Sandwiches & Sorcery

Reflections on a recent performance of mine at a networking lunch at work! 🥪🪄

Recently, I had the opportunity to share my love for magic at a networking lunch at the university where I work. The event, aimed at welcoming new members to our organisation, was set up with five large islands, each made up of four tables. Initially, I planned to treat this as a mix-and-mingle event, but the arrival of food prompted a change of strategy. I decided to position myself at the end of one of the islands, ready to share the magic with those who were interested.

As it happened, I only performed for two people. Most attendees wanted to sit and eat their food in peace and quiet, which is understandable as they'd just spent the entire morning soaking up a lot of new information and meeting lots of new faces. This situation also highlights the old adage that a performer can never compete with food!

Sandwiches. Photo Credit: ctwtn via Pixabay.

Before the event, I created a “set list” of tricks to remind me which ones I would perform. One of the challenges I face when performing is that I often develop and practice multiple tricks at once, making it difficult to remember the correct sequence of moves for any one trick without some mental prompt. Simply listing the items I plan on performing helps jog my memory. Here’s the list I prepared for the event:

• Underambitious - A minimalistic handling of Ambitious Card inspired by “The Trick that Fooled Houdini” by Dai Vernon.
• Twisting the Numbers - A version of Vernon’s “Twisting the Aces” using the Ace, Two, Three and Four of Clubs.
• A Dame to Daley For or The Devil Made Me Daley - Two multi-phase handlings of “The Last Trick of Dr. Jacob Daley”.
• Hello, My Name Is... - A fun variation of Jim Steinmeyer’s “The Nine Card Problem” designed to work as an ice breaker when meeting new people.
• A Swindle of Souls - A spooky prediction effect based on “Wagers of Sin” by Max Maven.
• Will the Cards Match? by Larry Becker

My first performance was for Alex. I started with “Underambitious” and then transitioned into “Twisting the Numbers”. Everything was going smoothly until I tried to turn the Two, Three and Four of Clubs into the other three Aces. Unfortunately, I accidentally switched in three random cards instead of the Aces. I apologised for my mistake, but Alex indicated he was still impressed. I quickly located the three Aces in the deck, cut them to the top, and then transformed the indifferent cards into the missing Aces. Disaster averted!

I concluded with Dr. Daley’s Last Trick, but again, I made a mistake and got a little confused. I mixed up two tricks because I have been working on more than fifty variations for my book, Developing Daley. Despite my incompetence, Alex was still impressed by my magic.

During the performance, Alex mentioned that he enjoyed watching Pen and Teller’s Fool Us and had attempted to learn some card magic over the summer. He thought he knew how I did certain things, but he admitted that my performances of Twisting the Aces and Dr. Daley’s Last Trick had utterly fooled him.

Since Alex was enjoying the magic so much, I decided to perform an extra trick for him: “Hello, My Name Is...” He asked me what would happen if a person’s name contained more than nine letters, so I think he probably understood that the method was mathematical. Despite that, he seemed to enjoy this trick as well.

Apart from a few hiccups, it was a successful performance. I managed to recover from all my mistakes, and Alex expressed that he had a fantastic time, which was the ultimate validation of my efforts.

For my second performance, I presented to Dom. Instead of repeating the same tricks, I chose to showcase “A Swindle of Souls” and introduced a new illusion called “Paradox of Love”. Both tricks were successful, with Dom appearing particularly amazed by the outcome of “A Swindle of Souls”.

(If you’d like to learn a couple of the tricks I mentioned in this performance diary, I’ve written up detailed tutorials for “A Swindle of Souls” and “Paradox of Love”. Remember, once you learn the secrets, you can't unlearn them!)

Reflecting on these performances, I gained valuable insights. While I made some mistakes, I demonstrated the ability to improvise and recover confidently. To enhance my future performances, I’ve identified three key areas for improvement:

1. Script refinement: Polish the scripts for each trick and conduct multiple rehearsals to ensure smoother delivery.
2. Equipment upgrade: Use higher-quality cards, such as Bicycle Rider Backs, instead of the cheap Cartamundi packs that I have at work. Although the latter performed adequately, better cards would boost my confidence.
3. Transition practice: Focus on improving the transitions between tricks to minimise errors and maintain a seamless flow throughout the performance.

These adjustments should significantly elevate the quality of my future magic shows.