Looking for "korn" (aka comedy magic bits)

[Joe Mckay]

My vision for my close-up magic is really coming together well. I won't go into all the details just yet - but part of the structure will involve having something to "bounce" off. And some of that will consist of magic "gags".

I am talking about the stuff that Karrell Fox and Billy McComb was famous for. In terms of the magicians from more recent generations, the only people I have seen who have made a point of compiling (and celebrating) these "bits of business" are Aldo Colombini and Nate Kranzo.

I came across a new one the other day. Well - it was new to me. You force a playing card. You then reveal a jumbo invisible card from your pocket and say it matches the card they chose (dumb gag).

You then reveal a written prediction from your pocket that reads: THE CARD YOU CHOSE WILL MATCH THE INVISIBLE CARD. Another dumb gag.

You then show that the card chosen matches a jumbo prediction that you had on display throughout the trick. So - it is a couple of dumb gags that leads to the magic finish. I saw this in a book of MC material.

I think I have a way to make this material "my own", that will work for me in a close-up environment (albeit in a gonzo style). So - I don't need lectures about only using original lines. The fact that this material feels "hack" is part of what I am aiming for. In no way am I looking down on these bits o' business. I think they are very inventive and ingenious ideas. It is just that this part of the structure for my magic is not the place where I am trying to be "original" when it comes to my "interpretation of magic" (to quote David Regal)

I have checked out a lot of resources (such as some of the Bob Orben books and the sources mentioned above). But this is one of those areas I have never researched properly in the past. So, I am sure I am still missing some helpful resources.

Any recommendations would be really appreciated. This is the sort of ephemera which is often only spread by word of mouth or is buried in print in places that are easily overlooked.

[AJM]

Some good advice here: -

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=53164

Andrew

[Steve Bryant]

Several books of the type you mention are in this issue of Little Egypt Magic:

http://littleegyptmagic.com/magic_june2009.html

Particularly, check Don Alan's Pretty Sneaky, Olson and Pearce's Sick Sorcery, and Lou Derman's Add Comedy to Your Act.

Derman's book contains 50 comedy card tricks.

[Joe Mckay]

Those are all new to me. Thanks a lot!

[Steve Bryant]

I don't know if anyone has a record (tricks, gags, and patter) of Derman's Friday Night Lou act that he performed on Friday nights at the Magic Castle. It was a delightful act. He had a nephew, Nate the Great, who also performed in the early days of the Castle. I always thought a description of the act combined with the book above would make a great book.

[Tom Stone]

Terri Roger's Diminishing Cards is a bit 'korny'. Not sure if it is published though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qZM6mqsR8E

[Joe Mckay]

I am a big fan of her work. Strangley - I don't recognise this trick from her books. So that is odd.

Thanks for pointing this one out to me!

[Q. Kumber]

Kornfidentially Yours
Clever Like a Fox
Another Book
all three books by Karrell Fox, the 'King of Korn'.

[Joe Mckay]

Thanks Quentin!