Happy Almost-Halloween.

To celebrate this almost-holiday, we’re giving away a completely free, freaky trick by our very own Andi Gladwin (who appears to like writing in third person).

The effect is simple, but pretty disgusting looking: The magician takes a thumb tack (drawing pin) and slowly pushes it into his arm. The pin stays there for a few seconds, before the magician pulls it out, leaving a temporary mark where the pin had penetrated the skin.

So there you have it. Here’s your free magic download!

Are you inspired by things around you? I am … but only when I actually spend some time thinking about the things I see.

It’s a common misconception that inspiration for magic ideas will just jump into your head while you’re going about your daily business. For most people, this simply isn’t true. Instead, you need to think about and read into the things that inspire you. Here’s an idea that I’ve played around with in the past: use current affairs to inspire you. I’m not talking about creating topical effects, but by using headlines and ideas as inspiration for new effects.

As I’m writing this, I’ve randomly picked three headlines and buzzwords from recent news reports, newspapers and news websites. I have no preconceived ideas of what I’m going to write and will spend no more than ten minutes thinking about these ideas. Let’s go …

Those truly were made up in the last couple of minutes. They’re not my best ever creations, but they’re a start. I often focus these sessions on creating tricks for certain situations. Right now, I’m working on some informal impromptu tricks and some MC bits (don’t ask!), so it turns out that the credit crunch and hijack tricks may actually be useful.

Now it’s your turn: what tricks can you create by using current affairs as a starting point? Do you have any ideas for the three headlines that I listed? Let’s turn the comments of this post into a session! Me, Tyler, Rich and Luke will be on hand to share our ideas too. Over to you!

With the exception of FREAK (oh yes, that was a sneaky plug), I don’t really perform much impromptu body magic. But for years I’ve played around with the old blister effect where you appear to magically heal a blister on your finger.

I used to use the hole in a key to create the blister, but I thought I’d share a better way that I’ve been using recently. In the grand scheme of things, it’s absolutely nothing worth publishing, but I think one or two more people out there might actually start using the effect when they have a quick and easy way of creating the blister too.

It’s simply this: the headphone socket of an iPhone or iPod is the perfect shape and size to create the blister on your finger. So with your iPhone in your pocket, simply push down on the headphone socket for about a second and you’ve got the blister. That’s so much easier than carrying around a key that isn’t attached to a keyring, or only doing it when you’ve got the right button on your jacket. This way, it’s always ready to go because if you’re like me, your phone is always in your pocket.

Of course, the important thing is knowing when to create the blister. I’ve often placed a blister on my finger, casually mentioned it to someone and then later in the day reapplied the blister in the same place and using some weird ritual to heal it. That way, I’ve apparently been blistered for an entire day; not just a few seconds before I’m about to heal myself.

P.S – Andrew Mayne and Justin Robert Young of iTricks.com will be all over this. The fact that I’ve combined an Apple product and magic will get them so excited that they’ll dedicate an entire Magic Week in Review podcast to me. Beat that Tyler Wilson.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I got scared.

So … back to the magic. Here’s a quick idea. Everyone and their dog does the classic egg sack trick. Egg goes into sack. Egg disappears. Repeat.

Oh, sorry, Andi just whispered in my ear that it’s called the Egg Bag trick. With the exceptions of Jeff Hobson and Tom Mullica, I haven’t seen anyone make it very exciting (the trick, that is). I’m not saying that I have anything to help but perhaps the idea below might spark some creativity.

The Soap Sack by Rich Aviles
If the headline doesn’t give away the idea, I don’t know what will. Instead of using an egg, use a bar of soap. Why, you say? Because soap is funny. The jokes practically write themselves. Especially when you start thinking about disappearing soap.

The bag could easily be presented as a new product by Avon that keeps your soap clean while you wash.

This might be obvious but the only way to end such a routine would be the production from the bag of a rubber ducky, a back scrubber and, of course, water.

Have fun.

It is a fact of life, magicians love to produce a flame when they open their wallet. There is no reason to be ashamed.

If you are tired of researching all of the expensive wallets on the market, here is a quick do-it-yourself guide to making your own Fire Wallet gimmick that fits into the credit card slot of any wallet.

Now, bear in mind, this method is quite different than what you are used to. I can honestly state that it always receives a startling response from laymen—and an greater reaction from magicians!

The dealer ad:

• Use any wallet that you already own
• Make it in less than 5 (FIVE!) minutes
• Always ready, no set-up
• Can be converted to work as a Fire Book
• There is nothing to purchase upon completion of the gimmick (no lighter fluid!)
• No rough and smooth, threads, or wires

I have been asked to keep this one underground but decided it was time to let others enjoy this great secret. Try it out on your fellow magicians and I guarantee a satisfactory response (or I’ll give you your money back).

Hey Guys,

In celebration of The Clog’s annual anniversary announcement, I figured I would open a bottle of bubbly. And then three more bottles. So since I’m a little on the “friendly” side right now, I’ve decided to share a simple trick with y’all.

Actually, it’s not a trick itself, it’s a revelation that can be used in almost any Sandwich trick you already perform. It uses the Under Pressure flourish from Mike Graham via David Nelson in Channel One magazine. It’s probably one of the hottest flourishes these days, and rightfully so. Its fluidity is breathtaking when properly performed (just watch Ricky Smith do it sometime). Anyway, I wanted to actually utilize the move for magical purposes, so I started playing with anglejogging a double with the hopes that it would split during the flourish. Much to my surprise; it didn’t (which may actually be useful in other contexts).

