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00:00 [ Music ]
00:09 [ Music ]
00:18 [ Music ]
00:47 >> When we were planning this day, it was far from automatic
00:52 that this day would take place.
00:54 Mark phoned me up when we had one or two meetings talking
00:57 about whether we should go ahead.
00:59 And we decided we'd only do it if we could get people
01:02 of a good enough standard.
01:04 We decided early on that we'd perhaps cast the net abroad,
01:07 and we thought American, and we thought European.
01:10 And both he and I came up within the space
01:14 of a very short time with the same name.
01:16 I said to him on the phone, I said, of course,
01:18 if you could get Tommy Wonder,
01:20 then I think we'd have something really worth doing.
01:24 And we were both absolutely delighted when Tommy agreed
01:28 to come over, especially for this evening's performance.
01:33 I've seen Tommy -- I saw him lecture again
01:36 at FISM four years ago, and -- in fact, it was eight years ago.
01:43 And as I watched him, he was talking about misdirection.
01:46 And I got that feeling that here's somebody
01:49 who really knows what he's doing.
01:52 And he's going to lecture for an hour for you tonight.
01:55 So a big warm welcome, please, for Tommy Wonder.
01:58 [ Applause ]
02:00 >> Thank you.
02:01 Thank you.
02:02 Okay.
02:03 [ Applause ]
02:06 Thank you very much, all of you.
02:08 I don't know how many of you have seen my lecture before.
02:11 I understand not all that many.
02:13 So for these people who have not seen it before,
02:17 I would like to give you a little warning,
02:19 because my lecture is a little bit different than most lectures,
02:23 and it concerns the lecture notes.
02:25 I do have lecture notes, so -- that you know,
02:28 but it is very small, yes?
02:31 It is not thick, and it is just one piece of paper.
02:34 It says, "Lecture notes."
02:36 This is so that when you find it later,
02:38 you will know what it is.
02:40 And the back says nothing.
02:43 The first page on the inside, it has nothing on it.
02:47 There is only some text here.
02:49 No drawings, no descriptions of tricks.
02:52 So you know what you're buying.
02:55 So don't complain afterwards.
02:57 They cost seven pounds.
02:59 [ Laughter ]
03:01 I know many people will not buy this,
03:04 because they prefer big books.
03:07 So maybe it is better if I read out what it says,
03:11 and then you know what you're not buying.
03:13 [ Laughter ]
03:15 It says, "Dear Magic Friend," which is you,
03:19 if you buy it.
03:21 [ Laughter ]
03:22 All I know about magic can be found in the following books.
03:26 "Showmanship for Magicians," by Dario Fitsky,
03:29 "Magic by Misdirection," also by Dario Fitsky,
03:32 and "Magic and Showmanship," by Henning Nels.
03:35 These books tell you almost everything there is to know about magic,
03:38 and they will give you an insight into what magic really is,
03:42 which is much more important than my tricks,
03:44 or someone else's tricks, for that matter.
03:46 At least these books help me a lot,
03:49 and may they help you as well.
03:52 Thank you.
03:53 [ Applause ]
03:54 Okay.
03:56 Well, that was the lecture.
03:57 I hope you have enjoyed it.
03:59 [ Laughter ]
04:00 And I will sell the notes here.
04:03 And that's it.
04:04 Thank you for coming.
04:05 [ Laughter ]
04:06 Okay.
04:07 Yes?
04:08 Hang on, Tommy.
04:09 You're kidding, aren't you?
04:11 No, I would like to sell the notes now.
04:13 I have a few notes here.
04:15 Is that it?
04:16 This is it, yes.
04:17 This is all the sensible things.
04:19 I don't have anything more sensible to say than this, so.
04:21 [ Laughter ]
04:23 Tommy, we've got your book for an hour.
04:27 I mean, you haven't just come over from Holland.
04:29 I'm sorry, this is totally unacceptable, Tommy.
04:32 Oh.
04:33 You've got to go on.
04:34 I'm sorry, you've got to fill an hour.
04:36 Fill it?
04:37 Yeah.
04:38 Perhaps if you could read the notes a few times.
04:41 Yes, that might be an idea.
04:43 Well, okay, so I have to fill an hour.
04:45 I don't know what you want.
04:47 Make it good.
04:49 Yes, we can go out for a walk.
04:52 [ Laughter ]
04:54 I can show some tricks, maybe, explain them.
04:57 That would help.
04:58 That would help, okay.
04:59 I'll do that if you want to.
05:01 All right.
05:04 These are difficult people to work with.
05:07 Okay.
05:08 Anyhow.
05:09 [ Laughter ]
05:11 Yeah, tricks.
05:13 Okay, you want tricks.
05:15 Oh, a card trick, maybe.
05:17 Have you ever seen a card trick with less than one card?
05:20 [ Laughter ]
05:22 It is not much, but what-- okay.
05:25 I'll show you a card trick with less than one card.
05:29 It's a card trick with three-quarter playing card.
05:32 You see, if you have a three-quarter--
05:34 well, you turn out a quarter, right, like this.
05:37 And you have three-quarter playing card,
05:40 and you tear it in three pieces, like this.
05:46 And you have the three pieces together,
05:49 and you blow, it's restored.
05:53 Except, of course, for this little piece here,
05:56 but it fits exactly.
05:58 [ Applause ]
06:02 Sometimes, you know, sometimes when you do this type of thing,
06:05 people want you to restore the last quarter to the card, right?
06:09 That would be good if I could do that, huh?
06:12 Yeah, it's not all that bad.
06:14 No.
06:15 [ Laughter ]
06:16 Anyhow.
06:17 [ Applause ]
06:19 I cheated you, you know.
06:20 I used tape, but what did you expect?
06:22 Real miracles, huh?
06:24 Okay.
