Hi everyone!
Here we are with another edition of The Magic Memories, namely number 40, gone online on SUN, 3rd October 2021, at 00:07 o’clock – and as I’m writing this it is the premiere of the latest James Bond movie “No Time to Die”, what a coincidence…
The Program is Wild – Discussion
Thank you for all the nice comments I received on last weeks contribution, “The Program is Wild”. This encourages me to publish the sequel to it, i.e. the discussion and explanation of the performance you saw. There are really a lot of ideas in this clip, which is the beginning section of my Magic Apple Zoom Lecture (June 2021). The idea with the double-deck case has quite a bit of potential, especially the one with the “invisible/imaginary” deck next to the real performance deck.
To make things easier, I’ll report my drawings below, which you may use, or take as a point of departure for your own creations:
And here is how the box looks that I’m using for the program, with the “instruments” in the “false bottom” (maybe another presentational idea?):
Idea for a Short Act
As for the “Wild Program”, using just four apparently double blank cards, drawing a magic wand on one, and then making three “instruments” appear on each of the other three cards, makes for a lovely overture to a short (or long) little act. This obviously has a very open architecture, leaving space for all kinds of interpretations. But if you ask me for an opinion, I would go with “coins” (representing money), “rope” and “cards”. I would then open with “Paper to Money” and follow with “Gipsy Thread”, both are explained with all the details of handling and performance I gathered after 30 years (at least) of professional experience almost all over the world in my third Penguin video “The Act”. Close this little act with a third trick using playing cards. This will give you a nice compact “impromptu” close-up show of ca. 15 minutes (depending on the card trick). If you have more time, the first two trick, being visual in nature, will allow you to now continue with a solid card act. Card tricks, being mostly conceptual in nature, are best performed after the attention has been caught with shorter and more visual pieces – this is rule that has its exceptions… My choice for a lengthier card section would be “The Color-changing Deck” (Card College 5, p. 1333), followed by Williamson’s “Torn and Restored Transposition”, p. 72 in his Williamson’s Wonders (you can place the duplicate cards necessary immediately under the double-back thick card needed in the “Cold-changing Deck”), finally closing with “The Joker Folds up” (Card College 5, p. 1349. This would make quite an act š
To watch the video CLICK HERE.
Have an enjoyable week!
Roberto Giobbi
