Every day people ask me how I create routines, magic and comedy. There
is no exact way. But my favorite way to create is to just play with a
premise and see what happens. When it comes to comedy I try to create a
comedic situation on stage and see what can be birthed from it.
Sometimes nothing. Sometimes I wonder what the hell I was thinking.
Other times you are given gifts of pure gold.
Creating interactive situations with your audience is key. Today I'd
like to share with you a way to make an effect you ALREADY know much
more entertaining.
The focus for me in this routine is creating a FUNNY SITUATION with the
spectator on stage and finally and AMAZING AND MAGICAL REVELATION of the
selected card.
One of the strongest and most magical effects of ALL CARD MAGIC is the
Rising Card. Anytime a card moves or slides from the deck it looks so
ghostly and magical. People don't soon forget seeing things like this.
This is why it is a classic.
So grab your old Arne Rising Card deck, or your Oh Wee Gee Card Gaff, or your
elastic thread or WHATEVER. The method doesn't really matter although I
would recommend my effect Box Monster.
The premise for the effect is that if the volunteer concentrates on
their card, combined with BOTH of your focused energies....the card will
reveal itself from the deck.
The PICTURE I like to create on stage is this.
The spectator is holding the cased deck. I either hold their hand or ask
them to EXTEND THEIR FINGER and we touch fingers just like E.T.
Essentially I am creating this "circle of energy". I ask her to concentrate on her card and to hold the box high in the air.
I pretend its not working after a false start or two. Then I pull out a
9 volt battery and say something like "we need more juice Mable...".
I then TRY AS hard as I can to get them to stick their tongue on the
battery. (the battery I have does not have any life left so it doesn't
shock your tongue).
Trying to get them to put their tongue on the battery is where you get to have fun and play.
Obviously you can milk tons of comedy out of this
moment. I usually keep trying to get them to put their tongue on the battery several times until they either refuse or they actually comply and begin to stick
out their tongue....and then I'll pull it away from them and say "wow she was actually
gonna do it!". Do not actually let them touch it. That is gross.
Then I'll slowly grimace and apply the Battery to my tongue. As I do
this I shake slightly and I shake her hand as well. By this time she
will relax and the combination of that and my shaking will usually be
enough to get the card to rise from the box. If not then I'll simply
tell her to relax...and that does the trick.
Once the card starts to rise people will gasp and when you reveal it is actually the selected card you will receive applause.
It occurs to me that the method you are using must be based on tension
where the card will rise when pressure is released on the deck. Since
many modern card rises rely on this you should not have a problem. As always email me with any questions! nathankranzo@gmail.com
Enjoy!!!!
Kranzo
P.S. MAKE SURE THE BATTERY IS DEAD. I accept no responsibility for anyone who burns their tongue. Putting a battery on your tongue is stupid. But i do it.
Posted by Nathan Kranzo on February 25, 2011. 4 Comments
Howdy Folks!!! Merry X-Mas and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
A couple nights ago my good friend Aaron Fisher and myself recorded
a live podcast. We catch up after a busy year and share
the story of the fabled night we (joined by Lee Asher) went out on
the town in NYC with two sleight of hand giants - Roth and Latta.
Hilarity ensued! Only now can it be told! We hope you enjoy it.
Just click on the link and you'll be taken to File Dropper where
My friend from the UK Peter Duffie has compiled an incredible book from all American card guys! This book will be out in just a few weeks. It will be available HERE at Kranzo Magic. Here is a sneak peak at the table of contents!
Card Magic USA Project
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Jon Armstrong
My Opening Act / The Lucky Chip
Lee Asher
Milking the Boards
John Bannon
Aces Over Easy
Steve Beam
Turning Heads
John B. Born
The Perfect Pick
Steve Bryant
Dr. Jaks Goes to Mexico / A Sure-fire Prediction
Antonio Cabral
The Sting, too / The Pub Shuffle
Jack Carpenter
Direct Control / Open Spread Switch #1
Steve Dacri
Color Changing Deck / Hard to Improve on Perfection
Steve Draun
May’s Aces
Steve Dusheck
Mind Reading Svengali / Pokerello
Steve Ehlers
Stevens Aces (plus Stevens Control) / Hold’em Stack
Tom Frame
Leadership Potential / Off-Color Sandwich
Cameron Francis
Certainty / George’s Secret
JK Hartman
Position Possession
Wesley James
My Visitor II / The Discolored Visitor
Joshua Jay
Predictamation
Marty Kane
Pole Dancing / Sofa King
Bob King
Another Late Night Session / Color Cut
Nathan Kranzo
Kranzo’s Kool Kut / Instant Foursome
Chad Long
Mat Slap / T.C.O.H.T.P.C.
