In the last post I alluded to a trick that I thought was the dumbest trick I had ever seen. Again, I've mentioned this elsewhere, but might be nice to note it here and why.

It is very, very easy to look at a trick and no matter how good you are in magic overlook it for any number of reasons. My suggestion? Give some of THOSE tricks a try every now and then. I'm actually pretty good at picking winners and I've made some terrible mistakes in overlooking some just killer material.

The trick? The old Insurance Policy! I thought, "What a dopey trick!", when I first looked at. I ended up performing it form a magic class graduation and it just knocked 'em over. I couldn't believe it. I have used it in almost every paid performance from that day forward!

I sell a nice one for $3.95, but you will find them for anywhere from $2.50 to $3.95. I'm not doing an add here. I don't expect to 'clean up' on Insurance Policies and the fact is that many of you may HAVE this wonderful trick.

For those not in the know: You have a card selected and returned to the deck. You look for it and fail time after time. I fail 3 times and then sighing I look at the audience somewhat abashed and say, "Well it a good thing that I'm insured against this kind of thing happening!" At which point I remover what looks like a folded Insurance Policy thing. Anyway, after sufficient by play you open the policy and it get REALLY big and printed thereon is a huge picture of the selected card.

I have my own way to play this. I have my lines that developed over the years. But, overall I play it very direct and without a lot of fluff. The entire routine is about 2-3 minutes max. Almost a throw away, but it's not. And, it's a worker.

Don't overlook stuff that looks at first blush like a 'silly' routine. Hey, that's too simple! Come on.

Upon analysis it was obvious that Insurance Policy from the point of view of an audience was literally the 'perfect' type of trick. It was........EASY TO UNDERSTAND and IT FOOLED AND SURPRISED EVERYONE WHO SAW IT! You literally CAN'T get better than that.

All best,