Hi folks,


Schneider designed his matrix routine to disassociate the traveling of the coins from the magician's actions. So I'm wondering why he introduced the snap of the card into the move. Why not just pick up the relevant cards without sound?


Some people have adapted the trick to make it "eye candy": they lift a card to show that the coin under it hasn't traveled, put the card back down, then *immediately* lift the same card again, along with the "target" card, to show that the coin is traveling instantaneously. In that situation the snap makes sense; it marks the time when the magic is supposed to have happened.


Thanks for any thoughts,


Bob

Al doesn't make a big deal of the snap, he pretty much lifts the cards. Others have made the snap to indicate the magical moment, but for Al, the magical moment is passing his hands over the cars to make them pass.

Superb point, Dr. Rubinstein

Yes, very helpful, thanks, Mike. I've noticed that his snaps are soft. Still, they *are* snaps... Do they serve any purpose other than as a little flourish?

It could just be a little auditory cue to look there because something happened. Al used to be on here quite a bit.

Personally, I just like the sound.

Here's his VIP section if anyone wants to poke around there:
https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/view......=184&176

Seems like little more than just a piece of extended finesse for some.

And yeah, haven’t heard from Al in some time now around here, wonder how he’s doing? Hope all is well.

Me too, Marion.

Thanks for the link, Critter. Schneider's little memoir is so interesting.

I like the sound too. I'm just trying to understand its purpose at this juncture in the trick.

I really don't think the sound has a “purpose” per se, just the result of snapping the cards up off the table. Not a necessary thing to do the trick but more so just something that some like to do. Like, when I do Jonathan Kamm’s excellent DL and turn the card up, I like to give the card a bit of a little snap as I turn it up. It’s not necessary, and Im not sure Kamm does it at all but it works well within the flow of it, perhaps drawing a bit more attention as that point. Perhaps the same for Matrix.

A little flourish, I get that. I wonder if it also serves as misdirection, a bit of distraction from the thought that the coin might be coming up with the card.

Al uses a click (rather thank a clack) because a click suggests a finger snap, a traditional gesture used to announce magic has occurred.

The click is also a sound of approval in Beat Culture.

Snap, snap, snap. Man.

In Schneider's routine, as he performs it, the spectators are supposed to think that the magic has already happened when he picked up the cards to "show what happened." That's why the snap confuses me.

I can't think of which disk he discussed this on, I think an L&L one. He moves his hands from above one card to above the other, saying that he's moving the coin with his mind. He pauses, and then says, "Oh, I better show you what happened!" That's when he lifts the cards. If the magic has supposedly happened already, then lifting the cards isn't a magic moment, right?

I was kidding.

Ah! Thanks for telling me.

Al's DVD "Al Schneider Technique Vol.2" contains his teaching of the Matrix effect, and he explains the card snap. There is a purposeful handling of the cards that produces the snap, but for reasons of exposure, I won't discuss why Al handles the cards in the manner he does at that moment.

Thanks, GJo. I checked that disk. He explains *how* to make the snap, but not why. Ah, well...

Al absolutely explains why the card snaps and what purpose is served in the action. 100%.

In Al's Matrix tutorial, his explanation for the how and why of the card snap occurs between 01:11:40 - 01:12:01.

It's all there.