+ '

LEARN TO SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY

ADAM WILBER
Creative Magic
Lessons in Creativity

Adam Wilber

with
Arvind Jayashankar
 Creative Magic
Copyright© 2013 by Adam \ ilber

All righ cs reserved. o part of thi book may be reproduced or

transmitted in any form or hy any mean wirhour written permission
from the author.

2
 Dedication

This book is dedicated to the two best things that ever came into my
life. My beautiful wife Natasha and my perfect little dude Carter
Blake.

If you would like to contact me directly please feel free to reach out
and say hello with the provided contact information below.

Phone: 802-578-6633
Email: info@aclamwmagic.com

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•.: ._~l • ·-~ :.t" ,,. j '· .s .. •••

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 Contents
Foreword .............................................. .. .. ............................ ....... 7

Introduction ............................................. .................................. 11

Pays the Bills ....................................................... ....................... 15

Earbuds ...................................................................................... 17

World's Easiest Coin Bend ............ .... ..................... .... ................ 27

A Lesson in Sleight of Hand ......................... ................... ........... 33

The Backup Plan ........................................................................ 39

Color Coincidence ..................................... .............. .................. 49

19 Down ..... ........... .......................... .................................. .... .... 53

Signature ..... ........... .......... ................. ......... ............................. ... 57

Adan1's Aces ........ ......... ............................. .............. ......... .... ...... 63

Pop 'Iop ..................................................................................... 67

Pop Production ................................................................. ......... 68

Just For Fun ............................................................................... 71

Sealed Surprise ........... ....... ......................................................... 73

Environmentally Unfriendly .... ........ .. ........................ .... · .. ·· ·· ·· .. · 79

Shutterbug ................................................................................. 83

Boxed In .. ....................................... ....... .................... .... ............ 89

Cash Card ...... ... ..... ..... ..... ... .. ...... ....... ... .... ............... .................. 97

Fah-Q ...................................................................................... 101

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Concepts & Thoughts ... .......... .. ................... ... ...... .. ... .............. 105
Adam Wilber ...................................................... ....... .............. 107

Alan Rorri ' On ........................................................................... 115

Arvind Jayashankar. ......... .................................. .................. ... .. 119

Brad Chrisrian ..................................... ............................... .. ... . 123

Dan Harlan ........................................... ................................. .. 125

Daniel Madison .................................................................... .. . 131

David Regal ... ........................................................... .... ........... 135

John Guasraferro ..................................... ................................. 139

Marc pelman n .................................................................. ...... 143

Peter McKinnon .................................................................. .... 149

6
 Foreword

3 p.m., the Orleans Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas. I'm waiting in the
lobby by the slots, across from the coffee shop. Adam Wilber is set to
arrive any moment.

l had never physically met Adam at this point. We had a few

conversations online, a few via Facebook an<l other social networks.
Adam was coming in to help run the Ellusionist booth for a magic
convention. I was waiting to greet him, help him get his room set up,
take him out for a drink and welcome him to the team.

4 p.m. No Adam.

8 p.m. No Adam. I had long since left the lobby. In fact, I think I
ended up getting in a cab and heading to a rooftop club called Ghost
Bar at the Palms. Little di<l I know, while I admired the Las Vegas
strip from a rooftop ultra lounge, my new colleague was having a day
from hell.

Adam booked his flight two months in advance. He even went as far
as showing up to the airport with more than two hours to spare!
Adam proceeded to the counrer to check in only to flnd out that his
airline had overbook d his flight. Joy.

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- , _,~_;_ •·! ._ 'II '

Adam happened to be the one lucky customer [ha[ got bumped to

rhe next flight. Now, that ncx[ flight happened to be a glorious four
hours la[er. The problem with raking [his next flight was it would
have pur Adam in Chicago and rhen would leave him stranded in the
Windy Ciry with no connec[ion w Las Vegas. At [his point, Adam's
only additional option was to fork out an extra $400 to switch to an
entirely different airline that could accommodate his needs.

10 p.m. o Adam.

After Adam switched airlines, and was pleasantly seated in his new
booking with Jet Blue, the airline had problems with the jctway, thus
delaying his flight causing him to miss his newly booked connection
into JFK, ew York ow arriving in JFK with no connection, Adam
had to get on a bus to ew Jersey to hop yet another connection
from ewark into las Vegas.

24 hour later, Adam arrived .

Despite this enrire helli h experience, we mer up and carried on about

om bu ine s I didn't j· Ad • .
. · r a ize am experrise or creative insights
unnl I watched him I erform for a large group in the chandelier bar at
the Co mopoliran Hore!. One thing you need to know about Adam,
i that he is ab olurelv 100 percent fearless He w1'll , 1
, · approac 1 any
group any per on any parry, any table at any time to perform
any[hing. And he did ju t char. After warching him perform for these

8
pc::ople, and receive a thunderous amount of applause and a slew of
c::xpensive, free drinks, it left me feeling one thing: Inspired.

Adam's creativity will shine through the pages of this book and you
will really come to understand magic from Adam's point of view.
There is nothing in this book that cannot be done for REAL people,
in REAL situations. These are the things he feeds his family with.
These are the things that keep him alive. When he approaches
crowds , gets reactions, gets applause, free drinks, bookings, energy,
inspiration - these are the tools he uses. They are now in your hands.
I remember the feeling I had when watching Adam finish his set, I
can only imagine what you will feel after you close this book.

Peter McKinnon
Toronto, Canada.

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10
 Introduction

Firstly, if you bought this book I'd like to say thank you. Your
support makes all the hard work, late nights and long hours worth it.

Today is Janua1y l, 2012. It's the start of a new year and for me, a
new adventure. I have been creating my own magic for the last ten
years and I have yet to put any of these creations into a book. One of
my resolutions for the new-year is to finally pick through my work
and put my favorite routines together in fun and easy format. My
intension for this book is to present you with my strongest effects, my
thoughts on how to be a more likable performer and most
importantly how to inspire your own creativity.

John Cleese said about crea ti vi ty "The reason why it is futile for me to
talk about creativity is that it simply cannot be explained." While I see
rhe truth in this statement I also know with the right tools in place
and dedication to an end outcome, creativity can be practiced and
harnessed. Cleese goes on to say: "Creativity is NOT a talent, it is a
wtiy of operating." My hope is that this book will enlighten the reader
not only to new ideas and fun effects but also to some tools, rips and
tricks that will enable them to become more creative in their own
magic and life in general.

I have organized this book into 3 sections: Pays the Bills, Just for Fun
and Concepts & Thoughts.

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Pays the Bills is a collection of effects that I have used to literally pay
my bills for the last 10 years. These arc effects that I have performed
hundreds of times for real world paying audiences. ln this section
you'll find tricks for all skill levels.

Just for Fun is full of effects and ideas that take a bit of set up and
some ans and crafts rime to make. Please don' t overlook these pieces
just becau e they rake ome efforr ro create. As magicians and creators
we hould nor be scared to sit down with some glue, scissors, trinkets
and patience - rather, we hould embrace it. Ir's a great way to spark
creativity and an ideal opportunity to be a child again. I know you'll
have a much fun with the e little gems a I have.

Concepts cf Thoughts i a ollecrion of ideas and d10ughts on creativity

from ome of rhe mo t creative magicians alive today. As the
manufacturing ' project manager of Ellusionist.com, l have been
lu k:· enough to pend rime with some of the most creative and
ralenred magician on the planet. During my meetings with these
arri ts T alway a k them the ame que tion, "How do you get yourself
into a creative mindser?' The diver iry in re ponses I get has always
greatly inrriaued m . Thi lat section of the book focuses on the
thoughts and in iahr on reariviry from some of the most talented
magicians I know.

I want to thank you again for purchasing rhi book and I truly hope
you enjoy reading it a much as I have enjoyed purring it together.

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Donald McKinnon describes che faciliry chac enables a mood of
creativity as "The Abiliry to Play". With that said, welcome to my
first book: Creative Magic. Now turn the page and lee's play!

13
14
 Pays the Bills

15
16
 Earbuds

Effect: Similar to a card stab premise, a cord, necklace, earphones or

something similar that a spectator is holding between their hands
penetrates a signed card. The only way to get the cord out of the card
is to tear it out.

Setup: You need to split a card to set this effect up. There are plenty
of good sources to learn card splicting and it's also covered in the
Earbuds download. (You were provided with flvc pre-made
gimmicks. You can also purchase refills on my sire if you don't want
to make them yourself.)

A card is made up of three layers: a thin piece of paper with the face
design, a slightly thicker cardboard piece for the middle and another
thin piece for the back design. You will need to split the card so that
the middle layer and face of the card stay together, leaving you with
the back design as one thin layer. There are many ways to split cards
but I will briefly describe my method.

Take the card at its extreme corner with your first and second finger.
Tap the corner on a hard surface a few times to loosen the fibers and
weaken the glue. Using your fingernail or a razor blade gently peel
away rhc back design layer of the card for about 1/8 of an inch. ~ay
rhc card face up on the table and hold the thin back layer you JUSt

17
peeled down with one finger. Car fully peel c:hc face and middle layer
rogerher for just under half the length of the card (Pharo 1).

Turn th ard face down and bend back the middle and face layer
you ju t p led so that it i flat. The face of rhe card should look
traight and c:he thin ba k de ign layer should be sticking upwards
(Photo 2) . Bend and crease the back layer flat (Photo 3). Lacer on,
thi crease will be automatically disguised by rhe earphones, necklace
or whatever is u d for the revelation of the card.

Apply ome rubb r cement liberally on both flaps - rhe entire white
portion - making ure to get it in the crease, comers and all the way
to the edg (Photo 4). Allow the gimmick to dry.

Once dried , place rhe gimmick face down on top of rhe deck so that
the flap is oriented away from you. Pia c an indifferent card face

18
down on top of the gimmick. The beaury of the gimmick is that it
sticks the two cards together just enough but not permanently.

You wi ll also need some kind of cord or wire which you ca n borrow
or have on yourself: such as a pair of headphones, a necklace, etc.

Performance
There are many different presentations possible for this effect and a
basic one is described here. Be encouraged to come up w ith a good
presentation for your style. This is a powerful effect and you need to
find out what works best for you to see its true potential. Yo u'll have
a true mi racle for years to come.

Explain, "This is an old, cltissic card trick, but with a new take on it.
The old cltlSsic would be that the magician would have a card picked,
signed, shuffled in the deck. Then a knife would be inserted into the deck
marking where the card was. I'm not going to walk up to strangers with a
knife because that would be quite awkward. We 're just going to use the
headphones (or whatever it is that you are using) for this but we'll come
back to it in a minute. "

19
You arc going to force the top card on your pccrator and it is going
to seem like you how the fronr and the back very fairly. Say, '1 want
to make sure this is a free choice and you can pick any ccird you like." As
you say this, push off the top two cards together as one into your left
hand , which is almost automatic and then spread the rest of the deck
over the doubl (Photo 5). The double is now riding undernearh the
pread.

From the top it looks very fair and you ask the spectator tO touch the
back of any card they like. Break the spread at this point so that it's
on the bonom of rhe pread in the right hand. They can clearly see
the back of the card they selected (Photo 6). ' quare up the spread
against rhe rest of rhe deck in the left hand. The double card riding
underneath the pread i now on the bottom. When you lift your
right hand to how them the card, the force card will show.
Rea embl th d k o rhar rhe selection is on che bottom.

A k them to ian che face of the card and give the deck a cur at about
the middle. You an xecure a few Hindu shuffles face up using the
card abo,·e th gimmi k co give the impression that the card is lost in
the deck. Ir i ea r co 'i ually look to know where the gimmick is.
Turn the deck ace d own an d r peat a rew
c more Hin<lu shuffles.

20
Next you need to prepare the gimmick and this requires a little bit of
misdirection. Based on what you will be using for the revelation, you
now make a comment about it. If you are going to use their necklace,
ask them for permission to use it and to kindly remove it. lf you are
going to use headphones, tell them that you need them to be
prcpan.:d.

Use this opportunity to find rhe break and lift up on it above the
gimmicked card. Your right hand comes from above with the thumb
at the back and lifts up at the break. In a continuing action it moves
forward, providing cover at the front for what's going to happen next.
This is done while gesturing to your spectator asking them to hold
the cord out between their fingers like a tightrope. The left thumb
goes into the break and slides the flap of the gimmick backwards and
towards you (Photo 7). The right hand comes back and places the
deck back on top but making sure to keep a big break between the
top flap of the gimmick and the middle of the card (Photo 8). You do
not want them to come into contact yet, because the rubber cement
on both sides will stick together.

21
T make the insenion of the cord into the Jeck look like a free
0
· - · g co riffle force rhe break bur from the back. Say,
ci.OJct:,
I you art: go1n
'Tm going to have you place this into the deck, kind of like a card stab.
Similar to when a magician would have someone stab into the deck and
find their own card. }t-tst call out stop where you like." Riffle down the
front corner wirh your lefr rhurnb. Because the break you are holding
is qu ite large, use your right hand as cover to ensure that it doesn't
show at the front.

Go nice and slow so that they call out stop before the break. Once
they call our stop , say, "We're going to insert the cord here but we'll
actually do it from the back. " Move both your hands under the cord
they are holding and rhen above. A you do this, drop the break at
the front and lift up at the break behind (Photo 9). Lower the break
on top of the cord and you will feel when rn stop where the card is
split. quare rhe deck up and in the act of holding the deck, you are
squeezing the card pu hing the adhe ive rogerher between the right
fingertips (Phoro 10). A rip h re i to ensure that they are holding rhe
cord very still and you move around the cord.

22
A few subtleties: Give the deck a little twist from right to left and
back and ask them whether chey felt that. They will acknowledge char
they foel something with the cord because you are moving che deck.
Nobody else around knows what they arc feeling but this is a good
cue for the magic to be happening. Jusr keep squaring it up and
pushing down. There are many different ways to reveal the selection.

Recap by saying, "Hold on to it tight and think of your card. You've

picked 11 card, signed a card and you inserted the cord somewhere in the
deck. Let's see if it worked. " At rhis moment you can let go of the deck
with your right hand and give it a little jolt from underneath with
your other hand. This will cause the cards to fly a bit before falling
down, revealing just one remaining on the cord. Step back and let
chem look at it. It will slowly sink in that their signed selection is not
taped bur actually threaded through the card itself. After the reactions
have settled, explain this to chem and eve1yone else. Once they see
that, twist the cord a little bit causing the selection to spin around.
They can take everything with them and you can leave the card on
there like that. Make sure to go slowly so they have time and space to
feel the magic.

A nice added bonus to this is that if they pull the cord out
themselves, they can feel it really being pulled through the card.
Ensure that the effect has already set in and people have understood
what just happened. Then say, "The only way to get this out is to
actually tear it. And you can pull the cord right out of the card." As you
say this, tear one side where the cord enters the card a little bit to start

23
-'
.• ,_,

with and then as rhey pull d1e cord will rip through and come our.
This gives a very nice feeling to the spectator of pulling something
out from inside their card which they just signed.

Creativity Exercise

You'll need ro er aside an hour for rhis exercise. Make sure that
during thi hour you will be undisrnrbed by any outside distractions.

To rarr you will need to ask your wife, parent or friend ro name
three mall items normally found in a kitchen. If you don ' t have
someone to a k, th n use a sponge, a Lwist tic and a butter knife.
Take rhe e three items and go inro a guiet space with a notepad and
pen. sing all three items put together an effect. Try and make it as
abstract as po sible. For example, maybe yo u make a knife our of
aluminum foil o its natural properties are altered and a sponge is
sprayed wirh 3.\1 glue, so instead of being soft and flexible it is ridged
and hard. The point is to come up with something that you have
never een before. rather rhan developing a new way to bend metal or
multiply a sponge.

