Letter

From the
Editor
Vol. 1, Issue 12 Jan 2018
Amateur Magic Monthly

PUBLISHER & EDITOR Andy Mom...

ASSISTANT EDITOR Michael Sullivan
PHOTOGRAPHER Andrew Costello It’s over.
JAMM Muse is Amber
I can’t believe it’s over.

I can’t believe Mr. Mittens’ life is over.

CONTENTS
I’m sorry. I’m so, so, so sorry.

I’m sorry he’s dead.

And I’m sorry you had to be the one to

Magic Book.............................................3 find him there on the ground, struggling
for his final breath.
The Immortal....................................... 10
And I’m sorry I never really got to
know him the way I should. To me he
Change ...................................................15 was always just “Mr. Mittens.” Maybe
sometimes Gerald Mittens, if I was filling
out a form or something. But never just
“Gerry.” Gerry, my stepfather of 30 years.
The truth is I never opened up to him,
nor he to me. We didn’t have too many
interactions beyond him saying, “Why
are you rubbing my belly,” and, “Stop
rubbing my belly.” And I was too proud
to ask—and now I’ll never know—why
he wanted me to stop rubbing his belly.

At any rate, this is the final issue of The

JAMM. I hope you love it. Thanks, mom,
and everyone else who reads this.
JERX AMATEUR MAGIC MONTHLY, January, 2018, Volume 1, Number 12.
Published monthly by thejerx.com. Single copies $15.00. Annual (12-issue) subscrip-
tion $120.00. Copyright © 2018 by thejerx.com. All rights reserved. No part of this
electronic magazine may be reproduced without the written consent of thejerx.com.
Requests for permission should be directed to [email protected]. Violators will be
- Andy
kicked out of the GLOMM.
3
T
he tricks in this issue of the JAMM are percentage of those people.
designed to have some sort of positive
psychological effect on your spectator. And I have a friend who had self-control issues. Like we
by that I mean, a positive psychological effect beyond all do. She wanted to lose 20 pounds, she wanted to
just a brief moment of pleasure. (Not that there’s stop smoking, she wanted to go to open-mics and
anything wrong with a brief moment of pleasure. sing and play her guitar, but she couldn’t get herself
That’s my love-making style.) to do these things. I find self-control an interesting
topic. It seems strange to me that we can’t get
This trick is for anyone who is trying to make some ourselves to do the things we want ourselves to do.
positive changes in their life. Specifically the types Doesn’t that seem like it should be a basic part of
of changes that can be made by implementing some our functioning? Yes, I know, it’s a battle with our
new habits. lizard brain or whatever, but it just seems like poor
design. The part of the brain that says, “Hey, I think
Magic Book was originally posted on my blog in I should stop doing cocaine. It’s ruining my life.
the very early days of the site. It’s not there anymore I don’t want to spend my days on the wrong end
because, well, now it’s here. You paid for this and of a glory-hole trying to make money for my coke
helped support the site. Why leave it up there for habit. I want to stop doing cocaine,” should be more
the freeloaders? powerful than the part of the brain that says, “Coke
is fun! Let’s keep doing it.” But whatever.
I’ve expanded the idea in a way that I’ve found
makes it more powerful and also potentially more Now, while I’m interested in self-control, that
useful. We’ll get to that later. doesn’t mean I want to listen to my friend go on
for years about her lack of it. And it was during one
First, here is the idea as it originally appeared on of these sessions where she was bemoaning the fact
the site. You’ll realize as you read it that in this that she couldn’t motivate herself to go to the gym
incarnation there isn’t really a trick in there. That that I told her I could help her. I told her to leave
wasn’t my intention at that time. But you’ll see how her apartment and go buy a small blank notebook
I’ve incorporated a trick into this concept a little and bring it back to me. When she came back I took
later on. the notebook from her and, with a black sharpie,
wrote “ABRACADABRA” on the cover. “Do you
From The Jerx, July 7th, 2015 know what that means?” I asked.

