Jerx Christmas - Daniel Garcia - 10:32 PM

Danny Garcia just did something crazy. But he told me the trick won’t really be over until sometime tomorrow, so I’m not allowed to know how it’s done yet. 

When he showed up to the party a couple of hours ago, he thanked me for inviting him and give me a gift and told me not to open it until the part is over.

Then just a little while ago he asked if I’d mind someone going into my office and grabbing the first book they see. I sent my secretary, Miss Nanny Finebottom. While she grabbed a book, he asked to borrow a bill. John Guastaferro handed him a single. Dan tore the corner off the bill and handed it to me. About this time, Nanny returned with a book, “The Conqueror Worms.” A book about giant worms that take over the earth. Danny looked at the last 3 numbers of the serial number of the bill and call them out saying, “122. Turn to page 122 in the book you picked.” Nanny turned to page 122 and immediately we see a bill attached like a book page. Everyone looked back at Danny and there was the page of the book in his hands where the bill just was. We placed the missing corner up to the bill and it’s a match.

As, I said, Danny said the trick isn’t over. So he won’t tell me how it’s done, but he’s going to tell you now.

Hey guys… Danny here. So tomorrow Andy will open the gift I gave him when I got to the party. At first, he’ll find a note saying, “Thanks for inviting to your party… I felt bad about ruining one of your personal books, but hopefully whatever book your friend picked is a little more magical now.  I bought you a copy of one of my favorite books as a replacement. Hopefully you like it as much as the book they picked.” When he unwraps the tissue paper, he’ll find a copy of The Conqueror Worms.

So the effect is pretty simple in execution. The whole thing just relies on knowing your friend’s house you are performing in and what books they have. If this was a friend’s house I normally go to, then I just note the books they’re reading. If it’s at a friend of a friend then I'll ask them to tell me the books they are reading. Or if you really want to get into it, have a mutual friend gift them a book a month or so before. 

Either way… whichever book you decide, buy two copies of that book. Get two sequential $1 bills and sand off the last number so the bills are identical (or you can use the serial number stamp gimmick that comes with the FRAUD BOX SET later next year). Now look at the last 3 digits of the new serial number and cut that page out of the book with an Xacto knife as close to the spine as possible. Then take your Xacto knife and score the two bill corners so they rip exactly the same. You can use something like Gaeton Blooms Intercessor as a jig if that makes you more comfortable. Rip one of the corners off one of the bills and glue the other edge of the bill in the spine so it looks like a page. Now take the page you cut out and use double stick tape to fix this to the back of the other scored bill so that when you fold the page it it hidden behind the bill. 

So you should have :

1 ungimmicked book

1 gimmicked book (page missing and a bill with missing corner glued in its place)

1 scored bill with page taped and hidden on back 

Wrap the ungimmicked book, write your note and place it on top, then place everything in a gift box. 

Fold the bill gimmick in half so the page is hidden on the inside and place it in your pocket

Now… you show up to the party. Give the gift to the host and tell them not to open it and wait till later.

Start your party shenanigans… and while you're doing this, take note of where the other books are placed. In an office, a den, or a coffee table.

About 20-30 minutes in to the party, once everyone is comfortable with seeing you around, head out to your car and get the gimmicked book.

Come back inside with the book hidden and head to the place where the other books are. 

If the other books are in a den or office.,. place your gimmicked book on a chair facing the door right when you enter, so it’s the first thing you have to walk around when you enter the space. 

If it’s a coffee table or bookshelf in the living room, then just place the book so it’s the first thing you see.

Continue to mingle, but just make sure to check on the book to make sure no one moved it.

Once you start to perform ask the host if someone can go to their office… when they say yes, ask someone to go to the office and just get the FIRST book they see. They can’t really enter the office too much because of the chair, and they will just grab that book.

While they are gone, ask someone if they have a bill. Take the bill and ask if someone has a red sharpie… and while looking, switch bill for your gimmicked bill. Interrupt the search and just say you'll tear a corner off. Start to tear the corner along the score and have a person finish the tear so they are left holding the corner. 

The person should be back by now holding the book. 

Look at your bill then to another person and say what are the last 3 digits of the serial number.They say 122. Look at the person holding the book and say, “Please turn to page 122.” As they are looking for the page keep your hand holding the bill up in frame by your chest, but turn the bill so the page is now visible and the bill is hidden behind. (You can obviously make a crazier gimmick here to do a completely change, but this works just as well) When they reach the page they will see a “bill page with a missing corner” and they will react. They then will look at you hand and see a folded page. Open the page and show “Page 122” in the corner. Then ask the person with the corner to match it up. While they are doing this, steal off the bill on the book page.

