Alexander de Cova- California Lecture 2006

- 1 -Alexander de Cova California Lecture 2006


Copyright 2006 by Alexander de Cova and Magikraft Studios, Martin & Susanne Lewis.19340 Mission Ranch Road, Riverside, CA 92508. Alexander de Cova and Martin Lewisreserve all commercial manufacturing rights to the tricks and apparatus described inthese notes. Any transgression of those rights is not nice and will be prosecuted.

Printed in the U.S.A.Design & layout by Alexander de Cova

California Lecture

2006

Routines, ideas and tricksfor the magical performer seeking

easy but effective magic

Alexander de Cova


Contents

Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 4

The Premonition Concept ............................................................................................. 5

Tea Time ........................................................................................................................... 9

The Bavarian Beer Game ............................................................................................... 11

Groundhog Day ................................................................................................................ 15

De Covas Laws .............................................................................................................. 19

Porous Plastic ................................................................................................................... 22

Rosediction ....................................................................................................................... 25

Stab in the Dark ............................................................................................................. 29

Master Silks ..................................................................................................................... 32

Forte-X .............................................................................................................................. 36

Ring-o-Change ................................................................................................................ 42


Introduction

Allow me to introduce myself. I am born in Bavaria (Munich)and I live in Berlin,Germany at the moment. Magic has been my passion, joy, employment and relieffor the past three decades. It enabled me to travel extensively and meet new friendsall over the world.

This is my very first visit to the USA and I thought it would be a good idea to bringsome of my magic with me. Thanks to the patience of my friend Martin Lewis andhis wifes persistence and encouragement, I was offered the opportunity to visitCalifornia and present this lecture in the Lewis wonderful house. A big thank yougoes to Susanne and Martin Lewis for this.

You will find that most of my mterial is suitable for the stand-up performer. This isdue to the fact that in Europe there arent too much opportunities to workrestaurants, bars and other close-up situations. We have to deal with small stand-upshows, birthday parties, wedding parties, smaller theatres and cabarets, and thelike. Naturally, if you want to survive as a performer, you will have to adapt to thissituation and develop suitable material. Above all, the material must be direct andto the point, because the European audiences generally dont have too muchpatience with a magician...

My material is relatively simple, both in method and presentation. In my magic, Istrive for creating routines in the style of the late Ken Brooke, who is one of mymagical heroes. Maximum impact with a minimum effort for the performer. Also,my material packs small and I want it to play big. I fancy a visual approach, becauseI believe magic is an art that has to be seen to be appreciated.

Some of my philosophy on magic is stated in my 10 Laws of Magic in theselecture notes. Hope you have fun reading them. maybe they will inspire you or makeyou think.

Thank you for attending my lecture and giving me a good time, which you hopefullyhad as well. I sincerely hope you can use some of my ideas, only then the lecture hasfulfilled its initial purpose. Critics, questions and comments can be sent to myemail adress [email protected] or to Martin Lewis at [email protected].

Alexander de CovaRiverside, CA, March 2006


The Premonition Concept

What a super effect. A freely selected card is missing from a pack of cards that hasbeen in full view all the time! In the course of the years there have been countlessvariations and solutions to this problem. I personally started with the originalversion of Indias Eddie Joseph. I found his manuscript on the trick, published bythe Supreme Magic Company in England, many years ago and I still stick to theoriginal method.

Basically, the trick relies on the use of two packs of cards, which were cleverlyarranged, so that any named card would miss, e.g. the deck would consist of only 51cards, only the named card not being there. Unfortunately, there was a quitecomplicated calculation involved, and if you did a mistake on this during theperformance, the selected card appeared twice in the deck! Also, the calculationdistracted the energy and concentration from the performance.

The original method also required to have a third deck in a sort of index- fashionbeing carried on the performers body, the parts of it being distributed in variouspockets, so that you could produce the missing card from the pocket as a climax tothe effect.

In the course of the years, I found out that many spectators accused me of stealingthe card in some way out of the deck and smuggling it into my pocket, despite theclean handling. For me, in the course of the years the work centered on eliminatingthese two troubles, and the result of my humble efforts you will find here.

Effect:A deck of cards is on the table, along with a sealed envelope. Spectator names anycard, another any number from 1 t 52. The spectator removes the pack from itscase, takes it face-up into the hand and deals the cards one at a time onto the table.But the card doesnt appear on the chosen number! Instead, it is seen that the deckconsists only of 51 cardsthe chosen card missing!

The envelope is opened and a folded piece of paper extracted. It is unfolded andread aloud by another spectator. It reads: Dear Alexander! I knew you would becrazy enough to attempt this experiment this evening. Had you listened to me, thiswould have happened. I told you long ago that this experiment with the Seven ofHearts would fail if you attempt it at this time in the evening. Your friend XXX.


Method:As you can see in this outline, I use a different presentation for Premonition. Theeffect I am apparently trying to achieve is not the thought card missing, but anAny Card at Any Number type of effect. Before I start the routine, I place theenvelope in view, from which I state is was sent to me by that good magic friend.

You need two decks of cards that you have to arrange according to the cue sheetsshown here.

The decks consist of 26cards, which areduplicated. The cards aredetermined by a certaincalculation in the originalEddie Jospeh method. Inperformance, once thecard was named, you had todo that calculationmentally, to determinewhich pack, number one ornumber two, you had tobring forth, to bring thedesired effect.

As you will notice, fromone deck there is missingone the Ace of Spades(very prominent card) andfrom the other is missingone of the Ace of Hearts,giving you 51 in each deck.One deck is called DeckOne, the other one DeckTwo.

As said, I eliminated thecalculation, by using a very special prompter list. In the appendix you will findanother sheets with clock faces printed on. Print this out and cut out one of thecircles and stick it to the clock face of an old wristwatch. Alternatively you couldconsult a watchmaker and really have him replace the original clock face with thecutout circle, giving you a working watch. The working of this prompter list is easy:once the spectator has named his card, you look at the watch. Say he names theEight of Spades. IF there is the black eight on the clock face, you will have to usedeck number one (the same applies to the Eight of Clubs, which is a black seven as

Deck 1

Deck 2


well. Same holds true with the red cards. If he names for example the Two ofHearts (which is a red two), then you will have to use the deck number one. Notethat the clock face is designed to give you also theinformation which deck to use (there is Deck Onewritten on the clock face). The rule is: if you cansee the card on the clock face, use deck number one.If you cant see the card, obviously you will have touse deck number two. Thats all there is to it!

To motivate the glance at the watch, I use apresentation idea of Tommy Wonder. I tell thespectators that this experiment can only be done at acertain time in the day. To make sure to hit thecorrect time spot, I check the watch. I say: Ok,...wait a few seconds... NOW! Name any card now!Spectator does this. Then I point to another spectator: And you please named anynumber... now! This gives me the opportunity for a second, completely motivatedglance. In this moment I know which deck to producenumber one or numbertwo. It is as easy as that, requiring absolutely no mental calculation!

The spectator then takes the deck and deals through it face up, the chosen card notappearing. At the finish, everybody can see that the deck consists of only 51 cardswith the chosen card missing!

How to produce the decks of cardsNow we deal with the arrangement of the two decks of cards. In the originalmethod, the two decks were simply in the two outer jacket pockets. Joseph stronglyadvises to put rubber bands around the decksan advice I agree on. Then, whenknowing the identity of the card, bring forth the required deck. A simple,straightforward solution to it.

Or you can use the idea of having a champagne bucket on your table. Inside there isfor example a wooden cigar box, encircled with rubber bands, which holds decknumber one. Also in the bucket is a little cloth bag, which holds deck number two.At the beginning, you call attention to the bucket and that you will not come near itfrom then on. After you know which deck must be produced, simply instruct thespectator in this way: Please go to the champagne bucket over here. Reach in andremove the wooden cigar box. Open it and remove the deck of cards that has been inthere all the times. In the other case, you instruct him to remove the little clothbag.

The principle is that besides the assisting spectator, no one ever knows there isanother object inside the bucket, because you simply dont mention that fact. Even


the assisting spectator is fooled, because the other object might belong to anotherof your miracles. A simple emergency solution, that I have used many times andthat works well for an audience.

The most elegant solution is the special card box Iconstructed. Basically, this is a two-sided deck-switchingbox that shows one deck only. Depending on which side youopen it, it will produce deck one or two. The photos showthe construction and working of this little box. With this, thebox can be on the table and you can show it only containsone deck of cards. Then you close it and leave it on thetable. Depending what deck has to be produced, you opencompartment one or number two.

