The Any Card At Any Number Myth
This isn't a card trick, this is a close-up card miracle. Odds are you haven't seen this effect performed and if you have, it doesn't FEEL like a miracle. There's not even a handful of people that I've seen accomplish this in a clean manner.
I performed this twice in the last few days to make sure it wasn't just a fluke. I'm willing to perform it again and get it on camera if possible, but there's no guarantee.
The effect is this: a participant is given a deck of cards and asked to think of a card. They hold their hand over the deck until a number comes to mind for a reason they can't explain. They deal through the deck FACE-UP until they reach the number they chose. THEY are holding the deck during this. THEY turn over the last card and it is the card they were thinking of.
It all comes down to one last Impossible Thing. This has been quite the journey and ended up taking much longer than I anticipated. I actually began performing the Seventh Impossible Thing back in March, but wanted to find the right venue before I made it official.
Thanks for reading, hopefully I get to perform something Impossible with you one day soon,
Steve
Next Public Performance
Saturday, December 20th
8-Midnite
MotorCity Casino in front of the Strut Bar
Monday, December 15, 2014
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Upcoming MotorCity Casino Performances
Free for YOU and open to the public.
PULSE STOPPING ENTERTAINMENT
CARD FEATS PERFORMED IN A VOLUNTEER'S HANDS
PREDICTIONS OF THE FUTURE
MINDS READ AND FORTUNES TOLD
METAL BENDS ON ITS OWN
AND MORE
October 24th (Halloween Edition) from 6-10 p.m.
November 7th from 6-10 p.m.
November 15th from 8 p.m. until midnite
ALL AVAILABLE INSIDE THE MOTORCITY CASINO IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT
ASK FOR THE STRUT BAR INSIDE THE CASINO
PULSE STOPPING ENTERTAINMENT
CARD FEATS PERFORMED IN A VOLUNTEER'S HANDS
PREDICTIONS OF THE FUTURE
MINDS READ AND FORTUNES TOLD
METAL BENDS ON ITS OWN
AND MORE
October 24th (Halloween Edition) from 6-10 p.m.
November 7th from 6-10 p.m.
November 15th from 8 p.m. until midnite
ALL AVAILABLE INSIDE THE MOTORCITY CASINO IN DOWNTOWN DETROIT
ASK FOR THE STRUT BAR INSIDE THE CASINO
Monday, June 30, 2014
#MagicMonday Video - Signs
I was suffering through some cabin fever during our recent harsh winter, so I decided to go over some people's houses and ask them to record magic videos with me. What you see is first takes of magic that is so impromptu that there wasn't even a camera person. Instead, I handed my cellphone to whoever was nearby to record what was about to take place.
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
Random Acts of Art #2 - Beck
I don't mean to tell you what art is or even what is artistic. I only plan on showing you a few of my inspirations, some may not technically even be "art." Many of them won't be considered art by everyone, however, I share these things for a few reasons, not all of which I'll explain.
Art can inspire, connect, and enlighten.
Let's continue:
Sound and Vision
If you've followed me or my blog for any decent amount of time you'll already know that I'm a huge Beck fan. Beck is coming to Detroit for the first time in nine years, so in celebration, my next Random Acts of Art post is about The Beck. I have a pretty major list of things that I would consider artistic that involved Beck, but I'm hoping to narrow down a few of them into this one blog post and have him be involved a little less in the other posts.
Beck's cover/reimagining of David Bowie's Sound and Vision is an incredibly ambitious project. I would have loved to be around for the development of this concept. Before I fall into a terrible tangent of how insanely creative Beck is, I think I'll just let you watch what I'm talking about. This performance includes over 160 musicians of all kinds (including a yodeler.) It also features a stage ...or an audience...that spins so that you are constantly moving through the music. They recorded the entire thing with some microphones and video cameras that were set up specifically for this performance so that you can go online and actually hear how the song would have sounded from each seat in the auditorium, you can even use your webcam to move your head and the sound moves with it! I'm told you should listen to it in headphones to get the full sound. Anyway, here's the video:
Also, here's a very quick Behind the Scenes that shows the rotating stages and the camera set-ups:
Shortly after that Beck went an entirely different route by releasing an album of sheet music. None of the songs had been recorded and each song was a sort of "bare bones" take so that people could inject their own personality into the music and really make it their own.