Trick is done for the people…. But the kicker is for the host when they open the gift you got them and notice that you bought them the exact book the person “randomly” chose.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Jerx Christmas - Joshua Quinn - 10:04 PM

Okay… this is weird as hell. 

Me and this group of hot chicks were doing what I always do with hot chicks… playing inflatable reindeer antler ring toss.

When out of the corner of my eye I see someone I haven’t seen in ages. I think to myself… Hold on… is that… Joshua Quinn?

15 years ago, Joshua Quinn made a big splash in mentalism with his great book, ParaLies. He did a Penguin Live lecture a few years later. But then, while I would still occasionally see him around online, he didn’t seem to release much, starting right about the time I started this blog. 

I walked up to him and asked him what he’s been up to and he told me his working on a new book that’s supposed to come out early next year. 

“That’s great,” I said. “What else have you been doing.”

“Well,” he said, “this might sound weird, but most of my free time is spent writing Jerx fan-fiction.”

I was like WHAT?!

Then he told me there’s like a whole community of people who write stories about me and the site.

“Are they weird sexual stories?” I asked. 

“Oh no, nothing like that,” he said.

Damn, I thought.

“Well, anyways,” I said, “A lot of the other magicians who are here tonight have a present for the readers of the blog. Do you have anything by any chance?”

“Of course,” he said, and he proceeded to pull out some fan fiction he had written about attending the Jerx holiday party. Can you believe it? I mean… it’s one thing to throw a very real party like this… but to write fake stories about such a party? What a twisted individual.

At any rate, you can click the gift below to get Joshua’s contribution. There’s a great trick there as well as some information about his upcoming book which sounds awesome—and a discount code for whenever it’s released. 

Jerx Christmas - Kyle Purnell - 9:36 PM

While seeing old friends is great at a party, the next best thing is meeting new friends. That’s how I feel meeting Kyle Purnell.

Kyle is someone I don’t really know but I’ve become interested in his magic a lot over the past couple of years. At first I wasn’t sure if his magic was for me, because some of the handling felt a little finicky—at least in my hands. 

But then I realized it was because he was pushing the envelope so much in regards to what could be accomplished, often with ungimmicked items. For example, check out his recent trick, Repromoted, where a spectator’s signed $5 bills transform into a signed $10. 

I’ve been meaning to check out Back in Business too. That looks so good I’m contemplating getting business cards. (I’ll have to start a business first. I think I’ll deal in fine furs.)

Wow Magic is where you can keep up with Kyle’s effects.

And here’s a little gift from Kyle. A beautiful, visual pip removal effect that uses normal cards.

Jerx Christmas - Ryan Schlutz - 9:08 PM

Oh good lord. It’s only 9 o’clock, and already someone is locked in my bedroom having a hook-up session. 

I have a feeling it’s Ryan Schlutz.

And the reason I think that is because as I was banging on the door he slipped this excerpt from his recent book under the door to me and told me to “beat it.”

I tried to coax him into coming out so I could get more information about his Unanchored book or his Locked and Loaded app or his new video project “Good Card Magic” which harkens back to the Michael Ammar Easy to Master series. But he was not going to hear it from me. 

Jerx Christmas - Spooky Nyman - 8:40 PM

The line for the bathroom extends down the hall. While I was waiting, I ran into Spooky Nyman.

“Great to see you,” he said. “Wow. What a guest list. So diverse. White, middle-aged, men of every height! I guess I’m the diversity because I’m under 30.”

“Hey,” I said, “that’s not fair. A lot of these white, male magicians are quite elderly, not middle-aged.”

I asked Spooky what he was working on and he mentioned he has a new trick out called Tourist Trap, and that his ESP Testing Set was coming out in a more durable plastic version. That trick really fools people, so I’ll definitely be picking it up that version.

I mentioned that I really wanted to grab some back issues of Mazel Magazine because I love those small independent magic magazines. I asked when the next issue was coming out. The answer is: never. Writing the magazine was driving him crazy. I get that.

Anyway, while I took my leak I asked Spooky to hop on here and share something with the readers, so here goes…

X-Ray Spex

EFFECT

‘Do you remember those adverts in comics for X-Ray Specs? They promised you could see through walls and people’s clothes and things. I actually sent off for these when I was younger and believe it or not, they do actually work!’

You put on a pair of X-Ray Specs.

