Crayons to Perfume

By Tomas Giammarco

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 “Thanks to Barry”

“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it”

Alfred Hitchcock

Introduction

The following is a rather peculiar experiment of mine

regarding Dai Vernon’s lovely plot “Matching the cards”

And I write peculiar due to the fact that I do not usually come
up with magic that is visual and quick for I do not personally
like it that much. Suspense has always been better than
surprise when it comes to the way I like to present magical
curiosities.

I first came across this plot when I saw Michael Vincent, who
I modestly consider a mentor of mine; perform his awesome
rendition of it. Mike has got many ways of presenting the
routine and is to my knowledge the individual most
responsible for the constant revitalization of this and many
other classical items of conjuring.

However, I also owe thanks to Joseph Barry since it was after

I saw him perform a fantastic three card production, which I
think is original with him, that I got to thinking along the lines
of what now is the effect I am writing.

The present routine represents a personal milestone in my

magical journey for it surged from one of those wonderful
moments in which one connects methodological dots in one’s
head rather automatically and one can almost feel it all click
into place. It is truly a wonderful feeling.
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Effect

A spectator touches a card and leaves it on the table sight

unseen. The magician then proceeds to rapidly and visually
produce three queens from the pack. He then states that if his
instincts worked correctly the card on the table should be the
missing queen. To everyone’s surprise, the card on the table is
an ace. The magician then shows that the three queens have
now changed into three aces.

Set up

From the top down: Queen of hearts, Queen of clubs, Queen

of Diamonds, Ace of Spades, Ace of hearts, Ace of Clubs and
Ace of Diamonds

Method

Begin by giving the pack a few tabled false shuffles. Pick up

the packet in your left hand and pinky count five cards. Set up
for the under spread force as you begin spreading

Spread the cards for the spectator to stop you whenever she
wishes. When she finally complains to your request, perform
the Aronson subtlety and lay the force card on the upper left
corner of the mat as you instruct her to cover the card with her
dominant hand.

Table the pack as you state that you will now find the three
mates to the card on the table using only your intuition. As

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you explain this you may give the pack a few false shuffles
that retain the top six cards in place.

Now it is time to perform Barry’s lovely revelation in which

three cards simply jump out from the pack as you cut it
forward. For this to work you need to begin by slip cutting the
top card forward and holding a break as you carry the cut.
You may want to square the sides of the pack in order to insert
some time misdirection before you do the production. Finally,
you will hold on to the top packet with your left hand as your
right forefinger presses to top card in its upper right corner.
The left hand packet moves back and slightly to the left as you
rapidly jerk upwards and forwards in order to cut the pack.
When the knack is acquired and the production properly
performed, a card spins and jumps out from the pack, landing
face up and in-between the two halves.

You now need to remove the queens from the two halves of
the pack and deposit them rather haphazardly onto the queen
that lies in-between them.

In order to collect the packets properly you need to place the

half that is forward on top of the one that your right hand was
holding, that is to say the one that’s closest to you goes under
the one farthest away.

Pick the packet up and dribble it as you say talk about

intuition, you want to justify your picking up the cards from
the table verbally. Now you may pinky count three cards as
your right hand spreads the three tabled queens from left to
right in order to position them for the upcoming switch. You
will now perform John Carney’s versa switch and place the
cards onto the pack in your left hand as your right hand points
to the spectator’s hand, instructing her to remain dead still.

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You now perform Brother John Hamman’s rolling count with
the three queens that are on top of the pack. Essentially, count
them off one by one as you name them, doing a block push off
on the last one and turning the whole packet of six cards onto
the pack. You now deal off the top three cards onto a neat left
to right spread as you explain to the spectator that the card she
is now holding has to be the missing queen. When she turns
her hand over you need only perform your magic gesture or
frame the moment as Skinner may say. In order to do it
properly I suggest you get the pack out of the way thus
inserting distance between the method and the effect. Besides,
this will also mean that the final picture may now be much
cleaner when you finally use the spectator’s ace to turn over
the three tabled cards.

Updated Handling on the final switch

Check point: You now have three queens face up on the table,
one face down card at the top left corner of the mat and the
pack of cards resting on your left hand dealing position.

As your right hand picks up the three tabled queens, spreads

them and turns them face down they are stopped by your left
thumb. Your right hand now re grips the packet in overhand
position and turns palm up in order to point to the face down
card that lies on the table. All the while, your left hand pinky
counts three cards and holds a break.

