A Critical Examination of the Films of Rob Stiff and Magic Makers: Part Two
/Today we continue our deep dive into the filmography of Rob Stiff and his Magic Makers ads of the mid-2010s
The Automatic Deck
Plot: This film represents Stiff’s most ambitious work to date. As with many high-art films, I can’t say for certain I understand what’s going on.
It starts in what seems to the basement or backstage area of a theater where a bunch of magicians are gathered to perform beginner’s magic tricks for each other. It seems like maybe they are there hoping to get an opportunity to perform these tricks for the magician who is performing at this theater? Like maybe the headliner is looking for new material?
Well, our first twist comes when we find out the featured magician is a woman! (A woman magician? What will they think of next!) “Not what you were expecting?” she asks. But… I mean… why wouldn’t he be expecting her? He seems to be there to pitch her these tricks, right? Certainly he would have had some idea who was performing at this theater. Again, I’m very confused.
I think we’re supposed to assume she’s a bit of a bitch because she makes her little-person(al) assistant remove her gloves, which seems like more trouble than just taking them off yourself.
“You have two minutes,” she says. “Impress me.” Instead of taking that as an invitation to toss her up on the desk and rail her brains out, Rob Stiff instead decides to introduce her to Deland’s Automatic Deck. His trick amounts to cutting the deck in three piles and telling her the name of the top card. You know that thing everyone tells you not to do with a marked deck? Yeah, that’s the trick he does.
After this demonstration we cut to the female magician onstage rehearsing her new card trick. “Is this your card?” she asks. Clearly demonstrating the originality that garnered her a full theater show.
Then she is murdered.
Trick Rating - 1/5 This is a stripper deck that is also marked. If you’re looking for a deck that is obviously a marked deck, yet somehow also nearly impossible to read, I recommend this deck.
Film Rating - 4.5/5
The Secret Hand
Plot: With “The Secret Hand,” Rob Stiff ventures into the horror genre, asking the terrifying question… “What would happen if the man in your life was both annoying and a gigantic pussy?”
The film opens on a date-night between T.J. and the unnamed woman in his life. First T.J. plays a “joke” by cutting a hole in the bottom of a popcorn bucket and making his hand pop out of the hole. Popcorn gets all over the place making a big mess. But honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if T.J. cut a hole in the bottom of popcorn buckets to insert much more unpleasant parts of his body. So his girlfriend probably got off easy here.
He then ruins their pizza for the sake of another “joke.” (Literally the same exact joke. T.J. isn’t super creative).
His girlfriend then plans her revenge and invites “Rob from the magic store” to help out. Their big plan? Make it look like a fake hand from the magic turned on the TV. This causes T.J. to run from the house.
Why T.J. is that scared is never explained. The opening scene shows us there are already three fake hands in the house. One on the popcorn bucket, one on the pizza box, and one on the kitchen counter. This goon bought at least three fake hands. So he shouldn’t be that surprised when one shows up on the couch later. And, honestly, of all the thing you could find in the grasp of a fake hand, a remote control is probably the least disconcerting.
In fact, I feel like just going into the living room and finding Rob Stiff there would be much scarier. And that very easily could have been the case because he made no effort to hide in the other room. He’s just sort of crouching in the shadows like a weirdo.
Trick Rating - 4.5/5 I don’t use this prop regularly. But it’s definitely a prop with a lot of potential (although not much of it is expressed in this video).
Film Rating - 4/5
The Prediction
Plot: The Magician wanders into what I’m guessing is the lounge area of a rehab center where he encounters some of the actors from previous films. I don’t think these are the same characters we’ve seen before. But I’m not entirely sure. Perhaps there is a Magic Makers Cinematic Universe, that these characters inhabit, but if so I haven’t quite figured out how all the pieces fit together.
The Magician takes a seat at the table where he gets a request to perform a trick.
“Give me the deck,” the Magician says. “I don’t even have to touch the deck to do magic,” he says, as he holds the deck in his hands just after requesting the deck. That’s our man of mystery!
He then walks them through a trick so bland even the black guy at the table barely reacts to it. A trick so bland it’s actually deserving of the uninspired name, “The Prediction.”
Trick Rating - 2.5/5
Film Rating - 4.5/5
You may find that film rating a little high. At first it seems like there’s not much of a storyline here. It’s pretty much just a trick demo, and the trick itself barely has anything going for it beyond how incredibly average it is. It’s only upon rewatching this that film-scholars have put it all together and learned the Shyamalan style twist baked into Rob’s work.
At 24 seconds into the film, The Magician is waved over to the table with our other three characters.
Ask yourself this question… What type of person goes to meet with some people, walks into an otherwise empty room, stands there dully, six-feet away from them, and needs to be directed to the table by some guy saying, “Hey man, over here!”
Is it not the same sort of man who goes into a coffee-shop and dumps a dozen decks on the table?
And the type of man who demands his frosting be clumpy?
And the type of man who thinks a marked deck is just what a stage magician’s act is missing?
And the type of man who doesn’t know how hiding works?
You see? Has it come into focus yet?
Rob Stiff is not playing himself in these moves.
He’s not playing the part of a mysterious magician traveling from place to place.
He’s not the puppet master pulling the strings.
He’s a Forrest-Gump-style, goddamn moron, stumbling through these scenes and showing that even a grade-A dipshit can master Magic Makers product line. Rewatch the films with that realization in mind and everything falls into place.