‘Not with walls. But they do work with clothes. It’s just one person’s clothes they work with though, and unfortunately, it’s you Sir. Love the tattoo by the way. I’ve grabbed three mugs, all totally opaque, and you’ll notice I’ve placed a card in front of each mug - these mark the position the mugs are in’.

The cards say:

This one is Position No.1

This one is Position No.2 

This one is Position No.3

and are placed in front of the three mugs in a row.

‘Does anybody have a ring or a coin I can borrow? Perfect. I’m going to turn my back and I want you to place the ring under any one of the mugs. In a moment, as quietly as you can, I want you to start mixing the mugs up, two at a time. So let’s start with the mugs that don’t have your ring underneath. Swap those over. Now choose two more - which did you choose? One and three, great, swap those. Again? Two and Three you said? Great, swap them...’

This goes on until all parties are happy. You turn around, place the X-Ray Specs on, and are immediately able to tell them which mug their ring is under.

‘Let’s try it again, but this time, I am going to give one of you the gift of X- Ray vision. You see, these goggles don’t work for just anyone - their true power can only be harnessed by somebody who is genuinely excited about magic. Having seen underneath this man’s clothes, I can assure you all that he really is genuinely excited about magic. Perhaps a little too much.’

You ask the participant to turn their back, before placing the ring under a chosen mug and mixing them. You ask them to announce, loudly ‘I BELIEVE IN MAGIC’. When they turn around, they place the X-Ray specs on, and unbelievably, are able to see through the mugs and find the ring. Although unnecessary, this can be repeated if you wish.

METHOD

Take a look at the artwork for the cards [the full artwork can be found here] - at first glance they appear to be colourful placeholders. Innocent enough, right? No, idiot! They’re guilty as anything!

The first part of the trick, where you perform, is Bob Hummer’s Mathematical Monte. This is an absolute miracle, but one that I am not qualified to teach here. You can find it cheaply and officially at Lybrary, or like me, learn it from the excellent Card College Lighter book. It is genuinely baffling when presented correctly. I think the presentation of this trick takes away the process-y elements of the principle.

The glasses are actually Red Reveal glasses. Essentially they are 3D glasses but instead of red and blue lenses, they just have red lenses. Remember ‘spy decoders’ you used to get in toys and comics? This is that. You can buy Red Reveal glasses relatively easily, or you could splash out and get a pair of X-Ray Specs from a toy shop and stick red acetate behind the lenses. In the meantime, you can test this out by donning your 3D glasses and closing your right eye.

When the spectator looks through the glasses, the redder colours fade away, meaning you can only see the bluer/greener colours. To that end, if the cards are on the front side, when viewed through the glasses, Card Number 1 says ‘No’, Card Number 3 says ‘No’, but Card Number 2 says ‘This one’. This is how they are coded.

Below you can see the effect on two different versions of the “No. 1” card.

The cards are also double-sided - the other side is missing the dot after ‘No’ on all three cards, and therefore can be used to code a different position, Position 1, to the spectator, if you want to repeat it. Or alternatively, remake the cards so that the colours code nothing on the reverse - that way if other people want to try the glasses, the cards don’t give the game away.

I have lots of fun ideas with this Red Reveal principle - boxes with the design built in, ACAAN’s etc. In the next few years I’m going to put out a book with lots and lots of Red Reveal ideas. To that end, I would ask you to enjoy this trick but not run with the principle too much for now. It is very dear to me and I’m very protective over it.

Jerx Hanukkah - Rick Lax - 8:12 PM

Okay, so this is messed up. I was mixing (and mingling (in the jinglin’ feat)) and I bumped into Justin Flom. He showed me this incredible trick which I’m hoping to get him to give as a gift to the site. But we’ll see how that goes.

Anyway, I asked him if his buddy Rick Lax was going to be able to make it and he said, “Oh, he’s already here. He’s at the other party.”

“The other party?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “The Hanukkah party down the hall.”

So I went down the hall and opened the door and who do I see?

That’s right. Rick Lax and a bunch of his fellow Jewish magicians. 

A secret Hanukkah party right in my very own home! The brisket and latke was flowing like Manishewitz. I can’t believe I almost missed all of this. I took part in some of that deliciousness, and then shot a quick video of Rick performing a new trick. And then I integrated the parties to bring everyone back together. 

Here’s Rick’s contribution. A quick, yet excellent, little number.

Those paperclips can be purchased here. 