These are the sort of ideas that I love; taking things from the past and adjusting them for the present, helping people see something normal in a different way, bringing people into the experience as an active participant. The past holds so many ideas and actions that can be very beautiful in our "hands-free" society. For those that are looking for a playlist for their day, here's my ever changing playlist of the songs from Beck's "Song Reader" sheet music album:
Art can inspire, connect, and enlighten.
Let's continue:
Sound and Vision
If you've followed me or my blog for any decent amount of time you'll already know that I'm a huge Beck fan. Beck is coming to Detroit for the first time in nine years, so in celebration, my next Random Acts of Art post is about The Beck. I have a pretty major list of things that I would consider artistic that involved Beck, but I'm hoping to narrow down a few of them into this one blog post and have him be involved a little less in the other posts.
Beck's cover/reimagining of David Bowie's Sound and Vision is an incredibly ambitious project. I would have loved to be around for the development of this concept. Before I fall into a terrible tangent of how insanely creative Beck is, I think I'll just let you watch what I'm talking about. This performance includes over 160 musicians of all kinds (including a yodeler.) It also features a stage ...or an audience...that spins so that you are constantly moving through the music. They recorded the entire thing with some microphones and video cameras that were set up specifically for this performance so that you can go online and actually hear how the song would have sounded from each seat in the auditorium, you can even use your webcam to move your head and the sound moves with it! I'm told you should listen to it in headphones to get the full sound. Anyway, here's the video:
Also, here's a very quick Behind the Scenes that shows the rotating stages and the camera set-ups:
Shortly after that Beck went an entirely different route by releasing an album of sheet music. None of the songs had been recorded and each song was a sort of "bare bones" take so that people could inject their own personality into the music and really make it their own.
These are the sort of ideas that I love; taking things from the past and adjusting them for the present, helping people see something normal in a different way, bringing people into the experience as an active participant. The past holds so many ideas and actions that can be very beautiful in our "hands-free" society. For those that are looking for a playlist for their day, here's my ever changing playlist of the songs from Beck's "Song Reader" sheet music album:
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Random Acts of Art #1 - OK GO
When I was younger I thought that art was poetry, drawing, painting, or sculpting. I could draw things very well. People recognized the things that I was drawing. I was an artist. However, I didn't understand people that could stare at a painting in a museum for more than a couple minutes. What were they looking at? The brush strokes? The details? Some of these paintings didn't even have many details. Then there was those "weird people" that would be doing some random act that seemed to have no meaning and call it "art."
As I got older I began to understand. In fact, it was perhaps only even a few years ago. Not only that, but I started to see art beyond just rhyming words and having people recognize your sketches. I even started to FEEL something while watching someone do a "random act." I took a meaning out of it, sometimes a few meanings. Not only did I understand that the performer was trying to say something, but I felt that I understood what that artist was trying to say. Sometimes I had multiple ideas of what they meant and sometimes my opinions changed when I saw or thought about it again later. The act seemed to change with me and reflect what I was going through. It was as if the artist was telling me a secret, something only the two of us had gone through. Perhaps other people went through something similar, but only YOU went through the same thing.
I don't mean to tell you what art is or even what is artistic. I only plan on showing you a few of my inspirations, some may not technically even be "art." Many of them won't be considered art by everyone, however, I share these things for a few reasons, not all of which I'll explain.
Art can inspire, connect, and enlighten.
Let's begin.
The Writing's on the Wall
I originally planned on writing about something completely different than this, that is until I saw the new OK GO music video. I actually plan on writing about OK GO in a later post, but this was too cool to pass up, plus everyone likes something NEW! Here's the video if you haven't yet seen it.
I have a sort of love/hate relationship with music, mostly a loving relationship though. Music is this invisible force that can travel through space to affect multiple people all at once. It's just not even fair sometimes! Music often receives instant recognition from people as a beautiful talent and an emotional experience. It is, that's just that. It IS an amazing and beautiful talent. With that said, you'll have to do more than just sing nicely to make my Random Acts list. OK GO, however, does so much more than just play nice music.
