I'm hijacking the normal Monday Mail Call to zoom in on some magic magazines that have come in this month. Specifically, Genii and The Hermit, both of which are action-packed and full of goodies!

If you're itching to find out what kind of other goodies came in this past week, make sure to check back next week because the Mail Call post will be... heavy! At least, the books are =P

Genii, April 2022

Just this past week, on the 15th, I finally received the April issue of Genii in the mail. Timing-wise, I was just about to email them to ask where it is since it normally comes a few days before the 1st of the month -- only once or twice has it arrived after that, and this is the first time it ever came later than the first week of the month. Even the digital version was released on March 20th, so I really am curious what the delay was.

Timing aside, I was very, very excited to flip through it when I got it. On the front cover is big ol' Jason England! I know this guy! Wait, no I don't...

I've never met him, but I at least thought I knew of work from him. But I don't. I know that I've heard his name on several occasions, but that's the entire extent of my knowledge about Jason England... and yet, I feel like I am familiar with his work. But I'm not.

I scoured through my library, both books and videos, to find any trace of work that came from this man. I have one video, Experts at the Card Table 2020 from Vanishing Inc. I haven't watched it yet. The hell?!

Anyways, I read through the Jason England feature and wow! This is a guy I want to meet and just talk with. Military aside, based on the very high-level biography of him, we're quite alike. Well, that and I only own a single copy of The Expert at the Card Table... I've never been to Vegas before, but I would make a trip over to hang out for an afternoon. Jason, call me!

The rest of the issue is standard Genii goodness. There's a very moving obituary for The Amazing Jonathan by Erika Larsen; his passing hit me, and her words brought a tear. He'll be missed, but I for one will make sure his material is shared!

We also get another installment of The River by Joshua Jay. It's coins and bills, so I skimmed it briefly. The other routines and effects described throughout are pretty neat -- I really like the Don't Play with Your Food routine where you pour a sugar packet into your hand, and it turns into a sugar cube. Then, pouring a pepper packet into your hand (with the sugar cube) creates spots on it to resemble a die! It's quick and silly and altogether magic!

Hocus Pocus - Magic, Mystery, and the Mind

One of the features in this month's issue of Genii is Hocus Pocus Live: The Davenport Séance. This feature introduces us, the audience, to a throwback comic series that finds its roots in the older, creepier comics like Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror.

I'm, personally, not a séance type of person but I do like a good story. Hocus Pocus is an interactive comic series about the history and science of the paranormal, so the specific séance highlight in Genii is just one of many topics -- so that's pretty cool.

If you're interested in seeing more, you can find it here: hocuspocuscomic.squarespace.com -- as of right now, it looks like they have 4 issues out, though one is sold out already.

The Hermit, Volume 1 Issue 4

I finally got around to popping open this month's issue of The Hermit e-zine! This one arrived promptly on-time on April 1st. I'm just... delayed. 48 pages of magical goodness just sitting there in my inbox waiting for me!

And it's the first issue to have an actual "cover" page! At least, that's what the email said. So I promptly looked and sure enough, there's a cover page. I had to go back to the other issues just to confirm though and would you look at that, it really is the first with a cover! Skipping ahead towards the end of the magazine (and the reason I am talking about the cover page =P), this month's #hermitmagicchallenge is to design a cover for the magazine. 

It sounds like all of the issues going forward will have a dedicated cover page, possibly each unique and created by the audience. That really would be cool. I would, in general, want a specific theme or "issue feature" to focus on, but each issue of The Hermit is a collection of topics, not really focusing on a central feature in each.

You know what I really like about the magazine is the layout. Yes, yes, the material in it is great -- and I'll get to that -- but the page layout is really well done. It's not just columns of text and a picture here and there. It has that format, but then it shakes things up and gets a little more artistic and designs the pages. The illustrations become just as important as the text; they meld together. I like it =]

This month's issue has a lot of coin magic in it, which isn't really my thing, so I skimmed about half of it, but there was a good card routine or two -- and the overview of Misdirection in Sports is an interesting idea to lean in to. Psychology, in terms of misdirection and forcing, can play together in a lot of arenas where there's clear and even indirect overlap. Sports brings it to the next level though. In sports, there are a lot of moving pieces and there's a common concept in magic psychology that the human brain can't focus on two things at the same time; I don't know if a magician would be the best consultant in creating a mental-fake-out for a sports routine.