And while it might seem like a sort of inconsequential effect. If you went to a co-worker who you know had paperclips, asked them to hand you a few, and then went into this, I think it would probably be really amazing to them. It fooled me when I saw it, and it would be extra fooling if you’re borrowing the paper clips.

Jerx Christmas - Oliver Meech - 7:44 PM

One of the great things about a holiday party is reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in ages. That’s why I was very happy to see Oliver Meech.

A decade or so ago, Oliver released a few books that really prioritized the entertainment value of the effects. The books were very well received, but then he sort of fell out of magic. At least on the magic-producing side of things. From what he just mentioned, real life has gotten in the way, but he misses sharing his creations. So I’m going to help a brother out and pass over the reigns of the blog to him for a moment…

The Other Three Magi by Oliver Meech

One of the great things about being a magician is getting to experience an audience member’s reaction when you reveal their card. I started thinking about how to give a few audience members that experience and came up with this fun routine.

It’s ideal for informal gatherings of family or friends, as it takes a little longer than some wham-bam tricks, and the playful interaction involved suits occasions when you might play charades. I did it over the Christmas holidays a couple of years back and people got really into performing their roles.

Choose participants who are willing to let loose but will still follow instructions.

Plot

Three people select a card, then each finds another’s selection.

Requirements

• A cased deck of cards.

• 3 small pieces of paper to act as place names – ideally about the size of a business card, but any torn scraps are fine, even leftover wrapping paper.

• A pen or pencil – whatever’s to hand.

Set up

Write the following stage names on the three slips (inspired by Houdini’s name):

Slip 1: Move-ini.
Slip 2: Flip-ini.
Slip 3: Gone-ini.

Remove the deck from the case. Place the slips, writing-side down, under the empty case.

Have this on the table near the third person.

Method and presentation

The gist: The deck is separated into three packets. You position the first selection third from top, reverse the second, and load the third under the case – all relatively early on in the trick.

The details: Hand out the deck for shuffling, if wished, then have an audience member cut it into three roughly equal piles, one for each person.

If your performance setting allows, position the three people at the three points of a triangle, facing each other. Or, if there’s a larger group watching, have the people in a line facing the audience.

You are going to have each person choose a card and return it, then you’ll show that it’s not on the top or bottom. In the process, you’ll control each selection to where it needs to be.

First selection:

Spread the first packet to offer the first person a card. While they focus on remembering their card, square up and get a tilt break under the top two cards. Keep the break quite small, as the packet isn’t that thick. Take back their selection with your right hand, show it to the audience one last time, then insert it into the tilt break. Square the cards, then turn over the top card to show the selection is not on the top, and turn it face down again.

Rotate your left wrist to show that their selection is not on the face of the deck either. Place this packet face down in front of the first person.

Second selection:

To the audience, it will seem like you are repeating the same actions, but you’ll actually be reversing the second selection in the middle. Begin as before, spreading the packet for a selection, but this time insert it into a tilt break that’s only under the top card, so the selection ends up second from top.

Spread the cards slightly so you can get a pinkie break under the second card as you turn the top card face up to show it’s not the selection. With your right hand, from above, take the top two cards (a face-up indifferent card with the face-down selection below it) as one.

Rotate your left wrist, as before, to show the bottom card isn’t theirs either, and insert the double card into the middle of the face-up packet, so the hidden selection ends up reversed.

Place this packet face down in front of your second person.

Third selection:

Repeat the process with the third packet, again with a tilt break under the top card, so their selection ends up second from top. Show the top and bottom cards aren’t theirs, as before.

Now keep hold of the packet as you explain that normally, as magician, you would find their card. To illustrate this, double undercut cut the top card to the bottom (so the selection ends up on top), getting a break under the top two cards as you square up. Do a double turnover to show that you haven’t cut to their selection. Turn the double face down and get a break under the top card. Say that, instead, they will become magicians and find each other’s cards. And for that, they need magic stage names, like Houdini.

Under the pretext of accessing the slips, pick up the case with your right hand and place it on top of the packet in your left hand. Turn over the slips with your right hand to reveal the writing. Now take the case from above, with your right hand, taking the top card (the third selection) underneath it. Causally place the case down on the table, to one side but still within reach of the third person. Place the third packet down directly in front of them. Your outward focus should remain on the slips, and on freeing up your hands so you can hand them out.

Have each person move around the triangle, one place, so they end up in front of another person’s packet. Now read out each stage name and place the slip by the relevant packet.

Move-ini goes with the first packet, Flip-ini with the second, and Gone-ini with the third.

