I'm sure there are other holidays in November, but the main three I'm referring to all kind of happen together: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Though, this year Amazon labeled it "Black Friday Week" and a lot of companies had their sales going on for the entire month, but I still saw the biggest deals on Friday itself -- and Monday, we can't forget Monday.
I had a good Thanksgiving break, and I hope your weekend was great too (whether you celebrate or not). I didn't spend a ton of money on magic during Black Friday or Cyber Monday this year, and it's not just because I found amazing deals and literally saved... I just didn't buy a lot. Not a lot jumped out at me because I already have too much to read and watch, and not enough time to do either. I did order a couple items, but you'll have to wait until they arrive before I show what they are =]
Art of Play's annual "Mystery Deck" offering is opening this Friday, December 6th. We still don't have the list of what decks are going to be in the pool of decks that they choose from, but I'm thinking of buying a few like always. This past year, as in all of 2024, I have bought a grand total of less than 10 decks. I have zero storage space available for decks, and I don't go through them nearly as quickly as I thought I would.
Regardless, I really do love Art of Play's quality when it comes to decks. The card stock is great, the artwork is amazing, and there's that certain desire of rareness with some of the decks that I just can't quite describe.
As soon as the deck list is published, I'll reshare it here on the site. That, and I'll order a brick or two!
Last week I mentioned I was starting to learn coin magic and hot damn, I have been!
I haven't started any actual tricks yet, but I have been working on most of the palms and a few vanishes and switches. Yes, if you're wondering I am following Modern Coin Magic from front to back. What I really love is, last week when I mentioned it, I said that I have no idea how to do a finger palm. Modern Coin Magic says this gem:
Here is probably the easiest and most natural of all palms.
And yet, I find it to be one of the more uncomfortable ways to hold a coin. Sure, my hand in classic palm can't get anywhere near "flat", but it doesn't look too unnatural. Finger palm just feels awkward to me, and I always need to have my fingers curled.
I am practicing with half dollars currently, and I wonder if my hands are just larger and that's the issue; maybe using a silver dollar would work better. I have a bunch of them, but haven't tried yet. Though, I figure that once you know how to palm, the size of the coin won't make a huge difference?
Oh, I've also been doing a coin roll -- where you make the coin roll across the back of your fingers across your whole hand! I can consistently get it to my pinky, but then it typically slides to the floor =P. It's pretty fun though, albeit not a "magic trick."
When I have something at least resembling some level of skill, I'll share more!