06:26 This is a card trick of Paul Harris, actually.
06:30 And I think he was the first one to do the torn and restored card
06:34 with just one card.
06:35 You don't-- normally, the method was to have two cards together
06:38 with a little bit of wax or something.
06:40 And let me get a few cards.
06:45 Oh, yeah.
06:47 The idea, this method, I will not explain it in great detail.
06:53 You can find it in his book, "Supermagic."
06:55 But the idea is that when you have a card
06:57 and you tear out a quarter of the card,
07:02 then you can pretend to tear the card.
07:07 This you put in your pocket, but actually you palm it.
07:10 And then when you pretend to tear this, but actually you fold it,
07:13 it goes like this.
07:14 You bend it sort of, and then you do this.
07:17 But actually, this part is folded back.
07:20 So it goes like this.
07:24 You put this in, and then tear.
07:27 You place it there, then you fold this.
07:31 Fold open this loose piece again.
07:34 And you can-- you have torn it into three pieces.
07:37 Now, here it changes for what Paul Harris described.
07:40 I've made a few changes.
07:42 Because what he did, he would say, OK, I have one, two, three pieces here.
07:48 I don't know, but if I see three things, I never have to count.
07:53 I know it is three.
07:56 And if I see four things, I know it is four.
07:59 With five, I cheat.
08:00 I make a group of two and a group of three, and I know it's five.
08:03 With six, maybe then I start counting.
08:07 I don't know.
08:08 There's many card tricks where you say, I have one, two, three, four aces,
08:12 with one, two, three, four blue backs,
08:14 as if they can have five blue backs or something.
08:16 But in a way, it is only magicians and idiots who count when it's under five.
08:26 So really, what I feel, with a lot of packet tricks,
08:33 you should not count the cards, but display.
08:36 If you would display the pieces, look, these are the pieces, see?
08:40 Then people will realize it's three.
08:42 And most of the time, the number is not important.
08:45 But a display of cards has a different rhythm
08:48 and has a different look than a count.
08:52 Sometimes you read in books, the counting should be at an even rhythm,
08:55 like a metronome, one, two.
08:57 No, it's not, because when you show it, it's a different feel.
09:00 It's a different thing.
09:01 OK, that's just a thought.
09:06 Here, because the way the card is folded, you can sort of push this aside.
09:14 It's still connected, of course, but you just push this aside.
09:17 And it looks like two pieces.
09:19 Together with this, it looks like three pieces.
09:21 So you don't need to prove anything.
09:23 You just have the three pieces.
09:24 And also, this makes it easier to make the restoration,
09:26 because you can hold it here.
09:28 And here is this little corner which sticks out.
09:30 So when you do this, it opens out.
09:32 And this piece goes behind the fingers, so you have it like this.
09:39 Now, the card, it is restored.
09:42 I put a crimp here, sort of, a side crimp, and a side crimp there.
09:47 So then the card is rigid.
09:49 It's a small detail, but it's important, because if it's not, it is not so restored.
09:55 But this way, it is much more restored and much more complete than when it is limp.
10:01 So then you go to your pocket, and of course, you search a little bit.
10:04 You have it palm, but you can take it out immediately.
10:06 But you pretend to search for it, and it fits exactly.
10:10 Okay.
10:11 This is a very nice trick.
10:12 It's impromptu.
10:13 You can do it with any card.
10:16 Now, there is really a problem that people want you to restore the last quarter.
10:21 Now, we talked this afternoon about hecklers.
10:24 When people say this, now, it's not heckling.
10:28 They just want you to do that.
10:30 They would like to see it.
10:32 And why not?
10:33 You restored the other pieces.
10:34 Why couldn't you restore this piece?
10:35 It's logical.
10:37 But of course, it's very difficult.
10:38 This is a very difficult question.
10:40 And what I used to always do is I would give this to a spectator and say,
10:45 "Look, if you can restore this piece to the rest, if you can do that, I will explain how it is done."
10:52 Now, they see this as a little joke, and it is,
10:55 but mainly it is to prevent them from asking me to do it.
10:59 Because if someone says, "No, you do it," I say, "No, no, no, you do it, and I will explain it."
11:03 So that's how I avoid this difficult question.
11:06 Many tricks, sometimes you can get difficult questions,
11:10 but if you can sort of take this question away from them, that's better.
11:14 The other way of putting tape on the card I thought was a nice idea.
11:19 I had some trouble to find a method to put tape on the card.
11:24 Finally, I found a way.
11:27 I tried rolling up the tape, having it under my thumb, putting it on and all this.
11:33 If you take a card, and this is a special knife, I don't know if you can buy it in this country.
11:41 You can't see it, but there's a very tiny point to it,
11:45 and it's used for cutting pieces out of newspapers,
11:48 but it cuts only through one layer of paper.
11:51 The knife is not bigger than that.
11:54 So if you cut like this, I've cut this way and this way.
11:59 If you bend this, it will bend here at a very sharp angle,
12:02 because it just goes through half the thickness, and here the same thing.
12:05 So this you can tear, and you see how neatly it's torn here,
12:10 and this is exactly straight.
12:13 I have cards like that, and the tear I cover with tape.
12:21 So I just have this card.
12:24 Oh, by the way, to get to this card, if you have a deck of cards,
12:27 there's no need to sneak this into the deck and force it or something.
12:30 You could just even put the deck in your pocket and take this out from a small heap
12:34 which you have in a special ticket pocket.
12:37 So this is a card trick with less than one card, which takes the attention.
12:42 Now, if I bend it here, you can see that the tape, it bends underneath the tape.
12:49 Then you bend it here the same way.
12:53 Now I can tear out the piece, the quarter, and the tape is sticking out.
13:00 See?
13:02 So--but it looks like torn paper.
13:05 So this goes into the pocket.