What follows is not a magic trick, but it does involve “It’s a magic word,” she said.
some positive self-deception.
“Right. And it comes from the Aramaic language
And it’s the type of thing that probably won’t and when translated it means ‘I create like the
connect with most of you. I’ve tried explaining word.’” [Yes, I know that’s probably not really the
this idea to a number of friends, half of them have etymology.] I continued, “What you have here
no idea of what I’m getting at. The other half get now is a magic book. The words you write in it will
the idea, but it only is really interesting to a small create the reality you live. It’s not a book to put your
4
wishes in. You can’t write, ‘I will lose 20 pounds,’ or have a magic book.”
‘I will be on Broadway.’ That’s not how it works. It’s
a book to write down the specific actions you want She wrinkled her nose, considering this, then let out
yourself to take to reach your goals. If you write an exasperated sigh and gave me a hug.
‘I will only eat 1500 calories per day,’ that’s what
will happen. If you write, ‘I will exercise one hour “Now write down, ‘I will fuck Andy,’” I said.
a day,’ then you will. If you write, ‘I will never have
another cigarette,’ then you won’t.” “No!!” she screamed, and hit my shoulder with the
notebook.
“I don’t get it,” she said.
“See? You already know this is real.”
“Write down ‘I will touch my nose.’” She wrote
it down at the top of the first page. “Okay,” I said, The crazy part is it worked. She kept the notebook
“Now touch your nose.” She touched her nose. and would write down the actions she wanted to
“See? It works.” take and then she would take those actions. She
stopped smoking, lost the weight she wanted to, in
“But I just chose to touch it after you said to,” she addition to a number of other things that I haven’t
said. gotten into detail with her about. This all went
down a couple of years ago. In an email she wrote
“It will feel like it’s your choice, but really it’s not. me last year she said:
It’s actually because whatever you say you will do
in this book you will actually do in real life. Write Yes, I still have it and I still use it. It’s gotten to the
down, ‘I will hug Andy.’” She writes it down. I look point where I have to be super careful of what I
at her expectantly. write down because I KNOW I will end up doing it.
Even if my situation changes and it’s not important
“No,” she said. “What if I choose not to do it?” to me anymore, I HAVE to do it because I don’t
want to NOT have a magic book!
“Hmmm... well, your loss. You can choose not to
do something you write in the book, but then you So what exactly is going on here? I don’t know.
most definitely do not own a magic book where you Some kind of magic-talisman-placebo that allows
actually do everything you write in it. But isn’t that you to bully yourself into doing the things you
something you would want to own? Wouldn’t that know you should be doing. I’ve seen it work with a
be a powerful thing to possess? Wouldn’t there be few different people and others don’t respond to it
strength and comfort in the idea that you don’t have at all. But it has nothing to do with how rational the
to rely on your own self-control, and to know that person is, as far as I can see. I think it probably is just
once you wrote something down in this book you a tangible reminder that your decision in regards to
would definitely do it because it’s a magic book? So something has already been made. You don’t have to
yeah, feel free not to do something you wrote down, argue with yourself if you should buy another pack
and then this is just a notebook. But as long as you of cigarettes or not because you’re playing as if the
keep doing the things you write down then you do decision is out of your hands. And the more you go
5
along with the book, the more powerful it becomes. range of people. In its original form, as a kind of
mumbo-jumbo-ish mind-hack, it required a bit of
{{{ an intimacy and familiarity with the other person to
allow them to be open to the idea. But by tying it
Okay, snap back to the present. It’s 2018. Are you to a traditional magic trick, I can present the idea to
with me? It’s not July 2015 anymore. Ant-Man isn’t anyone. In fact, you could perform it for a stranger
playing at the theaters. “Rowdy” Roddy Piper is no in a legitimate parlor magic show and it wouldn’t
longer alive. I’m sorry to have to break this to you. seem that bizarre.

It’s been two and a half years since I originally wrote You can use this as a presentation for many different
that. The girl I wrote about in that post is still using effects. I’m going to write it up here as I’ve done it
this technique. In fact, about a half a year ago we most often, as a framework for the invisible deck. I
met up so I could gift her with a new “magic book” often travel with an invisible deck and a matching
because she had run out of space in the original one. normal deck. And I almost always travel with a
couple notebooks. I use them all the time myself,
I’ve always like this idea quite a bit. The people who but I also collect them for the purpose of giving
latch onto it really do so in a significant way. To be them away. I mainly use the Field Notes brand
clear, no one actually believes it’s a “magic” book. because they’re well made, have a nice esthetic to
But those who connect with the idea recognize that them, and seem more significant than some cheap
as long as they continue to do the things they write Walmart notebook. It will cost you a few bucks each
down, then there’s absolutely no difference between time you do it, but I think that it’s worth it.
this and an actual magic book. So, hell, maybe it is
a magic book. If there’s functionally no difference
between the two, how can we say?

You might think that it takes a particularly fanciful

person to be lured in by this idea, but as I said in
my original write-up, that hasn’t been the pattern
I’ve seen. One of the most rational, logical friends
that I have uses this. He calls it an “It’s Done List,”
because it’s like a to-do list, but there’s no question
that once he writes something down it will get done.

I now use this idea in the context of a more

traditional magic trick. I do this for two reasons.
The first is that it forces them to actually put a little
more thought into the “magic” qualities of this
book. And I like to make rational people have to The presentation is similar to the original write-up,
consider such things. And the second reason is that but I take things in a slightly different order. So, for
it allows me to introduce the concept to a broader example, let’s say I’m talking with a friend about
6
some goal they have or some habit they’re trying to I say, “I know this is hard to believe. And you may
implement that they’re having trouble sticking to. say that this is just a kind of whimsical trick of the
mind to get you to do stuff. And maybe it is. But
I tell them I have something that I think will help we can test it. Every real magic book you can test
and I go get a blank notebook, a marker, a deck once. Do you want to test it?”
of cards, and an invisible deck (which I put in my
pocket). They always do.

When I get back I write Abracadabra on the front I have her open the cover and fill in the little box
of the notebook. Then on the inside cover I write next to the word test.
the word “Test” and draw a little square.
I take out the (normal) deck and start shuffling.
“This is double-blind testing. Neither of us can
know exactly what’s going on. I want you to turn
away [or go to the other side of the room] and I
want you to write in the book, ‘I will turn over’ and
complete that sentence with the name of a card. So
you could write, ‘I will turn over the King of Clubs’
or whatever. Just make the choice for yourself, okay?
And make sure there’s no way I can see it.”

When she understands I have her turn her back and

write that in the book. I sometimes will give her a
rubber band to hold the notebook shut and have her
toss it aside (just to reinforce there’s no way I could
know what she wrote.)

