Project 365 Smorgasbord (190-192)

.:192/365: Warp One:.

Paul Harris brings to us an update of the Vodoo Warp routine, and makes it perfect for the street magic setting. “Warp One” does away with the second, extraneous card, and produces a visual illusion that makes jaws drop and builds reputations in an instant.

Imagine taking a card, folding it in half lengthwise, then showing that the top half of the folded card is face-up while the back of the card is still clearly visible from the bottom half. It’s as if the card twisted itself in half, and your eyes appear to be fooling you oh-so-eagerly. There’s just something so amazing about the execution of this routine that one can’t help but be impressed when you see it, and best of all, the ending is perfect and clean: you give them the card, clearly twisted in half, as a nice little souvenir that they can take home and show off.

Yup, you can even have them sign the card! There is simply no need whatsoever for duplicates or any of the like, and Warp One just really makes a lasting impression on the spectators you perform them for.

.:191/365: Cyril’s Icy Trick:.

Here’s a street magic routine I doubt anyone can perform locally, for obvious reasons. Then again, we have very resourceful magicians here, and maybe they can do this in a walk-in freezer or something.

Cyril borrows a few items from a spectator, then lays it down on the ice for everyone to see. Then, with some water and a few gestures, he magically makes the items just go right into the ice, and you actually need to use an ice pick to dig the items out!

Cyril has been doing some really amazing stuff on the streets of Japan for a while already, so I must say that this performance is par for the course, although from a magician’s point of view, it certainly looks a lot harder than anything else he has pulled off in recent memory.

.:190/365: Tagged By Richard Sanders:.

Richard Sanders is pretty good at doing these routines, and takes the “pick a card, any card” script to a whole new level with this particular effect.

What you see is rather simple: a card is selected from a deck, and the performer calls your attention to a dog tag hanging on his neck. He gently waves the dog tag over the deck of cards, and next thing you know, the card is already impaled onto the chain. A visual penetration that happens right before their eyes, and yet the card appears to be none worse for wear, and is simply physically, inextricably linked to the dog tag. You can even give the dog tag away, if needed be as a very powerful souvenir to end your routine.

This is an amazing street magic effect that definitely wows people and gets their attention like no other. It also doesn’t hurt that you can give it away as a souvenir, which gives you a very nice edge in name recognition, as you can have that memento replete with your name or number or signature or anything else your heart desires.

Definitely a routine worth the price, and something you can easily add to your arsenal at a moment’s notice. When it comes to effective street magic, Richard Sanders is one of your best bets, with his wide variety of applications and his ingenuity.