You may now perform Ascanio’s Timing Top Change (enfile

al tiempo): As your right hand turns over the card on the table
it slightly falls off the mat. With all the attention focused on
newly discovered ace of spades, your right hand meets your
left hand and freezes as the other hand goes forward and top

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changes the three cards above the break for the cards on the
right hand’s overhand grip. You left hand now may rearrange
the ace of spades and leaves the pack on the table in order to
complete the switch.

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 Burning Down The House
“…Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad
television…”
Woody Allen
What follows is Professor Moriarty’s rendition of a
modern classic which in itself stems from a rather bizarre
twist on the classic Red Hot Mamma/Chicago Opener type of
effects.
Credit is due to its originator Jay Sankey, who
published it on Sankey’s Secret Files Volume 1 and Wayne
Houchin who put his take out on his DVD “Art of Magic”.
Both versions were fantastic in introducing me to the immense
potential the effect may have when performed right. The
methods however were a little bit too contrived for my liking
and as I went down the tubes I developed an answer to the
plot that although features more complicated techniques,
minimizes the amount of unnecessary sleights and makes use
of the in-transit action concept to create a symphony of rather
dark magic with a fantastic impact on the audience.
Effect:
A burnt mark disappears from the back of one card and
travels to that of the spectator’s signed card.
Set up:
Place a card which back has been previously burnt on
the bottom of the pack. Have a Zippo type lighter and a
sharpie pen ready as well.
Method:
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 You shall start by forcing the bottom card and for that
the writer chooses to use one of the bottom deal variety.
Beforehand, hand the lighter to a spectator next to you.
We choose Jay Sankey’s Wichita Slip for when done
right it is a thing of beauty. Briefly, the cards are either
dribbled or riffled from hand to hand and stopped when the
spectator so desires. The top card of the left hand’s packet is
extended and at the same tie the left second finger starts a
buckling action of the bottom card followed by the other two
fingers joining it in a push off get ready.
The top card is going to be clipped and turned over by
the first and second finger of the right hand. In reality, these
two fingers are going to scissor both the top and bottom cards
and the left thumb is going to square its card with the rest of
the pack as the right fingers turn the card over. This is
Sankey’s splendid subtlety on the bottom deal force.
At the same time the force is being performed a verbal
and physical justification acts as misdirection for the Wichita
Slip.
Prior to the dribble you ask the spectator to pick up the
pen in his dominant hand (Since the spectator’s hands are
occupied, the dribble is justified). Once they have called stop
you say “Great, now would you uncap the pen and write your
name on the face of the five of spades for me” (It’s important
that you look them in the eye as you state this and it’s also
fundamental that you deliver the line with conviction, velocity
and urgency while keeping calm at the same time)
Finally you thumb off the five of spades, which rests
briefly on top of the left hand’s packet and side jogged to the
right, onto the table but rather close to you. The right hand
then slaps its packet on top of the left hand’s cards and in an
in transit action pushes the five closer to the spectator as you
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say “write in big bold letters so that people in the back can
see”
Turn the packet in your left hand face up and pinky
count two cards as you ask for the pen to be returned to you
and put it away. Push off the two cards above the break as one
as you ask for the lighter to be lit. (Since you can control the
identity of both the force card and the second card you shall
make sure their colors contrast)
Grab the double in overhand grip and slightly rub its
back onto the flames so as to brown it slightly. (Be careful not
to burn it completely) Once you finish toasting the back of the
double you are going to unload the burnt card using, once
again, an in-transit action. Your right hand is going to deposit
the double back onto the pack and point to the lighter as you
instruct the spectator to turn it off. As the right hand returns it
takes the card on the face of the pack by its lower right corner
as the rest of the packet is placed on the table (You are now
immediately reset with a burnt card on the bottom of the
packet.
You now instruct the spectator to cover her card with
her hand as you rub your card slightly into the back of it so as
to make her feel how the flame sinks and the card cools off.
Slowly turn your card over in order to reveal the
disappearance of the burnt mark, let this moment sink in and
instruct them to look at the back of their card…
“…A friend is nothing but a known enemy…”
Kurt Cobain

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 On how the Goldberg Machine aids in the
understanding of Darwin Ortiz's contributions to the
construction of the magical Effect or quite simply
OHTGMAITUODOCTTCOTMEOQS
"Time spent with cats is never wasted"

Sigmund Freud

Those of you lovely readers who happen to be in the luck of

calling yourselves friends of yours truly are aware of at least
one of the following two things:

First of all, I am a devote student of Darwin Ortiz and what I

call the "Strong Magic paradigm" named so dearly after
Darwin's stellar book on the theory of magical presentational
strategies. However, there is a newer book on construction of
the magical effect considered to be the underdog of Darwin's
vast contributions to this craft we all know and love and that
is the book entitled "designing miracles". While this second
book is recent and considerably shorter than what Ortiz has us
used to, I think it really encapsulates the real work on the
subject in hand.