I have my friend write in the notebook, “I will touch “Okay, so I don’t know what you wrote, so that’s
my nose,” then tell her to touch her nose. single-blind. You do know what you wrote, but you
don’t know where any card is in this deck, correct?
I have her write, “I will say the word tiger.’’ Then I So that’s double-blind.” Yes, I’m kind of abusing
tell her to say the word tiger, and she does. that term, but it’s just for the sake of the trick.

It’s at this point I bring up the concept of this being “Now take this deck under the table [or behind her
a “magic book” and I explain what Abracadabra back] and mix it up. At any point pull out any card
means and I might do the hugging/fucking part from anywhere in the deck, turn it over and put
from the original write-up, depending on how well it back in the deck. Now mix up the cards some
I know the person. more.”

Here’s where the presentation changes. I hold the case for her under the table. “Put the deck
7
in the case so nothing can be changed at this point.” position in one of your hands. To your spectator
I close the case and set it on the table. you’re holding a case with two hands under the
table. And that’s what you are doing, but in one of
And it’s pretty clear how it plays out from that those hands you also hold a cased invisible deck.
point. They open the book to show what card they Once the cards go in the case, you immediately
wrote in there. I spread through the deck. One card pull your hands back and out from under the table,
is face down, and it turns out to be the card they dropping the normal deck in your lap as you go. As
turned over. your hands come above the table you close the flap
on your invisible deck and set it on the table. It’s a
The trick backs up the “power” of the book, and the completely seamless switch.
book gives a rationale for the trick. It’s a nice little
symbiotic thing. Couch Switch: Let’s say you’re sitting on the right
side of the couch and your friend is on the left.
Yes, in this particular effect you have to switch When you go to get the deck and notebook you
decks. But for the casual performer, I think a deck would put the invisible deck into your right hand
switch is really a three out of 10 on the difficulty pocket. When your friend is turned away from you
scale. All these products that came out in the past writing her card in the notebook, you remove the
five years devoted to switching a deck in full view invisible deck from your pocket and drop it next to
weren’t made for the amateur performer. We have you or behind a pillow on your right. When she’s
better options. done writing, the notebook is tossed off to her left.
Now she shuffles and reverses a card in the deck.
In this particular trick the switch is particularly The deck is put in the case. You take it with your
simple for a couple reasons. First, the deck is in right hand and ask her to grab the notebook. As
the box, which makes for an easy switch. And she gets it, you just casually drop the real deck to
second, the important thing about the deck is the your side and pick up the invisible deck and proceed
orientation of the card they wrote down. Since they from there.
know you don’t know the card they wrote down
(and you genuinely don’t) the deck isn’t going to Of course, this doesn’t have to be part of an invisible
be a focus of too much heat until after that card is deck presentation, although I think it’s well suited
revealed. for that. Many other tricks that have a force element
or a predestination sort of theme could be rejiggered
Under the Table Switch: You’re across a table with to work with this as well.
someone. The invisible deck is in your pocket. at
some point you put it in your lap and undo the Make sure to include the part where they fill in
flap. You give your friend the normal deck under the “test” box, because you can only test the book
the table to shuffle and reverse a card. Leave the case once. That way they won’t expect to be able to test
on the table. When they’re done, you’ll take the case the book again in some other way at a later point.
with both hands and put it under the table for them The “magic” of the book is that it’s supposed to help
to insert their deck. On the way to doing this you’ll conquer their own resistance. Anything they write
pick up the invisible deck and hold it in a deep cop in the book that they have some control over will
8
come to pass. The “test” allows them to do one thing they don’t have complete control over. But after that,
they have to operate on faith. You could argue the “one time test” angle is silly because they must know it’s
a trick on some level. And yes, that’s true. But by saying we can test it only once, it keeps the authenticity
of the experience intact. Now they know they can’t expect the test to succeed again, because that’s not
how it works. The purpose of this sort of thing is not to get them to believe in the reality of the fiction.
The goal is just to make it harder to completely dismiss the fantasy.

While I like the “purity” of the way I originally presented this little mental trick in the blog, by adding
an actual trick to it, I’ve found it to be something I perform much more often. Without the trick, when
the idea didn’t connect with them, it was kind of like a wasted moment. But with the trick, whether the
concept resonates with them or not, the experience still works. Some people will just enjoy the trick as
a trick, and they’ll take the little notebook and write grocery lists in it or something. That’s fine too. To
them it was just part of the presentation. But a lot of people I’ve shown this to have taken the idea and
run with it. The trick has been a kickstart to them manifesting some positive change in their life. I’ve seen
people lose weight, stop smoking, cut back on drinking, learn a language, learn an instrument, and other
accomplishments, because they’ve used the book as a way to keep themselves motivated. One of my shyest
friends approached a girl in a bar and asked for her number because I told him to write it in the book and
he didn’t want the book to lose its “power.” On its surface, it’s just a harmless way to manipulate yourself
into doing the things you want. But it’s also true that for as long as someone continues to put the effort
into doing what they write down, they genuinely have a magic book. 

OBITUARY
Gerald Mittens
1948-2017
Today we mourn the passing of Gerald
Mittens, beloved husband and stepfather.

“Gerry” was a warm, quiet man who loved

tuna sandwiches and, apparently, wrap-
ping stuff around his neck and beating off.
Something I wish I would have known be-
fore I got him a ball of yarn for Christmas.

