Important note: I don't do
any stereotypical ‘pick-a-card’ tricks we're all familiar with.
Instead, my repertoire comprises some of the ultimate classics
of card magic, gleaned from the best minds of top professional magicians
throughout the world, and spanning more than a century of creative magical
thinking.
I also employ only standard Bicycle brand playing cards you can buy from
any retail outlet. In other words, the cards are guaranteed not to be gimmicked
(i.e. they are not “trick cards”). They can be examined by anyone,
at any time. Everything I do can also be done equally well with a borrowed
deck of cards, providing they are in good condition. I will
let you in on a little secret: Instead of using gimmicked
"magic cards", I make liberal use of psychological misdirection,
unseen sleight of hand, clever routining, and even outright lying
to accomplish the magic! It is all done tongue-in-cheek of course, with
the sincere objective of amazing people with the highest quality magic entertainment.
The Routines
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Flash
Ace Production: Four aces make
their appearance in a dramatic and startling fashion – after
an audience member has thoroughly shuffled the deck. Actually, there
are literally dozens of ways the magician can reveal any number of
cards in a manner that is cleverly calculated to blow minds. |
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The Traveling Cards:
A number of cards travel both mysteriously and invisibly from one
place to another, defying Mother Nature and the laws of common sense.
You may see aces that are in different piles of cards reassemble themselves
magically - even while these cards are held tightly in the hands of
volunteers! |
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It Must Be Mental:
A person is asked to merely think of a playing card, and
this very same card is then sensationally revealed – by another
person! Your friends, relatives, acquaintances and assorted enemies
will refuse to believe you when you try to describe this to them later.
Astonished people are quick to say, "Do that again!"
...Sorry, it can only be done once. |
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The Animated Card:
A randomly selected card that is returned to the deck and lost, slowly
rises from the pack at the command of the audience! Please Note:
We employ no hidden motors, threads, elastics, invisible fairies,
or bottles of helium to create this indisputably bizarre apparition. |
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You Do as I Do:
I take half of the cards and give the other half to someone who is
asked to do everything I do: Shuffle the cards, select a card, memorize
it, and put it back into the other person's half-pack. Both selected
cards mysteriously turn face up while the entire deck is being held
tightly in the participant's hands! How spooky is this?
Well, the last time I showed it to horror mystery writer Stephen King,
he ran screaming from the room! (Would I lie to you?) |
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The Ambitious Card:
A selected card seems to stubbornly and repeatedly rise to the top
of the pack, no matter where (or how many times) it is buried into
the pack and lost. Each successive appearance of this "ambitious"
card becomes more mysterious and unbelievable. Disclaimer:
We take no responsibility for those of a weak disposition who might
go into shock. |
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Out of This World:
A shuffled deck is shown to
be thoroughly mixed. The cards are then handed 'faces down' to a person
who is then asked to try to separate the black
cards from the red cards
by simply guessing the colours. The final tally of correct guesses
will not only astonish you, but make you understand why this famous
“psychic experiment ” has been acknowledged by magicians
to be the world's greatest card trick! |
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Faster Than the
Eye Can Blink: Two cards are
displayed, and a member of the audience takes them and buries each
one into different parts of the deck. The two cards suddenly fly into
view faster than a speeding bullet! They are then held up
vertically and displayed back-to-back. Suddenly they ‘spin around’
to become face-to-face, quicker than the speed of light!
