4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Discuss the latest news and rumors in the magic world.
Tarotist
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4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 26th, 2022, 8:20 pm

The last time I looked at this video a couple of weeks ago it had only a few thousand views. Now it has 4.4 MILLION VIEWS! It features Jeremy the Magic Worm. I am delighted to see how famous Jeremy has become! He deserves it after all the money he has earned me over the decades. People don't realise it but the worm can take in a lot more money than the svengal deck!

https://www.tiktok.com/@drmysterion/vid ... 38&lang=en

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 26th, 2022, 8:34 pm

I would bet the ranch that not that long ago, the prospect of going mega-viral on social media would have been one of the furthest things from Mark's mind. Now he's a superstar. As impressive as the number of views is (and it truly is), it is staggering that there have been 5567 comments to date. But my favorite one has to be this one from Jasper:

"This guy is now my favorite person on the planet."

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 26th, 2022, 8:55 pm

Thank you for drawing my attention to Jasper's comment. That means I have something in common with him.....................

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 26th, 2022, 9:10 pm

Tarotist wrote:Thank you for drawing my attention to Jasper's comment. That means I have something in common with him.....................


You're welcome. I was tempted to say something to that effect, but I preferred to play your straight man.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 26th, 2022, 9:23 pm

Here is my weirdest video. It has been taken from another video by someone from Romania, I think because the cups are the national colours of Romania (I am guessing anyway). I have no bloody idea what the trick has to do with Romania but this weird atrocity has nearly half a million views!
https://www.tiktok.com/@romaniaeverywhe ... 1780813317

This is the original video before it went Romanian! Nearly 4 million views!

https://www.tiktok.com/@lifescrazy25/vi ... 1780813317

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 27th, 2022, 2:22 pm

MagicbyAlfred wrote:I would bet the ranch that not that long ago, the prospect of going mega-viral on social media would have been one of the furthest things from Mark's mind. Now he's a superstar. As impressive as the number of views is (and it truly is), it is staggering that there have been 5567 comments to date. But my favorite one has to be this one from Jasper:

"This guy is now my favorite person on the planet."


Actually, Jaspers comment aside 90% of the comments are about Jeremy rather than me. I actually somewhat irritated over the matter and quite jealous that Jeremy is getting all the attention. In all my other viral videos 25% of the comments are about the trick and 75% about me. Not here though. My thunder has been taken and I have been eclipsed by a damned little piece of fur..............

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 27th, 2022, 2:42 pm

But just think how hard Jeremy has worked for you all these years and all the money he brought in. I'm sure he didn't get 90% of that. At least he's now getting some fame and notoriety.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 27th, 2022, 5:13 pm

Actually Jeremy has made far more money than I ever did. Millions in fact! Think about it.......................
And he has been famous for years even before I knew him!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 27th, 2022, 5:33 pm

I first came across Jeremy when I saw him being demonstrated in shop doorways in London, particularly Oxford Street. In those days, decades ago, there was no fancy packaging and no instructions either! Just a little cellophane packet to contain the worm. Just a man in a shop doorway doing what we wicked people call "flypitching" which means working illegally in the street. I think the shops must have been closed in order for the operator to work in the doorway so perhaps it was on a Sunday or after hours. He had a basket around his neck with the glass and the demonstration worm. I think he had the stock and kept the money in an apron around his waist. There were several different operators at different times. None of them were magicians and it was not invented by a magician either. When I first saw it I was daft enough to think it was real but I wasn't the only one.

I was taught a secret move that only real grafters know with the worm and in the end published it for all to see in a book I wrote but magicians still don't know it even though it has been there for all to see. I see videos of the routine by magicians and I cringe because they are doing it all wrong. Because they don't know the secret move they have the thread too long and they do stupid things like use invisible thread which breaks all time and isn't necessary anyway.

