PENGL'*' MAGIC MOTS® WLY BEND A,COIN TURN COFFEE INTOsCASH THINK OUTSIDE THE CARD BOX, BUILD A BETTER VIRTUAL SHOW pasR FROM THE EDITOR in Magic Monthly is card free! We love our nguin Magic, but this month we decided to magic that is a little outside the box. To get ing creatively Adam Wilber has shared three jill help anyone get creative. Nathan Kranzo ive effects, one with coffee, and another with also introducing 2 new columnists to Penguin ‘Magic Monthly. Kayla Drescher, the host of the Shezam! podeast, is sharing her top ways to improve your virtual shows, and Ning Gai gives an insightful review of an excellent effect by Reynold Alexander. So get those creative juices flowing and think outside the card box this month! Pyerek Josh Burch, HEAD EDITORFeatured CCU Os CATTLE aN aoe) eee tial eral by Chris Randall Oecd pean ae Sa Lael ae written by Nathan Kranzo Magic from You cee a eer ed erat to be featured in an issue! Dee]PENGUIN MAGIC MONTHLY GAGS AND GIMMICKS by Nathan Kranzo Il you need is a cup of coffee and a very simple gimmick. ees You are going to attach a film canister to the inside of a cup of coffee with some duct tape or hot glue. You could also use an old discarded medicine/pill bottle for this. Duct tape is my friend. | use it often. After you have secured the small canis- ter inside the cup, you fill the bottom of the coffee cup with a little bit of slush powder. If you need some powder, it is available at PenguinMagic.com. The small canister is fastened/hidden inside the cup and holds a small handful of change. This allows you to carefully pour liquid or coffee into the cup but not disturb the coins. “| can't believe how expensive a cup of coffee at (insert your local high-priced coffee joint) is.” From another cup (or a pot), pour cof- fee into the prepared cup making sure not to pour it into the coins. Pause acou- ple of seconds, letting the slush powder take effect. Now you can raise the glass and slowly invert it. Allof the liquid has apparently vanished leaving a shower of coins.JUNE 2021 HUMOR FROM JUST THE NEWSLETTER — LAUGHS Do you like sitting? | can't stand sitting. Why isit so difficult to pluginaasn stick in the first time? Oops | mean usb. Never order fish at a French restaurant. It's poisson! Did you hear about the explosion at Tar- get? There were casual tees everywhere. Where do boars get their color? Pigment. Flying to Hawaii, | asked the pilot when! could use my phone. He said, "You have ‘to wait until island. 1 wish | could get a job estimating out- door crowd sizes. | always wonder how ‘many people are in that field. Why do they put lotion in tissues? To soften the blow. Gravity is one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. If you remove it, you're left with gravy. Imet a microbiologist today. He was alot bigger than | expected. by Acar Altinsel Why did the entomology professor fire his research assistants? They were sick of ants (sycophants) How does a cow walk? One foot in front of the udder. I couldn't figure out how much lettuce to buyso I called my wife. Turns out, two heads are better than one. My friend said I'm a terrible party host. I'm glad he told me, or | would never have guest. {don't eat meat for religious reasons. | eat it because | like the taste. My friend Tony asked me tonever say his name backwards. | said why not? What's the worst thing about having an apple addiction? You can't see a doctor about it,PENGUIN MAGIC MONTHLY THREE CREATIVE EXERCISES by Adam Wilber EXERCISE | You'll need to set aside an hour for this exercise. Make sure that during this hour, you will be undisturbed by any outside distractions. Tostart, you'll need to ask your partner, parent, or friend to name three small items normally found in a kitchen. If you don't have someone to ask, then use a sponge, a twist tie, and a butter knife. Take these three items and go into a quiet space with a notebook and pen. Using all three items, put together an effect. Try and make it as abstract as possible. For example, maybe you make a knife out of aluminum foil o its natural properties are altered, and a sponge is sprayed with 3M glue, so instead of being soft and flexible, itis rigid and hard. The point is to come up with something that you have never seen before, rather than developing a new way to bend metal or multiply a sponge. Take the entire hour—don't stop working on this until 60 minutes have