What Else?

I recently taught a friend of mine my version of Sum Total by Larry Becker (this isn’t something that’s released yet). If you don’t know that trick, it’s one where your friend writes down a string of numbers, and that string of numbers just happens to be the total of four 4-digit numbers you showed them earlier. (At least, in the version I do it’s four 4-digit numbers, I’m not sure if that’s what it is in the original.)

In my version, the general premise is that you do something to the other person that briefly gives them incredible mathematical abilities.

After he tried the trick out on another friend of ours, she said something that sort of tripped him up.

She said, “Wait… seriously? Did I just do that?”

I get this kind of question a lot. I think people know I’m not going to just lie to them, so they think maybe by asking the question straight-out that I will relieve them the burden of the mystery of what just happened.

In this situation, what I usually see magicians do is one of two things.

1. They immediately cave. “Did that really just happen?” “Ah, no. It’s just a trick.”

2. They make a joke of it. “Did that really ust happen?” “It sure did! Now let’s go to Vegas and have you count some cards!”

My recommendation when someones starts questioning the reality of the experience is just to ask questions in return.

“Did that really just happen?”

“What do you mean?”

“Did I really just add those numbers together…like, subconsciously?”

“What else could it be?”

“I don’t know. But is it some kind of trick or something?”

“How would that work?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, how would a trick like that work? How could you make someone write down the exact number that was the sum of four other numbers by a trick?”

At this point, they’re either going to be stuck for an answer, or they’re going to give you some kind of option that makes a little bit of sense.

If they point out some way in which it could be a trick, and their speculation makes sense, then that just gives you one more thing to account for the next time you perform that trick. So their conjecture should help you make the trick even stronger.

That’s my basic approach to things. When they ask if something really happened, my first reaction is to say, “What else could it be?” And if they suggest trickery I turn it around on them and ask them how it would work. Just ask questions.

Rough Draft: Sugarclipped

Last month, while working on the next book, I spent a lot of time in coffee shops procrastinating. This idea came out of that.

It’s essentially a sugar packet switch that’s based on Jay Sankey’s Paperclipped. But without a paperclip.

You have a sugar packet with the top torn off in left-hand finger palm.

You have your friend choose a sugar packet from the table (or wherever) and you take it from them in your right hand.

You place it on top of the prepped packet in your left hand and start to tear off the top with your right fingers.

When it’s 80% torn off, pause and say something. Return to the packet to finish tearing off the top. But in the action of plucking off the top portion, you actually pull away the entire packet and push up the pre-torn packet from your left fingertips.

What could you use this for?

Hmmm…

You could have a folded card in the prepped packet, so it’s like their chosen card magically appears in the packet they gave you.

You could have a little index of prepped packets with colored sugar, and then have the sugar in their chosen packet change into their freely chosen color.

You could make someone’s vanished ring appear in a sugar packet.

You could have them give you two sugar packets of different colors. You make one disappear. Then tear open the other one to reveal the vanished one.

You could fill the prepped one with arsenic and then offer to sweeten your wife’s coffee and poison her.

Rehearsal as Presentation

One of the ways to get into a performance with the least amount of friction is to say:

“I have [some event where I’m expected to perform a magic trick] coming up. Can I try it out on you?”

This is just far more comfortable for most people. Especially for people you don’t know very well or people who haven’t seen you perform before.

Put yourself in their position. What if some guy said to you, “I’m going to show you some ventriloquism.” That might come off as a little weird. You might question how you’re supposed to respond to it. But if he said, “So, I signed up to provide entertainment at my nephew’s school carnival. I had to come up with a ventriloquism act. Do you mind if I run it by you? Just to rehearse it in front of someone?” Now, that situation is still a little unusual, but I think it’s far more palatable to most people.

In general, people are much more comfortable in a position where they’re asked for their feedback as opposed to one where they’re asked for recognition or praise (which is what, “Let me perform for you,” often comes across as).