The prediction envelopeI use a fairly standard window envelope (which is describedin many classics on mentalism, i.e. Corindas 13 Steps toMentalism) and a nail writer to fill in the name of the card.A proved and practical method. You have ample of time,whilst the spectator is counting the cards and everybodywatching him, to fill in with the nail writer (just drawabbreviated symbols, when the Seven of Hearts is named,just draw a 7 and a heart). This is a good trick to practiceyour nail writing in front of an audience!

Well, that is what I developed over the years from the goodold Premonition effect. It has always been one of thestronger effects in my repertoire and we all have to thankEddie Joseph giving this gem to the fraternity. I hope youlike and use it!


Tea Time

The reason for describing this routine is above all to introduce you to the conceptof the switch involved. It utilizes one of the oldest principles used in magic: blackart. In effect, a folded card, bill, billet or in fact any other small flat object like asmall medallion or coin can be switched out in an undetectably and visual manner.The best thing is that the switch is really easy to do.

The PrincipleLet me explain a basic switch first along with the principle. You will need a smalltea sieve. Take a playing card, fold it into quarters and fix it onto a piece ofcardboard. Now using flat black spray-paint, spray the underside of the card black.Place this card into the tea sieve (I prefer to actually glue itthere) so that its corners lock into the mesh of the sieve.

The unsprayed side of the card should be visible when youhold the tea sieve in the way shown in the photo. What Idiscovered was that when you turn the tea sieve down, dueto the black art principle (and of course when you wearsomething dark or black), the card cant be seen anymore!This applies even to when you place the tea sieve onto adark surface.

The SwitchFor this, you need a duplicate (unprepared) folded card. Iassume you are using this in a routine with a signed card(Ambitious card or something else) where you do theMercury Card Fold to arrive in the position for the switch.

By the way: the best and (for me) most convincing Mercurycard Fold that really works without detection in realperformance, is that of the brilliant Texas Magician CodyFisher. Check out his handling of the Mercury card Fold (hecalls it the Mercury Sleeve Fold) on his upcoming DVD produced by MagikraftStudios. Its really great and in my opinion worth alone for the working performerthe price of the whole DVD !

I hold the tea sieve in my left hand and have the folded card in a finger palmposition in the right. Both hands are about waist height. Two actions now happen


simultaneously: the left hand turns the tea sieve, and theright hand opens at the same time, letting its palmed cardfall onto the table. In unison the illusion of the card comingfrom the tea sieve is perfect. In one fluent motion the lefthand places the tea sieve in a sort of face-down positiononto the mat. The pictures show the switch clearly.

A little thinking will open your eyes for all the possibilities.To get you started, I would like to describe a little routine,which was born in a late night session with the famousBraco from Berlin (who by the way is very fond of theswitch). Braco suggested (naturally) doing something withtea to motivate the tea sieve, so here is what I came up withto answer his challenge. Here is the effect:

The performer has a tea glass on the table. On top of theglass rests a tea sieve with a folded slip of paper and ateabag in it. A spectator chosen from a tea menu card onetea brand out of a dozen or so. The performer cleanly poursthe contents of the tea sieve onto the table. On the foldedslip of paper is written the spectators choice of tea!

Requirements:The tea sieve, a tea bag, folded slips of colored paper and atea menu card, which is actually the disguise for a billetindex (the indexed billets are in compartments at the backof the teat card). You can make the index as big as possible, but I think 24 differentbrands of tea are enough. The beauty of this index is that whilst the spectator islooking at the tea menu card, you are naturally looking at the back at the index! Adummy billet which is spray painted at the back is glued into the tea sieve and thetea bag placed on top of it. Thus you are ready for the performance.

Performance:Show the tea glass with the tea sieve and its contents. Then take the menu and let aspectator pick his choice. Due to the index behind it is an easy matter to pull theappropriate billet into the finger palm of either hand (its easy to learn the switchwith both hands, which makes for an easier handling of the index). Once you havethe billet ready for the switch, pick up the tea sieve and perform the switch exactlylike you did with the card. All done!


The Bavarian Beer Game

Yes - I AM a Bavarian (born in Munich) and I am proud of it. So naturally I centeredmy presentation around my home country. I dont consider myself a mentalist, but Ihave a strong interest in this branch of magic. Consequently, I am what you wouldcall lousy mentalist performer. Maybe this is the reason I like this effect, becauseactually I dont have to perform, the effect more or less performs itself. For me itis just a great, entertaining trick, that gives me the opportunity (not very often, butsometimes), to play my accordion within the presentation (in that case it is not theBavarian Beer Game, but the old Ballyhooed bar stunt, where I can play a fewIrish jigs and reels on my instrument).

The trick stems from Paul Curry and is (with a slightlydifferent presentation andworking of the method) described in his book Worlds Beyond.

Basically, it is self-working, means: if you have done one simple action, the rest isautomatic - you could leave the room! Best you read the Curry book, then you willbetter understand my changes...

In effect you give your audience the chance to win some money (always good). Youhand out a prediction envelope beforehand, which you never again touch. Sixglasses are on the table, along with cards with names in front of each glass. In oneof the glasses you pour beer. A willing helper collects from the others some money:a $20 bill, a $10, a $5 and a $1. YOU give a $100 bill into the pot.

The spectator may now freely distribute the bills into the remaining glasses. Oncehe is satisfied with the distribution, the game starts. Another spectator reads aloudyour instructions, and the other spectator acts according to them (glasses areswitched, given to you, etc.) The end of the game is this: YOU get all the money,and the spectator ALWAYS gets the beer! For kid shows you might consider usingsoda pop.

The trick is based on a mathematical principle, which I dont really understand(and I dont care as long as the trick works). In my eyes the Curry version smelledmoths, so I changed the presentation, as you will see. Now it looks better to me...

Requirements:6 glasses, beer, the bills (100, 20, 10, 5, 1), a wallet, a jumbo clothes peg and 12double blank cards. Besides that a printed (or written) letter containing theinstructions for the spectator inside an envelope.


Preparation:On six of the blank cards print the following names: CARLA, HERB, ERIC, BUD,ALICE, and JEFF. Of course you can use other names, if you keep in mind that thenames LAST letters are the important ones. If you check that, they are: A, B, C, D,E and F (exactly as required in Currys trick. The use of these name cards do a lotto make this trick look less mathy. Take the other six cards and make a secondidentical set of these names.

The idea is that these cards represent placeholders for the people at the bar inBavaria. So each glass has a name card in front of it and that says which glassbelongs to which of the imaginary persons.

At the beginning, one set is well shuffled distributed to the glasses on the table (orbetter leaned against the glasses for display). The other set is underneath yourwallet, in which you keep the $100 bill you will contribute to that game. The secondset is facedown underneath the wallet in readiness for a packet switch (more lateron this). I hold the whole in place with a jumbo wooden clothes peg (the BavarianTheft Protection), so that I can easily remove it from myperformance case without disturbing the setup.

The letter with the instructions is given to a spectator. Youcan use the wording I gave you in the sample letter, ormodify it according to your needs, the only thing importantis that the actual moves remain the same.

Performance:Explain the beer game and pour the beer into one of theglasses (doesnt matter which one). Collect the name cardsand give them someone in the audience for shuffling. Dontdraw undue attention to the name cards yet.

Whilst the person is doing that, ask another spectator tocollect the bills and bring them forward to you to your table.You will play against this spectator from now on. As soonas he is with you, retrieve the name cards and hold themface down in the right hand. With the left, get the wallet andremove the cloth peg in readiness for the switch. Open thewallet; give out your $100 bill. Instruct the spectator to placethe $100 into one of the glasses as well. While he is doingthis, close the wallet and put it to the side, therebyexecuting the switch of the packets. This switch is shown inthe photographs.


The assistant is now allowed to change the positions of theglasses as many times as he wants to. When he is finished,you will place a name card of the shuffled (?) packet in frontof each glass. And this is now the important thing:depending on where the spectator places the $100 bill thisis the ONLY thing you have to watch for), you start layingout the cards from the LEFT or from the RIGHT side ofthe row of glasses.

Imagine the glasses labeled A, B, C, D, E and F (from theleft to the right). Important for you are only the positions A,C and E. If the spectator places the $100 bill into one ofthese glasses, then you start laying out the cards (face-up)starting at glass A.