The thing that I found while watching this video was that the music, at first, was secondary to everything going on. Each visual piece of art in the music video was pretty awesome and took much of my attention. I noticed the music and definitely thought it was nice, but I wasn't fully aware of the message. It seemed pretty upbeat and I liked it, that was about the extent of my thoughts. However, about halfway through the song I read the "I think I understand you, but I don't" message and my thoughts begin to shift. I instantly start to recall past moments in my life, a past relationship, where things were starting to unravel. Suddenly a clever video has caused me to relive a moment, something that feels like a life-time ago. I find myself much more aware of the lyrics as the second half of the video plays.
I don't want to write everything I thought during the video and the song, but I'd love to strike up a conversation in the comments, on Twitter, or on Facebook.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share the blog or check out some of the things I do. I have new videos coming each Monday (#MagicMonday)
- Steve
As I got older I began to understand. In fact, it was perhaps only even a few years ago. Not only that, but I started to see art beyond just rhyming words and having people recognize your sketches. I even started to FEEL something while watching someone do a "random act." I took a meaning out of it, sometimes a few meanings. Not only did I understand that the performer was trying to say something, but I felt that I understood what that artist was trying to say. Sometimes I had multiple ideas of what they meant and sometimes my opinions changed when I saw or thought about it again later. The act seemed to change with me and reflect what I was going through. It was as if the artist was telling me a secret, something only the two of us had gone through. Perhaps other people went through something similar, but only YOU went through the same thing.
I don't mean to tell you what art is or even what is artistic. I only plan on showing you a few of my inspirations, some may not technically even be "art." Many of them won't be considered art by everyone, however, I share these things for a few reasons, not all of which I'll explain.
Art can inspire, connect, and enlighten.
Let's begin.
The Writing's on the Wall
I originally planned on writing about something completely different than this, that is until I saw the new OK GO music video. I actually plan on writing about OK GO in a later post, but this was too cool to pass up, plus everyone likes something NEW! Here's the video if you haven't yet seen it.
I have a sort of love/hate relationship with music, mostly a loving relationship though. Music is this invisible force that can travel through space to affect multiple people all at once. It's just not even fair sometimes! Music often receives instant recognition from people as a beautiful talent and an emotional experience. It is, that's just that. It IS an amazing and beautiful talent. With that said, you'll have to do more than just sing nicely to make my Random Acts list. OK GO, however, does so much more than just play nice music.
The thing that I found while watching this video was that the music, at first, was secondary to everything going on. Each visual piece of art in the music video was pretty awesome and took much of my attention. I noticed the music and definitely thought it was nice, but I wasn't fully aware of the message. It seemed pretty upbeat and I liked it, that was about the extent of my thoughts. However, about halfway through the song I read the "I think I understand you, but I don't" message and my thoughts begin to shift. I instantly start to recall past moments in my life, a past relationship, where things were starting to unravel. Suddenly a clever video has caused me to relive a moment, something that feels like a life-time ago. I find myself much more aware of the lyrics as the second half of the video plays.
I don't want to write everything I thought during the video and the song, but I'd love to strike up a conversation in the comments, on Twitter, or on Facebook.
Thank you for reading. Feel free to share the blog or check out some of the things I do. I have new videos coming each Monday (#MagicMonday)
- Steve
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Subconscious Analysis and Reprogramming
I am a Gold Certified S.A.R. Technician.
S.A.R. is Subconscious Analysis and Reprogramming. S.A.R. is a system in which you directly communicate to the subconscious mind by analzying doodles that the client draws during a session. The system can create dramatic personal changes that will benefit you in countless ways.
This simple and powerful technology has the ability to improve your self image, create more confidence, release negative patterns, and focus your mind towards positive and supportive actions and goals.
S.A.R. is Subconscious Analysis and Reprogramming. S.A.R. is a system in which you directly communicate to the subconscious mind by analzying doodles that the client draws during a session. The system can create dramatic personal changes that will benefit you in countless ways.