At one time I sold them in Holland where it had been very popular before I even set foot in the country. I used to call him "Jeremy de wunderslang"

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 27th, 2022, 5:42 pm

Tarotist wrote:Actually Jeremy has made far more money than I ever did. Millions in fact! Think about it.......................
And he has been famous for years even before I knew him!


True. But he was never seen by millions of people around the world within a matter of hours, nor ever went viral on social media before he knew YOU!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 28th, 2022, 12:23 am

My Jeremy routine can be found in my Marmaduke the Wonder Mouse book. I am afraid Marmaduke had a tantrum about it since the book was supposed to be about him, not Jeremy. I might just do a TicTok video about Marmaduke to see if he can also go viral. Of course a mere 4 million views is nothing compared to the svengali one which got 26 million views!

Anyway here is Marmaduke's book.
http://marklewisentertainment.com/html/mousebook.html

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 28th, 2022, 10:33 am

Tarotist wrote:My Jeremy routine can be found in my Marmaduke the Wonder Mouse book. I am afraid Marmaduke had a tantrum about it since the book was supposed to be about him, not Jeremy. I might just do a TicTok video about Marmaduke to see if he can also go viral. Of course a mere 4 million views is nothing compared to the svengali one which got 26 million views!

Anyway here is Marmaduke's book.
http://marklewisentertainment.com/html/mousebook.html


And if and when Marmaduke goes viral, you could follow up with the "Epic Battle Between Jeremy and Marmaduke" and possibly break the all-time Tik Tok record for views. At that point the Paparazzi will be at your doorstep and the talk shows begging for you to appear (knowing that Jeremy and Marmaduke will need their operator and a ride to the show). You might even make it into the tabloids!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 28th, 2022, 5:53 pm

Poor Marmaduke has always been in the shadow of Jeremy for many years. Somehow I don't think I can get him to go viral. In fact I think I may already have a video of him on TikTok although I am not sure. I will have to check but even if he is there he would only have a few thousand views. One moment please. I am off to have a look!

Here we are! Most of these are my non viral videos. In other words the ones I have recorded myself! It seems that my videos go viral when someone else records them for some reason! Anyway Marmaduke is the eighth one down. He only has a little under 6000 views!
https://www.tiktok.com/discover/Marklewis384

Or here he is in all his glory!
https://www.tiktok.com/@marklewis384/vi ... 6608416006

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 28th, 2022, 6:57 pm

I know how Marmaduke feels. I've been living in the shadow of my multiplying rabbits for forever and a day. Oh well, at least they help me make ends meet. (Yes, I have had grown up sophisticated men who saw the little marsupials the previous night at the event or in the bar, call me the next day to hire me, with the express stipulation that I "do the bunny trick" for their guests.

Meanwhile, it restores one's faith in humankind to see comments like this one that was left below Mark's Marmaduke Tik Tok video:

"Seth Martin
I know this trick, I won't spoil the magic but this is a part of tiktok I didn't know existed thanks for making stuff here I hope you continue to ❤ "

I would feel pretty dang good about that were I Mark.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 28th, 2022, 9:24 pm

I am glad he doesn't want to spoil the magic by exposure. Alas he is the exception rather than the rule. I do feel good about his comment but I am glad to say that he is not the only one. There are hundreds of comments along the same lines, especially the viral ones. What I do find interesting is that the comments appear to be 90% from LAYMEN! This seems to contrast videos I have seen of other magicians whose comments seem to be mainly from magicians.

Anyway this exchange on the comments section is amusing! I had my ego deflated and then reflated in one conversation!

4-17
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Mikeyz
Nothing can convince me he is the best magician ever

4-18
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Mark Lewis1398 · Creator
Oops! I hope you forgot to put the word "not" in your post! Only kidding...........

4-18
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Mikeyz
Yes your are right!!! I was always bad at sentence structure

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 29th, 2022, 5:06 pm

Tarotist wrote:I am glad he doesn't want to spoil the magic by exposure. Alas he is the exception rather than the rule. I do feel good about his comment but I am glad to say that he is not the only one. There are hundreds of comments along the same lines, especially the viral ones. What I do find interesting is that the comments appear to be 90% from LAYMEN! This seems to contrast videos I have seen of other magicians whose comments seem to be mainly from magicians...


