Advice and Support for Magicians
PUNCH’d released this month from Abstract Effects and it promises to allow you to mark playing cards and instantly gaff borrowed decks in an easy to do, quick, and fool-proof way. But does it work? Is it an everyday carry?
Fiddinjonny takes a detailed look at the magic trick, the gimmick, it’s use and practicality.
Like his review? Checkout more of his magic trick reviews on his YouTube Channel
Interested in Punch’d? Visit go here for more information, more reviews and how to order: Punch’d
We recently received this question from one of our readers, Mike:
“There are so many different magic wallets on the market, that I don’t know which one to buy.
Actually, I mostly like the small wallets cause they look minimalist. I want to buy a wallet, which is easy to load with, for example a signed card
(card to wallet trick).
So the question is:
I hope to hear from you. Thanks you very much.”
Great question. Magic wallets have always been a fascinating topic for me; the idea that you can take an ordinary everyday object that looks completely nondescript and use it for the most incredible magic tricks is just amazing.
However at the same time, I appreciate that magic wallets aren’t cheap. Especially if you’re looking for quality.
What’s more, there’s A LOT of them. There’s almost too much choice when it comes to magic wallets; how do you even know where to start?
Today I’m going to give you the complete lowdown on purchasing your first magic wallet, depending on which effect you’re looking for.
Best Magic Wallet for Card to Wallet (Palming)
The classic versions of the card to wallet have always required palming, and it’s a solid choice if you know how to do it.
There are a lot of great wallets that accomplish the card to wallet effect using palming, but a tried and tested choice would be the Jerry O’Connell Plus Wallet.
This wallet isn’t cheap but it is often hailed as the ‘best magic wallet of all time’. It goes one step further than the majority of magic wallets out there in that not only does it enable you to load a signed card into your wallet, the signed card can appear within a sealed envelope inside the wallet.
This wallet also allows you to do more than card tricks as works with objects like signed coins or rings.
This leather wallet is really high quality and whilst the price point is higher than some of the others, anyone you ask will assure you that the wallet repays you time and time again within your performances.
Within your question, you mentioned that you wanted a smaller wallet that would easily pass as an everyday wallet. Luckily for you, the Jerry O’Connell Plus wallet comes in two sizes; you can buy either a Small or Large. The dimensions of the Small wallet are 150mm x 98mm and the Large sizes at 170mm x 100mm.
Real Mans Magic WalletIf you don’t have the funds for this wallet at the moment, you might want to consider the Real Man’s Wallet. It fits your requirements of being small and minimalist and the effect is great, but the price is much lower. I know a lot of magicians who vouch for this wallet and also use it for everyday use, so it’s another safe bet.
Best Magic Wallet for Card to Wallet (No Palming)
Palming is an absolutely vital skill for magicians, so I wouldn’t advise you to shy away from learning it. However, I understand that sometimes it’s just easier based on certain situations to have an option that doesn’t require such technical sleights.
Fortunately, there are plenty of magic wallets that don’t require palming. One of the most popular of these is the Mullica Wallet.
The Mullica Wallet lets you perform an incredible card to wallet effect with zero palming required. However, that doesn’t mean it’s sleight free! There are a few sleights you’ll want to know to get this trick working, but palming is not one of them.
You can check out this wallet here. In terms of pricing, it’s slightly cheaper than the previous wallet but not by much.
If you want to work up to a palming dependent method but start out easier, you could try the BMK Wallet. This wallet combines the methods used by three performers, Balducci, Mullica, and Kaps. There’s both a palm method and non palm method available.
However, some magicians have noted that the BKM wallet is perhaps a little too big for them; in that case you might be better using the Jerry O’Connell Plus Wallet I mentioned earlier as it also combines both palming and non palming methods.
Best Magic Wallet For Peeking
Wallets can also be used to great effect as a peeking device, and there’s plenty of products that offer this function.
My favorites are the Stealth Assassin Wallet and the Telethought wallet. Both of these are the perfect wallets for mentalists, but one is considerably cheaper than the other.
The Telethought Wallet
Imagine this: The magician presents an ordinary blank card and invites a spectator to write down ANY word they want on it. Once they’ve done so, the card is inserted face down into a wallet.
Despite the wallet staying in full view the whole time, the magician is able to reveal the exact word recorded on the card. This effect isn’t limited to words; the spectator could draw a picture or even write down a phone number!
Without revealing the method, it’s safe to say that this wallet utilizes an ingenious gimmick that is completely invisible to the spectator.
Like the others mentioned, this wallet is available in both Large and Small sizes (although the Small is considerably cheaper).
The Stealth Assassin Wallet.
The Stealth Assassin Wallet is a classy looking ‘Gentlemen’ style wallet that fits your hip pocket. It might not look quite like your everyday wallet but the effects that you are able to perform using it makes the unusual look definitely worth it.
In terms of size, whilst not as small as the other wallets mentioned, it isn’t overly large and can definitely pass as an everyday wallet.
This wallet uses a couple of different methods, including the wildly popular ‘Sight Unseen’ working, only within a wallet this time.
The Stealth Assassin Wallet is slightly harder to find online than the Telethought wallet but it is available at Magic Shop here.
Best Magic Wallet For Switching
Switch wallets make a great addition to packet trick routines; especially when you don’t want the audience examining your cards.
