Monday Mailbag #26

I’ve been reading your site since the beginning and one of the most interesting things about it is seeing your thoughts and theories develop over time. […]I was wondering if there’s something specific you’ve changed your mind about regarding magic. —DT

I bet there is a bunch of stuff. But here’s the first thing that came to mind…

If you had asked me five years ago, I would have told you that you should always try and do magic with items that are native to the environment. If you’re at work you should do something with post-its and staplers (for example, I mean, not necessarily those items). If you’re at a bar you should do something with a bar glass and a maraschino cherry. If you’re at a coffee shop, do it with sugar packets and stir sticks. That sort of thing.

My feelings on this have evolved somewhat.

I perform a lot in coffee shops, for instance. So it’s great to have material that uses napkins, spoons, coffee cups, loyalty cards, and those sorts of things. But it’s only worth doing effects with those materials if the effects are brief. The whole purpose of using native objects is so the magic feels unplanned. If you go into a four phase cups and balls routine with coffee cups and crumpled sugar packets for balls and a stir stick for a wand and balled up napkins for the final load, then I think you’re missing the point.

I started feeling this way in a performance last year. I don’t really remember the trick, but I remember asking for a few different specific items from around the cafe that I was performing in. Something about it just felt wrong to me. It felt like planned casualness.

So I just try and go with things that feel natural.

• It feels natural to do something quick with something that’s laying around.

• It feels natural to say, “You want to see a trick? Hmm… okay. Let me grab a sugar packet and try something.”

• It feels natural to say, “You want to see a trick? Okay, grab any four random items from around the room.”

• It feels natural to bring stuff from home if I have a specific trick/experience I want to share with the spectator.

But what doesn’t feel natural is to act like this is a spontaneous moment, and then gather a half dozen specific items to do a trick with. That’s something I didn’t recognize before because I was seduced by the idea of using “normal objects in their environment.” But if your goal is to create an atmosphere of spontaneity, you can’t do that with something obviously so well planned. You don’t look like a master of improvisation, you look like a guy who has been practicing at home with shit he got at Starbucks. It’s not a good look.

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David Regal owes you a drink. Interpreting Magic won the Tarbell Award over at your pal Steve’s “Cafe” for the best magic book of 2019. But I was following the voting from the beginning and your book had more votes early on in the contest than he ended up with at the end. If they hadn’t deleted all the votes for you, then you would have won. So I say you’re the unofficial winner of the Tarbell Award. —SO

Oh, I wouldn’t say that.

I’d say I’m the official winner of the award. And the Cafe agrees with me. Look, they didn’t delete those votes because they thought I wouldn’t win.

On years that I release a book, I suggest the Cafe rename its book award: The Second Placey. “And the Second Placey goes to…”

I’m not saying I would always win. I’m just saying the Cafe’s policy prevents any winner from knowing if they actually had the best magic book of the year. But they can be sure they have at least the second best book of the year.

I go into more detail on why the Cafe’s policy is actually beneficial to me in this post. The short version is just that I don’t gain anything from winning an award for a book that has been sold out for a long time. “Yes, but isn’t it nice to receive recognition for your work?” Not really. Once a year I ask the supporters of the site if they want to keep the site going another year. I only continue it if at least 90% sign up to support again. That’s enough for me as far as recognition goes.

Plus, I like Regal, so I’m happy he won. Congratulations, David, on your Second Placey!

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I added some crediting to the DAP Switch in last Thursday’s post.

Although I tried to make it clear, a couple people misunderstood the point of the GIFs on that post. Those were there to emphasize the actions of the switch to you, the reader. Not to show you what that moment looks like in context. In context there isn’t much to see (that’s kind of the point).

Here’s a story about using that switch in something that was not exactly a trick, but it still got a reaction that was very amusing to me.

Because I do a lot of my writing in public places, I befriend a lot of people who are in a similar situation. I think of these people like co-workers. Pre-Covid there was one particular woman I would see a lot at the coffee shop closest to my home. Usually if she came in while I was there or I came in while she was there, we would join each other for a minute or two, catch up for a bit, and maybe we’d continue to work at the same table or go off to separate tables.

One time I joined her at her table and, in the process of making some room, I used that move to switch out her AirPod case for a thing of dental floss (which I had been carrying around in my bag for this purpose). When she was getting ready to go she gathered up her stuff and went to put in her headphones. I expected her to notice it was dental floss and then immediately be like, “What the hell, give me my headphones back.” Instead, she turned over the case, had this weird look on her face, opened it, and then pulled out like two feet of dental floss and just stared at it for a moment. She went into this strange, confused, autopilot mode. I don’t know that she knew what she was doing. She just did what she normally does when she has dental floss in front of her, I guess. She didn’t go so far as to start flossing—that would have been amazing. But it was funny to watch her mind catch up with what was happening.