I suspect he is a layman or an occasional dabbler, who just happened to know the workings of Marmaduke, either because he acquired one at some point, or had a friend or family member who did. The ones who are mainly the exposure culprits are turncoat magicians, who have zero respect for magic. They are the ones who know the secrets and then divulge them in order to get views and/or hope to get monetized. Most laymen don't know the tricks that are rampantly exposed on YouTube - that is, until such time as they might learn the secret from an exposer-magician. If he is indeed a layman, and again, I would bet he is, it's ironic that he has more respect for magic than the many magicians who shamelessly and routinely expose on their YouTube channels. Sometimes I do feel like a broken record going on about exposure, but it's just never gonna be OK in my eyes.

In any event, that was a wonderful compliment he extended. (Another piece of evidence that he's not a magician, given how parsimonious magicians generally tend to be with compliments to their brethren).

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 29th, 2022, 5:35 pm

MagicbyAlfred wrote:
In any event, that was a wonderful compliment he extended. (Another piece of evidence that he's not a magician, given how parsimonious magicians generally tend to be with compliments to their brethren).


Especially about me! As for exposure on the internet that has always been a major irritant for me. Oddly enough I am not terribly concerned about exposure elsewhere, even television, but video exposure online is a red line for me.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 30th, 2022, 8:56 am

Tarotist wrote:
MagicbyAlfred wrote:
In any event, that was a wonderful compliment he extended. (Another piece of evidence that he's not a magician, given how parsimonious magicians generally tend to be with compliments to their brethren).


Especially about me! As for exposure on the internet that has always been a major irritant for me. Oddly enough I am not terribly concerned about exposure elsewhere, even television, but video exposure online is a red line for me.


I'll give Tarotist one right now: Magicians could learn a tremendous amount about how to present magic and entertain people from watching his work. As for exposure on television, I don't like it one whit better than on the internet. P & T tipped the TT (and other classics) to millions on TV. This was needless, gratuitous exposure, and a betrayal to magic and magicians, as far as I'm concerned. Teller sure didn't like it very much when the shoe was on the other foot and that Belgian magician was offering to sell the secret to his pet creation (or a copycat version thereof) on YouTube, did he?

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 30th, 2022, 9:26 am

I am not crazy about exposure on television either but at least there is a strong chance that it will be seen once and forgotten a few days later. I think exposure in books are perfectly legitimate as is selling traditional slum magic because new magicians have to come from somewhere (although I wish they didn't) and there is a bit of effort expended and money spent to acquire the secrets. However You Tube exposure is much more dangerous and it reminds me of climate change. At first ignored until the reality sets in. Wonderful classic secrets are given away to all and sundry and worst of all don't disappear after one showing the way TV exposure does.

As for Penn and Teller they made their name through exposure! They are not quite as bad as they used to be but they still go over the line occasionally. I have mixed feelings about their show. On one hand they do show some very good magicians and the standard of performance is quite high, albeit far too bloody scripted with everyone talking like a robot instead of a real human being. Ironically the only ones who don't sound scripted are Penn and Teller themselves. Especially Teller for obvious reasons. ( I did actually hear him speak once when he was unknowingly in my exalted presence)

Anyway, on the other hand magic is trivialised to a certain extent putting the audience in a puzzle frame of mind which is not to be desired. Not a big deal though because that concept is good television and is probably the reason the show is still popular. They do code the explanations somewhat but once in a while they go over the line and expose things like the French Drop and the Thumb Tip. I don't like it but at least the exposures don't stick in the mind the same way they do on bloody You Tube which stays up there for a long, long time.