In both “Strong Magic” and “Designing Miracles” Darwin

explains his approach to methodology by posing an interesting
axiom that constitutes one of his so called "Darwin's laws", it
goes something along the following lines: 

"If the spectators cannot figure out the when, they will never
spot the how"

Keep this in mind for before I forget I shall address the second
fact about my persona that one must be aware of if it is one's

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desire to be a reader of this fantastic blog of the modern
shenanigans of card artifice

On a more philosophical note, I do not fear a blank canvas but

I do not seek inspiration either, I honestly enjoy waiting for an
idea to click into place and construct itself in the most perfect
of manners.

On the other hand, that may be the reason why I chose not to
keep a regularity of any sort when it comes to posting things
on this platform. It is my game and therefore I play by my
rules, however egotistical that shall sound.

Precisely it was yesterday when that sweet epiphany I was

longing for came to me and I decided to begin writing the
present essay.

Have you ever heard of a Goldberg machine? Well, allow me

to retort:

"…A  Rube Goldberg machine is

a contraption, invention, device or apparatus that is
deliberately over-engineered or overdone to perform a very
simple task in a very complicated fashion, usually including
a chain reaction. The expression is named
after American cartoonist and inventor Rube
Goldberg (1883–1970)…"
It is not by mere chance that I first teased you with the quote
from Darwin's book. You see my lovely pilgrims, it refers to
methodology in quite a revolutionary and one could also
admit controversial way.

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What is really fantastic about Darwin is that he thinks from
the spectator's point of view when creating an effect and from
a magician's when technique is concerned. I truly believe this
to be the reason why he is quite simply the best effect
constructor at present, especially but by no means exclusively
when it comes to gambling flavored routines

Spectators have a rather linear way of solving problems or

seeking plausible explanations to a seemingly impossible
effect, Darwin states. In order to prevent the spectators from
finding said solutions he employs an indirect methodology in
the form of various devices of both manipulative and
psychological nature. This change of paradigm demands a
higher level of technical ability from the performer which I
personally find quite convenient since I absolutely love
difficult and unorthodox sleight of hand, even more so when I
can properly apply it to my magic.

Magicians often opt for a direct methodology resulting from

their inability to differentiate the effect from the method.

Having clarified that I do think that the best Effects are often
simple and direct while having quite indirect inner workings,
just like the Goldberg machine! Magic is wonderful, is it not?

In an attempt to wrap up I would like to mention one of

Darwin's most controversial statements about the
methodological directness of Vernon's travelers and Michael
Vincent’s solution to the problem entitled "the ultimate
travelers". In this routine, Mike manages to get to the true
meaning of Darwin’s law and use time displacement to
achieve a cleaner version of the effect that ends up with the
deck in the box and the magician reaching with empty hands
in order to remove the four aces from the pockets, because
they are already there.
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However, I would feel guilty without mentioning an exception
to the previously exposed thesis.

I am of course speaking about my friend John Carey, who

manages to fool the spectators by using amazingly simple and
direct methods and still keeping that nice balance between
smoothness and Spanish influenced psychological ploys.

I hope that trough the use of the comparison between the

Goldberg Machine and Darwin’s approach to methodology I
may indirect you to a better way of thinking about methods
when it comes to constructing a magical effects and ultimately
fooling the pants off of the audience.

Cheerio lovely readers, Professor Moriarty checks out

"I'm not interested in preserving the status quo; I want to

overthrow it"
Niccolo Machiavelli

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 Dingle Would've Liked this

"What is the desired effect?"

-Eric Mead

This effect is one of my very few experiences with routines

that involve multiple effect in a short period of time, since I've
never been a fan of the multi kicker frenzy that we owe to
derek dingle.

When Darwin Ortiz analized the stellar routine of dingle by

the name of "Roll Over Aces", it got me thinking that I should
at least experiment with multi kicker effects.

