[Technique] Pièces et Transpiration

[Cyril JUGE]

salut amis magiciens !

Voilà j'ai un probleme de moiteur ,mes mains trenspirent souvents ,et fair un empalmage classic avec la main înnonder est quasi impoossible !

On ma consseiller le jus de citrons .J'ai assayer et il est vrai que cela diminue cet effet de glissage ,mais pas completement !

Avez vous une autre combine pour garder les mains seches

Merci d'avance pour vos réponce !

a +

jug

Modifié 14 août 2004 par Thomas THIEBAUT

[Alex]

conseil issu (je crois, je ne l'ai malheureusement pas sous la main pour vérifier)de Magie et showmanship de Henning Nelms , qui marche tres bien pour moi:

se laver les mains et les avants bras a l eau froide (tres!) juste avant la representation, ca laisse 30 min de tranquilité pour les plus moites d entre nous...

ca vaut aussi pour l entrainement, mais si tu as les mains trempees tout le temps, oublie l empalmage classique avec des pieces lisses....

en esperant que ca aide

alex

[Trist@n LACAILLE]

PROFESSIONAL CARD STAB

A ROUTINE BY CHRISTOPH JOACHIM SCHRÖDER

Contents:

I. How the Routine was born

2. Props

3. The Grown-Up Routine

4. The Children's Routine

4. I. Preparation

4.2. Choosing the Card (Incl. Stage Whispering)

4.3. The Card Control

4.5. Dramatization of the Climax

4.6. The Bongo Hat Ending

5. Remarks

6. Appendix: An additional Routine for Kids and Adults by Serge Etringer

I. How the Routine was born

Before I became a professional magician, I used to be a teacher. During these school days, more than I5 years from

now, I came across a trick that I couldn't get away from since. A magician named SCARAMOUCHE performed for our school assembly and I, as an enthusiastic amateur and person in charge, attended the show with my form, a rather appealing show as it still seems today. And the exceedingly suspicious fourteen-year olds were particularly baffled by one trick. The magician asked the audience for a dock of cards he wanted to use in his next trick. One of the pupils had cards with him, quite worn out as it seemed. Scaramouche called that boy on stage, made him choose a card from the dock and mark- it with a pen. The card was shuffled back and the dock wrapped into a newspaper. Then the owner of the dock was given a surdimensional needle and asked to stab through the package. The newspaper was torn off and one could see an impaled card on the needle - the chosen and signed one. I was scarcely more impressed by any other trick than I was by this one. As were my pupils, because their easiest explanation – “They're all alike" - was untenable, after all the dock had been borrowed from one of them and the card been signed.

That one card was by now perforated and useless didn't bother anyone by the time, startled as we were. The show hardly over I started thinking about a possible explanation. This should go on for days. I knew a way of performing the trick, using a double sheet of newspaper and a glued-in duplicate of a forced card. But with a borrowed dock? Being a simple amateur at the time I didn't dare to interview the ,great colleague" about the solution. So, it remained an unsolved mystery to me at that time.

Some years later, in the Hamburg ,,HANSA" Variety Theatre, I witnessed the magician DANNY RAY. Among the tricks he performed on stage was a card routine with four chosen cards, revealed in different ways. One as a rising card, one by means of paper tearing, one with a card-silk ... and one with a surdimensional needle and a ribbon on which the card was eventually threaded. I didn't pay any attention to the rest of the program, only thinking about my old schooldays trick I had encountered again here. Having thought about it a long time and seeing it again here gave me a cue on how it might work-. At home I tried out my solution and it worked. But up to the present day I do not know if the method I devised is the one Scaramouche and Danny Ray used or not.

But I guess that my ,,reinvention" of the trick was all right. Meanwhile I had turned professional magician and the card stab was one of my favourite routines. The more as it fits all the pro's needs: I. It packs flat and plays big and you might even carry it in your portefeuille. 2. The trick fits, with minimal changes, child and adult audiences. 3. No set-up is necessary and it is perfect for surrounded work, an ideal street, picnic and mall trick.

I love it and up to this day it's in my standard repertoire. Talking about my pet routine to my friend MICHAEL SONDERMAYER and insisting on the fact, that I ,invented" my method, he said: ,Yes, I know the trick. It's fairly old and you can find it in the Tarbell Course." So far for my inventors pride.

The method being obviously in print, known and old, I guess that Scaramouche and Danny Ray also presented us with an ,old hat". But strange enough the trick, despite it's undeniable advantages, is little known by magicians. You’ll learn the secret, of course, but as a method doesn't make a routine and as the script states that you’ll be teached a professional routine, let's turn our attention to the handling and to the invaluable bits and pieces gathered in years of presentation.

2. The Props

You need: I weaving needle - I newspaper sheet - I silk ribbon - I dock of card - and if you do the children routine, I Giant Folding Hat (Bongo Hat).

If you didn't buy this book complete, with the necessary props, you’ll wonder what the needle is so special about. A weaving needle is a kind of 6 inch, not too sharp sewing needle with an eyelet large enough to thread a silk ribbon. Please don't go through the obvious reflection: ,Oh, I’ve got this old needle from the 'Needle through balloon' trick, which is even larger and looks the more impressive." I assure you that this needle is unsuitable. It's not because it won't fit your portefeuille, thus forgoing the undeniable advantage of carrying a stage trick in your jacket-pocket. No, these balloon-needles are simply very dangerous. I know it by experience. During a Convention , years ago, this trick was marketed for the first time. I bought one. For protection the sharp end was secured by a cork. Holding the needle loosely in one hand, I strolled around with some colleagues. After a while I had the feeling of gnat-bites at the calf. The itching becoming too strong I went to, the rest-room and there I couldn’t believe my eyes. Unnoticed I had lost the protecting cork and my calf was totally stung, though, due to the extreme sharpness of the needle, it was not bleeding.