Take the entire hour - don't stop working on this until 60 minutes
have passed. Write down every id ·a and thought that comes into your
head.

After an hour you might ha\'e com up wirh a kick-ass effect, or you
may have a bun h of jumbled narc wrirren on a piece of paper.
24
Eirher way rhis exercise will force your mind to work in ways it's not
accustomed ro working, and chat is a great tool to spark uncapped
creativity. It's like going ro the gym and working on your mind. The
more ways you can exercise your brain in ways it is not used to being
exercised, the easier it becomes to spark creative moments and ideas. I
ny and do this exercise at least once a month. I keep all chc notes and
ideas I come up with in a dedicated notebook and revisit it from rime
to time when I need inspiration.

25
26
 World's Easiest Coin Bend

I came up with the handling of this simple two-phase com bend

while working in a magic shop in New Orleans . l wanred something
easy to perform that I could do in the spectator's hands. My
requirements were simple: The coins must be signed and I didn't
want to use any bending device during the performance. While there
is nothing here that will change the world of coin bends, once you try
it our for yourself I think you will sec how big a payoff this simple
and direct routine can give you.

Effect: A nickel and quarter arc borrowed from a spectator. The

nickel is signed by the spectator and placed in their hand with their
fists closed around it. You sign the quarter and rub your finger over it
causing it to bend right in front of their eyes. You then place the bent
quarter on the back of the spcctaror's fist and ask them to focus all
their energy onto the coin in their hand. As you remove the quarter
and they open their hand, they can see their signed coin is now bent

as well .

Setup: The requirements for this effect are a pre-bent quarrer with
your initials on the face of it. The direction thc coin is bent is
important (Photos 1, 2). You also need a pre-bcn t nickel. Place a
Sharpie in your left pants pocket and both pre-bent coins in your

right pants pocket.

27
 To pre-bend che coins, you can use a pair of pliers. Wrap some
insulation tape on the ends (Photos 3, 4) to avoid any scratch marks

Performance

Borrow a nickel and a quarter from the audience. ay, 'Tm going to
try something with one ofthe coins and we'll see ifyou can accomplish the
same effect with the second coin." Take the nickel from them in your
left hand as your right hand goes into your right front pocket
(apparently looking for your Sharpie) and continue, "I'd like you to
sign this nickel. " Grab th pre-bent nickel and come out with it in a
finger palm as you now look roward your lefr pocket (your mental
dialog is, "The harpic i. n'r in my right pocket so it must be in my
left one").

28
Two things will happen at once now. Your right hand precends co
pick up che coin from your lefc hand as you bring the right hand's
palmed coin into view. In the same action your left hand wrist kills
while finger palming the non-bent coin as you go to your left pocket
to dump d1e coin and bring out the Sharpie. This is Juan Tamariz's
double-crossing the gaze swicch (found in The Five Points in Magic).
Note that it is important to hold the bent coin so the small bend is
concealed by your thumb and first finger (Photo 5).

At this point ask the spectator to sign their initial on the nickel. This
may seem odd to have them sign such a small coin especially while
you are holding it but just be casual and it will Ay by without
suspicion. Once they have signed the coin ask them to raise their
hand palm up and place the coin in their hand (Photo 6). You want
to rest the bent part of che coin directly on the end of their palm to
make sure they won't feel any bend in it. Gently close their hand and
turn it palm down as you say, "We'll get back to that in a minute."

Take the Sharpie in your right hand and the quarter in your left. Sign
the quarter with your initials in the same orientation as you signed
the pre-bent quarter (Photo 7). Place the Sharpie into your right
pocket and come out with the pre-bent quarter finger palmed. Say,

29
 "I'm going to try and use my brute strength to force this coin to bend, "
and pick up the unberu coin from your left hand and toss it back inrn
your left hand. Make a fist around ir and squeeze. Repeat this action
as you try again to forcefully bend the coin. On rhc third attempt
execute the Bobo Switch (found in Modern Coin Magic by J.B.
Bobo), throwing the bent coi n from your right hand to your left
while ar the same time retaining the flat coin in a finger palm in the
right hand. As then bent co in hits the p;1lm of yo ur left hand make a
fist around it and say, "Let's work together on this."

Instruct your specrarnr(s) co grab yo ur dosed hand and squeeze. As

they let go one at a time, open your hand to show that the coin now
has a signifi anr bend in it. The Aac coin can be ditched into your
pocket as you direct attention to the spectator holding the nickel.
Say, "ft took all of us together to get this quarter to bend but J am
confident that you ha11e enough force inside ofyou to bend that nickel on
your own. " Conrinue, "Focus all of your energy into your hand." Ask
them ro open their hand, r \'Caling they have bem their signed nickel.

30
 Creativity Exercise

For this you will need a voice recorder that you can keep on you at all
times for two weeks. The easiest way to do chis is by gerring an app
for your cellphone that allows you to quickly record a voice memo
and store it for as long as you need. Once you have this set up, bring
it with you everywhere for two weeks.

Anytime you think of anything magic related pull our your recorder
and speak your mind without hesitation. These can be ideas on
presentations, ideas for tricks you want to create, methods that come
to mind and inrercsting things you see or hear throughout the day.
The idea is to record as much information as possible and not censor
it at all. The more crazy ideas and rhoughrs you come up with, the
better. Try and record something first thing in the morning and last
thing before you go to bed. Don't cheat yourself on this and really try
and fill up your voice memo app with hundreds of entries.

Once you've done this for two weeks and have a bunch of entries, sit
down with a pen and pad and go through these one at a time. Listen
to each ent1y a couple of times and write down whatever comes to
your mind. If the entry doesn't spark an idea then skip it and move to
the next. By the end of going rhrough each entry, you will have a
bunch of notes that can be turned into effects, presentations for
existing effects and possible methods to play around with. Keeps
rhese notes and continue to go back to them when you feel you're in
a creative slump. Having a voice recorder on you at all times is a great

31
tool to help capture spur-of-rhe-moment ideas rhar can pay off
tenfold if you concinue to use it.

32
 A Lesson in Sleight of Hand

This is probably the trick I do mosr ofren when asked ro "show me

something." It's quick an<l visual while still packing a lot of magic
into a small routine.

Effect: A card is selected and lost in the pack. The magician explains
that this trick is pure sleight of hand and asks the spectator to watch
as closely as possible. The top card is mrned over and shown to nor
be the selection, then in the blink of an eye it visually transforms into
rhe selection. The magician then ralks about the age-old technique of
palming a ca rd. H e demonstrates it by having the selection vanish
and reappear mulriple times after which it ends up in the magician's
pocket rwo times in a row, in rhe most impossible manner.

Setup: A deck of cards and a pocket. Unfortunately this is one of

those effecrs where you DO need ro be clothed to perform.

Performance
Say to your spectator (let's assume it's a woman), "I'd like to give you a
lesson in what's called sleight of hand. To do so, 111 need you to select a
card." Have her select any card and return it to the center of the deck.
Control the selection to the top. Execute a double turnover to show
chat her card is not at the top. Keep a break under the double as you
turn it face up. One way ro get this break is to outjog the double
slightly as it is turned face up. As you square it flush with rhe deck
your left first finger pushes on the upper right corner of rhe card as
33
 1 . ·d and fourth fingers relax the tension. This allows rhe
f t:i.lI
your 1et
double co buckle just enough co catch a break under it as it is squared
with the <leek (Photo 1).

While you go through these actions, say, "Sleight of hand allows me to

take any card and change it for another. It looks like this. " You' re now
going to execute the Paintbrush Chang<:: by Roy Walton (The
Complete Walton Books, Vol. 1). Alrernarively, if you don't do the
Paintbrush change you can turn the double face down onto the deck
and deal uff a single to show that the card has now changed into the
selection. Pause a beat and let the change sink in. Place the selection
face up on the deck.

In the action of squari ng the deck, side steal the bottom card into
your right palm. When doing the side . tt:al, make sure there is no
visiblt: movement of your left hand while it pushes the bottom card
into position. A good way ro en ure rhis is by pushing the bottom
card over with your left fourth finger instead of the first or second
fingers. This will allow rhe acrion to be hidden under the deck. As
you execute the side steal say, "Now I'll demonstrate one of the oldest
documented sleight of hand moves in existence called the palm." Bring
your right hand over the deck for jusr a moment as you release rhe

34
 palmed card onto the selection. You want to give the appearance that
you are palming off the selection so as soon as the palmed card drops
flush onro the deck, keep your right hand in a curled position as you
move it away from the deck. This will convince your spectator that
you have just palmed their card from the deck. Say, "] use a very
special palm called an invisible palm that can't be seen by the untrained
eye. "As you say this, slowly turn your right hand over showing it to
be empty. Continue by explaining, "The card now sttiys invisible until
that perfect moment in a card game when I need it. "

Turn your body slightly to the left as you raise the deck in your left
hand to a vertical position (Photo 2). Your right hand comes over and
grasps rhe deck at the top and bottom short edges (Photo 3). Let go
with your left fingers as your right hand rotates the deck 180 degrees
clockwise (Photo 4). Re-grip the deck in your left hand . Repeat the
rotating action and this time execute a one-handed top palm with

35
your right hand. Doing the top palm as the <leek is being rotated
makes for a beautiful appearance of the selected card (Photo 5). Make
sure to rotate the deck one more time afrer the card is palmed (this is
why you turned your body to the left to conceal the palmed card
during chis final rotation). At the end of this final rotation you should
be in this position (Photo 6) with a card palmed in your right hand.

6
Pause for a beat and then repeat the actions of dropping the palmed
card on top of the seleCLion as you act as though you arc palming the
selection off. During this acrion, say, "The great thing about the
invisible palm is I can be very natural with my movements while it's
palmed. I can sprerzd the cards, cut the deck or even take a drink. "Wh ile
explaining this , march your actions to your words and spread the
cards but taking care nor to flash the face up selection second from
the top. Double undercut the top two cards to the bottom of the
deck. This will place rhc face up election on the bottom.

Ar this point you explain , "Sometimes it's best to just Leave the card you
need in a safe place until the time is right." Execute a no th er side steal of
the bottom card and palm it int0 your pocket showing that the
spectator's selection is now in the afe t place of all , your pocket.

36
lf you want an added kicker at the end you can place an indifferent
card in your pocket (face towards your body) before the trick starts.
Once you reveal the selection has magically jumped into your pocket
the first time, you can offer to repeat it. Openly place the selection
back in your pocket and switch it with the indifferent card as you say,
"Did you see it go to the pocket?" When you bring the indifferen c card
out they will think it's still the selection. Offer co demonstrate again
by using the "hardest palm ofall the middle palm out move." Place the
indifferent card in the middle of the deck and panromime palming a
card out of the middle. Show your hand empty then pull the selected
card out of your pocket.

Creativity Exercise

Broaden your horizons. Evc1y week or so get yourself two or three

magazines char you would never normally read. Juse go to a bookstore
and pick up a couple completely random magazines about subjects
you don't know anything about. Read through chem and see what
new insights and ideas stem from chis. Ir's always good to increase
your knowledge base and look into things you aren't familiar with.

T his may seem like an odd way to spark creativity but by learning
about new things chat are unfamiliar to you, you open your mind to
new ideas and concepts that can help you in creating your magic. For
example: I have a friend who uses this exercise regularly. He had been
working on a presentation for a mencalism routine for months and
couldn't flgure out a way to make it play to his liking. He picked up

37
one of his wife's gossip magazines and read it cover to cover. As soon
as he finished his wifo's "smut mag," as he calls it, he had an idea for
a presentation that fir his routine perfectly. He built his presentation
around an article about one of the Kardashian girls and has been
using ic with great success even since.

38
 The Backup Plan

Effect: This is a variation of Ed Marlo's classic "Think-Touch-Turn"

where an ace reverses itself several times and finally changes into the
selection. My inspiration for this came from Bill Malone's version of
this effect from his DVD set "On The Loose."

Setup: Remove the four aces and place them on the table. (This trick
can be used at the end of an ace production.)

Performance
Have a card selected and control it to the top using your favorite
method. Here's a method I like to use (Bill Malone's On the Loose
Vol. 1). Swing cut half the deck into your left hand. Have the card
replaced on top of the left-hand packet. The right hand then picks up
half of this pile in the left hand at the front short edge with the right
middle finger (while still holding its original half). The right ring
finger grips the bortom half of the packet in the left hand and keeps
them separate. At this point you should be holding diree separate
packers in your right hand with rhe spectator's selection on top of the
middle packet (Phom 1 shows selection face up).

39
Now it's going co look like you drop all three packets one by one
onto your lefr hand. You first drop the lowermost packet into your
lefr hand with a large up-and-down motion. In the guise of throwing
the middle packet, you are actually going to throw the top packet
into your left hand. Use the san-ie large motion, which covers this
smaller deception. To finish off, drop rhe original middle packet
remaining in your right hand onto the packets in your left hand. This
whole.: sequence should be done without any hesitation in three beats.
The selected card is now on top.

Pick up che aces in your right hand, spread them out an<l say, ''Now
we 'LL focus on these and do the trick with the aces. Out of the four aces,
which ace do you Lilu?" While you speak, establish a pinky break under
the top card of the deck in your left hand. Lay the aces on top of the
deck and pick up all five cards once they name an ace. Your lefr hand
pulls away, rotates and lays the rest of the deck face up on the table in
a natural , continuing acrion. Spread the four face-up aces berween
your hands with their selection secretly hidden behind the lowermost
ace in your left hand. This is a Paul LePaul spread and you can wiggle
the aces with your thumb making sure to keep the double square
(Photo 2). Name the aces as you sprea d them. When they name an
ace say, "So that's the ace we wilL use. If I screw the trick up with the ace
of hearts, then I'll go through and find your ctird. " Point to the card
showing on the face of the deck and ask them if that is their card.
Make sure to always ask them that. It's obviously not their card but
this action subtly reinforces that their card is still somewhere in the

40
 deck. You can make a little joke out of this and say, "Well, that's not
the trick then, "when they reply, "No. "

With rhe four aces spread in your left hand, outjog the card they
name and n::move it with your right hand. Say, ''J'm going to try to
mcike the ace ofheclrts go .fom face up to face down without you seeing it.
If you see it, I screwed up and I'll go through the deck and find your
card." Place the ace face up on the botrom. The cards should be
spread and displayed (Pharo 3).

In case they name the lowermost ace right above their selection,
square the other three aces against the base of your left thumb, bur
injogged so the ace is still visible. Use your right middle finger to
push and omjog the selected ace as the group of aces aligns with the
selected card underneath . Rotate the ace out with your right hand
and place it on the botrom of the packet as described above.

PHASE 1: Square the packet, snap and say, ''Just like that, one ace is
foce down. "Hold the packer in an overhand biddle grip in your right
hand and peel off the top three aces into your left hand leaving you
with a facedown double. This makes it look like that ace has gone
face down.

41
PHASE 2: Say, "That went fast so I'm going to slow it down and show
you exactly what to loo le far. "Take the three ace in your left hand, use
your thumb to rotate them face down and place them on top of the
faccdown double in your right hand. Square everything up in your
left hand. Next, push over the top card into your right hand, push
over the next card under the firsr. Push the third card over partially
but then downjog the double and place the third card back on top of
it (Photo 4). Now you arc in a position with two single facedown
cards in your right hand and a single card outjogged on top of a
double card in yom left hand. This is a very clean display of
supposed ly four facedown cards. Line up the two cards in your right
hand under the cards in your left (Photo 5).