And it is the bloody magicians themselves who are doing the exposing!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 30th, 2022, 9:36 am

MagicbyAlfred wrote:
I'll give Tarotist one right now: Magicians could learn a tremendous amount about how to present magic and entertain people from watching his work.


It isn't the tricks. It is the presentation. I often see it written that you cannot learn presentation from a book. Well that is exactly where I learned it! Aside from all the little hints here and there from the works of crusty old Wilfrid Jonson and the Royal Road to Card Magic I learned most of what I know from the presentation section in Expert Card Technique especially the first few pages about developing a character. I would even venture to say that it is that character that triggers the millions of video views. I notice the comments are more about me than they are about the tricks which are pretty standard. I have often said the best tricks are in beginner book!

The key is entertainment. As I keep preaching the tricks are merely pegs to hang your personality on.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 30th, 2022, 3:31 pm

Tarotist wrote:...The key is entertainment. As I keep preaching the tricks are merely pegs to hang your personality on.


I have long maintained that a magician with a good personality that understands how to entertain, and who does nothing more than some tricks from Scarne on Card Tricks, will go over far better with a layman audience than a supremely advanced finger-flinger who is lacking in those traits.

I remember many years ago, when I was first starting out and had been hired to perform at a private party. I had just done a couple of tricks at a table and one of the guests at the table politely asked if he could borrow my deck to perform his "one and only card trick." He went on to perform a very easy self-working trick, the kind that a layman who knows a trick or two would typically perform, but he captivated everyone with the sheer force of his personality. He was smiling and having fun and interacting with everyone. He got better reactions than I did. That taught me something very valuable. It was a real eye-opener. I shifted my focus from just learning tricks and memorizing patter, and started to become much looser, fun-loving and interactive.

At one time I was taken aback when people would interrupt me in the middle of a trick with a comment or question, and I would try to brush it off and return back to my patter as soon as possible, believing they should be blown away just by the incredulity of the trick itself. Now I see such moments as a golden opportunity to heighten the entertainment. It has been said or written more than once that the two things that fascinate people most are first, themselves and second, other people. So, when you make the people the center of attention and feel good about themselves, and include as many people as possible, it is a recipe for success. I love to give them the opportunity to say funny things, and when everybody breaks up with laughter, and the host or party planner is within earshot, all they know, or care about, is that everyone's having a great time.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 30th, 2022, 7:09 pm

What you say is standard wisdom in magic but for some reason magicians nod their head sagely agreeing with it but in actual practice do nothing about it. They merely play lip service to the concept. I suppose that on analyzing the matter this matter of presentation is more difficult than the trick itself in many cases.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » September 30th, 2022, 8:34 pm

Tarotist wrote:...I suppose that on analyzing the matter this matter of presentation is more difficult than the trick itself in many cases.


Indubitably.

And, i would venture to say, in most cases.

It's something I think one must really dedicate oneself too, not just in theory, but in practice, or it just isn't going to happen. I'm still working on it decades after realizing the importance of it, with, I feel, still much room for improvement.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 30th, 2022, 11:29 pm

Yes. It is more difficult and moreover less fun. I think this is the reason you see so much bad presentation. It is quite interesting and absorbing learning the mechanics of a trick, perhaps even putting your own spin on it. However, now you have to work out a presentation and this is where things fall apart because doing so is difficult, tiresome and even boring. So procrastination sets in ; it never gets done and the performer tries to do it on the fly making it up as he goes along. Sometimes he gets away with it because the trick is so strong. However, in that case I have always thought the inventor of the trick deserves the applause rather than the performer!

The patter is the key. If you can make that entertaining but not too wordy you are in with a chance. However, I suspect the character you portray is the main thing. I think this is where people get stuck. How do you make yourself into a character? It is not an easy question to answer. Now you may be a interesting character by nature and you should be thankful for this gift of the gods. However, most people are not like that. So the answer is what do you do? Expert Card Technique had the answer. I don't have the book handy but from memory I think it gave you three possible options as far as character was concerned and it gave you examples of certain magicians who fitted that character.