But now imagine a kid-show with a lively child as a volunteer... So please, forget about your balloon-needle for this routine. Try to find one at your nearest 5 & I0 or General Store.

For our weaving-needle we use a silk-ribbon of an approximate length of 5 ft. This is a minimum length for a good optical impression, because at the climax the assistant is holding the ribbon, with the card threaded, outstretched. With too short a ribbon this final pose would look too cramped.

One sheet of newspal2er. In principle you’ll only need one double side of a newspaper, but it might happen that a volunteer, in his excitement, slips sideward with the needle, thus missing the bent card. No problem here, as the unharmed card can be pushed back in place and the action repeated. À funny fine and a second sheet will help. So, for correctness sake, we’ll say: you need two sheets of newspaper.

And a deck of cards, though its much better and more effective to borrow one deck from the audience. (In this case you'd better not tell the donor that his deck will be incomplete after the trick. But it might be a good idea to swap jeux_de_cartes with him or offer the volunteer a new deck as he's leaving the stage.) But usually spectators don't carry jeux_de_cartes with them and so you better have one by yourself. This sounds stupid, but I don't mean your newest Bicycle or Aviator. No, I’m talking about your oldest, the one that looks dirty on the sides or has some cards missing. Thrifty? No, but new jeux_de_cartes arc stiff and tend to look twisted or might even break if you bend single cards. And you don't want to reveal the secret of the trick by such a very visible detail, do you? The obvious question is: what if the volunteer hands me a new deck? Well, bend the cards a few times, spring or waterfall them. It looks good and if after the trick curtsy marks are to be seen, they will be attributed to this handling. But in the unlikely case that you’ll get one from the audience it will be a really used, sometimes filthy one and that's exactly what we need.

As you sec, “Professional Card Stab" is ideal for getting rid of your old cards, the more as you don't need a complete deck. The audience sees that all cards are different as you fan them and I guess nobody will count them. Of course, due to the loss of one card per performance, the deck gets thinner every time and at one point the audience will be aware that there might not be 52 cards. So simply replace them by cards of another deck or, every I0 or I5 shows, replace the whole package by a 'new' one. Should one volunteer be too, inquisitive, tell him or her: “Yes, you're right, there are some missing and you’ll understand why very soon."

The Giant or Bongo Hat is a marketed item, a very small hat at the beginning, changing colour as it grows larger, eventually revealing the face of an ogre. The use of the hat is not obligatory, as the children's routine plays strong enough in it's basic, i.e. adult version. But as this presentation is based on the kid's routine and as I use a Bongo Hat in it, I’ve taken it up in my enumeration.

3. The Grown-Up Routine

Not much to say about this one, as the kid's and adult's routines are absolutely identical, sale of the Bongo Hat ending. This has the advantage to discharge your memory and to give you the opportunity to show the routine more often. Well of' course you would like to change some points of patter. This is up to you.

4. The Children Routine

4.I. Preparation

Fold down the Bongo Hat to it's smallest size and in it put the deck of cards. Beside lay the two sheets of newspaper and the needle wrapped up in the threaded ribbon.. For working I use a small table, on which I deposit the props I use during the trick and the “main table", on which lay the props I need during the show. The small table, or work table, stands in front of me, near the microphone, the main table being on my left lateral side, i.e. slightly behind my. Depending on working conditions (streets or malls) I sometimes use a chair on which stands my suitcase. But, chair or table, it’s important for the misdirection in the card control to have the props laying behind me on the left side.

4.2. Choosing the Card (incl. Stage whispering)

“I need someone to help me with my next trick..."

You didn't finish the phrase as you’ll have all the hands waving, all the kids screaming: Me! Me! After a meaningful pause you go on:

“,... someone who knows the cards. Like in Snap: Queen of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds, Six of Clubs and so on!"

By now some hands will go down, but even with kids under the age of I0 there will be enough 'card experts'. And if you choose a child which doesn't know the cards, this isn’t really dramatic. But you should ask this preliminary question, name a few cards as an example and a card game popular with kids to illustrate what you mean.

When choosing your assistant, Lake one who doesn't look too shy. The kid should seem a good sport and old enough not to become anxious under the giant hat at the end of the routine. You might even consider the possibility of choosing a smart-aleck youth, as the trick, combined with the Bongo Hat, can be a good heckler stopper. Why? Because #I you can turn tables and have the joke on him, which should cool him off for the rest of the show, at the same time #2 giving him some applause for his successful assistance, making him your partner, thus attenuating the little humiliation endured, and #3 you will baffle him by this trick, which should rise your authority in his eyes.

As we did until now, let's go on presuming the assistant is a boy. Make him stand on your right and introduce him to the audience. Then:

,,So you know the cards? Let's test it. All the other children will be the jurors. I name a few cards and you tell me what they look like, all right? The Ace ... Ventura. - What do you mean, that's not a card. He's what ? Detective? No, that was Spade, Sam of Spades. A what, a pet detective? Oh, sorry, I guess I mixed things up a bit."

By making all the other kids jurors you involve them into the trick. And even if they don't get the jokes all right, theIl find the names funny. And adults present will appreciate a short aside.