Then again, I'm thinking smaller magicians, like close-up and parlor magic. A stage magician, or one who works with TV and movies and other larger crews might be able to pull it off since they can see "bigger pictures". However, knowing a lot of athletes, I do wonder if the ones "doing the moves" would be able to run the plays and process what the opponents are doing too since they'd be "controlling the audience", who may happen to be a pair of 250lb men running at them.

But yeah, this issue is pretty packed with magic from Scott Baird, John Carey, Joshua Jay, and Giacomo Bertini. I'm excited to see what's coming out next month, and hopefully I'll get to it soon after it lands in my inbox!

Out of all the different possible sleights, moves, routines, or whatever else you can do with cards, for about a solid month now the main thing on my mind has been card sandwiches.

A card sandwich, if you're unfamiliar, is when one or more cards are sandwiched between two others. Typically, it's the climax of the trick being presented. And, ironically, it's one of the things in card magic I've always disliked.

Who doesn't love a good sandwich?

Me! Well, I love real sandwiches I mean come on. But card sandwich routines, I just... you know?

There are great ones, don't get me wrong. When it works, it works! However, the normal, average, everyday card sandwich just has flaws that bother me and it all starts with the "get ready". And then, the reveals themselves feel forced too.

I've always disliked watching sandwich routines being performed because if you know the one telegraph move (the "get ready"), the trick's pretty much ruined for you. With that same mindset, it's even harder to perform the routine because you know that no matter how clean and smooth you perform it, there's no way to hide it and the routine's ruined for others too.

Let's start by looking at the "get ready".

The "get ready"

To set the stage, you have two face-up Jokers on the table in front of you. A spectator has selected a card, the Ace of Hearts, and you skillfully have controlled it to the top of the deck. Now, it's sandwich time.

There are several ways to "get ready", but the most used is:

1. Obtain a pinky break below the top card of the deck, the spectator's selection
2. Pick up the two Jokers and place them face up on the deck, maintaining a break below the three cards
3. With your left thumb, hold the top Joker in place while your right hand -- thumb on the bottom right corner, second finger on the top right corner -- pulls out the Joker and selection as one
4. Place the Joker (and selection) held by the right-hand side-jogged onto the Joker that's being held on the deck

You are now ready. It's done. The card's sandwiched. Boom!

And that's pretty much where I start disliking the routine. There's no real reason or justification to slide the bottom Joker out and place it on top of the other. The spectator just saw that there were two, and one was already on top of the other so why the flourish? Is one Joker better than the other and deserves the top spot?

It's worth noting, though you probably know, that it doesn't have to be Jokers. It could be Jacks. Queens even. Or Aces, or deuces. Whatever cards you want can sandwich any other card but regardless of their value, they don't yield a reason why the "get ready" is performed.

Types of sandwich reveals

Not to dwell on details here, but there are a handful of ways to "reveal" the sandwiched card:

• Shaking the two jokers in your hands, the selection is revealed between them
• If the double is held up-jogged above the single, a quick "flick" to pull the top Joker down will reveal the selection
• Various pop-outs, whether the card pops out and is still sandwiched, or flies out of the cards like in Natsu
• The sandwich appears in the middle of the deck
• The deck is "thrown" from one hand to another, leaving the two Jokers and sandwiched selection remaining in the original hand
• The selection is sandwiched between cards placed in a box (e.g., Smokescreen by Roy Walton)

I'm sure there are others, but the gist of it is that a card is revealed to be sandwiched between others. You can use your imagination to come up with other fun ways too!

These are "ending reveals". How the card gets there is your choice. I've seen a lot of different methods from simple controls to doing it during a spring, or even just throwing the card into the deck as it's being dribbled.

The best card sandwich(es)

Okay, so, hear me out but the best card sandwiches aren't done with the "get ready" that's commonly used.

