Magic Tricks

I've been using Fine Print for some time now and I love it. Great motivation to learn several different forces, also.

One of the keys to doing this trick (and virtually all others) well is to not rush through it (Vernon's advice in general). For magic effects to hit hard, there needs to be suspense, and suspense is built by anticipation which takes time. I see a lot of trailers where magicians are rushing through tricks at the speed of light and/or talking as fast as is humanly possible and I think this is done to keep spectators from thinking too much and asking inconvenient questions. Verbal misdirection out of control, if you will. Try a little piece of slow - that will catch spectators off guard since everyone is talking/presenting so fast these days. This will work in your favor. Fine Print is a great trick partially because it is a natural for the slow building of suspense. Let the spectators slowly discover the "secret" to Fine Print on their own - with a little coaxing, if necessary.

I used this as an out not long ago (I had forgotten that I had placed one of the Fine Print cards under my close-up mat). It had a red back and I was using a blue deck, but that did not take away from the effect at all. Really good solution/reaction to the "magician-in-trouble" scenario. And I WAS in trouble for just a couple of seconds, when I remembered that the perfect out was right in front of me.

Here's one way to play it that I've found to be very effective. The spectator who chose the card will, of course, say that the Fine Print card is not her card. I pass it around the table and ask all present, "Did you see her card? Are you sure that's not it?" By the time it gets around the table, someone will likely have discovered the "fine print" and that quickly becomes a big climax.

If no one discovers the "fine print" as it is being passed around, that is even better. That is when I use Nick's line, "Have you ever noticed the fine print on the back of the Aces of Spades?" An even greater reaction at that point!

Thanks to Jay and the folks at Penguin for carrying this fine product and for your efforts at convincing the USPCC to make these very special cards. This a very effective trick. Do not let its simplicity fool you. It's a winner! Don't miss out on the fun. The pain to glory ratio is in your favor big-time!!! Very little work to get great reactions!!!