,,Now let's see. First we need a magic hat."

Turn to your left and fetch the Bongo Hat. Hold it in your left hand, make a double take at it.

,,What's that in there?"

Seemingly you found something very unexpected and bizarre, thus building up an ,,unwrapping-a--present" thrill, as everyone in the audience wants to know what strange and secret thing might be in the hat.. Play out the anticipation, take the cards from the hat, show them to the audience and state:

,,A deck of cards!"

Give it to the boy and whisper: ,Don't drop it’. This stage whispering at an early stage and in fact dramatically useless this very moment, is introduced to familiarize the boy with it, to make him an accomplice and introduce him to the role he's suppose to perform in the act.

Do not underrate this ,,accomplice technique"; whisper your short but clear instructions from the beginning and you will be guarded against recalcitrant characters or awkward helpers. There is no chance for show -off- helpers, exhibitionists and self-assessed clowns are under control. They will feel dependant on your whispered directions. At the same time the volunteer feels like a real assistant who can't make an mistake as you guide him. So by means of stage-whispering you bring the boy in a relative dependence (unnoticed by the audience) and at the same time you establish a sense of comfort and security, as nothing can fail, the magician having the total control over the action by giving his whispered instructions.

,,But first Billy needs his magic hat."

You tell this to the audience while you put the hat on his head. Of course the hat is much too small and drops. Give the audience a helpless look, stare at the hat and then act like you had the best idea in ages and enthusiastically state:

,,We can make this hat larger!"

Fold it out once and again try to put it on the boy's head. Sometimes this size, the green coloured one, fits. If it docs, be clumsy and put it slightly side wards on the head, thus making it drop. Repeat it several times, increasing the pace. Then, also increasing the dynamics and loudness of your voice:

,,We can make this hat even larger!"

Now you unfold the red hat, put it on the boy's head and in relief you confirm:

"Now it fits!"

Have a closer glance at the boy, a look towards the audience and back to the boy to ask him:

,,Do you know what you look like?"

Immediately turn towards the audience, making clear a joke is going to follow and thus stimulating the anticipatory imagination of the children. Some will at this point call out some suggestions, like captain, pirate etc. After a short pause you say, rather prosaic:

,,You look little the Little Redhood!"

All the kids will burst out laughing and if you're not sure he got i t as a joke, and to avoid the feeling, that the others are laughing at him -after all he's, like all boys, very presumptuous about his manliness -, look at him and wink, just to make clear it's only a partner-joke on the character he's acting so fabulously.

From now on and until the final gag, the hat plays no further part in the routine. The hat episode is just a dramatic parenthesis. My experience is that the Bongo Hat, just like other gag items too, is a mere throw-away. It's only the embedding into another trick that makes them funny. Whether by putting them into a routine, like David Ginn does with his Gag-Wands, to polish it up or for mere laughs or, like in this case, by delivering the frame for a routine.

,,Look at the cards if they are all right and shuffle them!"

If the boy tends to have too close a glance at the cards, whisper: ,Now shuffle!" You don't need to desperately hide your whispering. On the contrary, your audience should get used to your quick, short indications, Once the habit taken you can use it very securely for the technique of “instant stooging" later on. I don't say that your audience should in any case hear what you’re saying or be really aware of it, but simply get used to the fact that you are 'talking' to your assistant. And by not trying to hide it by all means you’ll hide it all the better.

Shuffling a deck of cards while standing on a stage is not the easiest thing to do for a layman and certainly not for a child. So announce loudly and very showy:

,,Ladies aaaaand Gentleman! And here the great sensation, the first living card-shuffling machine ... .. with automatic card dropping!"

This last remark only if a card happens to drop. Behave like a quack on a market, have a laugh with the boy, take the cards and:

“ To make sure they’re thoroughly mixed, I’ll give the one more shuffle."

Fan them, show them to the audience and then to the boy:

,,Satisfîed?"

Let boy and audience have a good look at the fan. Without the need to emphasize it you eliminate the unfailingly raising 'they-are-all-the-same' explanation. Of course you could show them after the trick and point the fact out, but you'd be in a defensive position then, a thing to avoid by any means. Square the deck and suddenly, the idea seemingly occurring that very moment, ask:

,,You did shuffle them, but did you count them?"

Of course he did not. So spring or waterfall the deck (or riffle it if you’re not good at these techniques) and confirm:

,,Yes, 52 cards!" - ,And now the test. I am going to show one card to Billy, he will tell us which one it is and yen, all of you, will tell me if he's right."

Take the bottom card, ask the boy to name it, then show it to the audience for them to confirm it.

,,Billy says, it's the Six of Hearts. Is that right?"

A loud YES! should be the answer. (I hope I don't have to point out that this is a random example. No, you don't have to force the Six of Hearts on him, no.) Put this card on top of the deck.

,,Mmh, maybe it was just chance. Let's try it once more."

Take the new bottom card and go through the same procedure. Putting the bottom card on top and not somewhere in the middle of the deck just helps to exclude the possibility of the boy choosing this card again for the trick.

What if by now it becomes evident that the boy doesn't know cards? Well, after the first wrong answer prompt the next one by whispering. Cue him and then hand him the microphone to tell the right answer aloud. Or ask him to tell you, bent down to him, let him give you an answer, even if it’s: j don't know" and announce: ,Billy says its the Six of Hearts, is that correct?"