passed. Write down every idea and thought that comes into your head, After an hour you might have come up with a kick-ass effect, or you may have a bunch of jumbled notes written on a piece of paper. Either way, this exercise will force your mind to work in ways it's not accustomed to working in, and that is a great way to spark untapped creativity. It's likePon SER ee unis MRL ER aes Son eNO es teen) Peace eee een ee eich coe eC Riese ae ace Reo eee ora Coun Re ee eae Pea RR RLU need inspiration EXERCISE Il For this, you will need a voice recorder Reatard cg UR a ee a oy eed eu eee Ree ee Mette ec eed Oe ee Oe ea need. Once you have this setup, bring trace Anytime you think of anything magic~ Parents acest ee eMart Reta em eae ee ee actrees come to mind, and interesting things Retreat au eee eee tl as possible and not censor it at all. The Pearce muon PN Ue ese ecg something first thing in the morning and espe ast Sessa eee eee up your voice memo app with hundreds Bai eae Meg er Ce eo aed PERE ECE UP gee co eeu eer ta Te er en home aM eng ee Pear eRe ones Ce ee ne yeaa you will have a bunch of notes that can ee er cen ue renee eae ut es eu) PERU eo eee Conk eer ON ene CU Peels rer ei ee) Peace eee Tee Rian eae aC) erent ne EXERCISE Ill Ce nae en aa oe Pome s es aa ee that you would never normally read. Just Pe Sore Get ete Creer oes Breese ne anne Pere eee ans eee urn Ss Cue uea Peete clara ence Pete er aiken ics Cian SMa Rcd Ake eae ae ead eR een an you open your mind to new ideas and concepts that can help you in creating Nenu ee a Pete oe eee scr aaa mae ney eee unc Cm Pare Mna rte kate Rae RS faa a econ ke CeCe eae oe Rene eee Cee finished the magazine he had an idea gence a eer Peas aa ae eet Pere U a ete em Kardashian girls and has been using it re cen tact iPENGUIN MAGIC MONTHLY by Adam Wilber came up with the handling of this, simple two-phase coin bend while working in a magic shop in New Orleans. I wanted something easy "= to perform that | could do in the spectator’s hands. My requirements were simple: the coins must be signed, and | didn't want to use any bending device during the performance. While there is nothing here that will change the world of coin bends, once you try it out for yourself, I think you will see how big a payoff this simple and direct rou- tine can give you. des Anickel and quarter are borrowed from a spectator. The nickel is signed by the spectator and placed in their hand with their fist closed around it. You sign the quarter and rub your finger over it, caus: ing it to bend in front of their eyes. You then place the bent quarter on the back of the spectator's fist and ask them to focus all their energy onto the coin in their hand. As you remove the quarter and they open up their hand, they can see their signed coin is now bent aswell a The requirements for this effect are a pre-bent quarter with your initials on the face of it. The direction the coin is bent is important (Photos 1, 2). You also need apre-bent nickel. Place a Sharpie in your left pants pocket and both pre-bent coins in your right pants pocket. To bend the coins you can use a pair of pliers. Wrap some insulation tape on the ends (Photos 3, 4) to avoid any scratch marks on the coins.PERFORMANCE CEG ORIEL Megan Pe DE a ce ROO ci enhee e Tauris with the second coin.” Take the nickel OR Cer ree ann a eee Pea Cee mo Cm cE Sharpie) and continue, "I'd like you to Some melee as Be Cru Rustam sev ius palm as you now look toward your left Peak era ene crete ad Sharpie isn't in my right pocket so it must be in my left.” See ae Se Nea ance ees) ee UNC Lee bring the right hand's palmed coin into Sere ee eee Narada) wrist kills while finger palming the non: Reo ae hha uated RR Ren esac Mee acters ing the Gaze Switch (It can be found in The Five Points of Magic by Juan Tam- Meas Ca) eee Rec artes oe ana eu esas At this point ask the spectator to sign mee Rae ee ole Ro RE UE ue EC cool) pene er eee eT at just be casual with it and it will fly by without suspicion. Once they have signed the coin ask them to raise their CEU eCm eee ea CUE Re CRN Ee Ca ee Ree a oy CN eae Ce tg won't feel any bend in it. Gently close Peas een) say, "We'll get back to that in a minute. Se ea ae cm Sg ae eer ee Teac eee ie Reece ees Cage Nat eee ieee an eect Cra cae rr to try and use my brute strength to force this coin to bend,” and pick up the unbent eo Naa Cena tat Na eee