The thing is, I’m not introducing the trick this way for my benefit. I don’t mind if someone thinks I’m corny because I want to show them a trick.

I’m introducing the trick this way because I want to put them in the most relaxed mindset they can be in to watch a performance. And if they don’t know me that well, then this indirect approach can help reframe the whole thing as a collaborative exercise rather than a plea for attention.

Here are some other examples.

• “My work does a talent show each year as part of a team-building exercise. I signed up to do a magic trick. Do you mind if I run it by you?”

• “My neighbor’s kid is having a birthday party. His parents know I used to do magic as a kid and asked if I’d perform something. I haven’t done it in a while, do you mind if I rehearse with you?”

• “My cousin’s getting married, and they asked me to do some close-up magic during cocktail hour. Can I get your thoughts on this one?”

• “This bartender at a place near me gives me a free drink if I can fool him with a little magic trick. I’ve burned through the few tricks I know, but I just learned a new one. Can I test it out on you first?”

• “I’m getting together with some friends from elementary school. Back then we used to have a magic club where we tried to learn tricks to fool each other. Now we’re in our 60s, and we’re getting together for one last meeting of the club. Can I try my new trick out on you?”

In general, I don’t use these sorts of intros on people I know well. Those people are already comfortable seeing magic from me. And I’d have to come up with a story that was believable with my everyday life. But when I’m traveling or in a situation where I’m spending time with someone I won’t be crossing paths with again, I can pretty much create any story I want. And yes, technically this is “lying.” Get over yourself. The world isn’t going to spin off its axis because you told someone you volunteered to perform a trick at your kid’s summer camp.

One intro I will use with people I know is that I’ve been asked to show a trick in some situation for kids. This is one of my favorite uses of Rehearsal as Presentation. It brings people’s guards way down. Then I can present a trick with a simple, child-centric premise that’s built on top of a really fooling method. Like predicting how they’ll choose to color an image. Or the name they’ll come up with for my stuffed dog. And because they don’t feel like you’ve challenged them to see if you can fool them—because you’re on the same “team”—they’re almost happy to be fooled. The feelings that are implied in the reactions I get to this type of presentation is: “Oh my god. I know that’s something you’re going to show kids. But honestly, that fooled even me!” Again, not in those exact words. But that’s the sentiment of their reaction.

I’ll be sharing a couple more specific uses of this technique, likely later this month.

Mailbag #129

(This won’t make sense if you’re not a supporter. You can skip to the next section.)

Yesterday’s newsletter was missing a link on page 18. I resent the link to everyone, but .mac and .me email addresses rejected that email for some reason (they don’t allow Notion links??). At any rate, here’s the link.

A couple of people wrote in to suggest I number the steps. I intentionally didn’t because I wanted it to feel “glitchier.” But I think they’re right. I think numbering the steps make it seem more clearly glitchier.

CC writes: Also, as a wacked-out set of instructions, it reads like something ChatGPT would produce. If I were to do this, that’s probably where I’d go. “I asked AI to explain how a particular trick was done, and this is what it gave me.  But it still works somehow.”

I think that’s a good idea too.

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Any thoughts on Ellusionist’s How To Read Minds kit for kids? I don’t want to be a gatekeeper but putting mentalism in the hands of kids feels like a bad idea. Your thoughts?—LO

An average 9-year-old can perform many magic tricks and most mentalism tricks. There’s nothing to prevent them from technically performing a strong trick. So why shouldn’t kids get good tricks too?

This logic is like saying, “My neighbor’s 10-year-old has started menstruating, so why shouldn’t she get impregnated and raise a kid?”

Oh, Andy, you’re being ridiculous. There’s no comparison.

No, I’m making a pretty direct comparison here. Just because someone is old enough to technically do something doesn’t mean they’re capable of doing it well, competently, or in a manner that contributes something to the world.

