Magic Tricks

This lecture is ideal if you're looking for material for walk-around or restaurants. Lonnie Chevrie teaches fifteen impressive and practical tricks that are within the skill range of intermediate magicians. His explanations are clear and detailed. Plus Chevrie is role model: down-to-earth and a real gentleman.

I'm currently using four tricks from this video (and plan to learn more): 1. "String 'Em Up" The classic Gypsy Thread trick, using a roll of dental floss. Although I can't perform the routine with Chevrie's deftness, it still gets very strong reactions. 2. "A Stab in the Dark." A spectator selects a card, which is returned to the deck and sealed in an envelope. A second spectator then thrusts a small sword (a letter opener, actually) through the envelope. When the envelope is peeled away, the sword is found to have penetrated the deck at the selected card. This trick is easy to perform but looks impossible and has a huge impact. I use it as a closer. 3. "Two Bits in a Bottle." A quarter visibly penetrates inside a small glass bottle and then is magically extracted. This is one of my favorite tricks. It drives certain spectators crazy when they examine the quarter and bottle and can't find a clue of how you did it. Warning: The trick requires bottles of a certain size and shape, and they're hard to find (I've been searching second-hand shops with only limited success). Maybe some enterprising soul will find a supplier and start selling them through Penguin. 4. "Bent Penny." A penny is produced using a "money catcher" (an ordinary magical paddle) and then bends in a spectator's hand. This is classic Chevrie: A simple method with a big impact.