Jerx Christmas - Michael Murray - 2:17 AM

Okay, that was completely fucking unnecessary. All I’ve been doing for the past 10 hours straight was let people share their ideas on the blog. Why the hell did he have drug me?

But actually it wasn’t bad to get a little nap in.

When I woke up, I encountered Liam Montier having a drink in front of the fireplace with Michael Murray.

The two were discussing an old routine of Liam’s called Henry Sugar.

Michael—who is one of the most brilliant minds in mentalism and magic today—has his own version of the plot that I think could be really strong. It’s the type of trick I like to do at someone’s house if I have a minute alone with one of their decks of cards to set up. While there is a “set up” it also starts with a deck full shuffled by tghe participants. You’ll see.

You’ll want to grab your own drink to settle in with this one, as it’s about a 30 minute video.

Jerx Christmas - Seth Raphael - 1:49 AM

The party is really getting going now. Some of the amateurs have crashed. But the real partiers are just getting started.

Oh look, here comes Seth Raphael.

And he’s got a glass of punch for me. Thank you kind sir. Haha, good times. Seth is consistently doing some of the most interesting magic, and I’m always interested to see what he’s working on.

Holy shit. I just got super tired. Oh my god. Where did this comeafarommmmmmm…….

Hey guys… it’s me, Seth Raphael. I slipped something in Andy’s drink to make him pass out so I can take over the blog for a little bit. There’s something I want to write you about…

Indirection: the missing principle.

I think I’ve identified an almost universal principle in magic that I am calling indirection. This is my first time trying to formalize it, so take it as a starting point. (If you’re just here for the free magic trick, skip to the end.)

Indirection can be used to create prediction effects, or mind reading effects. It underlies countless forces, and can be combined with existing effects to make them even more impossible.

Let’s start with a super simple (and non-fooling) example. I have a penny and a dime in my hand, and ask you to pick one. I then open my prediction which reads “you will pick the bigger coin.” If you picked the dime, it’s “bigger” in terms of value. If you pick the penny, it’s “bigger in terms of size.

A direct prediction would be explicit, an indirect prediction has the ability to be changed or reinterpreted after the fact.

In equivoque, the indirection happens in the spectator’s choice. A direct choice would be “choose a suit” whereas the indirect choice is “pick up the red cards or the black cards.” That choice is indirect because it can be reframed as “those are the cards you chose” or “those are the cards you chose to throw away.”

Indirection is the fundamental idea behind many techniques, beyond equivoque, quinta, and maybe by the end of this essay you will agree it’s the fundamental mechanism behind switching envelopes, swami gimmicks, and even some super-high tech magic.

Let’s start with the humble Hot Rod. A direct choice would be to ask a spectator, “which color would you like?” Obviously, with an ordinary Hot Rod, this would only work 1 out of 6 times.

So we take the direct choice of choosing a color, and replace it with the indirect choice of choosing a number. This layer of abstraction, or indirection, allows the magician to be sneaky and shift a free choice into a non-free choice.

We’ve created a layer of translation that is under the complete control of the magician.

Let’s take another example, the Hoy Book Test. In this classic book test, the spectator needs to choose a page number. If you were to ask them to “name a page number” that would be direct, and there is no wiggle room for funny business. So instead, we add a layer of abstraction: “say stop as I’m flipping through this book.” When they say stop, the magician can simply lie and say “it’s page 37” and then proceed with the trick.

Hoy’s clever dodge is somewhat more subtle than the Hot Rod force; here we’ve created a translation step where the spectator uses the word “stop” and we can translate that into the number we want to force.

For the Hot Rod, Hoy Book Test, and equivoque, we’re using indirection to force the audience to a conclusion we want, but we can also use it in reverse. We can create an indirect prediction, allow a free choice, and then use a translation to show that the prediction matches their genuine free choice. Any trick in which you switch out an existing prediction before revealing it (using a double lift, a Mexican Turnover, an index, or your favorite method) would fall into this category.

That’s a technique I used to create the prediction phase in Amaze (Jerx Best Trick of the Year). In Amaze the spectator has a free choice of a hundred different mazes with different titles. They have a genuinely free choice. I have a way to secretly know which maze they chose, but I wanted to be able to predict the maze they would choose, by handing them a prediction before the effect started. So I used indirection. Every maze in the maze book has the same page number: 26. 