Teach them each a dramatic gesture that suits their magic power, as follows, by having them mirror your movements:

Move-ini moves objects to where they need to be. Their gesture is to hold out their hand, palm outwards, like they’re stopping traffic. They start with the hand near to their chest, then move it forwards in a few jolting steps (see Figure 1 – excuse the scrappy selfies!).

Flip-ini can flip over objects. Their gesture starts with their hand extended, flat and palm up. Then, have them slowly turn their hand palm down, as if they’re straining to magically flip over something heavy, like a car (see Figure 2).

Gone-ini can make objects vanish. Their gesture is like one of those grabber claws in an arcade. They start with their hand high, in an open ‘claw’ (see Figure 3), then drop it down, close their hand, lift it up again, move to the side and drop the imaginary object away.

When they practice it, by copying you, try and get them to do the drop vaguely near the card case, but without drawing attention to it.

Now, you can move well away from your newly minted magi, as all the secret work is done.

This way, you can direct their gestures and reveals from afar.

First selection:

Explain to Move-ini that, since they say that ‘3 is a magic number’, you’d like them to do their push gesture with 3 forward movements. When they do, say that they have moved the selection to third from top. Have them ask the person who chose it what their card is, then have Move-ini slowly deal cards from the top, face up, until they reach the – the selection.

Lead the applause for them.

[Jerx Note - Here’s how I would handle “Move-ini.” I’d have them do the Move-ini move. Then I’d have them do it again with just “some of the fingers on their hand raised. If they do it with two fingers I’d tell them to deal off their chosen number of cards. Then do the Move-ini move a final time and the card will move to the top of the pack. If they do it with three fingers, the card will move to the third position. If they do it with four fingers, I’d have them deal the four cards in my hand and double-turnover to reveal their selection. I prefer this to telling them the exact number. But that may be better for the build of the effect. So if you do it this way, you might want to change around the order of the revelations.]

Second selection:

Have Flip-ini do their gesture. Explain that they have reversed the selection in the packet.

Have them ask the person what their card was, then have them spread through the deck face down to reveal the face-up selection. Lead another round of applause.

Third selection:

Finally, have Gone-ini do their gesture. Say that they have made the card vanish. Have them ask the person the name of their selection, then direct them to turn the packet face up and deal through to show it has vanished. Finish by saying that what gets vanished must reappear, but you’re not sure where. After a brief pause, ‘remember’ that their gesture ended near the card case and have them lift it to reveal the third selection.

Lead a final round of applause and have all three take a well-deserved bow.

Thoughts and variations

- For the first selection, you could vary the position their card moves to, just by adjusting how many cards are above your tilt break. You could choose the same number of letters as their first name. Or, if you start with a 3-spot on top of the deck, cut the deck into 3 piles, and use the top cards as selections, then you can say you’ll use whatever value their card is to decide which position to move it to. This does seem more random, but also means the selection isn’t as free.

- You could place the packets in glasses to make the packets more visible and reduce the chance of people handling them prematurely.

- You could perform this in a more formal stage/parlour show, but since there’s quite a bit of playful set-up involved, it would work best in the middle, once you’ve earned the audience’s patience.

- If you wanted to simplify some of the method, you could add in some gaffed cards or duplicates (e.g. pre-loading a duplicate of the third selection inside the card box). But since I’d normally perform this off the cuff, when I may be borrowing a deck of cards, I’ll stick with this ungaffed version.

- While I like how these revelations build, you could replace them with any clean, hands-off revelations that go well together.

Credits

- The card reverse is based on the second phase of ‘The Whistle’ by Theodore Annemann, as described in Roberto Giobbi’s Card College, Volume 2.

- The Card Under Box move is pretty standard (please let me know if you have the correct crediting information for it). I’ve just used slips of paper instead of a card.

- Spectator As Magician is always an engaging plot. There are plenty of options out there, including Spectator Cuts to the Aces, Mark Elsdon’s Limelight and Angelo Carbone’s Cue The Magic, not forgetting many of Andy’s tricks. What I enjoy about this version is that each person gets to play two roles: the participant and the magician.

- The idea of a climax happening onstage without the magician being present can be seen in Derren Brown’s opener from his first UK live tour. Christopher T. Magician also has a vanishing silk trick where he leaves the stage to let a child perform the magic. 

More?

This trick is an extract from my first new magic book in about a decade, hopefully coming out in 2024. To hear more updates, just friend me on Facebook (Oliver Meech). In the meantime, you can find my other published books here.