What if I said, “I have a kit to teach kids how to cook. But we don’t use simple meals like grilled cheese and scrambled eggs. We have kids cook scallops and Wagyu beef.” You’d (correctly) think I was an idiot because it doesn’t make a ton of sense to waste quality “ingredients” with someone who hasn’t mastered something simpler first.

The magic in kid’s magic kits shouldn’t be good.

Why?

Because kids aren’t capable of presenting magic well.

But, Andy, I saw this 10-year-old on America’s Got Talent and—

Bup-bup-bup. Yes. I’ve seen kid magicians. They’re terrible. They are, at their best, as good as average adult magicians. And average adult magicians are terrible.

That’s okay. I’m not trying to be mean or condescending. Kids aren’t good at magic just like they’re not good at most other things. Why would they be? They’re kids. This is the point in their life when they’re learning and growing.

Do we want to watch kids mumble and muddle their way through good tricks?

A “professional level” trick won’t elevate a kid’s magic performance. The kid will just drag the trick down. People will think, “Oh, it must be some dumb thing even a kid can do.” What else could they think?

Also, what will they think if they see an adult do a similar trick in the future? “Oh, I remember that trick. That kid at the bowling alley showed it to me before he ate his boogers.”

It’s not that kids are being held back by the shitty tricks in kid’s magic kits. There’s just little point in wasting good tricks on a population who generally:

• Would be just as happy with a floating matchstick or a ball and vase.

• Might not even be that interested in magic or only have a fleeting interest.

• Has not yet developed the skills to disguise and elevate powerful methods.

Think of effects like stories. A good magic trick is like a story with a strong twist at the end. Kids are notoriously bad storytellers. Do you think the answer is to give them better stories to tell when they don’t have the understanding, nuance, emotional intelligence, and life experience to tell them effectively? Is that good for the kids, the audiences, or the art of storytelling?

“No, I don’t need to see The Sixth Sense. Timmy here just told me about it. So, like, the doctor guy was dead and stuff? That’s neat.”

I’m sure there are some precocious kid magicians who could make the most of stronger magic tricks, but that’s not who magic kits are made for. They’re made for your typical dummy.

And this kit, in particular is feeding off a parent’s fear that their kid is a total loser with no friends. “Watch your kid transform into the coolest kid in school,” the ad copy says.

Ah yes, what’s do kids find “cooler” than walking around with a copy of the 130-year-old Rudyard Kipling classic, The Jungle Book. Kids today just can’t stop reading it between sessions of pushing a hoop around with a stick.

(Look, I get it, you needed something in the public domain to create a gimmicked book out of. Just take an afternoon and use AI and write one that sounds like something a modern kid might be interested in, like Ghosts Don’t Text Back; or The Weird Kids Club; or Chrono City: The Town That Time Forgot, the first book in the Secret Files of the Nexus Voyagers series.)

Look this kit isn’t going to make your kid popular. Sorry. Your kid is a dork. And no amount of magic pencil cases is going to change that. In fact, this kit might get his ass kicked more than it was already.

To wrap this up, while I feel the idea for this kit is based on a false premise (that a kid’s magic kit needs to have professional level tricks), I’m not overly concerned about the impact it will have. Hardly anyone will buy this garbage and it will be forgotten about in months.

January Daily Check-In

Jan. 31st - It’s over. See you all back here on the 3rd.

Jan. 30th - Joshua Burch knows there’s no better way to say, “I may be a magician, but no, I’m not a convicted sex criminal,” than by casually flashing his GLOMM membership card in performance.

Jan. 29th - Winding down on book #8.

Jan. 28th - In this video, Craig Petty predicts that I will unmask myself (or will be unmasked) this year. I can tell you now his prediction is half-right.

Jan. 27th - This magic poop sounds a lot like my penis.

It’s soft. It’s hard. It melts (hearts). And shatters (conventional notions of how beautiful a cock can be).

Plus, I pretty much only use it to relieve stress and play gross tricks.