Freee ea eee ene ee eae ORE scucacet cnet) switch (found in Modern Coin Magic by leer eng pau tee ae ec eee ac ee eee uc ee Ne eae see ie) Ee et een Instruct your spectator to grab your closed hand and squeeze. As they let go Coenen On) Ps eae aie scat) see enn) your pocket as you direct the tension to the spectator holding the nickel. Say, "It emit cura eae cs ee a ence a ead enough force inside of you to bend that nickel on your own." Continue, "Focus all Rama ee ae Cy Pet i Cac ge PenaeusBEING BETTER OO ee Ted teas mTUAL af - by Kayla Drescher Be eure ci ee Serna enc Pose acess et yen stave get into it! VIRTUAL SHOWS eae rece Dae ene aru i mar Ronen) dropped internet, guests who cannot PU ui cu Sc Comoe cnet Pen MWR pie eee Peace ates tc eRe aa Maes Pee ease et tee oc Ng show look and sound professional and etme nae ee Pe esc ome ee ee EC COE cere eo moo mS een acer nt eee nen eae creme SSE ees Cee eRe a) Ene one me Sur UE) . wanes Pou INT Cakes ee aM mee ety Caton Pea eae ca laughter, and applause from your audi- come ad ee eeu Nees utes pce ae ee est ea folks will have the noise to match. Cea eee eg the audio quality. The audience hears eee aac une nobody asking for a snack from the PeeRe ne Cni tts ere ea econ URE cr Cag View, it feels like no one is there. And we didn't become performers to per- renee Neus ee es Se a Na eae Peace maT Erementar as er's audio. In a theater, a whispered Rea eae aa Peat es ec) eer ee acs eau ect ueeEn gu PAC eee ones Boake aeMy one exception is if you have a tech- nical producer who can also act as a mute-sniper. It may even be worth hir- ing someone whose primary focus is muting noisy homes. If you're like me and you don't have the ability to hire someone for every show, stay safe and simple and go the mute route. You can always add an additional screen/tablet, stationed up near your camera, and use Gallery View to see reactions. PAUSE FOR APPLAUSE... OH WaIT If you choose to mute, there won't be applause, so why are youstill pausing for applause and laughter? I've lost count ‘of how many magicians still do this (I'l admit | was one of them), We've trained for solongto let the audience react that we're still doing it even if there's no sound. | really wanted to allow people toreact and because | could see themin Gallery View, let them. BUT the rest of the audience couldn't see each oth- er's reactions and only experienced my waiting and my silence. The longer that silence, the more it breaks your rhythm and energy. The solution is to jump on the reaction as quickly as possible. Instead of allowing acount of three for the reaction, go for one to two. It feels unnatural at first; 1 absolutely hated it. You'll get used to it though, and it really changes the qual- ity of your show. YOU DON'T NEED OBS— YOU NEED A GOOD SHOW A good virtual show, like any other, needs good lighting and sound. It also needs a good camera. And yes, OBS and ECAMM and whatever else exists definitely add to the visual production value, but do you really need them? | argue no, it's not a necessity for a 00d virtual show. Of course, if you're a tech-savvy human and have dedi cated time to learn the platform, then all the more tech-power to you! | une 2021 personally am not good with technol- ogy and knew that there was more to g0 wrong than right, and if something went wrong mid-show I would have no idea how to fixit. So I chose to forego the extra tech and focus on making the show work within the platform. In my experience as a virtual audience member, | have seen some magicians that have self-identified as OBS wizards, have terrible technical malfunctions and not be able to recover. Ihave also seen these magicians do amazing and extra- fancy things on screen but flash every move and say every stock line. | really encourage you to prioritize entertainment over technical wonder. Bells and whistles are nice, but notiif the show suffers. Ihave yet to hear an aut ence say, "Wow, that Instagram handle faded in flawlessly,” but | have heard, "| saw them put the lemon under the cup." Which leads me to my next point... MISDIRECTION ISN'T THE SAME IN 2D Many moments of misdirection, like in a cups and balls routine, rely on direct- ing the audience's focus so that the secret load is just outside their periph eral vision. That's not an option on a screen. Every load or classic pass is within an audi- ence’s focus. Instead, choose moves or