Aloha Gerry

9
 THE

Unlike the other two effects

in this issue, I don’t think
IMMORTAL Here’s what that trick looks
like. You talk about how
this trick has much of a angels are all around us and
motivational element to it. But how maybe some of us are angels
it does give the spectator a positive and we don’t even know it… or
feeling. It’s kind of like a happy magical something like that. Then you ask your
joke, in a way. And I use the words “positive” spectator to name any card in the deck. You
and “happy” despite the fact this trick deals with say that you’ll deal through the deck, and whatever
when a spectator will die. position their card appears at is how many years
of life they have left. So if their card is the tenth
Here’s how the trick came about. In the October card in the deck, they’ll live 10 more years. You
issue of the JAMM there is a trick called D.O.D. deal through the deck and you count 51 cards and
where you inform a person of the date that their card isn’t in the deck at all. “You might be an
they will die. It’s a combination of a number of angel,” Christian says at the end of the demo video.
different principles. It’s very strong, and in the right I guess suggesting that this is some kind of Sixth
circumstance, potentially creepy. Sense scenario where your spectator has been dead
this whole time? Or something like that. Christian
After that issue came out, long time supporter, doesn’t really dig too deep in the presentation in his
Jonathan Steigman sent me an email which demo video.
mentioned another effect that dealt with the same
subject in a much different way. That trick is Angel I liked the premise of the trick and tracked down
by Christian Knudsen. a copy of it. In his email to me, Jonathan had
10
mentioned that he was busted a couple of times on the trick, and I could see why that would happen but
I wanted to test it out myself. I performed it three times and was busted all three times as well.

Angel is very similar to Eddie Joseph’s, Premonition (or William H. McCaffrey’s, Prize Winner) in that
while the card the spectator named won’t be found, they will see duplicates of the mate of that card. For
instance, if they name the jack of clubs, they won’t see that, but they will see two jacks of spades.

It’s funny because there are some tricks that some performers use and have no problem with and other
performers get busted with routinely. And your impulse is to think that the guy who gets busted is the
worse performer and that if he had better audience management or a more engaging presentation then
he would likely have more success. But this isn’t always the case. Some tricks really only work if your
audience is half-paying attention. If they’re not too into it, you can get away with some inconsistencies
or discrepancies that you can never get away with if your spectator is truly engaged in what’s going on.

In most circumstance, a spectator is never going to notice some duplicate cards in a deck. But if you’re
intently looking for the jack of clubs, then you are almost certainly going to notice the jack of spades as
being almost the card you named. And if it makes an impression once, it’s going to be noticed when it
comes around again. I’m not sure any way you can get around that. It seems almost impossible to have
someone paying close enough attention to notice there really is no jack of clubs, but simultaneously not
notice that there are two jacks of spades. That strikes me as a pretty unlikely combination of interest
matched with lack of awareness.

But I still thought there was value in the presentation. “Name a card and deal down through the deck
until you get to it and that will tell you how many more years of life you have.” That seems like something
you could pass off as an old fortune telling ritual. It’s very easy to understand. But the gimmicked deck
version wasn’t for me. It’s a single deck that can’t used for any other trick and there is the big discrepancy
of the duplicate mate.

So I wanted to work on a normal deck version. My first idea was simply to use a memorized deck and
deal through it face-up, double dealing on the card before the named card. That seemed about as simple
and straightforward as you could get. But it made me realize a couple other weaknesses of the gimmicked
deck version which were also present in this non-gimmicked version. The first is that people often want to
look at the cards to double-check that their card really isn’t in the deck. The second is that the trick really
has to start with them shuffling the deck. That’s how these types of rituals would start. They name a card,
and then they should shuffle the deck so that card is placed at a position based on their shuffle and in line
with their chakra or aura or energy or whatever the hell term you use. The trick almost doesn’t make sense
if they don’t shuffle the cards before the dealing.

So I came up with the version that follows. It uses a regular deck. The spectator shuffles before the deal.
The spectator can do the dealing if you want. At the end, the spectator can look through all the cards and
11
double check their named card isn’t there.

For those of you who are excited by methods, you’ll probably find this unremarkable. But the end result
is something that, in my opinion, is much better than the marketed version.

You should be seated at a table to perform this.

The deck needs to be stacked in an order you know. But don’t worry if you don’t have a memorized stack.
It doesn’t need to be something complicated. It can just be A-K of clubs, hearts, spades, then diamonds.
Part of your introduction will include destroying the stack, so it doesn’t matter if it starts off as something
obvious.

With the cards on the table, ask your spectator to name any card. Let’s say she names the 7 of hearts. With
the deck in that order you know it’s 20 cards down.

We need to get that card out of the deck, and the way we do that is super, super simple and pretty much
invisible.

Remove the cards from the case, but leave the case somewhere on the table in front of you so it’s in your
“working space.”

Step 1. “I’m going to have you mix up the cards in a moment. I want you mix them up in a way that feels
right to you. You can do anything want. You can give them regular cuts like this.” Here you cut some cards
to the table. You’re not trying to cut to their card. Ideally you’d be about 3-7 cards short of their card. So
if there card is 20th, shoot for about 15 cards.

Step 2. Complete the cut. Pick up the deck and get it in a position for an overhand shuffle. Get a peek of
the bottom card. Let’s say it’s the Ace of Hearts, in this case.