Sunday Art

I’m as dumb about art as I am about poetry, so my taste is similarly unrefined in both areas. My favorite artist is a guy named Mort Kunstler. He’s famous for his civil war paintings, which are great, but what I’m really into are the paintings he did for pulp magazines in the 50s and 60s. I find them inspirational, and I don’t mean that as a joke.

Here are a few of my favorites.

The Juxe: Favorite Newish Music - July 2020

Here is some of the stuff I’ve been digging recently.

Anaphylaxis by PUP (Toronto, Ontario)

There is a dearth of late-90s, early 2000s style pop-punk trash being released these days. PUP is probably at the top of the genre. This is their most recent single.

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The Forty-Ninth Parallel by Kacy & Clayton (Wood Mountain, Saskatchewan)

Kacy & Clayton are a folk-music duo, but this song leans heavy into country music territory. But not like some Miranda Lambert modern-country stuff. This sounds like country music from 50 years ago. I think. I don’t really know anything about country music.

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Ooh, La, La by Run the Jewels

I can’t stand much of the sleepy, sullen rap coming from young males these days. It’s women and old guys who are bringing the energy I like in the hip-hop game at the moment.

Run the Jewels, a couple 45-year old guys, bring it again on their newest album. This is the second single.

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Green Stone by Shadow Show (Detroit, Michigan)

Shadow Show is a three-piece from Detroit putting out some indie/garage/psychedelic music that is right in my wheelhouse. Their new album, Silhouettes, is all strong. My favorite song from it at the moment is this one…

Revisiting Practical Magic Week's Billet Post

Five years ago, I wrote about six benefits of creating business cards for some other entity (not yourself) and then using them in situations where you would either use your own business card or blank business card stock for billets/center tears or that sort of thing.

Here were those benefits again:

1. You're not destroying your own business card.

2. You're not carrying around a little pad of blank paper like a little fancy-boy.

3. It's a normal object that you would expect to find in a wallet.

4. If you use your business card or a blank card, then the idea of duplicates is inherent in the prop itself. You don't ever buy just one business card, or one piece of blank paper. These items only exist in multiples. So it's not difficult for a spectator to hazard a guess that there might be a switch involved. Alternatively, if you open your wallet, flip through some stuff, and toss out someone else's business card, this feels much more like it's the only one of these that can possibly be in play. Want to ramp up this singularity even more? Take a pen and write "4:00 Tues." in one of the corners on the business card. Do the same on a pre-folded duplicate. You can now switch these in and out and a duplicate will be so far away from people's thoughts.

5. They can be an unspoken status symbol. Remember, you can create a business card for anyone you like: someone prominent in your area, someone in the entertainment industry, someone in politics. You don't make a big deal about this. Let the other person mention it. For example, maybe I'm about to show someone a trick, I open my wallet looking for something for them to write on and toss Elon Musk's business card onto the table and say to myself, "yeah, I don't need this...." The other person might look at the card before or after the effect and ask why I have it. I'd just be like, "Oh, we were at the same event a couple weeks ago. He wants me to do his Christmas party this year. But that time of year is all about family for me. And as far as I'm concerned, fossil fuels are the future."

6. For me, this is the biggest benefit. Your business cards and blank pieces of paper are presentational dead ends. But you can create a business card to use in one effect that could lead the conversation in any direction you'd like it to go for a follow-up effect. You could have a business card for someone at the FBI, for a parapsychologist, for a futurist, for a casino CEO, for anybody. Why do you have this business card? You've been asked to consult, or give your input on a project, or they want to study you. Whatever, but it's all very fluid. If you're going to perform more than one effect in a casual situation then the transition has to be completely natural, and this gambit allows you to seamlessly flow into any other type of effect. 

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I’m bringing this post back up because I have a little gift for you from Myles Thornton. They’re a couple of fake business cards that you might consider using in your interactions with people. Here they are (larger files are available at the end of this post—you can just dump them on a business card printing site and have 500 cards for like $10)

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I don’t use them as a straightforward prop in a trick. I wouldn’t say, for example, “I met a psychic. Here’s her business card. Want to see something strange with this psychic’s business card?” That’s a little too pat for me. It’s a little too neat. It makes the business card feel like a prop in a trick instead of this thing that’s maybe legitimate that might just lead into something interesting.

Instead, I choose to use stuff like this indirectly.

