I love when someone asks me to do something random or hands me something and asks that i do magic with it and i instantly think of something that i can do. Its so strong because you aren't asking if they want to see a trick (which, in their minds, you have ready and set up to go, which is possibly the case). But rather you are fulfilling a random request of theirs with magic. Then its real. I think David Acer coined the term "random acts of magic". Im not quite talking about a radom act of magic but this is close. And it gets similar reactions.

So I'm at work today - i work at a little ceasar's pizza in my town - and it was relatively slow. A bunch of the guys that work there and i were standing around the front by a trash can talking about random stuff. And one guy says, "Connor you should do some magic tricks". I put my hands in my pockets and say, "with what" (I have a half dollar in my left pocket and a jumbo half dollar in my back left pocket. They have no idea what's about to hit them. Muahahahahaha . Now i could talk about the importants of preparedness here but that's a whole other post. For now just go by the boy scout motto of "always be prepared")

Another guy pulls out an empty box of "Dots" - those little gum drop like things - out of the garbage can and says, "can you do a trick with this? I remove my hands from my pockets and grab the box with my right hand and look inside it and say, "why is that in there?" at which point i proceed to do a shuttle pass/flying shuttle like move with the box and coin apparently dumping the coin out of the box. To which i receive gasps and laughter. Some really really great reactions. I flip the coin to derek, one of the guys there, and say "check it out". As he does that i casually hook my thumbs into my back pockets and a james dean-esque posture to show how cool i am and get ready to steal the jumbo. I steal the jumbo coin, take back the half dollar and say, "its weird that this was in there. It doesn't seem like it would fit" as i stretch the coin to three times its original size. To which i receive even greater reactions and derek quotes the 40 year old virgin "so you carry a rubber ear and a giant coin with you everywhere?". We all laugh and i pocket the coins. And they start with the "how did you do that". I give my usual "very well don't you think?" and walked off to wash dishes.

Hopefully can see how this kind of performance is stronger than a planned or solicited (solicited by you) performance and why it is so. Its for this same reason why self tying shoe laces, for example, is so strong. Somebody makes a request and you fulfill it with magic. There is no way you could have known they were going to make that request. And its that which makes it so strong.

Great story. Yeah, I love pulling this kind of stuff off in front of friends or people who "have heard" that I do magic. Sometimes you can set things up and still make it look like they are catching you off-guard and you get that same reaction. I heard a term that I really liked recently called 'Jazz magic'. Meaning you just kind of improvise and roll with the feel and the mood of the audience you're working with. Obviously this isn't for paid gigs but those moments that you describe. This is why I like the idea of a wallet trick of some sort.
Thanks for sharing,
Rev.

"It's just like jazz, walk up in get into it. Before you know it your duble lifting your way through life"

- Jay Sankey

My favorite quote ever.

Haha Yeah I LOL'ed when I first heard that on his dvd.

My friend have just taken to challenging me from time to time. One of the strongest things I do is a spur of the moment trick. The last time I did it, I was sitting with my fiance and a couple of friends and my girl challenged me. She told me she wanted me to find the Seven of Spades. My natural reaction to that is "The ____________ isn't in the pack" as I'm spreading through to find it and culling it to the top. Then I palm it off and pull it out of my pocket and say "I left that one here so I could get it later" and put the cards down. The strongest magic you can do is answering a challenge because no one expects you to be able to meet a goal that they think is out of the ordinary for you.

X, that's from the Roadrunner Cull DVD isn't it? Just picked it up and I remember hearing that...I was going to mention that yesterday!

-JT

he mentions it on the roadrunner cull dvd. But i doubt he was the first to think of it. I've done the same thing in the past exodus. Thats one of the reasons im so glad i bought roadrunner cull. Once i really learned to cull smoothly it opened up a lot of options.

I started doing that a few years ago. I use to cut the card to the top, now I cull it. Either way, I'm sure it's nothing new. The next goal is to memorize a pack, so I never have to turn the pack face up.

dunno if this has been answered, but anyone here who has RRC used the angle cull?i Actually have an effect in mind with it, but i've never been able to use it b/c i couldnt do it.