The Detroit Magic Club
BET: Wager that you can have the spectator spin a bottlecap five times and that it will always fall top side up.This was shown to me by good friend and internet influencer Brian Brushwood of Scam Nation fame. It was shown to him by our mutual friend Alan Rorrison who is an awesome magician based in the U.K. I’ve never seen this bit in print.
GAG: Borrow a friend’s ChapStick® and put it on your lips. Continue to put it on your cheeks, your eyebrows, etc.
There are lots of people who carry around roll-on lip balm. ChapStick® seems to be the most popular brand. After they use the balm, some will throw it on the table. If they do that simulate what I described above. If they start to put it away simply ask “Can I borrow that for a sec?”
BET: Explain that you will have a race to the number 50 using dice. A spectator and yourself each get a die. You place whichever number you want up and then they do the same. Keep tally by adding up all of the chosen numbers together and whomever hits 50 first wins.
BET: A dollar bill is placed on the floor directly in front of someone. They are challenged to merely jump over it. If they cannot do it, then they lose the bet.
THE BET: An empty matchbox is placed hanging half off the edge of a table. The challenge is to use one’s outstretched fingertips and come from underneath to lift the box toward the table until the box stands on its end (Fig. 1). The bettor can do it, but they cannot.
Have your friends play this word game where they have to say the word bears aloud multiple times. The trick is to have them say the word as many times as you can just for your own amusement.
Show them this list of words. Write it out on a piece of paper or draw them on a napkin. Tell them it’s a brain teaser. First ask them to say the word “bears” aloud before each of the words. After they do so, ask them to say the word “bears” aloud after each of the words. Ask them if they notice a pattern or message emerging? My guess is they will not know what you are talking about.
I perform a version of the 20th Century silks called the NOT FAIRY TALE that Ron Bauer taught me nearly 20 years ago. It was a featured effect in Ron’s MR. TRIX shows and is FUN way to present the 20th Century Silks that involves everyone in the audience.
The foundations of this routine can be found in Arnold Furst’s Magic For Monsters which you can review for your own presentation.
The following summary of an outstanding mentalism effect (Dr. Hoy Book Test from 1963 by David Hoy) was prepared by BOB WHITFORD and is intended for our club members only.
This is in my humble opinion is the BEST and EASIEST BOOK TEST ever created! I get tremendous response when I perform it, since it SEEMS Impossible.
The following summary of thoughts, tips, and ideas, are part of a Mystery "Mentalism" Workshop presented and prepared by club member BOB WHITFORD at our January 2022 Club Meeting. It's loaded with strong mentalism info and Bob steers us "right to the chase". THANK YOU BOB!
My First $20 Trick (created by Norman Beck)
This effect was recently published in MUM magazine and is posted with Norm's permission.
A friend is one of the best things you can have and one of the best things you can be. About fifteen years ago, my job took me to Detroit where I had a chance to meet a magician named Nick Pudar. Nick is a man who loves work with a stacked deck and his magic has been featured in all three of Harry Lorayne’s Best of Friends books, as well as in Apocalypse magazine. As often happens with me, I set out to meet Nick and learn what he knows, as he is smarter than me. We became instant friends and have shared magic, jokes, philosophy, puns, laughs, and life — and it has been great.
As I often do when I am faced with pressure, I think about magic, and after awhile, a trick is born. The trick I am sharing with you was inspired through our mutual friendship and came to me one night around 2:00 AM. From personal experience, I can tell you it is a winner. When I called Nick and explained the effect, he excitedly told me that I needed to publish it. I feel it is Nick’s trick -- not mine. The trick is great, but not as great as our friendship. Please enjoy…
EFFECT: Two decks are placed on the table along with a twenty-dollar, folded in thirds. The red deck is given to the spectator to keep. The blue deck is unopened. You open the deck, remove the Jokers and the advertising cards, then shuffle the deck, cut off about fourteen cards, and the spectator thinks of only one. They tell you the card and you instruct them to remove the red deck. They spell or count to the card and when they turn it over it is the thought-of card.