Mark Leveridge Magic

A Wrinkle On - The Strolling Magician

ACES UNDER CONTROL from THE STROLLING MAGICIAN 

IAN HOWARTH

Ian has sent me a neat little extra idea to slip in at the end of Aces Under Control. You need to reveal the first 3 aces as normal. Then, when you get to the last ace, before you reveal it, you say 'Can you guess what the next card is?' When they say the ace, do a double lift showing an indifferent card saying 'No it's (whatever the card happens to be)'. You immediately flip the double face down again and then deal the 4th ace face down off the top of the pack onto the other face up aces and say (as you turn over the dealt card to real it is the last ace) 'Just kidding, it is really.' Ian says that he finds this gets a good reaction and it always gets a giggle when you initially show the indifferent card.

THE ACROBATIC COIN from THE STROLLING MAGICIAN 

Over to Martin who has an unusual idea for children's entertainers...

Although the Acrobatic Coin does not immediately stick out as being suitable for a magic show aimed at children, after a quick visit to your local Early Learning Centre to purchase a card game called 'Fours', you too, can include this novel routine.

You select an assistant and begin by asking the children if they would like to meet your friend 'Colin', and then proceed to proudly display a coin. You inform everyone that Colin is an acrobatic coin, and offer to show his acrobatic abilities. Just as in the original routine you flip the coin into the air with your bent thumb and catch it in your hand.

"Well done Colin, let's give him a round of applause". As you say this, you clap both hands together ignoring the fact that you have Colin between them!

The children inform you of your mistake which you correct by giving the coin the 'kiss of life' - simply blow your cheeks out and make a raspberry type noise as you breathe onto the coin.

Once the coin has been blindfolded within the handkerchief, your child assistant picks and displays a card, all of the cards then being replaced into the box as per the original instructions.

The coin can now be made invisible and you then, taking a few steps backs from your assistant, instruct him to throw the invisible coin at the card box. Great fun can be had as you pretend that he keeps missing and hitting you on the foot etc. For the climax of the trick, the coin is removed from on top of the selected card and the card displayed. You clap your hands with the coin between them as before and once again have to administer the 'kiss of life' to the coin.

BADGERED from THE STROLLING MAGICIAN 

JACK STEPHENS

Jack really liked BADGERED and wrote to me suggesting some variations, one to the handling, the other to the sayings on the badges. First to the handling alteration. Instead of having the two duplicate badges in the bag at the beginning, Jack prefers to have them in a pocket instead. In this way he does not have to fish around in the bag but can simply palm the first duplicate badge when needed and reach into the bag and apparently remove it at random to hand to a spectator as the prediction badge. Then he palms the other duplicate badge as
he is moving round the table and can secretly add that to the bag at the appropriate moment.

Jack also suggests that you can have badges made up which are appropriate for the occasion that you are performing at. If you have reasonably large badges you can fit quite a lot of text on them. Here are some
suggestions that Jack makes to give you the idea, although any book of one liner jokes should supply you with an almost endless stream of suitable jokes.

For a wedding Jack suggests badges saying things such as:-
"After our honeymoon I felt like a new man. She said she did too." "He went alone on his honeymoon. He didn’t believe in sleeping with a married woman." "In his entire life he never spoke as fast as when he proposed. He must have sensed it was his last chance to do any talking." "He took her for better or worse. She took him for everything." 

For a golf club function Jack offers: "I once missed a hole in one - by only five strokes." "My golf is improving. Yesterday I hit the ball in one."

For a group of people who you know really well, or who you feel would respond to slightly more offensive badges, Jack suggests the following:
"There are people who are liked wherever they go - he’s only liked whenever he goes." "She’s the sort of girl you want to take home to mother - when mother isn’t home." "While she’s waiting for the right man to come along she’s having a wonderful time with the wrong ones." "He thinks life is so unfair. So many women so little time." " He’s the principle reason why hotels have house detectives."

SPIN OUT from THE STROLLING MAGICIAN

BRUCE HETZLER

Bruce e-mailed me with a simple but I think really excellent way of using the method for finding a card used in Spin Out as a means of producing his business card. He has a business card set in the card case in the same way as you set it to produce a selected card, and when he is asked for his business card, he pulls out the deck. People tend to chuckle ("Can I have your card" "Yes, what would you like, 10S? 3C?") at the appearance of the pack, then you spin the case up in the air and you are left holding your business card at your fingertips which you can hand out. As Bruce says, not a world beating mystery in one way, but a novel and fairly dramatic way to instantly have your card appear for giving out.