You are now in position for a very visual reversal of the selected ace.
Point to the third faccdown card from the top and say, "Watch the ace
of hearts." To get ready, pull rhe second card from the top a little bit
towards you. This creates a little break on the underside, which
allows the left index finger ro singly contact the middle of the short
~dge of the face up ace (Photo G). All this is covered by the top
faccdown card of the packet. Pull down the ace a linle with the index
Anger and push it towards you, flushing it with the card below it
(second from the bottom). , hake your hand gently while doing this
42
 ro cover this morion (Photo 7). Pause ro let that sink in with your
spectator.

PHASE 3: To continue, grab the double from the edge and pull it
out with your right hand and place it on top. You can push over the
ace and flick ir. Square everything up and get imo a Biddle grip with
your right hand. Say, "You could have picked any ace but you picked the
ace of hearts, "while you peel the face up ace off onto your left hand.
Continue peeling off the next two facedown cards onto rhc face up
ace bur slightly spread. This leaves you with a double in your right
hand. Turn your wrist to show the face of the ace and call our its
name. Turn your wrist back and take back a facedown ace from your
left hand sidejogged underneath the doub le. Turn your wrist again to
show this ace and call out its name. Repeat with the remaining ace.
This gives a nice display of the three aces held between your right
middle finger and thumb (Photo 8). Repeat, "But you chose the ace of
hearts. "Tum your wrisL facedown , place the face up ace on top of this
packet and square everything up. Their selection is now underneath
the acc.

You need to get this ace second from the top. Pick the ace up and ask
a question while you get a break under the top card, ''Are you right or
left handed?" Turn the ace face down and place it on top of the packer
getting a break under two cards. This break is held in an overhand
grip with the right thumb at the back. Gesture with your left hand,
and ask them to hold their hand our. In this action, your right hand
stays stil l, holding the double card at the break. As your left hand

43
moves forward to point, the left thumb peels the top card or the deck
along with it (Photo 9). This leaves you holding the original second
ca rd singly in your right hand.

You may also execute a top change which i similar to this sequence
of actions and leaves you in the same position. Bring your left hand
back and place the single card right back on cop. You are now in
position to do a double lift showing their card. Show the ace of heartS
and say, "This time the ace of hearts is going to turn under your hand. "
Turn the double face down and deal off the indifferent card (their
selection) onto the table or their hands while asking them to put their
other hand on rop of it to cover ir. Make sure they cover it well so
they don't peck and ruin the climax of the effecr. You can also ask
multiple people to cover the card.

Turn rhe packet in your hand face up and say, "!don't need the other
aces." From Biddle grip, peel off the top rwo aces calling out their
names face up onto your left hand and spread sligh dy. Place the
double as one on top of rhe orher two aces. quare everything up and
put them on the deck which i lying face up to the side. Turn it
facedown and riffle the cards towards the spectator's hands as you say,
"One, two, and three. Slowly lift your hands. " Emphasize "slowly" to

44
avoid the card sticking to their hands and turning face up
prematurely. You are expecting to see the ace of hearts face up, but
act disappointed and say it didn't work but you would now find their
card as your promised initially. Play it up in any way you want. Draw
attention back to the deck and say, ''I'm going to find your card in a
very cool way." Buckle the bottom card. You are going to pretend to
cut the deck but in reality you are just cutting one card from the
bottom to the top. Execute a variation of Daryl's Hot Shot Cut.

This is a knacky move but it's described below. Hold the deck in the
grip shown (Photo 10) between your left index and middle fingers.
Your left thumb reaches across to the bottom right corner lifting up
about rwo-thirds of the deck. The middle finger releases pressure as it
pivots the packer around the index finger until the corner clears and
you reach the position shown (Photo 11).

The packet on rhe left is balanced by the index finger and thumb and
the packet on the right is balanced by the other fingers and the pinky.
Begin to close your fingers bringing the deck together dropping the
right side packet on top of the lefr with your index finger still in place
between the packets. Push up and out with your index finger,
releasing what was the original bottom card of thc deck. The card will

45
pivo( ou(wards in a clockwise direction agains( (h oc ,-our left
middle finger. The other fingers close (he deck o rely. Your
middle finger pushes up and out on the borwm of (he card sricking
out (Photo 12) and this will cause it to rotate and shoot outwards.
Ca(ch it with your right hand. This is a knacky move and requires
some practice. While executing the spinout say, :'Right out of the
middle, one card comes flying out. Th<zt would ht' 11rnazing if chis was

your card. It would be more amazing if it was ace of hearts. "As you
show the card, let (hat sink in. Continue, "And the card under your
hand was the one you selected. "

Creativity Exercise

This is more of a lifestyle ra(her than an exercise, but if practiced and

done regularly it will have a dramatic impact on your creativity and
your lifo in general.

Simply put: Learn to meditate. Yep, ma( s ir. Learning how to

properly meditate and just enjoy being in rhe momem is one of the
best things I've done for my magic and my elf.

There are some grea( books and DVD's on me ubjcct that will get
you practicing mediracion in no (ime. Being able to take 20-30
minutes a day for yourself to just be and breathe will help calm your
mind and rid you of a lor of rhe fear and anx:ierie that can get in the
way and hinder your creativity. \\"hen you are first learning to

meditate it can be frustracing and may eem like you are doing it

46
wrong, bur just stick with it and before you know it you will be
looking fo1ward to your special time away every day. Please don't
overlook this one. Take the time ro change your lifo in an amazing
way. I didn't mean to get all Tony Robbins on you for this exercise
but I really can't stress enough the power of learning to meditate.
Here are a few key points of how meditating can help your creativity.
l. Meditation he! ps inspire insight, perception an<l revelation.
These are all traits that creative people possess and use when
creating.
2. Mediration eases anxiety and allows you to tty things you may
not otherwise.
3. Meditation improves concencration and attention; both of
which are great traits to have when going through a creative
session.

47
48
 Color Coincidence

Effect: You invite the spectator tO take part in an experiment to

demonstrate coincidences. Three card are selected and their mates

are found with a surprising twist.

Setup: Remove six cards from a differently backed deck. Suppose you
are using a red deck: Place three blue-backed cards face down on the
bottom of the deck and three blue-backed cards face down second
from the top in positions 2, 3 and 4.

Performance
, wing cue about 15 cards into your lefr hand. Riffle force to the break
and cut back to the top. Second deal the three blue-backed cards face
up onto the table in a row. ecktie the deck while dealing to hide the
backs of rhe cards. Draw out rhe second card at the top right corner
with your righr thumb on the back and fingers on the face. Pull the
card ourwards and upwards, rotating it face up towards you so that
each time you deal, they only see a red back. This further sells the

effect.

49
Say, "I'm going to see if you can get lucky with some coincidences. As l
dribble down, you're going to call out stop anywhere you like." While
you are saying rhis, you mimic the acrions of a riffle force. Break the
deck when yo u stop dribbling and push over the top card in the left
hand. Take the facedown card wirh your righr hand between your
index and middle fingers a you gesture with it to the three face up
selections on rhe rable (Photo 1). Conrinue, "You can then decide on
which card I'm going to put chis card on. " Replace rhe card and
assemble rhe packers back rog rher o your erup is srill on the

bottom .

You are now going w execure the Wichita Slip by Jay Sankey three
rimes in a row. This move force the bottom card while hiding the
back. In brief: With the de k in mechanics grip, riffle down and ask
yo ur specraror to all our · top." Break rhe deck ar rhar poinr and

50
push over the top card of the bottom half over to the right. Ask,
"Which card would you Like to put this on?"
· At the same tune
· you
buckle and push out the bottom card aligning it with rhe top card
(Photo 2). Again they only see a red back. Your right hand holds the
top packer. in an overhand grip and turns palm upwards. The first
two fingers are stretched out and take the buckled card in the left
hand packet with the index finger on the face and the middle finger
on the back (Photo 3).

Next, three actions happen at once in a continuing motion. The right

hand pulls the bottom card out as rhe palm rotates downwards
turning the card face up. The left thumb pulls the top card of its
packet back square with the deck. Finally the right hand drops the
card face up on top of one of the three selections on the table. The
indifferent blue back is never seen during this sequence (Photos 4, 5).

T his card will not be a mare of the selecdon they picked on the table
so say, "That's close but it didn 't still quite work. We 'll try again."
Repeat this rwo more times for rhe orher two selections on the table .
• pread rhe deck facedown to subrly show chat all rhe cards are red.
ay, "Unfortunately, you didn't have much of a coincidence or Luck on
that. And sometimes when coincidences don't work out, thats when
magic comes in. Have you ever done a magic trick before? Go ahead and
just touch all three pairs. "

51
Start turning the pairs on the table faced o,,·n co show rhat even
though they don't pair ar rhc faces , they selecred the only differently
backed cards that match perfectly.

Creativity Exercise

For this you will need to ra ke an effect that you love and perform
regularly. This can be an effect of your own or someone else's effect
that you've put your own pre entation on. Write down yom entire
performance script word for wo rd. Walk through the effect in your
mind as if you were performing it for someone and write down
exactly what yo Lt find yourself saying.

Now go through the script and highlight everywhere you have

written the following words: "/ ," "me," "mine" or "my." Now rewrite
the same script, but And a way to replace these words. In doing so,
you will probably have to come up wirh a completely new approach
to the presentation of this effecr.

This one will be a lot harder than it sounds. Take the time to do it
and you may be surprised with how it adds a bit of new life into this
cffecr that you know and love. I have done this with multiple effects
and have created some of my fa vorite presentations using this
exercise. Tty it out and you may surprise yourself with the direction
you are forced to go with it.

52
 19 Down

Effe ct: You are able to rel! just by sight, rhe exact location of a

selected card in a deck and then insrnntly produce it at that spot.

Setup: This effect utilizes a crimp. All you need to do is crimp the
borcorn right corner of rhe top card. The corner is bent upwards
(Photo 1) allowing you to cur to the card below ir.

Performance
A you are discussing and explaining, casually spread the deck
facedow n between your hands. Sight count five cards from the
bottom and cut them to the rop. Repeat this, bringing the crimp
under the top 10 cards of the deck. Square up and undercut about
half the deck and go into an overhand shuffle. Run seven cards and
throw the rest on the bottom. The crimp should be clearly visible and
is now under 17 cards from the top of the deck. You can set this up
beforehand or do it on the fly as described above.

Execute a big block pushover and have any card selected from under
the crimp. Retrieve the card and control it to the top of the deck. The
flip flop control (described in Backup Plan) is a nice method to

53
achieve this. To start with, make sure you first swing cut under the
crimp (more than 18 cards) into your right hand. Have the selection
replaced on top of top of rhis packer. For rhe next cur, once again cut
off under rhe crimp. Finish the control like before. The selection is
now on top of the Jeck, followed by 17 random cards and 1 crimped
card.

Spread freely to show thar there are no breaks. You can also include
any false cuts or shuffle th at retain the top stock. Say, "I'm going to
try to find exttctly where y our card is from the top of the deck just by
looking. It's somewhere in here and that's all I know." As you' re
explaining this, spread the deck casually and square up. Then look
directly at the crimp and get a break under it. Continue, "!believe it's
actually 19 cards from the top. " Now you lift up a double in an
overhand grip with the thumb at the inner short edge and the index
finger on the outer short edge and flash the face. Say, "This is the top
card; I 9 cards below this card is your ct1rd. "This just proves that their
card is not on the top .

The deck rests in your hand with the left thu mb across the top card.
Lift up at the break holding the packet between your right fingers at
the inner and outer right corners and execute the pop move. The
selected card should now be vis ibly ourjogged in the middle of the
deck. Finish the effect by counting down the 19 cards to reach the
selection.

54
 Creativity Exercise

One of the hardest things about creating a magic trick is coming up

with the fl.rst idea or image. Here is a simple exercise that has proven
very effective for me.

There are a lot of website out there that can aid you in becoming
inspired in ways you may nor have thought of on your own.
Kicksrarrer is one of my favorites. What you do is get your notepad
and pen and spend 30-60 minutes looking at random projects and
designs. I personally look through the technology and design sections
of Kicksrarter. Jot down all the ideas and images that pop into your
head. If you spend an hour looking around sites like Kickstarter,
Gizmodo, RocketHub, etc., and jot down everything that comes co
mind, you will develop a long li t of ideas to revisit and pick through.
Without a doubt one of these ideas can easily be converted into a
hard-hitting effect for you. Don't go into this exercise looking for a
specific effect but rather with an open mind and no expectations.Just
look through and see what others have created. Use these creations
for inspiration and try to figure our how they can be made into some
sort of magic effect. This is one of my favorite exercises to do when I
feel like I'm in a creative slump.

55
56
 Signature

Effect: In this multiphased effect, a pecraror signs a card on the face

with a "magic" marker and you mark it on the back. The marker
vanishes and reappears. The signatures vanish and reappear and
finally you visually remove and peel your signature off of the card
into a little ball of ink, which also vanishes back into rhe marker.
Inspiration for the signature pull off came from David Williamson's
51 Cards to Pocket.

Setup: There is some preparatory work involved for this effect. Take
some dectrical rape and lay it our on some phoropaper. Use a scissors
and cur out a long thin line of rape. The hardest pan abour this
rourine is to figure our how to write your initials in one continuous
line. Stick this thin piece of rape on the back of a card in the shape of
your initials. If you need two line then make sure ro stick one line
onro the other. For example, the horizontal line in rhc "A" is a
separate line bur stuck onro the single main strip. Take the duplicate
of this card without any signatures and place it face down on top of
the deck. The gimmicked card goes under the top card face down in
rhe second position .

Have a Sharpie on you. Smudge a little ink on the rips of your right
index and middle fingers.

57
 Ir is good to be sranding while performing chis effect, which allows
you co make rhe Sharpie disappear and appear easily.

Performance
Pick up or gesrure at the Sharpie and say, "Have you ever wondered
why they call these things magic marlurs? it's weird. right? What's so
magicrJl about it? I'm going to show you. "

Cut the deck holding a break and go into a riffle force. When they
call out "srop," cut the deck and bring the deck back to order.
Execute a double lift and ask your spectator to sign the face while you
hold on to card on the deck. They are actually signing the face of the
gimmicked card. Turn the double face down and wrice your initials
on the back of the card in the same way as you stuck the tape during
the initial setup. Let the audience watch as you sign che card, because
this really sells the effect. Place the deck aside faced.own and pick up
the Sharpie in your right hand.

PHASE I: You are going to make the Sharpie disappear using the
f1ipstick vanish. Pick up the Sharpie and say, "The marker does some
cool things. ft can disappear. And actually reappear in my pocket. "

Hold the Sharpie between your finger tips of both hands (Photo 1)
and move your hands up and down three times. On rhe last time
'
your left finger tips let go and right finger tips curl around and pull
the pen inwards in an acrion similar ro a Tenkai palm (Phoro 2).
Your spectator hould be slightly ro your right ro cover your angles.
58
 The pen is hidden from view by the back of your righ r hand.
Jmmcdiarely turn boch your hand palm down and par your thighs in
the guise of searching for the pen. how your left hand empty and
move both your hands around w the back. Once behind, your righr
hand tosses the pen over to the left hand. As soon as this happens
you r right hand comes back forwards ro show chat it is empty.
imultaneously, rhe left hand goes into rhe left pocket with rhe
Sharpie. After showing your right hand, your left hand comes our of
the pocket and produces it. Ir should look like you make rhe Sharpie
vanish, show borh hands empry and rhen produce ir from your
pocket. In reality, the moves arc a little our of phase because one
hand is always dirry, but done ar speed and smoorhly, the larger
actions of rhe hand moving always cover the smaller acrions making
everything look very fair.