Step 3. “And you can shuffle.” Overhand shuffle cards individually, counting in your head as you go, until
their card is on top of the right hand’s portion. So if they chose the 7 of hearts and you cut to the ace
of hearts, you’d count, “2, 3, 4, 5, 6” then toss the right hand’s card on top of the left’s. Now, this is the
technique anyone of any skill level can use. If you’re more adept with a deck of cards than I am, you could
probably estimate dead-on or use a pass to bring their card to the top or something like that. I choose this
way because it’s easy and psychologically invisible.

Step 4. “And you can even just spread them all around on the table if you want.” As you say this, the left
hand will come back towards you as you reach forward with your right hand to grab the card case (or
anything else that’s in the middle of the table) in order to set it aside. At this point you thumb off the top
card of the deck (the named card) into your lap. (I like to place my index finger on the table as kind of
12
an anchor so my hand doesn’t dip completely out of view. Below is my POV. From across the table, there’s
nothing to see.)

Done. It’s that easy. At any point in the action to follow, before the climax, just move the card from your
lap into your pocket to clean up.

As the spectator mixes the cards you’ll go into your schpiel about this old fortune telling procedure that could
supposedly predict when someone die. “So, the card you named is actually your death card. And it’s floating
around in the deck and constantly changing position as you mix the cards. When you choose to stop it will
be in a position that no one could have predicted based on your own mixing and your impulse to stop.”

Once they stop, have them hold the deck face down in dealing position and tell them to deal them one at
a time, turning them face up in the process. Clarify the meaning of this ritual. “Every card you deal before
we get to your death card will mean another year added onto your life. So, look, if the first card you turn
over turns out to be the… what was it? Which card did you name? Right… if the first card you turn over
ends up being the 7 of hearts, that means you have about a year to live. Admittedly that wouldn’t be great
news, but that’s probably not going to happen. If it’s the tenth card, that means ten more years. You can do
a lot in ten years.”

I now like to give them one last chance to cut the cards, one last chance to change their fate.

Then they deal through. I count as they go or sometimes they count on their own.

I like to stop them at 10, 25, and 40 and kind of sum up what that means that they got to these numbers.
“25! Hey, 25 years from now you’ll be… 63. That’s not too bad.” “40! This is great news. What can’t you
accomplish in 40 years? You could meet someone new, have kids, then they could grow up and have kids
of their own in less than 40 years.”

13
I don’t say those exact things. I just make something up in the moment.

As they get to the end I slow them down. “49… 50… 51… that’s it?” I look confused with them. I open
up the card case to see if a card got stuck in there. I try and puzzle out what it means. “That’s got to be
good news, right? Maybe you’re not going to die for another 70 or 80 years or something. Maybe you’ll
never die. You’re immortal? Can I stab you so we can find out?” Or whatever.

Final Thoughts

To keep things easy, I didn’t mention how I actually do this in the write-up. I pretty much only ever do
this with a new deck of cards. This makes it a little more difficult because it’s not stacked A-K all the way
through. It’s stacked A-K, A-K, K-A, K-A. So here’s what I do. I open the new deck, spread it between my
hands (ostensibly to remove the jokers and advertising cards) but mainly to make sure I have the order
of the suits down as it can vary by brand. Then I sometimes give the deck a couple false shuffles. But I
usually don’t bother. No one is paying attention at this point.

Once they name a card, I don’t really bother figuring out the exact number of where it is in the deck. I
just kind of visualize its approximate location in my mind, and try to cut a little bit before the card in the
deck (if the card is close to the top, you don’t have to cut at all, of course). Then, as I overhand shuffle off
the number of cards I am away from their named selection, I’m either counting upwards (if their card was
in the A-K section of the deck) or downwards (if it was in the K-A section of the deck).

This sounds more complicated than it is. I like to do it this way because the idea of a card not being in a
brand new deck feels more uncanny to me than it not being there in an already open deck.

Here’s how I will sometimes end the trick. It depends on the situation. If I feel like goofiness is what is
called for, I’ll do this.

I’ll have the spectator mix the cards a little more and then I’ll take the deck back and give the cards a few
riffle shuffles. I’ll get a peek at the top card during the first riffle shuffle and keep it there over the course
of one or two more.

During this I’ll say, “My turn. My death card will be...hmmm… the nine of spades.” And I name whatever
card I just peeked. And give the deck a final shuffle and false cut, leaving the card on top.

Then, with a big dumb smile on my face, I’ll go to turn over the first card and loudly say, “One!” But
before the word is out of my mouth—when I’ve just said the “wa” part—the death card has shown up.
“Aw, fuck this,” I say. And toss the deck over my shoulder. 
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Ok… how best to describe
this.
CHANGE hold it in their hand and it
changes into a dime.

This is a combination of two First let’s look at the imagination

things. First there is something exercise on its own...
like a motivational imagination exercise
that I’m almost positive I read somewhere like The Imagination Exercise
6-8 years ago. But now I don’t know where or what
it was exactly. It could have been in a novel or it This is something I’ve used with a few people as just
could have been some dumb meme on someone’s a stand-alone type thing. I think it was thought-
facebook page. It’s also possible I didn’t read it provoking for all of them and for half of them it
somewhere and that I saw it on tv, or someone else was really something that stayed with them in a
mentioned it to me, or I just made it up. I’ve looked fairly powerful way. I hesitate to say it was “life
around for it for months but have had no luck. Oh changing” but I do know that for some people it
well. was something that helped them change their life.

