Magic Lessons #53 – Pencil Magic Trick
I believe that any starting magicians should first go back and study the old magic books and shows; there are so many great ideas that are hidden in the history of magic. One magician I’d suggest you look into is the legendary Dai Vernon.
I take no credit for any of the moves performed in this pencil magic trick, they are all originally found in Dai Vernon’s Chinese Matches magic trick. I choose to use the pencils rather than the matches as they are much more visible.
Magic Essential:
If performing magic interests you, I’d suggest you don’t pass over this pencil magic trick as you will learn great lessons and theory that you will encounter in other many other tricks.
The only technique you will need for the pencil magic trick is a simple sleight of hand that is easy to learn and implement. The use of pencils instead of matches makes this move even easier to do than the original.
One of the main themes in the pencil magic trick is the power of misdirection. The misdirection naturally draws your audience’s attention to a focus point of your choosing making it easier to do moves without your audience suspecting a thing.
Practice and Using Rhythm:
I suggest you practice this magic trick in front of a mirror with only one of the pencils, then once you are comfortable, move on to two pencils. You will notice while practicing that your eye is naturally drawn to the second pencil upon reveal. This resides in the audience’s attention and it only takes a split second and they don’t take notice of the ‘guilty’ hand. After practicing, you will realize how powerful this the pencil magic trick is and you will become more comfortable performing it without being subconscious that the audience knows what is going on.
Remember that counting as you perform this magic trick helps create a rhythm when performing the trick. You can also encourage the audience to count a long with you to add to the natural flow of the pencil magic trick.
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WHAT’S THIS PIN IT ? i JUST WANT TO SEE YOU DO MAGIC !!!.
Hey Carl,
If you are having problems viewing the video because of a conflict with Pinterest, you can try viewing the video directly here: https://player.vimeo.com/video/154813297
Hope that helps.
This has been one of my favorite tricks for years. It is easy, can be used with any matching small objects (I usually use balled up napkins) in almost any up close situation, and by adding a slight variation it is one of the few tricks I can comfortably repeat for the small audience. I create a story about trying to learn magic as a kid but never being able to get things to vanish. At a local magic shop the magician learns I have mistakenly been using magic words to get things to vanish, etc. and then he,explains that to do magic one has to learn to count to 10 (I use 10, not 8) rather than magic words. I explain that I then decide to study very hard and eventually learn to count to 10 when I am 12 years old. At this point I do the 1 to 10 count routine with both napkins showing up in my right hand. After that, I explain that the only problem is that I soon discover that the object always goes into my right hand, so I return to the magic shop where I explain my situation after which the magician explains that the napkin goes into my R hand because I am right handed and to get it into the left hand, I need to be an advanced magician, and to be an advanced magician, I have to learn to count backwards from 10. I am startled by the news but I explain to my audience that I then went back to school, studied very hard for a year and eventually learned to count backwards from 10 (obviously ridiculous, but it usually gets a laugh). In preparation for repeating the performance at this point, I start out clumsily counting backwards softly but out loud, pretending to have trouble going from 6 to 5. I laugh that counting backwards is still pretty difficult, and then perform the trick for the audience, counting backwards from 10 with the audience now watching closely for something to happen in my left hand which distracts them from the repeated false transfer in my right and which allows me to repeat the palm unnoticed. After completing the count and the audience notices that the two napkins fail to go into my left hand, but again show up in my right, I simply explain that I guess I am going to need more practice with the backwards counting, hand out the napkins for examination, and go on to another trick or change the conversation. It leaves the audience still surprised, and with a smile. It is not the cleverest story, but it has always worked for me.
Great, great great videos…fun and charming and I love showing them to my kids at school in our magic club.
Hello Julian and Ken, When I went to the Magic Castle back in the 80;s and met THE PROFESSOR he did this with two coins. Dia was such a great guy and a fine magician, Anyway well done and my kids will love it for sure.
Warm regards and say hello to Colette
Dan MacLellan aka: DIVINO
The best from Dia Vernon and you !