The reveals are always similar, I mean come on. The selection is sandwiched between two other cards. Maybe it's in your hands, the spectator's hands, or in the middle of the deck. Ignoring where it takes place, the reveal is that the card is there -- between the other cards.

How it gets there is where the magic comes in.

Imagine, if you will, a spectator's selection is lost in the middle of the deck. The magician fans the deck and places two Jokers into the fan on opposite sides. They're sticking out and you can clearly see that they're nowhere near each other but they're in the deck. The Jokers are pushed flush and deck squared, with a word the deck is re-spread and the Jokers are in the middle together, separated by a single card.

Going for something a little more impossible, the two Jokers are first displayed (before a selection is made) and they're placed on the table. The selection is made and lost in the deck. Attention is turned to the Jokers. They have never left the table and they're spread to reveal a card sandwiched between them. Lifting them and turning them over one by one shows the Jokers to be magically sandwiching the selected card! And no, no duplicates are used!

But one of my favorite sandwiches is actually slightly hypocritical, given all of the above. I dub it the "magician fooler" because it utilizes the "get ready"... but in a different way. So, again imagine that a selection is lost in the middle of the deck. The magician picks up the two Jokers and places them on the deck. One by one, the Jokers are turned over face-down on the deck, but side-jogged. They are lifted, still separated, and shown front and back. Waving the two Jokers over the deck causes them to turn into a single card -- the selection!

Making sandwiches for lunch

You can, perhaps, sense the irony that being a person so disliking of card sandwiches that I've spent so much time not only thinking about them but practicing them. I've recorded my handlings over the years and have rewatched some recently and wow. Even only 2 years ago, my handling was clunky and ungraceful. Not that it's any better now, but sheesh.

I think that that's where the beauty of it lies though. You don't need to perform everything you practice; truthfully, you don't have to like it much either. But seeing beyond the "routine" and into the intricacies of how the cards glide between your hands and how you can control the spectator's attention is very important. Card sandwiches offer this type of practice because even though the handling isn't very demanding, your hands are being watched attentively every step of the way. There's no room for misdirection, and if you want even the "get ready" to appear as though it's nothing, you'd better practice a lot.

I'm going to keep working on these. All of them, in fact. I'm planning to try to perform at least a dozen different sandwiches -- some my own creation, others straight from the textbook -- and put them on Instagram (@gbabbits) for reference.

The real trick is, finding the time!

It's Monday and you know what that means... Monday Mail Call!

Every few Mondays, I use this feature to highlight a few of the things that have made their way in over the past week or so. Packages, purchases, and emails -- oh my!

I took most of last week off for Spring Break and it was great. Went to Mexico with the family, got sunburn twice, and I'm pretty sure my pants don't fit anymore. Then again, they didn't really fit to begin with so who's counting =P

This week's haul actually came in right before I left for break. While I received a few decks, I want to kick things off with Freedom of Expression by Dani DaOrtiz. I pre-ordered this book back in November and just received it. I would love to say, "better late than never," but honestly, it's not that late in the grand scheme of things. This book is an English translation reprint of DaOrtiz's first book ever, one that he goes on to say (in the intro) that many people have requested he have translated over the years. Well, 10 years later and here it is!

I started devouring the book as soon as I received it but I'm not really that far into it. I brought it with me on my vacation thinking that I'd have some down-time to flip through, and while I did have the time, I actually used it to read a different book (The Three Musketeers -- you gotta love those classics!). I know last time I mentioned it I said I'd have a intro review, but I'd like to get a little further into it and practice some of it prior to that. As of right now though, and again, I'm not very far into it, but right now it's very much worth it. I know I'm going to get so much great knowledge from this book!

Up next is the latest subscription delivery from Jocu Playing Cards, the CULT : Fire Inner Circle Exclusive deck and the Hops & Barley Belgian Blond, an early release!

This is the fourth (and I think final?) deck in the CULT series. I haven't added any of the others to the site yet, but I do have them all. I also haven't opened any of them. They have this wax seal on a ribbon that just invokes a do not open vibe. "I'm not a collector" ™ but I just can't bring myself to do it. It'll happen one day, I'm sure. But for now, these beauties are hanging out on my wall display!