This simple and powerful technology has the ability to improve your self image, create more confidence, release negative patterns, and focus your mind towards positive and supportive actions and goals.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
April Secret Show
We lied.
The website was unable to give advance notice on the April Secret Show and apologizes for that. Steve, however, had no idea what he was in store for back on April 19th either.
While walking through Greektown in Detroit, Steve was approached by someone who would end up being his "Hype Man" for the next two hours. The two walked from Greektown to Comerica Park before a Tigers baseball game, while Steve performed some classics and a lot of new material.
"Do you believe in magic?! See the best magician in the world, better than David Blaine AND Houdini COMBINED!" - Vido the Hype Man
Steve's next performance is tomorrow at Greektown Casino, but is unfortunately not open to the public. He will be performing three back to back performances that include some suggestion/influence, mind reading, and silverware bending. He has been in talks to walk around downtown between 4-6 p.m., however, and possibly record some more new videos.
The website was unable to give advance notice on the April Secret Show and apologizes for that. Steve, however, had no idea what he was in store for back on April 19th either.
While walking through Greektown in Detroit, Steve was approached by someone who would end up being his "Hype Man" for the next two hours. The two walked from Greektown to Comerica Park before a Tigers baseball game, while Steve performed some classics and a lot of new material.
"Do you believe in magic?! See the best magician in the world, better than David Blaine AND Houdini COMBINED!" - Vido the Hype Man
Steve's next performance is tomorrow at Greektown Casino, but is unfortunately not open to the public. He will be performing three back to back performances that include some suggestion/influence, mind reading, and silverware bending. He has been in talks to walk around downtown between 4-6 p.m., however, and possibly record some more new videos.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Fourth Impossible Thing: Weather Change
It was originally called a "Bonus" instead of one of the official "Impossible Things", but with the news of Detroit breaking its largest snowfall record set 133 years ago by 1.2 inches; we can't help but upgrade it to the Fourth Impossible Thing.
Back in November and December "Steve, The Amazing" changed the weather in Michigan four times by request, at one point causing it to snow for an entire week in Frankenmuth when the weather called for no precipitation just days before.
Steve had also been warning people since January that it was going to snow in mid April, much to the chagrin of anyone that heard this prediction, as they had plenty of snow already.
Ironically, it's a very HOT debate whether the record would have been broken without one of those four weather changes at the start of the season. Some think that's why the weather change wasn't called an Impossible Thing in the first place...
Back in November and December "Steve, The Amazing" changed the weather in Michigan four times by request, at one point causing it to snow for an entire week in Frankenmuth when the weather called for no precipitation just days before.
Steve had also been warning people since January that it was going to snow in mid April, much to the chagrin of anyone that heard this prediction, as they had plenty of snow already.
Ironically, it's a very HOT debate whether the record would have been broken without one of those four weather changes at the start of the season. Some think that's why the weather change wasn't called an Impossible Thing in the first place...
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
welcome to TheUsedMagician.com
Welcome to the official website of "Steve, The Amazing"
Steve has been performing magic for over 15 years and specializes in a fun, engaging, and close-up performance style. Having begun by performing at his family's birthday parties and Christmas parties, "Steve, The Amazing" has now performed throughout America in multiple performance situations for an incredibly wide range of ages. His past accomplishments are an array of impossible feats that very few people can lay claim to including:
- Predicting the Los Angeles Kings to win the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals A YEAR IN ADVANCE on this very website!
- Made iPads appear at a corporate function to be handed out to over two dozen people
- stopped his pulse and the pulse of a participant (verified by two other guests)
- has read minds in every situation, whether online or in person
- Predicted the winner of the National League Championship three months in advance on Facebook
- and even has changed the weather by request MULTIPLE times!
Steve is currently in the middle of his "Seven Impossible Things" tour where he looks to add to this list of accomplishments.
