops out onto the table. "I don't euen want to touch it. You take off the rubber band and unfold, the card and see if it matches." With a Matchbox: Here is a presentation which I do every now and then. It is based upon the idea of repetition of the previous effect done under seemingly stronger conditions. I have done the "Signed Bill in Matchbox." The effect is finished. Everyone relaxes.I pick up the matches and place them in the matchbox, switching this box for yet another matchbox which contains a folded, banded card sozs corner. The switch is surprisingly easy to do since the effect is over in the audience's perception and you are simply tidying up. The duplicate card is forced. The corner torn off and given to a spectator. The card is folded and banded. It vanishes as described above. "One of the rules of rnagic is that a magician should neuer repeat an effect because people will watch you so rnuch more closely the second time around. Haue you been watching?"
56 EucsNn BuncER This routine was subsequently described in a great more detail in Spirit Theater (Burger, 1985). Take your time. Don't rush it. "There is tlw matchbox and, again, I haue not touclwd it.Would you open it?" Wonder of wonders, there is the card and the corner fits perfectly and "he neuer touched the matchbox!" As the spectators watch the unfolding of the card and matching of the corner, my right hand drops down to the back of my bent knee where I have wedged 20 match sticks held together with a paper band. I grasp the matches by their heads between my right thumb and the lower part (near the palm) of my right first frnger. As my hand comes up, the paper band is pressed against my thigh. The band is thus slipped off(frg.l) and the right hand now contains 20 matches. It rests on the table-not back by the edge, but 10 inches or so onto the top. I wait. I don't move. They are still matching the corner and, once that has hit them, someone almost inevitably asks, "But what happened to the matches?" 'You hauen't been watching, haue you?" I say, as I reach out with my right hand, as if grabbing something invisible in the ai4 over the center of the table. My hand opens and the 20 matches cascade down onto the table. Laughter, mixed with cries of surprise-what more can any magician want? In professional magical performance, the effect and its impact are the important things. Methods are of less interest unless, of course, they are especially direct and/or simple. This, in any event, is my own view of these things. I admit that I do know professional magicians who are much more caught up in-and secretive about-their methods. By temperament, I am not this sort of person. My own interest is audience impaet, and very often I feel that methods have but a peripheral relation to the impact of a certain effect upon an audience. Certainly, I would assume that the method used is deceptive. That is the "kick" of magic as witnessed-that it is deceptive. But, granted that, I'll go for the simplest and easiest method because my attention can then rest with the people and the situation. I say this because once the method for this effect is revealed, you will probably smile and never try it before an audience. The few who do actually put it together may be surprised at how strongly it plays, particularIy if you invest the proceedings with a little Woo Woo. Routine: "Do you believe in spirits?" I ask "Here are two colored pencils, one is red and one blue. Let's use one of them in a little sdance to see if we can contact the spirits.Which one shall we use? You decide. Pick up the one you want to use-and hold it so that it picks up your uibrations." I put the other pencil away-we don't want them changing their mind later.
Srcnprs Ar.rD MysrnRrEs FoR THE Closn-Up ENrpnrArNER 57 'And here are some playing cards. Would you select one? Don't look at it. Place it there, under the salt shaker." Taking out a small colored scar{, I explain, "The spirits work only iru the darkness; they will not appear in, the light at all. This scarf will serue as the spirit cabinet." The scarf is spread out; three of the four corners are folded in toward the center. Pointing to the fourth, unfolded corner, I say, "This is the doorway to the spirit world. Exciting, isn't it?" I remove a stack of cards banded together with a wide rubber band (fig.l). The cards measure three and one-fourth inches by two and one-half inches. They are made by the Eaton Paper Company.They can be obtained in better stationery stores in packages of 50. One might be tempted to use three by five blank file cards but I have personally found that they are not sufficiently thick to conceal the writing unless it is done very faintly. I prefer the thicker Eaton card. "Here is a pen. Mark your initials on the bottom half of the top card." I place the stack of cards directly in front of the spectator and point to the space where I want the initials marked. If I perceive the spectator to be a bit on the frisky side, I will retain my frnger tip on the top part of the card during the writing. The spectator complies and the card is removed from the stack and turned over so the spectator can initial the other side as well. "The card is placed in the spirit cabinet along with the colored pencil which you selected and the doorway is closed" (fig.2). I make passes over the scarf (this is part of the Woo Woo) and I invoke the spirits to give us a sign. "Spirits ... pick up the pencil ... pick up the pencil ... and write!"Yery slowly the pencil is seen to rise and move under the scarf (fig.3). I ask the spectator to remove the card from under the salt shaker and place it face up on the table. With obviously empty hands, the corners of the scarf are slowly folded back revealing a message on one side of the initiated card: the name of the selected card written in the color of the selected pencil. The card is shown to be initialed on both sides and is given to the assisting spectator as a souvenir of this visit from the spirit world. Working: To make a long story short: I showed this to Jay Marshall and some others at lunch one day and Jay later said to me, " 'Glorpy' and 'Out to Lunch'." (Ja.y really knows how to hurt a guy.) But, he added that it played very well.
58 Eucpr.ln BuncER And it does. I owe the idea of using "Glorpy" in this context to my friend Phil Goldstein who suggested it in "The Spirit is Willing (to Write)" in The Blue Book of Mentalism (1976). The stack is reversible-which explains how the writing can be done in either color. A small dot on the faked end of the stack tells you which side is which. It's all too simple! That's good because it you to put your attention on heavy breathing, rious glances, mystic gestures, or whatever you choose to indicate that you are about to contact the "other world" and that all pretty mysterious. And for the layman, who knows nothing of "Glorpy" and "Out to Lunch" cards, this is most mysterious if you play it that way. When I have done this informally at a friend's home, I have placed the stack in my pocket after the card was removed (and while the spectator was initialing the other side) and later, while they were passing around the card with its message, I would bring out a duplicate stack of cards which was unfaked and leave it on the table. Some performers, I realize, will say this is just too much and quite unnecessary. It is unnecessary (strictly speaking) but I don't think it is too much. Personally, I enjoy playing with people's minds by using set-ups that are a bit more elaborate. Inevitably, someone will pick up the stack and find that it is just that ("Look, Mary why it's just an ordinary stack of cards after all!"). Thus, one more avenue of explanation is closed to the mind of the inquiring spectator. The Alternatiue Set-Up: At a private party, I may very well do an effect just once-usually as part of a sit-down sequence. In a restaurant or lounge, I want to be able to repeat effects over and over during the evening for different spectators. For that reason, the set-up which I use for this effect when I perform it in restaurants is rather different from that explained above. Each side of the stack contains four message cards-each of them a Queen and in the familiar CHaSeD order (from the face of the stack). I can, therefore, repeat the effect eight times without re-setting simply by forcing the four Queens in succession. Needless to say, I omit the trpo colored pencils and use just one pencil. I have four Queens in order in my close-up box. When I want to do the effect, I palm the appropriate Queen and add it to the deck and force it. When the effect is finished, I place the Queen at the rear of the stack in the box so that I can obtain the next Queen needed without thinking about which one it is. The stack is pencil-dotted on one side. I go side and then the four on the other. allows mysteuse to this is 4 The stack of cards is gimmicked a la "Out to Lunch." A flap, made by cutting off the outer end of one of the cards, covers the outer end of the packet. The outer end of the flap is taped, creatang a hinge, to the second card down in the stack. The name of the force card is written by you in advance on the outer end of the face card of the stack, and when the flap is folded down this is concealed from the audience. The edge of the flap is concealed by the wide rubber band, and the card on the face of the packet appears to be totally blank. After the spectator has signed the lower end of the face card of the packet, the packet is turned face down. The signed card is now withdrawn. Ihe flap remains on the packet. The spectator can now sign the back of the card. through all four cards on one
SBcnBTS At.rD MvsrBRrES FoR THE Ct oso-Up ENTnnTAINER 59 When the white cards are put away, they are wrapped in the "Glorpy." I wrap them t}:re same way euery time-thus, when I unwrap them they are always in a known position. I don't need to turn them around or over to get them in the correct position. These are the touches which are important. In conclusion,let me say that if one performs magic professionally for laymen, it is of great importance to attempt to see things as laymen see them. For laymen, ttle effect is all that matters.