The Hops & Barley deck was a surprise delivery too, mostly because I didn't read my email. I knew that in my subscription I would receive an early-release deck, but I didn't know it was coming in this package and when I opened it, I just got a whole lot of "wow!" I really love the Hops & Barley series overall. The cards are very well designed and have an amazing feel to them. They're a deck that you'd love to use and show off.

And finally, the Kings Wild Table Player's deck of the month. I subscribed to the Table Players series this year because they've historically looked cool. This month's deck, the back design kind of kills it for me (in a bad way). The tuck's nice and the faces are great, but ugh. I'll probably use the deck and toss it.

I wish I could explain how happy I am to have Freedom of Expression. I've been on a Spanish Magician kick for at least a year or two now and I'm excited to consume all the material I can. This book, ah how I can't wait to go through it all! And the decks I've received, 2 out of the three are real winners. Not the greatest of odds, but hey, they're like mystery decks that show up each month or two so I'm not complaining too much.

Stay tuned for the next iteration of Monday Mail Call, there's a lot more to come!

Oh also, if you'd like to offer suggestions for books, tricks, decks or if you have questions about magic (performing, routines, sleights, etc.), just reach out here.

Today's post is going to be a short one, and a heads up that this whole week will be light on content as I'm taking off for Spring Break.

And when I say I'm taking off, I mean from work, blogging, and even social media. I'm going to use the week to recharge and reconnect with the world outside of the internet!

Along for the ride is Dani DaOrtiz's latest release, the English version of Freedom of Expression. I finally received my copy just the other day and started flipping through, I'm already in love! Stay tuned for the next Monday Mail Call where I talk about it a little more and will have a general review too.

Oh, I'll also be working on memorization techniques from The Memory Arts too. It's a skill that needs finesse and constant work to get it in working order, but I really do think it will pay off.

Well, that's all for today folks. Hopefully the humidity in the areas I'm traveling to won't kill my decks (like the last two times...). But hey, if it does, I think I have a few extras =P

We've all heard the term "heckler" before, but I want to set the stage a bit and give you my interpretation of the word. To me, a heckler is a skeptical person who's aggressively against a performance -- in my case, magic.

This doesn't specifically mean someone who "doesn't believe" in magic; let's be honest, everyone in the modern age knows that it's a skill. The 3 of clubs isn't really changing into the queen of hearts -- the magician made it happen. We call them "magic tricks" because we're trying to trick the senses into believing that, even for a small moment, something magical can happen. Hecklers are the people who not only don't want to be fooled, but they openly challenge magicians in a way that says that they can't be fooled. Ugh.

Now, it's key to point out that I'm not a professional magician and even though I practice card magic for what adds up to hours a day, every day, for years -- I'm barely an amateur. I don't perform a lot, period. When I'm asked though, and it does come up maybe once or twice a month, I gladly perform. So the ability for me to run into a heckler is not as commonplace as it would be for a typical magician.

However, let me take you back 2 years to my first.

So there I was...

I was meeting a few friends for a guy's trip to New Orleans, like you do. Me and one of the other guys were there first; I've known him going on 30 years now so it's safe to say that I know his personality pretty well. He would very much classify as a heckler, per my description above.

Well, he didn't know that I started practicing magic -- other than my wife and kids, nobody knew really. He happened to work at Facebook, and we were talking about Instagram and I mentioned I started using the app and was having fun with it, which then led to the discovery that I'm a nerd into magic!

"Do you have a deck of cards on you? Show a trick!" he said.

Of course, I had a deck! Pfft, a deck. I had six.

I was also really excited to get to show off some things I had been practicing. Like I said, nobody knew I had been into magic, so I was practicing and practicing but with no real audience. Unfortunately, he was not my target audience. He was going to be the guy that calls out your double lift even if you didn't do one.

"Alright, I've got a fun trick that I've been working on for a while now!" I remember saying. I could feel my face flushing, and my hands started trembling. Oh boy, the nerves!

"I know you're a heckler, so don't be too big of a jerk - let me down easy alright?", I said. I know I said this word-for-word, and I really wish I could put the right word-emphasis here so you could experience it too, but I've repeated it so many times in my head since then.

Bias, taking the stage.