Jan. 26th - It’s impossible for a Craig Petty release to not have some drama in its associated Café thread. (As someone who enjoys the drama, that’s great. But I’m sure Craig has got to be like, WTF?)

Jan. 25th - It’s called “Cups & Balls” and it’s about a close-up magician and private investigator named Jonathan Cups who must go undercover in Miami’s gay gigolo scene to find the man who murdered the governor. The only thing known about this mysterious male prostitute is that he has one testicle. While the right man can be identified with a simple squeeze, there are 732 male gigolos in Miami, and Jonathan Cups needs to start working his way down the list. To get the job done, he must hire or seduce his way through all the suspects so he can get a hand on their scrotum to find the elusive “one-testicled man.” The most difficult part of all of this, as Jonathan repeatedly tells his girlfriend, is that he’s “not gay.” Tell that to your erection, Jonathan.

Cups & Balls
If he doesn’t want to blow his cover… he’s going to have to blow his load.

The book will be out late May.

And, excitingly, a 12-part series will be streaming on Tubi for the holiday season.

Jan. 24th - There are no tricks in this new book I’m writing. It’s just magic-based erotica.

Jan. 23rd - One week left.

BTW, next month’s newsletter is probably going to be a disjointed mess. Since the newsletter covers the stuff I’ve been using the previous month, and this month, I haven’t done much performing at all. I still have some stuff I want to write about, but it won’t be the typical structure. If this is your first issue, just know it’s usually more composed than this coming issue.

Jan. 22nd - It’s official. We’re all getting put in Tannen’s Magic Internment Camps.

Jan. 21st - On his first full day in office, Trump gave an executive order that magic is no longer an art, reversing this. Sad.

Apparently this is the first step towards putting magicians in camps. Scared.

Jan. 20th - In this Cafe thread, there seems to be a question about terminology. I’m here to help…

If you say a trick can be done with a “borrowed” deck, that means someone can hand you a deck, and then you can go into the trick. At most, you may need to move around a few cards as you casually spread through the deck.

Saying something can be done with a “borrowed” deck doesn’t mean you borrow a deck and then go off somewhere and do something with it. If that was the case, then pretty much any trick could be done with a “borrowed.” The Invisible Deck can technically be done with a borrowed deck if you bring a roughing stick and lock yourself in the bathroom for 15 minutes.

If you’re trying to say there are no gimmicks involved, then the phrase you’re looking for is that it uses a “normal deck,” meaning, “no gimmicked cards.”

Also, if you say in your ad that the deck can be “shuffled completely,” that means as much as the spectator wants, in any manner.

I have no clue if the person using those terms is using them incorrectly. I’m just clarifying because there is seemingly some confusion about what they mean.

Jan. 19th - Checkmate, people who say magic isn’t an art.

Jan. 18th - My car is doing this thing where, like, 1% of the time the brakes don’t work. It’s not ideal for northeast winters. Some would say it’s not ideal for anywhere at any time. But I think it’s kind of fun. Plus, I only have a couple more months on the lease for this car, so I’m going to ride it out.

(Note: If I slam into the back of a bus and die, do not go hounding my estate for “your book” or “your money back.” I had to explain this to someone recently. For supporters at the highest level, you’re not buying a super expensive magic book in installments. You’re supporting a site. The book is a gift for the Rich Uncle Millionaire-level supporters who have been on board for 18 months. But if you leave, or I leave, that’s just the end of the transaction. (This makes it sound like I’m planning to stop the site 17 months into some future season. That’s not the case. I just wanted to clarify because this is a point I haven’t made on this site in a few years.))

Jan. 17th - Nope. It doesn’t write itself.

Jan. 16th - Just hit the halfway point of book 8. The rest pretty much writes itself. (I’m hoping.)

Jan. 15th - If you’re waiting on an email from me, be patient. 🙏

Jan. 14th - Thinking about the “psychological force” of a “Rose” when asking for a flower. And the fact that magicians think this is a thing that would fool someone.