,,Bravo Billy, you now choose a card all by yourself, look at it, remember it well and then show it to all the other children. But don't show the card to me and you (the other children) don't tell me which one it is."

You explicitly ask the audience to look at the card, not to remember it, thus involving the younger children who don't know anything about cards. Fan the deck, make him take one, turn away and state once more:

,,Remember, don't tell me which one it is. Did you show the card to everybody, Billy? Now hold the card firmly against your body, so I cannot sec which one it is."

4.3. The Card Control

The next step in the routine is to bring the card on top of the deck. Forget all the fancy manoeuvres and clever moves you've read about in close-up treatises. Here you are working on stage, street or mail, and like most magicians, you're no cardician mastering sophisticated passes. With my control you won't need this, all you’ll need is nerve. First the card is supposed to be put back somewhere in the middle of the deck.

I'Il riffle the cards. When you feel like it, call out 'Stop!' Do you understand?"

Demonstrate the riffling and hold the cards near the microphone to enhance the noise. Ask: ,Ready?" and start the action right away. You’ll be through before he's got time to breathe. Give the audience a surprised look, then turn to the boy:

,,Good, but please, a bit faster. Ready?"

Here he's going to step right into the next gag. Look at the boy, make sure he's looking at you and breathe in - a direct sign of action to him - but don't do anything. The boy will immediately scream ,Stop!", much too loud and too soon.

,,Hey, I haven't even started yet!"

Again look at the children, making them your accomplices. But don't forget to discreetly wink at the boy , confirming that he's playing his part well.

,,Let's try it once more."

Sometimes the boy isn't fast enough. In this case immediately skip the joke, riffling normally until he stops you. Cut the deck, holding the lower part in the right hand. Make him place his card on the lower part and replace the second half with your left hand, keeping a break with your fourth finger.

The card is controlled, but now, how to get it on top? Very easy and you do it before their very eyes ... unnoticed. Remember the newspaper sheet on the table (or suitcase) on your lateral left? While you turn slightly around to fetch the sheet, you cut the deck and inverse the halves i.e. complete the cut. The procedure in detail: After the card has been replaced and the two halves of the deck are brought together again - with the finger-break between them -, the deck is held by both hands. The left, palm up, holds it in a dealers grip, the right is placed, palm down, on the deck, ready to cut at the break and bring the controlled card on top.

Keep your hand in motion and ask the boy:

,,Do you have a sheet of newspaper ? - No? - By chance I brought one with me."

While saying this turn your head and have a look at your table (left side), thus directing the attention of the audience towards the area behind you. Their mind is already with the newspaper and its presumptive use in the trick. Following the head's rotation, the body turns towards the left and in this movement the deck is cut. The large motion covers the small one. The left hand brings its half under the right hands half and takes up the newspaper. The right holds the deck in dealer's grip and can easily help to unfold the sheet.

4.4. Wrapping the Cards

Have the boy outstretching his left arm and make him pinch the newspaper. Then make him hold the deck and while placing it in his hands, press his thumb firmly on the top card, whispering: ,Don't drop it!" and outstretch this arm too. He now looks like a point-duty policeman ruling the traffic. Standing there like he does, it's impossible for him to touch the cards and accidentally reveal the chosen card. To distract his attention you immediately ask:

“Do you have a needle with you? No? - By chance I brought one with me. And do you have a thread? - No? By chance I’ve brought one with me."

If you emphasize the words ,,by chance" from the first time on, you might establish a little running-gag-catch-phrase. It gets laughs every time and every other time, as pronunciation and timing are the same in all three phrases, children, after the question and the ,No?", complete by themselves: ,... by chance..." Unwind the ribbon as you say this and hold the needle with thumb and first finger, thus exposing the prop a maximum, giving the audience time to realize what strange items these are.

“I got them from the Jolly Green Giant."

Take the deck from the boy and hand him the needle. With your left you fetch the newspaper and at the same time pace down your talking in order to bring some concentration and calm into the audience. Hold the newspaper (left) and the cards (right) in about eye-height. This way you're in position to look simultaneously at the props and at the audience and, in return, they are forced to look at your eyes the moment they look at the props, which again helps to increase the concentration and the 'mysterious flair'. At the same time you pace down, also tone down your voice, thus indicating that something important is going to happen. And there is, but unnoticed yet.

,,Now these cards will be wrapped into this newspaper."

Under the cover of the sheet the right thumb pushes the top card forwards (Illustrations I & 2). This action is combined with the text as follows: Your hands still at eye-height you look particularly close at the cards - ,Now these cards..." lower your hands to belly-height, the right hand going behind the newspaper held by the left - _.. will be wrapped..." and pushes the top card forward while you say - _.. into this newspaper." So the slower talking here not only helps to build-up a psychological momentum, but also gives you time to do the trick move.

Wrapping up the deck is a matter of seconds. Here's the situation: newspaper held on the edge by the left hand, right hand behind the sheet holding the deck with the pushed-forward card. This card touches the sheet approximately in it's centre. The right forearm is in a horizontal position. The left hand releases the newspaper and takes a grip on the cards from the ,outside", i.e. the sheet floats freely for the fraction of a second, the time needed by the left hand to let the edge of the newspaper go and hit the middle of the sheet with the flat hand, immediately taking a grip on the cards (Illustration 4), thus bending the pushed-forward card around the deck (Illustration 3, here seen without the newspaper) . The right releases it's grip and comes forward. For the audience there is no visible tricky move involved, as only one hand at the time has been manipulating the deck. Both hands now wrap up the deck in the newspaper, making it a handy little package held by the right. (Illustration 5, the newspaper being left out for better visibility).

