Hi GD

Without giving too much away, I use an English 2p coin which I place on specs flat palm up hand and the coin stands up on end.

I would second both NFW and Invisible Deck.

But I’ve gotten alot more mileage out of a simple C/R string. The one where you cut a loop of string while they hold it, then pull it thru their fist.

It happens in their hand, and no one has EVER busted me on it... even tho I often break the rule and perform it in the same sitting (always a different person, tho).

DoctorAmazo,



Could you provide a source for the C/R string? It sounds interesting, but I don't quite follow.



Thanks

--Kris

I'm in the same boat as I also accumulated a lot of DVD's, books, videos, etc. on magic. And I realize it's better to know ten tricks really well rather then a hundred sloppy tricks. I think the best approach is to establish a reasonable criteria and then reject all the tricks which don't meet your criteria. For example, my criteria are as follows:

1. Entertaining - This should be your main criteria. Sometimes we like to perform certain slights, etc. but ultimately we should look at tricks through "laymen eyes" and only include entertaining effects. Surprisingly, I've found many entertaining tricks to be very easy to do which brings me to my next criteria...

2. Easy to Do - My skill level is not very high so I concentate on effects I could do comfortably and easily.

3. Minimize the use of gimmicks (i.e. no trick coins, trick decks, etc.) I also prefer to avoid set-ups and only do card tricks that could be done with a borrowed shuffled deck.

4. Try to utilize (seemingly) ordinary objects.

Hopefully, you could establish your own criteria and come up with the "best of the best" tricks for YOU.

Joe

Tommy Wonder's Tamed Card (his version of Wild Card)
chop cup
cups and balls
invisible deck
behind your back (the version using a stacked deck)
John Mendoza's Routine Poker Mental

Card tricks are great, but I find that the following works best for me, close-up:

1. Jerry Andrus' "Zone Zero"
2. Prohibition
3. (coins) Spellbound with Ike Dollar coin & Sudbury Penny
4. Color-changing Silk (18", using Rice's Palmo)
5. Pete Biro's Hindu Cups & Balls

Doug

I recently got WGM Ambitious Card DVD. I know that the Ambitious Card is a favorite amongst magicians, but Tommy Wonder's presentation and ending for his ambitious card is in a league of its own. It is easily one of the BEST things I have seen in magic. He gets a standing ovation from the crowd, which is something I haven't seen on any of the other L&L DVDs.