The other part is a very powerful coin trick where The purpose of this visualization exercise (and
one coin changes into a completely different coin. the trick I use it in conjunction with) is to get
Yes, I know that sounds like a billion other coin someone to affect positive change in their life. This
tricks. But in this trick, it’s a coin that’s been marked is something I would do for someone who was stuck
or initialed by the spectator that changes. So, for in a cycle that was not good for them. Perhaps an
example, they could initial a penny and then they unfulfilling job or a passionless relationship that
15
they were just too scared to get out of. You might Here it is…
say, “Well, Andy, who are you to inject yourself into
some important area of a person’s life and potentially I’ll use an example that’s not as emotionally charged
alter its course?” It’s a valid question. What if you as making a change to your relationship or your
did something for someone (a thought exercise, or, job. Let’s say my friend Paul has been talking for
god forbid, a fucking magic trick) and that inspired years about wanting to get into stand-up comedy,
them to get a divorce or quit a stable job to start but he’s just too scared to ever pull the trigger and
their own business? actually start the process. He won’t go to an open
mic or take a class or whatever. For the 50th time
That’s definitely not something I want ownership of, he opens up to me that this is something he really
but I’m still comfortable with this for the following wants to do and I say…
reasons:
“Okay, Paul. I know what we need to do. I want
1. As you’ll see, the visualization exercise/trick isn’t you to sit here. Close your eyes. And listen carefully
overly manipulative. It’s just designed to give people to me.”
a sense of perspective on their lives.
“Imagine it’s 50 years from now and you’re an
2. I only use this in two situations. A) In situations old man. An old man dying in his bed. Feel the
where there is no downside for the person making weakness and the frailty in your body. You’re in your
the change. For example, if someone has been trying last days and saying goodbye to people.”
to stop drinking and hasn’t been able to do it, I
may use this technique with them. There’s not really “I come to visit you. You’re too infirm to get up,
a downside to stopping drinking. B) I’ll use it in but I come over to you and I put my hand on your
situations where I’ve heard the person struggle with shoulder. I tell you how good it is to see you and
an issue for years. If someone has been going on for how lucky I was to have you as a friend all those
ages about some change they think they want to years. You just kind of nod weakly. ‘Well,’ I say, ‘You
make in their life, then I have no reservations about made it to 90. That’s a pretty good run. A pretty
using this. It’s not something I break out the first full life.’”
time someone says, “Tina and I are having a little
rough patch.” But if I’ve listened to how unhappy “‘No,’ you say to me, ‘not full. I screwed up.’ And
he is with his life and with Tina for years, then I’ll you tell me that for decades you’ve been agonizing
offer him this different perspective. over the fact that you never gave this passion of
yours a shot. You never tried stand-up. You never
Ok, I’ve built this up too much and now you’re took the risk. And it ate at you for years as you
wondering what this potentially life altering struggled with the decision to give it a try or not.
“intervention” is. It’s really not like that, it’s just But that wasn’t the true torture. The true torture was
something people can run with and end up changing when you realized it was too late. It was no longer
their life. Sort of like with Magic Book from earlier your decision to make. Time had made the decision
in this issue. for you. And all you had left was years of regret.”

16
“‘It’s an emptiness,’ you tell me. ‘Even if I had tried As I said, for some people this is a very powerful
and failed I could look back with joy because I had idea.
at least given it a shot. I just want a second chance.
If I could just do it all over again.’ Tears are starting The Trick
to form in your eyes. ‘I want to go back. I want a
chance to do it right.’” You might say that if it is a powerful idea for some
people, that adding a trick to it would detract from
“I give your shoulder a squeeze and say, ‘Okay, Paul. that, but I haven’t found that to be the case.
I believe you. And I believe you want a real second
chance. There’s a way to make that happen.’ And What we’re going to do here is perform a trick that
I tell you to close your eyes and see the years start amplifies the time-travel aspect of what happens by
rewinding, and see yourself going from an old man allowing them to bring back something from the
to a younger man. And I tell you to make a wish future.
that you could go back and do it all over again. And
I tell you that when I count back from three you Let’s take a look at the trick as I was performing it
should open your eyes. originally.

“3, 2, 1. Open your eyes.” I pull out a penny and ask you to make a mark on
it. Maybe you write your initial on it or draw a star.
In real life I tell Paul to open his eyes. I take the coin and draw a flower on the other side.

I look around the room as if I’m getting my bearings. You hold the penny in your hand and it changes to
Then I look at my hands as if they somehow look a dime with a flower on one side and your initial or
different and I start smiling. “Paul. It worked. We’re star on the other side.
back!”
Method
That’s it. The idea is to get someone to close their
eyes and imagine themselves in their dying days It’s really easy. I set down a penny in front of you,
wishing to go back in time for a second chance. tails-side down. On the tail’s side of the penny I
Then when they open their eyes, you act like, “Hey, have pre-drawn a flower. I give you a Sharpie and
it worked!” Like maybe they weren’t just imagining ask you to “make a mark of some kind” on Lincoln.
themselves old and dying. Maybe that was where It’s a penny, so whatever you do with the Sharpie
they were and now they get to try again. (I don’t will be pretty small, and “make a mark” isn’t the sort
mean you’re actually trying to get them to think of thing that’s going to encourage you to draw a
that. That’s the mental game you’re playing.) You’re detailed picture or something. Most people will put
trying to get them to transform this one life they an X or their initial or a slash or they’ll do sunglasses
have and the timeline they’re on now into their or Lincoln.
second chance. The one where they make things
right and don’t make the same mistakes. I take the penny and say that I’m going to draw
something special for you on the back. I hold the
17
penny in my curled left fingers above a dime, which come back with just an X drawn on the coin, it will
I have already also drawn a flower on the tails side. look suspicious. But honestly, 9 times out of 10 when
Now I’m just going to forge whatever you drew on I perform this, it’s so quick and easy to make the
the penny on the dime. copy that I have to pretend to write a little longer to
make it seem like I drew a flower.