For example, I’ll just use one of these cards like scrap paper. I just happen to need to have something written down for some other purpose (maybe a trick, maybe just to jot something down), and this is the first thing I find in my wallet to use. I don’t mention what it is. It’s just something to write on. Now, after that trick or demonstration is over, then they may notice what the card is, or I may point out what it is and steer the conversation in a direction based on the nature of the business card.

So maybe I turn the card over at the end and act as if I’m just now noticing what this card is. “Oh, god. This woman was a real kook.” Then I’ll tell some story of how I encountered her and ended up with her business card. Maybe there was some poorly organized magic convention I went to a couple months ago…

“And because it wasn’t clear what the purpose of the convention was, half the attendees were people with an interest in sleight-of-hand and that sort of thing. And the other half were a bunch of weirdo Wiccan chicks. This woman and I started talking during the lunch break. At first I thought she was fairly normal but the more she talked the more I realized she was a nutjob.

“She did show me one weird thing though… hmmm… maybe we can try it…”

Or you can act like you just stumble across the card in your wallet as you’re putting some money away and then you’re like, “Check this shit out,” and then you let the conversation roll into an explanation of why you have it, and let that seemingly inspire a demonstration of something. That will feel very natural, which is what you want in the moment. In retrospect the person might think, “Hey… was he setting me up for that?” But at that point, it doesn’t matter that much. The truth is, people don’t dislike feeling “set up” for something that was done for their own entertainment.

Often I’ll use fake business cards to plant a seed for a later performance. For example, with the exorcist’s card, if I showed that to someone or left it out to be seen on my desk at my workplace (if I had a desk, and had a workplace) someone would be bound to ask me why I have it. I’d keep it a little vague. “I met up with him because I had some questions about this thing I’m working on.” Then, at a later date, I can reintroduce the subject, “Remember that business card I had of that priest? Next time you come over, I have to show you this ring he let me take from his collection of… haunted objects, I guess? Or cursed objects. Or whatever the hell he calls them.” And now I’m setting up some future weird demonstration with some “old, creepy ring.”

This is such a simple technique, but I’ve found people really enjoy when you foreshadow something like this. It automatically sets your magic apart from what they’ve seen before. Most people, when they think of magic, think of something that has a definitive starting point, takes two minutes, and ends and it’s over and done with. To build up the effect with a little backstory is a fairly gentle way to capture people with a more immersive style of magic.

Here are the larger files. Thanks again to Myles for sharing them.

Exorcist

Psychic

Psychic UK

The Jerx DAP Switch

This tabled switch is something I use all the time. I assume it’s a standard move but if there’s someone who should be credited here, let me know. It’s definitely ideal for one-on-one social magic, so maybe it’s not in wide usage for those who perform outside of that situation. In the recent newsletter I mentioned I’d show it, so here it is

It can be used for pretty much anything. Cards, coins, bills, balled up napkins, business cards, rings, keys, cellphones, Sharpies. Really anything but matchboxes. NEVER USE IT WITH MATCHBOXES! Just kidding, you can use it with matchboxes, chapstick, silverware, condoms, receipts, whatever you can reasonably fit in your hand.

If you’re looking right at the switch, it will sometimes look perfect, sometimes it will look like there’s a little glitch in the matrix, and sometimes it will look bad. But that’s okay, it’s not meant to be done with someone burning the object. (Very few switches are.) It’s a move that happens in their periphery.

For now I’ll call this The Jerx DAP Switch. “Jerx” because putting the name of this site on it will encourage people who don’t like me to give me a proper credit for it if there is one. And DAP is an acronym for the method of the switch: Ditch And Present. [UPDATE: See end for a credit.]

The item to be switched in rests in your lap. At some point you pick it up with your left hand. If it’s small enough to palm, you can do so. Usually I’ll just hold the object in my hand and rest my index finger on the table.

The item to be switched is in your right hand. You are going to Ditch the object in your right hand and Present the object in your left hand, in the action of bringing your hands together. You must come up with a reason for putting the object from one hand to the other (either freeing up the right hand, or setting the object to the left).

Beyond having a motivation, the other important thing is to do it at a point in the routine when people aren’t burning the object. So you just watch their eyes and wait for them to look away from your hands. If they’re legitimately staring directly at the object, that’s a bad time to do any switch.

As far as the ditch goes, you can drop off the object as you swing your right hand in, or you can pull the object into your lap as you pull it off the table.

