A Trick With Nothing

j.bayme

ceo / theory11
Team member
Jul 23, 2007
2,848
352
New York City
This is a pretty cool application for Smoke. Dan White and Chris Kenner had discussed this prior to production of the SMOKE DVD where you smoke an invisible cigarette, or have someone write SMOKE (or "fog" as picked up on by Chad Long), and then the smoke becomes real. Luis de Matos has a lot of work on this with specific regard to a smoking thumb routine - his ideas are amazing. Magic with organic, everyday objects is powerful. I like this line of thinking - eliminating the objects as much as possible. This is an effect that has endless applications.
 
Dec 23, 2007
1,579
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Fredonia, NY
hehe, i had a feeling that was coming eric, i believe you said that to me almost a dozen times at Magi-fest earlier this year, i really have to stop setting it up so much haha
 
It looks fantastic.
But because of the simplistic nature, I would think it would be easy for the spectator to reverse engineer the effect.

J.

That's what i thought when I originally looked at the Smoke trailer. It looks like ur just holding smoke in your mouth. My first thought was to make sure that I'm talking enough to dispel that illusion. second, I created specific choreography that masks the moment you engage the gimmick to draw smoke, that way attention is split between what i'm doing and what i'm ditching. I also created this little subtlety that allows me to "show" my mouth empty though it is full of smoke (tongue subtlety) which also helps eliminate this thought.
 
Sep 7, 2008
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I think unnecessary attention is brought to the marker, as its the only object in play. You're using an invisible shelf, invisible paper, an invisible cigarette, but a real marker. To follow with the "invisible" theme, it would make much more sense to use an invisible writing utensil, and it seems that the marker only there for methodological reasons.

With that said, I don't believe the average spectator would figure that out, but an astute one might.
 
Sep 10, 2008
915
3
QLD, AUS
I think unnecessary attention is brought to the marker, as its the only object in play. You're using an invisible shelf, invisible paper, an invisible cigarette, but a real marker. To follow with the "invisible" theme, it would make much more sense to use an invisible writing utensil, and it seems that the marker only there for methodological reasons.

With that said, I don't believe the average spectator would figure that out, but an astute one might.

If you precede or follow through with another marker effect, there shouldn't be a problem.
 
Dec 23, 2007
1,579
4
36
Fredonia, NY
or if you used it in a previous effect. But again, with spectator's i think we are giving too much credit. They aren't looking for a method, or a secret, they are reacting to seeing SMOKE come out of your mouth. They have no expectation as to wear the effect is going so they dont scrutinize anything that closely. they aren't watching waiting for smoke, they are just following a story.
 
Oct 12, 2009
286
0
Navarre, Florida
I thought that was brilliantly done. I really don't think anyone is going to suspect the marker while he is performing especially considering they don't know what he is doing with it or where he is going with it. The marker provides a good visual aid, it makes sense for it to be there on that virtue alone. Beyond that, when people do attempt to reverse engineer effects they go with methods they've heard of. What laymen is actually aware of any kind of trick marker? If anything, they'll want to look in his mouth.
 
I think unnecessary attention is brought to the marker, as its the only object in play. You're using an invisible shelf, invisible paper, an invisible cigarette, but a real marker. To follow with the "invisible" theme, it would make much more sense to use an invisible writing utensil, and it seems that the marker only there for methodological reasons.

With that said, I don't believe the average spectator would figure that out, but an astute one might.

What you could say us that you are using "invisible ink"

Eric - I absolutely loved the routine, particularly the ending xP
 
Jan 16, 2008
379
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We should never run before being chased.
On another note, Eric...you're an absolute genius for the Tongue Subtlety. I cannot thank you enough!
On another side note...is it possible to make a thumb version of SMOKE? That would be similar to running before being chased, but it could potentially open up a lot of doors. Just a thought.
Thank you Eric.
 
Sep 30, 2009
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Elkhart, IN
or if you used it in a previous effect. But again, with spectator's i think we are giving too much credit. They aren't looking for a method, or a secret, they are reacting to seeing SMOKE come out of your mouth. They have no expectation as to wear the effect is going so they dont scrutinize anything that closely. they aren't watching waiting for smoke, they are just following a story.


I agree Josh. Just because we as magic followers know what is used doesn't mean a laymen will know what is going on.

Nice job Eric. Very well done. Love your coin stuff too.
 
Apr 27, 2010
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baller08.blogspot.com
This was awesome. And 9 out of 10 spectators won't even remember he had a marker to begin with. Spectators will rarely remember the pieces involved, especially if you don't draw attention to it. In all likely hood when they replay or tell others about what they saw, they'll simply say, "This guy rolled an invisible cigarette and started smoking it and smoke came out of his mouth over and over again". A few may even things like, "And then a real cigarette appeared out of no where!" They do that because the visual of the smoke plays tricks on their mind and they see conjur up images that aren't there, which is of course the height of where we want the magic to occur.
 
Nov 7, 2009
135
0
Paris, France
Is it just me or Mr Eric Jones upgraded the Smoke gimmick? With a tiny bit of thinking, we could do the original effect with less props, and without the need to switch anything. I don't want to expose anything, but "reversing" the gimmick is a great idea!
 
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