The truth of the matter is, my friend wasn't actually a heckler when it came to magic. That, or he just isn't when I'm performing. I pre-generated this opinion of how he'd react to magic based on my decades of friendship and knowing how he acts and what his personality is like. Oddly enough, "magic" wasn't a topic that ever came up -- even though we started a juggling club in middle school together -- but I allowed my bias to take control and rather than just perform, I let it take the stage and run, or ruin, the whole thing.

I called him a heckler at least 3 times during the two tricks I showed. I talked down to him, saying things like "I know what you're going to think when I do this, so watch real close so you can't call me out" and "look, I know you're not going to trust me so you shuffle. that'll make you happy."

When I practice, and honestly when I perform, I am super happy and friendly and try to give off a "fun to be around" personality. This performance was the exact opposite. It was me being a jerk.

If I was in his shoes, I would never want me to perform again.

Repeat Performance

A few months later we were out with other friends and one of them asked to see a trick so I ended up performing a few (they kept asking for more!) and the guilt of being such a jerk to him had eaten away at me for so long, I over-emphasized being the "nice" guy. Not in a bad way, it came off well, but I felt like I had to do it.

Anyways, they all had a lot of fun and were really impressed. It felt great. But not as great as my friend's feedback. Afterwards, he said to me "dude, you've gotten so much better in such a short time. Before, you just weren't good at people-management and it showed in how you handled the cards but now, everything flowed together so well."

That... that was great!

Real Heckler, attempt #2. Did I learn?

So, there I was... again. Except in a different place and a completely different group of people, only a few months ago in fact. Most of them were aware that I do magic and asked to see something -- you gotta love when your friends ask for it! -- so I whipped out a deck of cards.

I hadn't performed for any of them before, and I don't know them extremely well, so this was just a fresh performance. Right after asking the first woman to take a card, one of the guys standing to the side chimed in "make sure he doesn't see it, make him work for his money". First, it'd be nice to get paid for something one day =P. Second, ouch. And here I thought they wanted to be entertained.

He kept at it though. His eyes grilled my hands no matter where my gaze was or where I called attention to. Luckily, I had excuses to turn my body to make gestures to the group ;)

Unlike the time before when I treated the "potential heckler" with mistrust and angst, this time, I played along with his quips and even let some of them guide the performance. Of the four routines I performed, only one was fully practiced, the others I was just jiving based on his guidance. "Don't let him see the card" went from a Chicago Opener to the woman not seeing the card and a second spectator choosing its pair. He followed it with "are you using one of those marked decks?," asked (or said) in a condescending way, so I said "Ah no way! I thought this was a special magician's marked deck where only we could see the markings. Once you know about it though, you should be able to see it too" and then proceeded to do Chicago Opener. It segued quite nicely. Then a quick self-worker, followed by a card-under-glass.

Mr. Heckler nodded and gave a "Nice." and moved on. Everyone else was very pleased =]

Experience Matters

I've read about dealing with hecklers in only a few books; most don't broach the subject. They all present sound advice, but there are no "rules" you must follow. At the end of the day, if you want to give them a solid Will Smith smack in the face, so be it. You may never get another job again, but it's an out if you so choose.

You also don't have to bend over backwards to please that specific person. If it's just them, or one or two others, you could opt to not perform. Either say you're not in the mood or make up an excuse that could keep you in their minds if they want to see some sweet magic.

Often, you can, or should, just ignore them. Don't buy into it and don't let it phase you... as best as possible of course. I very much failed at this my first time. If I acted that way with a group, wow. I don't think anyone would ever ask me to perform again.

The second time around, I also didn't follow this, and I bought in so hard I let it direct the set. I think this only worked because it was just aligned well enough for improv, and I had things setup in a way that it just so happened to match the topics. This could have turned out as a massive failure if I messed anything up. Rather than have the heckler be this snarky person trying to mess up a routine, it could have been seen as my trying to let my ego prove him wrong -- that wasn't the case, but it could've come off that way.

Real workers will have had a lot more experience and likely have their own set ways of dealing with hecklers, but that's the point. Experience.

I hope I don't run into more, but hopefully the next time I do I'll be able to handle it well.