Blockhead when I was a kid at Barry's Magic Shop when I was a kid. The magician who was visiting the shop got me to put the nail in his nostril. I couldn't believe it.

Doug Henning dissapearing into a Pharaoh costume on stage.

Invisible deck when I was a kid. I couldn't fall asleep because of it.

Cups and Balls done by a man at the Renaissance festival when I was a kid.

Slydini silks.

David Roth hanging coins.

Tricky Turvy Bottles when I was a kid. I was stunned. Then I bought the trick.

Rising card.

Dean's Box.

Lots more that I can't think of now, but these are tricks that I'll always remember.

Armando Lucero's matrix routine. In person. Repeatedly. Amazing.

The ones I remember most are a simple coin production from behind my ear when I was four or five, Penn and Teller cups and balls, Teller doing Miser's Dream, and Shawn Farquhar's signed card in a sealed deck (don't remember what he actually calls it). Yann Frisch's "Baltass."

Oh, and just about everything I've seen Ricky Jay do.

Copperfield "Flying".

Girl to Gorilla.

David Copperfield's "Cameratrick." I'm still left wondering how he made the camera disappear.

I'm not going to single out one "trick". I will say that I remember just how magical the effects appeared when I acquired the NYCMS Copper Silver DVDs. Just so strong. I was fairly new to coins and learning, so I wasn't aware much of method. Still, the effect is so pretty and magical and that is powerful work, indeed. We need to remember these things.

I'm hoping to work on some of them this term. I've got volume 2 here with me in Res.

When I was 10 years old, my teen-age next-door neighbor knocked on my door and told me to name a card. I did. He opened up a deck of cards and there was only one card reversed. It was my card. I thought about that for many years afterwards.

First time I saw John Kennedy perform "Translocation"

A billiard ball act, from an unknown young magician, without any gimmick, just misdirection.
I saw him in TV when I was eight . When internet came I found who was, Rudi Heuer from Austria.
I still love the routine. It is still good in my eyes.I know that it is not the best thing ever, but I can't forget this first emotion about hand magic and how sleight of hand got into me...
Here is the video, after 45 sec.

http://youtu.be/EU9bo56GcjQ

For me, it was Zombie on TV's "You Asked For It" performed by Aubrey. He was, BTW, a cinematographer with credits including "Rocky," "The Karate Kid," "The China Syndrome," "Night Shift," "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman," "Baby M," and received an Oscar nomination for "The Formula."

One of best magic trick I see was magician shuffles deck and asks me to name card. I say card, he turns over top card, and it is right there.

His method is luck. I wanted to hit his face. But he have many jokes if it don't work so its ok. Case #1 trick is funny moment. Card #2 trick is miracle.

Not quite the 'Best' trick I've ever seen, but a magician in Scotland announced that on the BBC's six o'clock news, he would levitate a girl 16 Feet into the air.

I waited with bated breath to see what this conman - Oops - magician - friend of mine at the time, was going to do.

Right on cue, this marvelous feat took place.

He did, indeed, levitate the girl 16 feet in the air.

But what he omitted to tell everyone was that the first 12 feet or so, was the roof of a building, on top of which was a Chair Suspension !!! LOL !

So, David Haggerty of Paisley, Scotland, if you're reading this, I give you top marks for ingenuity - You really suckered me !
But, you never took me up on my offer to catch a grenade between your teeth - once I'd pulled the pin out !


Bobby Thomson. (Ex : Dalry.).

Just a footnote to my post above (sorry, don't mean to derail this thread) :

If anyone out there knows David Haggerty, perhaps some magic club in Paisley ? Please, Please, Please. convey my warmest regards to him !

David would be in his (possibly mid) 70's now, and was also an actor on BBC T.V. doing bit parts if I remember correctly.

Lovely Guy !


Bobby Thomson (Ex : Dalry.).

Not necessarily the best trick ever, but my favorite to watch is the death saw bey David Copperfield.

The best I have ever been fooled is by the prediction chest. I want to buy one but they're so expensive and hard to find. I wish I had a magic store near where I live.

I am can still remember the awe I felt when I saw The Visitor by Larry Jennings for the first time, OR his Open Travelers.

Pure brilliance.

One I ponded over a lot when I was a kid was a diversion rather than a trick.

Charlie Miller was doing a Linking Ring routine in which a single rig was placed around his neck fro a moment (over his head) then used again in a link.

Later, repeated but the ring was too small and just sat on his head. Then the ring was used in an effect.

No mention of the magical happening, no hesitation or pause for applause -- just an interlude to heighten anticipation.

I many routines over the years I have always asked self if I can introduce a bit of "unaddressed magic" into the flow of things,
along the lines of "magic happens and is not always controllable."

Hey Ken!
I was 18, and attending my first IBM Convention in Chicago (1950). John Ramsay was one of the close up performers. He was smoking (??) a cigarette. He would lay it down on the white table cloth. It grew shorter and shorter during his act. IT WAS A PROP. IT WASN'T LIT. HE NEVER DREW ATTENTION TO IT.

I knew Charlie Miller, but, I never saw him do the bit with the ring that you mention. (@#%%!) However, I can picture it in my mind. One of his subtleties!

After reading down this thread, this may seem ridiculous, but, in 1946, I caught the late ROY SHRIMPLIN's SCHOOL SHOW. Early in the program, he tied a simple, overhand knot in a rope. Then, he slid the knot from one end of the rope to the other, and, finally, off the rope! I was a Boy Scout. I knew my knots! IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE!

After his show,Roy, very kindly, showed me the "work". I have used it SINCE 1946!!! It ALWAYS GETS A "PUZZLED" LAUGH! --and, a nice mitt, too.

A year later, the late Roy Mayer, a long time mentor, and school show magician, told me of working a "military" school in New Jersey. Most military schools are 'army' oriented. This one was "navy". The students SAILED ships. THEY KNEW THEIR KNOTS! In Mayer's program, the "Joe OVETTE REPEAT KNOTS" was the second trick. His audience was STUNNED! HE GOT A STANDING OVATION! He told me, "I really had to pick up the tempo! --I had 43 minutes to go!

I've seen a lot of magicians perform in the last 70 years, but Joe Ovette's little "bit" with a knot on a rope remains a high point!