I then found if you Faro the two cards into the deck, so one card is between the anglejogged double, the cards split nicely. But then what? Why would I want to split two cards? It wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I was sharing the idea with Mark Horowitz when he said the twelve magic words, “Why not a Sandwich?” Duh! It seems so obvious in retrospect. Thanks Mark!

So here’s the lowdown. Get into position where the selection is sandwiched between the two locator cards, but the audience doesn’t know it yet. Pick up the three card packet and Faro it into the deck about fifteen cards down, leaving it anglejogged out the front left side of the deck. The Faro doesn’t have to be perfect, just as long as the cards perfectly interweave one-by-one. Perform the Under Pressure flourish and watch as the Sandwich splits as it races by, with a solitary face-down card which almost appears to shoot up between.

I’m being purposely vague since everyone knows how to Sandwich a card, and those who know the Under Pressure flourish don’t need any help in that department. If you don’t know the flourish but would like to learn, check out issue 14 of Channel One (I’ve also been told it’s in the Buck’s Trilogy, but I don’t own it).

I’ve also filmed a sloppy video for you all to see. It’ll allow you to at least get the gist of it. The video size is 4 MB, so it make take a few moments to download.

Note: you need at Flash player version 6 or above to view these videos.

Thanks for a great year everyone!

Tyler Wilson
P.S. My buddy Chris Mayhew also suggests its use in a Collectors routine, and I must say it looks even better. Thanks Chris!

Hey Guys,
Here’s an idea for all of you who think the Balducci Levitation is antiquated and played out:

The plan is to use the levitation as a convincer to another routine rather than the star attraction itself. For instance, put down that brussels sprout and grab your nearest Devano Rising Card Deck. Have a card selected, returned to the deck, and controlled to the… oh wait, screw the control procedure.

Turn your back to the audience in the typical angle needed for the Balducci Levitation and tell them this will give them a better view of what’s to come (which isn’t far from the truth). Hold the deck up with the left hand so it’s away from the body and higher than your head (again, “to make it easier to see”). Allow the card to begin to rise and once it’s near the end of its ascent, act like it’s going too far and reach out with the right hand to restrain it. Once the right hand grabs it, begin the Balducci Levitation to make it seem like the card is rising so powerfully that it’s bringing you along for the ride.

Since the attention is on the rising card, you will have to draw focus to the fact you’re being lifted up if you expect anyone to notice your feet.

So that’s just one way to freshen up the Balducci Levitation; reinforce the card rise rather than feature it alone. I’d love to hear your ideas too, so let ‘er rip!

Tyler Wilson

I’m a massive Taco Bell fan, but that’s the only take-away (”fast food joint” for the Americans amongst us) that I really like. Unfortunately, I only get to visit a couple of times a year, when I’m in the States, but I guess that’s probably a good thing for my bowels! Now that I’ve grossed you out, I’m about to share a fun idea for a trick to perform in a take-away. But, as I don’t visit too many fast food places, it’s completely untested I’m afraid. Maybe someone could try it out and post up their thoughts.

The effect is that you’re drinking in McDonalds (or any other brand of fake-meat supplier) and take your straw from the cup and place it between your lips. You then stand up and slightly away from the cup and let go of the straw. It slowly floats down from your mouth and into the cup. Other people can try to repeat your actions, but they will fail.

Here’s my idea for a method:

Take a piece of invisible thread that’s about a metre long and attach some chewed chewing gum to one end (a nod to Luke Dancy for that idea). When no-one is looking, thread the invisible thread through the straw and stick a piece of gum to the other end. Remove the lid of the cup and throw it away, then stick on of the pieces of gum to the bottom of your cup (with drink still in it to cover the gum). Now, place the other piece of gum in your mouth and leave the straw in the cup: this means that the straw can ride up and down the thread from your mouth to the cup.

To perform, pick up the straw, place it between your mouth, then stand up and slightly away from the cup. You should move backwards a little too, so it’s obviously you’re not just dropping the straw into the cup. Then, let go of the straw from your lips – due to the thread the straw will automatically ride down back into the cup. Well, I hope it will anyway.

Here’s where it gets cool though – you can use the hook-up for a few other things. For example, you could take the straw wrapper and screw it into a ball and float it on the thread, ala floating bill. Or, you could even make the straw move just by apparently looking at it. It’s an ideal hook-up to just have some fun with your friends. I’d love to hear your ideas with it; so, if you have any thoughts, please post a comment and let us know!

Hi guys and welcome to the Clog! This place could not have been started at a better time. I’ve been laid up for the past month or so and had a lot of time to think about magic so I thought I would post some of the ideas I’ve been coming up with.

One plot in particular I’ve been stuck on is the coins to glass. I wanted to add a twist so let’s hear what you think.

You bring out your four coins and glass and say you are going to perform coins to glass. Intead of causing the coins to vanish and appear inside the glass you change each coin into an actual piece of glass and put them into the cup/glass you are using. At the end the pieces are poured out and seen to have changed back to coins leaving you with a true coins to glass ending.

The other thing I’ve had my mind on is whether you could perform the classic ghost glass effect with the cellophane that goes around the cardbox. For a kicker because the method involves breathing on the plastic and fogging it up a bit you could actually cause the card to appear inside the cellophane sort of like how the illusionists produce girls from a foggy box.

There’s much more to share but I want you coming back for more!

Luke