What follows is a combination of two of my favourite routines

by The Professor, "Matching the cards" And "Triumph". The
effect was inspired by an informal performance of The
London Card Expert, Mike Vincent that my friend Antonio
Zuccaro Shot and very kindly shared on Youtube.

Effect:

The magician asks the spectator to touch the back of a card

and when she does that card is left sight unseen on the edge of
the close up mat. The magician now comments that although
the card's identity is still a mistery, there're three cards of the
same value in the pack.

The magician says that in order to create something

interesting, He is going to shuffle the pack half face up and
half face down, thus making the location of the three mates
practically impossible since they may be face up or face
down.

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However, the magician now hoovers his hand on top of the
face down card and then on top of the deck, he now states that
the three mates are all face up, togheter and in the exact center
of the pack and to make it easier for them to see, all the other
cards have righted themselves.

Finally, when the card on the table is finally turned face up it

is discovered to be the missing mate.

Method:

The only set up that you need in order to perform this effect
consists of having the 4 of a kind on top of the deck in any
order. You know use the under the spread force on the
spectator, forcing the fourth card from the top of the pack
(The last card of the four of a kind)

Having left the card on the upper left corner of the mat, you
now table the pack and do a few riffle shuffles retaining the
top stock on top.

You now undercut to the right and turn the right hand's packet
face up. You're now going to do the triumph shuffle,
transfering the top three cards on top of the left hand's portion
to the right hand's portion (I use an ascanio touch on the
triumph shuffle but you can also use the strip out shuffle with
a block transfer of three cards)

You should now have the deck in this configuration: The top
three cards are face down and they're the three mates of the
card that lies on the table, then a face up block and a face
down block.

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 You now do the vernon triumph reversal move to
finish the effect method wise, at this point I normally spread
the pack to show the three face up cards and finally let the
spectator turn over the tabled card.

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 On what it takes to eat an elephant

“Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our

banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are:
Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!” 
Albus Dumbledore

Magic is all wrong lovely readers, but do not worry much for
through this rather extensive essay I will try to illustrate the
verisimilitude of such shockingly pretentious opening line.

There seems to be a common axiom that both magicians and

laymen use. It came to me an epiphany the other day and I
realized that such dogmatic attitude may very well be the root
of all our problems.

"It is easy once you know the secret"

The past phrase probably ranks up there with "the hand is

quicker than the eye" in that imaginary list of common beliefs
of magic that have been traditionally trivializing and working
towards the ultimate annihilation of the craft  since the
begging of gods and men. Well, that and the medieval church
burning conjurers alive, but that's a story for another day

Anyways, back to my epiphany:

"It is easy once you know the secret" should read "It is easy

until you know the secret"

The present change of paradigm I am proposing will divide

the topic of the essay in two, one section will deal with how I
think this affects magicians and the other one will concern
itself with the effects it has on muggles
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If we magicians live by such an absurd motto it will most
definitely reflect on the way we present ourselves and our
magic. Thinking that things are easy once one knows the
secret exposes a lack of dedication and respect for the secrecy
of our craft in present days displayed by the abundance of
YouTube tutorials or performances of 11 year olds that excuse
their poor subterfuges hiding themselves under the holy cloth
of misdirection, when in reality they do not understand one bit
about neither of those things

To my mind, the only way of solving this is by understanding

that technique is the single most important aspect of magic.
Without technique, there is no external reality. Therefore, if
we dedicate ourselves to perfecting the inner workings of our
miracles, we may work towards changing that awful miss-
conception,

On the other hand, the way the axiom in question affects

laymen is by making them believe that magic is an utterly
trivial discipline and the worst thing may be that, surprisingly
enough they are right. The way laymen are usually exposed to
magic is by watching TV, which is not the ideal media for the
presentation of the craft we all know and love.

Let us all face it, we cannot go back to the late 1800's and
enjoy the golden era of magic yet but we can and we should
try and put a little more thought into every single performance
we give for the only way of spreading light into the darkness
is by presenting better magic and the only way of doing it is
through attention to detail and dedication to our endeavors.

In conclusion I'd like to thank you if you have made it this far
and I'd also like to add that the past series of posts were meant
to illustrate what I exposed in the present essay. It is our job to

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make it look easy on the eyes while leaving the complex inner
workings to ourselves.

Until next time lovely readers, Professor Moriarty checks out.

"The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any

chance ever observes."
Sherlock Holmes

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