Here’s my friend demonstrating both techniques. First with a playing card and then with a condom

Now, to state what should be obvious, these are just demonstrations of the moment of the switch itself. But the switch isn’t done as a trick. (That is, it’s not like, “Watch this card change to this card!”) It’s done in service to another trick. In reality you wouldn’t set something down from where you just picked it up. You would take the item away with your left hand and set it aside. And you likely wouldn’t want to do such an overt change, as with the condom. You’d want to switch a gimmicked card or coin for a normal card or coin; one cased, shuffled deck for a cased, stacked deck; one regular condom for a condom of the same brand with a pin hole punched in it so you can get her pregnant and she’ll be forced to love you forever. That sort of thing.

[CREDIT: It looks like there are several similar things that have been written up in the past, as I expected. The earliest one I can find (but I would assume it predates even this as a basic concept) is Marlo’s Propelled Lapping which was written up in The New Jinx (thanks to EA for the credit).

You’ll find it more valuable if you think of it as more of a general concept than just as a card switch, however. Toss something in your lap with your right hand and bring out something similar looking with your left. Do this when they’re looking at your face and not your hands, and it does not matter what your technique is. Your hands can be six inches apart. If they spot movement and they look at your hands they will just assume the movement was you switching the item from one hand to the other.

But as I wrote about in the newsletter, this isn’t something you’d want to do right before or right after handing something out to be examined. And you wouldn’t want to do it right before or right after a magic moment. Try to come up with a timing where it happens on the offbeat.]

While We Were Out

So what’s happened the past 10 days?

Well, the new season of Fool Us started airing. Here’s the description of the first episode from TVGuide.com.

I didn’t see the episode, but I really hope these plucky, young “aspiring magicians” did well. But even if not, don’t give up! I have faith in you. Never stop aspiring to be a magician. I know it’s hard. Paul Gertner, for example, has been trying to be a magician for, like, 40 years. Everyone in his life is telling him to give it up and come back and work for the family cabinet-making business. But I think he should follow his dreams. Maybe one day he’ll get a break and finally be a real magician.

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A new trick was released where a deck of cards turns into a stack of money.

There was a concern by some, after looking at the demo, that people might notice the 90 degree corners on the cards or the space between the cards.

I sent an edited version of the demo along to the Virtual Focus Group to see if any of them brought up these issues themselves. Nobody (of the 14 people who responded) commented on the corners of the deck or any weirdness in the space between the cards. Four of them said the money didn’t look quite right. And almost all of them said they would only really be convinced of the trick if they could look at the money at the end. Of course, you can’t let them look at the money so this trick is useless in casual situations and probably unconvincing in a more formal setting.

Visually I think it’s an okay trick. I just don’t see anyone seeing it and saying, “He turned a deck of cards into money!” I see them saying, “He had what looked like a deck of cards and changed it into what looked like money.” That’s still somewhat interesting. But that’s the sort of thing that’s going to get you a “that’s clever” reaction rather than a reaction where people are truly awed.

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I don’t like to tease you too much with anything, but while we were away, I think I may have invented one of the greatest card tricks of all time.

It’s a prediction trick that uses a borrowed, shuffled (even incomplete) deck. You never touch the cards. And the spectator makes the prediction.

I need to try it out more to really get it in shape, but if it works like I imagine it will, I will release it in some form in the future.. And if it doesn’t work, I’ll still describe what I had in mind in a post here and you’ll understand why I’m excited about it.

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In the just-released July issue of the newsletter for supporters, I wrote:

“You could teach the dullest moron or a robot (or the offspring of those two things: Joshua Jay) to perform the Invisible Deck and it would still fool people.”

It took just 45 minutes before someone wrote me asking why I don’t like Joshua Jay.

So it’s time for my annual reminder that I actually do like Josh. I think he’s a great performer and teacher, and he’s always been a friend and supporter of my work, going back to the site I had in the early 2000s. In Josh I have the opportunity to talk shit about someone, which I enjoy doing, without that person getting all worked up about it.

So let me clarify again: I like Josh both personally and professionally. I’m a big fan of everything he does. He’s a good guy with a good sense of humor about himself. I have no ill-will towards him at all.

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Hey, speaking of that douchebag, Joshua Jay. Did you guys get that email from Vanishing Inc yesterday? What’s the deal with that picture? Is it an angle thing or…

It doesn’t look like Josh missed leg day. It looks like he missed leg year. What the hell. I realize gyms are closed due to Covid-19, but he couldn’t manage to pop out a few bodyweight squats in the past three months? Has he been walking on his hands everywhere? When you’re standing next to Andi Gladwin, of all people—proud cover-boy of niche porn magazine, “Pasty Weakling Weekly”—and he looks sturdier and more robust than you in the lower body, it’s time to take a good hard look in the mirror.

No, Josh. That’s not a mirror. That’s a box of Double Pops.