13:07 I just tear the card, and the funny thing is the tape, it makes--
13:14 when you stick it a little bit to it, it makes a better tearing sound also,
13:17 so it helps a little bit.
13:19 Okay, you do it this way, and this--the tape stays hidden behind this.
13:27 Oh, sorry.
13:28 And then you can do the restoration.
13:31 Trick is still the same.
13:33 You take this--oh, I got it.
13:37 You can show that it fits.
13:39 And then to make the complete restoration, you just press the tape.
13:44 It wouldn't be great.
13:46 Yeah, well, it's not too bad.
13:47 And then I just throw it on the table.
13:50 Now in this situation, I have to show it to you, but normally someone would pick it up.
13:55 Not so much to examine, but to hold the mystery, you know.
13:59 Okay, and they see the tape.
14:04 And they say, "Hey."
14:05 I said, "Yeah, what did you expect? Miracles or what?"
14:08 Okay.
14:15 I must tell you also something.
14:17 Some magicians have suggested to me to use a transparent tape, which is a mud finish, not shiny.
14:24 Because if it's true, you could do it and then show the card both sides and it's restored.
14:30 But then you cannot give it away.
14:32 So you would have to put it in your pocket or make a switch.
14:34 Well, that becomes a lot of work.
14:38 Personally, I don't think that's a good idea.
14:41 Because if you put it away, they think there's something about the card.
14:44 And it's not that they want to examine, but they want to hold it, yes.
14:49 And there, when you use transparent tape, you sort of try to prove that you're better than what you really are.
14:56 And this helps because if the tape is there, it just shows that I'm a regular guy.
15:01 I'm sort of--it's important in magic.
15:05 Sometimes if you do the tricks, people get the impression you can do things they cannot do.
15:10 And no matter how nice you are, it is possible that they take a distance from you.
15:16 And this is the normal way everybody would restore a card.
15:20 And it gives them, "Okay, he's an okay guy. He doesn't try to deceive me all the time."
15:26 This is very important. I know many magicians do this.
15:30 Lens Burton, for instance, especially in the beginning, he was like Mr. Perfect, yes.
15:34 And then one moment, a card drops.
15:37 "Oh, okay," and he produces another one, sticks it in the fan.
15:40 And then he had a small smile.
15:42 And at that period, it was the only smile in his act.
15:45 It's important because it showed, "Oh, he's not like Superman. He doesn't try to be, you know, okay, okay."
15:52 So that's good. I think if you can put something in your act which shows, "Okay, I'm just here.
15:57 I'm not trying to be all that high above you," it's good.
16:02 Of course, this is only necessary if you have a good act.
16:05 [laughter]
16:07 All right.
16:09 I don't know if this has happened to you because I don't know everybody of you,
16:16 but I think it must have happened that one day you come to a bar or--
16:21 Oh, before I continue, I should tell you something else.
16:25 I almost forgot. I have here a booklet, wonder material.
16:32 It's lots of drawings, and there is text with it.
16:37 It explains all the things I do here in this hour.
16:42 Okay. I've been thinking about what to charge for this because it's basically my tricks,
16:48 and they will in all probability not be suited for you, you know.
16:52 So I don't know what to charge for this.
16:54 I think, although it may be interesting for you, I think it has no value really.
17:00 So I will give these away for free at the end of the hour, okay?
17:04 Well, only to the people who buy the lecture notes.
17:07 [laughter]
17:11 Okay. All right.
17:16 Now you thought I was crazy.
17:19 Yes. Something which must have happened to you, it has happened to me also.
17:25 You come to a party or to a bar, and someone knows you are a magician.
17:31 "Oh, you are a magician? Oh, show us a trick."
17:34 And then you have nothing with you.
17:40 You try to borrow cards. They don't have cards.
17:43 You borrow a coin, and then you do a coin trick,
17:46 which you used to have success with five years ago.
17:49 [laughter]
17:53 It's not very successful, but okay.
17:55 So you come home and you think, "This will never happen again."
17:58 Next time you go to a bar or a party, you are prepared.
18:01 You have your cards here, your thumbtip and the rope and scissors,
18:05 your wallet, everything, the sponge balls,
18:09 and you are at this party, and you wait.
18:14 And nobody asks you to show them a trick, right?
18:17 Okay. So there you are.
18:19 So you think, "Well, I have all these things with me."
18:22 So you get some cards together.
18:23 You ask someone, "Do you want to see a trick?"
18:26 This person remembers the coin trick.
18:28 [laughter]
18:32 So actually, I think the question to ask
18:35 whether someone wants to see some magic or not is a very bad question.
18:39 Like I said also this afternoon, and it's described in the book,
18:42 which you get of this convention.
18:44 I explain it a little bit more why it's not such a good question.
18:50 Because it puts people on the spot.
18:52 They have to answer, and maybe they don't want to see it,
18:54 but they don't want to hurt you, so they may say,
18:56 "Oh, yes, please show me," while they actually would like to say,
18:59 "No, I don't want to see."
19:00 So it's not a good idea to do this.
19:06 Well, it depends what situation you are working.
19:08 If it is a formal situation, it's a different thing.
19:11 But if it is an informal one, for friends or whatever,
19:15 you need another type of introduction to the magic.
19:19 You can do several things, but...
19:25 Whatever.
19:27 Now...
19:31 You can light your cigarette.
19:34 If people can react to this in two different ways.
19:39 If they say, "Oh, wow, your lighter, it changed to a box of magic."
19:43 "Oh, sure, yeah, that's magic, and here I have a deck of cards,
19:46 and I'll show you some more."
19:51 On the other hand, if they react like, "Oh, yeah, it changed,"
19:58 then you can take your cigarette, you put it out in the ashtray,
20:02 you walk to another group of people, and you do the same trick again,
20:05 and you continue doing this until you find people who like it.