It urged you to consider the character you would play and the more you played that character the more it would become real in time like interest growing in a bank. I have always believed that a magician does not present magic. No--he presents HIMSELF presenting magic! YOU are the magic---not the tricks! The tricks should always be secondary to the personality who performs them. They should remember HIM (or HER!) long after the trick is forgotten.

About 45 years or so ago I wrote something which I put in the appendix of my Annotated Royal Road to Card Magic which relates to the difficulty of building a character. I will see if I can find it and reproduce it here.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » September 30th, 2022, 11:36 pm

OK. I have found it. I wrote it 45 years ago but I still think it is relevant to the subject at hand, namely how do you build a character when you are not one by nature?
............................................................................................................................................................................................................

Now of course this may create a conflict because you may not naturally be an entertaining personality. On one hand I am stating that you should be yourself and on the other hand I’m saying you should be entertaining. So you may well ask, “How am I supposed to be myself and be amusing at the same time? My conversation is as dull as dishwater, I don’t like speaking in public, I am naturally a quiet, shy person, so how am I supposed to transform to a product of Barnum and Bailey combined with shades of the Ringmaster to the Greatest Show on Earth?”

Actually the answer is you don’t. You will find that the more you perform card magic the more interesting your personality will become anyway. You don’t have to change overnight to a reincarnation of Dante, Blackstone, Houdini or any other great magician of the past. As time goes by your personality will become more interesting anyway. However, you do have to help it along a tiny bit. For example, if you should make an amusing remark extemporaneously try and remember it for future occasions. You will find as time goes by you will accumulate a stock of these remarks and you can weave them into your performances. If you think you’re as dull as dishwater and you lack confidence, don’t worry! Magic is an incredible confidence builder. Every time you hear gasps of astonishment it will do wonders for your morale.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 1st, 2022, 3:57 pm

I think most magicians possess creativity that they are unaware of, or that they don't give themselves credit for, or worse yet, that they don't believe they possess at all. Concocting a story around a trick or routine - even a really far-fetched one - can be one great way to heighten entertainment value. For example, a couple of years ago I realized how dull and boring my coins through the table routine was -- you know, complete with the all-too-common and dreadful descriptive patter. So I challenged myself to come up with (of all things) a fairytale to go with the routine, and I actually surprised myself with what I came up with when I let my imagination go.

It's a story about six young boys (played by 6 silver dollars) who were friends, living in a small town in Eastern Europe many years ago. Against the advice of their parents, they wandered into the "Forbidden Forest," which was inhabited by demons, ghouls, and witches. An evil witch suddenly swooped down on her broom and put a spell on three of the boys and imprisoned them in a nearby haunted house. The remaining three boys (coins) were hopelessly lost in the forest and very worried about their friends, when a kindly old magician (named "Alfred") appeared to them. The magician took them to the haunted house, removed an enchanted ring off his finger, and gave it to the boys, telling them that it would help them free their friends, whom the witch had locked in an upstairs room of the house. When the boys entered the house, they heard their friends knocking frantically on the ceiling. But they could not get up to them, because the staircase was being guarded by the witch's ferocious two-headed dog, "Fluffy." Nevertheless, by the power of the ring, the boys were able to magically bring their friends right through the ceiling (the table), where they were all reunited below. Then, guided by the magical ring, the boys were able to find their way safely home, and lived happily ever after.

Now obviously, I know that this would not be for everyone, but whatever else you might think about this far-fetched tale, I can assure you that, regardless of whether the spectators are kids or adult, it beats "Now, I have 3 coins here, and 3 coins and a ring here, and all I have to do is..." by a mile.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 1st, 2022, 6:41 pm

One thing I discovered years and years ago was that you could double the reaction of coins through table by doing one simple thing. You enlist some help by simply saying "press your hand on the back of my hand" They do so and the coins penetrate. When they do you say, "you pressed too hard!"
When I added that little touch I was amazed at the increase in reaction so I have done it that way ever since.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 1st, 2022, 8:40 pm

Tarotist wrote:One thing I discovered years and years ago was that you could double the reaction of coins through table by doing one simple thing. You enlist some help by simply saying "press your hand on the back of my hand" They do so and the coins penetrate. When they do you say, "you pressed too hard!"
When I added that little touch I was amazed at the increase in reaction so I have done it that way ever since.