So glass A gets Carla, glass B gets Herb, glass gets Eric andso on.

If the spectator places the $100 bill into one of the glassesB, D or F, then you start laying out the cards in the followingmanner (starting with the Carla card at glass F): glass Fgets Carla, glass E gets Herb, etc.

And with this, all your work is done! All that remains is thatthe spectator holding the predictions reads it aloud andthe spectator at the table follows the instructions. In thecourse of these he will at times be asked to switch theposition of the beer glass with a glass at its side. You mustinform the spectator beforehand that in case there is a glass at either side of thebeer glass, he can make his choice with which to swap freely. Should the beer glassbe at the end of the row, then obviously he can switch the beer glass only with theglass next to it. Easy.

From your point of view the presentation is finished. You can watch the thing,make some comments, jokes, or you can (like me) play accordion... up to you. Thespectator will always finish up with the beer glass (at Buds place) and you get allthe money! Thats it!

Obviously, this is a trick that depends on the things you write additionally into theprediction (lines, gags, jokes, whatever). Just run through the thing and it will beclear whats it all about. This trick could also be very effective for tradeshowperformers presenting new products, for weddings, cruise ship bingo/magicperformers and so on... think about it.

And here are the instructions that have to appear in the letter (feel free to changethe wording, names and dominations of the bills):


The following instructions were written BEFORE I actually perform thisstunt... so please do the following:

1. Switch the glass with the $5 bill for the glass with the $10 bill.

2. Switch the glass with the $100 bill for the glass with the beer.

3. Give me the JEFFS glass!

4. Switch the glass with the beer with a glass next to it.

5. Give me CARLAS glass!


7. Give me HERBS glass!


9. Give me ALICES glass!

10. Give me ERICS glass!

11. You keep BUDS glass along with the contents. CHEERS!

If you think about it, you could have this instructions on a tape (even sentbeforehand as a sort of prediction to someone) or, in these times, as an MP3 on anMP3-player... use your imagination.

A pity I am really not the performer for stuff like this, but I liked the work on it, thelittle details and additions, and above all - occasionally I like to do it and play myaccordion along the lines...


Groundhog Day(dedicated with affection to Astrid Gloria and Romany)

As a matter of fact I am not very keen on oil-and-water-routines, because usuallythey lack a surprise finish. Despite that I studied many of them. I stumbled acrossone of them that finishes with all cards being one color, and also a very goodhandling, because it uses only nine cards and the Ghost count, so was fairly easy todo.

When my favourite german female magician Astrid Gloria visited me in Berlin, sheasked me to teach her an oil- and-water-routine, so I taught her my version. She inturn had a very good patter idea, which in turn inspired me to work on the oil-and-water-routine again.

I think it was Peter Warlock from England who made the time machine themepopular in magic (i.e. turning back the time). I always liked the plot. This becameclearer when I was living in Turin, Italy and went to a cinema to see a movie in orderto improve my Italian language. The movie I picked was Groundhog Day.

After that I visited frequently the UK to help my beloved friend Romany build herstage act. Romany also asked me to help her on a few close-up tricks, and(interestingly enough) she also wanted to learn an oil-and-water-routine! So again Itaught her my version. Romany in turn had the idea of using the theatre masks(which she now not uses, because she dispelled with the idea and has somethingelse), which in turn brought me back to my oil-and-water-routine... sometimes theevolution of a routine can be quite interesting...

In the end, thanks to my two lovely magic colleagues Astrid and Romany, Isucceeded to put my own routine together. I would like to thank both of them forthe help they gave me (and of course the super good creative and fun time!). I hopeyou like my humble attempts, considering that BOTH Astrid and Romany arebetter and more intense performers than me, both are more charming, and theworst thing: both LOOK much better than me!

Effect:A pretty weird combination of an oil-and-water-routine and two silks that areknotted and unknot themselves. Combined with a complicated patter theme, this iswhat I would call experimental avant-garde magic (with the accent on the experi-mental). Not stuff for everybody, but at least you can use the two tricks on theirown.


You need:I use a red and yellow 24 inch silk (according to my smilie cards), which representthe good and the bad side in life

One clear receptacle (here I use a Acryl Jug, my Jug of Life)

9 jumbo cards. These can be red and black (the red for the good and happy things,the black for the sad ones.

You will need 3 black cards and 6 red cards.

Personally I use jumbo cards with yellow and red smilies painted onto them,representing the good and bad things.

Two card stands to perform this for a larger audience for the display of the cards.

Preparation:The glass jug and the silks on a side table. On the main table the card stands withthe cards. In one stand the four red cards, in the other the black ones. The cardsare in this order (from the face to the back): red, red, red, red in one stand, black,black, red, red, black in the other. All faces to the audience. You are ready to go.

Presentation:I will for a very good reason NOT describe my patter for this routine. The reasonis, I dont actually HAVE a proper one! Again, Astrid and Romany are far better thanme in scripting out their routines (which I very seldom do), because they do HAVEa patter! But I will explain the concept of the presentation, with a little work on yourown you will be able to write your script. Basically, the presentation is in two parts:the one being that gag o the groundhog day, e.g. a man living through the same dayagain and again. This part is for the fact that you repeat the same actions again andagain, apparently not noticing that you yourself are already entrapped in this timeloop.

The other presentational part is that of some people seeing only the good things ofa day, the others only the bad things. This applies to the oil-and-water-routine,where good and bad things mix, but then are separated again, and finally all thethings change into the good things. And this is also illustrated by the black andwhite silks that can be seen separated or knotted together. All clear?

I start explaining the Groundhog Day principle. I talked about the day being in atime loop and the interesting fact that it would be nice to turn the time back. I stateI will do two simple actions, a spectator takes the time I need to do it, and then Iwill turn the time back to the beginning.


I show the two silks, knot them together and put them into the jug. Here I do astandard square knot and in the act of placing the silks into the jug, I secretly unk-

not them. The technique I use is shown in the photographs. It is a technique Ilearnt from one of Lewis Gansons excellent books and used in Sympathetic Silkroutines. So the silks are untied without the audiences knowledge.

1st phase oil and waterNow to the cards. I pick up the packet with the red cards face up in one hand andwith the other, count them one by one back into the card stand, explaining theyrepresent the good things.

I pick up the black cards from the other stand and they are counted with the Ghostcount as four black cards, the last card going on top. I turn this packet face downand keep it in my right hand. I take the top card and put it into the stand (backsalways towards the audience). Then a red card from the other card stand. I put it ontop of the black card on the stand. The next card goes from the top of my packet.Then a red card from the other card stand. Now I do a two-card push-off and placethe double onto the stand. The next red card from the other card stand onto it. I amleft with one card in my hand and one on the other card stand. I have to reverse theorder of these two cardsso I turn the card in my hand face-up and pick up the redcard from the card stand. The red card is placed on top of the card in my hand,


both are turned face down and placed into the stand on top of the others. As aresult, all the cards are back again in the original order!

After turning back the time, we arrive in our starting position, which I show. Ipick the two silks and show them to be separated (a very strong effect for laymen ifdone properly). Then I turn to the cards and show them in the same way I did inthe beginningcounting off the first four cards singly into the one card stand (fourred cards) and then Ghost-counting the other cards in the hand. Last card againgoes on top.

You will notice we are back in the starting position! From now on everything can berepeated, which is what I do in the second phase. And I start out by doing exactlythe same things, using the same words as in the beginning, as if I hadnt noticedthat I am already in the time loop. Thats the Groundhog Day theme...

2nd phase oil and waterAs said, I repeat exactly the 1st phase with the cards and the silks. Only one littlething is different, when showing the four black cards at the end via the Ghostcount: the last card goes on the BOTTOM of the packet. For the 3rd phase theprocedure varies a little, to produced the surprise climax of the apparently 8 redcards.

3rd phase oil and waterAgain do the knotting/unknotting sequence with the silks. Four red cards are in thecard stand, the other cards in the hand. I take one card from the hand (top) andplace into the empty card stand. On top of this another red card. Then one from thehand (top one). Then another red one from the other stand.

This leaves three cards in the hand, and two red ones on the other card stand. I do adouble push-off, take the double and place it in a fanned condition on front of thesingle card in my hand. Now I pick up one red card and place it in between theapparently two cards in my hand. The last red card is placed behind the cards in myhand (closest to me). Immediately I perform a Ghost count with these cards(backs to the audience). The last card goes to the top. This sets the cards for thefinale. I put the cards back into the stand. I pick up the other cards in the otherstand and perform a ghost count with them as well, last card goes on top. This setsthis packet. I turn the packet with the faces to the audience, perform a ghost countand replace them in the standfour red cards!

