Synchronicity, Coincidence, Harmony and subconscious influence; fact or fiction? Real or myth? I say real. But I’m getting ahead of myself. I believe it all began roughly in 1993. I was just beginning to understand the value of studying sleight of hand and the works of other magicians, so I got my hands on a couple of manuscripts by a wonderful Chicago card magician named Al Leech. One of those gems was a little booklet entitle For Card Men Only. Until a week ago, I hadn’t read this booklet since the early 1990′s.
A year or so after my introduction to Mr. Leech’s material, I purchased a marketed effect called Kaleidoscope Cards. It was an effect where the magician displays a deck of cards that is a “collection of cards from many decks.” The spectator finds the only red Aces in a deck that is full of only black Aces.
Now move forward to 2003 to a jam session with Jason Montoya and Myself. Through inspiration by Kaleidoscope cards, I developed the effect now known as Jacked Up, which was just released on Jay Sankey‘s DVD Underground Jam. This effect has struck a chord with many magicians, and I’ve received quite a bit of positive feedback about it. So I thought I’d give a little bit of info about the effect.
Well long story short, just about a week ago, I re-read Al Leech’s booklet For Card Men Only, where I found an effect called Elusive Jacks which is a three-phase routine. The third phase is pretty much the exact same as the first phase of my routine Jacked Up. Synchronicity, Coincidence, Harmony or subconscious influence? Most likely, it was subconscious influence. My conscious inspiration was Kaleidoscope Cards. If you’re familiar with that effect, you’ll notice that Jacked Up is sort of the reverse effect of Kaleidoscope Cards. However, it turns out that I was subconsciously influence by Al Leech.
While his effect Elusive Jacks focuses more on the Jacks, Jacked Up is just a “set up” for the kicker ending of a color changing deck. Obviously, any four of kind could be used, but I chose the Jacks so I could give it the name Jacked Up. That’s just me thinking I’m clever. By the way, partial credit should be given to Jason Montoya for the name.
By the way, if you want to learn some really good classic effects, try to get your hands on some of Al Leech’s material. Here’s a sample, but there certainly are other books out there:
- For Card Men Only
- Card Man Stuff
- Super Card Man Stuff
Anyway, I’m well past the long-story-made-short part, but I just wanted to give some background on the creation of the effect. You know what they say… great minds think alike. Synchronicity, Coincidence, Harmony and subconscious influence; fact or fiction? Real or myth? I say real.
Jeff,
Al Leech published a book in 1980 called Legacy that contained both closeup and stage magic. In that 124 page book there was a 4 ace production called A Card Trilogy in which he produces four aces in order and at the end of three other routines. Have you ever developed anything where one trick tied into another? I’m fairly new to magic so I’m not sure if this was a commonly used idea or something original with Al Leech. Either way it sounds like it has great production value!
bigmarco
May 20th, 2007
Big Marco,
Thanks for the comment. I have to say, first off, that I’m definitely impressed. Most new magicians have no idea who Al Leech is. The fact that you know of him is a good sign that you are going to be a successful magician because you are actually taking the time to truly study our art rather than just pick up the latest trick on the market – the trap that so many new magicians fall into.
As for your question. If I remember right, you’re talking about an effect where during his routine, he produces one Ace. Then later in another trick he produces the second Ace, and so on…
That’s actually a clever idea, and it certainly brings fluidity to an act. The closest thing I’ve got to that is running gags that I’ll do throughout an act (usually on my stage act).
The lotta bowl is an example of this. I Also have a bit where I come out on stage complaining of “something in my shoe.” I then take off my shoe and pour a bunch of sand out of it.
I then pour out sand several more times at various points throughout the act. For the finally, I pull out a giant rock from inside of my shoe (a rock that’s too big to fit in the shoe).
I like the idea of a “running gag” or a “running trick.” I’ll be, likely, going to Florida late this year or early next year to shoot a new video. Maybe I’ll try to develop something like the Leech concept for the next video.
Thanks again for the comment.
Jeff Stone
Jeff Stone
May 28th, 2007