What The Audience Sees:
'The performer gave me a deck of cards and I shuffled them. He took them back, I picked a card, and I replaced it back into the deck. He tried to find it but ended up thinking another card was mine (which it wasn't). When he found out he was wrong he tore the incorrect card up into pieces and gave them to me to hold. I then told him what my card really was and he took it out of the deck. But then he snapped the card and it turned into the card he had torn up. And in my hand was my selected card, in pieces! He then took the pieces and put them into my other hand and told me to squeeze, which I did, and when I opened my hand the card was back in one piece!'
How It Went:
I'm starting to feel bad because so many of my Magic Friday's are going too well. I'm going to have to perform something really terrible next week so that these reviews even out a bit.
Regardless, a lot of people have their signature effects, wherein if they could only perform one trick for the rest of their lives, that would be the one. This one is mine. I first saw this performed by David Blaine on his Fearless DVD-it's the one he performs for Tyra Banks. It was only recently, however, that I discovered that this masterful creation came from the mind of David Williamson when I watched his Sleight Of Dave DVD. David Williamson's original version defintely had some nice touches that I appreciated, especially since he is more my style than Blaine.
Anyway, today went off like gangbusters. I haven't performed this for a while, but once I went into it, it was like meeting an old friend again. I performed it once today for a group of maybe a dozen people (I'm going to have start charging admission to Magic Friday's) and they were actually yelling with excitement. All from a single card trick. The nice thing is that there's three shockers- 1) The change, 2) The torn card is revealed to be their selection, and 3) It is restored. Perfect length-Great work Dave!
Best Lines:
'Bravo! Bravo!' That was from the group of twelve. People in the offices next door must have thought we had an opera going on.
'NO! NO! NO!' That was said in a way you would say, 'No!' to a bad dog. During the restoration. Toooo funny.
Angry Bob Rating:
I have a co-worker (Bob) whose uncle was a magician and thereby has a good working knowledge of how magic works. He's pretty grumpy but likes Magic Friday's because he can tell me how he figured out how it was done...
Probably a 3/5. There's nothing too crazy going on here and you aren't going to fry any of your magician friends but the trick is so polished that even Angry Bob grumbled, 'That was pretty good...'
My Rating:
5/5. Nothing to add, really. This is my favourite trick of all time. I once had a 350lb bouncer tell me, "That was the greatest card trick I have ever seen in my entire life." I've had a few people tell me that about this trick but, for some reason, that bouncer has always stuck with me. I think it's because everyone was looking at him to see how he would react (like, say, eating me alive) but he was in such awe that it was humbling. Good Times.
The Django Tip:
People are always shocked that you ripped up a card because of a mistake so milk that shock a bit. It adds to the tension that pretty well explodes once the change happens. This is especially true if they put the card into the deck somewhere else than where you supposedly wanted them to.
Closing Thoughts:
Don't underestimate card magic. I often find myself looking for non card tricks to perform but there's something about cards that the audience finds especially magical. Just something to keep in mind.
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
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