I wasn't going to do this. Not until I at least had a video to show off, but I've yet to find an opportunity involving someone who owns a video camera. Also, I have little experience in the magical art and am not very ambitious, in the sense that I have no ambition ever to perform for a paying audience. But I do have an ambition to do whatever magic I do do, well.
But I feel like talking about magic, and hey, why not?
I have been lurking on talkmagic for more than enough time to have learned some valuable secrets. For example, I have learned that seige can be trusted to hold sensible opinions. (I hope that doesn't count as exposure.)
My very earliest introductions to magic are of little consequence - a combination of family, library books and Paul Daniels - but the first source of tricks that had a lasting influence on me was The Mysterious Book of Magic by Peter Eldin (originally published as The Pocket Book of Magic). This book introduced me to the idea that magic could be creative. For example, on page 89, Eldin writes:
Where do new tricks come from? The answer is that they are invented by magicians who take the trouble to think about their magic. [...] They also spend a great deal of time thinking about the tricks they perform and how they can be improved. Look at the tricks you do and see if there is any way you can develop them. [...] Ask yourself what the effect would be if you performed it in reverse order or if you combined two tricks together. With thought, many of the tricks in this book can be adapted and made into new tricks.
My father was always good at spotting how card tricks are done. But when I took Peter Eldin's advice and combined two tricks into one, the result absolutely floored him. And it was simply a combination of the 21-card trick with a false shuffle. Dad was convinced that I'd ruined the 21-card trick by shuffling the cards, and was therefore astounded when it still worked. "But you shuffled them!!" The satisfaction I got that day is part of the reason why I have never stopped being interested in the performance of magic.
- *** Edit: As explained further down the thread, I was actually thinking of the 27-card trick. A minor thinko on my part, but they are essentially the same thing. ***
- "In a town far away", I explain, "there was once a temple, and in that temple there were three altars. There was an altar to the God of the River, there was an altar to the God of the Wind, and there was an altar to the God of the Land". I have props to represent the three altars, and I place these on the table in time with the patter. Then I go on: "Once a year, at the time of the annual festivities, people would come and lay treasures upon the three altars". Here I deal out the cards, each of which represents a treasure.
A little later, I explain: "But what nobody knew was that one of the treasures, on one of the altars, was in fact a powerful magical artifact ... in disguise. Now, what I want you to do is to choose a card that will represent the magical artifact. And when you've looked through as many of the piles as you want to and made a decision, the only thing I want to know is which altar the artifact is on".
A selection having been made, I collect the piles, explaining that: "After the festivities were over, the priests would gather up the treasures and do priestly things with them, and in the nature of things the treasures would find their way back into circulation in the community". If the chosen card (representing the magical artifact) was on the altar to the God of the River, I explain that the year that followed was good for the fishing industry. If it was on the altar to the God of the Land, then it's a good year for the farmers. And so on. This justifies why I need to know the location of the selected card in order to tell the story.
To briefly summarise the rest of the trick, a wandering magician visits the town, on a quest for the magical artifact, and robs the temple. He begins to cast a spell to make the artifact reveal itself, but the gods are angered, and do the sorts of things gods do when they are angry, such as floods, storms and earthquakes, scattering all the treasures across the land. Of course, the cards get a good shuffling at this point. ("And just to make sure that the treasures are thoroughly scattered, I would like you to have a turn at shuffling the cards, please".) But despite the best that the gods can do, the magician character eventually prevails and correctly locates the artifact.
That's enough of a description for now, and I think the main point is that although I have little expertise in magic, I pride myself in presenting tricks thoughtfully and creatively. If you have questions, I will consider answering them, and if the above inspires a discussion (perhaps about story-based patter in general), I expect it to be interesting. For now, moving on ...
My cousin's daughter is nine years old and developing an interest in magic. Wanting to nurture this, I suggested doing a family magic show sometime, and this is expected to take place somewhere around New Year's. In November, I went to a one-day "Magic For Beginners" WEA course and picked up a few ideas, as well as buying a kit of sponge balls and other simple equipment. I have been working on a simple routine that combines sponge balls with a Magician's Choice. Looking forward to New Years, but apprehensive about having enough opportunity to practice in between all the usual excitements of late December.
I'll finish by mentioning a couple of non-magical skills of mine (which may or may not make me sound more interesting). Well, I play keyboard, have composed music, and frequently improvise it. Also, I've invented games, including a thing or two with cards but the best game I've invented involves a set of dominoes. I know a thing or two about linguistics. At university, I majored in computer science. That will do.
I hope that I have something to contribute here, however humble.
*shudders at what is going to happen next* 