material that won't be caught in this format. IF you're looking for some mate~ rial that works specifically on the virtual platform, check out anything by Adrian Lacroix. Every trick he's created in the last year is perfect for screens. | specif- ically love Virtual Triumph and Isolated. Overall, the best thing you can dois crit- ically review your virtual show record- ings. Be honest with yourself and see where youcan improve. Bring in outside help (even a non-magician) to help you see yourself more objectively. Self-re- flection is invaluable in the journey to Being Better. noar lea by Dan Huffman, written by Nathan Kranzo PCE) Cet ee ee aR) PEN nerric Rau’ Perea eau Dae al Thisis one of those items which, should Ro siecle ec ORL Peer hata quick Google search will help you find Rear nese eccentrics the question isn't where you'll find the oan eens ra este a SSE Ce eo ae Pee eee) eee coe outside of her fist. When she opens the eae ear ccc Re aa Pees es ea ant METHOD Sn Ra ee Eos Pees ata eeu ES place the plastic snail into a Teflon frying ee sce koe ct eee ey Petes cus eee Uns ete eee ae AR eee et a cates Sea am nae CMe ay Pane en Cea ccs ra ea kes rca glob is finger palmed in the right hand. Set et estes ea eee a einer curd ee) Pee ete ais aed the undamaged snail which is retained in finger palm. eR Re eS Psu cm Cig Those who show no mercy will yell, Pee eee ee Puen ese CoN aE ok aa NOTES NEED Ee tenn RCC eee eon eu Relea ase Cree Come Mentos Pees oR naa) eeJUNE 2021 In Stages is a recurring column about stage magic. All of these effects are pieces that are made to be practical and inexpensive. They play big, yet can be performed by one person without the help of hired assistants. have a soft place in my heart for interactive magic you can do online or on stage. This effect is my version of the classic "thumbs up” trick. As far as | know, Dan Harlanis the person who made this trick popular. He learned it from a random dude in a bar and ended up teaching the trick to David Copperfield. Once David Copperfield started to perform it at his show it caught on like wildfire, and now most magicians can be seen doing this trick at some point in their show. 1 will start off by teaching how to per- form the original effect and then move tions can all be performed together or separately. | generally perform my two variations back to back with each other. Below | will explain how to perform these three effects together on stage. “We are going to play a game. In order to play, you just have to do what | do. Every- body do this.” The magician starts by placing both hands open in front of their body about a foot in between. 13PENGUIN MAGIC MONTHLY Then they turn their thumbs down, cross their hands, and squeeze, locking their fingers. The audience follows along The magician encourages everyone in the audience to participate and explains. "The idea in the game is to turn you hands so your thumbs are pointing up. The magician is then able to turn their thumbs up, and the audience struggles alittle bit. The secret is simple. The magician secretly repositions their hands during the routine. | think the best way to do this is to take the lower hand and point to someone specifically in the audience while saying, "Do this with me." When your lower hand goes to regrip, you give it a turn and re-grasp. Ifyou relax your arms, your thumbs will turnover naturally. Everyone else will be locked up, unable to turn their thumbs. Between each phase | have the audi- ence let go and shake out their hands. "Okay, let's try this again. This time we'll doit like this.” This time the magician holds out their hands and interlocks the fingers together in front of their body, with the thumbs pointing up. The magician instructs everyone in the audience to turn their hands over while keeping their fingers interlaced. If you picture a cartoon character about to play the piano, that's what everybody looks like. “The idea is to turn your hands so that your thumbs are pointing up. Under- stand?" The magician then pushes their thumbs forward until they're in the upright position. This one might seem a little daunting. Once the magician assumes the position, they need to turn their body to demon- strate the rules of the game. I let go with my right hand and point to my left-hand thumb as | explain what should happen. "The idea is to turn your hands so that your thumbs are pointing up.”