Here’s the thing… If you ask a friend to name a flower—in the context of magic or mentalism—and they say Rose, you have the most bland, basic bitch of a friend imaginable.

If they are then amazed that you predicted they’d name by far the most common flower in the world, then you have the dumbest, most bland, basic bitch friend imaginable.

Jan. 13th - RIP to Bish the Magish. A true character back in the MCJ blog days.

—Forty—

Jan. 12th - As of today, I switched from a Time Blocking-style of scheduling to using something called the Flowtime Technique. If you’re into productivity/scheduling things, you may want to check it out. I have a feeling it’s going to work better for me.

Jan. 11th - Today we entered the long-middle phase of book writing. I’m past the excitement of starting and nowhere near the anticipation of completion. But all is going well, except I’m so immersed in it that I’m dreaming about it, too. Last night I dreamt I completed the book and sent it off to the book printer. Then I realized I forgot to edit it. Then I realized I forgot to put the illustrations in. Then I realized I had only written up three tricks, and the rest of the pages were blank. And the logic of this dream was that there was nothing I could do to correct this issue, so I was going to be sending out a book with three tricks and a bunch of blank pages in it. I was like, “Oooohhhh… that’s not good.”

But I’ve always appreciated an unpleasant dream. I like anything that makes reality seem more pleasant.

Jan. 10th - The schedule for the Juxe is playlists coming out at the end of January, April, July, and October. That may change, but that’s what I’m thinking as of now.

Jan. 9th - If your name is Joseph R., and you’re a supporter, and you have a live.com email address, your email box is full.

Unfortunately, this is the only way I know to get a message to someone whose email box is full.

Jan. 8th - This was one of the best Christmas gifts I got this year.

It’s a digital camera without a screen on it. So there’s no seeing the pictures you take until you put them on your computer later. I brought it to a couple parties this holiday season where it was passed around. People seemed much more excited to take pictures of themselves, each other, their sexual organs, than they are when they can immediately see the results. Recommended.

Jan. 7th - I just got the first preliminary sketch for the next book cover. It’s going to be so good.

Jan. 6th - As of this month, Genii has a new editorial staff.

I have a cover story idea for them. Track down the old L&L audience and do a “Where Are They Now” type piece.

If not a cover story, then maybe a recurring small feature.

If not a recurring small feature, then maybe some sort of web exclusive.

If not a web exclusive, could you at least track down Diana and give her my number? I always had a thing for her.

Jan. 5th - I just met my Sunday deadline for the newsletter for supporters. You should see it in your email now.

With the holidays, I wasn't trying out as many new tricks this month, so this issue is a bit of a break from the normal format. It’s just an issue of Vegetarian Times. I hope you like sea vegetables.

Jan. 4th - I had a dream last night where a magician was trying to make his act more modern, so he changed his patter for the Ambitious Card and called it, “The Card With Rizz.”

Jan. 3rd - Support this site because you want to support the site. Not because you want to get the supporter reward book and then flip it. Supporting this site is not an investment. At least, it’s not a good investment. It’s Beanie Babies. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

If you decide to support the site, do so based on this logic. And do it with the understanding of what I write in this post.

Btw, the full supporter slots that opened up over the course of this season will be made available to the people at the top of the waiting list at some point in the next 3 or 4 weeks.

Jan. 2nd - The moving holes look great. The part where you apparently punch the holes looks fake as shit.

“Let me just casually lay my palm across the card as I punch a hole.” That’s fine if you want to seem like you’re from Neptune. But to earthlings, it just makes the holes seem suspicious. Come up with a presentation where the card is already punched. Then you don’t have to do the fake-o hole punch part. And you don’t even need to have a hole punch on you.

Jan. 1st - It’s 2025. Take THAT, Zager & Evans! We did it! Man IS still alive. Woman—in fact—can survive.

