What do you perform for lay people? I get asked this question all the time, I think the reason is because people want to know how many Paper Crane effects I perform on a regular basis . Well here is my list of effects in no particular order.

1. Universal Impression by Bsmith- without a doubt the best closer I can think of and I know there’s at least another magician out there that feels the same.

2. Ambitious Card/Card to mouth- I do a lot of mentalism and I throw this in there to show that I can be playful too. I remember once a lady staring me in the face talking to me while I had the card in my mouth it took her about 10 seconds to realize it and she did she collapsed.

3. Ring Thing by Garett Thomas- This is one of the top ten close up effects ever created, I never get tired of performing this effect.

4. Dunn’s Deal by Shaun Dunn- My handling of Out Of This World from Paul Harris’s True Astonishment set.

5. Crazy Mans Handcuffs- I usually do this with girls hair ties, an idea I got from Dan Hauss.

6. Spin by Matt Sconce- We released this late last year and it has been explosive. Why wouldn’t I do this it is an extremely visual impromptu miracle with thousands of borrowed objects. Read the reviews people say more than anything it looks like real magic and it feels like you are doing real magic.

7. Book Test- I do an unreleased impromptu version that uses a borrowed book.

8. Pop culture knowledge, and being a 30 second expert on a large variety of subjects- Not only should a magician be able to do a lot of really cool stuff, they should appear to know a lot of cool and interesting things. I don’t know about you but for me magic is just accompaniment to my personality. The two work together to provide a more enjoyable experience for the person I am meeting.

I have heard the term rehash thrown around a lot among magicians. Somebody develops a new twist on a sandwich routine and the effects merit is dismissed because it is just “rehashing old ideas”. To a certain point I agree, I mean who wants to see yet another sandwich effect or someone’s take on the ambitious card plot. So the temptation is to break new ground, forget about the old plots and focus on all of this wonderful new technology that surrounds us.

Today I looked through the entire inventory of Fun Inc. and was surprised at how many ideas I had based on old forgotten effects of the past. I discovered new ways to look at old effects, new uses for old gimmicks and a bunch of stuff I never heard of and I thought I knew it all. So I have set up a plan for myself. A magic plan; a plan to rediscover the great effects of the pre Blaine era of magic. I’m going to be looking at the old books, old magazines, old marketed trick heck I’m even going to talk to old people. I hope you join me on this magical mystery tour it should be fun.