To eliminate looking at the faces of the cards in the above trick, you can mark the back of one of the cards by putting a small pencil dot on the upper right and lower left corners.  These marks will not be noticed by the spectators. You can use this marked key card the same way as you used the normal key card.

Tim,

I wanted to drop you a quick note to let you know how good you were Saturday evening at our banquet and the message you gave to everyone was outstanding.  You combined your magic and message together very well and your willingness to talk to individuals after the show was a hit.   Our President of the company made the comment this was the best entertainment that we ever had and enjoyed himself greatly.  And – what an outstanding message of choice we have every day to make for ourselves and others.

Thank you so much,

David Baldini

Brown Printing Company

Get together all the items you need to perform the trick and read through the instructions again, following them step by step. Make sure that you understand each move before you move on to the next. Practice the trick again and again until you are totally comfortable with the method. Think carefully and try to work out if you can adapt the trick in any way to make it better or easier to perform.

When you have practiced until everything is second nature you can start rehearsing the trick – that is, performing it as if it were in front of a real audience. This is when you will work out how you will present the trick and what you will say. With your performance suitably polished, you are finally ready to perform in front of a real audience! Good luck!

You may also want to check your local yellow pages for magic shops in your area. Please do support your local magic shops. Magic shops are located in or near most larger cities. Check out the Magic Dealers Association  for a partial listing of shops, keep in mind that the yellow pages will have more stores. The advantage of the magic shop experience are plenty. One great reason is that  you may be able to  see the tricks performed before you buy. Try to bear in mind what we said earlier and decide if a trick will suit your style before you buy it.

The best and most inexpensive way to START learning magic is to visit your local library and check out as many books on magic as you can!

Never repeat a trick in front of the same audience. The element of surprise is all important and if you do it again they will know what is coming and be watching even closer. They will also find it far easier to work out how it’s done!

When people ask you how your tricks are done, DO NOT TELL THEM! Keep your secrets to yourself and you will build yourself a reputation.

Try to BELIEVE that what you are doing really is magic! Most magicians’ tricks are really simple to do but when you watch them perform they will often look as amazed by what has happened as their audience! You should have practiced so much that you can forget about the method and concentrate on selling the effect. If you believe, then so will your audience!

Try to be yourself. Don’t copy another magician’s style. I tend to talk really fast and crack a lot of jokes so if I tried to perform like another entertainer it wouldn’t suit my personality. Choose tricks that suit your style of performing. Are you going to be serious or funny? Will you perform silently to music or be a patter act? How will you dress? Do you want to wear casual clothes or dress up and play a character? Think about it!

We were thrilled to have Tim perform at our annual conference.  He literally made us laugh until we cried.  His unique blend of humor, bewildering sleight of hand and positive life lessons was a wonderful way to top off our banquet.

Tim identified with our group and personalized his message to speak to the heart of who we are and what we do.  He certainly helped us unwind after a busy day by inviting us to laugh at him – and ourselves.  Not to mention h is warm, engaging personality made us feel like old friends.

He simultaneously inspired us and entertained us, making him much more than your average speaker or entertainer.  And to be perfectly honest, as the person who booked him for our event, he made ME look good tool.  He obviously loves what he does – and it shows!  Book Tim!  Book him now!

Jodi Lietzau

MSEA Office Manager

Ponder this:
52 Cards = 52 weeks
4 suits = 4 seasons
13 cards in each suit = the 13 lunar cycles (full and new moons)
364 / 7 days in the week = 52 cards in a deck
But the real kicker is when we add up the numeric, or spot/pip, value of each card in the deck. The entire deck added together comes to 364. However, when you add the Joker, which is considered to have a spot value of 1.25, you get 365.25, the exact the number of days in our calendar year.

The really fun information inspired me to commit to a 52 week Blog post…I’m going to start a “full deck of card tricks” Blog…  52 different card tricks over the next 52 weeks.

Have anyone shuffle a pack of cards. Have someone else withdraw a card and look at it. Performer takes the deck from one who shuffled it. Card is replaced in pack…miraculously the selected card seems to have reversed itself in the pack. SECRET: Everything is fair until performer takes pack back. As he does this, he secretly reverses the bottom card. When selected card is pushed back in pack, actually all the cards are face down except the bottom one which is face up, thus giving this illusion that all the cards face one way.

Have a spectator shuffle a deck of cards.  When you get it back, secretly look at the bottom card.  In our example we will say it is the Ace of Hearts.  This card is your “key” card.  Have the spectator cut the deck into four piles.  Ask him to pick one of the piles, look at the top card from that pile, and replace the card.  Take the pile containing the “key card” and place it on top of the pile with the selected card. This places the key card on top of the selected card.  Place the rest of the piles on top of this one. The deck may be cut several times without fear of separation these two cards. Now, run through the deck until you see the key card (Ace of Hearts), the card next to it is the selected card.

Get them all…RSS

“Tim Gabrielson hit the ball out of the park as he delivered his unique comedy/magic presentation at our recent corporate event.  Tim’s ability to read the audience and improvise on the spot lead to an hour of truly outrageous amazement and fun.”