Goonerjack: Michael, this isn't my first venture into sleight of hand card magic, I have been practicing it for about half a year now. However, I can now see that some parts I have rushed, probably because as I said, all of the material was new and very exciting to me. This was why I have planned to go over all of the stuff that I have brushed past too briskly.

I have no problem with faro shuffling from the most advanced sleight of hand book of mine, although I feel that me rushing ahead a bit has probably hindered the more basic sleights and therefore I haven't spent as much time as I should have on them.

I don't currently own The Royal Road To Card Magic as I knew that card magic was what I was most interested in and therefore I was recommended to the Card College series instead, as I had heard that everything was in much more detail. However, I did look a while ago at The Royal Road To Card Magic and I found that everything there was covered in the volumes of Card College I owned.

Also, I really enjoy reading the Card College series and the 'Theory' section in CC2 has been very interesting to me. I plan to read it a few more times yet though, as there is a wealth of information to take in.

Also, do you think that buying a copy of Royal Road To Card Magic would help me in my studies of card magic, although ,as previously mentioned, I already own three volumes of Card College?

Thank you, Jack.

Michael Vincent: It is a pity you already own the CC series because it will be difficult for you not to read them. If things were different, I would have encouraged you to read, the Royal Road and Harry Loraynes Close-up Card Magic. These two books together would have helped you to build a firm foundation of good sleights and routines

From there you would be in a much stronger position tro fully appreciate the finesses in the CC series.

What you are going through is prevalent through out magic in today's world. The feeling of being overwhelmed by sheer quality and quantity of information available; where does one begin.

Now that you have the CC books, if you can afford to add the two books just mentioned, by all means do so.

Now here is a golden piece of advice.

Do not purchase another book on cards for the next five years. Discipline your mind to study the books you have.

Practise deligently, and perform the material to fully appreciate the effectiveness.

Research your experiences and eliminate that which you cannot use.

If you can do that, rest assured that your progress will be joyful and you will develop the required tools whilst enjoying the journey.

Yin Ho Ng: Routining is an aspect of Magic I feel is much under-looked. Applying this question to your own personal routines, "How and WHY do you put your routines together in the manner you have?"

p.s. I have heard a lot about your card handling and yourself recently but in truth, I have never seen you perform. Do you have any material on the internet we could view or are you performing anywhere near Norfolk soon?

Michael Vincent: I like you question very much. To me routining is a lost art. I learned how to routine my magic initially from a book called The Top Secrets of Magic by J G Thompson jr. This a fantastic book with great idea about magic construction.

My routines today are based on a simple concept which can be found in Greek theatre. This called the AIDA formula, which means Attention, Interest, Desire Action.

You first get the attention of the audience, stimulate the attention with some of interest, consolidate the interest with desire and emotion and the action part is the work which bring the effect to fruition.

With those thoughts in mind you can construct your act. I must say it is not easy but certainly worth while.

My next performance in Norfolk might be in August-September for a wedding.

If you would like to see my work you can always purchase one of my videos. Check my website for details www.magicofmagic.com

Michael Vincent: I like you question very much. To me routining is a lost art. I learned how to routine my magic initially from a book called The Top Secrets of Magic by J G Thompson jr. This a fantastic book with great idea about magic construction.

My routines today are based on a simple concept which can be found in Greek theatre. This called the AIDA formula, which means Attention, Interest, Desire Action.

You first get the attention of the audience, stimulate the attention with some of interest, consolidate the interest with desire and emotion and the action part is the work which bring the effect to fruition.

With those thoughts in mind you can construct your act. I must say it is not easy but certainly worth while.

My next performance in Norfolk might be in August-September for a wedding.

If you would like to see my work you can always purchase one of my videos. Check my website for details www.magicofmagic.com

Yin Ho Ng: Thanks for your reply. I read a post by Eugene Burger somewhere else and one thing that struck a chord with me in his post was where he talks about having 20 minutes of magic in his pocket at all times. He likes to have the possibility to create wonder anywhere. he also said he had a short 3 minute routine for a quick "ceremony."
I also use this thought process and this is the routine I sometimes use as the 3 minute one.

1) Bizarre twist by Paul Harris- a face down card is sandwiched at right angles between two cards. a little shake and it turns face up. repeat again, but this time the back of the card turns blue. (two red jacks and an ace used)
2) Between the Aces- the effect David Blaine performed on his magic man special. A card is chosen and signed, and two red jacks are taken out- (from the previous effect). the deck is shuffled with the card inside the deck. then a little wave of the two jacks, and the chosen card appears magically between the two jacks.
3) Think of a card by Ray Kosby- a spectator merely thinks of a card. the performer spreads the cards in a fan and pulls out his prediction halfway. the prediction is found to be true.

My justification for putting together this routine is:
bizarre twist is an effect which requires just a little bit of prep- thus you can always be prepared beforehand and then end clean as a whistle. I also believe this effect comes under the "attention" category underneath. It is short, visual and powerful ending leaving dribble marks all over the spectator's chin.
to go on from there to the between the aces is purely because I already have two red jacks, and the ace of spade with the changed back to blue. I don’t need to blue card so I discard it and then ask a spectator to hold the two jacks. This creates a spectator involvement, improving the relationship between the spectator and performer. The card is chosen and signed- an added quality that helps the spectator discard of thoughts of any duplicates. the spectator shuffling the deck is also involvement and convincing- no magic has apparently happened so far. the wave of the aces is almost like a development of the bizarre twist but with the transportation and the signed card. This effect has always served me well and EMOTIONS normally run high after this.
I chose think of a card next because i think that it is just such a strong effect. It plays on psychology and is so direct it HAS to be real Magic. Normally the spectator cannot believe this so I think that it has a really strong ending. I can also control the pace of this effect much more to my liking, depending on the situation and therefore its a nice clean way to end.

I was wondering if you review my routine and justification if you have time. Thanks.

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