Routine this, close that

May 13, 2008
543
0
St Albans, UK
Hello there fellow magicians.

I have been working on my routine for several months now and have narrowed and focused the whole thing on several tricks.

However, i have encountered one particular problem...the dreaded closer. This has been discussed before but i have a couple of specific restrictions.

First of all, i am left with the four aces and the whole routine is designed to be done completely standing and only using people's grubby meat-hooks to hold any cards. Does anyone have any "mind-blowing!" four ace tricks that are done in the hands?

A couple of tricks that seem to work on paper are a four ace Triumph thing from a Paul Gordon book or Oz Pearlman/Zenneth Kok's visual twisting the aces + Hofzinser thing from Stealing Pips. But the latter doesn't really seem like a powerful enough closer and is more intimate. I have also already performed the Professor's Twisting the Aces so wouldn't want to go too crazy with the twisting plot.
If a table is available i would end with Poker Puzzle or Bannon's Beyond Fabulous but it is not so...

Any ideas?
 
May 13, 2008
543
0
St Albans, UK
Why would i end with an ace production? and how can i get into that while holding the four aces?

And think "closer" people! The deck can still be used so it doesnt have to be done with just the aces. My opener is also 2 CM so DD Last Trick would be too similar.

Sean, is the Professor's Travellers effect the one performed by Michael Ammar on YTube? It involves signed aces and pockets yes?

Thanks for the feedback guys and keep em coming.
 
Dec 23, 2007
1,579
4
36
Fredonia, NY
you could try an ambitous aces routine like kenners. or hoffzy osbourne. twisting the aces, any version or a david stone's ghost. even an invisible palm routine would be great with the proper presentation.
 
Sep 1, 2007
109
0
Personally, i like my closers to be something that makes it so that theres nothing else i can do; deck vanish, blank deck, so on. That way its a logical ending, theres nothing you can do after that.

So with that in mind, I would probably go for a deck switch to a blank deck with 3 indifferent cards in it...force them, then go into a collectors routine ending with a blank deck, explaining that magic is just part of our imagination or something.

Just make sure your ending is not only powerful, but obviously a conclusion to the routine.

Cheers,
Lucas
 

bd

Jun 26, 2008
584
2
San Francisco, California
I would consider using Travelling Aces / Invisible Palm as your closer. If it's fitting with the rest of your routine.

Other than that, maybe use a deck vanish, leaving the four aces - there are several methods to do this impromptu, all you need is a little misdirection, if you catch my drift.
 
Feb 1, 2009
24
0
I don't know if you use gimmicks, personally I don't, but if you do I think Panic would fit your situation, you could take the deck into your pocket and say we will try something with just the 4 aces, then "change your mind" and come back out with the gimmick, and it will seem like nothings changed, I also agree with what's been previously stated, a deck vanish is a very strong and logical way to end.

Hope that helps!

P.S. I don't actually own panic but I'm assuming it can be done with Aces as well as Kings.
 
Mar 22, 2009
22
0
London, UK
Dima,

If you give a more detailed description of your routine then it would probably be easier to give you some help with your big finale. Also you mentioned that your routine is done in your spectators' hands; what are the other general aims of the routine? Things like length, and the picture that you want your audience to remember?

It's always better to choose a closing effect for a routine based on what the audience sees, rather than thinking of a trick which just starts off where the last trick finished. So answers to the questions above would tend to help with choosing your closer.

Having said all that, my short answer to your question would just be to put the rest of the deck away into your pocket on the offbeat after you reveal the four aces. By doing this you're adding a kicker to your reveal of the aces, and providing a natural conclusion to your routine. (Though of course this might not be appropriate to the context of your routine..)

Ben
 
May 13, 2008
543
0
St Albans, UK
Basically, here it is:

2CardMonte - ends with two kings. Really something to pull the audience in and set a relaxing atmosphere for the both of us. Also helps to see what kind of spec i'm dealing with here.
Use the two kings for a sandwich routine that ends with the four aces, the kings are now gone. Very visual but light, a bit like eye candy before the more rounded tricks, also involves the specs.
Take the aces and warm them up with Dai Vernon's Twisting the Aces. Ends in spec's hands, visual, fun, simple.
Perform a Zenneth Kok inspired collectors routine and end with the four aces sandwiching the three selections.

Is the collectors routine enough to finish with perhaps? Thinking more about it i can see it as a decent closer but still not 100% confident.

The length would be around 10 minutes but is flexible and can either be cut down or presented in a lengthier manner. Up to the context really. Specs, time, place, interest...so on.