What’s that? Oh… 2525? 500 years from now? Oh no. Of course humanity will be long dead by then. Well, regardless, happy New Year, everyone. While I’m working on the next book this month, I’ll be checking in here daily just to say hey.

Until 2025...

This is the final post of 2024. Regular posting will resume on Monday, February 3rd. Newsletters will be sent to subscribers on Sunday, Janaury 5th and Sunday, February 2nd.

During January, I will check in here once a day with a quick update… like just a sentence a day. It won’t be anything interesting. It’s more for my benefit than yours. There will be one post at the top of the page that I will update daily.

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What does 2025 hold for the Jerx?

There will be a new trick added to the Jerx app in February. A new reward book for supporters at the end of spring.

Oh, and it’s this site’s 10-year anniversary. How will we be celebrating. Well, I’m celebrating it right now, with this balloon emoji.

🎈

Do I have other plans for the 10-year anniversary? Not really. If I was trying to sell something, I’d use it as a marketing opportunity. But I’m not really trying to sell anything. And doing a big celebration post would end up requiring a lot of effor on my part, which feels like the opposite of a celebration. It’s like throwing your own birthday party: a lot of work and kind of sad. So it will probably be a pretty chill affair.

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From the: “That’s Not It, Chief” Department of Bad Answers

A couple of people sent me the following exchange from the Magic Cafe.

There’s a new trick called Sonore, from Ellusionist.

Everyone hears you playing a harmonica, but when you pull your hands away from your mouth, you’re holding a wafer cookie which you bite into. This is just one example. It can also be used for other audio illusions.

On the Cafe, someone asked, what’s to prevent people from just assuming you have a tiny speaker (or even your phone) playing a sound?

Geraint from Ellusionist gives an answer to the question that is… not great.

Let’s break it down because I think he could use some help with the messaging.

He writes:

I think it's all about subverting expectations. The sound sells the illusion.¹ By the time the illusion is revealed and your hands are empty - and you don't have sleeves, people are either with you or they're not.²

I've seen this quite a bit lately. Magicians wondering if the method is too complacent.³

I said it on another thread. We're always going to run into a percentage of spectators who want to work it out. And the bigger majority will be those who just enjoy it.⁴

There will also be spectators who dismiss it as 'must be a trick deck' or 'maybe that other guy was in on it'.⁵

Whether it's a packet trick showing 4 aces that become queens, or whether you're making a harmonica vanish - you'll never be able to please & fool 100% of people, 100% of the time.⁶

You've just gotta pick what you love - and hope people come on the ride with you.⁷

¹ Well, the sound doesn't really "sell" the illusion. The sound is the illusion. When the trick is over, they'll be saying, "Where did that sound come from?" Not, "How did he turn a harmonica into a cookie?" This is why having an idea where the sound is coming from is so detrimental to the effect.

² "By the time the illusion is revealed" people are already "with you or they're not"? What is he suggesting here? All that has happened to this point is you've seemingly played the harmonica. Is he saying that your faux-harmonica playing will be so rapturous that they've already decided if they're going to look at the effect critically? I don't think that's how magic works.

Also, I'm not sure "sleeves" plays into the equation. If I thought someone had a secret little speaker on them, I wouldn't assume it was flopping around in their sleeve.

³ If by "lately" you mean, "throughout the recorded history of the art of magic," I agree with you.

⁴ This is such a fundamentally flawed notion of how magic works. Magic is not split between the spectators who "want to work it out" and some mythical larger group that wants to "just enjoy it." A person can only enjoy magic by trying to work it out. That's what makes magic special—that it's un-work-out-able.

If I don't show you an empty hat before I pull the rabbit out of it, you won't enjoy the trick. You might enjoy me. You might enjoy seeing a rabbit. But you won't enjoy the magic because your mind has easily created the solution which destroys the magic.

