Q&A Week: Day 1

Here is the first set of questions.

Spelling and phrasing are the question-asker’s, not mine.

I’m answering them in the order they came in, with the exception of the second question. I’ve grouped together three questions there that were on the same subject.

What is the best effects/presentation for Mentalism that’s short form (like on instagram)?

I don’t think mentalism is well-suited for “short form” and I don’t even have an instagram account. I couldn’t be less suited to answer this question, I’m sorry to say.

— Any chance you have a presentation for Metal Phone in the works? The gimmick is impressive, but the responses are falling flat.

— What are your thoughts on Metal Phone by Joao Miranda? Especially as a piece for social/amateur magic.

— Ur Timeless routine [See here.] saved that trick. Have anything for metal phone? The block has been a letdown for my specs. They want to see a real phone.

I’ve heard similar concerns from a couple of people I know in real life who have used the effect. They’re both good performers so if they’re both having an issue I’m inclined to believe there might be a problem with the trick itself, not just their performances.

Watching the demo for this, I think I see what is likely causing the issue. Going from “This card penetrated my phone” to “Just kidding, it penetrated a strange metal block,” is not even a lateral move. It’s a step backwards. Spectators are familiar with phones. They’re not familiar with strange metal blocks. So the easy answer for them is just, “It must be something funny about this metal block.” Bingo.

Not that they know how it works, but you’ve given them some sort of answer (“there’s something funny about that block”). Whereas, if your working cellphone came out, then there would be no questioning the legitimacy of the object that was penetrated.

In earlier tricks of this type, you started by penetrating a box of matches with a needle (not impossible at all) or a cased deck of playing cards with a coin (more impossible, but a spectator could come up with some plausible solutions pretty easily). So when you go on to reveal the metal block, you’ve done something significantly more impossible than what they thought you did. That makes sense as a dramatic structure.

But that’s not what happens with this trick. The revelation of the metal block is a surprise, but not a magical one (relative to what they thought happened). It would be like if you sawed a box in half and said your wife was inside. Then you put the halves together and said, “Actually… it wasn’t my wife… it was… this black guy!” That would get a, “Wait… huh?” sort of response that I think some people are getting from this trick.

All that said, don’t sell yours yet. I think I have a couple ideas (one handling idea and one presentational idea) to make this stronger. One of my proxies has placed an order for one so I can try it out, but I won’t have it for a couple months, so I won’t be able to give my thoughts until then (unless I end up meeting up with one of my friends who owns this in the meantime.)

Do you play with Cardistry? And does cardistry dilute the magicalness of effects done in performer's hands?

No. And Yes.

Why do you perform magic? What is the goal?

That sweet poontang. The ill nana.

My goal is to craft memorable experiences for my friends, family and the people I meet as I go through life. And to do so in a manner that they can’t get from any other kind of interaction.

Just read about project slay them about adding a trick a week to my reportoire. Does that advice still hold and do you have any new ones?

Does that advice still hold in order to build up your repertoire? Yes. Do I have any new what? New tricks I’ve added? Yes. I add new tricks constantly.

I know it can be not that good question but how can I think creatively?

I don’t really have a good answer for this.

I read this book a long time ago and thought it had some very sound advice, although I doubt it will make you creative if you don’t aren’t already have some natural aptitude.

I’m not sure to what extent someone can develop creativity. I can’t say I’ve ever met someone who wasn’t creative—then they took a course or read a book—and all of the sudden they were super creative.

However, I do think there are some creative people who just haven’t found a way to leverage that power yet, and for those people, I think maybe you can find a way to harness that ability from a book like the one I linked to above.

Is the Connect 4 prediction trick available anywhere or will it ever be?

This is my friend’s trick. I don’t know all the details of how it’s done, but I know it requires custom made props for the game. He has made one copy in the past for a magic collector but I don’t know if he plans on making/selling more. I will let people know here if it ever becomes readily available. But if you’re expecting something you can do with a normal Connect 4 set, you’re dreaming.

I’ve been working on a simplified version of a Connect 4 prediction that I will likely put in some publication in the future.

Hi Andy, have you purchased any new books lately? If so which ones, I’m looking for some inspiration. Thanks

I haven’t read any new magic books in a while (I’m far behind even on books that were gifted to me). I’m trying to readjust my schedule so I have more time to work through magic books. If I manage that and I find something interesting, you’ll definitely hear about it in the review newsletter.

What (if any) are some ways you use loops?

I use them mostly in the usual ways: haunted deck, the one where you tip up a pair of eyeglasses, a moving fork trick I learned from a Geoff Williams DVD.

One trick I do with loops that I’ve never seen anyone else do is on Calen Morelli’s Penguin Live Lecture where he uses loops to float and manipulate his hoodie strings. I like that trick a lot.

I was asked to do a 20-minute set of mentalism as an opener for a long-form improv show in Chicago. How would you approach this?

I would decline the offer.

In an alternate reality where I did do the show, I’d probably do something like the stage version of the trick described in this post. That would make sense in an improv show context.