I pick up the cards in the other stand, turn them with the faces towards theaudience and perform another Ghost countfour red cards as well!


De Covas Laws

In the past years, I tried hard to follow as much of the advice given in good magicbooks or graciously given to me by some fellow performers (I am still very thankfulfor the advice given by them). I dont want to state that the following rules aregeneral or the ultimate in truth, but maybe they make you think and inspire you.These are rules that developed in my own work and it is these rules that shaped mymagical thinking (or did my magical thinking shape these rules?). Most of thetimes, I act upon these laws, but not alwaysrules are there to be broken, arentthey?

1st lawKeep it simple and clearKeep the effect and method as simple as possible. Simple doesnt mean necessarilyeasy, the shortest connection between A and B is a straight lineeven if that meansthat a difficult sleight has to be learned. I do so, if this is the simplest solution to aproblem. Concerning the effect, the onlooker should be able to more or lessdescribe in one sentence what happened.

2nd lawRead the booksIn our literature, we have tons of brilliant solutions, tricks, ideas and methods readyfor use. Studying the books, especially the history of our art, will broaden your mindand make your magic look fresh and not run-of-the-mill. In fact, in my humbleopinion, most of the classics and old effects are still far better in respect ofconstruction, method, built in Mis-direction and plot than most of the newestinventions we have. Better to take a classic, proven effect than boring theaudiences with a silly new invention. Better for magic, better for you and betterfor the audience.

3rd lawDont focus on one topic in magic aloneNowadays we have far too many specialists, all of them showing more or less thesame effects. Try to vary, try stage magic, try to put together a little manipulativesequence for stage and I guarantee you will learn a lot more about magic thanstudying 100 books on the new card moves and these things. Learn stagecraft andacting. Learn about rhythm (learn an instrument!!!).


4th lawLearn from the musiciansWhen practicing and learning a new routine or technique, study how musicianstackle a new tune. Step by step, in parts. Then when the parts work singly, theyslowly put the parts together into the whole tune. Then they practice the wholetune. THEN they bring in their own artistic interpretation.

5th lawLet the magic be magicToo many performers think they have to put all of their personality into the magic,most of the time in form of silly jokes, wrongly placed one-liners and all this kind ofstuff. True to a certain degree that magic must be entertaining, but I think that wellexecuted, well thought out magic has its fascination on its own. After all, we aredealing with a craft many thousands of years old. Magic is about unexpected andunexplainable things happening. This alone is fascinating to the observing person.Magicin my opinionis definitely not the place for someone who wants to showoff. Treat the magic with respect and dont forget the roots of it. BE a magician,someone who is someone elected to represent an ancient art form.

6th lawMotivate thingsThis is very important for me. Try to motivate everything in your routineswhyyou pick something up, why you go to the pocket, why you use this or that, and soon. Try to make every move with a motivation that a lay audience can easily under-stand and which makes sense to them. Many sleights can be covered and manysecrets stay hidden with this strategy.

7th lawKeep it visualMagic depends on a great part on the fact that the onlookers have to be able toactually see what is going on in order to understand or appreciate the magicaleffect. I always try to select and construct my routines in such a way that there issomething to see for the audienceeven if they are watching the happenings froma distance.

8th lawStay in the backgroundMaybe a rule that applies only to me and doesnt appeal too much to others. I like tobe a sort of Master of the Ceremonies in this magical concert. I like to put myperson back and make place for the magic that happens. Intelligent spectatorsappreciate the fact that I am actually the one making these miracles happen anyway.I dont really need to point this out.


9th lawDont believe the dealersUse their catalogues as an inspirational source for effects and methods, if any.Dealers language in general is false. Dont buy every new item or believe themtheir without skill, instant big hit success phrasesreal good magic creeps infrom the backdoor, real good routines that work for lay audiences never look assensational on paper or in dealers ads. Real good routines are shy, they dont like tobe put into the public, but they like to be discovered and teased, honed andpracticed, and above allthey like to be loved!

10th lawRespect the artWith that I also mean respect the audience taking the time to watch your art. Neverwork lines on the expense of the spectators. Let them join to watch miracles, andshow dignity and politeness doing that. Live up to making it a point to work hard toplace back magic back to where it actually belongsinto the category ofperforming arts. Be proud of magic. And have the necessary respect for it.


First of all, thanks go to Martin Lewis for suggesting the title, my original one(Ultimate Coin Penetration) didnt seem to be politically correct...

This item was created many years ago, when I had the offer to work a morningtelevision spot that dealt with kitchen stuff (very strange), and they told me that theproducers needed a very quick, visual magic thing, where the camera would stayfocused on the hands. Well, it got me working.

At first, I thought an item of Daryl, where a card penetrates visually through aplastic bag (super trick, by the way, check it out!) would be a good solution, butthen I somehow hit upon the idea of trying this with other objects, because cardsdidnt seem to fit properly into a morning kitchen setting. I liked the plastic bagidea (household item), and then worked the routine with flat cookies and a bag.After arriving at the childrens chocolate coins, I settled on real coins for practicalreasons. In the end, the television show (or at least my spot in it) was cancelled, butthis routine remained. Its easy to do (I am a lazy coin man), visual and over inabout 40 seconds. Good to combine with the Three Fly or other intermediatecoin miracles.

Effect:Three coins one after the other penetrate a clear zip-lock bag right under the eyesof the spectators in a very visual way. The last coin goes the opposite way andvisually penetrates the plastic to finally end up in the locked bag.

You need:Just a normal zip-lock bag (from now on referred to asbag and three big coins (I use old American silverdollars).

Performance:The bag is lying opened on your working surface, openingtowards you. Display the three coins on the palm of the righthand. Turn the hand palm down and throw the coins intothe waiting left hand, holding back one of the coins at theright finger tips via the friction palm. With the right hand,

Porous Plastic


lift at the opening of the bag, so theleft hand can enter it.

Now follows a shuttle pass. Theright hand turns palm up and opens,at the same time the left hand turnsand throws its coins including thebag onto the right palm. Due to thetransparency a nice illusion iscreated. The spectators think all thecoins are inside the bag, but inreality one is already outside. Wit onecasual motion, the right hand throwsall onto the table.

Now for a little subtlety. Both handspush the bag a little forward on thetable. The right forefinger (or theleft, depending where the outer coinlands after the throw) contacts therim of the outer coin through theplastic. Now push and all is as itshould be, the three coins moving inunison.

At this point I have a spectator coverthe coins lightly with his hand. I pullthe bag back towards me. The outercoin will remain on the tableunderneath the spectators hand, thetwo coins in the bag. A prettypenetration effect.

I hold the bag in the right hand,whilst the left takes the coin on thetable and puts it into the left pocket.In there, I fingerpalm the coin andbring it our again. The bag is nowtransferred to the left hand and theright enters to grab the two coins.

Display them on the outstretched palm. I offered the handto a spectator, so that he can feel that the coins are INSIDE the bag. Now do thesame shuttle pass as before, throwing the coins and bag onto the left hand(retaining one coin in the right hand finger palm. Remove the right hand from the


bag and with the left, throweverything onto the table as before.The third coin remains in the rightfingerpalm.

Repeat the penetration sequence asbefore. With the left hand, pick upthe coin on the table and really put itaway into the pocket. You are nowone coin ahead and ready for thereverse finale.

Hold the bag with the right hand andmake sure the coin is in one cornerof the bag. Enter with the right handand grab the coin at the rim. Bringup the right hand to waist height.Apparently you will now with the lefthand just lift the bag away, in realityyou set up the visual spellboundbackwards penetration (as I like tocall it).

The left hand grabs the bag at thecorner with the coin, actuallycovering the coin. It pulls the bag offthe right hand, whilst at the same

time the right hand pushed its fingerpalmed coin to thefingertips and exits the bag. This will create the illusion that you just took the bagaway. The left fingers cover the coin naturally.

Hold the bag towards a spectator and let him close the zip-lock. You are ready for aspellbound type sequence. The coin in the right hand is brought in the spellboundposition (held at the rim by the fingers and thumb). The left fingers with its bagnow cover the coin. The moment the coin is covered, the right hand coin is allowedto drop to the fingerpalm, and the coin in the plastic is taken in the same position.A very nice optical illusionapparently you just put the plastic onto the coin. Pausea second, grab the bag with the left hand and with the right hand, let go of the coin,which will visually drop into the bag!

