Gary Freed's NFW

What The Audience Sees:

'This week Jamie showed us four face up jokers. One at a time they turned face down, without him flipping them over! Then they turned into four Aces! Is there anything he can't do?!'

How It Went:

I think everyone at the Café already knows how great this trick is and, sure enough, it works in the real world. I performed it as many times as humanly possible because I told myself I would keep on doing it until someone actually said, 'No F#$$*^$! Way.' Unfortunately, it just didn't happen. I came close, though:

Best Lines:

'Get the ^#$%$ outta' here!' 'Shut the $#$# up!' 'Are you %^&*$^%^$ing kidding me?!'

and of course the usual Angry Bob, 'Hey. $%^* off.'

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 the effect is done... A high rating means he'll never figure it out.

I'm going to say around, 4/5. I think someone with some magical knowledge will obviously know that something is going on, but I doubt they could tell you what, aside from perhaps the number of cards if you're sloppy.

My Rating:

This is a really great trick and I'm always happy when I can add a new effect to my wallet, which I've done, so I'm going for a 9/10. It loses a mark because it's gaffed but that doesn't worry me too much. I had a few people ask if they could see the cards to which I reply, "Of course!" and then I'd hand them 2 and ask them a question about something completely unrelated.
The JDG Tip:

I'm a big believer in the adage, 'Don't run if you're not being chased.' As a result, I never said, "I've got 4 Jokers here." Instead, I would say, "I'm going to use the Jokers from 2 decks of cards instead of always throwing them out. They should all be face up..."

Closing Thoughts:

I'm going to end this by saying this isn't a trick for beginners. You need to have your counts down or you're doomed. You also need to be confidant in your Audience Management skills as they Will ask to see the cards. I had one client demand to see all the cards (this was a regular Magic Fridayer. I find that complete lay people were more than satisfied when I handed them a couple and pretended to look at my own 2 at the same time), to which I replied, "Absolutely not." and laughed it off. Whichever way you decide to handle it, though, you need to do so with absolute conviction.

I guess that's it. Not a bad Friday considering I was up 'till 3 the night before. After the Cirque gig, which ended at 1:30, I went and performed 45 min at a Grand Opening for new club which a friend of mine bought. I'm still exhausted!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKENzzzzzzzzzzz....

Jamie D. Grant
www.whatizit.net
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