Tricks and Trains

OK lets set the scene, I'm sat on the 2255 from London to Northampton, i'm starving, I had to work late. went straight from work to London to see my buddy and amazing magician from LA, Patrick Heitkam (we shall get to that story)

so i stayed an extra 10 minutes in the pub, leaving me with no other option but to embark in the dreaded late night tube station dash for the train, the kind where you don't really want to run as you would look like a bit of a tool, so you walk, fast, really fast, like a madman. Ok i rushed, i made it, hurray

Now the problem was, i missed dinner, come to think of it i missed lunch, I'm starving. No bother I'll have some toast when i get home, I thought. No dramas.

BUT THERE IS A DRAMA, the train is ramo and the couple sat opposite are eating Burger king, I can smell the deliciousness of the double whopper, i can see that brown bag I'm fully aware that inside that bag lie some delicious, warm slightly limp fries, probably at the perfect eating temperature, all salty mmmm,

Now, would it be wrong to dip my hand and grab a handful, would that be too far, too much?

Can it get any worse OH YES, the guy left HALF A BURGER WTF, there are starving kids in Africa, for the love of God, there is a staving Ashley's on this very train. SELFISH, I hate him.

Anyway, lets get onto the reason i have actually powered up my mac, I want to tell you about a magic trick!

Ok first let  me explain, its very rare for a Magician to be fooled, its so sad. You probably don't realise that a Magician will never get that feeling, the wonder, that all expenses trip back to childhood. (kinda sad really) The reason is, we know methods, we know tricks its just one of those things you sacrifice for being a Magician.

BUT tonight, Patrick Heitkam, my friend and bad ass Magician from LA, killed me. Here's how it went

Girl (Helen) thought of card

Girl cut deck ANYWHERE

Girl cut to HER THOUGHT OF AND NAMED CARD

he did not touch, did not alter, did not shuffle

Yes the deck was normal

Pure, delightful, powerful wonder!

Let me tell you right now, that trick, that feeling i had, that wonder, the sheer joy, was better then any deliciously wonderful burger.

ok thats it, another thought another blog

The Props

Ok, so the street entertainer needs the following in addition to an Act/Personality/Balls/Likability - Props!

This is the tale of 'getting the props'

Now let me start by saying magic props are EXPENSIVE, you are paying for not only the items themselves but your paying your doo's to the Creator/designer.

like anything you can buy on the cheap, there are many fakes out there. For me its like this, if you want to be the best chef in the world then your not going to show up in a kitchen with a set on knives that you have bought from the market place @ Ikea (dont get me wrong i love Ikea and all that it stands for, not to mention those delicious hot dogs and bite size Dime bars, now that's what im talking about!)

Your just not going to feel special, you are going to want the best knives out there and your going to love using them, you will use them with pride!

When you perform you want to feel like 'the shit,' like a pro. and the way to do that is have the best tools/props etc. They DO NOT make the performer BUT they make the performer feel great!

Now this project was about taking it back to basics, no big expensive illusions, it was about real magic for real people, it was about The Street, so in true street style i had to hustle to get my props, my list was simple as i already have an act, i just needed something extra special.

1) a set of cups, street cups, big rough, copper. I wanted cups made by UK street performer and sculptor Gary Animal (who works the streets of Stratford upon Avon)

2) A street wand, other wise known as a stick

3) A poachers pouch, made by the true master of street performing GAZZO (look this guy up if his name means nothing to you)

4) A tabletop

So, i collected together all the magic junk (and by that i mean tricks, which i have been tricked into buying) which i have never used or performed in.

*Side note - it makes me laugh after all the props that i have bought, just out of my love for the art and facination, all of the money that i have spent, I've managed to built a pretty good magic business out of a couple of decks of cards, a sharpie marker and some delicious sponge balls!)

**Young Magicians spend your money on magic books not trick decks, you will thank me one day**

So I got it all together and headed off to TheMagicCafe a wonderful forum for Magicians (my girlfriend calls it my magic porn lol) its a great place 'Magicians helping Magicians) anyway it was a great way to sell all of my stuff. After a while the sales were made and i have enough for my Gary Animal cups, i got a set of 'babes' the name of the cup i might add!!

Next i got a wonderful deal on a Gazzo pouch off a nice Magician who no longer performed on the street due to a disability, he did me an amazing deal on this very expensive item. I thank him very much.

The Wand/Stick was made by Tabman in the USA and made in cherry wood, in all honesty i think its too nice for the street so I'm going to get a drum stick and tape that bad boy up!

The Table is going to be made by a friend of mine 'Gadget' nice guy and pretty handy with the old wood work skills!

So I'm all set, and the best thing is Ive worked hard to use what i had to get something that i wanted (i think this is the way to go in todays harsh economic times, have a look through your magic draw, you may have something that someone will want!!!

Special mention, to street performer Peter WARDELL, his DVD 'CrowdPuller' is fantastic and I would advise anyone wanting to get into street magic to watch this, also GAZZO cups and balls DVD is great, I'm not one for being a clone so I'm working on my own patter but these DVD provide a great starting point for the performer.

One final special mention is for sideshow performer Jimmy talksalot, his writings have been an inspiration for me, again you can find this great guy all over YouTube, worth a watch, or even better if your stateside go watch him and throw some bucks in his hat!

Here you can see me and my Fantastic Gary Animal cups!

Until next time, take it easy, 291 readers of the blog, thats a really nice feeling, thought i was talking to myself!! lol

ps IM NOW ON TWITTER @tabletoptrixta follow me! (ive got a great comp coming soo to win something AMAZING from my buddy Jamie D Grant, there you have reason to follow on twitter and facebook!!

and also www.facebook.com/thetabletoptrixta (make sure you click the like button

acetabula et calculi

Firstly, Happy New Year to all who stumble across this blog, a special mention to friends from Themagiccafe!

As you can see in my pictures above, i was a very happy Magician this Christmas after finally receiving my AMAZING Cups which were made by the street performing legend Gary Animal, also a great street wand from Tabman in the USA. I have named this 'The Wand of Truth' i'm having some fun making people hold on to this when drunk and answer my questions!

 As a result of my projectstreetshow i've had the pleasure of researching, rehearsing and perfecting a Cups and balls routine. 

I have not yet taken the routine out on the streets but it is getting there and i'm set to hit London's South Bank early spring 2011 and then to St James street, Covent Garden Summer time!

The cups and balls is a classic performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. The effect known as acetabula et calculi was performed by Roman conjurers as far back as two thousand years ago.

The most widely performed version of the effect uses three cups and three small balls.

The magician makes the balls pass through the solid bottoms of the cups, jump from cup to cup, disappear from the cup and appear in other places, or vanish from various places and reappear under the cups (sometimes under the same cup), often ending with larger objects, like fruit, or even chicks or mice, appearing under the cups. 


A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic, including vanishes, appearances, transpositions and substitutions. Basic skills, such as misdirection,  manual dexterity, and audience management are also essential to most cups and balls routines.

As a result, mastery of the cups and balls is considered by many as the litmus test of a good magician.

Indeed the late magic authority, John Mullholland, wrote that no less a person than Harry Houdini had expressed the opinion that no one could be considered an accomplished magician until he had mastered the Cups and Balls.

Enjoy the pics and il try and get some videos up soon!

Keep on Keepin

Ash @ TheTableTopTrixta