I would love to end with Open Travellers but since there is no table it does make it somewhat of a challenge. Hope this clears some stuff up.
 
May 13, 2008
543
0
St Albans, UK
Aye, that'd be the one. :) If you have the Classic Magic of Larry Jennings, he has an excellent version towards the back end of the book.

- Sean

I haven't unfortunately but it is on the wishlist. However I have just discovered a gem of a "Travellers inspired" trick in AF's Paper Engine so will devote some time to it and see if it works out.

Cheers for the help everyone.
 
Mar 22, 2009
22
0
London, UK
Basically, here it is:

2CardMonte - ends with two kings. Really something to pull the audience in and set a relaxing atmosphere for the both of us. Also helps to see what kind of spec i'm dealing with here.
Use the two kings for a sandwich routine that ends with the four aces, the kings are now gone. Very visual but light, a bit like eye candy before the more rounded tricks, also involves the specs.
Take the aces and warm them up with Dai Vernon's Twisting the Aces. Ends in spec's hands, visual, fun, simple.
Perform a Zenneth Kok inspired collectors routine and end with the four aces sandwiching the three selections.

Is the collectors routine enough to finish with perhaps? Thinking more about it i can see it as a decent closer but still not 100% confident.

The length would be around 10 minutes but is flexible and can either be cut down or presented in a lengthier manner. Up to the context really. Specs, time, place, interest...so on.

I would love to end with Open Travellers but since there is no table it does make it somewhat of a challenge. Hope this clears some stuff up.

The extra info definitely helps!

I think the routine you've described flows nicely and I don't really think you require any more than 4 effects (visual opener, then an effect to get a spectator involved, then a demonstration in your hands before the big finish). From the point of view of your spectator you have made 2 cards magically transform; a card magically appear between two cards; 4 cards turn over impossibly; so now the finish to the routine needs to be even more impossible.... does the Collectors plot satisfy that condition? I think it can.

The final effect in a routine depends more on the performance than the complexity of the trick, and so I'd be inclined to keep the routine to 4 tricks and make sure the last one plays big, like a real performance piece (preferably with a kicker at the end). I saw a good example of a collectors routine that plays big by Pit Hartling called Robin Hood, which I think was in his Little Green Lecture notes. That might be worth taking a look at.

So my opinion is that you can finish with the collectors plot, but then you should make use of the offbeat after the revelation of the 3 selections by introducing a kicker. Some examples of appropriate kickers are:
  • Making the rest of the deck disappear (just cop the deck on the offbeat)
  • Showing that the 3 selections have a different colour back to the rest of the deck (I think there is a trick by Darwin Ortiz called The Unholy Three that you could adapt to this situation)
  • Making the 3 selections disappear from between the Aces and appear in 3 pockets (Just be ballsy and palm the 3 cards out on the offbeat - it is relatively easy to make it look like you pull the 3 cards from different pockets!)

So I hope that is of some help to you. If you want help locating any of the effects I mentioned then just ask!

Best of luck,
Ben
 
May 13, 2008
543
0
St Albans, UK
So my opinion is that you can finish with the collectors plot, but then you should make use of the offbeat after the revelation of the 3 selections by introducing a kicker. Some examples of appropriate kickers are:
  • Making the rest of the deck disappear (just cop the deck on the offbeat)
  • Showing that the 3 selections have a different colour back to the rest of the deck (I think there is a trick by Darwin Ortiz called The Unholy Three that you could adapt to this situation)
  • Making the 3 selections disappear from between the Aces and appear in 3 pockets (Just be ballsy and palm the 3 cards out on the offbeat - it is relatively easy to make it look like you pull the 3 cards from different pockets!)

So I hope that is of some help to you. If you want help locating any of the effects I mentioned then just ask!

Best of luck,
Ben

I was thinking of a Collectors Edition sort of thing, its on Syd Segal's Simply Sydney DVD. He essentially repeats the effect under "test conditions" by placing the selections back into the deck (face up or down), then picks up the aces and suddenly changes them into the three selections. I have a cracking way of doing this but am not sure if its a strong enough kicker. I like the different colour backs but would have to sneak those in mid-performance, plus i like the impromptuness of whole routine so to speak. Thanks again gentlemen
 
May 8, 2008
1,081
0
Cumbria, UK
How about ending it with a dream of aces? Or some kind of Doc Daley's setup, followed by a figaro sequence (Zamiel's Rose-esque) with the remaining aces and a production of some sort, only to reveal the two aces on the table are actually the three pairs of their selected card. Sorry if this sounds a bit vague, I can see it in my mind. Just ask if you want me to elaborate a little more on the second idea.
 
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