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I tend to close with my Cups and Balls routine, which finishes with the production of a pumpkin or other large item under an only slightly larger bucket. It's old-school, but that's how I roll. Your closer should be what's called a "reputation-maker," which is an effect so airtight and so...

When I order Poi stuff from New Zealand it usually takes 2 to 3 weeks.

BOOM! This is the problem with much of the magic (and virtually ALL of the mediocre-to-bad) magic that you see today. No story and no context. This is the reason for heckling, underwhelming reactions--all of it. That might seem like a tall claim, but think about it. It's true that secrecy is...

It's my opinion that magicians in general are living in the Patent Age while most of the rest of the modern world's professions have migrated to the Information Age. In a world where all information is essentially in people's pockets already (if for a price), the Wizard who relies too heavily on...

I was at work one day, and one of my co-workers said something that I found very interesting. He was commenting on my performance of sleight of hand, and he said something to the effect of, "One of the things that amazes me about sleight of hand is that even for stuff where I'm able to somehow...

FormlessMars22 pretty much has the answer I was gonna offer. If you could build a working pull that would cleanly yank the thing down your collar or between your shirt buttons, you'd be more or less set after some practice.

One of my Adam Wilber videos (Working Man maybe?) has an effect where two spectators select cards and hold them. When the selections are named, both spectators name the same card. When they show their cards, both are blank. When the deck is examined, it's blank as well. Neither the selected card...

The thumb tip is one of the primary reasons that the shortage of magic shops is so tragic. To go someplace and try on several, I personally would have to drive a good 2 hours or so. Trying to order one online is basically a crap shoot. The only saving grace is that they're pretty cheap, so if...

The truth is that most magic specials on TV rely on the same kinds of principles and effects that we do, and they do their best to present the tricks the way a live laymen would see them. If some funny business is visible to the camera but not the live spectators, they cut it. The reason they...

What is your absolute best card effect? Use that. For an audition, you want to be doing something powerful that you know well enough to do in your sleep. You don't want to take new magic to something like that. Even better if you can string your 3 best effects into a routine, but if your...

You might try Serial Biller by Rich Ferguson. It's ridiculously strong, so it's sometimes my closer, but with the right show build I think you could also use it as a transition, especially the kind you're talking about. The effect is as simple as it is old: you take a dollar bill, destroy it...

I usually just start at the corner of the sticker and pull up gently on the tuck so the sticker neatly tears around the thumb cut-out. Sometimes you have to go from one side, then the other, and you have to be careful in the middle because that's the most likely spot you'll tear the box.

Could you use something like a gramophone?

Right now I'm gonna have to go with: 1. People who constantly whine about internet tutorials, including and especially people who complain about tutorials for tricks that have been publicly accessible for over 100 years. (To be specific, I'm not talking about piracy or other ethically...

I tend to learn an effect until I'm confident I can do it under stress, then I start testing it on people I know. If it goes over well there, then I can be comfortable trying it out in front of audiences (close-up and/or parlor, depending on the effect). If you're performing for a stranger...

I tend to go to places like the park or downtown. Malls sometimes get all security-happy on performers and other service-providers who don't go through the proper channels

This guy said pretty much what I was gonna say. Building a show involves a lot of planning and decision-making, as well as a lot of rehearsal, since you're going to want to have a much more consistent script. Furthermore, I generally use the same props and effects in my closeup and parlor...

I've been using "Chrysalis" a lot lately. It's a Justin Miller thing where you change the color of one card, then the whole deck, then the box. It's extremely visual and logical and gets really great reactions. I like to use a version of "This, That and the Other" that ends on a blank card...

Could that be something resembling the paddle move? Like a big-move-covers-little-move swiveling type action? I guess you could do that with dice, but it seems tricky. It's sad that a lot of the good stuff gets lost between the words of poor descriptions in old magic books.

I just created my own, and I think that's what most people do if they want to bother at all.