After they freely choose a maze, I can reveal it verbally, and because of an indirect prediction, I can show them my prediction “I believe you will solve puzzle #26.” Because I control the translation of number to title (I made the maze book) I can make it seem as if I knew which maze they would choose BEFORE they even chose it.

It’s subtle, but the fact that I can “translate” the #26 to the title of the maze they chose helps prove that I knew the title of the maze they would choose, which is stronger than just the number of the puzzle they would choose.

Indirection can have some presentational challenges (see how Andy has improved the Hot Rod indirection), but if ironed out it can add another layer of impossibility.

Hopefully these examples make clear what I mean by indirection. I have a feeling the concept is even more generalizable. The examples above use an abstract layer of indirection. A multiple out envelope has many of the same properties: is it a physical indirection? Is a Kennedy switching box a covert indirection? When you are performing Picasso by ProMystic, and telling the spectator which part of the body to color, is that a real-time in-the-moment indirection?

While indirection can add another layer of impossibility to an effect, it can also provide procedural embellishment. Hoy being a perfect example. The random ‘selection’ of a page number, over time can become interwoven with the memory of them opening the book you don’t touch to that specific page. Indirection can sometimes encourage or help to create a false memory of what really happened.

Indirection can leave breathing room or space for your audience's internal interpretation of what did or did not happen. Comparatively direct choice does not always allow the same potential benefits. 

FREE GIFT

Here’s another example of an ambiguous prediction that uses indirection to become possible. At the start of the evening, you say “I’ve got this song stuck in my head, but I can’t remember the name of it…” and you hum the melody. You do this several more times over the course of the evening. You finally ask your spectator for help: “when I hum that song, who is the first person it makes you think of?” When they say “My cousin Tom” you blurt out “THANK YOU! THAT’S IT!” you pull out your phone and play the song you’ve been humming all night: The Tom Song.

In this case, we control the translation from tune to name, because some dude sang EVERY NAME to that tune. So you search on YouTube for “The Tom Song” or “The Sarah Song” and hit play.

The melody is the indirect prediction. Though it seems concrete, how could the melody of the song be fuzzy, the secret lies in that the same melody maps to thousands of songs, and you don’t cement which one until you reveal it by finding the song on YouTube.

Seth is releasing his best iPhone secret. Finally.

15 years ago I invented a peek to see what is on your spectator’s phone screen. It’s a peek I’ve kept to myself. I recently discovered a way to instantly unlock a spectator’s phone right under their nose without them knowing.

I’ve put them together in a one two punch that enables infinite presentations, and deep astonishment.

Do a drawing duplication of their favorite memory. Order them the thing they want from Amazon. Divine any word they look up on Wikipedia.

(Did I mention you unlock their phone too? Without using a calculator, without an app, no peeks.)

The spectator reacts by looking at you as if you can see into their soul, then down at their phone, then back at you. You wink at them and smile. They have a memory to last a lifetime. 

Brilliant and simple - the best type of technique! - Colin Cloud

Available for a limited time only.  Working pros find the methodology to be elegant, fun, and “why didn’t I think of that?”

Okay… it looks like Andy’s waking up now. Thanks for listening. Catch you later.

Jerx Christmas - David Jonathan - 1:21 AM

People are asking me if I’m really writing this in real time. Yes!

I’ll prove it. I’ll go look up a news headline. Something that just occurred, so you know I didn’t write all this in advance. Just a sec…

Okay… I’ve got something. Apparently there’s trouble in the Middle East.

Okay, no seriously, let me go look something up…

Alright, Georgia Tech beat UCF in the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, 30 to 17. You know the Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl, of course. You used to watch it every year with your father. Such nostalgia.

I mentioned earlier that David Jonathan would be doing a late-night lecture on his creative process. David has stood out to me recently due to the strength and practicality of a lot of his material, so I definitely wanted to check that out for you.

David specifically said no one should record the lecture in any way because he doesn’t want people stealing the secrets to his creativity and putting him out of a jjob. But who cares, this is Christmas. You deserve his secrets. So I secretly transcribed everything he wrote and put it in a document for you here.