Harry Lorayne
3-4-1 / Sandwich Plus Two
Bill Malone
Up My Sleeve / The Incredible Six-Card Trick
Ryan Matney
Doc John’s Aces / Penultimate Man
Max Maven
Cycle
Steve Mayhew
The Way of All Flesh (with Antonio Cabral)
Stephen Minch
A-Ten-Tion
James Patton
Clip Force / Hole Card Switch
Jeff Pierce
The Blackjack Stack
Gary Plants
Collecting-Up in the Air / Count Me In
Mike Powers
Switch on Dingle
Jon Racherbaumer
Honeymoon Fusion
Steve Reynolds
Easy Coin Cut / In Memory of J.C. Wagner
Robin Robertson
Kosky Transpo Sandwich / King Cornelius’ Stack
Harvey Rosenthal
The Old West / The Queens Go Belly Up
Steve Shufton
Co-Signed
Bob Solari
Bad Credit / Invisible Opener
Ryan Swigert
Hancock in Your Pants
Dan Tong
Tel-Tale Joker / Rough Guy
Diamond Jim Tyler
Frog Hair / The Magic of Halitosis
Mike Vance
Speed Dating / 4for3 Alchemy
Michael Weber
Tip Of the Trunk
Caleb Wiles
Color Heist / The Paparazzi Packet Trick
PAST MASTERS
Roger Klause
Three Letters on Vernon & Walton
Gene Maze
Peeping Tom
Michael Skinner
Four Ace Cutting
Paul Swinford
Bits and Pieces
Frank Thompson
O & W Displacement Technique
Posted by Nathan Kranzo on December 22, 2010. 1 Comments
Here is a little XMAS PRESENT FROM KRANZO MAGIC!!!
This is a GREAT little card effect that I've used as an opener over the years.
An old stand buy. I hope you get as much fun out of it as I have.
E-Z Intuition
The premise is you will test someone's intuition to see if they can find
their OWN selected card. They find it 3 times. Each phase builds. I
start the effect with a line that gets a laugh. Below is the opening line.
"Generally they say that women are more in tune with their feelings or
'intuitive'. They call it the feminine intuition. SO tonight we will test
someone to see how in tune they are with their feminine intuition......"
(pause for a beat as if looking for someone.....then point at Bob or any
strong male figure in the audience.)
"BOB! Lets do this!"
"Just Kidding....Bob I'll leave you alone...but the lovely lady next to you
, if she would be so kind? What is your name young lady?"
A nice lady now picks a card and you control it via your favorite method. I
usually retain the selection on top and simply shuffle not disturbing the top stock.
FORCE ONE. Use Eddie Fechter's packet force as taught in the lecture.
What is nice about this force is it gives you so much freedom to jazz the
force which makes it look so "free". (basically hold a break above the
selection and cut small packets to the table timing so they say stop when
you get to the selection). Its fun to jazz and ask them which pile they'd
like. They tend to pick the last one pointed to. “this one, or this one?”.
FORCE TWO. I use a Charlie Miller force taught to me by Gary Plants. SO
easy but looks free. It is very similar to the classic force but instead
of spreading the cards in your hands you spread them on the table timing
it so they say stop when you get to the break. Alternatively you could use
a riffle or a dribble force here.
Each time they find their own card I make a big deal about how they
might have gotten lucky.
FORCE THREE. The third and final force is simply Max Holden's Cross
Cut force. Ask them to quickly cut the deck (lift off half and set it off to the
side). Ask them to do this while not thinking or with their eyes closed.
You now “mark the cut” crossing the deck. At this point recap what
happened and point out the increased impossibility of them finding their
own card. I also point out that for this final sequence I didn't even touch
the cards and that THEY cut the deck themselves. This is half true. : )
While the forces performed actually get easier for the performer they get
stronger and more impossible in the spectator's eyes.
Have fun with this. It's strong, easy and enables you to engage with
someone quickly. Plus it can be done with any deck of cards just handed
to you. If you have any questions please drop me an email at
nathankranzo@gmail.com
Thanks so much for reading. Please take the time to snoop around and
take advantage of our BUY ONE GET ONE FREE SALE!!!!
But ANY item and get ANY DVD OR DOWNLOAD of equal or lesser value FOR FREE.
Just email me after you order and I'll send your FREE DOWNLOAD instantly.
A small black box has arrived last friday to the Kranzo Magic offices. What's inside the box? Tell us your best
original, crazy, weird guess just for Fun, and the 7 most original
submissions will get for free what's inside the box. It's something...
Hot...
Posted by Nathan Kranzo on September 12, 2010. 23 Comments
Had a blast hanging with Kostya in the Uk over the weekend. Saw some old friends and made lots of new ones!!! I’ll write more soon but here is a little article about the trip….
Andrew Mayne posted an interesting link on his TWITTER account a couple of days ago. It was a link to an article about a 17 year old who created a new website that has exploded. Its called Chatroulette.
So. I checked it out. Holy s#@&!
First off I must say that it is still in its infancy and I can see it going through some changes. BUT the basic concept is very simple and sound. Push a button to instantly see/talk to a RANDOM person somewhere in the world.
You will see anything from a drunk French guy, giggling college girls, and dudes masterbating.
As I said it is in its infancy still so not much regulation.
But being a dork I decided to just perform magic for random people. I would do something quick to grab their attention. Sometimes the person would quickly click on to the next person but often they would be caught off guard…and then begin watching and commenting. Then often they would grab their friends. I would only do it for maybe 10-30 seconds then say goodbye and move on.
I remember one kid who was probably about 8 or 9 freaking out and trying to get his mom. I believe he was speaking German. Of course when mom stepped in I clicked to the next person. Mom probably didn’t believe him. LOL!
This social media tool like anything else can be used to do terrible and crazy things. BUT I used it for about an hour to seriously MESS with people’s heads and had a BLAST.
TALKABOUT A WAY TO GETINSTANTFEEDBACK!
Now you can show your new move instantly to some random guy in Honduras.
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