You may frnd it interesting that, before I wrote Secrets and Mysteries for the Close-Up Entertainen I consciously decided to write a non-linear booklet. I mean by this that a reader could pick it up and begin reading anywhere in the text and not feel lost and confused. One would not need to read it from beginning to end. I also wanted to stress, through the booklet's division into two parts, that the real secrets of magic, as f saw them, were not the methods by which various magic tricks are accomplished. No, the real secrets of magic included such fascinating things as strategies for audience management and methods to manipulate an audience's attention so that they saw what I wanted them to see and they didn't see anything else. May I be honest? After so many years, I genuinely enjoyed rereading this booklet. I thought the best writing was the section on hecklers (which independently won an award for the best article of the year in the Linking Ring magazine) which expresses a point of view that I still hold today. And I found it rather fascinating to see how many of the effects in this booklet have remained in my repertoire through the years. And, most of all, I think it is weirdly wonderful and appropriate that the first magic effect described in my very frrst booklet was the Sponges! Ah, the Sponge Ballsl What can I say? Those who have read my later writings know that over the years I have had a loveftrate, in-again/out-again relationship with this effect.I have resolutely dropped it from my performing repertoire inwardly vowing never to perform it again, only to reinstate it in my repertoire once more. It may surprise you to know that I have experienced real anguish about which road to take. Taking this routine out and putting it back into my repertoire has happened so many times that I think I should start a chapter of Sponge Balls Anonymous and become the frrst member: "Hello, I'm Eugene and I still have sponge balls in my pocket!" I think you get the idea. What is it about this effect that has stimulated such mental disruption in my otherwise happy magical life? Let's look at the ledger. On the positive side: the Sponge Balls are a terrifrc opening effect. In my routine,I am able to get the names of four audience members which I will be able to use to my advantage later. With Sponge Balls, further, the magic begins happening quickly; there isn't a lot of talk before we get to something magical. The ending of my routine, obviously influenced in effect by Stanley Jaks"'Multiball," produces a great deal of merriment (sometimes evela screanxs of merriment) and comes as a complete surprise. In later years,I increased the number of balls in the spectator's hand to24. No one sees this coming. And, last but certainly most important of all, audiences of laypeople seem thoroughly to enjoy these little balls. Well, almosl no one sees the surprise coming. Once when I was performing the Sponges for two very well-dressed women in their forties at Biggs
INTnRLUDE Owp 61 restaurant in Chicago, I reached the point where one of the ladies had24 balls in her hand and I said to her,"How rnany do you think you really haue?" She looked me straight in the eye and, with the tiniest hint of a smile forming on her lips, coolly replied: "Not enough." Here the surprise was for me! I wanted to give her some sort of reward or medal then and there but, instead, I smiled and said to her, "You.'re scaring me." Let me tell you an additional secret. When I purchase my one-inch sponge balls, I soak them in hot soapy water overnight to make them a bit softer. Personally,I don't like the Super Soft Sponges because they lose their shape in my pocket and sometimes look perfectly awful when they are produced. I also prefer yellow sponges (as I prefer yellow thread for the "Hindu Thread" routine) because it is the most visible color from a distance. Yellow sponges would make an impressive contrast against the black or red close-up mats that so many performers use. For every positive, there is, ofcourse, at least one negative, and the negative here is simple: You as a performer are appearing in public holding sponge balls! I suppose it is an aesthetic issue, but sometimes I have felt perfectly creepy simply being seen with them. My resolution, such as it is, of this inner turmoil is that presently I usually take the Sponges with me to a performance for non-magicians but I never use them as an opening effect. I wait and evaluate the people for whom I'm performing and also the situation. Are these people reserved (no Sponges!) or are they relaxed and having fun (maybe Sponges). At a cocktail party, standing in the center ofa group ofsix or seven people and using a man's two upright palms as my "table," when the final revelation of balls occurs, the result can indeed literally be screams. And sometimes that is what I want. Other times, at different types of parties,I want my presence to be more subdued so the event is not interrupted with such periodic screams. In short, screams are appropriate for some parties but not for others. As a professional, I now realize that it is my job to figure out whether the Sponges belong at a party or whether they don't. When I have performed this routine sitting in a formal situation, for example, at the Magic Castle or at a magic convention, I sometimes conceal all the 24 balls in my left hand and hold them as naturally as possible when I am introduced. Mentally,I don't think about them being there and therefore do not exhibit guilt. (I have long thought that one of the great benefrts of learning to perform magic is learning to appear in public without apparent guilt!) Then, as I sit down, I wedge all of the balls between my legs and take them as needed. Over the years, I also changed the opening sequence of the routine to add another dimension: the dimension of sound. With one ball secretly palmed in my right hand and with a squeaker secretly palmed in my left, I place a single ball on the table and say to the lady on my right (when I perform in a formal situation there is always a lady on my right and a man on my left), "What do you thinh this is?" I respond to her reply and then ask, "Haue you euer heard of Sawing a Lady in Halft" Whatever her reply, I look at her, smile and say, "Climb up on the table!" After the response to this, I say, "I asked you that because this is called
62 EucpNn BuncER Sawing a Ball in Half-and seemingly split the single ball on the table into two balls. This is done by placing my right hand (with its palmed ball) directly over the ball on the table, then sliding my hand to the left so my right frrst finger ends up between the two balls which appear as one. It is import'ant that I keep the tip of my frrst finger against the table. Then, with a sawing motion, I apparently split the ball in two. Then I press on one of the balls with my extended right first finger, at the same time squeezing the squeaker. I say,"One squeaks and the other doesn't." Then I press on the other ball without using the squeaker. The routine continues as previously written. The Burned Card is an effect I have performed for the entire length of my professional career. I still perform it today. For a period, I did it with Tarot Cards (in a routine published in The Perforn'Lance of Close-Up Magic). The biggest problem with Tarot cards is that most people simply don't know what they are and so I when perform this effect today I do it with regular playing cards as I frrst did. I really like "The Burned Card" because the effect is so perfectly weird. A pentagram burned into a playrng card! A strange souvenir! This is, furthermore, an effect that allows me a wide range regarding how I want to perform it. I have played this effect all the way from a happy demeanor to one that is slightly sinister, depending on the audience. Another important and positive element here is that the effect uses Flash Paper. I love Flash Paper!And I truly fear the day when it will either no longer be available or when most hotel venues will absolutely forbid its use. If that day arrives, magic will suffer a great loss-for, as my friend Jeff McBride keeps reminding me, magic began at the fire. To lose this element in our conjuring will be a real loss because Flash Paper brings wonderful mood and surprise to a magical effect. The other thing that I would like to point out about this effect is that here we do have an effect of Bizarre Magic(k) that is perfectly performable by mainstream magicians. When magicians tell me that they don't have the "right voice or look" to include bizarre performance pieces in their repertoires, I usually reply that there is no "right voice or look." Imagine, for example, that one day you were visiting some city you had never previously visited, and you decide to take a walk. Eventually, you come upon a bookstore that specializes in old and out of print books, especially old volumes on occult subjects. You enter the shop and begin a conversation with the rather strange man or woman who is the proprietor. You tell them that you are a magician. They smile and, after a long conversation, invite you into the back room where, to your absolute surprise, they show you ... . And we're off! The above scenario could happen to anyonel You don't need to appear outwardly bizarre or have a deep voice to have such an experience. The telling of the tale is even more believable and interesting to an audience if you look like an insurance salesman or computer programmer, if you seem to be like theml This same strategy is used in a much edited version here in "The Burned Card": "Once I rnet c, womdn who said she was a witch and she gaue me this."
INTBnLUDE Olsp 63 I love secret devices and remember being transfixed when I read Ottokar Fischer's lllustrated Magic as a child, trying to frgure out what all those devices were on pages 76 and 77. T}ae shot glass and fingertip holders that are described here came out of this love of secret things-and also from the influence on me of the wonderful creations of Sam Berland. I think that Berland's magic is still worth studying today. It is marvelously idiosyncratic: he loved liquid productions, done on the offbeat. My shot glass Holderwas modeled after one of Sam's holders with the change that the cover was here retained in the holder so that it didn't need to be disposed oflater. I used this device for a period of about six month while I was working at Great Godfrey Daniels, a restaurant in the Chicago suburbs. In performance, I usually did this immediately after my version of the Schulien "Card in the Matchbook" because I could easily steal the glass while the audience member was discovering the selected card in the matchbook. At that moment of discovery the attention of everyone in the audience is focused on the matchbook and the card that has come out of it. I would steal the glass and wait a beat or two and simply reach inside a man's sportscoat and come out with a shot glass filled with liquid. It was a real surprise, but it was one that was best done once in an evening because of the diffrculty of resetting everything. It was the reset situation, in fact, that led me to stop using it. I simply didn't have time to reset the glass after every show in the restaurant. I used the Fingertip Holder during that same period when I was performing the "Water Suspension" described in Audience Inuoluement.It was a fast and sure way to obtain the fingertip without fumbling around. I am eternally grateful to Tom Mullica not only for being my friend but also for creating his wonderful Mullica lYallet. I have used this effect from the very beginning of my magical career. I still use it today. My latest handling can be found on my Gourmet Close-Up Magic video. Here, I want to stress the choreography ofthis effect. It requires a great deal of practice to make everything happen smoothly. The aim, of course, is a true marriage of words and actions. By giving my presentation, I was showing one way that this can be achieved. I do not doubt that there are many others. Interestingly, my performance of this effect today now has a challenge aspect which only was added in the last five years. After the card has been selected, signed, and returned to the deck, I look the spectator in the eye and say, "In forty-eight seconds your rnouth is going to drop open!" Quite a challenge!When I frrst began professional performing, there was no element of challenge in my work. I thought very hard, in fact, about how to identify any such spectator-challenging moments and how to eliminate them. But what you can get away with at 55 years of age isn't always what you can get away with at 39. Now, at 61, I truly enjoy this one moment of direct challenge in my show. When I was younger, this direct challenge would not have worked theatrically for me at all. Now it does. The Signed Bill in the Matchbox has an interesting history. I created this effect at the first restaurant where I was engaged to perform. The
64 EucBNn BuncER entire purpose of this effect was, shamelessly, to assist me in getting a tip or gratuity from the people at the table. The procedure was simple: I borrowed a ten or twenty dollar bill from a man who was present with a women, and then had him sign his name across the bill. Eventually the bill appeared in the matchbox. At the effect's conclusion, I set the bill in front of the lender and then went immediately into the "Allerton Aspirin Tin" routine and made the souvenir envelope for the lender's lady. She got the envelope and I got the bill. I almost always got the bill! It took me years to ask myself a rather basic question: What am I really seeking? Am I seeking a twenty dollar tip or a thousand dollar party? The issue is that, sometimes, in getting the tip you reveal yourself to be exactly the sort of person that people don't want at their parties! Especially their business parties. You might hold up their clients for money. As the years passed, I came to see that restaurant magic is less about making money at the restaurant and more about being seen in a great place that can help you book parties and other events. You will see this new attitude toward tips and gratuities beginning to take shape when you read the essay "The Future of Restaurant Magic," in the booklet,The Craft of Magic which was published in 1984. Since I believe that, in the last analysis, the best advertisement for me is me (not words about me), I now view restaurant magic as a place where performers are paid to advertise themselves for more lucrative work. If you had visited any of the last three restaurants in which I have appeared, you would have discovered that there really was no place at all in my show where you would have experienced any space for you to give me a tip. Suddenly the show is over and the magician is gone. If you did want to give me money, you either had to give it to the service person and ask them to give it to me, or you had to get up from your table and find me and give me the money. After taking this attitude that I wasn't interested in tips, curiously, I didn't frnd that my tips went down. They stayed pretty much the same. I did frnd, however, that my parties and selfesteem went up! I am still quite fond of the Torn Corrrer move. In the last year, I have discussed it before several lecture groups and, seeing it, they realized its strength because your hand is empty except for the corner you are handing to the spectator. I especially like using this move after an effect where I have had a card signed. I can then say, "There are rnany different ways of marking cards for identification. A moment ago you marhed the card by signing with a pen. This method is just as good." I now begin to rip the card and, in the process, I have justifred this new method of identification. If you try this move before a mirror, I think that you will be surprised at how deceptive it is. And then there is S6ance. As a child, I loved ghost stories and scary movies. When I became a professional magician, my lifelong interest in ghosts and things spooky were subjects that I happily drew upon in constructing my routines. This effect also shows how my thinking has changed over the years. Today, I would never euer perfotm this as a card trick! Much too pedes-
INTcnLUDE ONn 65 trian. The spirits really deserve better! Look at it this way: if you were to ask the proverbial one hundred people whether they would like the spirits to tell them the name of their playing card or to tell them something about their lives, only the magicians in the group would choose the first option! This realization led to me turn away from playing cards and to turn toward fortune cookies and newspaper astrolory columns for the content of my messages. I might add that this is a terrific effect to perform on television-especially if you have something that you want to advertise, since the spirits can write the advertisement for you-and I have performed it on local Chicago and on British television. As I said in the booklet, for magicians this is "just'Glorpy'and'Out to Lunch'." Indeed. For non-magicians, however, who know nothing of these magical things, the effect is truly uncanny. Think about it: the spirits are writing a message on a card, both sides of which have been initialed, in the color crayon that the spectator has chosen. And, with the addition of Phil Goldstein's brilliant idea of using "Glorpy" for spirit writing effects, the audience actually seems to see the crayon rise under the scarf and then write! One Halloween I was engaged by Parade magazine to perform 15 short (about 13 minutes each!) seances for 12 people at a time on a ship in the Chicago Harbor. This was the one effect I performed 15 times.
