Old man, old cars, and old whisky
Here is where I have my thoughts and techniques on performing magic.  You must  log into this site in order to read the posts. If your don’t have an account you may register here. After you register the site admin will have to approve the registration before you can login.
Here is a simple “Spectator cuts to the aces” trick.
Start by getting the four aces to the top of the deck. I let the spectator shuffle the deck and then use my two step cull to accomplish this. You could also just start by already having the aces on top before you begin.
Continue reading “Spectator cuts to the aces”I am getting old and forgetful. This morning I remembered a card trick that I liked to perform, but could not remember the steps nor remember what book/magazine I learned it from. I finally reconstructed the steps, and then decided that I need to write these tricks down. Note that this is not original. I just don’t remember where I learned this.
Continue reading “Lie Detector”Check out the other version at https://robertjwallace.com/riffle-and-roll/.
The setup in the version is very simple. Have the spectator shuffle the deck. Take the deck back and spread the cards face up, removing the aces as you find them, dropping them to the table.
Continue reading “An even easier Riffle ‘n’ Roll”This is my version of Jack Carpenter’s “Riffle ‘n’ Roll” from his book “The Expert’s Portfolio No. 1”. I am a fan of Carpenter’s work and recommend any of his books.
The main reason I came up with this version is that I found his method to be a little cumbersome with holding multiple breaks. This version eliminates that, but with the expense of using a card with a breather crimp.
Quoting from “The Expert’s Portfolio No. 1”:
Continue reading “Riffle and Roll”I added a couple of new features to the application. First of all, I wanted to be able to launch the web page on my phone without having to type in the query strings to set the card backs, stack or mode of operation. So I added an options feature.
Continue reading “Magic with your phone – Updated”I have been intrigued with some of the smart phone apps for magic. But I have been off put by their prices, or that they only run on Apple IOS. So I decided to write my own, although it is not an app per say, but rather a web page that you can use for a mental magic effect.
There are two basic effects. The first is that you place a prediction down on the table. The prediction is a card that they spectator is about to select, using a phone (theirs or yours). You use the phones internet browser to go to a web site that shows a deck of cards that are face up in new deck order. There are two buttons above the cards: Shuffle and Toggle Backs.
You demonstrate the shuffle button, pressing it several times to demonstrate how the cards are shuffled each time the button is pressed.
Continue reading “Magic with your phone”When I was performing regularly in restaurants the scalloped or concave short card was my favorite tool in my card magic arsenal. For those who don’t know what a concave short card is, it is like a normal short card, but instead of the end of the card being trimmed off with a straight cut, and then the corners reshaped, it is cut so that the corners remain, the cut starting past the corner and cutting on a slight curve.
Continue reading “Short Cards”I enjoy gambling demonstrations. Simple poker stacks are fun, but when you want to up the ante, so to speak, a demonstration of a double duke is nice. A double duke is where you give a player a good hand, but give yourself a better one.
Continue reading “Simple Double Duke”There are many techniques used to show the mixing of cards and magical separation. Since I tend to forget them, and where I saw them, here is a collection of techniques. None are mine originally, probably. These are all just using four red and four black cards. There are a lot of versions of Oil and Water using extra hidden cards, but I like the purist handling of just using eight cards.
Continue reading “Oil and Water”One of the things I enjoy is looking at the trailers for tricks, especially impromptu card tricks and reconstructing a method for doing the trick. I recently looked at “Threesome” by David Jonathan and thought it was a nice trick. In the description of the trick was the comment of “taking and old principle of magic”, which led me to this solution.
Continue reading “Reconstruction of tricks”