It's a fine trick, no doubt. But if I were to make any comment on it, it would be this...

Why is the Equal packet ending up inside of a card box? There doesn't seem to be any logic to it. I think your routine could benefit from a simple script to explain the purpose of the transposition.

Right now, it almost seems a bit boring (no offense meant). Spectators are probably amazed at it, but I wonder if it could leave more of an impact and more of a lasting impression, if it had some emotional hook or a cute little story to go with it.

Let's compare it to an Erdnase Color Change. If I say “hey, watch this, I am going to change this 3 of clubs, into another card” - and then do the Erdnase, then will the spectators be impressed with what happened? Probably, to some degree. Will it leave a lasting impression on them? Not likely.

But now let's look at the same Erdnase Color Change, but placed into a more full routine. Let's say I have a card selected, and apparently lost in the deck. I then announce that I will find their card, and I show them the wrong card. Now I do the Erdnase, and change the wrong selection into the right one. I did the same move, but now I had a reason for doing it - I had the wrong card and had to use magic to fix the situation. Don't you think this will leave more of an impression than just announcing that I will “change one card into another”?

Well, these are just my thoughts on the subject. I hope you don't take offense to anything I said, it wasn't meant to be an attack by any means, just some ideas to consider.

By the way, I liked your other videos a lot. Very visual stuff.

Interesting comments. I welcome them all. First off, nobody's going to offend me about the equal packet trick. It's a very simple, not particularly unique handling of an old school gimmick. I'm just writing down my personal philosophy and don't mean to be throwing any stones. So here it is:

I love this trick because it is so simple and stripped down. To me, saying it needs a backstory or patter is like saying the film version of Glengarry Glen Ross needs a more elaborate set. When the dialogue is so strong, keep the unnecessary visuals out! Likewise, with the brilliant simplicity of this effect (not taking credit for it), keep the fluffy patter out! It doesn't need it. If I could truly levitate, I would just do it. There's no need to give a story about how when I was younger I fell into the grand canyon and ever since wanted to defy gravity. Levitating is memorable as it is. And I'd argue making an Equal Packet cleanly and fairly dematerialize from your hands and rematerialize in a cig box is memorable enough. Anything more is unnecessary. Sorry, but I don't buy into the argument that there needs to be a motivation. The motivation is that I'm going to show you something cool that will freak you out. Why? Because I want to.

Same goes for Invisible Deck. The best reactions I've gotten from ID have come from the times I simply ask someone to name a card out loud, tell them I earlier flipped a card over, show them the deck, done!

I would love to hear any counterpoints. Danny, I see that you're a working pro. Perhaps in your world entertainment and back stories, and motivations for an effect are all important colorful parts of the show. You would know what works for you. But in my world, 9 times out of 10, less is more. If you don't need the make-up, don't wear it. Magic is no exception.

Platt - I agree with you... I think many of the comments above are based on knowledge of knowing how it is done rather than a spec new to close-up magic...

Well, I didn't mean that is needed “fluffy patter”, just some little meaning or motivation for the transposition. But this is just an opinion, not fact. I am sure it works very well for you as it is.



“Working pro” sounds too impressive for a guy like me. I am a part time guy who does primarily kid's shows. I work my 9-5 and perform paid gigs pretty regularly on the weekends (and occasionally weekdays when I play hookey from work, but don't tell my boss).

With that said, you may now see why my opinion is what it is. If I got up in front of a group of children, and said “watch this, I am going to make this peanut butter jar and jelly jar switch places”, and then proceeded to cover the jars, uncover them, and show them switched...well, it would be impressive that they switched, but the routine would suck. There would be no buildup, no comedy, no audience involvement, nothing. Not only would the trick get a minimal reaction, but it would last approximately 45 seconds. At that rate, I would have to perform about 50 effects to fill out an average show.

Now I KNOW that you are probably not performing this piece in a paid show for audinces, and therefore, it doesn't absolutely NEED a clever/meaningful routine with it (but that doesn't mean it can't benefit from one). For a quick trick that you show your friends, your effect is fine and probably blows em away. I guess ever since I started doing shows, I try to make every effect I do, into a fuller routine than just a quick trick.

So again, I didn't mean to say your trick NEEDED a fleshed out routine or “fluffy patter”, it was just my opinion that it might be able to benefit from something like that.

Nicely done. I would perform a Card to Box routine first and use this as an afterthought under test conditions in case they thought I was using special "magic cards."
BTW - it would not be a Signed Card to Box so I could say "I'll even have you sign it" for the sugar packet.

This guy does some NICE stuff. Anyone who hasn't watched the videos, I highly recommend you do so. The coin work is spooky. Congrats! Best,

Thank you Brad. That means a lot coming from you.