I Luuluu t$83
68 EucnNn BuncER Prusuttlflliotle, The great danger in listening to lectures is that we are only listening to words, only listening to the other fellow talk and show his magic, and not making any real progress of our own-and that, after all, is what is important; making one's outn progress toward ... what? What are my goals? What am I seeking to accomplish? What results do I wish to attain? If the goal of performing (whether on the trapeze, the guitar, or with a pack of trained seals) is to entertain people, the goal of magical performers ought to be to entertain them through deception. Notice that the word "entertain" comes before the word "deception." This isn't simply a trick of sentence construction or a play on words; it points to a primary fact recognized by almost all magicians who earn their entire "living" (meaning "money,'hmmm ... ) performing magic. Close-up magic as performed by many amateurs is deceptive but not very entertaining. Energy has been put into constructing the deception, but not enough energ:y and thought and work has been put into constructing an entertaining presentation within which they might, as we say, "cloak the hoax." And, hoaxes, I submit, really ought to be cloaked with something. It's more fun that way! Not only for your audiences but, hopefully, for you. Presentation is that point where you put yourself ir,lto your magic. Even if your presentations tend toward the "Now I'm going to do /his; now I am going to do that" format, your lines must be rehearsed and spoken as if you were saying something importanf-something worth the spectatorb time and attention. Consequently, the style of close-up presentation which I personally least enjoy is one which we see all too often-and which might be called "I'm doing this as a throw-away so that if you catch me it won't be such a big deal." I enjoy this least because (among other reasons) when one sees it, it does not appear to have been so much consciously chosen by the performer but, rather, to be the inevitable result of too little rehearsal. According to Burger's First Law: Too many performers practice the moues but forget to rehearse the show! You must practice the parts and rehearse the whole. You must practice the moves, the sleights, the various physical maneuvers until your fingers can do them smoothly and without awkwardness. Now youte learned the trick-and the work (and. hopefully, the fun) is about to begin. If one is a silent performer, the trick generally must now be choreographed to music; if one is a speaking performer, the trick must now be choreographed to what you will soy (your script). Expecting to be inspired on the spot regarding your script shows very little respect for your audiences. Much like a dance or dramatic play, the close-up magical performer's
AunrpNCE Iuvor,vpMENT 69 movements and actions are choreographed to the words he will use in performance. And it is this which needs to be rehearsed. This interaction of the performer's actions and handling of his props on the one hand and his words on the other-and the surprises which are thereby generatedis the show. Again, the show must be rehearsed. Of course, the close-up performer's script needs to be flexible and open rather than rigid and closed. This is required because of the intimacy of the performing situation wherein spectators often will talk to each other and to you. In the context of such intimacy, I have found the following to be a helpful rule of thumb: If you expect spectators to be attentive to you, you must, in turn, be attractive to them. Close-up performers need to listen to what their spectators are saying-so they can respond to them. One evening I went on a tour of a few of Chicago's many magic spots with my friend and former partner in the Spirit Theatre Company, Dennis Rook. Afterward, Dennis remarked, "Quite a few of the magicians we saw tonight related to audiences as if they were or,ly technical necessitiesneeded to select cards, remember them, and say 'Great job!' to the performer at the finish." How true. Yet much of the fun of close-up magic for spectators is that it is close-up and that they may, therefore, participate all the more fully in what is happening. People enjoy getting involved. They want this to be fun. They might even talk and laugh and joke with you. Don't give them dirty looks. And, please don't treat them as if they were hecklers! (How awful!) Play with them. Have fun yourself. Allowing the spotlight to drift occasionally to a spectator (when this is not done for purposes of humiliation and./or embarrassment) is not only gracious, it is theatrically wise. We are crating a magical context of mystery and fun and surprise and play and, in this context, audience inuoluement can enhance your presentation and deepen the impact you have as a performer. But lest you think I'm preaching,let me say that I'm only telling you how I approach my own work. I agree with Leo Buscaglia when he said, "Beware of giving advice. Wise men don't need it and fools won't heed it." Tu ollilgoN I was taught this effect, step-by-step, when I was 16 or 17 years old by AIex Berecz, a magjcian-bartender at Dix and Norb's Magic Inn, a Chicago music bar popular in the 1950's. Because the effect is little more than theatrical dressing around a Top Change-a sleight which I assumed was terribly difficult to execute-I consequently made hard work of the lessons. Alex, however, was a patient teacher and slowly got me to see that what is important here-and what makes it all deceptiue-
70 Eucouu BuncER is not primarily what your hands and fingers are doing, but the situation you are creating thorough your words, your eyes, your gestures, and your interactions with your audierlce. Once this is realized, the Top Change rather does itself-and you just help it along. I confess this is one of the cornerstone effects in my card work for laymen. I perform it all the time. It allows me to get people's names and talk with them. I perform the effect sitting at a table, standing behind a bar, or standing in the middle of a cocktail party or hospitality suite with spectators completely surrounding me. People simply will not see the exchange of the cards if their attention is on the two spectators who are in the spotlight.Yet the exchange is done boldly-right under their noses. Perhaps this is why I like it. Routine: "Do you euer do card tricks?' I ask a spectator on my right. Go with the answer."Well, this is a card trick that you will do. May I ask your name?" The spectator replies that his name is John. "Well, Johft, I hope you're lucky tonight." Turning to a spectator on my left, I ask her name. She replies that it is Mary. "Mory, I want you to select one of these cards. Show it to eueryone except John and ma Now, John, don't peeh! We're all watching you!" Indeed! If everyone continues watching John and Mary, if you continue to keep them in the spotlight, no one will euer see the exchange! Mary shows her card and replaces it in the deck. I maintain a break above the card with my left fourth finger. "John, tell us the truth: Did you see Mary's card?" As everyone looks at John for his reply, I execute a pass which brings the selected card to the top. Alternatively, if one of the spectators is staring unmercifully at the deck, I will absent mindedly double undercut the card to the top.This needs to be done as if it has rlo bearing whatsoeuer,on the proceedings-and without shame or guilt. I turn toward John and slowly riffle the cards. "I'll do that again and you say 'Stop!' wheret)er you like.'If I feel playful, I might riffle the deck so rapidly that it is finished before he says anything at all. "This ls a motor skill You must coordinate with me!" The point is that I play with the spectators here and keep it light. John finally succeeds in stopping me and I take the card in my right hand-keeping the deck in my left. I hold the card so that it faces John (fi9.1) and look at
AuorpNCE ImrorvnMENT 7L Mary and say somewhat triumphantly,"Wouldn't it be amazing if John did, find your card?" Mary usually admits that it would be amazing. I tip the card back so that I can see its face. My right hand continues moving-and crosses over to show the card to Mary $rg.2). Before Mary can say anything, I say: 'You picked the Four of Hearts (or whatever)." My right hand immediately (but not quickly) moves back so that it is held about seven or eight inches in front of my body-and about waist high (frg.3). At this point,I am looking Mary directly in the eyes-as I continue the last sentence, "and that's exactly the card at which John stopped!' It is during these final words that the top change is executed. As I say these last words, my left hand crosses in front of my right (fig.4), continues its movement and finishes pointing directly at John-as if for emphasis (fig.5). During the crossover, the exchange is done. The left thumb pushes the top selected card about one-half inch to the right. The card in the right hand is held between the thumb and first finger (frg.6). The first and second fingers of the right hand separate so that the selected card can be fed between them by the left thumb. The left thumb immediately lifts slightly upward so that the card in the right hand can be taken onto the top of the deck (fig.7). And the hand keeps mouing (frg.8) until it comes to a stop-pointing at John for emphasis. One other point: Once the exchange is made, the left hand, in continuing its movement toward John, moves more sharply upward until it stops, pointing at John. Mary may get a bit confused and look to others for support as she tells me that this was not her card. I tell John that I am a little disappointed with his card trick-and then ask him to blow on the card. I turn it over and show that it has changed to Mary's card. Once the surprise has begun to subside, I repeat the exchange as follows. I look at Mary, smile, and say, "You didn't think that John could do it, did you?" As these words are begun, the right hand (with the card) gestures for emphasis toward Mary.When I get to the name "John" in the script, the left hand is moving to point to John-and the card is exchanged in the process. oHere, John, blow on it again.'I look at Mary and turn the card
72 EucpNn BuncER over-showing it has now changed back to the frrst card-and say, "You see, it's neuer what you think!" I give the card to Mary so that she can touch it-and in the process, see that it is not prepared (which, interestingly, is often suspected by spectators). Notes: I want to discuss this effect not only because it has a very high impact upon laymen but also because it shows us what we need to practice and what we need to rehearse. The physical action of the exchange of the two cards needs to be practiced-repeated over and over and over until it can be done smoothly and effortlessly, without strain. The whole routine needs to be rehearsed-from beginning to end. The words which you are using for the exchange must frt into the framework of the rest of the script you are using. During rehearsal, talk out loud to imaginary spectators. During performance, I am seeking to have fun with John and Mary and the other spectators-and I will allow the situation to develop as it willknowing that I can always get back "on track" with my script. Remember, the reactions and responses which you are able to elicit from John and Mary greatly enhance t}l.e show. The magical change of the cards is but the "topper'to the situation-John's attempt to frnd Mary's card-a situation which should be fun and entertaining in and of itself. Brait1-Il|auoilN Why another version of "Brainwave"? Certainly any self-respecting magrcian ought to be satisfred with the original Vernon version or, should he for some reason prefer a face-down card appearing in a face-up pack, Joe Berg's "Ultra Mental." Performing, as I do, in public places where both local and visiting magrcians often drop in to see a little magic, it appealed to me to develop a version whereir both sides of the deck could be displayed at the frnish. This has caused quite a few magical mouths to drop open-as magicians suddenly realized they were not seeing one of these now-standard packs. And, that is exactly what I wanted (perverse soul that I can sometimes be!). It is great fun to have a few effects in your repertoire that are magical traps for magicians because magicians, generally, deeply enjoy being fooled. It is unwise, of course, to gear your entire repertoire toward maglcians because, according to Burger's Second Law:Laymen tend to remember what they like about your show while magicians tend to remember what they don't like. Gearing your work to magicians, then, is a losing battle. (And we haven't even begun to talk about magicians as "tippers" in a restaurant or lounge!) The routine I am about to describe is based upon three points which, I think, are independently interesting. First, audiences do not know what you intend to do until the ending is revealed. This is why multiple-out effects have the impact they do: The spectator does not know what the ending is supposed to be and so any one ofa set ofendings can be intro-