If you want to further steal David’s ideas, go to his site and buy all his tricks so you can REALLY get a handle on his process.

Jerx Christmas - Liam Montier - 12:39 AM

I stepped outside to get some fresh air and ran into Liam Montier.

I asked him if he had anything he’d like to gift to the readers of this blog and he said:

“I’ve got a cool prediction of a joke in a Christmas cracker, that might be your kind of thing?  Spectator is given a prediction, hands you a cracker, you pull it, and then remove the joke… ‘what is yellow and dangerous?’  The spectator opens the prediction to find it says ’Shark Infested Custard’.  Or whatever.”

And I said, “What in the name of Satan’s fat balls are you talking about?”

And then we learned that apparently a Christmas cracker is a thing in England, but not in America. Is that what we were declaring independence from? Some shit called a Christmas cracker?

At any rate, Liam then offered an interesting OOTW handling that worked well with a trick of mine called Talisman.

Talisman was in my first book. It was a reframing and new handling for of Out of This World where you help your friend identify a lucky coin from all the coins in their house.

Here is the simplified version using Liam’s handling for the finale.

First, while you’re at your friend’s place, you borrow a deck of cards. Then you tell them to go around the house and collect all the coins they can find. While they do this, you separate the deck into reds on top of blacks. 

When they come back, you’re casually shuffling the deck. Either just shuffle the top half, or do a Red/Black shuffle, or a Red/Red shuffle. Either way, end with the reds on top.

Remove the Ace of Spades and the Ace of Hearts.

You explain the Ace of Hearts will signify good luck, and the Ace of Spades will signify bad luck. You mix the two aces and tell your friend to separate all their coins into two piles. You hand them the cards and tell them to put one card face-down in front of each pile.

Turn over both cards and indicate that the coins in front of the Ace of Hearts are still in play. The other coins can be pushed aside.

Repeat this with the remaining coins. You mix the cards. They split the remaining coins into two piles. They put a card in front of each pile. The coins next to the red card stay in play.

No matter how many coins they have, this process will get down to one coin in a matter of a minute or two. Even a million coins would only take a few minutes. 

Now you’re down to one coin that has always attracted “good luck.” 

“It’s likely this is a lucky coin. But we need to test it.”

From there you move into Liam’s OOTW handling that he describes here…

Jerx Christmas - Brent Braun - 11:57 PM

Okay, this is fucking unbelievable. 

Earlier tonight I saw this great trick where my name vanished from a card and appeared on the ceiling. It was performed by Brent Braun.

I went to track Brent down because I was thinking how maybe it would be interesting to try that trick with a “freely” chosen word, instead of someone’s name. And as I approached him I overheard a conversation he was having with someone where he said he’s going to start a blog called The New Jerx.

I broke into the conversation and I was like, “Excuse me? What did you say? You’re going to start a blog called The New Jerx?”

And he was all, “Relax dude. Bill Madsen started the New Jinx after Annemann did the Jinx. What’s the difference?”

And I said, “That was 25 fucking years after Annemann put his head in the oven!”

And he waved that off like I was being silly. I can’t believe it. 

Anyway. I stole his phone and got into his draft for the New Jerx. I’m just going to post it here. If he wants to steal from me, I’ll steal from him…

Name On Ceiling 

A spectator's name appears written on the ceiling in their house. This is a simple use of the Frixion Pen that creates a moment that’s strange, hilarious and sometimes pisses people off. So be careful. With Great power comes great responsibility and all that jazz. 

The setup: You will need two business cards that are blank on the back and you will secretly write your friend's name on the blank side of one of them before the trick starts*. 

Dude have you seen that new ink that can be heated and turns into gas?” Show them the Frixion Pen. 

Then proceed to show them two blank cards while hiding their name that's already on one of them. The Flushtration count works well for this, As will any other modified version of the count that fits you well. Just don't make it too flashy. You are showing two cards not proving to them that you can show two cards while hiding one side. 

Hand them the prewritten card face down and have them hold it at their fingertips. As they are holding it, make up a clever reason to use their name. I usually say something like “here let's use your name”  

Write their name on the card with the Frixion Pen trying to make it look similar to how you wrote it earlier. Show the signature and then turn it face down as you remove the lighter. Hold it face down about 8-10 inches below the card they are holding and take a few moments to really act like you are lining them up. This will set them up from phase two. 