You can read more about "Steve, The Amazing" in the social section of the website or at the Facebook Fan Page at www.Facebook.com/SteveTheAmazing
To book a show or learn more about the types of performances offered; click on the Booking tab or just send an email to admin@TheUsedMagician.com
Steve has been performing magic for over 15 years and specializes in a fun, engaging, and close-up performance style. Having begun by performing at his family's birthday parties and Christmas parties, "Steve, The Amazing" has now performed throughout America in multiple performance situations for an incredibly wide range of ages. His past accomplishments are an array of impossible feats that very few people can lay claim to including:
- Predicting the Los Angeles Kings to win the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals A YEAR IN ADVANCE on this very website!
- Made iPads appear at a corporate function to be handed out to over two dozen people
- stopped his pulse and the pulse of a participant (verified by two other guests)
- has read minds in every situation, whether online or in person
- Predicted the winner of the National League Championship three months in advance on Facebook
- and even has changed the weather by request MULTIPLE times!
Steve is currently in the middle of his "Seven Impossible Things" tour where he looks to add to this list of accomplishments.
You can read more about "Steve, The Amazing" in the social section of the website or at the Facebook Fan Page at www.Facebook.com/SteveTheAmazing
To book a show or learn more about the types of performances offered; click on the Booking tab or just send an email to admin@TheUsedMagician.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
March Secret Show!
We've said it plenty of times before; the Secret Show can happen ANYWHERE! Not only can it happen anywhere, but also at ANY TIME!
Barely weeks after the February Secret Show we've already had word that Steve performed another FULLY IMPROMPTU set at a coffee shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He performed with no props of his own other than a permanent marker that he used to write on a nearby menu. He named memories that no one spoke about, locations only thought of, and names that were never written down. It was a completely different set than the 2 hours he performed a few weeks ago with practically nothing repeated from that event.
Rumor has it that an upcoming "Impossible Thing" was performed for the first time this weekend.
TheUsedMagician.com hopes to have advance notice on April's Secret Show and will keep you up to date.
For those of you who don't know: The Secret Show is a free magic show that "Steve, The Amazing" performs once a month at a random location to anyone nearby. As you've already read, the event can happen anywhere at any time. Steve has taken the Secret Show to:
Houston, Texas
New York City
Frankenmuth, Michigan
Windsor, Ontatio
Vinton, Louisiana
A rest stop in Pennsylvania
Chicago, Illinois
St. Louis, Missouri
Indianapolis, Indiana
Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan
Dallas, Texas
Barely weeks after the February Secret Show we've already had word that Steve performed another FULLY IMPROMPTU set at a coffee shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He performed with no props of his own other than a permanent marker that he used to write on a nearby menu. He named memories that no one spoke about, locations only thought of, and names that were never written down. It was a completely different set than the 2 hours he performed a few weeks ago with practically nothing repeated from that event.
Rumor has it that an upcoming "Impossible Thing" was performed for the first time this weekend.
TheUsedMagician.com hopes to have advance notice on April's Secret Show and will keep you up to date.
For those of you who don't know: The Secret Show is a free magic show that "Steve, The Amazing" performs once a month at a random location to anyone nearby. As you've already read, the event can happen anywhere at any time. Steve has taken the Secret Show to:
Houston, Texas
New York City
Frankenmuth, Michigan
Windsor, Ontatio
Vinton, Louisiana
A rest stop in Pennsylvania
Chicago, Illinois
St. Louis, Missouri
Indianapolis, Indiana
Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan
Dallas, Texas
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
February Secret Show
As many of you have already heard, I did a huge impromptu secret show last week. I was asked by four people to guess the card they were thinking of (sorry to those of you who bet against me, the money went towards the tip though!) I also bent some heavy duty silverware that was laying around the cigar house, made people's cards vanish while they held the deck, caused the entire deck to go back in order while shuffling it, was asked to reveal a PIN code, and used a 100 year old mind reading technique to name the three digit number someone was thinking of. All in all it was a blast, but I want to perform more often. If you mention this blog post any time over the next seven days I'll work out a discount to perform a show for you. Thanks for reading. Make some noise in the comments or on facebook.