Phase 2: Place the Sharpie aside and pick up rhe deck once more.
Say, '1'lf show you what the 1ictuaf ink ofthe marker can do." Execute a
doub le turnover to show their signature. You can pick up the double
and blow on the face casually displaying the back with yo ur signature
as an added convincer. Place the double face up on rhe deck and
outjogged for half its length and say, "Focus on just the signature. If I
59
rub it just right ... " Your right hand comes over and rubs the face of
the card three times. On the third time you are going to steal the
second card underneath into Tenkai (Photo 3. for more extensive
information, you can explore the section on the Miracle Card. Change
in Ed Marlo's Revolutionary Card Technique). Once again, the back of
your right hand covers the hidden card from the audience, so make
sure to watch your angles. Your right hand stays in motion and wave
over the outjogged card with the signature.

The next two actions happen simultaneously. The left index finger
squares the ourjogged card with the deck. At the same time, your
right hand drops its card in palm on top of it. Your right fingers rub
against the face slowly revealing the visual vanish of their signatur .
Show your fingertips and say, "You can actually see the ink go off
Notice there is no signature on the front but the back still has mine. "
When you say this, do a wrist kill as your right hand takes the tap
card off the deck to show the back (Photo 4). Hand the card to your
spectator to examine. At this moment you arc left with the duplicate
faceup on top of the deck. While they are looking at the card, you
have all the misdirection and time in the world to rum the top card
facedown and keep a break under it. You can do it openly under
cover of your hand or a leg rurnover.

60
Continue to keep the top of the <leek with your ignature our of sight
in a wristkill position. Take the card back from the spectator and
place it face up on top.

Phase 3: Give them the marker and say, "But ifyou take the marlur
and just pretend to toss the ink back on ... " Pick up the double by the
opposite corners and execure the swirl change while moving your
hands. Continue, "... it'll look like the ink jumps right back. " Stop and
allow the effect to ink in. Say, "We've done something with your
signature, now I want to show you something with mine. " Take the top
card off the deck while you wrist kill to hide the next card. Place the
deck into your pocket and out of play. Show both sides of the cards
with the signatures very cleanly. Blow on the back of the card with
your signature on iL as you say, "If I heat it up, I can actually loosen the
ink and peel the signature right off the card." Start to slowly peel off
the tape and completely remove your "signature. " Hand them the
card with their signature as a souvenir. Roll up the tape into a ball
and pick up the Sharpie. Execure the striking vanish to make the ball
vanish as you finish, ''For the ink, I'm just going to roll this up a bit and
stick it right back into the pen to save it for later. "

Creativity Exercise

For this you'll need to find a magician friend to team up with. To get
the most out of this exercise you should tty and meet once a week

61
either in person or via Skype. The idea is simple. Both of you need to
come up with an effect you want to see come to life.

For example, at my last meeting l presented my friend with thi

effect: I want to borrow a coin and have it signed. Without any
switches of any kind I want to be able to bend the coin with one
hand. His problem to me was to make an ice cube catch on flre by
itself at his command. While these are both far-fetched ideas, it's this
kind of thinking that sparks methods for some of the best magic
effects . The key is to dream as big as possible and then find a way to

make the effect come to life. Most of the magicians and creators I
look up to say that when they create something they start and the end
and build around that. Don't think of what is possible. Instead, think
how you would make the seemingly impossible, possible.

Have these meetings as often as you can and when you are presented
with your problem make sure to spend at least 30 unimerrupted
minutes a day working on the solution writing down every though t
and idea that comes to mind no matter how absurd it seems at the
time. Then during the following weeks meeting discuss all the ideas
and concept that you came up with and as a team or group rry and
put the pieces together. Of course yo u won't be able to work om a
method for eve1y trick that's brought up, but just getting the ideas on
the table is the firsr step ro creating some amazing magic.

62
 Adam's Aces

Effect: This is another fun and visual production of the four aces.

Setup: Four aces on top of the deck. You can have these palmed out
and then load them in after allowing a spectator to shuffle.

Performance
Start by saying, "A lot of magicians are actually rated on their skill level
by how quickly they can locate the four aces from a shuffled deck of cards.
It's like tl rite ofpassage." Execute a few false shuffles and cuts which
retain rhe top srock. Use a pinky count to get a break under the rop
fo ur cards. Continue, "Sometimes l get lucky and l can cut an ace to the
top. Let me show you. '' Do a block push off and turn over all four
cards to reveal the first acc. Next you will do a spin move. Pick up the
four cards as one with the right middle finger on the outer left corner
and the thumb on the inner right corner. Place the rest of the deck
a ide. Use the right index finger to pull up on the bottom left corner
and give the card one complete spin, keeping the card in motion to
conceal the thickness. At the end, flick the packet ensuring they stay
square and grab them in your left hand in a deeper grip to cover any
edges from the front.

Say, "I can actually peel the ace and split it into two." Your right index
finger comes to the right long edge to feel for two cards similar to a
strike double lift. Hold on to the double with your right thumb on
top and fingers underneath as your left hand comes away, flicking the
63
card and revealing rhe second ace. Cradle the double in your right
hand between rhc lcfr fingertips (Photo 1), which allows you to

regrip. Take the card back in an overhand grip with your right hand.
The double is held by the right thumb on the inner short edge and
the ring finger on rhe outer shorr edge. The card is then shown
vertical with the right thumb riding down the back of rhe card
(similar ro a Smart Gordon double turnover) to the position as shown
in Photo 2. This is a further convincer to rhe card's singularity.

Place this card flat and injogged for half its length on top of th
double card in your left hand. Regrip the cards holding the injogged
double between the right finger tips at the middle of the right long
edge and rhe other double between the left finger tips at the left long
edge (Photo 3). Say, "To get aces 3 and 4, all I need to do is give it a
little shake. "Move your hands aparr separating the two doubles and
simultaneously spread them both revealing rhe four aces (Photo 4).

64
 Creativity Exercise
-------~~~~~~

One thing I hear over and over about creativity is that it can be
summed up as putting your mind in a play, or childlike, mode. As we
grow older it becomes harder and harder to bring our minds back to
that childlike place where anything and eve1ything is possible.

For this exercise you will need to get a few children's toys such as
Lego bricks, Play-Doh, Lincoln Logs, etc. Pick up two or three
different types that you like and then spend 30-45 minutes playing
with chem. Let your imagination run wild and see what cool things
yo u can build and create. This is a nice exercise to do once or twice a
week. It's a relaxing break from the normal and it will help you put
yo ur mind in a healthy state of play - something a lot of people need
more of in their lives! A lot of large marketing firms use this
technique when nying to develop an ad campaign. They will leave a
bunch of toys around the meeting room rabies and let the marketing
team play with them as they bounce ideas back and forth. Ir's a nice
simple way to bring our a playful and childlike mindset.

65
66
 Pop Top

This move allows you to reveal rhe top card from the middle of the
deck in a flashy and convincing way. I'm sure this is just a
reinvention of the wheel type of effect but through the research I have
done I couldn'r locate it in print or video .

T he card you wish ro produce should be on rop of rhe deck. Start by

showing a double and turning it face down. Lift up a group of cards
holding the packet berween your right fingers at the inner and outer
right corners (Photo 1). Slide the pack forwards for abour half its
length and sideways to the right while the left thumb holds on to the
top card (similar ro a slip cut). A rhe left long side of the packet
clears the top card, the right hand moves upwards slightly, flipping
the rop card over, rotating it over the left thumb as it turns face up
(Photo 2) . As the card lands, the left thumb moves out of the way
and rhe top packet is snapped back on the deck. This whole sequence
is done quickly an<l at speed should take about two seconds. The
(top) card should now be visible outjogged in the middle of the deck
(Photo 3).

67
 Pop Production

This is a flashy production of the four aces utilizing the pop top move
described previously.

Setup: Place an ace face down on top of the deck followed by another
ace face up second from the top. The last two aces go face up on the
bottom of the <leek.

Starr off by executing a few false shuffles or curs. Your right hand
comes over and sidesreals the bottom card into a palm. Perform rhe
pop move, which reveals an ace outjogged in the middle and an ace
on the top. Kick the outjogged card over to rhe left with your right
hand (still holding a palmed ace) and regrip the deck. Underneath,
your left fingers push the bottom card into side steal position again,
bm this time the card is not taken and remains sidejogged under the
cover of your right hand (Phoro 1). Next, the right hand moves move
away and flicks the sidejogged card downwards to reveal the third ace.
For the last ace, the palmed card is revealed by simply inserting the
thumb between the face of the card and the palm and popping it our.
This ace is inserted into the deck to complete the display (Photo 2).
 Creativity Exercise

As magicians we have all bought a trick we saw a beautiful ad for. We

may have seen it in a magazine, on a website or at the front counter
of a local magic shop. What is it about char ad char convinced you to

buy the trick? Was it the graphics, the effect itself or the video demo?

For this exercise, you will be tasked with developing your own killer
marketing campaign for an imaginary cffecL Make up an effect, as
the spectator would see it. Don't wony about the mcrhod, just focus
on what selling points would be used to marker it. For example you
could be selling a new toothbrush trick. The magician pulls out a
toothbrush and with just slight shake toothpaste appears on the end
of the brush. How does the packaging look, what docs the trailer look
like, what arc the main selling points. Mock rhis up on paper and jot
down all the points you can come up wirh to sell this effect.

I like ro do this from time ro time and then go through all the notes I
have for all these imagina1y effects. It's a fun exercise that can really
get you thinking in ways you never have before.

69
70
 Just For Fun

71
72
 .........
Sealed Surprise

Effect: A borrowed quarrer uan pose from an empry shoe glass into
a sealed and freely selected soda bottle. The empry sho t glass is then
found to be filled wi th the soda from the bottle which was selected.

Setup: You will require che following items.

• A shot glass loaded wich Coke hidden behind rhe cable on a
holdout device, or on a smaller cable where you can easily
grab it ro execute a switch.
• An empty shoe glass.
• Three unopened and drastically different colored sodas in
clear, plastic, 20-ouncc bottles , such as Coke, Sprite and
Mountain Dew.
• Two duplicate Stace quarters with che same dare on chem.
Load one of these into rhe Coke bottle as described below.
• Napkins on the table.

The Coke bottle has one of the two quarters loaded in it. To do this
and still make it look like che boctlc is in a factory sealed condicion,
there is some construction required . Cut off the top section of an
unopened Coke bottle at the neck (Photo 1) so the seal is still there
and attached to the cap. Place chis section into some boiling water in
a bowl for a few seconds. Carefully remove the section from the water
wich some tongs (because it will be hot). Use a screwdriver to gently
ease out the cap along with the seal below it as one piece (Photo 2).

73
 Open another Coke bottle normally and use scissors to cur off and
remove r.he seal from the mourh. Use a pair of pliers with insulation
rape wrapped on the ends (as described in rhe World's Easiest Coin
Bend) to squeeze the mouth of the bottle to an oval shape just
enough to drop one of rhe rwo quarters into the bottle. Squeeze the
mouth of the bottle back to its original circular shape. Place the cap
with rhe seal which you pried off from the first bottle over the second
bottle filled with Coke and flt ir in place. This is the beauty of this
effect: You can load anything you want inro that re-sealed bottle.

1 2

The arrangement on the table is the rhree soda bottles in a line from
left to right in front of you. The empty shor glass is placed closer to
you on the left. Have rhc second quarter in a left hand tlnger palm.

Performance
Borrow a quarter from a pecraror and rake ir from them before they
look at it too closely. rarr by explaining rhar you are going to tiy a
very unique experiment. Execute a hurrle pass
·
retaming the
borrowed coin in a right hand finger palm and simultaneously
74
 bringing out and <li playing th quaner fro m your left hand finger
palm. Say, "Take a Look at the quarter. This is a state quarter. What
state is on it? And remember the dare as well. " This eliminates the need
to sign the quarter. H old our the em pty hot glass in your lefr hand
and ask them to drop the coin into it. hake it around a little bit to
generate some sound, which rein fo rces that everything is fair. Set the
hot glass on the table ro the left.

ext you are going to force the Coke bottle. This is done using the
magician's choice equivoque, but with an interesting presentation.
ay, "We have three soda bottles - a Mountain Dew, a Coke and a
Sprite. They're all kind offizzy. I want you to imagine when you crack
open a soda, you get that hiss of the fizz that comes out ofit. That also lets
you know that it's brand new and no one's ttimpered with it. "
Pantomime these with actions to crack open the borrlc and move
your hands up to indicate the fizz and bubbles rising up.

ay, "] want you to imagine these three sodas here. Name any one of
them up and imagine the fizz just coming out as you crack it open with
the bubbles rising up. Which one do you want to do that with? Imagine
the bubbles rising up." Use simple gestures to pantomime and follow
your words.

If rhcy pick rhe Mountain Dew or the Sprite, allow them to pick the
bottle up and break the seal open allowing it to fizz up. Say, ''Perfect.
You've cracked it open and tts you can see, it fizzes away, " and place the
bottle ro the side.

75
 Now we have two left. Say, "Go ahead tmd pick one of the bottles up."
Tf they pick up the bottle which is not the Coke, pantomime opening
the bottle once again and dirc::ct them to do the same. The Coke
bottle is left, which is the position you wanr to be in.

If they instead pick up the Coke on the second attempt, say,

"Excellent. Hold on to that but don't open it just yet. just imcigine that
cracking sound and then the fizz kind of goes away. " You can pick up
the rc::maining bottle on the table and play out the words you just
said, opening up the second bottle. They are left holding the Cok
bottle.

Place the other sodas off to the side and out of play so all that remains
is the Coke bottle, which they apparenrly freely picked. You've forced
the Coke borde on them. If they initially select the Coke bottle, that
is a pcrfc::ct situation and you can co ntinue straight from here.

Pick the bottle up and slowly move it over the empty shot glass,
touching ir gently for a sc::cond and then set it down directly in from
of the speccaror. Say, "Jn that moment, it didn't look like much, but
check out what happened. Place your hand on top of the bottle. Make
sure the cap is on and that it's sealed."

Introduce the napkin and go into Lennan Green's vc1y visual drink
production staning with the empty hot glass (Lennart Green's Master
File, Vol. 1). ay "You picked a Coke and )'Ott selected a <state> quarter

76
that had the date XXXX on it. I u•am you to watch this carefully. This is
where it gets really cool." Jingle the coin one last time and then
complete the change. ow you've got the hot glass with the Coke in
it. Set it down and point to the oda.

Continue.:, "Where the coin once was, is what you picked - the Co!u. it
only makes sense if where the Coke was, the coin now is. Do me tl favor.
Crack open that Coke bottle. Make sure it is sealed. " Give them a large
glass and ask them to dump the Coke our.

They will dump all the soda imo the large glass and then they'll sec
that there's a coin inside of it. Set the soda as ide and let them
examine everything. Allow them tO verify that iL is the same coin with
the same dates as well as state name on it. Hand them the shot glass
and allow them to have a drink while you pick up the large glass to

have a taste. Say, "Cheers, and thank you very much."

77
78
 Environmentally Unfriendly

Effect: You demon trare how a barrery work. A dead battery from a
remote conrrol is opened up and it onrenr are poured our into a
glass. The barrery is then recharg d in a v ry visual and strange way,
placed back into the remore control and shown ro work.

Setup: You will need a special barre1y chat i used for hiding small
objects such as jewels or pills. These are available for sale on my
website, or you can find them online by searching for "stash battery. "
Look for one of the popular brands such as Duracell or Energizer.