20:08 Actually, there are people who don't like magic,
20:11 and I can't blame them all of the time.
20:16 Some magic, you know, it has no sense.
20:19 It's senseless.
20:21 The magician, he produces a red silk.
20:25 Seemingly, he doesn't like the color, he changes it to blue,
20:29 and then he throws the silk away.
20:32 Things like this.
20:34 We have come to accept it as normal, but a lot of magic is very strange.
20:38 When you start thinking about it, it's very illogical.
20:42 But this trick, where a lighter changes to a box of matches, is a logical trick.
20:46 And people, they will have a hard time disliking it.
20:50 Because I'm not--there's a definite reason for me,
20:53 because the lighter doesn't work, so why shouldn't I change it to a box of matches?
20:57 They can't say that it's silly.
21:00 When I think of tricks, I always have a habit of saying,
21:06 "Okay, this and this happens, so what?"
21:09 And if you apply that, there is a lot of magic which doesn't mean all that much.
21:14 And if it has some meaning, it will have a better connection with the people,
21:20 they will be more involved.
21:22 Okay, this trick is actually quite simple.
21:27 You need a lighter, a big lighter or so, which you saw in half.
21:32 This in itself is a lot of fun.
21:38 So it has the length of the matchbox.
21:41 It fits inside, and there is a nylon thread, so it can fall out, but not completely.
21:46 It always stays in a little.
21:49 And the back part of the drawer, I cut open here, and I fold it inside,
21:54 and put a little sticker there.
21:58 So there is a compartment for a few matches.
22:00 So this is inside the matchbox.
22:03 So this you have in your pocket, and that's it.
22:05 Now, you take your cigarette, and all you do is you drop this out of the box,
22:10 and you hold it.
22:12 And it's not difficult, but it takes something in the mind.
22:15 You have to put a lot of force in the first finger,
22:19 because otherwise you get something like this.
22:21 [laughter]
22:24 Yeah.
22:26 So you must hold the box very lightly, because otherwise you crush the box.
22:30 It's not difficult. It's just something here.
22:33 Okay. So you do this.
22:36 And because there is no gas in it, of course it will not flame.
22:40 This is important detail.
22:42 It might sound very funny or stupid, but you must do this until at least one person notices it.
22:50 [laughter]
22:54 Okay. I know this sounds stupid, but when you practice things at home, you know,
22:58 for instance, you practice at home, one, two, three, and then you change it,
23:02 and you have practiced it, and it goes okay, then you perform it.
23:05 The first time you do it, you're a little bit nervous.
23:07 Well, okay. You do one, two, three, and nobody has seen your trick.
23:11 Okay.
23:13 Actually, it takes courage to wait for things.
23:16 It's the same when you palm a card.
23:19 You practice, and you do this, and then you palm the card,
23:22 and you have practiced it in this certain rhythm,
23:26 and then when showtime comes, it's ta-da-da-da, and you do it in the same rhythm,
23:30 and it might be completely wrong for this situation.
23:33 At this moment, someone might be watching your hand.
23:36 You must have the guts to wait.
23:39 It takes courage to wait for the moment.
23:44 So once you know it, it's not so difficult anymore,
23:48 but don't fall into the habit of doing things in a certain rhythm,
23:52 but watch the audience, where they're looking, and how their rhythm is,
23:56 because their rhythm is as important as my rhythm.
24:00 Together, you make the rhythm of the show.
24:02 Okay. So it is like this.
24:05 If they know you are a magician, you might even run into the situation where they say,
24:08 "Oh, it doesn't work. I thought you were a magician."
24:11 That's great, because you get challenged, and you can meet the challenge.
24:16 Okay. To change it, you just let it go into the box, and you turn your hand over.
24:23 Now you can show the box.
24:25 You open the box to take out a match.
24:27 Of course, you could see the light that is where you keep your fingers in front.
24:30 Then the hand drops down, so the light that drops down, it stays here.
24:34 So they see an empty box, except for a few matches.
24:37 So you take out a match, and you strike it, and you can light your cigarette.
24:42 This you put in your pocket, and it's reset.
24:44 Okay. There's another thing.
24:48 Once you've thought of it, it's not difficult anymore,
24:51 but I had missed a few opportunities before I thought of it.
24:54 If you take a big lighter, and a red one especially is a popular color,
24:59 and someone has the same lighter,
25:02 now it would be stupid to change your own lighter.
25:05 You just take their lighter. You take it.
25:08 You just take it from them, and you talk to them.
25:11 No fancy switch. "Yeah, sure." And then you do this.
25:15 There's no need to make a difficult switch.
25:17 Just look them in the eye so that they don't expect a trick anyhow.
25:21 And then it doesn't work, and their lighter changes into a box of matches,
25:25 which is far better.
25:26 But you must be aware when you see such a lighter,
25:29 you must grab your chance.
25:31 Once you are aware of it, you will grab the chance,
25:33 but I have let this opportunity go for a few times.
25:37 There's one problem with it if you change their lighter into a box of matches.
25:41 They don't want their lighter back. They want the box.
25:44 I don't know why. I think they want to say to their friends,
25:47 "This used to be my lighter." I don't know.
25:50 [laughter]
25:56 Of course, you could say, "Well, I take an extra box of matches, make a switch."
25:59 Well, that for me, it goes too far,
26:02 because then I would really be filled with all kinds of things.
26:06 So in such a case, I would just put it in my pocket and say,
26:08 "Oh, well, it's just a joke," and give them their lighter back.
26:12 Okay, so those are the few things to think about.
26:15 Any questions on this, by the way, or things?
26:18 Okay, one thing I mentioned is it resets.
26:23 For me, this is very important.
26:25 If a trick resets, that is wonderful.