Now you hand the bag to a spectator for examination. Get rid of the coin in theright hand with an appropriate method (and you know one, dont you?)


Rosediction

This experiment is the result of my never-ending attempts to create a strong effectwith the simplest means possible. Basically, it is a very charming and elegant men-tal effect, where you predict the total of an imaginary restaurant visit with animaginary date...

It uses a thumb tip (one of my all-tie favorite gimmicks in magic) and a veryinteresting approach to the so-called double writing. Again, this packs very smalland plays big (even for stage).

You need:A rose (can be a real one to be handed out)

Some price tags

Some 6 by 3 inches file cards

A rubber band

An Exacto knife

A sharpie pen

And of course... the thumbtips

Preparation:Take the price tags and cut of a small strip on the sides, to make them narrowenough to fit into the thumb tip. Then cut a slit in the cut-out where the thread is. Remove the thread of one tag, thisis the one to be used with the writing pad. On the otherprice tag is written some scribbles that resemble a writtenprice. But this is in reality only dummy writing (seephotos). Bind the thread to the head of the rose. The rose isready for use now.

The writing padTake about 20 of the file cards. Take one of them and write adate of the month you perform onto it as shown in the pho-to. This will allowed for an easy double writing sequence


later. Now take the Exacto knife and cut a slit along the firstblack backslash. This will allow to fix the second price tagonto the pad and ensure an easy removal. The photos showthe setup. Put this card on top of the other file cards, snapthe rubber band around it and you are ready to go. By theway, the rose in my case sits in an attractive vase on mytable. The price tag can be seen by the spectators, and alsothat there is something written onto it. But I dont put anyattention to it yet. It just sits there.

Performance:Take the pad and the marker. In picking up the pad, alsopick up the thumbtip in the position shown in thephotograph. I discovered this is the most comfortable way tonaturally hold this arrangement in place and ensure a securewriting without exposing the thumb tip.

Start to tell the story of you and the lady spectator being inan imaginary restaurant out this month (or, again, inventyour own story...). Ask her to remember what she dined,drunk, etc. depending on your story. Hold the pad andmarker as seen in the photograph.

Ask her to make a decision on the total of the bill (can beanything). Say she says $24.95. Now write this in BIG lettersonto the upper part (above the rubber band) onto the pad.Now comes a wonderful subtlety to show the pad ordinary:grab the pad as shown in the photo, the second and thirdfingers being slightly apart and covering the price tag. Inthis condition, you can lift the pad for a moment, turn itwriting side towards the audience, so that they can see youhave just written what she said. A very convincing display.

Put the pad back into the right hand. Now comes the crucialpoint, because you have to write this amount of $24.95 ontothe price tag, which later will be switched via the thumb tipagainst the visible price tag attached to the rose. Believe me,it took me sleepless nights to arrive at this ruse, but itsreally easyand I am proud of this finesse.

Ask the lady on which day of this month the date was. Says she says it was the 14th.Now pretend to write the date onto the pad in the lower part of the pad. In reality


you just write the number 14 in the date space to the left ofthe price tag (which you left blank for that reason), and thencontinue to write the total of the bill onto the price tag! It isthat easy!

A closer inspection will reveal that the amount of figurebasically is the same as if you really were to write the date.That means also the pencil movements are more or less thesame, and they happen in the supposed area on the pad. Itappears as it should be.

Put away the marker onto the table. You are ready to load theprice tag into the thumb tip under cover of the actions ofturning the pad with the writing side towards the audience.The photos make this very clear. The left thumb pushesdown onto the pad. This willdue to the diagonal slitfreeit from its fix point. Continue to shove it directly into thethumb tip. Continue the movements as shown in thephotos, so that the thumb enters behind the pad. This isnow turned to the audienceagain all is as it should be, youhave just written the date onto the pad. The pad can now beleaned against a glass or the vase (I prefer the vase) orifyour are in the same adventurous mood as I am insometimesgive the pad to a spectator to hold! This isdisarming, and hardly any spectator will discover the littleslit.

Ask the lady whether she remembers the rose seller comingin. And that you bought a rose for her. And so on... Ask her ifshe remembers the price of the rose...(probably not).

Now you are ready for the switch. The thumb tip is on theleft thumb, with the price tag with the total written on it init. Pick p the rose with the left hand at the stem. The leaveswill effectively hide the thumb tip (see photos). Hold therose horizontally, so that the price tag dangles down. Nowthe right hand grabs the price tag as shown in the photo,and the left hand lets go of the rose, so that the rose isdangling from the right hand. At this moment, the price tagis hidden by the right fingers.

The left hand approaches the right, apparently to tear off the tag from the thread.The left thumb rests the thumb tip directly onto the price tag and moves down,taking the tag in the tip with it. It really looks as if you are tearing off the price tag.


Hand this immediately to the lady and have her read aloudthe price tagBINGO!

The clean upThe left hand picks up the rose, the right hand pulls down,which frees the dummy price tag. Hand the lady the rose,with the right hand grab the marker and put it into yourpocket, thereby ditching the dummy price tag and thethumb tip. The routine is finished and you end clean!


Stab in the Dark

Two years ago on one of my visits to London graham Reed of the Magic Circletreasurer fame presented me with a beautiful golden knife with a very thin blade,which almost screamed being used in a card stab routine. London always remindsme of the great British magical history and tradition; so it was only close to think ofthe late Al Koran and his brilliant Encore Card Stab from his book professionalpresentations. As a matter of fact, this is the first thing I wanted to perform withthe beautiful knife. But then my brains started working and the result is here...

Effect:The performer stabs to the mate card of a freely chosen card with a knife. The deckis on the table and the actual stab is done UNDER a handkerchief, which has beenthrown over the deck before!

You need:A normal deck of cards, a handkerchief about 18 Inches Square and a table knife ora decorative dagger. Thats all.

Preparation:A stacked deck is involved. I call it a reversed hay stack. To get into it, take thepack and put all the twin cards onto the table, pair wise. Collect the pairs in anygiven order (it doesnt matter). Then perform an anti-faro, that means you runthrough the deck and upjog every second card. Strip out the upjogged cards andreplace them under or above the lower cards. This way or the other, you will arriveat a setup in which the mates are laying 26 cards apart, which is what you want.This is a cyclic order, and a single complete cut wont disturb the order.

The Routine:Bring out the cards and false shuffle the deck. You can spread them face-up ontothe table with no fear, because the setup is very hard to discover (which Idiscovered in the course of the time when performing for magicians, especially inthese memorized days...) Turn the deck face down and instruct the spectator(whilst you turn away) to give the deck as many complete cuts. At one time he is totake the top card andwithout looking at it or showing it to anybody elseto place


it into the card box. Turn around when he is finished doingthis.

The situation, you explain, is that there is a card of unknownidentity in the box. Your task is to find it out. For this, youstate, you will run through the remainder of the deck andquickly make a mathematical calculation, in order to arriveat the value of the chosen card.

So, take the deck face-up in the hand and start spreadingtrough it.

Of course, the thing with the calculation is only blabla, inreality at this moment you are just interested in the facecard of the deck. Spread through the deck until aboutmidway until you spot the mate of the face card of the deck.The card directly above this card is the mate of the card inthe card box! That way you know the identity of this card!And I actually make an effect out of this. I say: After thisquick run through I can surely say the card in the box is the(name the mate)

Whilst saying this, you injog this card and put the deck inthis injogged position onto the table (face-up). This will bethe preparation for getting the stab done right later.

Say: More difficult than finding the chosen card, is to findthe twin card. And to do it blindfolded. But not with theblindfold on me, but with the blindfold on the deck... (Iwould like to thank Martin Lewis for this wonderful linehere)

Take the handkerchief and spread it onto the table. Take thedeck, turn it face down and square it up, thereby getting abreak above the mate card that was injogged. Grab the deckin Biddle position, transferring the break to the thumb.With the other hand, lift a corner of the silk and then putthe deck under the silks center. The moment the deck islaid down onto the table, cut the cards above the breakabout 1,5 cm to the side. The upper half is side jogged andmarks the spot where the knife has to enter.

Remove both hands from under the hank. A very clean and (for magicians)puzzling situation now, because apparently you have no control over the cards.