Make sure the narrow sides of the deck are wrapped up tight, especially the side opposite the bend card, i.e. the side the boy is going to stab in.

,,Now you take the needle and stab right through the cards! "

While saying this you change your grip, turn the deck heads for tails, so the side with the bend card is near your fourth finger. Don't get Illustration 6 wrong, it’s not Illustration.5 with the newspaper wrapped around! The bend card is now facing backwards, the front, between thumb and first finger, being ready to be stabbed without hindrance. Be cautious here. By pressing the deck firmly you can control the slide of the needle. And the bend card being an obstacle, you will be able to feel with your fourth finger where the needle will pierce it. So move your finger away from that point and if you feel by now that the card is going to be pierced too much sidewards, correct the position under the guise of helping the boy. Though the needle isn't that sharp, for security's sake you’ll have to control the boys actions anyway. Sometimes the kid is very lively and handles the needle like a weapon. Whisper ,,Stop that!" and with a look that shows him that he's out of his part in the little magic skit you're performing, state:

,,Billy, you're supposed to tab the deck of cards and not to impale me!"

If necessary control him by taking his hand firmly and directing him all through the stabbing motion. When the needle protrudes at the back, take it and drag it through completely, far enough to have more or less the equal length of ribbon dangling on each side of the package. Release the needle and put it on the table in front of you. (If you work without this small table, put it in your pocket). Tell the boy to hold one side of the ribbon with his left, the other with his right hand and to outstretch the arms. You hold the package with your right hand.

4.5. Dramatizing the Climax

,,Do you think you stabbed one card?"

While you ask this you slide the package on the ribbon back and forth, look at the audience and state:

,,Well, he impaled the deck!"

Here comes an important dramatic turn: Now the boy becomes the magician and all of the audience, including you, is eager to know “whether he did it". Whisper: “Hold tight!" and start tearing the newspaper off. In the movement you remove the deck and flatten the bend card. No fear, there is enough movement involved here to give you more cover than needed to bring the card back in shape. While doing so, have a look at the card. In your right hand there is the ,,waste" (deck and paper), in your left is the card. Hold it face-down on the palm of your hand. In order to stress the situation, nobody should sec the card now. Move the card on the ribbon:

,,YES, he stabbed one card. But wouldn't it be a miracle if this is the card he chose to start with? Billy, what was your card?"

He will tell you. Don't make him yell it into the microphone but rather bent towards him and make him tell you. This way, if he tells you that he forgot or names a wrong one, you’ll give the name of the right card, as you looked at it a moment ago. To involve the audience and bring the tension to a peak, you state:

,,Billy says, his card was the Nine of Hearts, is that right? Well, if he stabbed the Nine of Hearts, his card, he's a real fantastic magician and deserves a big, big round of applause. Let's see."

Whisper the order to release the ribbon, have a close look at it first, pause and then, triumphant:

,,YES! the Nine of Hearts! "

It's important to emphasize the voice as to make the applause start by itself, an applause you direct towards the boy. Offer the card as a souvenir, but don't dismiss him. He's still got the Bongo Hat on.

4.6. The Bongo Hat Ending

Let the applause die, look at the boy and tell the audience, like you had a brilliant idea:

,,You know what? Billy is a really great magician. And great magicians have great hats. And we can make this bat even bigger."

5. Remarks

Dear magic friends. Now that you read and maybe studied this manuscript and performed the routine, don't dismiss the little psychological asides. I think that these, together with the stage-whispering and accompliceship arc worth much more than the trick itself.

I'd be happy to hear your critics and improvements

Christoph - Joachim Schröder

Rellinger Str. I2

20257 Hamburg

Germany

6. Appendix

An additional Routine

by Serge Etringer

Christoph, as my mentor, was of precious help as I made my first steps into the perilous field of professional magic -and still is up to this day. He shares his knowledge generously and one of the first routines he advised me to go through, was the Card Stab. We work in very different styles, mine being more of a Stand-up-Comedy-with-Magic kind and here's my version of his great routine.

There are some slight changes. For example, my card control is even cheekier than Christoph's. I used his for a long time, but then Eugene Burger, during the I988 HSM Convention in The Hague, showed me another one that I’m

using since. It's very bold, but in the now 7 years that I use it, I was exposed only once. The volunteer chose his card and places it back. I cut the deck, holding the lower half loose on the right hand, faces down. He places his card on top of this part of the deck. But my hand isn’t flat, it’s in an 90° angle, a kind of triangle which points down, the cards being able to pivot, their faces being against the palm of the hand at the moment.. Now I seemingly put the upper, left held part, on the lower one. I’ve been facing the volunteer, now I turn towards the audience. I use the large movement of the body to hide a small one of the hand, because at the same lime I pivot the cards held by the right hand. They now don't rest face-down on the palm, but face-up on the fingers, the hand still being in this triangular shape. Imagine it like this: My hand is a book, the fingers and the palm being the cover, the deck one page and in the action I flip one page. And now I simply place the upper half on the face of the remainder. The controlled card is now on top of the deck. As Eugene said: “Why make it difficult."

I use the same props, adding two gag cards, a pair of funny glasses and a permanent marker. I remove all the Court Cards from the deck, as I make the volunteer sign the card and thus the signature is always visible from a distance. On Court Cards it's not. And when working for a very large audience, I even force a low value card on him. A 2 or 3 of a suite is easily recognized from a distance and the signature is the more visible.