26:29 There are many tricks which in itself are not resetting,
26:33 but if you change the handling sometimes, you can make it resetting.
26:37 Sometimes I have even changed the method of a trick completely
26:40 just to make it resetting.
26:43 I think it's very important for several reasons.
26:46 First of all, it's much better to practice.
26:49 You practice much faster. You don't have to reset.
26:53 Resetting is dull.
26:58 But for close-up tricks especially, you can just practice,
27:01 and it has something else too.
27:03 Because if you have a trick which you need to reset,
27:06 for instance, okay, yes, here is the extra coin nobody should know about,
27:10 and here is the thread which should not break.
27:13 So you remind yourself of the magic method
27:17 because during the preparation you see the trick.
27:20 People say if you really want to learn something,
27:25 do it at regular intervals.
27:28 Well, with the preparation, at regular intervals,
27:31 you are reminding yourself that what you do is not real magic.
27:34 It's a fake.
27:37 And the idea is that you believe the trick yourself.
27:41 It becomes very hard if you have tricks which don't reset to believe it
27:46 because you remind yourself at regular intervals it's not real.
27:49 But if you have a resetting trick,
27:51 you never come in contact with all these secret things.
27:55 It sort of goes automatic,
27:57 and it helps you to believe in your own magic,
28:00 and I think that's very good.
28:03 Another thing is in a situation where you work several tables,
28:09 you're working at this table,
28:11 and the other table is already yelling they want to see you too.
28:15 So you're sure, I'll be there in a moment, and then you have to prepare.
28:19 So you are in a hurry. You might make the preparation wrong.
28:22 You might even forget the preparation altogether.
28:25 I had a friend, we worked together in a place,
28:28 and he arrived at a table and halfway through his trick,
28:31 "Gee, I forgot to reset it."
28:33 Now that looks pretty stupid.
28:35 And also for the person who is paying you, it's not a good thing
28:39 if he sees you go to the men's room all the time or something.
28:43 Either the magician is lazy or ill.
28:46 So if you can make tricks, resetting, it's a lot better.
28:50 It's a lot more comfortable, and also it gives you confidence
28:53 because once I've done my tricks, once, I know everything is there.
28:58 There is no doubt anymore.
29:00 I have no, "Is it there? Is everything in order?"
29:02 No. Once it's done, once, I know for sure it's all in the right pockets,
29:06 it's all there.
29:08 Okay. Good.
29:11 Yeah, maybe it's time for a small card trick.
29:14 Let me place this here.
29:18 And it's not a big card trick, it's just a small card trick.
29:24 [laughter]
29:28 I would like you to take one of these cards,
29:30 but don't take a picture card.
29:32 Any other card is fine.
29:34 Okay. And I have also a felt pen, but it's a very small one
29:38 because it was washed a little bit too hot.
29:42 It's not a big deal if you take the cap off, it doesn't matter anymore.
29:45 You just write your name on the card as big as you can, through the spades,
29:49 that's okay as long as it's nice and big and visible for everybody.
29:52 Okay, thank you. Wonderful.
29:54 And the pen. Oops. That was my microphone. Okay, thank you.
29:58 Now you see, all the cards in the deck, they feel very normal,
30:02 like they always feel on a Sunday,
30:04 except the nine of spades, it feels very important.
30:07 And you can see because if you place the nine of spades into the deck like this
30:10 and you do hop, it rises through the cards to the top.
30:15 It is on top now.
30:18 Did I go too fast? No, okay.
30:21 I'll show you again, it's quite simple.
30:23 It's about--oh, it's not exactly the middle, but it's not important.
30:27 The important is the movement. I'll do it slow.
30:30 Hop. It cannot be, huh? And yet.
30:37 Ah, you know, I became a magician to find out how I do this.
30:43 Sometimes I meet people who think I cheat.
30:46 Not you, not you, but sometimes, lay people, you know,
30:49 they think I put in a different card, it's already there,
30:51 or that I do it with my fingers very fast.
30:53 Well, you know, that can be done.
30:55 I'll do it here on the table. You can see I don't do anything with my fingers.
30:59 I will only use my fingertips.
31:04 No possibility for cheating and no fast movements.
31:09 I'm not going too fast, am I? Okay.
31:12 If you watch the side, you can see it happen.
31:16 Hop. Did you see it crawl to the top?
31:20 Well, it's there all right.
31:25 Okay. Well--
31:27 [applause]
31:30 You know, I can just as well explain it.
31:32 You see, the card, of course, it doesn't go through the other cards to the top.
31:35 It's imagination, you understand?
31:37 Also, the card, it doesn't really go in the middle.
31:39 It's imagination, because it's my lucky card.
31:41 I never keep it in the deck.
31:44 So you cannot see it there, because I always keep it here, this little box.
31:50 But what I don't understand is how you managed to put on my lucky card, in the box, your name.
31:58 You must explain it to me, because I don't know.
32:02 [applause]
32:08 It is a lucky card.
32:09 There's six months guarantee on the luck, so keep it at least half a year.
32:12 Okay.
32:19 That's a problem I always have.
32:20 You see, the cards, they came out of the box, so really, they should go back into the box.
32:27 They came out, come on, so they must go back in.
32:32 It takes a little bit more force, but okay.
32:37 It's a lot better that way, yeah?
32:39 Okay.
32:40 [applause]
32:43 All right.
32:47 Good.
32:48 Well, I will explain a few parts of this routine.
32:54 First of all, let me see the box, which gets smaller.
33:00 Now, this routine, the way I've done it, is not resetting, unfortunately.
33:03 So usually, I only do it in this sense, once only, for the director of the company or something.
33:12 The box, which gets smaller, John Cornelius has versions, there are several versions around.
33:17 I made this version with the Aviator deck.
33:20 It's red, white, and red.
33:21 You can sort of make a very nice one, which gets smaller, because it's like a telescope.