Take the knife in one hand and lift a corner of the hank with the other. Go under


the hank with the knife andimmediately put the knife onto thedeck, fixing everything for themoment. Leave the knife where it is.The other hand now grasps thedeck at the outer corners (or better:grasps the out corners of thesidejogged top-half) through thefabric. Pressing down on thesecorners, creating a sort of tensiononto to deck. If you now move theknife to the side, the top half willsort of spring up, creating a gap,into which the knife can entersecurely and without you having tolook and feel. Also you will hear anaudible click when the side of thetop half clears the knife. A look atthe photographs should makeeverything clear. The moment you

hear the click, shove the knife into the other direction,squaring the deck at the same time. Remove both handsfrom knife and cards

Lift the handkerchief and the spectators will see the deckwith the knife plunged into it. Lift all the cards above theknife and put them aside. Put the card directly underneaththe knife to the front. Take the card from the card box and place it directly beneaththe card on the table. Turn both cards to show you have correctly found the mate!Finis!


Master Silks Routine

I have always liked the classic sympathetic silk effect. The trick you are going toread has been in development for many years, actually I lost the number ofvariations, improvements and twists I gave it. The version here is the version Istuck to for quite some time now, and I dont think I am going to change it (but whoknows...)

In the Tarbell Course there is a description of Al Bakers version, which uses onlyfour silks. Check the Tarbell Course for this trick, so that you have a good idea ofthe principle involved.

What I liked about this version is the way the apparently two single silks becomeknotted. Here is my newest version of this effect, which does away with the normalbucket and uses a big glass (!) for the silks that magically untie.

Also, I improved the gimmick that is responsible for the effect. Now I use only one(!) additional silk for the effect! I can honestly state that this is a much easierversion that is more deceptive and clear than my former versions. It has fooledsome of the best brains in magic. Its a commercial effect and very strong.

Effect:The performer shows four single silks on the table or a tableau. He takes two silksand knots them together. Even the spectator can tie the knot! Without touching theknot the silks are placed in a big glass or transparent champagne bucket.

The other two single silks are taken from the table and handed to a spectator.

Without any moves of any kind the silks in the glass are taken out one by onetheknots have vanished and the silks are single!

The spectator who holds the other two silks unfolds them only to find out thatthese are now securely tied with a knot!

Requirements:For this you will need 4 silks in one color, about 18 inches Square. Also a singlesmaller silk, about 9 inch square. This must be the same color and texture as theother silks.

Further needed is a very big glass or a decorative glass bowl. In emergencies you


can also use a champagne bucket, but I prefer the glass bowl for visibility. Also,some restaurants and hotels have clear champagne buckets, which are also good.

You needed a sort of tableau. Actually, you could use any one, I most of the time usean old wooden tableau. But you are not restricted to this,once you understand the workings of this effect, you will seethat a close-up pad of sufficient size can also be used. Inemergencies I used a folded tablecloth.

Anything under which you can hide the knots under whichlies flat on the table can be used. A folded Newspaper willdo as well. In the photos, a semi-transparent mat is used toshow the workings.

Preparation:The trick actually is in two parts. One is to vanish the knotsin the silks and the other to produce the knot in the othersilks.

For the vanish a very simple principle is put into use: theprinciple of the extra corner. That means that you actuallyhave an extra corner (the 9 inch silk) that you knot togetherwith the single unprepared silk. Because of the fact that theextra piece is only loosely rolled into the second silk, it willseparate from it. Thus the unknotting is achieved. Thephotos show you everything.

The second part is the secret knotting of the silks. Here Iuse Al Bakers method, which is described in the Tarbellcourse, as mentioned before. Instead of having a speciallybuilt table with a slit in the front of the table drape, I usethe tableau or the close-up mat, which enables me to workthe effect on any table.

Preparation:Knot together two of the unprepared silks (I use a slip knotso that it is easier later to unknot them). Then comes thepreparation of the extra little silk with a normal silk. This isshown in detail in the photographs.

The silks are laid on the tableau as indicated in thephotographs. The trick is ready.


Performance:1. Display the four (apparentlysingle) silks on the tableau. Take thesilk with the extra silk and the nor-mal silk and tie them together. Hereyou actually tie the corner of theextra silk to the single silk. Put thesetwo silks into the glass goblet asshown. Be careful to make sure thatthe spectators see that you donttouch the knot!

2. Pick off the other two (knotted)silks as shown and remove themfrom the tableau. Bunch themtogether and give this bundle to aspectator to hold.

3. Make your magic passes andpretend to invisibly take the knotfrom the silks in the glass towardsthe silks the spectator is holding.

4. Go to the glass and pick up acorner of the silk nearest theaudience that is outside the glass.Pull gently on this corner upward asyou slowly and deliberately lift thesilk out of the glass. The gimmickwill separate from the silk it wasrolled into (which remains in theglass for the moment).

Due to the fact that it is knotted tothe other silk, it will be lifted out ofthe glass behind this silk. When thesilk is outside the glass, just grab thesilk and gimmick in the middle.

Due to the fact that gimmick and silk are the same texture and color, the audiencewill not notice the gimmick.

Then, slowly, also lift the other (unprepared) silk out of the glass - the knots havevanished!


5. Have the spectator stand-up and unroll the silks he has been holding - the knothas reappeared!


Forte-X

This is one of the routines I have held back for a long time from other magicians,because I wanted to keep it exclusively for myself. The title may be a little bitirritating, but nevertheless, I was inspired by the Italian word forte, which meansstrongand this is exactly what this routine IS.

Basically, this is a multiple prediction of three (or two, or four) ABSOLUTELYFREELY selected playing cards. The whole structure of the routine is very clearand direct, and there are more merits to it, one of them being this routine needsabsolutely NO replacements and after the finish is setup for the next performance,meaning it is perfect for restaurant, tradeshow and party work.

Also, this routine can be performed at the close-up table or for up to about 100spectators in a stage/tradeshow situation.

I wasnt aware of it, but recently I could trace back the basic origins of this effect: itis the trick Touch which was invented by that brilliant Paul Curry (despite thefact that my handling was inspired in Germany by a dealers effect with a similareffect, but using a very strange stand to display the cards). I hope you like myadditions and improvements. But now on with the routine...

Effect:You bring out a couple of blank cards. Now you cleanly write three predictions andput these three cards onto the table. Next you show a red backed pack of cards. Thecards are spread face-up on the table. Three spectators are invited to each freelypush one card out of the spread. There is absolutely no force involved and all 52cards are present!

Without any false moves you turn around your three predictions cardsyou havesuccessfully predicted all three chosen cards!

A bit of history:The basic idea of this effect stems from an old dealers effect with gimmickedcards. I never really liked the method used to accomplish the effect, because of theunnatural and unmotivated display stand used. WHAT I liked however was the freechoice of the selections and the clever way the predictions were made... so I startedto think and experiment, to get rid of the bulky (and unnatural) display stand forthe cards, as well as of the complicated setup (and the very difficult to obtain


gimmicked cards). The result of my enterprises is a very practical routine, and theprops can be easily obtained. Also, there are quite a few fine psychological pointsbuilt into the presentation, which make the effect so strong.

Requirements:First of all, obtain a deck of blank-backed cards. Remove the two jokers and discardthem. Take a regular joker from a red Bicycle deck of cards and add it to the blankbackers. Also you will need a regular red Bicycle card case to house the cards. Nowfor the preparation.

With the felt tip pen you are later going to use in your performance, write thenames of the corresponding cards onto the blank back, for example, on the blankback of the two of hearts write Two of Hearts, on the back of the five of spades writeFive of Spades and so on, until you have written out the names of all the cards in thedeck.

Important: dont write numbers or signs for the suits and values, write out thenames of the cards in letters! This will be important later.

The setup of the deck is simple: just shuffle the cards so they end up in a randomorder, place the joker on the back of the deck and place the deck into the card case.Thats all.

The next things you need are the prediction cards. These cards are actually redblank faced cards: blank on one side, red back on the other. You will need five or sixof them. Additionally you need a card that is blank on both sides.

On the side of this card scribble something (with the same felt tip pen you will usein the performance) that more or less resembles the written names of the cards inthe deck. But make sure this is not really legible (you use an old technique ofmentalism, a dummy prediction).

I personally use one of the little leather wallets to keep these cards in for theperformance. You can get them from many dealers, they are used to store smallpacket tricks.

