Magicians Performing Magic Tricks for the Blind or Visually Impaired

Magician has been set a challenge to perform magic tricks for a blind audience

Anton writes: Hey guys, firstly thanks again for the suggestions and advice you gave me regarding my gig at a Labyrinth/Fantasy themed wedding. My routine involving soap bubbles changing to contact juggling balls leading into an anniversary waltz effect with the King and Queen of Hearts initially revealed in the balls went down a storm and will certainly become a mainstay of my act.

Now, I’ve been presented with a challenge. A friend works for a local blind service veteran care home. The residents are of various ages and degrees of disability. All of them injured on active service in various conflicts from WWII to Northern Ireland, The Falklands, Iraq etc. Few of them are totally blind, but all are seriously visually impaired and some have hearing difficulties too. This doesn’t prevent them from leading active lives (my friend has recently led them in sessions of archery!) and they apparently all have a wicked sense of humour (they are ex service men and women after all).

I think you can probably guess my challenge. I’ve been asked whether I could devise a magical entertainment for them. I’ve given it some thought and have come to realise that 99% of close-up magic relies on the visual. Any ideas or thoughts for magic tricks for the blind and visually impaired would be most appreciated.

Hi Anton,

That certainly is a challenge! The team at MoM have performed magic for a few blind people if the past. More thought than you think is always necessary.

Magic tricks for the blind can’t have a strong visual aspect, unlike much of the magic that is performed today. Touch is what you have to concentrate on, also sometimes it really helps having someone around who the blind person trusts to verify everything is as it should be and you are just taking advantage.

Two tricks are causing a coin to flip on their hand (well actually in their cupped hands) and invisible touch, the invisible touch involves someone verifying nobody touched them, if the verification spectator is not trusted by the blind audience members then it can feel a little flat. You can use a M5 Kit and a magnetic coin to create the flip, what you could do is use a coin unique. Lay the ‘two’ coins on their hand, have them close it, nesting the coin unique and creating the vanish. Then ask them to cup their hands all around the coin to seal it away from you, make sure their hands are loosely cupped, not tightly. With the M5 you can cause that coin to flip inside their hands, you can wave over the coin to make it vanish at the end, although they will feel like it lifts up into the air really. With the M5 you also get a matchstick you can cause to stand up on their hand, they can lift it up a couple of inches and let it drop and it will land upright on their hand and when you remove the magnetic field it will drop down flat onto their hand.

For Invisible Touches you could check out Invisible Touch by Lior Manor, Touched by Morgan Strebler (This DVD has a LOT of ideas for this routine) or there is a PK Touch routine taught with the tutorial on Inner Circle by Yigal Mesika, this is extremely similar to Lior Manor’s routine.

It is also possible to do mental magic tricks for the blind, you could perform (with a bit of thought) Peter Turner’s Isabella’s Star where you tell the spectator their birthday, they would need to write something so this would maybe only work for the visually impaired as opposed to the 100% blind. You could also check out some of Fraser Parker’s work, something like Rose where you guess ( without a billet) someone’s name that has never been said before or written down anywhere.

It may seem like you are taking advantage, but I honestly reckon if you learned to steal a watch, you could get a great reaction from them if you managed to steal a watch or two, load it into an envelope in your pocket and hand it to them as a present. Here are some links you may find relevant:

M5 Kit
Coin Unique
Touched
Inner Circle
Isabella’s Star
Rose
Sponge by Jay Noblezada 
Watch Steal
Growing Ball

I hope this helps Anton, keep us up to date with how it goes!

Magic Tricks For A Wedding Speech – Recommended

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

John has been asked to perform some magic tricks for a wedding speech. He’s not sure what to do..

Hi Guys, I perform close up fairly often at weddings, but recently I have been asked to perform magic tricks for a wedding speech at my Granddaughter wedding. It will be performed at the Reception directly after the speeches, therefore at the top table, but for ALL the wedding guests. Obviously I want this to go well for both my Granddaughter and her Husband. I would really appreciate any advice you could give me regarding suitable effects, and presentation under this situation. Thanking you in advance, John.

Hi John,

We spoke on the phone earlier, I would be more than happy to help out with some sort of ideas for a presentation. Choosing the right magic tricks for a wedding speech depends on several factors:

How long are you performing for?

Do you perform magic, mentalism a mix of both?

Are you comedic or serious?

What are the guests going to be like? Do your families have riotous senses of humor or are would you definitely be airing on the side of caution?

I saw this presentation from another pro magician at a wedding where he was performing, he was best man at the wedding and this was his 8 minute set:

Nick Crown Magician

Obviously this cost a little bit of money and it doesn’t have to be that expensive a routine but it is worth looking at the structure of the routine, the pacing etc.

Here are some products I would suggest you check out, you could easily build a 5 – 8 minute set with these.

Too Hot To Handle (Drink Prediction) Then you could switch the can at the end of the effect (on the offbeat) and perform Healed and Sealed 2.0.

Ring Leader Ring of String Routine and finish with Ring Flight

Invisible Deck sent to the bride and groom in a sealed envelope, you then have the bride decide the suit and the groom the card value and you have a very strong, easy to do prediction

You could perform a Bank Night Routine with (Like Blank Night by John Archer) but instead of money you could say inside one envelope is a photo of them together. Each envelope they choose you cut/rip up or burn until there is one left, this of course is the only one with the photo in it. You can then perform Torn 2 Pieces by Shawn Farquhar with the photo leaving them with an impossible souvenir.

Here are some other magic tricks that are perfect for Wedding Couples

Anniversary Waltz by Doc Eason and Garrett Thomas
OCL by Ben Williams
Linko
Wishbone

I hope this helps John, please let us know if there is anything else we can do for you.

Ben Williams

Bicycle Playing Cards UK – Which Deck for Magicians?

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Bicycle Playing Cards UK Magicians Most Popular Deck of Playing Cards

Aum Thakore writes: ‘I only have one small problem. I don’t have good cards, but I’m planning to get some soon. I’ve seen many many deck reviews. Please tell me which deck should I buy?‘

Hi Aum. That’s a question we get asked so often at the magic shop. The Bicycle Playing Cards UK range is massive so it can be quite confusing to decide which deck of cards to use. However, the answer is actually very simple.

These are the playing cards that almost all magicians use every day :

That’s it, all you need! Bicycle Playing Cards UK Poker Size with either red or blue backs (red are the most popular) are the ‘standard’ playing card used by magicians all over the world.

There are a huge range of alternative decks, but those are mainly designed for collectors, or magicians wanting a different design for style or routine purposes. Some decks claim that they have a superior quality, card stock, cut, or finish, and you can pay a great deal of money for many ‘rare’ decks. However, for your card practice and performance, you really only need a normal poker size, air cushioned deck like the standard bicycle deck.

Collecting decks of cards is great fun, sometimes a valuable investment, and allows you to add style and showmanship to your performances, but that’s only just the icing on the cake, when it comes to learning magic. Pick up a a deck of Bicycle Playing Cards UK standard cards and start practising and performing right away. Spending time reading reviews isn’t magic practice, it’s just ‘shopping’, and it won’t make you a better performer. Forget about all the different decks that are on the market, it’s just a distraction..

Hope this helps you

Dominic Reyes