The routine is basically for children and adults. I only use it in shows for the 9 to 12 year age group and always take one of the older children in the audience. For two reasons. #1: Most of the older ones will sit in groups and have a tendency to heckle, telling each other that “all this is kid’s stuff and terribly boring", even if they enjoy the show. By using one of them in a routine I make the whole thing more interesting for them and at the same lime I have them hesitate about heckling, as any of them might be my next ,,victim". #2: I am almost sure they know the values and suits of cards. When the latter differs widely from the children's routine, I’ll give the variations in brackets. The manipulation being the same, I’ll give very few directions here. Let's go.

,,Who among you plays cards? - Yes? - And what do you play?"

By asking this question I can almost be sure to find a child knowing the card values without asking explicitly for it. I always use a boy when working for children and a lady when performing for adults. In the following I’ll continue to call the boy Billy. The adult helper will be Carol.

,,What is your name? - Billy! Billy? Don't tell me you are the Billy, Pokerface Billy, the Cardsharp? What game do you play?"

Here I bow down to the boy to get an answer, but don't wait for it, I directly announce any “baby card game" that's popular at the lime, a game that nobody over the age of 5 would play.

,,Oh, and are you good at it? "

(,,Carol Miller! Carol Miller? The Carol Miller? Carol Pokerface Miller? Folks, I can only advice you not to play with this Lady. I've heard of her before and only last week she was caught playing chess with loaded Bishops. Carol, you don't mind if tonight we use my deck, just to make sure."

,,With a name like that you sure know the cards, but let's test it anyway. I will show you one card and you name it. Please speak into the microscope. Don’t eat it. It's not an ice-cream cone. No, it’s not an electric shaver either. Now say 'Hello' and they, if they can hear you, will answer “Hello."

This is just to direct the volunteer a bit, as laymen don't really know how to speak into a mike. First a little gag for the smaller ones (microscope). Then for the helper. They're too close (Don't eat it) or too high (Shaver). The Greeting is just for me to know how loud they are going to speak and to correct the mike position before I go on. .In this part of the routine it is important for the boy or Lady to speak directly into the mike, because the audience has to hear their strange answer directly, without me repeating it.

The Gag Cards are on top of the deck. I show the cards to the volunteer, but the audience will in no case see their faces. The spectators will never know if your helper made up the joke or if the cards really have such strange values. And I, if by now I found out that my choice was bad, that the volunteer will ruin the routine, can dismiss him with a laugh. (This happened only twice).

,,What's this card then? - Yes. - The what? - The Fourteen of Spades? - What did you say was the game you're good at? You're sure you don't need glasses?"

Timing is important here. I first accept his answer, then do a double-take and only then I seemingly realize what he said, look at the audience and repeat the card value and then go on. I don't really need the funny glasses. But if I do so, I never use the goggle eyes, as these can't simply be put on, They need to be fixed behind the cars and this I cannot do with the deck in hand without ruining the timing of the joke. I use glasses that can be put on like normal glasses. And remove them quite rapidly, I don't let him stand there with these glasses on. The card is discarded by bringing it into my left pocket.

,,Now Billy, please ... be serious! Name this card. - Yes, of course, the Three-and-a-half of Hearts. - Is there a doctor in the house?" (One alternative is to cut out a Postcard the size of a playing card and if you’re afraid the child might not know how to tell it is a 3 and a half of the value, make him answer to your question: Which card is this? “A post card!”

Here too respect timing is all important. A pause before “be serious" will generate an automatic laugh. And the boy will know that it's a joke. After the answer I start nodding and then speak very calmly. Pause and then, addressing the audience: “Is there…” This card is also placed in my left pocket.

“Well, Billy, I think we better leave this part out. Tell me, can you shuffle the cards? Yes? Hey, no tricks. Take my deck and shuffle it, please."

I hand him the deck, but at the same time I push the top card forward. The moment he tries to get hold of the deck, I withdraw my hand, leaving him with a single card. This works by itself, as he will try to take it from me the way I hand it to him: thumb on top and the fingers under the card. I immediately start to give instruction and then, after a time, have a look at him to see if he followed instructions. It goes like this:

,,Good, shuffle the cards thoroughly and try not to drop too much of them. Then choose one card, any card, look at it an

put it back somewhere in the deck. Good, now What did you do, you dropped all of them but one? I what? I only

gave you one? Are you sure? All right then, here, have another one. You want them all? All right, all right, here they

are. Go on."

(Sometimes, if it’s a merry group of people, I do the one card joke with adults. But usually I hand Carol the cards and say: “You shuffle them and I pick them up from the floor."

The very moment he starts to shuffle I yell:

“That's enough!"

which gives me a double laugh, first because of the stupid instruction and then because of the face of the boy, who will be totally surprised and freezes about a second before he realizes that it was a joke. In other words, I produce a slow-burner, which is always funny. He eventually shuffles the deck, I take it from him, thank him, square the deck and go on.

“Just to play it safe, I will quickly count the cards, to be sure you didn't remove the aces for cheating."

I waterfall or spring them, state ,Yes, 52. Your luck!" Then I fan them and show the fan to the audience.

,,Folks, are they shuffled well enough for your taste? Billy, you now choose any card. No, not that one, I said any card. No, this one neither. All right then, take one. Oh, Billy, just to make sure you didn't pick one of your cards, say the Ace of Kings or the Two of Jokers, show the card to the audience. Folks, don't name it, please, just remember it. And, Billy, for you to recognize your card later on, please write your name on it."