Once you have the battery you need to fill it with a glowing
radioactive-looking fluid. The safest way to accomplish this is to buy
glow necklaces found at most dollar stores. Cracking the necklace wi ll

79
activate; the chemicals rhar make it glow. The liquid is safe to touch ,
but avoid getting it in your eyes (or attcmpting to drink it). Cut off
one end of the necklace and pour the liquid into the stash battery.
Screw rhe cap back onto the battery and when the time is right, swap
it with a regular batte1y from a remote control when nobody is
looking. Keep the real barrery in an easily accessible and hidden place,
such as your lap if you are sitting at a table, or in a pocket - in
position to bring it our finger palmed later on. Place the remote
control back on the table.

If the battery you switch out is the same brand as your stash battery,
that is the perfect situation and the switch you execute in the end will
work. If the battery you switch out is a different brand, you can still
proceed with the effoct but you cannot do the switch at the end.

Performance
Wait for someone to t1y to use the remote control and notice that it
doesn't work. Alternativdy, you can initiate it yourself by ttying to
change the channel and bringing ro arrenrion rhat it doesn't work.
Pick up the remote conuol and open the battery compartment. Say,
"The batteries must be dead. Have you ever wondered why batteries
work? Or how they work? They're filled with something and they produce
energy. Some of them we can even refill or when we 're done with it, we
throw them away. It 's strange - have you ever wondered what's inside of
them? Let me show you an interesting experiment."

80
Ask for a shor glass or use any similar conrainer lying around.
Remove the fake bat te ry from the remote conrrol and display ir. Place
rhe remote comrol back on the table but wirh the compartment face
up, showing clearly that one barrery is out of it. (If your stash battery
doesn' r march the barrcry already in rhere, rhen just set it facedown.)

Continue panering about batteries and in the action of holding and

moving it around in your hands, srart unscrewing the cap. Don'r
make it look obvious and continue talking and act like you're playing
with it. When you're at the very end and it's almost completely off,
say, "Checle it out. You can actually... break it open cmd see what's
inside of these things, " as you open rhe cap and separare the battery
into two pieces.

Pour the liquid into the shot glass while you say, "There's a cool way to
recharge them ifyou give the liquid a Little air and a mix. But you need
to be careful, since this stuff is pretty radioactive. "This is a rea lly visual
moment. As a little joke you can take your finger and give the liquid
a mix. Pick up the shot glass (or whatever container you used) and
pour the liquid back into the stash battery as carefully as you can. Put
the lid back on and give prerend to give it a few shakes and rubs ,
while actually screwing the cap back on. Get ready and bring the real
battery you are hiding in to a finger palm.

Say, "That should just about do it. I bet it's recharged. Let's see if it
works." Exccure a simple false hand to hand transfer to swap the stash
batte1y back for rhe real one. Use the hand now hiding rhe stash

81
 bartery in flngcr palm to pick rhc remote control up from the table
and replace the real battery into rhe comparrrnenr. The remote
control hides the stash battery completely. Hand your spectator rhe
remote or demonstrate that it works now. You can now get rid of rhe
stash battery anytime, because all rhe heat is off you.

If rhe battery you swapped our is a different brand, then you just
screw the lid back on and place it hack into the remote control. This
docs leave you a bit diny. As an alternative, you can carry around two
real Duracell or Energizer batteries and one stash battery. When you
have a private moment, switch both their batrerics our. Put in one
real batte1y and one stash batte1y. Have rhe second real battery in
your pocket or lap ready co switch out in the end. Generally no one is
going to remember or realize rhar you've switched our. their barreries
for a different brand.

82
 Shutterbug

This trick came from a late night conversation with one of my closest
friends, Peter M cKinnon. We were jamming abour ideas for this
book and in a joking manner Peter said, ''Make up a trick dedicated to
me and name it Shutterbug. " We both laughed and I insrnndy had rhe
idea for this simple bur powerful effect. This is a great example of
how sometimes the simplest of ideas can be mrned into strong
commercial magic. For those of you who don't know Peter, he is one
of the most talented photographers and cinematographers around.
This guy makes real magic from behind the lens of a camera. This
was the inspiration for Shutterbug.

Effect: By combining your love for magic with your passion for
photography you have come up with a unique solution to a common
problem of forgetting your camera. You show a card box and with the
flick of your finger it transforms into a makeshift camera. To
demonsrrate how the card box camera works you introduce a blank
piece of "photo paper." The spectator signs the back of the paper and
it is insened imo tht: card box camera. They are then asked to select
an image (in this case a playing card will suffice) to be photographed.
You snap a picture of the selected card and pause a moment to let the
film develop. Then you open the camera card box to show that the
signed piece of photo paper has now developed into an image of the
freely selected card. The spectator can be left with this image as a
souvenir.

83
Setup: You will require the following items.
• A blank faced card
• Camera box gimmick
• Front of box gimmick (you'll need a second card box for this)
• Deck of cards
• Thumb tip flasher (optional)
• Duplicate card

To make the camera box gimmick, take a card box and draw a
camera on the side that doesn't have the half moon cut out (Photo 1) .
Cut one of the flaps to make a "flash" (Photo 2).

Take the second card box and cur the front panel off. Disregard th
rest of the box. Glue an indifferent card to the back of this panel with
the back design outward (Photo 3, front , back).

84
Place one of th duplicate cards (for example, the jack of clubs) face
down on top of che deck. The black faced card goes face down in the
sccond position followed by the second duplicate card and the rest of
rhe pack.

Put the deck in the box with the backs facing the drawing of the
camera. The front of chc box gimmick should be on the face of the
box covering the camera drawing and you are ready to perform.

Performance
Start with the <leek on the table, gimmick side down as you begin
your presentation. Explain that besides magic, photography is
anO[her hobby of your . But your problem is that every time you spot
a grear photo opporrnniry. yo u realize rhat all you've got on you is a
deck of cards. As you ay ch is, pick the deck up from the sides while
holding the gimmick in piace as you casually show both sides of the
box. Position the deck in a modified dealers grip.

T h is sets you up to execute the Cardini color change. As your right

hand approaches the box you pull down on the gimmick with your
left pinky levering it on the side of the box (Photo 4. Camera is not
drawn and right hand is removed for clarity). At the same time your

85
right hand flicks the box and then flattens out to cover the gimmick
(Photo 5). This allows for a visual appearance of the:: camera.

In a continuing action your right hand grasps the box from the ends
as your left hand pulls the gimmick to the back of the box and lines it
up flush as you display the camera (Photos 6 , 7). Now you can open
the box and pull out the cards as you slide the gimmick out with
them. Set the box on the table camera side facing up and spread the
deck showing all the card backs. The back design you glued onto the
gimmick hi<les on the bottom of the <leek so you can spread the deck
and show all backs. At this point you explain that the camera box
works just like a real camera. Do a double lift showing the black face
card and explain that this is your piece of photo paper. Turn the
double face:: down and have the spectator sign the back - which is
actually the duplicate jack of dubs. Pick up the double:: up again and
blow on the signature, allowing the spectator to see the blank face
once more.

Place the deck on the table and pick up the camera box. You are now
going to load the duplicate inro the box (which they think is the::
blank photo paper). Hold the amera box in your right hand so the
camera is facing your audien e with your left hand pick up the

86
signed top card an<l in err ir inro rhe box. This is a grear moment rhar
leaves a nice visual memory of a blank piece of phoro paper going
into a camera. Don't rush rhis.

Explain that you need something to photograph. Pick the deck up

from the rablc as you place rhe camera box aside for a moment. You
arc going to force rhe duplicate jack of clubs, which is second from
rhe top. The pread cull force described in Earbuds is a fair way to

force rhe sdection, but you can use any force you are comfortable
with. Have rh e spectator hold the card facing you as you pretend to
rake a picture with the camera box. Open the box and pull rhe card
out about half its length as you mention it's not a grear shot because
you forgot the flash . Push the card back in and re-close the box. Pull
the flash flap out as yo u tell your audience that you are going to tty
again. Your left index finger holds the flash flap uprighr (Photo 2). If
you have a thumb rip flasher, this is when you' ll use it. When you
pretend to take a picture for the second time use the TTF to create a
bright flash of light. Open the box again an<l pull out rhe photo paper
showing that it has raken a perfect picture of their freely chosen card.
Hand the card out as a souvenir and walk away smiling.

87
w

88
 Boxed In

Effect: A ring i borrowed from a spccrator and placed in a box or a

purse. A card i leered and signed. Through the routine, the card
jumps around from different locations in the deck and your pocket.
And for rhe big kicker, it transposes with the ring in the box. The
signed selection end up in the box where the ring was originally
placed. The ring is found to be inside the deck, which seems to have
transformed it f ', o a ox.

Setup: You wi ll re illI h following iLems.

• Boxed In g m i - a\'ailable on my website)
• Rattle box (or ...ir e) with a card folded (or sewn) and
attached to ir on e :n ide
• A blank faced car \\1th "Gently shake rhe box" written on
the face.
• Two indifferent random ·ards
• Borrowed ring or small object

The order from top of the deck fac down is an indifferent can.I, the
blank card, indifferent card and rhe facedown Boxed In deck
gimmick.

Gimmick Construction: You will require the following items.

• X-Acto knife or any paper cutting blade

• four small round magnets
• Hole puncher
• Gluc

89
 Cut out a rectangle from the center of about 50 cards carefully with
the X-Acto knife as shown (Photo 1). If you are using Bicycle cards,
then the inner rectangle just outside the two circles is a good
reference of where you should be curdng.

Depending on the thickness and size of your magnets, punch out the
opposite corners of a couple of these cards (Photo 2). Take half of the
remaining cards which arc nor punched and glue them all together,
one by one. Glue the group of cards with punched our magnet holes
rogerher and then glue thi group on rap of the set of non-punched
cards. Place rwo magnets in rhe holes and glue them in place. Place a
single card without only the center cur our on top of this to cover the
magnets.

Repeat this with the other half of the deck. En ure that the pole
orientation of the maanet ar -orr r and char they attract (and not

90
repel) each other from the two different halves. One half should be
face up and the other hould be face down so that when they are put
together the impres ion is of a standard deck of cards. Glue a single
card on the top and bottom of the deck to close the holes, creating a
little chamber (Photo 3).

You may opcionallr line rhe corners of this chamber wirh felr to mask
any sounds coming fro m the ring jostling around later during the
performance.

The gimmick is complete and you have a little "box" of cards made of
two halves that are held together. There is a compartment inside that
can hold a small object. Close the card box, follow the setup
described earlier and yo u are ready to perform.

Performance
Borrow a ring from an audience member. In the act of placing the
ring into the box, you are going to secretly retrieve it anJ hold it
finger palmed in your left hand. The rattle box design shown in
(Photos 4, 5, 6) has a liding lid that allows you to ve1y convincingly
drop the ring into the box. By just tilting the box backwards the ring
will roll out onto your palm from behind (Photo 7). If you are using

91
a purse, you can foke throw the ring into it while holding it open and
instead the ring falls into your hands. A French drop or any similar
move will also work. Make sure not to flash the folded card inside.
Give the box a shake audibly indicating that the ring is inside and
place it aside on the table.

Pick the deck up and give it a false overhand shuffle with the coin
finger palmed. Run the top three cards one by one with your lefr
thumb into your hand and rhrow the rest of the deck (gimmick on
top). Pick up the whole deck and go into another overhand shuffle.
This time pull the gimmick as a block into your left hand and then
run the three card ingly on rop of ir. The deck is back to its original
order and this shuffling equence is a convincer that eve1ything is
normal.

92
Force the top card by asking the spectator to call out "stop" during
the shuffling sequence just de cribed, and time it appropriately. It's
very simple to <lo beca use there are only three real cards.
Alternatively, you can hand them the top card while saying that it
doesn't matter, because you are going to see it anyway.

Have the card signed. \\'h ile thc..:y are doing this, you arc.; going to
hid the ring into the ch:un ber inside the deck. Bring the ring to your
lefL fingertips. With your right hand, open the deck slightly like a
book at the right long ide Photo 8). Your fingers c..:nrer the opening,
drop the ring inLO the m iddl of the <leek and close it (Photo 9) . Do
this while you are talking ro m ask the sounds. After loading in the
ring, keep the deck an gled o that it remains at one corner and
doesn't roll around creating any ou nds.

Use the Marlo tilt to replace the election third from the top of the
deck. Go into a short ambitious card sequence starting with a triple
lifr to show that it has jump d from the middle back on top.
Cantin ue, '7 can go even farther this time and place it on the bottom of
the deck. " Turn the.: triple facedown and place the top card on the
bottom. Execute a double turnover to show that it is once again on
t he rop. ,Say, "'To
1 • make it more imrt>ossible, I willplace your card in . ,.
m11

93
pocket." Turn rhe double facedown and chis time place the top
(indifferent) card into your pocket. Make a gesmre and mrn over rhe
top card to reveal the selection once again.

Hand rhc card to them and ask them to verify rhat everything is
normal. While they do rhis , sidesteal or cur rhc blank face card at the
bottom to the top. Retrieve the card and place it face up on top of the
deck. Say, "I will try one Last feat with your card but this time it won't
be jumping from pockets or to the top of the deck. it 's going to vanish
from the deck. " Pick up a double and execute the Shapeshifter
change. This transforms the selection into the blank faced card with
the message written on the face. Replace the double on top of the
deck. Thumb off the blank faced card and hand ir strnighc to the
spectator.

Point to the box and ask them to gently give it a shake. Manage your
audience and ensure that the box i · not opened prematurely. While
they do this, turn the deck face up and execute the Mercury card fo ld
on the bottom card which is their selection . Sql1eeze the folded card
against one of the corner of the deck and nor in the middle since
that is a weak spot with ju t a single card covering the hole under it
(Photo 10). Retain th folded card in your left hand in a fmger palm

94
as you set the deck down. Take the box back and open it slightly. Tilt
it towards them and ask, "What do you see?" The folded card inside
will show. Say, "No ring and not just any folded card But y our card
with your signature on it." Mim droppi ng the card out of the box
inco your hand as the hidden folded selection is brought into view.
Unfold and displ ay it.

Say, "ifyour signed card zs here u here the ring was, it only makes sense
that where y our card zl'as, the ring is." Pick up rhe deck and give it a
lirrle shake so they an hear the wi n rattle inside. Gently open the
gimmick and display the ring.

95
96
 Cash Card

Wri[[en by J o hua Jay

Changing a playing card inro a dollar bill has been done before, but
this is as good as I have ever een ir look. Ir's a problematic effect
from a method standpoint becau e the rigidity of the playing card
limits your options. But Adam has onsrructed a gaff that I believe
provides an elegant solution. And he frames the trick as a
transposition , which allow you rn end clean.

Effect: The magician has a card selected and isolates it in his hands.
Tn an instant, the card changes inro a dollar bill. "But if a dolltir is
here, I wonder what's in my wallet where the bill is supposed to be."
Inside his wallet i the chosen card.

Setup: The one-rime set up for this effect is extensive, but it resets
almost instantly.

You'll need two dollar bills and two force cards, as well as some glue.
Place one of the for e ards in your wallet. Thar' rhe easy part.

Glue a dollar bill to rhe back of the other force card so that the ends
align (Photo 1). Flip the unit over and orient the gaff so that the card
end of the bill is at your right. The left side of the bill is exposed and
uncovered by the card. Apply glue to this left side of the bill and then

97
glue rhe second bill on top, with the edges aligned, oriented the same
way (Photo 2). When the glue dries, trim the sides of the bill to the
card, since the width of a bill is fractionally larger than a playing card .
1 'bis is your gaff.

Between each performance, you must ser up your gaff as follows. Fold
the end of the money rhar prorrudes beyond the card back, behind
the face of rhe card (Photo 3). There are two "ends" of the bill that
must be dealt with. The thicker one is folded flush against the bill, a
quarter of an inch lower than rhe edge of the card (Photo 4). The
single-layer end of the bill is accordion folded back, then fo1ward, as
shown in Photos 4 and 5. Place this card on the face of the deck.