Albert Einstein would have loved this! |
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Ultimate Colour
Control: Two cards chosen by
two different people, are placed randomly back into the pack. The
cards are then mixed thoroughly, losing the selected cards. A magical
colour separation of the cards suddenly occurs – but with just
one red card among twenty-five
black cards [selection
#1], and one black card
among the other twenty-five red
cards [selection #2]. If you go colour-blind watching this trick,
don't blame me! |
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The
Honest Gambler: A demonstration of gambler’s
‘cheating skills’ that provides a magical climax to a
poker game. If you've ever wondered how sleight of hand can be used
at the gambling tables (a very dangerous practice!), this demonstration
will amaze you. They laughed at me in Las Vegas, but over
at Frank’s Casino -- okay, okay, I’m kidding! |
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I’ll
Read Your Mind: Several cards are chosen by a volunteer
who is instructed to make the selections behind his or her back. The
magician can be twenty feet away, blindfolded, or even in the next
room. I will then attempt to “boldly go where no wizard has
gone before”, by naming all of the selected cards. Organized
religions have been founded on less! |
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The
Gun: Just think of a card -- don’t even take
it out of the deck. I then ‘twist’ the deck of cards into
the shape of a gun (you have to see this!) and when everyone shouts
“BANG!” the selected playing card immediately flies from
the deck and high into the air. You’ll get a bang out of
this! |
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The Magic Sword:
A card is selected (what an
original beginning!), shown around, and then lost in the deck. The
cards are then wrapped into a piece of newspaper. I then take an ornate,
fourteen-inch "golden sword" and thrust it deep into the
side of the tightly packaged cards. When the package is ripped open,
the selected card is found to be against the blade of the
sword! Had the Wizard Merlin seen this flamboyant display
of magical 'sword and sorcery', he would have abandoned wizardry and
taken up astrology! |
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So
there you have it: After the thirteen
magic routines listed above have been capably demonstrated
by yours truly (Larry Thornton), the 52 playing cards will be 'retired'
and left behind to be completely
examined by anyone.
Believe it or not, these cards will still have enough “magic”
left in them to play any number of rounds of your favourite card game! |
What is this
branch of magic is all about? ...Glad you asked!
There
are many hundreds of magicians in the world performing
highly inventive, fantastically imaginative card tricks -- but
is the public generally aware of this fact? No! Most magic
entertainment with playing cards is performed either by hobbyists (and mostly
for each other!), or by top professional magicians who have become regular
specialty entertainers for hotels, bars, restaurants, private parties, or
trade shows. Magic with cards is usually categorized under "close up
magic", a term that can also include tricks with coins, dice, and other
small objects. Unlike conventional magic on the stage, close up magic involves
intimate interactions with the audience, who become active participants
in the magical process. Close up magic is a dynamic form of entertainment,
where the magician is required to be spontaneous and quick-thinking under
challenging and sometimes unpredictable situations.
The
ideal conditions for the performance of close up magic are rarely
met. At annual magicians' conventions or their monthly magic meetings, the
close up entertainer has the luxury of working under near-perfect conditions.
He may be seated at a table with attentive peers sitting around him. At
the conventions, the wizard may work in small, intimate theatres for an
audience of fifty or less people. Under 'real world' conditions however,
the magician has to be adaptable to a malleable venue such as a boisterous
bar or busy family restaurant. At corporate trade shows he employs close
up magic to draw a crowd and/or promote a company's products at their booth;
or he may work out among the patrons on the floor. Perhaps you've even seen
the controversial young magician David Blaine ply his close up magic in
his television specials, working for complete strangers out on the street!
“Commando street magic” is Blaine's specialty.
One
of magic's greatest "secrets" involves the little-known
fact that magic with playing cards is a heavily-written art form! The amazing
number of instructional magic books, magazines, video tapes, and DVD's could
easily fill several rooms of a very large mansion. And yet -- 99 percent
of the general public goes through their entire lives without encountering
a magician performing professional quality magic with playing cards. Which
brings me to my final point:
The
message you've all been waiting for!
If you and your friends would like to avoid being left in the backwaters
of that "99 percent" of those unfortunate people who never get
to experience the “The Poetry of Magic” (as magicians
fondly call tricks with playing cards) -- then consider booking my services.
I'm available for adult house parties,
hospitality rooms, business luncheons, private meetings, backyard barbecues
-- wherever people like to gather for a good time. My
program is thirty minutes to an hour in length, and is adaptable for many
social occasions.
For
those who don't particularly care for card tricks
(and who would admit to it?) I can also provide a magic program
that includes items in addition to playing cards.
DID YOU KNOW.....? The World's Most Famous
Escape Artist, HARRY HOUDINI, billed himself in his early career as "The
King of Cards"!
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To contact me: See the fan of cards in the picture below. Look very carefully at it and find the king of diamonds. Then click on this card. What? You can't find the king of diamonds? Move your mouse pointer carefully along the fan, and it will show up!