There's something about when a spectator is actively involved in a trick in a hands-on way that not only provides an emotional hook (since he/she is no longer a mere bystander), but also seems to heighten the effect and reaction. A card changing in the hand of a spectator is super-strong (substantially more so than, say, on a table, or certainly, than in the magician's hands). Same thing with a trick like coins across - much stronger when the coins travel to the spectators hand(s) than from one of the magian's hands to the other, or into a glass. A big part of it might be that when they are hands-on in some fashion, as, for example, what Mark described in coins through table, it greatly reduces, or even eliminates any suspicion that manipulation or sleight of hand was employed. Layman have a funny way of thinking that oftentimes we would not expect. They often give us credit for skills that we don't process, and for sleight-of-hand that may, in fact, be impossible under the circumstances. They might not know how we did the sleight of hand they attribute to us, or how we were able to conceal it from them. But, nonetheless, if they believe that we "did something" which they simply missed, or were somehow distracted from, there can be a significant diminution in the impact of the effect. However, if they can say "it happened in my own hand" or "I had my hand on top of his, so he couldn't have done anything," well, then that can be quite a different story.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 1st, 2022, 11:47 pm

Sometimes tiny little extra touches can make a significant increase in reactions. For example when I used to do dice stacking it got a lukewarm reaction even though I did it perfectly but then I added an extra line of patter (only a few words) and the reaction trebled! I have noticed this trend on many occasions. I would do the Al Baker 4 coins through the table one at a time thing and it would get OK reactions. However, when I switched over to the Kangaroo Coin version in the Stars of Magic which uses a glass the reaction doubled! Everything was the same except the glass! The glass is what did it.

I used to do the salt shaker through the table. It got great reaction. However, when I did the exact routine with a glass going through the table the reaction was twice as good!
One more example. The strongest trick I do is MacDonalds Aces. I never do it without getting the spectator to put their hand on the Ace pile. It makes a TREMENDOUS difference to the reaction!

One little addition can make all the difference.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 2nd, 2022, 7:39 am

Tarotist wrote: Sometimes tiny little extra touches can make a significant increase in reactions...The strongest trick I do is MacDonalds Aces. I never do it without getting the spectator to put their hand on the Ace pile. It makes a TREMENDOUS difference to the reaction!
...One little addition can make all the difference.


Indeed it can. Anyone who has performed Poker Player's Picnic (Royal Road to Card Magic, 1948, creator unknown) knows that it is a strong trick. It has been a pet trick of mine (and, I believe, of Mark's) for many years, but about 5 years ago, I decided to let them shuffle in the beginning. It's easier to pull this off than one might think, because at the time you do what you need to do, there's no heat. Once I started doing the trick this way, the increase in the (already very good) reactions was exponential. It is important, however, to remind them several times in the course of the routine, and not just at the end, that they shuffled the cards (and cut, and dealt them as well), and that you never even touched the cards (a lie, since there was a fleeting moment when you did touch them after they shuffled, but they never remember that).

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 2nd, 2022, 12:59 pm

A very odd thing happened a few months ago. I showed a layman some sort of four ace trick although I can't remember what. He kept remarking that he couldn't understand how I could control those aces. So on the spur of the moment I said, "Oh, it is very easy" I took the aces and shuffled them into the pack. I then let him shuffle the cards using the method Alfred referred to. I then said "you can control them as easy as I can. I will let you produce the aces for yourself." By saying this I broke one of the standard rules in magic where you don't tell people what is going to happen before it happens!