- Steve
admin@TheUsedMagician.com
www.Facebook.com/SteveTheAmazing
www.YouTube.com/TheUsedMagician
www.GigSalad.com/Steve_The_Amazing_Trenton
- Steve
admin@TheUsedMagician.com
www.Facebook.com/SteveTheAmazing
www.YouTube.com/TheUsedMagician
www.GigSalad.com/Steve_The_Amazing_Trenton
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Inspiration
A huge inspiration of mine is the musician Beck. Even though I wouldn't consider myself a musician, I still find the parallels between his musical experimentation and the experimentation I do with my magic. It took a lot of work, but I had the honor to actually meet my idol last August and perform one of my favorite card effects to him, Binki Shapiro, and some of his crew.
Almost ten years ago now, Beck had a few year run with the same backing band. They started to experiment with their songs seeing how they could play them in different locations, using other people's sound equipment, etc. They also tried to see how they could play songs from the album with a variety of different "instruments." I saw an "unplugged" VH1 special where they're playing songs using credit cards, Speak N' Spell machines, a banged up trash can, and even a fully set dinner table!
I take inspiration from wherever I can, but it seems to come first and foremost from Beck, even before most of my magic mentors. Beck continued on over the next few years by revisiting some of his old styles, recording a bunch of quick "garage band" like tracks for the Scott Pilgrim soundtrack and one of my absolute favorite things; getting a random assortment of musicians together to cover a full album in 24 hours. That struck my imagination so greatly. I constantly looked to it for inspiration for my own projects, wondering if I could get a group together, or attempt a 24 hour magic session, or just bust into someone's house with a camera and ask them to record a routine. At the very least it spurred on my website as I branched out for more content to put on it.
Beck's creativity went beyond just his music. His 2006 album had no cover art, but instead gave you a sheet of stickers to make your own. That album also came with a homemade music video for EVERY song on the album! Though he seems to be getting down to exploring music itself now. He seems to be simultaneously exploring the old and breaking music down to it's bare essentials while pushing for what else a song can turn into. He released a full album of sheet music with no recordings, he began exploring some of his early songs in concert and reimagining them with a full band, and he made music a 360 degree event as he covered Sound and Vision with well over 100 other musicians with a rotating audience! More recently he took 3-5 minute long songs and let them breath, seeing what they would sound like if they didn't have to fit into a three minute space and instead could occupy 15-30 minute time frames.
I've been affected not just by his music, but his personal style as well. I've had haircuts modelled after his, I've made jackets that are based on things I've seen him wear, and I had a time period that I really liked fedoras as well! I even got some notoriety from MTV when I "covered" one of his sheet music songs using a card magic effect.
Beck has a new album coming out in less than two weeks. The theme of it seems to be going back to a time in your life and seeing how you've changed. Beck takes his band from 2002's Sea Change and revisits that type of album, but after years apart and even a large break from making music. Not to mention that Sea Change was an album of heartbreak and now he's a father of two and been married some years now. I'm also eager to see how the last six years of experimentation will affect the songs.
I find myself in a similar situation, as I love to occasionally look back at where I've been, but I've also gone back and explored some of the earlier effects I've performed or even ones I essentially threw away in my youth. I am looking at routines I've done for years and trying to find new ways to do them. Not just new ways to say things, but looking for ways to perform in any situation with whatever happens to be around me. Asking questions like "What if I remove this part of the effect entirely?" Looking for ways to do effects without me touching the cards or things that don't involve cards at all. This sort of experimentation has lead to me performing some of my wildest and most personal effects.
I am looking forward to challenges as well as performing in new situations. One thing I really hope to do is to perform Mind Reading on Skype with anyone looking for a chat (@SteveTheAmazing.) There's no sleight of hand that can be employed during a Skype chat where two people aren't physically in the room together. I want to be interviewed on a podcast or a radio show, I want to be given someone else's deck of cards, I want to do things that no one else can accomplish, I want to be able to do something at any given moment, and I want to positively impact the people I perform with. I think I am there.
I've felt and realized now more than ever that YOU are the extra factor. YOU are my support band. And YOU are what makes all of this so much more interesting.
No matter what art you enjoy, I sense that there are plenty of exciting things ahead for us all.
- Steve.
LINKS:
part one of the VH1 Unplugged
Full Record Club INXS performance
Beck Reimagining David Bowie's Sound and Vision
Beck's Official Website
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