Performance
Use your favorite method to force the bottom card of the deck. Adam
uses a riffle force, first cutting the cards and holding a break, and then

98
riffling to the break. The force card i cut tO the bottom of the pack,
and rhen the deck is rurned face up. Carefully slide the gaffed card
in to your righ r hand, then table or pocket the deck, keeping the face
of the selection toward the pecraror.

"My mom always asked me how I u·oidd make money with card tricks. "
So saying, you effect the hange a ollow . T he change is carried out
entirely one-handed u ing only \'our riaht hand. The cleanup,
however, requires both hand .

First, the change: imp y gra p the double-layer bill with your right
thumb and allm\· che r ro flo p downward, which opens the length
of the bill (Pharo 6). From the fronr, the change is instantaneous
(Pharo 7).

99
Now for the cleanup: With your right thumb , contact both "ends" of
the bill behind the card and push them upward . This opens a small
"tunnel" into which you can insert your left thumb. As you stroke the
bill with your left hand, run your thumb down the back of the gaff
(Photo 8) , which extends the portion of the bill that covers the card.
You can show both sides of the bill by carefully turning it over in
your hand.

The gaff looks a little stiff, so don't move it too much. Instead, call
attention to your wallet, and propose the idea that if your money
appeared in your hand, then perhaps a card appeared in your waller.
Fold the bill in your hand, which will help you conceal the thickness,
and retrieve your waller. Put the gaff away and then retrieve the card.
If anyone asks to see the bill, pull out a regular bill.

100
 Fah-Q

A variation ofPeter McKinnon sBlackpool Prediction

The spectator is asked to think of ANY card (let's say it's the Jack of
Clubs). You rel! the pecrator that you KNEW rhey would think that!
To prove it, you wrote it on the inside of the box before you even
srarted. The box has been in plain view the entire time. Ve1y slowly,
you open the box, pull back the flaps and reveal what's inside. To the
surprise and poss ible disappointment of the spectator, there is
absolutely nothi ng written inside.

"Really? There is nothing written? How about now?" With a quick

upward motion, the famous bold words of the Blackpool Prediction
immediately appear written on the bottom of the box.

Setup & Requirements: Scissors, two card boxes, glue stick, Sharpie,
a sharp blade & some good wine. Music is optional. I recommend it.

Cut the long side of a card box and put ir aside (Photo 1).

101
Open the box from the botcom and write the Blackpool Predictio n
words on the inside of the bottom flap. At the same time, you are
going to cut off one of the glue tabs (Photo 2).

After cutting off one of the glue tabs, re-seal the box with double
stick tape or glue stick. You now have a small slit in the bottom along
with the Blackpool Prediction's text. (Photo 3)

You are now ready to trim your extra "side flap" to size and insert iL
into your new cur slit at the bouom of the deck. Pumped yet?

Slide the extra side piece from your other box into rhe slit at the
bottom of your newly prepared box. This slide will act as a false
bottom. When you show the "empty" box to your spectators, d1 y
will sec the side flap- not the real bottom of the box (Photo 4).

Make sure to trim off all that excess side flap so only the tab and a
small portion remain sticking out of the box - the less, the bett r.
You will have this flap sticking out during performance. It will go
unnoticed if you do not call attention to it during your routine.

102
 Once ready to perform, remove the cards from the box. Ser rhe box
aside with rhe back of the box (dirty end) facing you. Have the cards
shuffled. and mixed by your spectator. Invi te thcm to name any card.
After the card is named , pick up your box holding the tab at the sides
with both hands (Photo 5).

4
Show the.: box as empry to your spectators as in (Photo 5). With a
quick jerk morion, remove the tab from the slit pulling it up against
the right side of the tuck box. It will be covered with the design as it
is the same flap rhat already exists. Again, this should go unnoticc.:d.

Everyone will be looking at the new visible message at the bottom of

the hox, versus what you are holding and covering to the side of the
box. You can even hand it out and drop your right hand casually to

the side, ditching the extra flap in your back pocket.

The most important thing to remember is the larger action covers the
smaller action. The larger action is your upward and downward jerk
of the box and the smaller motion is the rab being removed.

Kill it!

103
 Endnote: The presemation of this effect as it is written here will nor
be for everyone. It uses some profane language but in cum packs a
hell of a punch and allows for some great humor in the right
situation. Keep in mind that you do not have to use the gimmick as it
is used in this write up. The gimmick basically allows you to visually
produce any word(s) that you would like on the bottom of a card box
that was just seen to be empty. I've used it to magically and visually
produce a prediction as well as to change one word into another.
There are many applications this gimmick can accomplish. So please
don't overlook it if you're nor a fan of rhe presentation described.
Play around with it and have fun.

104
 Concepts
&
Thoughts

105
106
 Adam Wilber

On Approaching People

The following are answer I gave co] oe Hadsall, of Ellusionist.com,

who asked about my performance ryle and attitude for an interview.

In some cases, showing a trick to someone is a no-brainer, like the

guy at the BevMo! who was asking what you did. But in others, you
just spotted a group ofpeople and approached them. How do you
pick people to show magic? What do you look for?
First and foremost I look or people who look like they have plenty of
money to tip me. AU jokin a ide. when I am looking for a group or
person to perform for. I don ·r reall~- chink much about it. Ir's more of
a gut feeling and common en thing. I believe the most important
thing to remember i you houldn't be walking up to a group with
the sole intention of fooling chem, impressing chem or getting
something from ch m (that is more of your ego performing instead of
your personality). When performing magic for a stranger, you have to

are giving them a genuine piec..e of yo urself. If you approach people

with the mind set of being asual and having fun it makes it very hard
for them to not be recep ti\'e to your magic.

owever there are c rcain ue that will indicate when NOT co

approach. If it look lik a seriou conversation is going on, you
certainly don't want to int rrupt them to show them magic. This is

107
just a common sense thing. If it looks like the group is having a good
time, approach them an<l feel them out. If on the other han d the
gro up looks very serio us and focused, you probably want to leave
them to their business at hand.

Are you always on the hunt for a peifonnance opportunity? Have

you always been this way, or did it change when you made the
decision to go pro?
I have always had the passion to perform. Ever since I fooled my
father with a silk vanish at age 6, I was hooked on showing magic to
people. l think what changed over the years is the auimde I have
when approaching a gro up. I used to just focus on fooling them and
making sure 1 didn't get caught doing a sleight. After a lot of trial and
error I came to realize it is inflnitely more impressive and entertaining
to people when you perform casually and light heartedly rather th an
like a robot which is programmed to execute every move perfectly.
T hat doesn't mean you should perform bad sleights, but rather you
should know these moves so well that you don't have to think about
them while performing. Your performance needs to be unique to each
and every person yoLL perform for. They should feel like this
performance was created speciflcally for them, like it's the fosc time
you've ever anempted this little miracle.

Nowadays I look for any and every opportunity I can to share my

magic with people. It still amazes me the feeling you get when you
give a com plete stranger a memory they will keep for a lifetime. Not

108
many people or artists can say they have that ability, bur as magicians
it's som ething I think a lot o f us rake for aranted.

I like to think that I seize plenty of opport1lnities to perform for

people, but y ou put me to shame. e all love magic, we all love
performing, but y ou are at a higher level You perform fo r
ANYBODY. D id y ou ever think ofyour. elf as being at that higher
level, or do you think everyone houU perfonn like you do?
T don't see myself at a ''h,g : an_- mean . I have always had
an outgoing attitude an c o n. I love people and I
love social interactions. hould force themselves
to perform as m u h as (h uoal rhey ser for
themselves. It go he mo r you perform for
strangers, the more o m·o a "' •·ou om at it and in turn the
better performer you become.

Is there any one you 0 \ " T perfonn for? ITTJat kind of red flags
do you lookforf Or is there ever a time when ou 'r just not feeling
it?
I have never and will never perform fo r anyone w aring kin ny jeans
or blue baseball hats. In all seriousness there is nobody I won' t
perform for. Thcre are certain situations I wo n' t walk into like I
mentioned above. If a group looks ve1y eriou and or busy in what
they are doing I will avoid rhem. If I am doing tabl e hoping or
restaurant work I won' t approach anyone who is eating unless they
have specifically asked to see me. Just like anybody I have good and

109
bad days. I usually won't perform if T'm just having a bad <lay (unless

ic' s a paid gig of course).

If you are having fun performing your good mood will rub off on
your audience. Just like if you see someone yawn your body forces
you to yawn as well, if you see someone having a great time
instinctively your mind forces you to join in on this good time. It's
always best to perform when you're in a happy and upbeat mood.

This question is just to make sure I remembered (a peeformance

given to diners at) the Slanted Door right: You heard the group of
women laughing, thought they'd be perfect for a performance, but
noticed that there was also a table for the men, and chose to
peiform for them first. Rightf
I remember hearing a lot of laughter and an all-around good vibe
coming from the table. As I approached I noticed it was about 15
people, the woman at one end and the men at the other end. I will
generally always perform for the men first. There are a couple reasons
for this. Firstly, 1 have found with my personality it's better to win
the men over first. A lot of men are very protective of their woman
and when they see some guy covered in tattoos walk over and start
entertaining their woman they can get very defensive and protective.
That's not a good emotion to inflict on people. If you can win the
men over and have them be the center of attention, che rest of the
performance is a lot easier to handle.

110
Secondly, in my experience it's almost always the men who will reach
into their pockets for a tip. In the case of rhe slanted door ar rhe end
of my performance three of the men a kcd if they could rip me. I
declincd rhe tip but they ended up buying me a drink.

I'm guessing the number of times you've done magic for random
people is in the thousands. lnat's one or two of the most
important lessons you've learned from your approaches?
I think the most importanL thing I have learned is to always
remember that the magic is not about me or my ego. The magic
MUST be all about my audience and providing them with an
entertaining interaction that allows them to think like a child again
and forget abouL the worries of world around them, even if only for a
moment. It sounds corny I know, but once you learn to approach
people with this mindset your performances wi ll go from mediocre ro
inspiring and meaningful. You will also see the reaction of your
aw.lknc.:<:: c.:hange and bccorne more sincere.

Another good rule to live by is to make cvc1y moment counr. Every

trick you do or interaction you have should have 100 percent of your
energy and focus. You never know when it could change your life
forever.

As a professional, your time is valuable. You do kids shows,

corporate shows, adult parties and more, and get paid well. Some
pros say that magicians shouldn't give away what they get paid to

111
do. What are your thoughts about doing random tricks and how
they affect your business overall?
To any person who says a magician shouldn't perform for random
strangers because they feel it's giving away what we get paid to do, I
would say you are in this business for all the wrong reasons. I perform
for strangers because I love rhe feeling it gives me and the emotion
and memory it leaves them with. I have gotten hundreds of paid gigs
because of random performances I gave to complete strangers. You
can argue that you should never do a free show because it only leads
ro more free shows, you can argue that you shouldn't offer a free
night of magic to a restaurant because it rakes away the value of our
work but these are personal business decisions for each performer to
make on their own. There is no right or wrong here. You should do
what works for you and gets you bookings.

What would you tell someone who fights their own case of stage
fright? How can they get over any jitters they have and get busy
perfonning?
The most important thing is to know your material so well char you
don't have to think about the moves, actions or presentation as you're
performing. A lot of nerves come from the uncertainty of your
material. Secondly approach your spectators as a genuinely nice
person and a friend first and as a magician second. Introduce yourself
and ask them about themselves before performing anything. Be
friendly and sincere in your conversation and tty to truly get to know
this person or group. Then use your nervousness to your advamage

112
while performing. Tty and take that energy and turn it into a
positive.

I used to be very honest with people and tell them straight out that I
was a bit nervous. This would help me in the performance because it
let them know I was human and they were experiencing something
new and unrested so ifI made a mi rake it was OK. I still ger nervous
when approaching a stranger but I have learned to take those nerves
and use them as a po itive energy tha t beners my performance. The
more you perform the b ner you will become at overcoming nerves
and using them to pre ent your audience with a heartfelt and
entertaining experien e that they will remember for the rest of their
life.

There are a few imple ui ks uch as raking a fow deep breaths before
walking up co a group or mentally running through your
performance carr co fini h before you approach. But at rhe end of the
day I believe 1c om down to just being yourself and approaching
du.: "'"'"'i<..n1 wich an easygoing arriruJ1.:. Wt: are n1agicians because
we like to perform, entertain and enlighten. So practice your material,
put on a smile and get out there and perform!

113
11 4
 Alan Rorrison

How did y ou get into what you do creatively?

I never really set out to be creative in the art. I mean , it was not a
conscious thing. I wa happy enough learning what others had
created. Trying ro perform chem and ttying to do it well. But the
shift for me came when I got busted using a gimmick during a
routine. At a young ag chat i. the end of the world for you. Later in
years you find that it's no big deal and usually leads to some awesome
comedy byplay. Bur at ch rime it was soul destroying. So I set out to
make up a method for rhe routine that used no gimmicks.

The routine was Gary Freed' NFW and I still use my un-
gimmicked/gaffcd method co this day. But I think that just gave me
rhe spark ro ny and make everything as good as it possibly could be.
TF ir needed a gimmick become rhe masrcr of rhar gi 111111 ick or :is
close as you can get. If it can be done without a gimmick and look
just as good, then do it. Just do nor create because you think it's
going to ger you famous. That's when bad effects hit the markct.
Create to make your own magic better. Then a few years down the
line, if you think its releasable, then try and do so.

Do you think that you would be able to teach what you do?
To say no would be rather arrogant. What I would say is this. I can't
comment on myself but l know a few people who are jusr stupidly
creative. Ir is just the way their brain is wired. lf they werc into
painting instead of magic, they would be a stupidly creative paintcr or
115
if they were into music, rhey would be a stunning musician. Some
people are just creative and I still have nor found a way to pass this
spark on to someone else. That's not to say it won't or will never
happen. I hope it does. The more creative people we have the better
place this world will be. 'l he kids today just need to understand it's a
process you can't rush. Learn rhe history. Respect those who came
before you and if it won't further the art., don't do it!

What inspires you?

A lot of things inspire me. T like to sketch and I'm a musician too. So
I think doing dther of those insp ires me. Or seeing someone else who
is rea ll y good at either of those do what they do pushes me more and
more and really inspires me. In saying that, I am a massive geek. I like
to learn anything I can about eve1yrhing. It is astounding how many

things outside of magic will inspire an idea or thought inside of magic

for me.

Wbat do you do to get into your creative zoner

Sometimes it just happens. I'll just want to be ab le to do something
and I suspect that's how it happens for a lot of people. Besides that,
music inspires me a lot. I love my music and there will seldom be a
time when I do not have headphones on. This always helps to get rhe
creativity flowing for some reason.

W1'at is your favorite accomplishment?

1 do not know. Thar's kind of like asking a father of three who his
favorite child is. Aside from magic it would be still being alive.

116
 Cancer should ha\e claimed me la r yc:ir bur all we can do i fight on.
Thankfully I'm winnincr and for me thar a big rhing. \X'irhin magic
I guess it would just be being known or r -p rc:d. I cry to pur our
only good stuff and do the right thing. and tha - Uy mo r p ople
notice thar. You will alway ger hater or p ·ople "ho wanr to cur you
down to push themselves up, bur if you keep moving forward and rry
to progress rhe art as best you can people will norice.

If you mean effect-wise, it would have ro be mok . Ir ha been

someth ing I've been working on for too long and rill am. Ir's
something rhat many have tried to rip oft~ lie about. real. ere. Thar's
when I figured out I had a winner. If someone i willing ro lie and
chea t to try and rake it from you, ir musr be wonh it. Ju r document
everything folks. It's what saved me!