AuurNCE IuvoureMENr 73 duced as "the" ending. Second, when describing effects afterward, spectators notoriously misremember details. I have very often heard this effect described by spectators to their friends as, "I named a card and it was reversed in the deck I was holding!"-which, as you will see, is not what happens. But it is the effect which the spectator believes he saw me perform. Third, if asked to name one's fauorite card, suit, the overwhelming choice will be "Hearts." A fairly strong second place choice is "Spades." Women, to a much lesser degree, will sometimes smile and say "Diamonds"-perhaps remembering that "Diamonds are a girl's best friend." "Clubs" is named very rarely. If you ask where I have discovered such curious secrets about the human psyche, my answer is that I have simply asked this question of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of persons over the past few years and this is what I have discovered. Consequently, this deck is designed to exhibit three suits: Hearts, Spades, and Diamonds.If Clubs is named at the beginning,I immediately fan the deck, ask that a Club be selected, and go into another effect-most often my version of Matt Schulien's "Card in the Matchbook."At the conclusion of this effect,I ask that another suit be named and the choice is now between the suits which the deck con display. This is, to be sure, a detour-and one which may disappoint magicians because of its apparent lack of directness.It does not trouble me, however, because I equally enjoy performing the "Card in the Matchbook" and because this lack of directness is perceivable only by the performer. The spectator has no sense of what is going to happen. He does not perceive a detour at all-or, more precisely, he will not perceive a detour unless the magician is unable to hide his oran disappointment over the spectator's choice! The pack consists of24 double-backed cards arrd24 double-faced cards. (The application of double-faced and double-backed cards to the Brainwave Deck, though in another form, was something I first read about in Sam Dalal's excellent but short-lived magazine, Swami.) The double-faced cards are as follows (read across the columns for order of double-faced cards in the deck): ZDIJC 3D/AC 4D/4C 5D/9C 6D/KD 8D/JS 9Dl2C 10D/6C ZS{J}I 3S/7C 4SIQH 7S/7H 6S/AD 8S/QC 9S/5S los/QD 2W3C sryQs 4WJD 5W5C 6[UAS STUAH gH/I(H LOWTD Since no standard double-faced cards come so backed, you will either have to spend some time splitting cards or engage someone to do it for you. Neil Lester (of Cards by Martin) made my deck for me. The cards are roughed together in pairs: One side ofa double-backed card is roughed along with the Diamond, Spade, and Heart sides of the double-faced cards. The four unused cards (8C, KS, KC, and 10C) are placed on the top and bottom ofthe deck respectively. Thus from the top ofthe
74 EucpNp BuncER deck down we have: 8C, KS, DB, DF (2D up), DB, DF (3D up), etc., ending with the unprepared KC and 10C on the face of the pack. Using a razor blade, scratch the backs of the double-backed cards which are roughed to the 2D,25, and 2H on the upper left and lower right hand corners (frg.l). These will be your guides as you run through the deck, faces toward the audience. The guide cards will tell you where each suit begins (and so each suit should be marked differently). You then count from the guide card to the number selected-remembering to omit the number "seven" which is not used. I confess my deck has marks on the 6s as well since I prefer to do even less counting! Using transparent tape, put a small tab on the bottom of the 6S/ADabout a quarter inch in length (fig.2). This will be used as a guide for cutting the deck should the final choice be either the2,3,4,or 5 of Diamonds or the 6,8, 9, or 10 of Hearts. The cards are simply cut at the tab once the deck is removed from its case. The reason for the cutting is to bring the chosen card more near the center of the pack for its frnal display. Routine: The pack in its case is given to a spectator several effects before I intend to use it-with the instructions that it is something we'll use later and to put it into his pocket. "Do you haue a fauorite card suit?' I ask. Assuming the spectator replies "Hearts" (or "Spades" or "Diamonds"), I continue "Let's look at this idea we call luck Liues haue been changed and, at least in Las Vegas and Atlantic City, uacations haue been ruined because of it. In a moment, I u)ant you to call out a number between one and ten-but so that later people uton't think you made it too easy for me, don't call out the number'seuen' as this is most always called. So call out a nurnben" The spectator replies,'Five." To the spectator with the deck, "Some time ago I gaue you a pack of playing cards which I asked you to place in your pocket. Would you tahe them out and hand them to this gentleman (who made the selections). Si4 please hold the deck up. This deck of cards was giuen to me by a man I once met, an old gamblen He had spent seueral hours using this deck to deal the most wonderful poker hands-royal flushes and all of it--and at the end of his demonstration he gaue the deck to me, no doubt to proue to me that what I had been witnessing was the result of real skill on his part. He said that he hoped the cards would bring me luck." To the first spectator "Do you belieue in luck?" If the answer is *Yes," I say, "Wonderful!" If the reply is *No," I say, "Well, I certainly hope that you're lucky tonight!You see, when I first looked through the deck after the gambler gaue it to me, I was surprised to discouer one card was reuersedupside down-in the pack. An accident, perhaps, or one of the gambler's secrets. I simply left the card reuersed where it is right now to see how lucky people really can be. I wonder, do you think that you are lucky?' Again, go with the spectators response. Then continue: "Let us see. You named the suit'Hearts' and the number'fiue'.' The cards are taken from the spectator, removed from the case, not cut at
AuornNcE hwol'mMENT 75 the tab because of the card chosen, and slowly spread with their faces toward the audience. Watch for the Heart guide card and then count to the five and spread the roughed cards apart. A face-down card appears to the spectators. In fact, it is the double-backed card. Right next to it, facing you, is the Five of Hearts. The fanned deck is turned around and the Five is displayed and removed. Finish! Notes: If you are worried about an Ace (the number "one") being selected (this will not happen, since you asked for a number between one and ten), you can place four Aces in your breast pocket in CHaSeD order from the front of the pocket to the back. Thus you are able to produce any of the Aces from your pocket as if this were the effect. Another spectator can then be asked to name another number between one and ten and you can proceed into the effect. This perhaps seems complicated in print but, in practice, it is really quite simple and. appears to be direct. On the very rare occasions when I present a stand-up performance before a large group of (seated) persons, I generally present this effect but I use a different way of getting into it which eliminates the possibility of the frrst detour (necessitated by a selection of "Clubs"). I begin by handing out the deck. Then I show four jumbo Aces-one of each of the suits-and propose an experiment in telepathy wherein I will mentally attempt to send the name of one of the card suits to the audience as a whole. If you don't play this as comedy and if you keep the pace moving, audiences seem thoroughly to enjoy such excursions into parapsychological WooWoo. People enjoy guessing and being right and raising their hands and showing off. (Just like youl) I ask someone to mix the Aces and then return them to me. I fan them so that neither the audience nor I can see any of their faces-and then select one, apparently at random. Actually, the backs of the cards are marked and it is an easy matter to select the Ace of Clubs. I look at it and attempt mentally to send it to the audience. I ask how many persons thought of "Spades?" I ask them to raise their hands. Then "Hearts" and "Diamonds" are called out. When I name "Clubs," I turn the card around so everyone can see it-and, at the same time, scan those who now have their hands raised. Picking a likely person near the front (for better audience visibility),I ask him or her to stand up and continue with the experiment. I discard the "already used" Ace of Clubs (Why not?!) and hand the spectator the remaining three Aces and ask him to mix them thoroughly and then to select one-stressing the fairness of the choice. I am now ready to begin the effect proper without the possibility of a detour. Brafl-[[apil[ga[N This is such a strong effect-a named card found reversed in the packand, here, the effect is the same but the method is different. No doublefaced or double-backed cards are required. The "miracle" has its price, however, especially if you are squeamish about multiple-outs and think-
76 Eucpxr BuncER ing on your feet. Just remember, "thinking on your feet" is made easy by thinking in rehearsal. The pack can show one sttit only: Hearts. The entire suit of Hearts has been roughed onboth sides and then sandwiched between two other cards-one of which has been roughed on its face and the other roughed on its back. Thus we have groups of threes with the reversed card in the center. On the backs of the cards which sandwich the Ace, Three, Six, Nine and Queen, make a small scratch on the upper left and lower right cornerswhich will make counting so much easier. I use two decks. One shows Hearts and the other shows Spades-the two most frequently named suits. I have used these decks in several ways. First, I have placed a deck in each of my vest pockets (the Heart pack over the heart-where else?!). I ask a person to name his favorite card suit. Again, if either Clubs or Diamonds is named I go into another effectwithout flinching! If Hearts or Spades is named (which will happen in the vast majority of cases), I remove the appropriate deck from my pocket as I say,"In a deck of cards there are thirteen cards of each suit. Name any one of them." It's a matter of timing and eye contact. I ask the spectator if he would like to change his mind and name another Heart. I make a game of this. When the spectator is solid on one named Heart, f remove the deck and spread it faces toward the audience. The cards are separated at the appropriate point. I say.'"One card is reuersed and only one card: the Three of Hearts (or whatever). As I say this, I remove the reversed card (without showing its face) and slowly turn the pack around so the other side can be seen-as I am saying, "and only one card." The card itself is then turned around to reveal it is the very card named! Second, if I am performing at a table,I might place the Heart pack on the table but off to the side. If Hearts is named, I pick it up. If Spades is named, I switch the deck for the Spade deck in a way shown to me by Bruce Bernstein, a very clever Chicago performer, which I am not free to explain. Since the spectators do not know what you are going to do, the switching of the decks is not a big production-and can occur on a natural offbeat. Third, standing before a group, I use the jumbo (marked) Aces. First, I hand out the Heart (or Spade) deck. Then I show the jumbo Aces and propose the telepathy experiment with the audience. I attempt to transmit one Ace and then another (neither being the Heart). The two remaining cards are given to the spectator and the Ace of Hearts is selected through a simple process of equivoqu1. ("Would you hand one of them to me.") Alternatively, the Ace of Hearts can be the first and only Ace which you attempt to send to the audience. It is simply picked out of the face-down fan by its secret marking. The advantage of this pack over the previous one is that it can be made up using a regular deck of cards-thus making up new decks is an easy matter. Again, with this deck the reversed card can be removed from the pack, back toward the audience, the pack itself turned around, and, then the reversed card turned around so it can be seen by the audience-a far more interesting display visually.
