Runes of Tomorrow by Tom Stone

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Runes of Tomorrow by Tom Stone

Postby Mandrake » Aug 7th, '14, 23:23



Runes of Tomorrow by Tom Stone

Available from http://wargmagic.com/ (Note: Tom has completely revised his online shop and this is the new address to use.)

PDF download, priced at a very affordable $14.

What It Says On The Tin:
• Mystery Inn An assymetrical card transposition with a bawdy theme.
• Ball & Vase Challenge A new and exciting routine for the old plastic “cheapo magic” item Ball & Vase.
• Chromatic Clutch a mental magic effect where the spectator freely select a colored ball from a wide range, still the choice has been predicted.
• Fatalistic Orb a similar effect as the previous, but more organic and almost automatic.
• Dr. Griffin’s Palm A wildly different approach to the Invisible Palm plot. Only four cards are used, no extras. The audience is allowed to touch the cards in almost every stage. Both laypeople and most magicians are equally deceived and entertained.
• Deck of Decroux a card trick in pantomime. A spectator chooses a card freely from an ‘invisible’ deck. But the choice is predicted in an envelope hanging from the ceiling.
• 36 pages
• 86 illustrations

As with his previous publications Tom has produced a wide selection of effects and routines, some are complete, some are offered as ideas and suggestions which get the creative juices flowing immediately. Some require just a deck of cards; others will need to be made from basic materials which will either be ready to hand or easily available from a wide selection of shops. Manufacture ranges from easy peasy to requiring some basic skills and tools but will be extremely satisfying to make as you will make it your way and thus it will be different to any versions made by other magicians.

Mystery Inn Described as a Bawdy plot with plenty of room for double entendres involving two cards representing highly moral persons and two cards representing those with very questionable morals. Sadly I’m not very adept with cards but Tom’s instructions and the illustrations make things very clear indeed – ideal for those who like to tell a story as they perform a card routine.

Ball & Vase Challenge Remember those ball and vase props you used to get in cheapo magic sets? The ones where everyone and his dog know the secret? Ya do? Great, now put your preconceptions aside and check out some seriously good lateral thinking using three sets of ball and vase! No longer the boring routine so beloved of annoying Uncles but a solid and very professional routine worthy of professional and amateur alike. Try it out with some cheap plastic props and then invest in some decent quality props for public performance. A bit of basic decorating is required for the props but that’s about it.

Chromatic Clutch Another one where DIY meets Magic. You show the volunteer a bowl containing coloured balls and ask them to choose one at random. In your hand you have an envelope and as soon as the coloured ball is selected, you open the envelope and pull out a sheet showing a diagram of a hand holding a ball of the selected colour. Works every time, a genuine free choice of colour

Fatalistic Orb This one is described as ‘untested’ and it will involve quite a bit of construction but, in essence, the audience see a rack of 7 egg cups on a small stand, each holding a coloured ball. The magish takes a bag of coloured balls , dips his hand in, and withdraws his closed hand stating that he has selected a colour and will now try to influence the volunteer’s choice of colour from the egg cup rack. As soon as the (genuinely free) selection is made, the performer makes some comments about the sort of person who would choose such a colour (make it up!), both volunteer and performer extend their hands out towards the audience, on the count of three (or whatever) both hands are opened and, of course, the colours match. After a couple of read throughs I soon came to realise that this same principle can be further adapted and a different effect created – others may find further variations on a theme.

Dr.Griffin’s Palm Influenced by Larry Jenning’s ”Invisible Palm Aces” plot and other effects such as Shinkansen, this card routine is described and illustrated in great detail, and it would be unfair to try and describe it – if you know Invisible palm routines you’ll know the basic idea. This routine involves a few minutes for ‘construction’ but once done doesn’t need to be redone until things wear out.

Deck of Decroux A nifty idea whereby an envelope is suspended over the stage and is untouched until the culmination of a prediction routine - a card or whatever. Mr. Magic climbs on a chair to reach the envelope and when this opened the prediction matches the freely chosen item/card/whatever.

Tom’s instructions cater for prediction of any of a full deck of 52 cards but could easily be adapted for a smaller range of choices. Some DIY is required to set things up in advance but once made will last for ages and should not need replacement for many moons.

Difficulty Varies depending on your skills as a performer and/or constructor of props but nothing too difficult – perhaps a 3 for the card effects and a 2 for the prop items.

Value for Money – at $14 a steal – plenty of ideas and a wide choice to suit many different performers’ interests. Well recommended.

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