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I'm curious to know what your top three or four bread-and-butter, can't-miss close-up effects are -- be they cards or other items. I'm not a pro -- just a hobbyist who likes to perform for friends, family, co-workers, etc. Here are mine...

1) Combination B'Wave/Double Back with a mentalist bent: I load the gaffed B'Wave card into the four-card Double Back packet. I begin with B'Wave, correctly predicting the queen of their choice. This makes them scratch their head. I mention how it's one thing to mentally influence their choices, but it's another -- and more challenging task -- to tweak their perceptions. I then immediately go into Jon Allen's Double Back, and it just fries them. Double Back is consistently my hardest-hitting trick. It never fails to astonish.

2) ID: No matter how cliche or old it seems to magicians, this one still floors laypeople. I just received David Regal's "Alone" -- a variation of the ID -- and will let you know how it plays once I've tried it out.

3) TT and handkerchief: Another oldie but goodie. If I could only do one trick for my nieces and nephews, this would be the one, owing to its visual nature.

Anyway, that's me. Looking forward to hearing from others...

okey dokey.

1) haunted key, for all the right reasons.
2) slideing die box, classic and a real screamer.
3) scotch and soda, always carry this one around ready to work.
4) wizard deck, every card trick i need with thease easy locate cards.

non gaffed stuff:-

english penny to silver english penny, bobo change or gosham pinch change ala jay sankey.

french drop vanish.

silver copper production from classic palm on back of hand.

I would have to say that levitating a paper napkin has the most impact. It's not what I perform all the time cos of lighting etc, but when I perform it it has the greatest effect. From a card point of view my favourites are Tipsy ( a truimph effect from Royal Road - quite easy to do and the story you can build around it is great)and then a boring "choose a card" effect. I simply allow a spec to choose any card, then staring them in the eyes I tell them what it is. I repeat it as often as they want. It's simple to do and I know, not the most interesting effect from a magician's point of view, but the way I play it out makes it entertaining and a bit freaky for the spectators.

Hmmm - Jay Sankey's Paperclipped is devistating people at the moment, I did it for this one guy yesterday & he said he was "Gonna watch every move" & he didn't see it (Must be getting better at my misdirection )
Also had quite good reacions with "Emerge Triumphant" by Oz Pearlman (from penguin)

I think that I'm in a unique situation here in that my main spectators are fellow magicians. Because of that the effects that get the best reaction vary a lot from person to person and they are often just as impressed by the method as the effect. In general I find that the in the hands Wild Card that I do goes down pretty well, and because it uses a combination of gimmicks, sleights and subtelties it is very difficult to work out.

I find that magicians are far more impressed if they can't work out the method used than they are of the effect acheived, you can draw your own conclusions from this...

For me, it simply has to be the all time favourite, the ID.

I think it's down to how you use it, but it's just so simple, so quick, and so impossible.

Second place comes the TT, and the lit cigarette vanish - this just absolutely floors people. Anytime, anywhere, you should always have your TT and a piece of foil with you

Hey this is my top 3 close up effects I KNOW without any props or extra items

My Own Sponge ball Routine
My version of ambitious card
A rick called ' The Collectors'

lol, i know 2 of them was my own i am not trying to make out that mine are better, lol i am just saying with my experience with performing i have gotten better reactions with my own secret routine.[/list]

bale lol= .

no probs my haunted key routine is the best in the world for me that is, and i bet my own sponge routine ending ina rabbit is leaps and bounds better than yours in my opinion .

Sponge balls always rock. But I have been doing Mcdonalds aces recenty and that's a lovely one. Then i been using the remaining four aces for a glidey/ d. liftey affair where i change the red aces in their hands for the black ones in my hands. The next phase is to go into a matrix with the four aces. A nice natural routine I reckon.

slightly on and off topic at the same time.

jay sankytiesed volume 2.

for coin workers a few of his best close up stuff.
tekie pinch productions and two and three coins across and a great routine with our friend the exspanded overbite.

for cardies help with your pass , paperclipped, that one with the pack sucked into a balloon , two cards only torn and restored .

should keep you ocupied for a wile.

oh and the debug problem's back again but dont worry your post is still made so please ignore.