SOME WHILE AGO I PUBLISHED in this blog an idea of Jack Avis whereby a stranger card with a large indice but matching back was introduced into a normal deck. The matching normal card was forced and shuffled back in the pack, the cards were fanned and shown to a second spectator with the request “Please [...]

Posted on April 2nd, 2008 by John
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APPEARED IN A SHOW RECENTLY with busy professional Richard Pinner who’s always coming up with interesting and different presentations for standard effects. And in this show he had a winner with an invisible deck routine.
The normal score is to throw an invisible deck out into the audience and kid them into choosing any card then throwing [...]

Posted on March 29th, 2008 by John
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MANY MAGICIANS AVOID or are apprehensive in using the classic card force but that master of performing subtlety Patrick Page once showed me a typical Page touch that smooths out that problem.
Patrick takes a pack of cards out of their case and hands the case to the spectator to hold. He will always hold it in the [...]

Posted on March 27th, 2008 by John
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GOOD FRIEND LEWIS JONES emailed me a wonderful adobe clip called “Card Castle”designed by a man in the U.S. called Lewis Simonoff via Jamy Ian Swiss.
This is I believe a demonstration clip of what is possible with a new Adobe creative programme and it involves the building of a castle beside a lake but all portrayed [...]

Posted on March 22nd, 2008 by John
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I KNEW JACK AVIS FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS. Ten years after I first met him I married his sister and whilst we didn’t discuss much magic whilst I was in business, for the first ten years of my retirement and my return to magic we met every week, sometimes more, had holidays together and talked much [...]

Posted on March 16th, 2008 by John
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ALTHOUGH I WAS IN ADVERTISING and publicity all my life this was an obvious ploy for the close-up magician for increasing business, that was tipped to me that master of magic and marketing Martin Sanderson.
Question. Why do you have business cards printed? To give to people who enquire about your services. Wrong says Martin. And this [...]

Posted on March 13th, 2008 by John
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DAI VERNON was one of the greatest creative magicians of the last century who as a teenager could perform nearly everything in Erdnase. He was a master of brilliant sleights and moves that baffled magicians everywhere.
Yet whilst he was entertaining on a cruise ship which called at Acapulco he was asked by the staff captain [...]

Posted on March 12th, 2008 by John
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HERE’S A GREAT PIECE OF PUBLICITY MAGIC that I have used with great effect in heightening my awareness and getting bookings.
I have a publicity card, postcard size with my picture (portrait) on one side and action pics and details on the reverse. I cut one of the cards in half and on the face of [...]

Posted on March 11th, 2008 by John
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I’VE BELONGED to a few magic clubs in my time and lectured at many throughout the country and on the whole they’re very good. Friends meet, chat, have a drink, show the latest acquisition, go out for a curry and then home. It is the lifeblood of the UK magic community.
But I believe the real core of creativity [...]

Posted on March 5th, 2008 by John
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No, this is not a cookery recipe for a new style Cornish Pasty but a brilliant idea from my late, good friend Jack Avis which can transform an Okito Box routine into a smooth presentation.
Any Okito or Boston Box routine requires the magician to replace the lid and at the same time secretly turn the box over. [...]

Posted on March 3rd, 2008 by John
Filed under: Magic Ideas, Magic Thoughts | 3 Comments »