Once your forgery is complete, you keep the dime

curled in your fingers and push the penny forward
and blow on it as if drying the ink. Then you put the
penny on the table, flower-side down.

I usually ask the person if they have any clue what

I drew. They say no. And I tell them to turn it over.
They see it’s a flower. I make a comment about how
the coin is a unique object with their mark on one
side and my mark on the other.

I ask them to hold out their hand, and I demonstrate

with my palm down. I then pick the penny off the
table and place it in their hand. Of course, what is
I can’t stress how easy this is. I have shitty handwriting actually going on is I slide the penny off the table
and no artistic skill. And yet I can duplicate letters, and secretly into my lap with the hand that’s holding
marks, or tiny images fairly easily. the dime. And in a continuing motion I place the
dime up against their palm and they close their hand
Feel free to try it outside the context of this trick. Ask around it thinking it’s the penny.
someone to put a mark on a quarter and then try and
duplicate it. You’ll see it’s simple. Now, you do whatever it is you do, they open their
hand, and the marked penny has changed to a
And there’s a time delay between when the person marked dime.
sees the marking on one coin and the other so you
have to go out of your way to make your forgery so Change
distinctive as to garner any scrutiny.
So now we combine the trick and the visualization
The reason you have a flower pre-drawn on the dime exercise.
and penny, as opposed to an X or something simpler,
is that you want to cover for any time it takes you The trick itself isn’t exactly the same. The handling
to make your forging. If they believe the time spent pretty much is, but instead of a penny changing to
forging was actually spent drawing a flower, then a dime, a new coin is going to age while it’s in the
you’re giving yourself a few seconds to make a pretty spectator’s hand.
accurate copy. If you take a few seconds and then
18
I’m going to describe the effect with quarters, on the coin.
obviously if you’re in a different country you’ll have
to go with the coins that work for your situation. Once he does, you take coin back, hold it in your
left fingers above the aged coin, with the heads in
To start you need two identical new quarters. So the same alignment and you copy what he wrote or
the same year and the same state or national park drew on the aged coin. When you’re done, curl your
(if they’re those types of quarters), and both in good middle, ring and pinky fingers around that quarter
condition. and blow on the supposed drawing you just did on
the other coin. (You’re actually blowing on their
One of these coins you will artificially age (I’ll drawing, but your spectator can’t really see what’s
mention how in the next section). After that you going on at this point, it’s blocked by your fingers.)
will draw a flower on the tails side of each coin. Set the original coin on the table flower-side down.
Then you’re set to go. Ask if he has any idea what you drew, then have him
pick it up and look.

“A little flower. I’m a sweetheart,” you say.

“I want you to really take a good look at that coin.

Not what we just wrote, but the coin itself. What
year is it? 2016. And is it a state quarter or…?
What’s on the back? Okay, Theodore Roosevelt
State Park. A guy riding a horse? Alright, I guess
that’s probably supposed to be Theodore Roosevelt
and not Roy Rogers or something. Okay, try to
remember these details. And the quarter is pretty
new, right? It’s shiny and in pretty good condition?
I just want you to try and take it all in because we’re
going to be focusing on the thought of this quarter
in what we’re about to do.”
So let’s go back to Paul. For the 51st time, Paul is
bending your ear about how he needs to get his shit Now you need to get him to put the coin down so
together and take a shot at stand-up. you can do the switch in a moment. Maybe have
him set it down so he can put his hands on the table
“I know what we can do,” you say. And you go to and take a deep breath in or something, or you take
the other room and get the new quarter and the the coin so you can get a look at what’s on the back
Sharpie marker. The aged quarter is in your left- yourself. Or whatever. Either way the coin is back
hand finger palm with the flower against the fingers. on the table.