Do you ever create hidden meanings or messages in your work?

All the time. Music is a big thing for me and I scatter that through
everything I do in magic. My effects will be named after songs that
rnspired me during rhc rime. for example, Bodies in Flight or eve n
band names lik<:: Thrice. I also have a Few other things I'm in volved in
that creep into magic from time to time. J usr look at my logo!

Do you enjoy sharing your work with others or do you prefer to go

unnoticed? Why?
I used to enjoy sharing my wo rk. It was nice seei ng something I had
created being useful to someo ne else. Kind of like a farher when their
kid docs well and you foel kind of proud. Recently however, I have

117
been sitting on more and more of my work. Sadly, times arc changing
and people don't respect rhe hard work that goes inro something any
more. Everything comes roo easy for them, which means they are
willing to let it go too easy as well. So I would rather keep somerhing
for myself and perform it rather than have it stolen, ripped off or
orherwise. It's a changing time and I can see more and more good
creators doing the same. Nor that l am saying I am any good. More
and more bad effects an: hitting rhe market ro try and flll the gap.
Sad times bm they caused it themselves.

Do you pay attention to others' strong reactions to your work?

Does that affect what you crea te?
Of course I notice if I get a strong reaction to what I do but 1
wouldn't say thar affects whac I create. Anything I create will always
be a means to an ends for me effect-wise. IF I ger a good, strong
reaction for it, I have just done that job right. So I wouldn't say it
affocts what I create. I'd say it affects how I create. Like, keep pushing
and make it the best you can. At the end of the day lam just happy if
I get a reaction at all.

Who do y ou define as a visionary?

Visiona1y, without a doubt: Wayne Dobson. He underswod magic
and what it was to be a performer. Also, Roy Walton. If I had never
met these men, I would nor be the performer I am today.

Ifyour creative work were ed ible, what would it taste like?

C h icken curry. It's a little spicy but to the point and hits hard, baby.

118
 Arvind Jayashankar

I am less of an inventor and more of a p norm r. Wh n I fosr rarred

magic, T surrounded myself with nurnerou boo · . lecture nore ,
magazines, DVDs and more. I srudied whacever I ould lay mr hands
on. I've never considered myself suprem Ir ream·e but r think
crearivity is somerhing that can be practiced and hon d.

for example, f ve been playing the violin for manr year Sin e f was a
litde kid. In rhe beginning, everything wa n w to m . The
rechnique, reading nores, finger placements, under randing "·hac
resulted in a good sound and what didn't, and also musi in aeneral.
We were taught simple exercises co practi ce bowing po rure,
fingering and more. As we progressed , rhis moved on ro ale and
implc melodies. Next came the songs and compositions. All of the
foundations gave me a very good overview on whar rhe insrrurnenr
and l were capable of. The same song can be played in numerou
different ways. You can play it using long bows, short and quick
bows, high tempo, low tempo, playing each note twice, changing
scales, and much more. There are also different ways ro achieve the
ame effect. Sooner or later you come to know what sounds good and
what doesn't.

And then, the more you srudy and the more you listen, rhc more
ideas build up inside you. You are ab le to put rogerher different
techniques and slowly start creating something unique. However, this

119
takes time. Unless you arc some kind of prodigy, normally this isn'r
something you develop overnighr.

But then how does rhis relate ro creativity in magic? Being crearive in
one field doesn't mean you are only capable of being creative in that
field alone. The ideas and ways of thinking you develop can be
applied in whatever you do. If you are a very good web designer, you
probably understand colors and layouts. You can tell by watching a
trick whether it's clumsy looking or smooth. If you're skilled at
cooking, you know the importance of timing and the sequence of
whar you do. If you're a good writer, you know what it takes to get
your point across with clarity and style. If you' re good at marketing,
you know how to draw in the attention of people watching or
observing.

The point is, always look around you. Be observant of your

surroundings. The world is a ve1y creative place. Surround yourself
with creativity and absorb whatever you can. Always keep looking for
ways you can apply your different passions or whatever you do imo
other areas. I think one of the best things about my magical journey
so far is that I've always been working aroLmd so many creative
people. Think about what's better - being on a little island and trying
to come up with unique designs and ideas to build a skyscraper, or
wandering around a ciry like New York or Hong Kong and simply
observing eve1ything around?

120
This comes back to my point of pracrice and honing. Be pas ionare
abour different rhings a ide from magic. Look for way you can injecr
what inrerests you into your performance . As long as you have a
good base and are consrandy learning new rhings, you will
automatically start to srep beyond rhe boundaries and srarr exploring
and creating somethin g new.

121
122
 Brad Christian

To me, creaciviry seem to be an e.· r ton o - lerring )'Our

imaginarion flow. Ger rid of rh boxe. around omcching. gee rid of
'- '-

your rhoughts about the way it "has ro" be or hould b . Try sev ral
differenr avenues for the sam e china exp rimem. · e a lac of "what
if" scenarios: Trick your mind imo !erring go of ic narural
boundaries.

If you can, try to mock up the thing you are thinking of o rou an
see it, feel it, play with it. Even doing thac may take you into a
different approach than the one you srarced wich.

Mostly, don 't be afraid to fail. Counreract the fear of fail ure by celling
yourself how many times the grears failed before they ame up \ ith
che ve1y th ing char made them great. Failing is a part of the ucce
process. You have to put a certain number of failures into che m ix in
order to ensure success. They' re like stairs. Every rime you fail it
creates anorher stair char you step on that gees you higher roward
your goal.

Lastly, remember that often creation involves a process of simply

letting go. You ny and ny and ny and get all wound up in a ball.
Your head is tight and knotted up. LET. GO. Go do something
different. It could be chat the tightness of nying so hard is keeping
the idea from coming through. Some of the best ideas come when

123
 you are on a walk by yourself. Movement allows flow. Don't be
bothered if you look hard for an idea and it just isn't there. Tr can
come in a second. That empty space can flll up in a bare moment.
Just wait. The idea is already sitting there; YOU just have to arrive at
it.

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 Dan Harlan

How did you choose your creative outlet?

Do you mean "magic," or "arr," or "writing, " or "cooking," or
"acting," or... I didn' t consciously choose any of my creative
endeavors. I simply love to do many creative things.

What inspires you?

Inspiration can come from anywhen; and anything at any time.
Really, l can't force it, predict it or define it. Early on, a lot of my
inspiration came from recreational mathematics because that's what I
was reading at the time. Then, I got into design and syrnbology, and
physics and psychology. There are so many fascinating aspects of our
wo rld that can inspire us when we allow them to.

How do you define creativity?

Creativity is our innate ability to play.

Do you believe that each person has the capacity to be creative?

Why?
Yes, as I mentioned in my definition, it is an innate ability. As
children, we engage in creative thought as we encounter everything
for the first time. Eventually, the rules of society constrain our
thinking by replacing our need for creativity with an ordered system.
However, our desire for play remains intact and it the role of creative
arrists to provide us with new and interesting optio ns for expressing
this desire.
125
How did you find your creative niche?
I followed my own desire for interesting expressions.

Mo or what experiences have inspired your work?

Everyone and everything. Sounds glib, perhaps, but it is the truth.

Have you always wanted to do what you are doing? If not, what
made you decide to start?
I have been quite fortunate that I have been able to do what I love.
There have been ve1y few times when I was required to temporarily
squelch my spirit and conform, but given the choice I always chose
the path less traveled.

Does spirituality and culture play a role in your creativity?

Explain.
Yes. As I mentioned, everything influences my process. In my work,
you will flnd references to life, death, love, happiness, sadness,
loneliness, family, etc. Typically, 1 prefer these universal themes to

remain subtle, but occasionally I'll write a piece that overtly deals
with an issue.

How important is education to your creative process?

Unfortunately, standard educational models encourage a rote
memorization and regurgitation of facts. My education involved
hours of research outside school investigating concepts, theories, and
experiments which would give the facts some much needed context,

126
as well as opening up parhways of explorarion rhar would reveal
unexpected connecrions. In other words, play. r highly recommend
supplemen tal, individual srudies to anyone wishing to have a
rhorough education.

How do you deal with creativity blocks?

l dig in my "BrainBox" - it's an index card file in which I've wrirren
down and categorized every fleeting idea rhar I feel mighr have a
fu ture, so rhat later (like when I'm stuck) I can take the time ro
develop the ideas. It's the most basic tool that any creative per on
hould employ: "Wri te it down ." I also have plastic bags filled wirh
prototypes that I work on from ti me to rime.

What part ofyou do you share in your creative endeavors?

W hichever part fits fo r rh e rask at hand.

Have you had to overcome obstacles (physical finan cial, social,

etc.) in your creative world? Explain.
I am of average imelligence, from an average family wirh average
fi nancial means an d social starus. Yes, I've overcome obstacles by
making the most of wharever I have. l don'r rhink I've ever
rriumphcd over adversity, nor have l been given a free ride. Whar I
have, I have earned . I co nsider myself for runate.

127
Do you believe that it is important to be accepted by others as
being creative or is just doing what you love to do enough to justify
your work? Explain.
For me, the accc..:ptance of others is such an important gauge of the
quality of my work chat I can't imagine being without it. Pc..:rhaps if I
lived isolated on a tiny island, relying on my ingenuity for my
survival, 1 wouldn't care what anyone else thought, as long as I lived.
However, since T offc..:r my creations as viable solutions for a group of
discerning individuals, I believe it is my responsibility to listen to
their feedback. Now, that doesn't mean that I will base what I do on
isolated commenta1y. Not even close. I still have my own opinion
(based on a wealth of knowledge and experience) to guide me, but it
is important to me that my success can be measured by the
satisfaction of others.

128
The following is an excerpt from ''More Than Meets the Eye" by
Dan Harlan:
Creativity resists stru ture · Ir need openne m d room ro mo~

freely from concept w concept. It is chaoti md unpredictable. If you

arrive at a foregone conclusion, ending up where you decided to go,
then you are not being creative. Creacivicy is a journey with 110 map,
no destination, no agenda, no schedule, and no expectations. Jusr hop
in your car and go. Beerer yet, walk, or ride a horse, or a mororcycle,
or a bicycle, or fly a plane, or hot air balloon.

The balloon is probably besr since you have chc:: lc::asc conrrol and you
just have to rake the scene1y as it comes. Your mind is now open and
di rectionless, filled with unrelated ideas with no structure. This i
grear! This is inspirational! This is a big waste of time!

T here is a problem with pure creativity. othing ever gets done. You
ca n create in your unlimited imagination forever, bur what then? If
yo u tty to present an audience with your wand ring mental processes,
what will they think? It will make:: no sense. You must rake che resulrs
from your journey (snapshots, if you will) and put them in a
structured order into your scrapbook, so it all makes en e. Throw
our rhe boring ones, or the bluny ones, or the poorly developed ones.
Keep only those images that upporr your central theme. The reason
most vacation pictures arc boring is be ause there is no interesting
rheme, except "Look how much fun we had while you were here
working your butt off."

129
Enrertainment comes in various forms to suit a variety of tastes and
interests. Treat your performance as a piece of music, or a painting,
or a sporting event, or a book, or a meal. Some people prefer pork, or
poetry, or pole vaulting, or Picasso, or punk rock. Some don't. No
matrer what though, everything has its own style and an audience
which values it. Do you have your own style? Everyone does, but is it
the one you want your audience to see? The best way to develop your
style is through your script. The words , actions, emotions, and
expressions you use comprise your script, whether you have written it
down or not.

This is a performance, after all. It is theater. You are acting. You have
an audience. Even if you are doing a pocket trick for a friend, you
have the same opponunities and responsibilities as the performer in a
Grand Srage Musical Spectacular Extravaganza televised to millions.
You both can succeed or fail based on your interpretation of your
script. I suggest that you study what you can about the theater and
how plays, movies, or television shows are put together. I prefer to
study live theater since that is mainly what we do and it is the basis of
all other performances. Ir has a long and fascinating history. You may
choose to read about its history, or study a few scripts from the
libra1y to see how they are written, or better yet, you may join an
amateur theatrical group for some firsthand experience. There are
many capacities in which to work, both on stage and off, but you will
learn more than you ever thought possible no matter whether you're
in front of the lights or behind them.

130
 Daniel Madison

.Fishing/or Creativit;1

I believe that although creativity is in us all ome of u have easier

access to it. For the lt:sser creative amongst u , it is nor rhat it i
uneasy to access; ir is more thar ir is uneasy ro undersrand how to do
so. I believe that anybody can decide at any momenr ro be creative
without it being forced, but this relies on rhe individual knowing how
creativity works, and the key poim is rhar one doe nor have to force
or at rimes barely <::ven rry.

I can't think of many things more unsatisfying rhan fishing bur

nonetheless I will use it as an analogy. A man does nor jump imo the
water and swim afrer rhe fish , he doe nor try ro catch the fl h.
Instead, he uses a technique that means the fi h will come ro him. All
he has to do is relax and wait for th e bite. Without the line h is just a
man by water. W e can always be that man by rhe water as we re
always a second away from creativity - we ju t have to under rand
how ro drop that line in to initiate the session.

There is a fine line between fishing and sirring by rhe water like an
idiot. Certain places will evoke yo ur creativity more than other . The
more comfortable and settled you are in one area, rh e more closed
your mind will be, as it does nor need to register or even be aware of
the known surroundings, therefore it becomes more closed. Being in

131
new places oucside of your comfort zone forces your mind to open up
more and rake everything in. Putting yourself in situations like this
means that you can cake advantage of the way your mind is working,
so when you begin rn think of new plors or effects, you have a secure
line into a potentially solid creative flow; your mind is open, more
aware than usual and ve1y susceptible to new things.

T don't think it's fair or right to suggest that there is a format or a

model co creativity - chere are no rules an<l barely any structure. If
you're a card worker, you'll naturally think easier with cards as the
subject. I never sit down to create as I have learned from experience
that, although I know I can create when I need to , I have found that
the best and most powerful ideas have always found their way to
me. This is because I am always open to ideas. I am not always
looking or thinking but I have just found a way to secure that line so
that I am always that man sitting by the water, and that line is always
there.

It's not an easy lesson for me to tell you how to create, or even offer
advice. You won't think the same as l do and I don't think the same
way that you do. Nobody can tell you how you work best. It is
something that you will discover through trials and experimentation
and it is one of the greatest things about what we do. I stay away
from magic books and DVDs and barely spend time with magicians,
as I do what I can to protecc or manipulate the way that I am
influenced. It is the outside world and the spectators that dictate how

132
 powerful my ideas are. I don 'r wanr rhar ro be rhe main poinr of these
words, so I will end horr on one point rhar T always live by.

Magic is dead. It is for you ro convince your audience orhenvi e, no

matter how big of an idea you wanr co find. Don 'r hum. Go fishing.

I)

133
134
 David Regal

W1.Jen and how did you discover that y ou were a creative personi'
I think we arc all creative, as I think ic i part of our nature a~ human
beings. However, in some it may be nurtured or valued more, or
rhere might exist a greater or lesser compul ion to express oneself.
From a ve1y young age I've wanted to express myself in a way rhat
stimulates happiness and laughrer, possibly as a reacrion to rhe
disharmony wiLhin my fumily.

How do y ou get your inspirations?

Inspirarion is a lovely thing, and we have all been inspired at various
times and in various ways. A professional doe nor wait for
inspirarion , however, as it generally is not a luxury - he is proficient
in a craft, and when inspiration hits, it's a god end. Thar aid, very
often seeing a great performance will inspire me ro rea h and do
berrer. Conversely, I might see a performance that feels incomplet in
some way and I'll try to understand what I sense is lacking, and then
go about seeing ifl can take things in another dirccrion.