33:28 So it just folds like this, and the other side is decorated like a small box.
33:33 I have a flap, but it's closed here, of course, it doesn't matter.
33:36 This has the advantage that if I would only make it smaller, and at the end take it out of my pocket, you know,
33:44 then they might have forgotten that the box had become smaller,
33:47 and I can hold it like this, and just put the cards back into the box, and then it's reset.
33:53 So that's a nice way, if you only make the box smaller, but of course the other ending is nicer.
34:02 The problem with this is it's difficult to make, it gets dirty, you have to renew it every now and then.
34:06 It takes a lot of work to make these three parts, and the threads, and everything.
34:10 So I made another way, which only works for special types of cards.
34:16 This is commercial cards for Heineken, but it's the same idea, you take out the cards and it's like this.
34:21 This is much easier to make, because here the back design of the cards is the same as the box,
34:27 and it's just a half box, and when the cards are in, you can just take it like this,
34:36 and there's no need to prove anything, because why shouldn't the cards be in a regular box, you know.
34:41 But they can see through your fingers a little bit like this, so they see it, and it's very easy,
34:46 you just push them out like this, take it, and just show the other side.
34:49 It's much easier to make, and it doesn't wear out so quickly, because there's no moving parts, it's just one piece.
34:56 This even has the advantage that if you want, you can even put the cards back in the box while in your pocket.
35:02 So there you could reset this thing, so it has the same back design, that has a possibility.
35:09 Okay, so that's the shrinking card case.
35:16 The trick with the, oh, I might also tell you a little bit about, that's so nice about the close-up convention.
35:23 I know now that you are interested in close-up, because many conventions, you know,
35:27 sometimes I skip certain things, because I don't know if I would interest the people,
35:31 so that's nice about conventions like this.
35:35 It's nothing special in a way, what I do, but I would like to tell you something
35:43 about the second time the card comes to the top.
35:45 The first time, it's just the tilt move, and it comes to the top like this.
35:49 Then I'm going to repeat it, and the card is turned back, and then I place the card like this,
35:55 and it is on top again.
35:56 Now, I don't want, when the second time I have the card, I don't want people to know
36:01 or to realize that the card goes back on the deck, and that I take the card like this.
36:07 Because in a way, it would be, if this is a single card, you would sort of take the card like this
36:13 and put it back. You wouldn't put it back on the deck, really.
36:15 So I don't want this to register with the people.
36:19 So I use two things, sort of.
36:21 I have the card here, and say, "Oh, it's quite simple. Look."
36:25 Yes, it's sort of a one-hand top change with one card.
36:30 Because they don't realize the hand is empty, or they'll say, "Look."
36:33 They don't realize it has been on the deck. That's one.
36:37 But the other thing is, to make it impossible to think back, this is a--
36:42 and I found it became about 40 to 50% more effective after I had inserted this detail.
36:49 I have the card, and say, "Look. Oh, it's not the middle."
36:53 But that's not important. It's the movement.
36:56 Now, what I do here, basically, when they think back, I give them a new piece of information.
37:02 I say, "Okay, the card goes in the middle. Oh, it's not exactly the middle."
37:06 But that's not important.
37:07 And I can sometimes see the people think, "Yeah, sure, sure. That doesn't matter.
37:10 Please, continue, continue."
37:12 And that's what--I'm putting a piece of information in their mind
37:18 so it's not a straight line of events from the moment I show the card.
37:23 There is something new, and this prevents them from thinking back that the card has been on top there.
37:29 It sort of convinces them more that the card is really going in.
37:32 It's a very small detail, but I really found it became more effective.
37:37 And I sort of--not irritate, but a little, you know, "Yeah, sure, sure. That doesn't matter.
37:42 We don't care where the card goes in."
37:44 They want to see it come back on top again.
37:46 So this is--sometimes you--some people call it time misdirection, you know.
37:53 You make a steel of something with a silk, and then you wait, and you produce it.
37:58 We were talking with some people outside about this.
38:02 The time is not important, but if you make a steel and then produce a little thing here
38:09 and then put it there, and you make the production, it's better
38:13 because a little event happens in between.
38:15 So you put a little thought in their mind, so it becomes very difficult to think back how you could have done it.
38:21 Okay.
38:24 All right, then it is on top again, et cetera, et cetera.
38:31 All right, then the card comes out of the box.
38:33 This is a trick which I saw in a lecture of fret caps.
38:38 I made this box myself because to find a ring box is probably--you won't find one of the correct size.
38:45 It must be a box, and the card is in there folded, and it can move,
38:50 but it is--it's underneath a loop of thread, so it cannot fall out.
38:56 But it's--I can easily take it out and put another brand of card in if necessary.
39:01 The box I made so that it can move, but not too much, and I wanted the box to be as small as can be.
39:08 So--and also the design of the lid is very important.
39:12 I'll come back to that later.
39:14 The idea is to--when you have a card and it is folded--
39:20 by the way, this is not in the free booklet, but just my own handling on it.
39:26 You can show the card.
39:27 You have the card palmed here, and that's why the box has a little bit of a rounded lid,
39:34 and it goes very smooth.
39:35 It sort of falls close by itself.
39:38 This hand turns palm up, and the box sort of takes the card, and you can shake it out.
39:45 So you show the card like this and say, "Oh, come, come, come," and you can show the card.
39:52 [applause]
39:58 What is important also when you show this and you take this--it comes out--
40:04 when you open the card, you sort of palm the box.
40:09 So out of sight, out of mind.
40:11 I'm not really palming it.
40:13 I mean, if someone sees it, okay, I have the box here.
40:16 But I prefer them to forget about the box, and I throw it on the table,
40:20 and it goes this way, and then at the same moment, the hand goes away to get rid of the box
40:24 because I don't want the box to be inside because then they might start thinking,
40:28 "Is there something wrong with the box?"