You perform your routine, and once you finish you pack the cards back into your wallet. Suddenly (but inevitably) a member of the audience starts clamoring to see the cards. With a sigh, you remove the cards from the wallet and let the audience inspect them for as long as they want. There’s nothing to see; you’ve already switched out the cards.
This one was a bit harder to come up with ideas for.
Why?
Well, the majority of magic wallets are designed primarily for either peeking or loading an object. Switching seems to be less of a priority and as a result there are fewer options on the market for it. However, there are a few solid products that are available to you; here’s my favorite.
Shogun Wallet
The Shogun Wallet is incredibly simple yet fooling. The wallet looks like a completely ordinary leather wallet but in fact enables you to switch out cards, packets, bank notes and pretty much anything you can imagine. The product description of this wallet describes it as ‘devious, yet innocent’, and I’d be inclined to agree.
All In One Wallets?
If you’ve been reading through this and feeling like you wanted a wallet that performed ALL of the features we’ve been discussing; card to wallet, peeking and switching, you might want to consider buying an all in one wallet.
Rather than spending hundreds on each individual wallet, you can buy a wallet like the Infinity Wallet that has a whole bunch of features packed into one wallet.
The Infinity Wallet is a multipurpose wallet that includes:
– Card to Wallet
– Peeking system
– Switching
– Multiple Outs
– Index System
That’s a lot of super useful features; in fact, this wallet alone would give you enough tricks for a full stage routine! I would definitely recommend this wallet for someone who wants a magic wallet but isn’t sure which type would suit them best.
You can have a play around with this one and get a feel for the different utilities; once you’ve spent a while performing with it you could go on to buy another wallet that specializes in the function you enjoy most.
For example, if you find whilst using this wallet that the card to wallet trick works wonders for you, you can come back and buy a specialist wallet for that very effect, such as the Jerry O’Connell one I mentioned earlier.
Finally, the original question also asked about forcing. Whilst there is not as many options for this, I did manage to find a wallet that looks like it could fit what you’re looking for in that regard here.
I hope you found this post useful in making your mind up on which wallet is best for you! Please feel free to follow up with any additional questions you have.
You may also find interesting:
The 6 best magic wallets reviewed
What’s the best magicians wallet for me?
TINT – Magic Review – Is It Any Good?
About the author: Benji is a hobbyist magician from the UK who also runs a magic site over at thedailymagician.com.
Andrew writes:
Hi guys, do you have any articles on which magic tricks professional magicians should use?
Hi Andrew,
I’ve written quite a few articles over the years that talk about which magic tricks I use myself, or that are recommended by other working magicians… But I’ve not made a specific list of material for professionals. After reading your question, I thought about why I hadn’t published anything on the subject.. I think it’s because of one main reason:
Almost ANY magic trick can be great material for a working magician. It depends on the performer, venues, audience, and the style of the act/set. To decide if a trick is suitable, we have to consider lots of factors about the performer and the situation.
A magician might perform for any of these audiences and the magic tricks presented will be different in each case. It might be the case that you perform in several different environments and for a range of different clients. If so, then you will need to build together collections of effects into sets for each set of demands.
Lets assume that the magician does close-up, performing in venues like bars, restaurants, and parties. Now that’s been narrowed down… It’s easier to examine some of the core features of magic tricks that make them good for professional use.
Before I start to point out ways to narrow down your selection of material, I need to point out that any trick can be a winner for professional performance.. IF it’s been worked on so that weak or impractical parts are ironed out and the magician can perform it in an entertaining way. It’s more about the showmanship and entertainment value from the performer, than the trick itself.
I know… It’s very strange, but most people in the world really don’t get excited about the idea of learning magic tricks.. They’re interested in being entertained and might want to find out the secret out of mild curiosity, but that’s about it. The fact that magic ‘reveal’ TV shows tend to get low ratings is proof of this. People want to be entertained by magic, rather than educated about it. Remember this when choosing which tricks to add to your set.
YOU ARE NOT THE SAME AS YOUR AUDIENCE. You might like a trick because of the method as much as the entertainment value of the effect. Its vital to pick tricks for their entertainment value above all else. When looking at new tricks try to put yourself into the mind of a none magician… Show a performance to a few none magicians and watch their reaction. If it’s entertaining and you think you could perform it well… it’s probably a great magic trick for professional use.
However.. Most tricks need some specific design aspects to make them easy and practical for working conditions:
So.. I put forward that ANY trick is a good choice for a professional IF it can be presented well. But there are some tricks that are much easier to perform professionally than others. These tend to be called ‘Workers’. There are a few features to look for when deciding if a new trick can be a worker. Most of these will already be designed into a trick before it comes to market, but a few will require some thought and effort from you to adapt your material to meet these needs. The most useful features include:
That’s why it’s hard to list which magic tricks are best for professional magicians. There are so many, and they depend a great deal on the individual performer and how they present the magic.
I could just list a few items that almost every working magician uses:
You can download a free tutorial for the Anniversary Waltz here
But… do you REALLY want to be a clone of everyone else? Pick a few unusual effects that you enjoy watching being performed. Make them workers with your presentation and some effort to perform them. You only stand out by working away from the crowd…
NEXT:
The first steps to becoming a professional magician
The 3 Best Openers for magicians
