Mark I'm very well aware of the write up of the Dutch Looper from the Unique years. It's a great effect ( A book that is is very underrated as well) and I don't think it should be made available to the masses regardless of if it's used by them or not. I know that may seem odd coming from someone that did pitch magic for ten years to tourists but even then there were things I wish we never sold, unless they person was truly interested in becoming a magician.


That's my worthless input on that.

B.T.W. If I tried to make anything out of paper, or any other material it would look like something expelled from a cow's nostril or worse.

Yes. I take your point and I am very much against selling certain items such as thumb tips and paddles. However the Dutch Looper has always been an old traditional pitch item in the UK and in fact has been used far more by grafters than it ever has been used by magicians. It is in fact an old fairground item and I seem to remember this was actually mentioned in the instructions. There was a street worker in Britain who was not a magician and he made a living out of selling nothing but this item. His name was "Mossie" and apparently he made a big thing about it.

And of course if you are concerned about exposure then you should be more concerned about the two card monte than the Looper. That is because you are giving away a PRINCIPLE. That is the principle of double faced and double backed cards. Poor old Hofzinser who invented them would be turning in his grave over it. And the principle can be used in many, many tricks whereas the Looper principle is used in only this one trick. And as I keep saying the kids will never be able to do the Looper anyway so there is no real exposure providing your instructions are quite incomprehensible like mine are. You do get complaints galore but I have perfected the technique of snarling to kids who come back, "READ THE INSTRUCTIONS"
They disappear very rapidly when they meet a horrible man like me. So as you see I am perfectly ethical and in fact I wouldn't be able to sleep at night if I thought the kids were actually able to do it.

What do you use for instructions for the Looper?

I taught the Svengali business decades ago to a fellow called Derek Ward. He is not a magician and in fact most of the best Svengali workers I know have not been magicians but they can handle the deck better than any magician can. Derek up to now has been the only Svengali worker in the UK and would not be pleased that Don's DVD has encouraged a young man to go into competition against him and even steal his instruction booklet and copy it. Mind you, Derek stole the book in the first place so perhaps we had better move on. But THIS is the reason that REAL Svengali workers don't want all the wannabees getting into the business because of DVDs on the workings of this stuff. And now Will Roya is talking about producing a DVD and this to me boggles the mind even more since he is actually working and seems to want to cut his own throat. His daft logic that nobody can get into the big shows since he has them all tied up is utter rot. There is always some wheeling-dealing-cut-throat hot shot who can pull the rug from under you. And one clue of how you do it is NOT to fill in an application and send it out. Poor William really has a lot to learn about this business.

But back to Derek. A few years ago he had a nasty family trauma in his life which was in all the British newspapers at the time and there is no need to get into it now. As a result I don't think he is as active as he used to be. Anyway he was very good at writing instructions for tricks and the Dutch Looper instructions I use now are the ones he wrote all those decades ago. The wonderful thing about them is that although they are well written nobody will ever be able to do the trick from the instructions and that does give me a good feeling. I am not in the slightest bit interested in "helping people learn" and feel quite delighted that I have their money in my pocket and they have something which will be of no use to them whatsoever.

I remember reading or hearing Ken Brooke used the 'Dutch Looper' many times to offset his unemployment times in his life. That is such a good skill to have, knowing you can go out and make enough money to feed your family do to unexpected job changes.

Mark,

I am enjoying your comments on pitching and setting up for the pitch.

You mentioned the Dutch Looper, I have the book the Unique Years and many of Ken Brookes effects from the 1970's.

I would like to know if you have the 'pitch' for the dutch looper available in script form for download?

Pat Page was hitting us magicians for $10 bucks for his 3 card trick. You really only sell the trick to laymen for $3.00 or pounds in England? Seems cheap for 2011 prices. You would know more then I of course.

How can we get a copy of those instructions for he Dutch Looper?

Thanks for your comments on the Café so far. They are very helpful.

I am afraid that I do not have the pitch for dowload or in script form.. Just go the Patrick Page demo to get an idea what to say. But to be frank, any good magician can figure out what to say when doing a trick. As for the actual selling script I am afraid there is none available. All I say is "Anyway, that's the three card trick. It comes with instructions and you will be able to do it a minute after you buy it. The price is $3." Of course this is a downright lie since there is not a chance in hell they will be able to do it. Perhaps you may want to say something else. What I am trying to point out is there is only sentence or two you need to say after you do the demostration.

As for the instructions write your own. I can't do everything for you, you know. Or better still, spend some money with me and tell me you want a Looper instruction leaflet and I will be so charmed by the sight of your money that I will be overcome with generosity and send you the leaflet along with whatever you have purchased

As for the selling price let me put you into a state of shock. I give the Dutch Looper away FREE at every demonstration. There are times when I sell it on its own at $3 but more often I give it away free. Patrick Page was selling a more complicated version with a movable flap which is not necessary for pitch purposes.

When I give it away free I am doing so as part of a "lump up" of various seemingly free gifts given away to those who buy a Svengali deck. It makes the item far easier to sell when you do that.

Getting back to the original thesis of this thread, after using a glue stick to make double-face cards using 2 cards, I have to say it was a waste of time for me.

Maybe it was the glue or the amount (I THOT I put on plenty!), but I have had MAAAANY kids bring them back saying something like "I bent these cards and they came apart...etc...etc...etc..." and it's usually in the middle of a demo, so they are standing there, waiting for me to 'fix them' while I'm trying to sell someone else. Naaaaaaw! I could probably use the cards myself but making them part of the package, I think not.

Maybe I need to just stop being so cheap and forget about the ones I can't use.

Jon

Jon,
I have glued cards back and face to face but only when I was up against it and my printed stock hadn't showed up.Just go buy them from Eddies..come on $1.00 a deck for 52 so $2.00 and you have 52...well not really as you get 4 nines with the same card on the back...one 2 and a 3 with printing on the back.

Don

Yep...I usually buy 'em from Eddies...but I had SOOO many of the ones I couldn't use, I thot gluing them would be OK...obviousaly it is not--unless I use 'em myself. Not sure, even then.

Jon

Hello Jon:

How are you doing? Just thought I would tell you about a very neat DVD that will help you making any Gimmicked or GAFF cards . The dvd is entitled THE ART OF CARD SPLITTING by Marty Martini Grams. Marty is a card expert, and shows card making in every detail. This dvd is available through Martini Magic , and is made by Magic makers, Inc.

You will enjoy doing business with Marty, he is one swell guy!

I think you will enjoy this dvd.

All the best Jon

ROD

And if I try to use them myself, some kids see that one card is 2 cards. I tried to glue them exactly on top of one another but they still see it. So the few cents I save by gluing them is lost when people see 'em. So I say--FORGET IT! The cards I can't use is just one of the costs of doing biz!

Jon

Hello Jon:

How is it going? There is a wonderful dvd out by Marty " Martini" Grams its called THE ART OF CARD SPLITTING. It shows you how to glue up cards together. This is a very detailed DVD by the Master card maker Marty Grams. Marty has made up special decks for me in the past, and they are perfect.

This dvd has special gluing technics I think you will like. I highly recommend this dvd for making all kinds of gimmicked and gaffed cards. Search out Martini Magic online.
Hope your season is going well.

Rod Pringle