40:31 Now, the problem is the folding of the card.
40:38 I read somewhere a method to fold a card.
40:41 You all are familiar with this method.
40:43 You fold it like this.
40:44 It's in expert card technique or something.
40:46 It doesn't matter how long you practice this.
40:50 You see, sometimes we think that if someone does something very smoothly,
40:54 he has practiced a long time, but sometimes it's better to find a better method.
40:58 There are some methods, no matter how well you do them, something will always be visible.
41:03 No matter--I can't do it well, but your hand has to make these movements.
41:08 And look at how ugly it looks.
41:10 Your hand looks weird.
41:12 There's a lot of movement in the hand.
41:14 So what you have to do is you have to do this underneath the table edge
41:18 or behind your leg so that the other tables can see it or whatever, you know.
41:26 What I think is a good way is to palm the card and hold it behind someone's back.
41:32 And then you can keep even your palm to this person's back
41:35 so the other sides don't see it really.
41:37 And it is nice because it gives you an open--this is honest.
41:41 If you are standing like this, you're honest.
41:43 If you are standing like this, you're doing something.
41:47 Like making a pass.
41:49 If you make the pass here, I don't know.
41:51 But if you make it there, sure, it's honest.
41:54 It's more honest.
41:55 It's just an impression they get.
41:56 Okay, so you can fold the card behind someone's back.
42:00 I wanted to have a method to fold the card in this region without taking the hands out of sight.
42:07 So I've made something like this.
42:09 I've folded the card now.
42:10 It's smaller than this other method.
42:12 As you can see, this--well, this is not folded well.
42:15 But you can see it's a lot smaller because it is three times folded in two.
42:22 And the method is quite fast.
42:25 This is another.
42:26 [LAUGHTER]
42:31 And it is--the first two folds are from expert card technique, and it's really good.
42:38 I just added one extra fold.
42:40 And the extra fold, the last fold, you need a lot of force because it's difficult.
42:45 But because you are doing it with two hands, you have the force of two hands together.
42:49 And with one hand, it's difficult, you know, but I can use the arms as a sort of--to bring force.
42:54 Okay, you hold the deck like this with the thumb is here in the middle,
43:00 and it's sticking out as far as possible.
43:02 So you don't hold the deck like this, but you hold it like this.
43:06 Now, you buckle the chosen card, the top card, and now you go like this.
43:12 Now, because the both short sides of the cards--of the card is in contact with the deck.
43:20 And this sort of ensures that the fold is at a straight angle.
43:25 And that's very important that the card ends up folded very nicely
43:28 because the neater it is folded, the more impossible it seems.
43:32 Because if it is ugly folded, then maybe it looks almost like crumpled up.
43:37 But if it is very neatly folded, they get the impression you must have been out of the room to really fold the card.
43:42 Okay, so these two sides are in contact with the deck, and you have the first fold.
43:49 Now, the thumb is in a way--is here. It's at a straight angle.
43:53 Now, you don't stop, you just continue.
43:55 So the second fold is also, if your thumb is straight, at a straight angle and in the middle.
44:01 So, with one movement, you have two folds.
44:07 So that's very economic.
44:11 Now, to continue, and this is what I edit, I pull up the card with my thumb.
44:17 So I only hold it with the first finger, and I sort of hold it like this.
44:22 Now, this hand is underneath the deck, and it's going to grab the deck.
44:27 The deck is here. And then, that's where you apply force with two hands.
44:32 You sort of press it around your finger, and then these fingers can grab the deck.
44:38 You pull out this one, and you can press it like this.
44:42 Or, if necessary, you can do this a little bit, but actually pressing the folds in, okay?
44:48 So then you have the card folded.
44:51 So again, it's like the one, two, and the third.
44:55 And you press it closed.
44:57 And, maybe do it again one more time, slow.
45:03 So this is the first and the second, and it's bent around the finger, and you press.
45:10 Then what I do, I take it here, so that I can show this hand empty, where is the box?
45:16 And I can pick up the box like this, and then I show it.
45:20 And then I have the attention here, so that's the moment where I palm off the folded card and place the deck on the table.
45:26 So then I can show it and just take out the card and give it to them as their chosen card.
45:33 [applause]
45:41 There's one slight problem with this card fold.
45:45 Slight problem to learn it.
45:48 Of course, when you start practicing this, if you want to learn this, you use old cards.
45:53 Now, I don't know how many old cards you have at home.
45:58 Maybe 10 decks or so, I don't know.
46:00 It's not enough, really.
46:04 But then you have the problem, when you have folded all your old cards, you have to wait until you have new old cards.
46:10 And by that time, you have forgotten about this card fold, you've read another book, seen another lecture,
46:15 and so you end up with learning the card fold for 70% and then forgetting about it.
46:21 It's with a lot of tricks like that.
46:25 In a case where you want to really learn this, and it has to do with many tricks where you dispose of things, you must force yourself.
46:34 Go out and buy 100 decks of a back design which you don't want to be seen with.
46:41 [laughter]
46:43 You have all these cards and you have no use for them.
46:48 The only use you have is folding them, and then you will learn.
46:52 So, commit yourself, put in some money, and buy, so that you force yourself.
46:59 Because otherwise, it's not going to work.
47:02 Because then you get distracted, and at the end of the year, you will have learned 10 tricks for 70% instead of 7 for 100%.
47:10 That's the beauty of the work.
47:14 Let me see.
47:18 The cards go into the small box.
47:21 Before I explain this to you, I should explain that there is a deck switch.
47:29 Because a regular deck, of course, can't go into this little box.
47:35 I will tell you about the deck switch.
47:40 I was thinking about switching a deck, but now you could use lapping and things like that, but although I work quite often sitting,
47:48 I can talk about that too if you want later on.