AuorpNcE IurzorvpMENT 77 [{alil$uiloNiorl ru Laymen often believe, erroneously, that if they are seated close to a magician they will have a better opportunity to discover his secrets. While this is often true, it is by no means always the case. This effect, for example, is effective precisely because it ls performed right under the spectator's rrose. Further, it is perceived by the spectators as being completely impromptu-the only properties used are a dollar bill, a rubber band, some water or other liquid, and the performer's business card. (You might think this is a clever way to pass out your business cards-and, perhaps, it is. Personally, I never give my card to anyone unless they ask for it. Should I be asked-and should there be some liquid handy-I very often perform this effect.) The basic effect first came to my attention in Milbourne Christopher's book on the thumb tip. If you wrap even a newish bill around a thumbtip and slip a rubber band around it, you might think the whole thing looks wrong. The tube thus formed seems too large-obviously suggesting to the discerning spectator that something is inside it. I felt a fingertip formed a thinner and more believable tube-and that is what I use. If you put a small rubber band around the fingertip and put it in your pocket, the effect is wonderfully impromptu. Routine: Ask to borrow a bill, 'the larger the denomination the better." Ask that the bill be newish (a worn bill would crush under the rubber band). The frngertip is already on the first finger of your right hand. While the bill is being produced by a willing spectator, slip the rubber band offthe fingertip and hold it in your left hand. The bill is received in your right hand, palm up, and rests on the fingers covering the tip (fiS.1). The left hand turns the bill over once or twice and then holds up the rubber band as you say, 'Would you trade the bill for this rubber band?" This question usually takes folks off guard and you should get many interesting responses with which you can work. Whatever the answer, hand the rubber band to the spectator with the request that he pull on it (fantasy being what it is, this usually gets a laugh from the other spectators). While the attention is thus on the spectator and the rubber band, form the bill into a tube around the fingertip (fi9.2), which is immediately removed before the tube is frnally formed. This takes a second. Do it casually-as if you were just doing it, just forming a bill into a tube-without getting flushed in the face and generating your sense of guilt to the audience. Take the rubber band and slip it around the tube you've formed (fig.3). The tip should be near the top of the tube. (This is the point where you tell all of your I t, {, I 1,,
78 EucnNB BuncER "rolling the dollar bill into a tube" jokes.) A card is taken and placed on the second, third, and fourth fingers of the left hand (fig.4). The tube is placed on top of it and held in place by the thumb and first finger of the left hand (fig.5). Water is slowly poured into the bill (fig.6). Just before I do this I usually say,"This is the reason I didn't want to use my own money!" Stop, Iet it sink in. Don't be in a hurry. Slowly, as ifyou were doing something tremendous, slowly slide the card from under the bill (fig.7) until it is free of contact. If am performing this behind a bar or near a table, I will spin the card onto the surface toward the spectator. If you do this as if you were doing something utterly unbelievable, you will find that many people will gasp when you remove the card. Taking the glass in the right hand, slowly raise the tube in the left, pause, and then slowly pour the water back into the glass (frg.8). This very often generates laughter. Put the glass down-or hand it to someone. Look the spectator right in the eye as you deliver the following line: "And the most amazing thing is that the bill is not even wet!" This line covers a multitude of sins-not the least of which is the steal of the tip from the tube. But don't even think of it as a "steal"-it isn't. What I do is simply insert the third finger of my right hand into the tube (and the tip) as my left hand slips offthe rubber band (frg.9). I allow the bill to unroll by itself as my hand moves toward the spectatorfinishing about a foot from his face. The left hand immediately turns the bill over several times and hands it back to the spectator-as both hands are shown empty (fingers pointing toward the spectator's eyes). Notes: Don't be in a hurry-particularly when you unroll the tube. I have fooled many magicians with this simply because they were looking for
AuprpNCE ImrolvsMENT 79 something on my thumb or first finger. The movement of the right hand toward the spectator, as the left removes the rubber band, is smooth and unhurried. It's all over before you know it. The best kind of glass to usesince you don't want the bill to get wet-is a cordial glass. Pour slowly but steadilyuntil the water is about a quarter inch from the top. With his Liquid Pull, Vernet supplies small plastic glasses which are designed to pour perfectly and which hold an ideal amount to use with a fingertip. Again, a paper cup is also fine since it can be squee zed together at the top before pouring-and the water will pour straight down (which is what you want). One last word concerning the presentation of this-and other-close-up effects. The greatest failure, it seems to me, is afailure of the imagination on the part of the performer to imagine that he is really doing things that are absolutely fantastic and amazing. If the performer can imagine this to be the case, he is already on his way toward communicating that enerry and wonder to his audience. This little trick, for instance, really can be played into something quite marvelous in the perception of laymen-and, if you do it smoothly, even magicians might wonder where the thumb tip went. \ \ r\
Audience Involuemenf was one of only four sets of lecture notes that I have put together during my magical career. The second was the booklet, The Secret of Restaurant Magic, and the third and fourth were for my first appearance in Japan and then at F.I.S.M. in Holland in the 1980s. In truth, I have never been a fan oflecture notes. Since I put a great deal of time and thought into explaining my views in my books, I would prefer that people read them and not short abridgements that dealt primarily with magic methods. The second and more important reason is that I have rarely given the same lecture twice. It's too boring for me! When Lloyd Jones reviewedAudience Inuoluement inGenii, he commented on the fact that there were only four tricks, and he wondered how long the lecture could possibly have been! My aim, of course, was to talk about these four effects (actually there are only three effects;one is given with two different methods) in some detail, stressing how I presented them. In the lecture, I stressed with the Top Change, for example, first, here was an entertaining routine built solely around a single sleight, and, second, that I had been taught and learned to execute this sleight with the words in place.I always executed the move on the same line in the script: as I turned to the first spectator who originally selected the card and said,'And that's exactly the card at which you stopped me!" I think it is sometimes very important to learn and rehearse a sleight like the Top Change with your words in place. Too many magicians try to learn sleights and then add words to them later. For a sleight like this to be accomplished smoothly and deceptively, the words I am saying are as important as what my hands are doing. When I learned to perform the Top Change as a teenager at Dix and Norb's Magic Inn in Chicago, I learned to do it while saying the words of the routine out loud. That was how I practiced. This effect is one that I have performed ever since I was 16 or 17. It is a truly wonderful routine that is centered upon interaction (involvement) with your audience members. A spectator is selected to be the magician and then fails to find the selected card. The magician saves the day by changing the wrong card into the right one. The plot is simple and engaging. I remember in the 1980s, while driving from Washington, D.C. to the last New York Magic Symposium with my friends Jamy Ian Swiss and Barry Taylor, Jamy took me by complete surprise when he announced that he had been studying my repertoire and had discovered that I only performed one effect where there was no audience interaction. Every other effect in my repertoire physically involved people in what was happening. This fact had never really dawned on me until Jamy said it. He was, of course, correct. And his observation about my magic routines greatly pleased me. I have always very much wanted to get my audiences involved in my magical presentations!
INTpnLUDE TWo 81 Times have indeed changed. When I frrst began lecturing in the early 1980s, I vividly remember magicians walking out of my lectures because, as one person said, "it was just about presentation."Yes, my early lectures were primarily about presentation and magicians seemed primarily interested in learning new tricks. But from my work in the University, I understood that students often know what they want but that they do not always know what they need. Over the years, magic lecturing has indeed changed-and I think for the better. This early lecture booklet shows my enduring fascination with "Brainwave" and "Ultra Mental." In truth, I've always found trick decks to be a great deal of fun. I have not been tempted to use the vast majority in actual paid performances, but I think reading about them and experimenting with them in my hands is a highly entertaining way to spend some time. The prospect of fooling other magicians has always appealed to me. The best way to do that is to take them down a course they think they understand and then pull the rug out from under them at the last moment. This is how Brain-Waved and Brain-WavedAgain were developed. My idea was to lead magicians to thinking I was performing a version of the "IJltra Mental" but then, at the last moment, turn the deck around so the backs of the cards were visible. The magician's mouth drops out (slightly): It wasn't one of those decks after all! Interestingly, in the description of "Brain-Waved," when the names of the various faces on the specially made double-faced cards were explained in the list, there was an error which has happily been corrected in this edition. Over the years, three people have written to point that out. Frankly, I am amazed that three people atiempted to make this up and saw the error! I returned to this effect with "The Devil's Deck." This version, I honestly think, is much better than either of the methods in this booklet but still not as good as my marketed version, "Thought Sender," which changes the opening sequence of "The Devil's Deck" to the one used by PhiI Goldstein in his marvelous effect "B''Wave" (which I was given to perform, to my great delight, five years before it was put on the market!). This means that both suits in the deck are the same color. Shortly after I released "Thought Sender," a situation occurred in performance that changed my thinking and caused me to write some additional notes and add them to the original instructions. A man asked to examine the deck! I looked him in the eyes, smiled as if was a rather stupid suggestion, and handed him the deck with an attitude of complete confidence. He took the deck and pushed a few cards, then a few more, then a few more, looked up at me and I again smiled confrdently and took the deck from him. The cards in "Thought Sender" are waxed; roughing fluid is not used. It would never have occurred to me to give the deck to someone but, when asked, I had little opportunity to do anything else! (Well, I could have said, "No, it's my trick deck and Id rather you didn't look at it"-but reallyl) I treated the moment when he asked as an acting challenge: Instantly, I decided that I would act as if it really didn't matter whether he looked at the cards or not. A similar strategy is used by Poker players. When the man who wanted to see the cards believed that it wasn't impor-
82 EucnNB BuncER tant, he didn't examine the cards at all;he simply looked at them, pushed them a bit and then looked up at me for further direction. I was smiling confidently and extending my hand to take back the cards. This experience taught me two things: first, it is the picture that is important and the picture the audience saw was that I had given the deck to the man for examination because it was just an ordinary deck of cards. Second, I discovered that I actually could hand out a deck of waxed cards to an audience member, providing that I control the length of time they had to handle them. It was a question of managing people and their actions. "Brain-Waved Again" is a surprising event-if you are able to remove the correct deck quickly and smoothly from your pocket without any apparent fussing around or guilt. I had frankly forgotten about first using the Jumbo cards in a telepathy game to narrow down to the correct suit. I performed that only a few times, allowing the spectators to mix the cards (the Ace of Spades that matched the deck I was using was marked on the back with a razor scratch). After the spectators mixed them, I spread them out, apparently took one at random, and tried to send it. I simply made sure that I left the marked Ace for last. Since it was obvious to which suit this last Ace belonged, I suggested we now attempt something different and much more diffrcult. Holding up the cased deck,I proposed that I would send one card of this final suit to a particular audience member. This was a most workable introduction to "Brain-Waved Again." I didn't do this very often, however, because I was moving on and experimenting with other methods that soon lead to "The Devil's Deck" which then I performed for many years. I performed the lYater Suspension almost exclusively in the periods when I performed behind the bar during my six years at Great Godfrey Daniels restaurant. This is a good effect for bar workers because everything needed, with the exception of the rubber band which I carried in my magic box, is readily at hand. I need hardly add that performing effects with water behind a restaurant bar is much easier than attempting them at individual tables in the room. During the period when I performed this effect, I did learn a helpful bit of preparation. With a fine point pen, I made a very small black dot inside the frngertip at the top on the side directly across from the fingernail (see drawing at left). This dot serves as a simple guide for reinsertion of my finger into the tip. (I always hated it when my finger came out with the nail on the wrong side!) This is one effect that I finally dropped because I never felt that I was giving it what it deserved. And I didn't really know what that was! Recently, when talking about this effect with Max Maven, who remembered one of my performances at Great Godfrey Daniels, he commented that, at the time, he had thought it didn't have the power of the rest of my magic because I was still performing it as a pruzzle.I think that Max is correct in this. As I was presenting it, it was a puzzle about why the water didn't run out of the paper tube. Understanding this, perhaps I'11 take it up again and start practicing.