Show them their name one more time before you turn the card facedown and heat it with a lighter causing what you just wrote to vanish. As this happens use your eyes to slowly follow the gasified ink up to the card they are holding. Turn your card over to show its blank and then slowly move your hand up to show them that the ink has transferred to the card they are holding that they believe was blank before this moment. 

That’s crazy right? 

Wait a beat and then offer to show them again but from a further distance. Take the now blank card and hand it to them facedown. Take the card with their name on it and hold it face up this time. We want them to actually watch it vanish this time to increase the belief that it’s being gasified. 

Hold your hand about 2 feet below their hand this time being extra careful to line it up. Heat the face up card from below and they will be able to actually watch the ink turn into gas. This moment is incredible because they thought you were lying the first time so this is the first real WTF moment. After it's vanished slowly raise your hand up and slowly turn over the card in their hand, It will be blank. 

Wait Stop!!! This is the most important moment of the trick. Acting and timing are what will make this work. Look a bit confused for a beat then slowly look up at the ceiling as if you are watching the gas float up to the ceiling. This is the first moment they will see that their signature is now on their ceiling.

*Earlier in the setup I forgot to mention you have to wait until they leave the room and secretly climb up onto a table or chair and write their name on the ceiling. I left it out because I knew many of you would stop reading right then so… your welcome. 

D-Bag

 So the problem with Digital Force Bag is that in many cases it's sort of a weak way to force an item because you personally wrote the list. What if we could make the fact that you wrote the list the premise and also repeat it 3 times so it becomes self contained, more impossible, and hilarious.  

So we have to set up the premise. I will assume you already know Digital Force Bag if not you should buy it asap. It really is clever.   

So I'm a fan of a lot of things right, like Board games, sports teams, Helping others out. that sort of thing. Have you heard of the site called Only Fans? It allows you to become a fan of people and help them pay their bills and pay off their law school debt or whatever.

Anyway I can’t afford to subscribe to everyone but I do have a list of people I would like to subscribe to and I let my friends help me pick out who I should subscribe to

Name a Number between 1-20.    “7” 

Show them the OnlyFans list: 

1. Your mom

2. Your mom

3. Your mom 

4. Your mom

5. Your mom

6. Your mom

7. Ryan Reynolds

8. Your mom

9. Your mom

10. Your mom

11. Your mom

12. Your mom

13. Your mom

14. Your mom

15. Your mom

16. Your mom

17. Your mom

18. Your mom

19. Your mom

20. Your mom   

Close the App

Then say

 Actually I seriously have been getting into sports teams recently and have become a huge fan of The Buccaneers. The problem is they don’t win many games so I made a list of other NFL teams I would like to become a fan of. 

Name a number between 1-20?  .”11” 

Show them the NFL Teams list 

1. Your mom

2. Your mom

3. Your mom 

4. Your mom

5. Your mom

6. Your mom

7. Your mom

8. Your mom

9. Your mom

10. Your mom

11. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

12. Your mom

13. Your mom

14. Your mom

15. Your mom

16. Your mom

17. Your mom

18. Your mom

19. Your mom

20. Your mom  

Ok we are back to that part where you have to become a great actor. You have to pause, slow down and talk about how ridiculous this all was. You need to create a down beat and get them to trust you a bit more. After waiting a few minutes you will sort of shift gears and say actually do you have something I can write on? Do you have something I can write a prediction with? You need them to feel the shift you need to feel like this is more serious than the previous nonsense. You need to say words like Prediction and intuition maybe even ask them their star sign. You want this to feel like the boring part of most mentalism shows. 

After you have felt the room shift and they have gotten you paper and a pen to write down a prediction you say 

I seriously do have a list of some strange foods from around the world. I've written down a prediction and if this works it will be crazy. 