I don't talk about ,signing" the card, this sometimes irritates children. He will tell me he hasn't got anything to write. In my right pocket I placed the permanent marker. I get it and unscrew it for him. This, even while holding the cards, is very easy. But then I don't hand him the marker, but the cap. I immediately instruct him to write his name on the card. By now he will protest loudly. I apologize, take the cap from him, place it loosely on the marker and hand the whole to him, the capped part towards the boy. The moment he grabs the marker, I withdraw it, leaving him again with the cap. He’ll protest again, but now laughing. Eventually I hand the marker and make him sign the card. It is important to now take any other card from the deck and show him exactly where to sign. Because telling him to sign the face of his card might be disturbing for him. Usually, as my volunteers are older, they write their name directly, but sometimes children write very slowly. In this case I seemingly read out loudly what they write: Billy, P... Y ... three L's? ... E.. . E.

(Of course I leave out the marker-business here. “Carol, please write your name on the face of the card. That's the side

where they are all different. A great invention, because this way you can tell one card from the other. Write your name and if you can't write, just make an X, no, make two X's, one for your maiden name. Good, So write down your name ... and your phone number. Thank you. My marker please, thank you. Ha, the vanishing marker, I know that trick".)

,,Good, now we’ll put the card back somewhere in the deck. I will riffle through the cards like this (do it) and you, when you feel like it, yell out: Stop!"

Here I go through the riffling business as described in Christoph's routine. I control the card on top and put the deck back into its case, giving it Billy to hold.

,,Now there are two ways of finding that card again. The first one would be to look through the deck until we find it. The second would be by magic. So, folks, you decide how we're going to find it back. By looking for it or by magic? Magic? Are you sure? Billy, you heard them. I hope you do know how to do that, because I haven't got the slightest idea. I think it might be a good idea to start with a magic hat. Here I’ve got a nice blue one."

(,,Carol, you heard them. By magic! Please, repeat after me: I don't know how to do it, but I have got an idea. (She repeats it). Oh, you have? That's fine, because I haven’t got the slightest one. Ladies and Gentleman, have a good time with Carol." I announce this in an MC way and pretend Io leave the stage. But when the laughter dies I continue with Carol, of course. I leave the Bongo Hat out with the adults, only use it during the February Carnival Season when performing for an already masqueraded audience.)

Here the Bongo Hat business starts. I put the blue bat on the boys head, it drops, I look at it lying on the floor, take it up, put it on his head once more, it drops, I stare at the bat, then at the head and state:

,,Billy, I’m afraid your head’s too large. I guess we’ll have to let out some air. What? The hat's too small? Are you sure. Let's see. Oh, yes, we can make it larger. Fantastic, in green. You look like Robin Hood. I hope your brother doesn't look like Brother Tuck. I guess it's still a bit small. We can make it even larger. Do you know, what you look like now? Like Little Redhood. Now let's go on. Billy, did you bring a newspaper? No? BY CHANCE I've brought one. And did you bring a needle? No? BY CHANCE I’ve brought one. And did you bring a thread? No? BY CHANCE I've brought one. And did you bring a bicycle? No? BY CHANCE we don't need one. You shouldn't go ahead of me like that."

In any case you should emphasize the ,No? By chance as you want it to become a catch phrase and to make the

audience say it aloud with you and finally go ahead of you. This is followed by a comic interlude: Threading a needle.

This I don't do for adults. For the adult show I have a needle already threaded with the ribbon. With children I use a very

thick , bright red, cotton thread. The ends of the thread are hardened with a non-toxic rubber cement.

I start moistening the thread as one usually does, to stiffen the end and facilitate the operation. For this I exaggerate the action, moistening it much too much, moving my lips like a fish and making smacking noises. Then I try to bring the thread into the eye of the needle, closing one of my eyes, making a strange face and finally threatening it some 5 inches sidewards from the needle. Try it once more, fail once more. Eventually I moisten the needle, holding the thread still and moving the eye of the needle towards it. And fail. I now hold the needle very close in front of my nose, look on the eye of the needle in a very concentrated way and finally succeed in threatening it. But I pull too much on the thread, liberating it again. I go through the action once more. This time the children will yell at me to stop pulling in time. I breath out in a very relieved way and get the newspaper. I use a french one (because I read it at home), you could use any foreign language newspaper. With one paper you can make some I5 to 20 shows. It's worth the gag.

,,Billy, I hope you don't mind if we use this french newspaper. Can you hold it for me? Thank you. Do you speak french? No? Really? What's your age? 10 and you don't speak french? That's strange, because in Paris I saw children of 3 years who spoke it fluently. Now let me take the cards out of the box. Could you hold these too, please." (The newspaper gag is only a groaner with the children. I use it with adults too, but go on by reading and of course translating things for the audience. What I “read" are topical lines for the occasion or the specific group or the company I'm performing for, lines I made up from informations I got about some members of the audience and so on.)

Right now Carol is holding the card box in one hand. The other being free I now don't give her the newspaper to hold, but the threaded needle. But I hand her the needle the wrong way around. She's holding the pointed side between thumb

and first finger. I grab the newspaper sheet, prepare for the ,dirty work" and have a double take at Carol. “You don't do much needlework at home, do you? I can tell by the way you're holding this one!" And use the line and the laughter as misdirection for the trick action.)