W'hy did you choose this medium (magic) for expressing your
creativity?
I have always loved magic, perhaps because, done well, it is a
remarkably cfflcienc way of delivering a peculiar cype of delight, one
that I associate with the purity of a baby on its back having its feer
tickled. It goes past any inte!lectualization , which is rare. In a very
pracrical way, roo, magic has accepted me. In other areas of work l
135
deal wich caprice and rejeccion as part of my regular routine (as do
many), so the gratification I receive from magic becomes a great

balm.

Does your creative work come easily or do you struggle with your
ideasf What obstacles (if any) do you experience when you are
creatingf If you do face obstacles, how do you get past them?
"Struggle" is an odd word, as it is something that often occurs but it
has a negative connotation, which is simply wrong. The "struggle" is
simply part of che process, and , co me, often rhe most enjoyable part.
Yes , ic's a good feeling if and when the struggle bears fruit, and that
feeling is one I seek, but the truth of the matter is the end of the
process simply makes me want to begin another process. I find it's
helpful to have more than one idea at hand, so if l feel stuck on one
thing I can work on something else for a while. In some odd way the
brain keeps working even when we tell it to stop, and, at a moment
of relaxation - perhaps in the shower - it taps us on the shoulder (if a
brain can indeed do chat) and says "Here."

Please describe how you feel when you are creating something.
Useful.

Do you always like the end result ofyour t:reative process?

The urge to like the result of my labor is strong, so I find I need to
wait many days in order to have greater objectivity. Some things end
up being simply not good enough, and that's fine . The danger is in
losing perspective - if that is lost all is lost.

136
 ls there a creative work of another person that i.s your favorite? If
there is, please describe it. W1ry is it your favorite?
I am a fan of so many! 1 cerrainly do nor have a favorite effect, in rhe
same way I do nor have a favorite song. Why should l have one? I
love rhe music of Gershwin and Lennon/McCartney equally. One
can appreciate different things about different effe r . I love the
classic method for Card ro Waller because of the dichotomy between
the down-to-earth logistics and the resulting astonishment; I love the
method for Hiroshi Kondo 's Zig Zag Cigarette for its elegant
brilliance. Similarly, different performers of magic - just like good
singers - bring completely different qualities to their work.

What person (living or dead) would you like to spend a day with?
W1.Jyf
I'd like to meet Al Baker, as the breadth of hi magic was so ' ide,
and his magic, through a lucky fluke, wa some of che fir. r I wa
exposed to when I starred seriously reading magic book . For rhar
reason, he's something of a magical hero to me.

W1.lat would you most like to be remembered for?

lr would be nice ifI was remembered as a conrriburor ro magic.

137
138
 John Guastaferro

The Discipline of Creativity

I can'r remember a rime I've ever sar down and aid, "Okay, today I'm
going to be creative." Ir's something that come about, often at
unexpected momenrs, spawned by ourside triggers and bur ts of
insighc. I agree wirh Jay Sankey's commcnr that "crea tivity 1s
something that happens more than somethin g we actually do."

So, can we force creativity? or cxacrly, but I believe we can make

ourselves more attuned to opportunities rhat expand our thinking. By
definition, creativity is aligned with fostering ideas thar are new and
different. Yer, one of the strongest ways to get there is to study old
ideas and be as knowledgeable as possible with the idea of others.
Use the insight gained from reading books and sessioning with ocher
magicians as a launching pa<l to explore even further. Ironically, the
freedom of creariviry requires the discipline of stud y, re earch and
exploration.

ln my book Discoveries & Deceptions, I ralk about the importance of

being constantly curious. This involves deep inreresr beyond our magic
library, and being open to learning opportunities that occur every day
in the world around us. T make it a point ro write down something
new I've learned every day. It co uld he something I hear in a
conversation, see on a billboard, read on a Twitter feed or discover in

139
any number of orher sources. Try ir. Download an app that allows
daily cnrries and make the commitment ro write down ar least one
new thing you've learned each day.

Be a sponge to ideas that occur both inside and outside your interest
in magic. This helps provide fenile ground to discover new ideas. By
rhe way, these new ideas need not be as grandiose as medical
breakduoughs or archaeological finds. New ideas can come from
combining concepts in different ways, applying an unlikely premise
to a classic effect, or maximizing the inherent qualities of an everyday
item. Often rimes, a simple shift in thinking can lead to massive
impact, an approach I talk abour in my book One Degree. Lee's rake a
look ar some examples.

Take my effect Lost & Found (from One Degree) , where a card
vanishes and reappears inside a clear plastic sleeve. The effect was
born out of previous knowledge of Roy Walton's effect Jefferson's
Jest (and related effects by Steve Hamilton and Peter Duffie). All
these effects focused on vanishing a card from a clear sleeve, and 1 set
our to discover a way to make the card reappear back inside. Using
the natural friction of the plastic sleeve next to a playing card made
this illusion possible.

My effect Truth In Advertising (also from One Degree) evolved by

adding a small change to my previous eHect Optical Opener. The
simple addition of an odd-backed card not only elevated the magic, it
led ro the advertising hook.

140
 I suppose another per onal example of crearivicy can be found in one
of my recem effccrs Mulri-Memal (from Discoveries & Deceptions).
Armed wirh years of exploring and performing an array of mulriple
selecrion-type rourines, I became inspired ro add newness nor in the
producrions themselves, but in rhe premise - in rhis case, one of
mindreading.

In one final example, my use of wine glas es in Vino Aces (from One
Degree) came about by trying to solve a problem; in this case, trying
ro make MacDonald's Aces more visible to a wider audience. While
rhe idea of using a wine gabler with playing cards dates back many
years, it's applicarion with MacDonald's Ace was new. This also led
to the crearive parter focused on rhe magic of roasting/clinking
glasses, etc.

Crearivity evolves out of the discipline of researching, que rioning,

seeking opportuniries, solving a problem, applying pre\'ious
knowledge or striving to make your magic more per anal . Thi i a
great start for anyone wanting to be more creative. Do you always
srrike gold? Hardly not. Bur the process of explorarion is worrh it.

Finally, don ' t ler Jong periods of crearive block dercr you. Take
enjoymenr in jorring down new learning every day pecially rhing
that come from so urces outside of magic. I think you'll find your
magic becoming srronger in unexpected ways.

141
142
 Marc Spelmann

I have always been classified a a crearor and perfor b

. . mer Y my peers
w1th111 the magic industry. I srarred our c · . .
penormmg a an enrhu la! nc
kid, always fascinated wirh special FX and magi' . . 1
c pnnc1p c . I was
al~ays dreaming up ways of creating ghostly apparitions , moving
objects and oddities that would baffie the adult aro
d 1
un me. was an
unconvenrional child and am now an unconvenrional adult.

I had a built-in brain for magic as a child, I was not well read, in rhar
I didn't own any magic books or have anyone in m y family with an
association ro show biz, lcr alone magic. Yer I was always baffled ar
the reactions of my family when a magician was on television. For
whatever reason I simply knew how things worked, what rhe
magician was doing and in most cases could replicate the close-up
pieces. I vividly remember watching David Copperfield's Vanishing
Srarue of Liberty and knowing the exact method. The same with hi
Death Saw illusion, Timothy Wcnk's Misled (pencil through bank
note) and countless other illusions and close-up demonstra tions. I ay
that with the upmost respect of those outstanding, beauriful piece of
magic, which have inspired me greatly. I don' t really know why or
how, but I just knew what was happening. I think in some ways you
need to think outside of the box and have a topological brain.

The reason I am writing this , is to emphasize a imple facr: or all

brains work the same. If they did, we would all play the piano and be

143
scholars. The fact is we all see things diFferently, are inspired by
different things and, to be more specific in relation to our topic, our
creativiry will be born from different things. I can only relay what
works for me and the process diat I go through to create. For ease of
reading and reference I will categorize them below. You may flnd
some of these works for you or you do them already. They arc not
rocket science but jusL the various ways I get creative.

Your environment
Creativity can come at any time, you could be sitting on the beach,
stuck in traffic or in the gym pushing weights and an idea just pops in
your head. For me this is how most of my creative ideas happen.
Something just clicks and an idea is born; sometimes leading to a full-
fledged effect I use, or other times ending up as an idea that is written
in my notebooks.

But what about when we have to be creative, we have a show that

needs that great ending, rhe quick dynamic opener, a script for that
PK effect or our close up set needs something new? Eve1yone will be
different as stated before but my personal preference is a good coffee
shop, comfy sofa, my iPad or a notebook with some inspirational,
lifting music. I am essentially taking myself away from regular
distractions in my life. I'm away from my office with just some music
to take me somewhere and my mind. Whatever you need to do to
feel comfortable and prepared, do it. You wouldn't go to the gym in
boots and a fur coat, you prepare yourself and the same should apply
to creating. Get in the zone in whatever way you m:cd - music,

144
 solirud ' rnavbe
, daydreaming
, o r re1axmg
. Ill the rnb with some

inspiracional mu i -. Ir doe n'r matter wl1ar h ow or where. ] u t give

yourself some pace to go inwards.

Just write something

This is something I learnt from a dear friend many, ,year ago . Rath er
than stare at a blank page it is beuer co write everything down, even if
it is something you know will he crapped. Just write it down. I do
this with everything - scripts, routines, method , pro edure , ere. l
just write and write; inevitably most of it will be changed, rewritten
or scrapped bur sometime the hardest thing to do with anything is co

actually start. Don't worry if it doesn't make sense, seems ourlandish ,

unachievable or silly. Just write it down and it may inspire and lead
to something else or at the very wor t just be erased. When I created
Transmission from Chapter One of my DVD set (The Chapters of
Marc Spefmann by Alakazam Magic) , it came to life by my wanting a
drawing duplication set that was totally impromptu, no devices ,
gimmicks, ere. I wanted something I could do anywhere at any time
as long as there were papc;r and pens.

I listed my requirements and then wem through every method in my

mind. It rook a while, but once I hit on the method I was so inspired.
J love chat routine and so have many ochers including my friend
Banachek, who put it in Psychological Subtleties Three.

145
Write and walk away
Somerimc.:s when we get sm ck, we come to what marathon runners
cal l "rhe wall.'' Ir is quire literally the most frustrating rhing. My
advice is walk away, go to the gym, go to the cinema and just get
away from what you are nying to do. Frustration leads to anger,
anger clouds the mind and forcing ideas is not enjoyable and often a
waste of time. It is far berrer ro take a breather, have some fun and
come back after a day or two.

I have a newspaper prediction which had to be solo operational, in

thar I couldn't use assistants. It had to be straight forward and direct.
I read everything I could, including old manuscripts, books and
notes, but it just wouldn't click. I walked away and literally forgot
about it for six months and then one day it just fell into place. The
effect was born in 2002; it then lead onto my Prize Draw routine.

Which comes first?

I always hear this debate from colleagues and associates: "Do you think
of the routines first and then decide on the method or do you have a
method that then Leads onto a routine?"

This is a very good question, but it has no answer as both apply in

equal measure. Most of rhe time I dream up a routine or effect that
I'd like to be able ro achieve. I rhen continue into finding a suitable
method or methods , but I can at rimes discover a method or
technique rhat is amazing. With the latter scc.:nario I find myself
searching for a place to use this method, applying it to a romine. This

146
 is no bad thing, as to be honest, how we.; get to the finishing post is
unimportant as long as we get there. If it's a routine then method or
method turning inro a routine, who care ? ometimes a method will
spark creativiry, thought and po ibilirie , which will onl y assist in
helping us develop more individually.

If it ain't broke don'tfix it.

I think this is by far the most ridiculous statement ever made - most
likely by some lazy person who had no vision. If we didn ' t develop ,
advance and progress, we'd srill be . itting in candlelight and cooking
on a log fire. Always analyze everything you do and by all means fix,
even if the old version works. Sometimes we need to move forward,
try a new approach, method or device. Anything that gets our brain
ticking is a good thing. Sure it won't always be relevant or required
with certain effects bur to be honest, T cannot think of a routine that
I haven't fixed or adjusted. Even when it was getting the reactions I
wan red.

Those are a few paragraphs that may help with creativity and
development. It may just be a section you skipped, which means you
won' t have read this bit either. Regardless, I wi h you the very be r
with whatever you do, create, invent or develop.

Marc Spelrnann
London
March 8 h 2013, 1.41 a.m.
1

147
148
 Peter McKinnon

Creativity: Are we born wirh it~. I s It. a g1"fr~. I s It. something rhar we
can be taughr, learn to harness and comroP Or i ir h"
. . · omer mg
emirely different? Perhaps crearivity is a s am Ma b · ' ·
· ·
1·
y e 1r s JU t a me
used in adverrising or marketing of products, something to help sell
someone or an objecr. "From rhe crearive mind of... " "A creative
collaboration berween ... "

"I love you" comes to mind. Those are word rhat are widely and
loosely, in my opinion, used. Creativity, being a word used to
describe an individual or proces , I feel, is a word thar is also used on
a loose basis. I rhink being creative and being clever are rwo entirely
different things. Somerimes, things can be misinterpreted or targeted
as being creative, when in fact they are merely clever.

"It's clever how you managed to hide that playing card." '1t's clever how
you thought about using a double backer instead of a double facer. "
Creativity is a process. Creativity is the vehicle you ride to get you to
the destination of an end result. I foel like in this day and age, the
term is so loosely thrown about to help boost one's image. Where
that may ve1y well apply in some cases, it most certainly does nor

apply to all.

I am originally a photographer. I used to shoot a lot of portraits

weddings, stock, corporate, fashion, you name it. I learned a lot about

149
 whar is clever and what is creative when taking and post-processing
my photos. I think when I look back at some of my photos, the entire
process of how the scene was lit, shot, dreamed, etc., was creative.
Where in some instances I look back and think, "That was a clever use
of that light stand." Ironically enough, I just did an interview segment
for a local TV station on my photography endeavours and I was
asked rhis very same question: "How do you take creative portraits?"
My answer applies to that of the magical realm as well, which we will
touch base on shordy.

I am blessed with being friends with many of the industry's leading

minds, performers and thinkers today. I've spent countless nights
fighting exhaustion sining with Michael Weber in a bar in Blackpool,
England; jamming out fresh concepts in Las Vegas with Calen
Morrelli on how to make rhe most insane gaff deck of cards; spending
rime with underground anists such as a gentleman by rhe name
of SHADE, witnessing concepts and ideas come to life from
absolutely nothing. These things happen to us when we are nor
forcing them. Thar is my honest opinion. I think there are physical
things humans can practice and, with repetition, they enhance and
improve. I think creativity is a gift that with rime, comes to you in
many different forms, some more than others.

"Think outside the box." I HATE this line, and I love it at the same
time. Thinking outside the box is great, we NEED to do it. Breaking
patterns, wandering astray from the daily normalities, breaking the
rules - these things help us rake chances. When we do this and
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explore, we are mad wirne s to new possibilities and paths we would
have never been able to see or experience otherwise. However, where
creativity interjects for me, i when you take that statement and turn
ir on itself. Think I lDE the box, because everyone is too busy
nying to think OUT IDE of ir. I like to see what way people are
going, and go the opposite. I do chis in almo t everything I do. I
think it's when you decide ro be different and original , and rake
chances, creativity comes over you naturally. Ir is all about realizing
that moment of potential when it is upon you, and what you do with
it when it's there.

So do I think creativity can b practiced? Yes and no. Do I think

people arc naturall y creative? Yes, they can be. Can creativity be
taught? I think you can guide someone in the direction of thinking

differently.

p:m

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