I then performed Poker Player Picnic but got the strong reactions before the trick had even finished! He somehow knew from what I said that the Aces were going to show up after he shuffled and cut the cards and I suppose the fact that 4 packets triggered off the thought of 4 aces had something to do with it. He kept reacting "No Way!" and "This can't happen!" before anything DID happen! The reaction was fantastic even though the trick hadn't finished! I expect to get great reaction to Poker Players Picnic when the climax arrives but not before the aces are revealed. In fact the reaction was stronger than usual. And of course once the Aces were revealed he went nuts! I told him he was responsible for the entire thing!

I haven't done the trick again since but I think I might just try the above scenario again to see if the same reaction occurs. One advantage of the above procedure is that you don't have to secretly set up the Aces before you start. You just take them out openly and do some sort of four ace trick then shuffle the aces back into the deck, then let the spectator shuffle and tell him that HE is going to find the aces again despite his shuffling and cutting. He knows that he is going to produce the aces himself but since he is actually shuffling the pack himself while you tell him this he is in a state of astonishment even before the trick is finished!

Another example of some little twist (in this case accidentally discovered) that can increase the reaction. I recommend Alfred try this variation out and report the results!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 2nd, 2022, 3:08 pm

I will definitely try it and report back. It sounds really good. I have a few 4 ace productions and revelations I could choose from as the prelude. I think the reason (or at least one reason) that Mark got such excellent results was the anticipation factor. So, while there is certainly a solid punch at the end of the usual presentation of Poker Players Picnic, the impact is concentrated all in that one moment at the end when the aces are turned over on the packets, and there is not the build-up that exists in the presentation Mark contemporaneously happened upon.

Given that the spectator has first witnessed the magician magically produce the aces, and is told that they can do it too, that interjects a strong emotional hook and an intrigue that was not otherwise there, and before the denouement, the spectator has time to contemplate and appreciate the impossibility of what is about to happen before it happens (as exemplified by the exclamations of "No way!" and "This can't happen!" or the like). And when the foregoing factors are coupled with the fact that they know they shuffled, and yet are inexplicably the instrument of the magic, the effect is exceedingly profound. Well, that's my theory, anyway.

Fascinating stuff, this magic.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 3rd, 2022, 1:29 pm

I actually remember now the ace trick with which I preceded Poker Player's Picnic in the example above, It was "A Poker Puzzle" straight out of the Royal Road to Card Magic. Although any ace trick could be used I suspect this one particularly fitted the situation since the premise was that I somehow controlled the Aces so when the follow up "Picnic" presentation suggested that the spectator could do the same thing (without knowing how he did it!) it suited the effect quite well!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 3rd, 2022, 4:06 pm

Tarotist wrote:I actually remember now the ace trick with which I preceded Poker Player's Picnic in the example above, It was "A Poker Puzzle" straight out of the Royal Road to Card Magic. Although any ace trick could be used I suspect this one particularly fitted the situation since the premise was that I somehow controlled the Aces so when the follow up "Picnic" presentation suggested that the spectator could do the same thing (without knowing how he did it!) it suited the effect quite well!


Jolly good show! Quick thinking on one's feet to improvise in that fashion and segue into Poker Player's Picnic after the Poker Puzzle, particularly in light of the spectator's expression of befuddlement as to how the aces could possibly be controlled like that. I have been a bit concerned as to the continued efficacy of a Poker Puzzle, due to the prevalence of Texas Hold'em, which is so different from five-card draw poker. I wonder if people below a certain age are even familiar with five-card draw poker. And not to sound sexist, but I've always felt poker deals were far better suited to males than females, the latter being less familiar with, and less interested in poker, generally speaking.

In any event, I think it is important, as Mark alluded to, that as a prelude to A Poker Player's Picnic, not just any four-ace trick is optimal (and obviously there are a gajillion of those). Rather, it should be one in which the magician controls or produces the aces from a full deck (something many may question whether I'm playing with).

