An introductory magic giveaway.

Hello Steemit community member,

I want to start sharing magic, because for those interested, I have plenty to offer. I am an award winning magician, have lectured at many magic circles and performed at the World's largest magic convention, by invitation. Now we have that out of the way, let's begin with forcing a card onto a spectator......

To begin with, you need a reason to force a card. In most cases, this is for a final 'revelation'. This could be an envelope on the table at the beginning of an effect. You have a card selected and it matches the card in the envelope. The following force is one that will be a lot easier to describe in words than many other methods. I am going to explain 'Equivoque'.

EQUIVOQUE: ~ an expression capable of having more than one meaning; a pun.
~ the fact of having more than one meaning; ambiguity.

Origin: Late Middle English (as an adjective in the sense ‘equivocal’): from Old French equivoque or late Latin aequivocus (see equivocal).

Okay, for this force, you will need five cards. It can be done with four, but five is better, because it looks more random. You need to know what and where one of the cards are. For example, you know that the fourth card that you lay down is the Ace of Spades. It doesn't matter what the other four cards are.

I will explain the pre-requesite work in a while, but I want you to learn the basic procedure first. So, lay out five cards in a row, face down. You know that the fourth card is the Ace of Spades.

1. Ask the spectator to push any two cards forward:

Irrespective of which cards they push forward, there are only two outcomes. They push forward two random (not the Ace of Spades) cards, or, they push forward the Ace of Spades and another of the cards forward. If they push two random cards, discard them and go on to step 2. If they push forward the selection (Ace of Spades) and a random card, then go on to step 3.

1. Ask the spectator to pass you any of the remaining three cards:

The nuance here is in the way you ask for the card. "Okay, we have three cards left. Pass me one of them, please". If this is the Ace of Clubs, ask, "Are you sure you want to choose this one?" If they say yes, remove the other two and reveal the Ace of Spades and then your 'revelation' card.

If they pass you one of the random cards, go to step 3.

1. Ask the spectator to place a hand on each of the two remaining cards.

If you have ended up here, you should have two cards left on the table - a random card and the Ace of Sapades. Ask the spectator to place a hand on either of the two remaining cards. Ask them to lift any hand. If they lift the Ace of Spades hand, draw it towards you and say, "Just put that (gesturing to the card under their hand) with the rest of the discarded cards". Now reveal the Ace of Spades.

If they lift the random hand, remove the random card and put it with the others and say, "Please turn over the card that you kept".

So, let's compact it a little, to understand how it works a little better. You have to be clear and confident in your demeanour and body language, and of course with your voice. You do not have to boom orders, as such, just sound like you know what you're doing and after a few goes in private, you'll crack it easily.

Never repeat this for the same audience, of course, unless you develop a clever comedy routine from it, but not as easy as it sounds.

Looking into peoples eyes and smiling a little helps. It makes people feel at ease. There's an old magic saying: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stupid). This is so that people can follow what you're doing. The last thing you need is a confused audience.

The beer in the fridge: Do the Equivoque force, and when arriving at the Ace of Spades, say something akin to, "Ahhhh, you ended up on the Ace of Spades. This means that you are a traveller and a discoverer of new and magical revelations that will boggle the mind for seconds to come......"

Leave it for a second and say, "Considering that you're a traveller, would you get us both a beer from the fridge, pleae, whilst I sort the cards out a second" (meaningless, but you might get away with it). On the cans is a note to your friend, saying, "NICE ONE, JULIE. I KNEW YOU'D PICK THE ACE OF SPADES X".

This is just one example of a 'revelation'. Derren Brown creates full shows based on revelations at the end that tie his whole performance together.

The pre-requisite work I mentioned at the beginning is the above note in the fridge. There are developments in this field and as with a lot of magic, it stretches far and wide. I apologise for the written explanation, but it is an exercise for us both. I will be uploading videos of effects with explanations and I will start with forces and some of their uses.

There are thousands of gimmicked decks of cards out there and they have their uses, but I am based in skill and using an ordinary deck. Magic skills are learned consecutively, not concurrently, so you do accumulate a rather large collection of skills and effects relatively quickly. I aim to teach some of the most useful moves out there. Armed with these, and most are not too difficult at all, you will be able to astonish and amaze, as they say.

I will also pamper to the demands in the comments, to the degree just before go forth and adopt advanced applied mathematics. I will answer all questions, with mild prioity to those serious to learn how to perform magic like a professional, but all comments and queries respected and appreciated, of course.

Hmmmmm, have I covered everything? Videos to come...... erm...... don't repeat.......... ummm..... yes, I think that's it. next week, memory skills :). All aspects of magic will be covered, but predominantly manipulation, strong magic and a sprinkling of good comedy, but that's a post in itself.

Thank you for reading and I hope it was enjoyable and if not, informative and if not, filled a gap, whilst the washing was on it's third cycle.

Support each other and support Steemit :) x.

All the best,

Gaz.