You put the coin on the table heads-side up and “So, the reason I had you do this is because now we
give Paul the marker and tell him to make a mark have an object we can focus on that is completely
19
unique to you and I—there are no other quarters marked up all those years ago back in 2018. I pick
in the world with a star you drew on one side and up the coin and ask you if you can remember the
a flower I drew on the other—and it’s something night we did that back when we were just ‘kids’ (in
that can last for the rest of our lives, pretty much. our 40s).”
For what we’re about to do we need some kind of
constant that will be around 50 years from now. If “You say you remember. And you remember me
I asked you to keep that coin with you for the next asking you to keep it with you for as long as you
50 years, could you do that?” He agrees he could. could. ‘What was the point of that?’ you ask me.
And I pick up this old, dingy coin, and I tell you
Now you have him hold out his hand and give him to hold it in your fist, and I put my hand on yours
the coin to hold onto, doing the lapping switch in [put your hand on his fist in real life].”
the process. (Refer to the review for Ox Bender in
JAMM #1 for my rationale as to why I have them “And I tell you that I had us mark that coin so I
hold out their hand palm down rather than doing could create a specific moment in time. One you
that weird thing where you give them something to could physically carry with you all your life. And
hold and then immediately shut their fingers over one we could get back to if we ever needed to. I ask
it.) you if you want to go back for that second chance
and if you’re really ready to take advantage of it,
You ask him to close his eyes and then you start with and for the first time there is a spark of life in your
the visualization exercise I mentioned earlier. old eyes and you tell me you want to go back more
than anything.”
As you go through the visualization, if you ever
mention touching the person, then you should “I tell you to squeeze the coin [squeeze their fist]
do that in real life. So, for example, when I say “I and shut your eyes tight and to concentrate on that
put my hand on your shoulder,” I’m talking about night we marked-up that coin, and not to open your
what’s happening in the visualization, but I do it in eyes until I count back from three.”
real life as well.
“3, 2, 1. Open your eyes.”
When you get to this point in the story:
As in my earlier write-up, you have him open his
I give your shoulder a squeeze and say, ‘Okay, Paul. eyes in real life. You look around and look at your
I believe you. And I believe you want a real second hands as if they’re 50 years younger than they just
chance. There’s a way to make that happen.’ were. Then you turn to him and say, “Holy shit! It
worked! We’re back!” Or whatever.
You continue on with something like this…
I hope this is clear and comprehensible. I know it’s
“I look around the room and notice on the end table a little bit of a mindfuck. You’re having someone
there is a quarter. It’s an old 2016 quarter. It’s dull imagine themselves old, and in that imagining,
and faded and beat up now, after traveling around they are imagining back to the actual night that
with you for 50 years. But it’s that same quarter we this all is happening. It’s kind of trippy. But it’s less
20
convoluted when you’re actually experiencing the 5. Leave them there overnight.
process. And when they open their hand and find
they’ve brought the aged, worn coin 50 years back 6. The next day you can take them out and you’ll
in time with them—the coin they just looked over find that those shiny new quarters now look dull
and signed—there is very little you can do in magic and aged. There may be a little bit of a faded green
that is much stronger than that. patina on them as well.

How to Age a Quarter 7. Take some brown or black acrylic paint and smear
it on both sides of the coin, and then wipe it off
Here’s how to age a modern U.S. quarter. I’m sure with a paper towel. Some of the paint will get left
this same technique would work for other countries in the grooves of the coin adding to the aged look.
coins, I just can’t be sure of that. You’ll have to find
out how to age your currency. There are undoubtedly other, better ways of doing
it, this is just my process. Here are the results.
It takes a long time, but only in the sense that
cooking a turkey takes a long time. It doesn’t take Before
a lot of active time on your part. I’ll do a bunch of
coins at a time and it takes maybe 10 minutes of
actual work on my part. And it’s really easy work.
Not like constructing an intricate gaff.

Here’s what I do.

1. I start with new quarters. I want them to be about

a year or two old.

2. I hold them with pliers and smack the edge with

a hammer. Then I scratch up the surface a little
with a grinding bit on a Dremel or just the claw of After
a hammer.

3. Wipe off the coin with Windex or other glass

cleaner.

4. Mix up a solution of 1 part salt, 3 parts ammonia,

and 4 parts distilled white vinegar. Dip the coins in
this. Then put the coins in paper towels and dunk
the paper towels in the mixture. Then put the paper
towel wrapped coins in a Ziploc bag.

21
Now, there’s one potential long-term problem I’ve had come up once when I performed this. As you may
assume, people generally want to keep the coin when the trick is over. I’ve never had that not be the case
(and if it was, I certainly wouldn’t suggest they take it). And, of course, I want them to keep it. I hope it
serves as a reminder to them of whatever it is they want to get done.

The problem is that the Sharpie can fade after a while. Especially
if the person carries it with them every day like my friend was
doing. When my friend showed me the coin and the ink fading
off, I just said, “Well, it is like 50 something years old. The first
time around you probably didn’t carry it with you all the time.”
Hey, that keeps the structural logic of the fantasy intact. But
now what I like to do, if I’m home when I perform this, is go
in the other room when it’s done and get them a little quarter
case to keep it in. People know I do stuff with coins from time
to time, so it’s not bizarre that I might have such a thing in my
home. And I’ll say something like, “Look, that coin clearly got
a little beat up last time around. This should help keep it intact for another 50 years.” 

GOODBYE!

That’s a full year of the JAMM in the books. Or should I say... in the PDFs! Ah, hahahahah. Good
stuff. Good stuff. Haha. Ha. Hahahahaa. Aaaahhhhh.

I want to thank a few people. First and foremost, me. Without me, this never would have been
possible.

Secondly, I want to thank you, the supporters of The Jerx. Without you, The JAMM would have
been possible, but it wouldn’t have ever actually happened because this was a huge undertaking and
I couldn’t have spent the time doing it without your support.

Finally, I want to thank the people who helped in putting the magazine together every month:
Michael, Andrew, Carl, and Mark. And the JAMM Muses: Jessica, Mallory, Alice, Breanna, Karla,
Eliza, Stasia, Gibson, Jerri, Nikki, Amanda, and Amber.

And though they won’t read this, thanks to all the people I performed for this year who helped
bring these ideas to fruition.

As Jesus said as he ascended to heaven, “Chop chop, lollipop. Catch you on the flippy-flop.”

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