First off I am gonna PIMP YO' SISTER!!! er.. my stuff.. The new Helter Shelter book is now for sale at Murphy's Magic Supplies. Tell yer fave magic shop you want them to order it.

Now I'll trade you. You make them order my crap, and I'll tell you something useful. Previously a reliable way to create your own custom printed playing cards was either a hassle or fairly expensive. You could order the custom FAK-O sheets. They are good for normal cards. If you are the stubborn bastard type like me who use nothing but Jumbo Index cards or for those of you who are insane and use Lo-Vision cards it might be a bit more challenging.

Recently I found a step by step way to make your own cards on Alt.Magic brought to you by Mr. Ray Haddad. It can now be found Here. It's good solid advice but time consuming. The price of shirt transfers has gone down a bit since then too. I recently found another good shortcut for custom cards I shall now share with you.

Purchase Shipping labels larger than a playing card. (3.5 x 2.5) If you are photoshop savvy and have a scanner yer good to go. First scan the packing label sheet and use it as a template so you know where to position the card graphic. Scan some playing cards and adjust them as needed. Position them properly within the label lines and PRINT THAT SUKAH!!

I hope you bought a deck of blank cards. (Cuz' real cards can be seen thru the thin labels. If in a pinch you can sand off the pips of an ace with fine grain sandpaper) Line up the label as best you can and slap it on the card. Cut around the edges and voila a custom card!! Wait, there's more...

It's gonna have a matte finish (Unless you buy gloss coat shipping labels) so you will also need to use the Krylon Gloss finish to make the surface shiny as well as seal the label on the card.

Let it dry and voila' custom printed playing cards!!

Hope yah have fun with that and don't forget: Nothing sez lovin' like a book about razor blades.

Bizzaro.

TOTALLY off topic...

My blog is worth $564.54.
How much is your blog worth?

Amusing regardless. More soon after the holidays.

Bizzaro.

Who's yer daddy?

A lot of magicians try to let a spectator perform an effect such as spectator cuts the aces. They feel this makes the helper the star... but let's think about this for a second. Ok sure the person helping will feel good for getting what you wanted right. A person who craves attention or power like a CEO or somesuch will prolly get off on being the center of attention for a moment or two. (A moment is three seconds long in case yah cared)

However in the real world a crowd watching a card handler/magician KNOWS that it was NOT the person doing the magic but the magician being clever enough to set up that instance of entertainment. Now some of the people out there who get easily freaked out by magic will believe anything but on the whole having someone else perform the motions just shows that the performers hands had nothing to do with it but still could accomplish miracles. Saying the spectator did it makes it less pompous.

Whatever gets us through the day hunh?

Bizzaro.

Amusing and worth reading.

That's all.

Bizzaro.

Can we Talk?


Ok so I just had a conversation with an old friend online... this goes to show just how much magic shows (Thru constant bombardment thru repeats) can still be effective and just how much exposure sites and TV shows don't hurt us on a whole.

The following story is true. Some of the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The typos however have been left in.

what is with davis blaine?
smappdooda: David
smappdooda: he's got a good marketing team why?
s: i love him
s: how does he levitate?
smappdooda: the balducci levitation and video editing
s: uh
s: but you can see him going up, and the people are so freaked out
s: you mean it's fake?
smappdooda: don't believe everything you see on TV.. especially by magicians.. ESPECIALLY unscrupulous ones
s: ....unscrupulous? David Blaine? But i love him! How can he be unscrupulous?
smappdooda: well ok magically unethical how's that?
s: ,,,,i am confused
smappdooda: He does a buncha stuff that you could ONLY do with money and a crew.. but I guess David Copperfield has been doing the same thing since the 80's
s: ok you know that one thing where the card the person picks is shoved through the glass and you have to cut the glass to get it? that freaked me out. Are you saying that his tricks are all crap?
smappdooda: well technically ALL magic tricks are crap heh. The methods are SO downright sneaky or dirty that we don't tell how they are done because it makes it go from neat experince to shitty trick
smappdooda: but if you like Blaine check THIS guy out http://www.youtube.com/watch.php?v=TxcOk85GCoc&search=japanese%20magic%20cyril%20takayama
smappdooda: he is the japanese version and BETTER
smappdooda: got a lot of videos of him in a list to the right
s: ok but seriously how does he levitate? can you just tell me?
smappdooda: sure he does a trick called the balducci levitation and then they edit the reaction sounds while he is lefted up on wires. That's all edited he gets the reaction by lifting up only a few inches using a sneaky method
smappdooda: yes the levitation is all edited and fake
s: what is the sneaky trick? does he use a cane or something?
s: err sneaky method
s: "he gets the reaction by lifting up only a few inches using a sneaky method"
smappdooda: it's a trick called the balducci levitation.. lemme see if I can find some footage of it to show you hold on..
s: i know, i googled it, but do you know how they do it?
smappdooda: yah I can do it
s: then tell me how please
smappdooda: well have you seen a video of it yet?
smappdooda: http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/Stage/7308/balducci.html#Solution
smappdooda: there yah go thaz the levitation he gets the reaction with
s: oh.
s: wow ok.
s: pretty cool trick
s: there is a place that charges $20 for a dvd to learn that
s: so i owe ya
s: now what about the card and glass thing?

So yes I told her how it was done. (But not the card glass thing. Yer penetration frames are still safe.) Obviously not that big a loss.. you know how many people expose that trick on the internet? I tend to feel a bit annoyed when asked about the Asshat's levitation. I feel it was a cheap way to go about things and have no problem debunking it. (Not like I am the only one.)

Now up there I am sure you noticed a weblink up there to a japanese magician named Cyril. He does the same stuff Blaine does. Preset up props, stuff you could only do on TV, or have the money to build for TV. (Mind you upon reflection Copperfield has been doing this for some time but these guys take it to the EXTREME) Cyril does something different from Blaine.. he smiles... kidding. He seems to enjoy what he is doing and has style.. maybe even a personality if I could understand japanese.

So what did we learn today bois and gurls? The Asshat is forever engrained into society like the giants he stands upon. Henning, Copperfield, Houdini, and many MANY others. There is no way to avoid it, but let's face it.... if you had a TV special you'd do it too.

Birds do it, bees do it.. let's do it...

Let's do a card trick.

Bizzaro.