The card is now somewhere in the deck and the deck wrapped up into the newspaper. Now you take the needle and carefully push it through the package. I said carefully, please aim at it and remember, the little pink thing on top is my finger!"

The very moment the needle enters the package, I press the deck firmly, thus controlling the needle. As he can't really move the needle now, I “help" him, tell him to push the needle completely through and to almost illustrate what I mean, I take his hand and help him, by this controlling his force and the point of emergence of the needle on the back. I pull out the needle, let the thread/ribbon dangle, give the volunteer one end to hold while I hold the other end, keeping the thread straight. I move the package back and forth on the ribbon and state, that it seems threaded. Then I tear off the front part of the paper, exposing the narrow side of the cards and the ribbon that sticks out. I remove the deck - the stabbed card staying automatically in the newspaper - and tell that we don't need these, discarding them. Now I open the rest of the newspaper and in this movement I flatten the card. Then I tear of the paper from the thread, immediately holding the card in a way the boy cannot see its face. Most of the time the volunteer, child or adult, will try to glance at it, so its better to press the card against your chest.

,,Here we've got one card stabbed by the needle, it's threaded. It might be any card, but, Billy, if it's your card then you're a real magician and deserve a big round of applause. Now, Billy, what was the card you chose and marked with your name? The Six of Clubs? Folks, is that right? Let's see, YES, it's the Six of Clubs. Bravo!"

(“ .... Now, Carol, what was the card you chose and signed? The Six of Clubs? Let's see. I’ve got a surprise for you, Carol. Not only did you find your very own card, no, you also changed it into an other one. Oh, you prefer the Six of Clubs with your signature on. Is this your card. Yes it is! Bravo!" The adult routine ends here.)

By now I asked the volunteer to let his end of the tread go and I'm holding the card very high over my head, for everybody to see it. And while doing so I slowly pull the ribbon out of the card, proving that it is really threaded. And offer the card as a souvenir.

Now the Bongo Hat ending. Even with older kids you better tell them to keep their hands down. They don't tear the hat down because they are afraid, they are simply curious. So I open the hat first, show it to everybody and only then put it on his head. With the last size I open the front, the stripes, put it on his head and only then do I open the back. But don't let it go. I don't want the ogre to be exposed too early. Thus I pinch the top of the hat, keeping it in position even if the boy turns around a bit.

,,Billy, you did a great job and you are a great magician. And, you know, great magicians wear great bats. And this hat can be made even larger. Look at this, isn't that beautiful: dots ... they fit your freckles so well."

If I have a boy of a very hecklerish group and want him and his friends to be calm for the rest of the show, I am a bit rude, turn the tables and at the dot-size I tell him: , “... dots ... they fit your pimples so well." I know it's not nice, but he hasn't been either and the fear that I might use one of them for one of my next tricks will calm the junior hecklers down. ,,And you know what? We can make it even larger. Stripes, they fit your T-Shirt (or pants or socks or shirt ... ) perfectly. You could pose for Vogue, you know. Best dressed magician of the year. Ladies and Gentleman, a big, big round of applause for Billy!!!"

While making the announcement I turn the hat around, exposing the funny face. When the laughing dies or when I feel that he's going to tear the hat down to see what's so, funny about it, I take it myself and ask him, if he wants to see what he looked like. He will say yes. So I turn away from him, put the hat on myself, with the ogre in front, and quite suddenly jump around to face the boy. The surprise effect will make him react much stronger than merely exposing the funny face. And thus the audience will have a better reaction too.

Once in a while it happens that the child doesn't want to wear the hat. Do not insist. You’ll ruin the pacing of the routine, it's ridiculous to argue with a child on stage and some people might get upset by seeing you force something on the child. If it's at a very early stage of the routine, the green or red hat, tell them what they would have looked like, then discard the hat. If it's at the end (dots, stripes) simply put the hat on yourself and go through the jokes, changing it, when revealing the face, in ,,best looking magician of the year!"

[ 04 mai 2002: Message édité par : Trist@n ]

[Cyril JUGE]

merci pour la fonction "recherche"

j'avais pas fait atention !

[Billy BONDOIS]

Bonjour vous tous.

Ayant rencontré ce problème qui n'arrange en rien l'empalmage classique, je me suis terriblement penché sur la question. Tu peux facilement trouver une solution qui évite et régule la transpiration. Celle ci s'appelle de l'ETIAXIL, trouvable en pharmacie. Ce produit devrait te durer la vie entière. Cependant, il faut éviter d'en mettre trop car tu auras vraiment les mains plus que sèches et tu ne pourras plus faire d'empalmage (plus d'accroche). Le tout étant de mettre ce qu'il faut et surtout, le soir mais ceci est précisé dans la notice.

Il s'agit d'un produit pour "pieds" que les pharmaciens conseillent tout autant pour les mains, donc il ne faut pas se fier au apparence de la boite. En tout cas, c'est le moyen le plus radical que je connaisse.

Bonne magie.

BILLY

[Woody (Philippe)]

Bonjour à tous,

Un ami - Jean-claude, si tu nous regardes - utilise un mélange composé de deux tiers de jus de citron et d'un tiers de glycérine et cela m'a l'air efficace.

Amicalement

Woody

[Christophe MENIER]

Bonjour,

Comme je l'ai déja conseillé à un autre magicien, si tu as vraiment les mains qui transpirent, avant tes routines de pièces, joins l'utile à l'agréable...fais une routine de balle éponge!!!!!!

Amicalement

CHRISMEN