MagicKen, Author at Ken Theriot Magic

My Crimp Change Progress

April 24, 2015 by MagicKen Leave a Comment

This is a move I learned from Marion Boykin (MB, for short). I’ve been practicing it for a about 2 months and it still is not quite there.

The most noticeable problem is that my hand wave is too large a motion. I need to really make that smaller and less “in your face.” Also, though it doesn’t show in the video, I can’t successfully do it all the time yet. I have to think about it as I’m doing it, too. These are both indications that not all the little moves that make up the Crimp Change have sunk into unconsciousness yet. That’s how you know when you really have a skill down. Think about driving a car or riding a bike. You don’t have to think about all the things your body has to do to turn or stop. You just do it. It is now an unconscious action. Same thing with musical instruments and any skill, really.

The Crimp Change was developed by Marion Boykin and you can learn it in one of his videos on Vinny Marini’s site here: http://www.vinnymarini.com/download/crimpchange.html

Great Mirror For Practicing Magic

April 22, 2015 by MagicKen Leave a Comment

As most people do, I have several mirrors throughout my house. But they tend not to lend themselves to practicing magic – at least not for any length of time – being, as they are, mainly in bathrooms:-P. The mirrors that are NOT in bathrooms are either up too high for me to see myself properly, or they are just otherwise unsuited for magic rehearsal – inconvenient, poor lighting, etc.

So I have been on the lookout for an affordable mirror for rehearsing magic. I was in Target the other day, just picking up a few things, and decided to check to see if they had a mirror suited to the purpose. I wasn’t holding out much hope, but it was worth looking. Boy was I surprised.

Not only did I find a tall and narrow mirror that was light and portable, but it only cost me 6 bucks! Done…deal!

The picture above shows me taking the picture while standing behind my magic table. Note how I can see my whole body. I have it set atop a small piano bench, so I can change the angle (angles are hugely important in magic), and also that puts the mirror at the correct height, as it is only a bit over 4 feet high.

This type of mirror is called a “door mirror” or “over-the-door” mirror. Specifically, this one is a Room Essentials Black-Framed Mirror. There aren’t any hooks or slings or anything on this one. It’s just covered in the back with thick paper, like the back of a painting. So if I did want to hang it over a door, I’m not entirely sure how I’d do that. Luckily, that’s not my goal.

It’s perfect for my needs. I’m a musician, so I’ve converted a bedroom in our house into a recording studio, which is why the pics have that dark foam on the wall:). This room is also my office and now – my magic rehearsal space as well.

I thought I’d share the info on this super cheap, yet super useful mirror. It’s almost tailor-made for magicians.

My New Medieval Coin – The Henry VIII Testoon

April 18, 2015 by MagicKen Leave a Comment

I am part of a medieval re-creation group called The Society for Creative Anachronism (SCA), and I plan many of my magic performances to take place in that group – at SCA events. That being the case, I would rather not do my coin magic using 20th century Kennedy half-dollars or even 19th century Morgan silver dollars.

Magic effectively stopped being a closed art when a book was published in 1584 called The Discoverie of Witchcraft, by Sir Reginald Scot. He was trying to show that what people thought were supernatural deeds attributable to witches were actually illusions that were frequently performed by magicians (jugglers) and were only tricks. So the book basically (even though Scot said he was sorry to have to do it) exposed many secrets of magicians.

Obviously that did not kill magic as a performing art. And many magicians look to “Discoverie” as a valuable resource and part of magic history. One of the things I like about the book is that it serves as documentation for some of the props that magicians used. In one section of the book, Scot says

“You may, with the middle or ringfinger of the right hand, conveie a testor into the palme of the same hand, & seeming to cast it awaie, keepe it still.”

A “testor” is another word used for the “testoon,” a coin used in England in the late 1500s. It is not really practical to get my hands on original Henry VIII testoons, not only because they are hard to find and expensive, but also because they are usually pretty mangled and beat up. Coin magic often requires the magician to have several coins that look th same. So I was lucky to find a reproduction of the Henry VIII testoon on eBay.

I received my first one in the mail yesterday and boy is it shiny:). That makes it perfect for coin magic. These particular reproductions are from “The Millionaire’s Collection” – 30,000 coins that were hallmarked by the London Mint. I got mine for $22 (US). So it will be a while before I get as many as I want:-P. But I can at least do single-coin routines at SCA events now without using 20th century coins.

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Bicycle 130th Anniversary Edition Playing Cards

April 16, 2015 by MagicKen Leave a Comment

I’ve been working on my 2-handed fan for months now. Remember I’m still a magic newbie, so a lot of the moves are still going to be rusty. That’s part of what this site is all about – to see how I progress, which hopefully will give you an idea of what things look like – warts and all – as you start from scratch and improve over time.

Well this 2-handed fan has been a tough one for me. It wasn’t until I saw 2 different guys at the local SAM club meeting repeatedly create perfect fans that I knew – really knew in my gut – that it could be done by mere mortals. The only guide I had was Roberto Giobbi doing it in Card College 1. And he’s like the most famous card magician of the 21st century! I needed to know that regular people could do it. And it turns out they can:).

Anyway, today I bought a new deck of cards because as you will find out, practicing a fan for hours on end over many MANY weeks will make your cards old and less “slide-y” pretty fast. I was just going to get a regular old deck of Bicycle cards. But the store had a cool looking “130th Anniversary Edition” deck that had the design from 1885! And they were the same price as the regular cards. So I bought them.

Now I don’t know how much of this is luck, the cards, the learning all coming together, or some combo thereof. But as soon as I tried a 2-handed fan with the new cards, it seemed effortless and looked really good! It still isn’t anywhere near perfect, or even where I want it to be. And it isn’t consistently good either, and consistency is important. But it looks a heck of a lot better today than it has ever looked. Take a peek at the video below. That’s where I am with my 2-handed fan. Note that my 1-handed closing of the fan is only about 75% of the way there. But it’s coming along.

My Magician’s Table Project

April 3, 2015 by MagicKen 1 Comment

I just finished the basics of my magician’s busking table. I basically copied a design I got from Jack Strauss (Louisville magician and mentalist). It includes a 38-inch wooden waiter’s tray stand, which is foldable. As for the table part, that is separate. It sits pretty securely on top of the stand due to the rubber slip-proof top rings.

The table is made from a 16 x 23, 5/16th inch thick piece of oak plywood. On one side I applied a spray-on chalkboard coating so that I could use that side for anything needing a hard surface, or to write on, as in card predictions and so on.

On the other side, the one that will be the primary, I used spray adhesive to attach a 16 x 23 inch black magic closeup performance pad. Then I attached corner moulding around the edges. Now, I am NOT a wood worker. So its no surprise that as carefully as I measured, I still managed to be slightly off on the moulding lengths such that there is a small gap on 2 of the corners. But hey – it’s not enough for me to worry about. This was about functionality, not “pretty.” I used a miter box to cut 45-degree angles at the ends so that they would meet nicely at the corners of the table. Then I used wood screws through the back/chalboard side to secure the moulding to the board. This leaves just enough of a lip (actually a little less than I was trying for) around the edge of the pad side of the table to prevent stray balls (cups and balls and billiard ball routines) from rolling off the edge.

Eventually, I will affix a couple of rubber hooks near the bottom of the tray stand legs (got the idea from Jack Strauss), along with some bungee cords so I can stow the table onto the folded-up stand for easy transport.

Below are some pictures I too along the way. I’m quite happy with it as a first effort.

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