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 3rd, 2022, 6:35 pm

Oh, I have been doing Poker Puzzle for years and years and years! I think I first read it in a Walter Gibson book when I was a kid. And then I read it again in the Royal Road and finally in Harry Lorayne's Close up Card Magic. Harry did it with a Royal Flush though. Anyway I did it for decades in the UK and Ireland where Poker is not played much in either of those countries. It is played to some extent of course but nowhere near the extent it is in America. I would say that 80% of the people I showed the trick to had never played poker in their lives and had no idea of how it was played. However, they could understand the trick perfectly well and it always got a great reaction. And it still does even today. I wouldn't underestimate it. It is a damn good trick. I wouldn't still be doing it after more than 60 years if it wasn't!

Incidentally with regard to whether the trick is more suited to males than females I couldn't say because I have no idea how many females i have shown the trick to! I just can't remember so I can't answer the question for sure.

However there is a broader perception I have read and never understood. The notion that women don't like card tricks! I have found that to be abject nonsense and if anything they react even more strongly than men! I think Vernon was the one who came up with this nonsense probably because his own wife hated card tricks! I suspect the dislike is not for the tricks but for the person doing them! The key is to make the ladies laugh and they will do it card tricks or not if your presentation is on the ball!

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 3rd, 2022, 7:21 pm

Tarotist wrote:...It is a damn good trick. I wouldn't still be doing it after more than 60 years if it wasn't!


I agree that it is, and I hope I didn't convey otherwise, and did not mean to.

I also agree that it is nonsense that women don't like card tricks. But choice of material is an important factor, and certainly, presentation and personality. The two strongest card tricks for women that I have found in my own personal experience are:
(1) The [story of ] The Twins, Brother John Hammond, a dramatic story trick where twin brothers (two black kings) are married to twin sisters (two black queens), not to be confused, as it often is, with Karl Fulves' Gemini Twins; and (2) a relatively unknown fortune-telling/cold-reading effect I learned from a great magician many years ago, where 4 random cards used for the reading and placed in a woman's hands, magically change into the 4 aces.

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 3rd, 2022, 8:33 pm

I actually have a video I made ages and ages ago of a trick I have never shown to a single human being let alone a woman human being. I think I might put it on You Tube. I suspect it would appeal to women. It is actually a long winded love story set to rhyme. Or I should say a card trick disguised as a love story. I learned it from Expert Card Technique about 60 years ago and have never showed it to a single living soul. I did put it on Facebook but that is hardly a place of living souls...................

I might as well place it here too since I suspect there aren't too many living souls here either..............
https://www.facebook.com/mark.lewis.758 ... 3389514877

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 3rd, 2022, 8:45 pm

LOVE STORY. Those are key words in appealing to women. Not so much with men. I sure hope nobody accuses me of gender discrimination, or that the politically correct police don't show up at my door, and drag me away in cuffs for pointing that out. The multiplying rabbits is always a winner when even just competently done -- with both sexes actually (although men won't scream when they open their hand) -- but when I turned my routine into "The Greatest Love Story Since Romeo and Juliet," the reactions from women went through the roof.

I would love to see the rhyming card trick disguised as a love story, but when clicking on the link, it says, "This video isn't available anymore."

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby Tarotist » October 3rd, 2022, 11:41 pm

MagicbyAlfred wrote:
I would love to see the rhyming card trick disguised as a love story, but when clicking on the link, it says, "This video isn't available anymore."


How odd! I can see it! I never did understand this modern world................................

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Re: 4. 4 MILLION VIEWS!

Postby MagicbyAlfred » October 4th, 2022, 8:26 am

Tarotist wrote:
MagicbyAlfred wrote:
I would love to see the rhyming card trick disguised as a love story, but when clicking on the link, it says, "This video isn't available anymore."


How odd! I can see it! I never did understand this modern world................................


My Dad, bless him, used to say that all the time...

...and his Dad, and his Dad, and his Dad, and his Dad......................................


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