So, there we were, the third sunday of the month at Magic Sundays at Chapalas Restaurant Columbia Pike in Butonsville MD (google it and stop in)....Anyway, we have 3 stage performers and a few walkaround guys (one of which was me)

The 2 performers/entertainers before me did various card effects and I followed with a very quick and easy gaffed Scotch and Soda Routine followed by the (always a fantastic reaction) "Sponge Bunnies" My responses? Great Laughter and equally great applause..

So, quick and easy and simple with attention paid to being entertaining ALWAYS wins (as far as I'm concerned )to any finger flicking or intricate sleights...

But I would like to find a good No Palm Signed Card to Wallet Routine AND Wallet to round out my table hopping routine.

Thanks for reading...

Entertaining wins regardless of whether it's easy and simple or a knuckle buster.

A good trick needs to be both amazing and entertaining.

It's not exactly a signed card to wallet effect, but using the WOW gimmick with a signed card is absolutely killer!

Palming is a basic maneuver and not that difficult. As a general observation, those who won't take the trouble to learn to palm a card also won't handle a no-palm wallet correctly. There aren't really any lazy paths to good magic.



I think Letterman expressed it perfectly where that trick is concerned.

It's an old lesson all the Bar magicians live by. Simple plot, direct method, create fun

Get a hip pocket wallet and learn to bottom cop a card. Nothing easier.

I think it is a common misconception that no palm
Is easier than palm but I think the opposite is true. The palm
Takes place on the off beat under heavy misdirection. The no palm
Wallet happens in plane view, often with heat on what you are doing

Take a look at the F1 wallet by Alakazam...

Some folks (like myself) are physically unable to palm a card. I happen to have Dupytren's Contracture, a disease which causes my palms to stiffen ans my fingers (eventually) to curl in. I also have numbness in my pinky and ring fingers, so I can't even feel if I have a clean pinky break.

To call me lazy as a magician is elitist. I have been performing for 37 years, and always get great reactions from my audiences.

As regards the WOW! effect, I really could care less about what Letterman thinks...in light of some his recent idiocy. I would have trusted Johnny Carson's opinion on it, since he was a brother magician...but Letterman, not so much.

To the laymen, WOW still fries.

Mike, sorry to learn of the contracture. This is not, however, the specific that disproves the general, and there's a world of difference between those who are physically unable to do something and those who can but won't take the time to learn. Besides, that comment wasn't directed at you anyway.

Nobody's calling you or anyone else lazy.

As for Letterman, he merely asked a reasonable question about the gimmick that's a pretty obvious one. He wasn't an ass about it; its the kind of question any of us might receive in just about any venue. The problem was that Jason didn't field it well.

No offense taken, Opine...just trying to point out that not everyone ca--or wants to--be a knuckle-buster. People with small hands, for instance, may have a very difficult time palming a card.

I didn't see the Letterman clip, but he generally IS an ass, so I made a logical guess...wrong this time, apparently?

There was a trade show magician this weekend using WOW. Unfortunately, his patter sucked...so thus did the effect. He was also doing basic stuff that any 10-year old could do. NOT impressive at all. The guy before was a Las Vegas performer, and was excellent...but, alas, he had to go to LA for a stage show that he was being paid $7500 to do.

Mike,

Of all the things that could be considered knuckle-busting, palming doesn't seem to apply. Small hands is also proven generally to be an invalid objection to palming.

My original observation, though, was that people who avoid palming probably also couldn't handle a no-palm wallet correctly. This is because if someone adopts a policy of avoidance just because they think things are too hard (even if they're not), then they probably wouldn't learn how to handle any object well regardless of whether they're using sleight of hand or not. Conversely, someone who understands things like palming will tend to handle a no-palm wallet well, even though they're not palming anything. It has more to do with how people learn and progress than with whether someone should learn to palm or not.

In the Letterman segment with Jason Randall, he simply pointed out that Jason probably couldn't do the trick if he didn't have the plastic sleeve. This is such an obvious thing that it's hard to fault anyone for saying it. My overall impression of Letterman is that he wants one thing of magicians: they be good. When John Carney did his recent segment, Letterman saw some of the big loads (as, unfortunately did the camera), but he didn't call John out on any of them. He recognized the skill, knew that the audience was fooled, and went with it. This isn't to me, someone who is an ass, but someone who actually has some respect for magic and only asks that magicians be good at what they do. Why someone would have the opportunity to do a major television appearance and do a trick using an obvious novelty gimmick is beyond me, and why anyone would be upset with Letterman for pointing it out equally so.

Worldofwondermagic. I had Dup's Contacture in BOTH hands... (somewhat fixed with surgery) but it is difficult for many sleights, but the Gambler's bottom cop is a piece of cake to get a card out and secretly to a back pocket wallet. Check it out.

I like Ben Harris's Crossroads for a pretty cool "no palm, no nothing" card to wallet. I have been accused of having "great chops" by other magicians using this effect, when the truth is my "chops" are only "average", at best.

I agree that it is all about the presentation and the entertainment value, the effects and methods you choose are secondary.

It's not as random as all that. While I agree up to a point, there's little denying that a poor method can make or break the entertainment value, so it's not necessarily secondary...any more than the framework of a house is secondary just because you can paint the walls any color you like.

For a no palm signed card to wallet you can't beat the pimpernel wallet by peter scarlett its both practical and easy,although I must admit I use a o'connell wallet myself which does require palming I do own a pimpernel wallet and have no plans to get rid of it.

Thanks for the advice, Pete. I will check it out. I am not yet advanced enough to do surgery...plus I am only 47...and this tends to come back.

I do mostly stage illusion, so it's not that big of a deal..but I AM trying to do more close-up to make myself more marketable.

Pete...I also have it in both hands...plus the numbness in the pinky and ring finger on my left hand (I am left-handed). I find pinky breaks troublesome.

Pete is SPOT ON (as always!)...

If you can bottom cop a card, then you're well on your way. You don't need to be able to Palm off a card or have a special palming wallet or no palm wallet. Just keep a dummy card in your bill area. Cop the card from the bottom of deck, and place it on the underside of your wallet.

Open it, show the face down card inside and pull the card from the bottom of the wallet. You'll get a nice retention of vision illusion and your audience will believe it was inside the entire time. I use this all the time and it never fails to get a great response! Also...there is no setup or reset time. Easy breezy!

Christopher