l$83
84 EucnNn BuncER Po[[ 0l [ilarlurrru In the following pages you will find some of my reflections upon the fascinating topic of restaurant magic-and also upon some of the elements and strategies which, I think, contribute toward success for a magician who performs in this setting. What follows is, admittedly, impressionistic rather than comprehensive. My reasons for this are: First of all, that it is impossible to cover fully an entire freld in the course of a few pages or a single lecture-the purpose for which this material was assembled. Second, other writers (most notably, Kirk Charles) have already provided a fuller account of the field and have discussed many of the nitty-gritty questions-such as, "How does one get a job in a restaurant?" and the ever-interesting, "How much should I ask to get paid?" Consequently, I have chosen a different approach which, I hope, will also have some value. I want to reflect upon a few of the issues in this freld which most interest me-personally-as one who has worked in restaurants and lounges for the entire length of his full-time professional career. My purpose, however, is not to preach-nor is it to tell people I have never met, or seen perform, what they should do to be successful. I am, quite frankly, talking to myself and to those who care to listen about some of the facets of restaurant work which I think are important but which remain, shall we say, "hidden" in the usual discussions of this freld. Tallu[|gpp111gN Magicians often ask me questions that begin with the words, "When you table hop, do you ... ." Dear readers,I neuer "table hop"!-a phrase which, in my mind, conjures up images of insincere social butterflies flitting here and there, or fakefur Easter bunnies with large baskets hopping from table to table. Pretty gruesome stuff. (I should add that when one tips the scales at 200 plus pounds, one doesn't "hop" much at all.) Seriously, the label "table hopping" is near the top of my hit list. In fact, it ranks second (after "patter") as the phrase that, if I had a cosmic magic wand, I would banish forever and ever from the vocabularies of all closeup magicians. I think it is a terrible label that detneans rather than enhances what close-up magicians do and what close-up magic is all about. Somehow, "table hopper" seems much nearer to "clown" than it does to "artist." Further, it just doesn't seem to me that one who describes himself to a prospective employer as a "table hopper" is likely to be the candidate for a very high salary. (He might even be asked to work for nothing-for tips!) Granted, how one reacts to words is a highly subjective matter. I can only repeat that, to me, the phrase "table hopping" is one that I would never,
Tun Secnnrs oF ResreuRANT Mectc 85 ever, use in describing what I do. One needs to be attentive to words because words have a way of shaping, if not creating, reality. The truth is that how this prospective employer comes to see and evaluate you very often begins with his observations of how you appear to view and evaluate yourself. If you think and act as though what you are doing is trivial and unimportant, don't be surprised when others view you and your magic as trivial as well. llo$illalilg^, Are magicians in restaurants to fool people? I would say: "Not for long!" A magician's magic should, of course, be deceptive; it should fool people. Yet, there is considerably more to successful restaurant magic than simply "fooling people." I repeat: fooling people-that is, doing your tricks deceptively-isn't enough if you really want to be successful in a restaurant setting. A magician is an extension of the hospitality function in a restaurant. This is what it is all about in a nutshell. This is, further, the pivotal assumption from which all bargaining for salary must begin. If you were to attend a National Restaurant Association Show or read some restaurant trade journals, you would frnd that hospitality is a concept, a "handle," to which many restaurant owners and managers can relate. It is something that the wiser ones already understand is important for their restaurant's success. Not only is close-up magic a highly personalized form of entertainment for patrons, a magician in a restaurant is a friendly face that one sees upon returning a second time, a smiling face that welcomes (by name if the performer is smart) you and tells you that he is happy you have returned. To "celebrate" your return, this magician will perform a delightful mystery, a unique entertainment that (again, if the performer is smart) may even include a souvenir, something for you, personally. It's a1l hospitality. The restaurant is providing something very special for its patrons, something they will talk about with their friends, something that will help the restaurant itself stand out in people's minds to encourage their positive responses and returning patronage. T[lu[sU$uutu[$N What are the real secrets of restaurant magic? Do those secrets have to do with tricks? That is, are the real secrets of restaurant magic little more than the secret workings of specific conjuring tricks?
86 EucnNB BUnGER Stated in this way, of course, the questions rather answer themselves, don't they? Do they? During the past year, I had the opportunity to visit with magicians in many parts of the United States-and I was struck repeatedly by the fact that what really seems to interest the vast majority of my fellow conjurers is not at all what makes for success as a magician in a restaurant. Aren't most magicians interested in learning new tricks and sleights? Isn't this their central, if not all-consuming, interest? And doesn't this interest partially account for the fact that quite a bit of the close-up magic one sees is pretty awful entertainment? About a year ago, I gave a lecture to a group of magicians during which I did not explain the workings of a single trick-new or old. My interest was not simply to see if I would be "tarred and feathered" and ridden out of the room on the proverbial rail (though there was, of course, that curiosity!), it also rested on the fact that I happen to hold the odd belief that conjurors really ought to be interested in talking and thinking about many, many things other than magic tricks and how they work. On that occasion, I thought it might be worthwhile to talk about the quality of a close-up performer's interactions with his audience. I wasn't tarred and feathered, of course, but neither was the group ecstatic. The general consensus seemed to be that it was a very good lecture except for the fact that I hadn't explained any tricks. (So be it!) This isn't surprising and hardly comes as news to anyone familiar with the contemporary magic scene. People generally become interested in magic because they are interested in frnding out how magician's tricks are done and in performing a few themselves. The problem is that there is little in current magical literature, and little happens at a typical magic club meeting, to encourage the amateur "to put away childish things" (as the Bible says)-which is what this over-blown interest in tricks and methods (what I call being a "trick junkie") really is. Amateurs, I submit, ought to be encouraged to develop the skills needed to be successful entertainers with their magic. The frrst step-and the real secret-is to realize, deep down in your bones, that the performer is more important than his magic. T[l00nallluE[[sr[ lsYouN Tokusan had the reputation of being a most severe Zen Buddhist master. Students came to him from far and near and very often approached him with trembling and sometimes even with fear. One such student, his mind bubbling with many troublesome questions, came to Tokusan seeking clarity of mind and enlightenment. The student bowed low before the master to show his humility and respect-whereupon Tokusan took his walking stick and gave the student a sharp, stinging blow on the back of the neck!