Name a number between 1-20?       “17”

1. Chicken’s Feet -East Asia

2. Haggis -Scotland 

3. Tripe -Atlanta 

4. Tuna Eyeballs -Japan 

5. Black Pudding -Africa 

6. Spam -United States 

7. Grasshoppers -Thailand

8. Wasp Crackers -Japan 

9. Fried Spider – Cambodia

10. Witchetty Grub – Australia

11. Escargots  – France

12. Stink Bugs – Africa

13. Mopane Worms – South Africa

14. Tequila Worm – Mexico

15. Vegemite – UK

16. Pickled Egg – UK

17. Your mom 

18. Southern Fried Rattlesnake – United States

19. Guinea Pig – South America

20. Rocky Mountain Oysters – United States

Pause for the laugh then open the prediction to show you wrote “YOUR MOM” 

That’s it. I should mention if the situation is right and it's from someone you haven't met it's sometimes fun to secretly ask someone they are there with if they know where their mom lives and add that to the final number and prediction it only takes a few seconds to do this the the but then it would read something like.  

17. Your mom -New Albany Indiana   

The most important part of the final phase is the shift you have to build it like its a miracle and that something impossible will happen. That's also why we use food and the country it's from. This sort slows the scroll and makes this feel like it will be an actual prediction. The bam!!! 

Also Digital Force Bag will allow you to have 100 items but I like the idea of shorter lists. 30-40 items at the most. The one exception to that might be the last list. The longer it is the harder it will turn when they get there. Again our goal with taking time to write the prediction is to sort of shift their thinking off the your mom list so they don't get ahead of you. I should also mention that for some performers it can be much funnier to use “Your dad” as the prediction for each phase. 

Hacking The Reminder

So what if you could tell your future self something what would you say?

 I know this sounds impossible but I have created a way to do just that. You can talk to your future self and tell them anything you want. Sounds crazy right? 

But I'm getting ahead of myself. So some days just suck. Like everything that can go wrong is going wrong and then you get cut off in traffic and spill your $8.00 coffee in your lap. Sure the warmth feels good but this day sucks. Some days though, some days are incredible and you are on top of the world.The problem is many of us have a tendency to remember the bad days more than the good days. We tend to forget the small things that make us happy. 

Enter Hacking The Reminder.

Next time something happens in your life that makes you smile, take out your phone and say “Siri’ or Google” Remind me in 17,324 minutes that spending time with Daniel Garcia makes my life better. 

Fast forward 12 days you are feeling overworked and underappreciated and bam! From out of nowhere your past self reminds you of better times. Reminds you that things will indeed get better and in fact have been better.  

I have hundreds of these reminder bombs sitting in my phone, I've forgotten about most of them but randomly I get reminded about my past events from my past self.

When you set them you just say Random numbers and times to get them to come back when you least expect it. Here are a few examples. 

Remind me in 714 days and 11 minutes that I get to do pretty amazing things.

Remind me in 28,000 hours that taking action now is more important than waiting for perfection 

Remind me in 123,219 hours that Redbull Fruitcups are delicious 

Remind me in 4000 hours and 27 minutes that I’m lucky to have the friends I have.

Remind me in 387 days that spilling warm coffee in your lap actually feels pretty good. 

That's it, I hope you find this useful its helped me on many days when I was struggling.

Sales stuff:

If you enjoyed these ideas you may enjoy my book Plots Ploys and Other Cons here is what some smart people had to say about it.. 

“This book is basically a grab bag of genuinely amazing tricks, performing insights from a serious pro, and bonkers pranks. It's really good, really weird, and I enjoyed it a LOT. Also it looks really pimp.”
-Phill Smith

“Not only is PP&OC filled with incredible inspiration to make your magic better, it will be the most fun thing you read this year!”
-Daniel Martin

“Sure, this book contains methods and routines. More importantly, Brent is sharing his philosophies on how to really do MAGIC. Some of the bits are fun and silly. Others will empower you to not just create memories, but to create moments that will become the stuff of legend.” -Kevin Reylek

“Brent Braun likes to mess with people... in a good way. Whether he's bending minds in a stage show or warping reality in a social interaction, he's always putting in the effort in to blow someone's mind.Plots, Ploys, and Other Cons is full of bold ideas and clever gambits that are as fun to read as they are to unleash on your friends and audiences.

My favorite trick is The Paper Prediction Principle: a down-to-earth Confabulation effect that's dead simple. With a trip to the office supply store, you've got a knockout closer for your next stand-up show.

