The Most Difficult Magic Trick?

I am very excited about my upcoming appearance at Hollywood’s Famous Magic Castle. The Magic Castle, and specifically the Close-Up Gallery inside The Castle, may be the greatest venue any sleight-of-hand performer will get to play in their lifetime. While the history and layout of the room are a big part of the appeal, the real secret is the audience that visits nightly. The Magic Castle audience is both the easiest and most enthusiastic in the world for whom to perform magic, and also the most challenging.

The audiences at The Magic Castle are comprised of member magicians, non-magician members who have a deep love for the art, and real people who are attending as guests of member magicians. This creates a challenge for the performer. Most magicians “know it all” and are watching the show with a critical insider’s eye. Most of the real people and non-magician members are there to see amazing tricks and have a great time in this one of a kind clubhouse. The magicians want to see something they have never seen before, something that appeals to their specialized interests and values. The real person wants to feel magic.

My goal as a magician is to serve the interests of my audience, which is normally real people; but I do want the magicians to have a great time as well. While some of the magician members have no problem letting go and enjoying the show, there are always some tricksters, sitting with their arms crossed, that need to be impressed—and the best way to impress a magician is to show them something they know to be really hard to do. So, in an effort to please all of my audience, I have pulled out one of the most difficult pieces in the entire literature of card magic, and definitely the most difficult piece in my personal repertory, for the show.

The beginning of the piece is built on a little known, and even more seldom performed, sleight of hand technique to which I have dedicated several years of my life. The move is so difficult that one must practice it constantly in order to maintain proficiency and even then its use in the piece in question occurs under conditions challenging for the sleight-of-hand magician. It must be performed multiple times, each with perfect timing and precision.  

And the end of the trick—that may actually be even more difficult.

I have revisited this decision again and again. I think it is the smart choice to make. While part of me wanted to focus entirely on the many performance lessons and theories I have explored over the past two years, I do appreciate the chance to get this piece back under my fingers. I remember the first time I saw it performed—it was literally jaw dropping. I will confess that I am nervous. I always am when performing this piece, but I look forward to bringing it back into the public eye and hope that perhaps, my rendition, will give the gift of a dropped jaw or two.

Fingers crossed.

If you would like to see the show but are not going to be in Hollywood, you have two options:

I will be presenting the show at a local venue sometime prior to departing. Follow me on Facebook for details as they become available.

Or you could bring me to your house or office for a private showing at an exclusive pre-departure rate. Get in touch for a perfect evening of magic for you and your friends.