Tsn Spcnprs oF RrsrauRANT Mactc 87 The student was stunned. He looked at the master in disbelief and muttered: "Why did you strike me? I haven't even asked you my questions!" Tokusan replied: "It is of no use to wait until you start talking!" * The close-up performer, standing or sitting before his audience, is much like the student standing before the severe Tokusan. The audience begins its evaluation ofyou long before a single card is selected or a single effect is begun. From a conjuring point of view, the above Zen story might be "translated" as follows: The opening effect is youl It's true. The "opening effect" is never done with coins or cards or sponge balls or any of the props that close-up conjurors typically use. The opening effect is the performer himself. Nowhere is this more true than in a restaurant-where people are so close they can touch you. What do your fingernails look like? Don't continue reading! Look atyour fingernails-and if you frnd that you are viewing ten independent "horror shows," do something about it. f am not, please understand, talking about doing magic for your family and friends-who might generously tolerate less than attractive fingernails. I am talking here about performing in a public place for money and, hopefully, for "contacts" that will generate further work. In a restaurant, unlike in stage work, your audience can see your frngernails very clearly. You are, after all, encouraging them to look at your hands! Is your shirt wrinkled? Are your clothes clean and pressed? Is your breath fresh? Do you smell from too much after-shave lotion? There is-isn't there?-the physical reality of you, the "you" that your audience perceives and, for good or ill, evaluates. There are other questions you ought to ask yourself as well: What is your attitude, your manner with people? Do you genuinely enjoy being with people? Do they seem to sense your etjoyment? These are important-very important-questions for one who aspires to be a professional close-up worker in a restaurant to ask-and upon which to reflect. The "opening effect" is you! In a restaurant, don't be surprised if you discover that people are as interested in you as they are in your magic. Very often, they may even want to talk with you. What will you do then? Another magic trick? The vast majority of people have never been close to a magician before in their lives. Don't be surprised if you frnd they have lots of questions for you-ranging from "How did you become a magician?" to "How do those guys in Las Vegas make that tiger disappear?" Some people will simply want you to listen to their one-liners: "Can you
88 EUcBNB BuncER make my wife disappear?" ("Friend, this is Chicago, for the right price, anyone can disappear!") and "Can you make the check disappear?" ("No, but I can triple it!") are two that come readily to mind. In restaurant work, people are so very close to you that they will often want to talk with you, the magician, as well as watch your tricks. In lounge work, this is even more true-though the questioners are also usually a bit more drunk. [g$[a11ra[lsN In many ways, restaurants are unlikely places for the performance of magic. Even in Chicago, which seems to have more working magicians in restaurants and lounges than any city with which I am familiar, people coming into a restaurant do not expect to come face-to-face with a magician. This means the challenge facing the Chicago performer isn't much different from that confronting any other restaurant magician: It is the challenge of constructing an effective approach to people who are essentially strangers-an approach that frts you, on the one hand, and the room, on the other. It is a matter of creating interest, and doing it as quickly as possible. It is also a matter of beginning, and sometimes continuing, with effects that are quick, direct, and uncomplicated. These criteria should be underscored. A (perhaps) surprisingly high percentage of patrons in restaurants and lounges are often, indeed, "high," on alcohol and./or other drugs. Performing long, round about, or complicated material is like building your house on quicksand. Much the same is true of hand movements that are too rapid or sweeping-which can easily make some drunks even dizzier. ("Look, Marsha, that magician is making those people throw-up!") Don't, however, think that because people are drunk or stoned they are, therefore, easy targets for the magician's skill. They aren't easy. Sometimes, in fact, they can be quite taxing on one's patience as a performer and a person. What follows from this is that I almost always get playing cards signed and/or have the selector show his card to several other people present before it is returned to the deck. There is nothing worse than the drunk not being able to rerrrember his or her card, or getting frisky and denying that the revealed card is, in fact, the card. Getting the card signed and having several other people see it will save you from many dreary situations-none of which would have the slightest entertainment value. Restaurants, I repeat, are unlikely places in many ways as a setting for the close-up magician, particularly if that magician himself expects people to be docile, polite "spectators" (a breed of humanity which exists only in magic catalogs and books-and which, I must add, isn't much fun for living, breathing people anyway!) People watching magicians in restaurants and lounges tend to be more aliue, sometimes they are, indeed, frisky. They talk more. They joke more, with each other and with you (if
Tsp Socnnrs oF RnstauRAllr MacIc 89 you give evidence of being alive, too). They might be polite and they might not. They might even be very rude. Aldous Huxley's wife, Laura, wrote a book some years ago with the marvelous title You Are Not the Target A central theme of the book is that very often, when people act out toward you with rudeness, or when they are impatient with you, or irritable, you are not necessarily the real target of their anger and irritation. The real target might be the spouse they argued with earlier that morning, the fact that their kids are driving them crazy,that their boss is devoid of sympathy and understanding, etc., etc. You may just happen to be there when they're letting off steam, so to speak. Since you are not the target of their maxi- or mini-aggression, there is no point in you taking it personally and getting into it with them-which, needless to say, only adds fuel to the fire. I can't tell you the number of times in the past six years, while performing in restaurants, that I have taken a deep breath and said to myself, "I am not the target!" I hope you don't think I'm joking here. I'm not. The fact is that a significant number of people come into restaurants, as we say, bummed out-expecting and, I suspect, sometimes hoping that they will have a rotten time. They focus exclusively on what is wrong-what is not right.It is the triumph of negative thinking. Who knows what is going on in their lives. Whatever the tragedy, crisis, irritation or problem might be, some individuals seem to take a certain sadistic delight in taking out their frustrations on strangers. And what better place for an ill-tempered person to act out than in a restaurant where other people are there to serve him (or her!) A friend who is a waiter in a well-known Chicago restaurant recently told a rude and outrageously demanding table of people: "Look, folks, I'm here to serve you, but I'm not your slave!" It is easy to perform for people who are polite, appreciative and enthusiastic about your abilities. That is the easy aspect of restaurant magic. Here are two approaches that I use with rude and irritable patrons. First, once I realize what is happening, I frnish the effect I'm doing, thank everyone, and split! The secret, however, is to leave the group without anyone at the table realizing you have just evaluated them! Unlike the poor waiter or waitress who must remain with such people (who invariably will top things off by leaving a low and unfair gratuity), the magician can smile graciously and walk away from unpleasant people. It is as simple as that! Second, and much more difficult, one can attempt to make personal contact with them in spite of the fact that they're being unpleasant-you can smile and do something that puts them in the spotlight in a wholly positive way, or do anything you think might work. Attempting to break through the wall of someone's negativity is an art in itself. Sad to say, it is very often a losing proposition, though sometimes I do see people change, right in front of my eyes, from bundles of negativity into smiling people who frnally grasp my hand and tell me how much they have enjoyed our time together. And that is one of the great joys of doing restaurant magic.
90 Eucnxp BuncER flfiil11ilgN Although others may have noticed it, it was Jeff Busby who pointed out in print when reviewing my book, Secrets and Mysteries, that "most of the information put forth depends upon a change of attitude in the close-up worker." Exactly! Consider, then, this quotation from the frrst issue of the conjuring journal, The Heirophant: "There's an expert cardman from the East who recently expressed a unique and honest attitude. When asked uthat card techniques he uses on laymen, he replied'I never do magic for laymen!' Why doesn't this expert-whose techniques are exquisite and rnagic is in the miracle class-perform for laymen? The easiest guess is that the laity offers no real intellectual challenge to the expert, nor do they appreciate with fondness the special conditions making up a dfficult effect. One imagines that an expert con artist harbors scorn for his marks; that duping the'fish' is too easy, offering no sport or intellectual contestation. Hence, most often card experts tend to associate with other card experts. Sessions can be contests, demonstrations, forums or sltarings. The layman, alas, is a mark, a pushouer, a dullard, and a bore." IF While I certainly feel this "expert form the East" is entitled to his opinion, I would say that any performer who shares this view of laymen really ought to stay away from restaurant work. This is easily one of the worst attitudes a close-up magician in such a setting could harbor. I'm afraid people can't have much fun with a performer who feels he is above and beyond them. And, don't think for a moment that laymen don't sense such an attitude. They do-even after multiple drugs. If this expert really does think laymen are pushovers and that they don't provide a real challenge, I might suggest the following therapy: start doing "Cigarette through Quarter" thirty times a night with these "pushovers and dullards" all around yoz. Needless to say, it can be done, but only deceptively, I submit, by one who has a deeper appreciation for a layman's ability to provide the conjuror with real support and challenge. TWo people are at the bar and I do a show for them. They are most appreciative. A bit later, a third person joins the two people, who ask the bartender if he will ask the magician to come back and do some tricks for their friend who has joined them. I return. "Do the one where you push the cigarette through the card," the gentleman requests. The request rather takes the surprise away, doesn't it? Yet in restaurant and bar work, one is always getting requests. Some months back, a man, pointing to his companion's hand, requested: "Do the trick where the
THB Sncnprs oF RBSTaURANT Mactc 91 ashes end up on her palm!"A somewhat more challenging request! I did it, of course, but not immediately. I first did a card trick and when I finished, the man repeated: "Do the one where the ashes end up on her hand!" "Don't wor-r5r," I replied, "I'll do it, but first I want to do a few other things to set the stage." I smiled when I said that-and continued on-eventually doing the ashes on the palm. Everyone was happy. I might, of course, have simply replied: "I don't do requests," but that betrays an attitude that is a bit too formal and aloof for restaurant work. Look at the situation from the spectator's point of view: People want the magician to be friendly. They want you to interact with them. If they have seen you befor*and if you did something that really impressed them-they will, of course, want you to show that effect to the new friend they have now brought into the restaurant. You need to develop strategies to repeat item*not typically in the same evening but, perhaps, the next week. Let me return to the two people at the bar who were joined by a third person. The man asked if I would "do the one where you push the cigarette through the card." When I began to repeat the effect, the first two, who had seen it before, began mildly to act out: "Let me see the card," the man now asked, just as I began to push the cigarette into it. What will I do? What will I do now? My attitude is more important than the trick; how these people perceiue me is more important than the specific effect I am doing. If I fool them and yet leave them thinking that I am a cold, distant and unfriendly person, then I have won the battle (I fooled them) but I will have lost the war (they would never think of hiring me for one of their parties)t What shall I do? What I did when this happened was this: I paused (very important: I want him to hear what I am going to say),looked the man directly in the eyes, smiled, and, said, 'You're getting a little frisky the second time around, aren't you?" It is said lightly-and that is the secret. While I do, of course, want him to relax and quiet down, I don't want that to happen at the cost of the man thinking I am a creep! When I say the line, I look the man in the eyes; I want to make contact with him. Then I look at the third person (who has yet to see the trick) and then I look back at the offender, still smiling. What happened? He got the message and stopped. More important, he continued to think I was a warm and friendly person. In professional close-up magic, you must critically examine not only your magic and its deceptiveness, you must also examine your attitude-and the quality of your interactions with your audiences. Don't you see that while the ego-tripping magician is most interested in himself and in what the audience is thinking of him (he is, one might way, "trapped" in these interests), the entertainer is equally concerned with his audience and. with the quality of the experience which they are, hopefully, enjoying? Without this concern for his audience, this care, this appreciation for his spectators, there is no genuine interaction with them. To be successful in
92 EucnNp BuncER restaurant work, I repeat, one must be perceived as not simply an excellent magician, but also as a warrn and friendly person. flanlgqTluuffilsN There are two ways of getting a job as a restaurant magician: (1) a cold call to a restaurant to attempt to set up an audition, and (2) contacts Ieading to the audition. The second avenue is always the best. If you can find someone else who knows the man with whom you want the audition, and if that person can call and sing your praises, so much the better. It is easier for this third person to tell his friend how fabulous you are, what an asset you would be, etc., etc., than for you to do it. In my own work, I have been most fortunate because I have never had to "cold call" a restaurant; I have always secured my auditions through personal contacts. While there are these two main ways of getting a job, there is only one way to keep it: to be perceived by patrons and staffas a positive person to have around-that is, to have a proper attitude. I might add here that there is often a good deal of melodrama in a restaurant among staff members. I have always found it best not to be seen as belonging to any one clique. Let everyone confide in you, but you must keep your mouth shut! While it is important to stand apart from the gossip and melodrama among staff members, I do not in any way avoid them.I am happy and eager to perform for staff members, too-if they have a moment when they are not busy. If staffmembers were to come into the restaurant on a night when they aren't working, I defrnitely make a point to perform for them. In the same way, every few weeks I will make a point of going into the kitchen and doing a short (usually two effect) show for the kitchen workers. And don't forget the dishwashers. The aim, of course, is to bring joy to people, even the people who are usually overlooked. * Can you support yourself doing restaurant magic? I would say, "No!-not, at least, if you have any interesting derelictions." Can you support yourself as a restaurant-based magician? I would answer, "Yes, I do it." Do you see the difference? If you do, you will not be surprised at my answer to the question, "What kind of a restaurant should I look for?" by sayrng that I have always looked for restaurants that attract, as patrons, people with money, people who are themselves party-givers and entertainment-buyers, people who will not faint when I tell them my party fees. (Recently, after telling a doctor my fee to come to his house party, he said, "Wow!" I laughed and said, "That's exactly what your guests are going to say!" He paused and then laughed, too-and booked rne.)