The Chair Principle truly rocked my world and instantly elevated my professional walk-around performances. This simple idea is worth the price of this book many times over. Overall, I think you're going to love living inside Brent's head for a while.” -Caleb Wiles

“This is a great book. It’s the type of book I want to read. Not a book that’s just full of minor variations of standard effects. But a book full of interesting ideas. Some that are fully formed and practical and some that are a little out there. It’s kind of like a blog in book form. haha, I hope Brent doesn’t decide to take his ideas and put out a blog called The New Jerx!! haha. I’m just being silly. He wouldn’t do that.” - Andy at The Jerx

Use the Promo Code: Thejerxsentme

This gets the next 10 buyers $10 Off the price of the book. So get it. 

Jerx Christmas - Ollie Mealing - 11:28 PM

Aw, man, things are getting so good here. Some of the girls are a little tipsy and were doing a sexy little striptease to Santa Baby.

I looked around to high-five my magic bros, but there was hardly any of them were enjoying the show. They were off in the corner gathered around Ollie Mealing.

Ollie was doing something that is either the greatest or the dumbest card trick of all time. It’s called Full Deck Production and it looks like this…

It’s like a joke that starts off funny, then repeats so much you become immune to it, but then it comes back around to being funny again. It’s impressive in waves. 

The guys were bugging him to explain it and so he offered up the building block routine of which Full Deck Production is an advanced version. It’s called Super Location and you can learn it below. It’s also worth it to subscribe to Ollie’s free magic membership group here.

Jerx Christmas - Patrick Redford - 11 PM

I finally got a chance to sit down and eat some food. It’s been crazy here. I was all alone in the kitchen when I heard some whimpering coming from inside the pantry. I walked in and saw someone huddled in the corner. I wasn’t sure at first but then I thought… That looks like… Patrick Redford!

And I was like, “Are you okay, man? Is something wrong?”

And he said, “It’s just this season, man. It really gets to me.”

And I go, “Oh, that’s okay. This season can be hard on a lot of people. Do you want to talk about it?”

And he goes, “The worst thing that ever happened to me was on Christmas. Oh, God. It was so horrible. It was Christmas Eve. I was 9 years old. Me and Mom were decorating the tree, waiting for Dad to come home from work. A couple hours went by. Dad wasn't home. So Mom called the office. No answer. Christmas Day came and went, and still nothing. So the police began a search. Four or five days went by. Neither one of us could eat or sleep. Everything was falling apart. It was snowing outside. The house was freezing, so I went to try to light up the fire. That's when I noticed the smell. The firemen came and broke through the chimney top. And me and Mom were expecting them to pull out a dead cat or a bird. And instead they pulled out my father. He was dressed in a Santa Claus suit. He'd been climbing down the chimney... his arms loaded with presents. He was gonna surprise us. He slipped and broke his neck. He died instantly. And that's how I found out there was no Santa Claus.”

We just stood there for a moment and I said, “Patrick, I’m pretty sure that’s Phoebe’s Cates’ monologue from Gremlins.”

“What are you talking about?” he said, acting shocked. “It’s a true story of what happened to me. But thanks for reminding me of another awful incident in my past. The time my whole family got attacked by gremlins.”

After a while, I got him calmed down and he contributed this gift to you readers. He mentions a forthcoming book and you will undoubtedly find more information on that when it’s released here.

Patrick Redford here and before I pass you along to my doppelganger and closest collaborator, George Tait, I wanted to squelch some of your concerns before they arise. What I'm about to share is a piece of mentalism using playing cards. I'm of the school of thought that if something is good the medium in which it's performed need not matter.

I consider any deck of cards handed to me (no matter the order it comes in) to be a stacked deck. Knowing a system (regardless of the order that the cards are in) and knowing effects built into that system (such as the Redford stack and others) may yield countless possibilities. One only needs to stack a few cards into the few spaces that require it at any given time rather than stack a full system.  If this sort of material interest you, you'll love the material in the upcoming book Completely Out of Order due to release early this coming year. Completely Out of Order is the final installment of my "Out of Order" book series on stacked deck magic. The three volumes focus on stacked decks, only some of which use a memorized system and many effects that don't rely on any kind of memorized system at all.  While all of the effects are accessible quickly through the transformative properties of the Redford stack you don't need to use my stack at all; it simply makes things easier to perform on a whim.