⁵ Correct. And then we put deceptions in place that make them think, "No, I guess it COULDN'T have been a trick deck." (A deck switch.) Or, "Hmm, I was wrong, there's no way that guy was in on it." (Have the audience member chosen randomly.)

This is the methodological heart of magic: adding deceptions to a trick to account for the spectator's initial theories. And we have to cover at least their most basic, high-level guesses, or else we don't have a trick.

⁶ This would be a good argument if the notion of a small speaker or your phone was something that would only occur to a tiny fraction of the audience. It's not. It will occur to everyone.

⁷ "Hoping the audience comes on the ride with you" should not be a primary part of your methodology. The way to get people to go on the ride with you is to account for their suspicions as best as you can.

I’m not saying Sonore is a bad gimmick/effect. I’m just saying the response in that Magic Cafe thread didn’t do much to sell me on it.

For what it’s worth, I tried out this effect a few times leading up to Christmas. I didn’t use this actual trick (it’s not out yet). I just created a shortcut on my phone that would play a brief audio track of a harmonica playing. The shortcut was triggered by a remote in my pants pocket.

The trick gets a nice initial moment of surprise. But after that, it played out more like a gag than a magic trick, as you would expect.

I tried a different version where I told a couple of friends I learned 30 songs this year on harmonica and I had them choose one at random from my little notebook of harmonica songs (a Svengali-style notebook with the names of songs and some notes written underneath). I then “played the song” they “chose” and ate the harmonica after. That got a much better response, as the reality of me actually playing the harmonica was established much better, since it started with me playing a freely chosen song.

I’ll probably try it out a couple of more times at least, since I made up the notebook for it, but I don’t know if it has long-term potential. As a trick, “harmonica to wafer cookie” doesn’t have quite the emotional resonance I’m looking for. And as a gag, I much prefer someone seeing me playing the clarinet only to reveal it’s actually a huge black dildo.

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Tenyo Trick Alternative Presentation

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Museum of Penny Alternatives

For the Juxe Music Club I told people they could affix a penny to their submission form or just any other round thing or penny alternative. Here are just a few of the notable ones I’ve received so far…

Most Nostalgic

A Chuck E. Cheese Token

Most Historic

10 Pfenning from both former East and West Germany.

Most Clever Way To Save A Penny

Most “Why Didn’t I See This Coming When I Said People Could Affix Any Round Thing?”

It was sent like this, half-outside its wrapper, leaving a greasy lube stain on the envelope. 😐

Most Unsettling

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Hope you are all enjoying your holidays. Have a great New Years! See you back here soon.

The Experiences Part 3: Front Porchers

[Note: There is one more post scheduled for this month. Not sure exactly when I’ll get it up.]

Since about half of my readers are not from the U.S., I feel like I should first describe what a front porch is. Not just as an architectural feature, but the meaning it has in American culture. Forgive me if this sounds condescending, I just genuinely don’t know how well understood this is.

The front porch is this part of the house…

In America, the front porch has long been a symbol of community and connection. It’s a threshold between the public and private. In nice weather, people will sit out on the porch and pass the time away, interacting with neighbors and others who pass by in spontaneous meetups that can last a few minutes or late into the evening. There is a version of front porch in rural, suburban, small-towns and urban neighborhoods alike.

There’s often a rocking chair or a porch swing. It’s frequently the part of the home that gets most decorated to celebrate the seasons and the holidays.

The most historically charming aspect of the front porch is in its openness and informality. Unlike the seclusion of a backyard or the walls of a living room, the front porch blends the intimacy of home with the inclusivity of community.

Of course, what I’m saying now is somewhat antiquated. This description is definitely more true of the front porch 75 years ago than today. But there are still plenty of places where there is a big “front porch culture.” And the front porch still stands as a reminder of slower, more connected times.

A few months ago, I heard some friends of mine described as having “Front Porch Energy.”

The phrase was true of my friends, but I also realized it was true of what I was seeking for with the Vibe I wrote about this summer. The Carefree Vibe.