The order of this packet is (from the face to the back): double blank card, then the5 or 6 red blank facers, red side up.

Put this packet into the wallet and you are set to go.

Performance:The presentation basically is divided into three parts: the making of the prediction,the selection of the cards and finally the revelation of the predictions to be correct.


Part 1: The PredictionsTake out the little wallet, open it and remove the prediction cards. Hold the cardsface down and casually spread a few cards to let the audience see the blue backs.Square the cards and turn the packet, so that the white blank card is showing. Youhold the cards in a dealing position in the left hand (if you write with the righthand, left-handed magicians reverse the sides). With the right hand reach into yourpocket and remove the pen. Uncap it and hold it ready in the right hand to writedown the predictions.

Now you approach a spectator on your left. Ask him to free his mind (or any otherthing that fits your presentation). At this moment, you must secretly reverse theblank-faced card, so that the side with the writing is showing. I dont make a bigmove out of this, I just let my hands come together, thumb off the top card a littleand turn it over with the hand holding the pen, when I approach the spectator. Ikeep the now visible writing towards my body.

PLEASE dont make a big move out of this, in the minds of the spectators youare just holding a few blank-faced cards. Also, the secret move is hidden by a slightbody turn.

Now pretend to get your impressions and scribble them onto the card. In realitynaturally you dont scribble anything, you just pretend to write something onto theface card. Now you talk a little bit to the spectator, and in that course you flash thewriting side just to him (and the spectators around him. Also, this must be subtleand NOT a big or EMPHASIZED move!

It is the casualness in you actions that make this deceptivethe object is just to letthe spectators casually see that you have written something onto the card. Again,turn the packet towards you. You now apparently take the face card and put it downonto the table, but in reality you execute a sort of glide move and remove the secondcard from the face of the packet. This is very easy and well covered. Naturally, if youare able to do that, you could also do a sort of second deal. In any case, you end upwith the prediction card (spectators think it is the card you just wrote on) thered back is facing you. Put this card down onto the table, being careful not to flashthe red side.

Approach a second spectator in front of you and repeat the whole procedure exactlyas with the first spectator. Repeat this with a third spectator on your right. You nowhave three predictions cards (blank facers with the blank side up) lying on thetable. Replace the rest of the cards back into the wallet (being either careful not toflash the writing side of the double-blank, oras I prefer for the later resetsimply secretly reverse the double-blank card again after writing the prediction for


the third spectator. Put the closed wallet onto the table to the side.

Part 2: The Selection of the CardsIt is now time to introduce the red deck of cards and have the spectators make theirselections. So take the deck and remove it from the case, thereby showing the backof the regular joker, suggesting to the audience you have a normal pack of cards.Place the card case to the side. The next objection is to convince the spectators thatthe deck is normal and red backed. I do this by a fairly well known Hindu-shuffleprocedure, which you surely know from various color changing deck routines. So Ihold the deck face up in my hand and Hindu shuffle it, from time to time casuallyturning the other hand, to show the back of the joker. This must NOT be overdone,you are not proving anything, just showing the faces of the cards to the spectatorsand letting flash the backs of the cards. Finally, shuffle the cards face-up (dontworry about the joker now), cut them and place them (face-up) onto the table.Ribbon-spread the cards in a long spread on the table.

Talk about the three spectators to freely select a card. Then, apparently notice thepresence of the joker, remove it from the deck (This card cant be used...) and placeit face down onto the card case, thereby flashing its red back. For the spectatorseverything is normal, you just showed a red-backed deck of cards, shuffled it andspread it face-up on the table.

Have each of the three spectators step forward and push freely one card of thespread towards you. Stress the freedom of the selections, that they can change theirmind, etc. Finally, there are three face-up selections lying on the table. Pick up thethree prediction cards with the right hand and hold them in front of your chestbetween the first and second finger of the right hand. The blank sides are facingthe audience, be careful not to flash the red backs!

Part 3: The SwitchNow it is time for a critical phase of the routineyou are going to switch the twopacket of cards. But this is not very difficult, just follow me with cards in the handand you will see how simple all is...

With the left hand, pick up the three selections from the table (always being carefulnot to flash the backside of the cards!). Hold them against your chest, the faces ofthe cards towards the audience. These cards are held between the thumb and firstfinger of the left hand. So the audience sees you holding both card packets. You willnow switch the position of both packets in the action of turning down the hands.This move is similar to the Arial Change in Expert Card Technique with the onlydifference that the change is done when the hands move DOWNWARDS.


In a gesture to emphasis the freedom of the selections and that the spectatorscould have chosen ANY cards from the spread, you bend down towards the table.Both hands also come down in direction of the table. They describe a more or lesscircular movement, in which they meet for a brief second. In this moment, the twopackets of cards are exchanged between the fingers. This is no problem because ofthe position of the fingers. So the first and second finger of the LEFT hand takethe packet of the right hand, and the thumb and first finger of the RIGHT handtake the left packet. Immediately the left hand gestures with its three cards alongthe spread of cards on the table (the red backs of the three cards are now showing)and puts these cards onto the table.

The cards in the right hand are now with the handwritten prediction sides up. Youcan now show these cards to the spectators and have them verify that yourpredictions are correct! Correctly done, this switch is absolutely impossible to see.It all happens on the downward movement of the body towards the table. The natu-ral movements cover all and everything looks like it should look like. Basically, theroutine is done... but...

Part 4: The ResetLets recap the situation: The three prediction cards are on the table, red back sideup. The cards are spread face-up and the three handwritten prediction cards arealso on the table. The effect is finished in the eyes of the spectators, so they wontpay too much attention to the now following actions, which set-up the packet andeverything for the next performance:

First take the prediction cards squared into the left hand, fingers underneath,thumb on top (always be careful not to flash the other sides!) at the lower leftcorner. With these cards you will now apparently turn the three chosen cards face-up, but in reality you switch the two packets with a Mexican Turnover Move (theonly difference being that the move is done with two 3-card-packets instead of twosingle cards).

After the finish of the Mexican Turnover there are the three selections face-up onthe table and three prediction cards (the handwritten predictions) in your hand.Replace the prediction cards into the wallet underneath the cards, which are inside(again being careful not to flash the red sides of the cards), which resets the wallet.To reset the deck, simply assemble all the cards face-up, place the joker at the backand put the cards into the card case. The deck is set again for the nextperformance.

Put the wallet and the deck into your pockets and you are set for the nextperformance.


Last remarks:Please dont underestimate this routine. It has served me very well for quite a longtime now. The effect is straightforward and staggering (also for magicians).Important is to keep everything in a natural way, and to not make any moves. I havespent a great deal of time in smoothing out the handling, and believe me, I triedhard and many venues.

On of the really nice features of this trick is that it resets with little or no effort onyour side and also that you dont have to replace anythingdespite the fact that youpretend to write down three predictions! This is one of the points why this routineis a working horse for a working performer. Above all, there are absolutely nodifficult sleights.

This is the practical result of my researches, trials and errors. With the right(thoughtful) presentation and in the hands of the right performer, this can be aVERY strong piece of magic.


Ring-o-change

The routine you are going to conquer is one of the most practical I have ever foundin my life. I have been doing it for many years now under varying circumstances. Ithas always served me well, and when many of my other miracles have beenforgotten by the audience, it was this trick with the rings they talked about. It isrely strong, commercial magic for the professional performer, it packs really smalland plays really big, and I think if you dont get anything else out of these lecturenotes, this one alone will reward you for the money paid...

Important note: remember that I am left-handed, so you will have to switch rightand left...

The historyMany years ago the German magician JORO (real name Bruno Hennig, theinventor of the famous dancing cork and the signed folded card to anythingconcept) tipped his routine to me. In his effect, two borrowed fingerings from twospectator changed places. The effect is absolutely impossible, and it is a veryinteresting concept concerning the effect. Sophisticated, so to say. I immediatelyliked the effect and began working it. JOROs method, although very ingenious,soon proved to be impractical for me. He used a very special (but ingenious) littlepocket in his trousers to ditch one of the rings during performance. This posed twoproblems for me: first you had to have this little pocket in ALL the trousers youused to perform.

Second, his vanish of the ring wasnt as clear for a bigger audience as I wished (heused the old method with the handkerchief and the sewn in fake ring). Theproblem is, when you work with an audience of about 100 people upwards, all theseeffects with borrowed rings are very strong, but the audience cant see the rings!