47:52 But I don't like to use lapping because I want to have my tricks so that I can also do them standing up.
47:57 Because then I don't never have to worry.
48:00 I know that under any circumstance, the tricks I have on my body, I can do them.
48:04 I feel that for me it's very important for my confidence and for feeling good.
48:11 So I wanted to have a deck switch on my body.
48:15 I have read a deck switch somewhere where you have the deck in the pocket.
48:20 This is the warm deck, this is the cold deck.
48:24 And you have to do something like this. You have to go in and change it.
48:32 It depends on the size of your pocket, but it's not easy.
48:36 What I saw today of Geoffrey, that was good.
48:40 He puts it in his pocket and says, "Okay."
48:43 And then he takes out--then it's good.
48:46 But if you want to do it secretly, it's no good.
48:50 Because it's difficult to change a deck in one pocket and not having it noticed.
48:57 Because you really get this type of thing very quickly.
49:00 It's quite illogical to go with your hand to your pocket with a deck.
49:04 Because if you need to take something out of your pocket, you must have a reason to go to your pocket.
49:08 Then you would take the deck here and go to your pocket and take out or whatever.
49:13 Unless this hand is occupied, maybe holding a chair or something.
49:19 Then it's okay.
49:21 So you run into a lot of problems to make a deck switch with one pocket.
49:26 Then I thought of something very simple.
49:30 I thought, "Why not do it this way?"
49:35 It's very easy.
49:38 It's very smooth.
49:41 And also the deck is never leaving their sight.
49:44 It's always there.
49:49 I mean, I need about half a second of misdirection and it's done.
49:54 It's flying from one hand to the other, but because it goes smoothly.
49:59 So I have this, and then I continue with other things.
50:03 So it's very smooth.
50:06 Although it is illogical, it's not unnatural.
50:09 With one hand in one pocket, it's more unnatural.
50:12 Now, of course, you need reasons for the hands to go to the pockets.
50:18 I have to think how to do this.
50:20 Here I have the small box, which I'm going to take out of my pocket.
50:24 Here I have this box, and the card comes out.
50:26 I show them this card, which is very strong misdirection.
50:31 I take up the deck.
50:33 This hand goes to the pocket, basically to put this away.
50:36 This hand goes to the pocket to take out the box.
50:40 So it's all-- every hand has a reason to do what it's doing,
50:45 and yet the deck is changed for another deck.
50:50 I remember showing this once to someone who was deceived by the switch.
50:54 Later I explained it.
50:55 He said, you're never going to get away with that.
50:57 [LAUGHTER]
51:02 You see, sometimes you can do quite illogical things.
51:04 As long as they have a natural flow and are going OK,
51:08 then you don't have so much trouble.
51:11 OK, so the deck is switched for another deck.
51:15 Oh, by the way, this box-- this one is smaller even,
51:20 but they forgot the exact size, but it's smaller.
51:22 It's another box.
51:27 I had the idea of this, and I made a deck which fits in the box
51:33 and has this shape.
51:37 It fits in completely.
51:40 Well, it sticks out a little bit, but the flap goes over high.
51:44 But it means if the flap is to the back,
51:46 the box looks even smaller than it is,
51:49 which is just helping the illusion in the beginning.
51:52 So I tried to get every millimeter I can get away, I've taken it away.
51:57 This is the shape, and when it is like this,
52:02 it looks as if the box is already very full.
52:05 It's sort of-- how can something be very full or something?
52:09 OK, so this looks nice.
52:12 And then you just have to swivel it like this,
52:14 and it's completely in.
52:17 Now, the problem is, of course, to have this parade as a real deck.
52:23 So-- and this is a pity.
52:27 It's not resetting by itself.
52:33 Oh, this is-- oh, yeah, OK.
52:37 Here is some sticky tape, and the card sticks to it like this.
52:42 So it looks like a full deck.
52:43 This is what I take out of my pocket, and I have a full deck.
52:47 Now, the problem is to get rid of this card or to make it fit the box.
52:52 I've-- with this same knife, which only cuts through one layer of paper,
52:57 I've cut here and there on 1/3.
53:02 So I can grab it here when I seemingly push it in, and I just fold it.
53:10 So it's zigzag.
53:11 It's very fast.
53:13 You hold it on here, but now it has a problem that it will go to the back, see?
53:18 And it might even push this forward, which doesn't look good.
53:23 So to keep this together and also to prevent this whole thing from falling off,
53:28 because you don't have a lot of grip on it, you know, it's very unstable,
53:33 what I've done is the top card, it can swivel.
53:36 It gets more and more complicated.
53:38 [LAUGHTER]
53:40 It's OK.
53:41 So I have the card here.
53:43 Do this.
53:45 So it can't go to the back, and it gives some support for this block,
53:48 so you can show it like this.
53:51 And then all you do is swivel it, put it in.
53:56 And there's your box.
53:58 [APPLAUSE]
54:01 It is some work to make, but oh well, gets you through a winter evening.
54:12 [LAUGHTER]
54:14 Yeah, I'm sorry we don't have a little bit more time, but anyhow,
54:17 I hope you have enjoyed it.
54:20 I have at least filled my hour.
54:22 I'm happy about that.
54:24 You're not going to send me away.
54:26 It's terrible.
54:27 OK, I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did.
54:30 And if you want to buy the notes, you get the free booklet.
54:33 Feel free.
54:34 They're seven pounds.
54:35 I'll be in the corner there.
54:36 Thank you very much.
54:37 [APPLAUSE]
54:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
54:44 Bye.
54:46 [MUSIC PLAYING]
54:50 [MUSIC PLAYING]
54:54 [MUSIC PLAYING]
54:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
55:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]
55:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
55:07 (upbeat music)
55:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]