Quickies are intended to be a concentrated, stunning moment.

Tantric tricks are intended to be a time-consuming, immersive, deep dive into a magical scenario that genuinely messes with people’s minds.

Front Porchers are designed to be mysterious and amazing while creating a fun, easy-going and welcoming vibe.

Front Porchers Should:

• Feel casual and relaxed

• Not seem overly planned out or scripted

• Have a role for the spectator other than being there to glorify you

• Be leisurely paced. Maybe 2-15 minutes.

• Often have elements of storytelling or nostalgia.

• Feel like there’s some aspect of conversation or discovering something together.

It should have the vibe of a front porch conversation on a summer night.

A Bad Example

Think of the Cups and Balls. This is a trick with no Vibe. No Front Porch Energy.

It’s overly scripted and choreographed. Here is where I do the Vernon wand spin. There are too many magic moments which all seem just like each other. The spectator is just a bystander.

A Good Example

Genuinely, almost any trick that:

A) Has an interesting premise
B) Is fooling
C) Takes a few minutes to perform
D) Is not overly scripted
E) Involves the spectator

Front Porchers aren’t really trick-dependent (in a way that Quickies are). It’s more about how the trick is delivered.

Take, for example, a plastic gimmicky Tenyo trick. That type of trick is homeless in my “Three Experience” categorization.

It’s not a Quickie visual surprise that comes out of nowhere.

It’s not something that can support an hour-long Tantric presentation.

And by itself, it doesn’t have the charm we would want for a Front Porcher. “Here’s this mass-produced magic trick. Now I’m going to show you what this mass-produced magic trick does.” That’s how most Tenyo performances come off. It’s fine. And it can fool people. But it’s vibe-less. Soul-less.

The Yento presentation creates a Front Porcher from a standard Tenyo trick. A charming, captivating thing that we’re discovering together. It doesn’t re-write the rules of the universe. But it’s well worth the small investment of people’s time, in a way tricks often aren’t.

Throughout the years, you’ve seen me write up tricks starting with, “Can I get your help with something?” Or, “I was reading about this thing, I wanted to try it out with you.” Or, “Oh, I’m glad you’re here. You’re the perfect person for this.”

These are all ways to get into a trick with a Front Porch Energy vibe (before I had learned the term).

What Front Porchers Are Good For

Entertaining people

Creating a greater connection with people

Establishing a pleasant memory. They might not remember the exact details of the trick. But they’ll remember having a good time if the vibe is right.

What Front Porchers Aren’t Good For

Blowing people’s fucking minds.

Yes, you can certainly find 100s of tricks that you can perform in a few minutes that will absolutely destroy people’s brains.

But if I have a trick that is sort of “perfectly fooling”—a trick that is almost unsettlingly fooling—then I will usually want to save it to create a bigger experience for people. A Tantric Magic experience. I save my strongest tricks and methods for Tantric tricks. If I’m going to ask someone to invest an hour in an experience that suggests we’ve gone back in time, then I need to build that experience around a flawless trick. A trick so mind-blowing that they feel forced into the only explanation I’ve given them (time-travel).

Front Porchers are not for that purpose. They’re casual, fun, moments of magic that prioritize vibe and connection (of course with a fooling trick and intriguing premise at the heart of it).

And they help establish a baseline of good-to-great magic for people to enjoy and get comfortable with as you plan for your next tantric experience to open a rift in their reality.

These three experiences I’ve written about the past few days are the best uses of magic—at least for me.

1. A quick, unimaginable, visual surprise.

2. An immersive story.

3. A friendly, interactive, mystery.

The problem is, most tricks in magic are not designed with one of those experiences in mind. They’re designed to make the magician look clever or powerful or talented. That’s the “magician-centric” approach I’ve had an issue with, even before I could fully articulate the type of magic I thought should replace it. These three experiences are my approaches to audience-centric. Not because their role is always central, but because their experience is.