THn Sncnnrs oF RnstauRANT Macrc 93 The restaurant is my showcase. The restaurant in which I have performed for the past three years is a large suburban restaurant with a very large oval bar and nine tables in the lounge. There are four dining rooms. I have never used tent cards proclaiming my presence in this restaurant (though I have in two other restaurants to dreary results); instead, there is a large poster of me in a nice frame directly as you walk in the front door. I do not solicit tables but will go to tables if requested. (After three years, starting when the restaurant first opened, there are lots of requests. When I am not performing at tables by request, I remain in the lounge where there are always lots of people to keep me busy. Restaurant (and cocktail party) magic very often demands that the maglcian be able to perform his wonderc standing up while sutounded. The greater the number of effects in your repertoire that can be performed in this style the better. This is a most challenging way of presenting your magic It demands thought as well as precision. It is, for me, a most rewarding style because it affords a performer the satisfaction of knowing he can walk into any room and without any tables or boxes, standing up, surrounded, he can entertain a grcup of people. Restaurant magic requires a good deal of energy and stamina. One is often performing constantly for long periods of time, especially if you are successful and lots of people want to see you. Recently, a young Chicago magician, who typically does a 30 or 45 minute stage act, told me that he had worked in a restaurant for four hours and, after two, was completely exhausted. He looked at his watch, in fact, and thought, "Two more hoursl." Many amateurs rather romantically think that doing magic in a restaurant is all fun ... and easy. While it, hopefully, ls fun, it is certainly not always fun. Performing for your friends because you feel like it is not at all the same as performing because it is Wednesday and seven o'clock. tt I never want to perform while people are eating. Sometimes people will insist that I do performwhile they are eating (exactly what would prompt anyone to insist that the magician perform while he and his guests are eating is something that remains utterly mysterious to me!).I will always say, "You're eating now. Enjoy your dinner and I'll return when you're frnished." Even with that,people sometimes insist that I perform now, assvring me that "It's all right." I will sometimes give in to the insister. When I do, do you know what invariably happens? People are trying to watch me, on the one hand, and eat on the other. Food also requires attention.And so the spectator is split Part of him is watching the magician and another part is grving his attention to his food, and the result is awful. You can't do much that is subtle
94 EUcBNB BuncER for someone who is involved in tearing his chicken apart with both hands. (Besides, he'll make your playing cards an absolute mess!) Tn0 $soroffisri$ihflru Do you see that if you give people what they really want, something they feel is important, you will have a far greater chance of being successful? I think it really ls as simple as that! Well , then, what do people want? Resisting the temptation to turn this into say there are many ways to approach this a review of philosophy, let me question. When explaining the techniques and strategies of the "cold reader" in his many books, for instance, Robert Nelson repeatedly suggested that the three major areas of life-concern are love, money, and health. These are three areas in which everyone has interest. The cold reader surely can find that helpful. Can the conjuror? Others, more recently, have insisted that what people really want is "sex, drugs, and rock and roll!" Does this mean that it's all relative and that everyone wants something different? Let me suggest some things that I think people want. These are, further, intangible things which a conjuror can g1ve to people: recognition, appreciation, and praise. Everyone wants tobe recognized.It is important that a restaurant magician be able to recognize people for whom he has performed in the past. To see their faces and remember them is a valuable skill. To see their faces and remember their lirst nanl.es is an even mo e valuable skillranking right up there with the ability to control the selected card to the top of the deck! Again, I am speaking here of restaurant magic Can you imagine the impact when someone brings a friend into the restaurant in which I work, a friend who has never been there before, when I call the first person by name? "Hi, John, how nice to see you again!" John invariably is, as we say, "blown away." So is his friend. John invariably also smiles. He enjoys being recognized. Granted, I am not able to recognize everyone who walks into this restaurant by name. I wish I could. And that is just the point. People want to be appreciated and not simply used as the butt of the magician's sucker jokes. Sometimes I wonder if many magicians ever think at all: Hasn't it ever struck them that very very few people enjoy being humiliated in public? Most people, the vast majority of people, would prefer that you appreciated them. Again, using the spectator's name in a routine is a strategy which provides him (or her) with the sense that you are dealing with him, personally, and not just with another anonJ[nous, interchangeable "spectator."
TUB SBcnBTS oF RBsTaURANT Maclc 95 People, finally, want more than recognition and appreciation. They also want praise for the things that they have done well, and for themselves! This is one reason why I am fascinated with effects that put the spectator into the spotlight, make him or her the "star," and which, naturally, lead to praise from the performer for their being "such a wonderful magician." When all is said and done, this is not so much a question of stratery as it is of attitude. It is a question of concern for these strangers who, for a brief time, are with you as your audience. If in your work as a restaurant magician you are able to give people this same sense of recognition, appreciation and praise, you may find that you are well on the road to professional and personal success.
I was very impressed with Kirk Charles'book on restaurant magic when I read it in the early 1980s. I felt that he had effectively covered all of the important questions that someone thinking about performing in public places such as restaurants or lounges needed to consider. I didn't always agree with Kirk's conclusions, but that wasn't really the point since Kirk was not asking his readers to agree with everything he wrote. In this little gem of a booklet, Kirk asked the right questions and gave his reasons for his own personal choices. When his work appeared, I felt it was the best thing in print on the subject. The new hardcover edition, The Complete Guide to Restaurant and Walk-Around Magic (which includes his other outstanding booklet about performing magic at cocktail parties, Standing Up Surounded) remains a marrrelous and thoughtful guide for anyone who aspires to perform close-up magic professionally. I can't, in fact, think ofa better treatise on these subjects. With Kirk's writing mulling around in my mind, when I was asked to present a lecture at the 1983 National Convention of the Society ofAmerican Magicians, I decided to talk about restaurant magic. With Kirk's book already published, I decided to explore this subject from a different perspective. Looking back, I think I was a little naive not to appreciate how radical it was to present a lecture at a magic convention without any tricks in it. The audience, as I remember, was polite, if a little bewildered. This lecture was also greatly influenced by my reflections at that time about what the purpose of magic lectures was supposed to be. In 1983, I was still a novice at that game of presenting magic lectures. Undoubtedly, I made many mistakes at the beginning. Granted that, it still appears to me that the magic community at the turn of this new century (that is, the clubs, associations and organizations) have not yet faced the question of what a "good" magic lecture might be. We typically say that lectures are to be educational. If so, must we not ask ourselves: What is worth learning? What is important in our learning about magic? What is worthy of a commitment of our time and thought? Simply having somebody tell us the methods of more magic tricks? My view continues to be that magic organizations should regularly include more lectures about the history of magic and more seminars and workshops on theatrical and dramatic topics. Yet, the sad fact is that such subjects do not appeal much to those who have been drawn to magic because they were told it was "easy"-and that anyone can do it. So I stepped up in 1983 and gave this lecture about the psychology ofperforming magrc in public places such as restaurants, bars, and lounges. I imagined that the things I had to say would be of interest even to those who didn't perform in public places. And I think that some of the those in the audience did find it all interesting-though most would probably also have liked to have learned a fantastic, mind-boggling, self-working card trick.
INTnnLUDE Tunnr 97 Restaurant magic was a hot topic in the early 1980s. More and more magicians were frnding work in these venues. My lecture was comprised of my reflections after six years in the freld.It wasn't about tricks because I believed (and still believe) that the actual magic performed in these venues contributes no more thanSOVo (if that!) to the success of a restaurant magician. This lecture was consciously about that other }ralf. To be sure, the lecture was not simply about performing close-up magic in restaurants; much of what was said certainly applies to performing magic anywhere. The restaurant setting was my specifrc topic, but what I said in large measure also applied to magic performed at corporate cocktail parties or other close-up settings. Since at present I am no longer performing publicly in a restaurant, it might interest you to know what type of restaurant I would personally seek if I were to return to this performing venue. Without hesitation, I would reply that I would want to frnd a restaurant that had a lounge. I would prefer to remain in the lounge, performing both behind the bar and in the room. I would go into the restaurant only when someone actually requested me-and I wouldn't encourage that at all. I would encourage those individuals to stop in the lounge after dinner. Mostly, I would go into the restaurant proper only if the owner or manager wanted me to impress someone special. My experience has been that it is much easier to perform for people in a lounge. They are often more relaxed. They are frequently looking for diversions. Lounges, further, often feature entertainment of one sort or another-and so my presence would not come as a complete surprise to patrons. Regarding the "how" of my ',vork in this fantasy situation, I would insist that the cocktail waitress be instructed by the owner or manager to ask each table, when drinks are served, if they would like "our marvelous magician" to come over and visit-so that I never need walk up to a table cold and ask them myself. To me, this has always been the most unpleasant part of restaurant work-and the part that I have worked to completely eliminate from my own restaurant and lounge work. If I may be blunt, I would also look for a restaurant, obviously, that attracted wealthy people. I would see my task as making the lounge a magical place for the period of my presence. It is easier if you don't need to recruit people yourself;that is, to have a restaurant where people typically already stop in the lounge before or after dinner. And the management of the restaurant can certainly instruct the service staffto tell people that you are in the lounge and encourage them to visit. And a nice poster of me in a prominent place that tells the day(s) and times of my appearances. I must repeat that I think it is very important that I personally zol approach patrons myself. I am quite aware that this is the exact opposite of what 99.8Vo of all restaurant magicians presently do! I did the cold walk-up to patrons for a very long time, for over a dozen years. Then, one day I asked myself: Isn't there something about restaurant magic that you absolutely hate? It was, of course, a "loaded question" because I knew the answer was walking up to people cold and asking