So, consequently, the effects happen more or less in the minds of the audience,which is fine, but I wanted a more visual approach to it, that made the vanish of thislittle small object more visible.

I bean experimenting with all different things (glasses, envelopes and so on) until Ihit upon the best solution so far: the old devils hank. Of course, I had to modify it,because the routine demands you to get into possession of the borrowed ring in fullview of the audience.

Here is my solution.


What you need:A square ring box with a cheap golden wedding style ring

A little attractive cloth- or leather bag the ring box fits in easily

A magic wand (Martin Lewis made a very nice one for me in Acrylic material, thankyou so much, Martin!)

A slightly modified devils handkerchief. I made mine of of black silk (the usualmagicians silk we use all the time). The modification consists of making somelittle stitches in the center of the silk, thereby fixing the inner secret compartment,so that it cannot move around. The photo shows where thestitches should be made. As a matter of fact, any standarddevils hank can be modified in this way in a matter ofminutes. I prefer the black one instead, because it doesntlook tricky. The reason for this preparation will be apparentlater.

That completes all the props! As I said, this is verycommercial material, in fact, everything can be carried on the performers person...

The routine:I will give a rough outline of the patter theme I use. Of course, you should adapt itto your own style, or better, invent your own presentation.

Magicians are known to take the laws of physics and turn them upside down. Iwould like to do so as well. First of all I will explain the law, which is very easy tounderstand. The law is this: One object, that is unique, cannot be at the same timein two different places in the room. Thats obvious, I know, but I am going to proveto you that it IS indeed possible for an object to be in two different places at thesame time. Before, I would like to point out that I will give out this little bag to thelady here BEFORE I start getting something back from her.

Approach a lady on your far left side that has a suitable ring (wedding ring, etc, butnot too fancy ring). I put the bags string onto the end of the magic wand, so all theaudience can clearly see me handing the bag to the lady. I ask her to guard the bagwell and make sure that I dont come near to it.

In return, I now need some object, from which we all know for sure it existsguaranteed only one time in this room ... and that is your ring! Would you pleasetake it off and lend it to me for a moment. I dont even want to touch it, just throw itinto this bag here...

Whilst she is taking off the ring, I take out the handkerchief and fold it into


quarters as seen in the photos. Iopen the secret pocket and let herdrop her ring into it. This is what Isaid beforethe visual vanish of thering. So far I never touched or camenear the ring. For a layperson this isa very clean, convincing and impos-sible handling. After she dropped inthe ring, I let her feel the bottom ofthe bag and confirm that her ring isinside.

One question: do you know whereyour ring is at the moment? (Shewill say its in the handkerchief, ofcourse). Ok, you all remember thephysical law that an object cannot beat the same time in two differentplaces. I gave you this bag before Igot the ring. I will prove that the ringhas been from the beginning in acompletely different location...

Saying this I let spread out thehandkerchief as shown, so thateverybody can appreciate the ring isno longer in the hank. Forge aboutwhat other magicians say about theold devils hank, my experience hasshown me that this is for a laypersona great surprise. I continueimmediately with my patter.

Would please open the little bag,take out the contents and hold it high up, so that everybodycan see what it is? (She does so and holds up the ring box)Aha... what a surprise, it is a ring box. Now please, open thelittle box and tell us all in a loud voice whats inside? (Shedoes so and says a ring) And would you now confirm in aloud voice, that this is exactly the ring you gave me, your ring? IS this your ring?

At this point she says no, of course, which usually (because of the build up,results in a big laugh. PLEASE: at this point, do NOT make any of the silly jokes


(Are you sure? You like disturbing my work? Etc.) I juststand, look puzzled and PAUSE. This is very strong, thesituation alone makes all the comedy, no need to blameanyone. What is more important are the moves you havedone to unload the original ring from the devilshandkerchief in front of the audience, while everybodysattention is on the lady taking out and opening the ring box.This is hard to describe but not difficult at all. Theattention is directed away from the hank after the vanish,because you put the focus on the lady with the bag.Everybody expects her ring to appear somehow in the bag,which is a natural assumption after the build up. So restassured, people wont focus on you.

Here is what I do. After I spread out the hank (see thephotos) I let go of the corner with (in my case right hand, sothat the silk is held only by the corner of one hand. It is thecorner with the secret compartment. The ring has to beexactly in the middle of the bag, and to make sure this is thecase, I stroke the silk casually with the other hand as shown.This is a natural action and also proof that the silk is empty.Now I start to casually folding the silk together, therebysecretly unloading the ring into my hands. The photos willmake everything crystal clear. The silk is hanging from thetips of my fingers. The right fingers grasp the hank at theside of the middle where the secret pocket ends. Let gowith the left hand so the corner drops down. Move the lefthand down to the center (where the ring is) and stretch thesilk a little bit. This results in a sort of tunnel, in which thering will slide. Also, now you will understand the reason forfixing the secret compartment bag...

Now reverse the position of the hands. The ring will slidedown the tunnel and land directly in the cupped rightfingers! The left hand passes its part of the silk into theright, and at this moment the ring is secretly dropped intothe LEFT and (I confess, I really like this secret transfers ofan object under the cover of a natural action, in this case thefolding up of the silk!) The right hand then takes hold of

the silk and lets it flutter carelessly onto the table. A this point, I have seen manymagicians eyebrows go up...


Well, the ring is now under your control, on with theroutine. The right hand picks up the magic wand.

Well, by now we have at least proven that an object actuallycant be in two different places at the same time...(Correctly delivered, this line gives another laugh). But, Idigressed. What I really wanted to do is to prove thatmagicians can turn the laws of physics upside down and inorder to do this, I will have to have an object, from which weall know it is unique and exists only one time in this room ...your ring! (Usually another laugh)

Saying these words, I turn to a lady on my RIGHT. Also,whilst saying these words, I secretly thread the ring onto theend of the magic wand (a well known move from used in theclassic Ring on Stick routine, see the photos). I approachthe lady on my right, the left hand holding the magic wandand hiding the ring. I ask her to remove the ring and threadit onto the free end of the stick. Now comes a very simpleswitch of the rings on the stick, partly covered by a line andpartly by a body turn. I say to the lady:

Thank you for your ringyou really have trust in me! Onequestion: Do you recognize your ring, when you see it later?You know, we had some troubles with this a moment beforeover there... Delivering these lines, you turn your attentionto the first lady on the left and look to her with a smile. Atthe same time, your body turns and the RIGHT hand goesdirectly onto the visible ring and grabs the end of the wand,whilst the left hand lets go and make a gesture in directionof the first lady. This is a very bold switch, but through theuse of the situation and the lines it is covered.

Now go to the lady on the left. Hold the wand with the ringin front of her.

You see, I just borrowed a ring from the lady over there.Could you please take a close look at it? (Give her time to dothat) do you recognize that ring? (She will say it is indeedher ring) Yes? Is it your ring? Thank you!

At this point there will be silence, and then applause. Theeffect is just impossible! Give them some time to let this effect register, thencontinue. At this point I casually take the wand with my left hand and put it backinto my right inner jacket pocket. This leaves the ring in the right hand in


readiness for a really diabolical trick action that is to followwith the ring box. This is JOROs move, and he deserves aconstant place in the Hall of Fame for this contribution tomagic. Talk to the lady on the left:

That leaves us only with one question: If the ring in thering box wasnt your ring...

Stretch out your left hand in readiness to receive the ringbox from her (she will understand and hand it to you) andplace it into the right hand, directly onto the ring there (seephotos). Apparently you will now open the lid and removethe ring with the left hand, but what you actually do is to liftthe whole box. The right hand fixes the two font corners ofthe box at the sides. With the left hand, you lift the back endup (the whole box). From the front it will look like you liftedthe lid and opened the box. Reach into (?) the box with theleft hand, remove the ring and with the left fingers, shutthe ring box whilst approaching the lady on the right. Putthe ring box casually into your pocket.

Would you please take a close look at the ring that camefrom the box? Is that your ring? Yes? Then we have actuallyproven that an object has been, at the same time, in twodifferent places in the room!

F I N I S

Before I forget:Even if you dont want to use this routine (a shame), thenyou will surely see the potential of the handling of theborrowed ring with the hank and the retrieval of the objectin full view. This can be use in many other routines (Ring in Box, and so on) as wellund this handling is my major contribution. Please practice this routine well andtreat it with the necessary respect, it is really a strong piece of magic.

Documents

Alexander de Cova- California Lecture 2006