This Blog Article is for all you guys who ask me an other Magicians for help about buying products…I see posts on forums like this:

Bob747 says: “HEY! I have $200 to spend on Magic. I would love to know what effects your recommend. By the way,

how does the Gecko at Ellusionist Compared to Penguin Magic’s Stripper Deck. I only want one or the other though. Thanks!”

When ever I read these questions it makes me cringe.

I am going to try and help all of you guys out who have questions and I am going to give you the advice I never really got. So lets say Bob really needs our help, so this is what I tell Bob and all those other people who are dying to have these questions answered.

First off, it is very important for you to know this: We don’t know you, or your style.

Granted, we at ExoMagic like to get to know each and everyone one of you on the forums on a personal level by following your posts and asking you guys questions….but a lot of the time we don’t know YOU or how you perform or anything…so how can we tell you to buy a product to fit you and help you GROW as a Magician? (Heck, if you really want to throw money aroud…you can always just give it to me!)

Remember, specific questions about a product is different than recommendations. If you need to know specific information about something, thats different. You actually are doing a step in the “Guide to Buy.”

So now that you know that, here is a step-by-step guide that you can do to help you find the product for you!

• Step One: Figure out how much you want to spend MAX. Get a range, not a set dollar amount. This way if your under your max, your good, if your over…you wait. There is more than just the product you have to pay for; you also have to consider SHIPPING.

• Step Two: Now that you know how much money you want to spend, you have already limited your choices. The next question is…what do you want. It’s easy to ask forum members…”HEY! WHAT SHOULD I GET!” But it doesn’t really help YOU. What you need to do is look deep inside, look at what you already own and what you want to expand on. MAKE A LIST OF IDEAS. This way you have a fall back plans or you may be able to get MORE THAN ONE PRODUCT! Once you get some ideas written down…or mentally chosen…

• STEP THREE: RESEARCH! (I love this part.) First off, I always read the entire product’s page (including the small fine print), then do a search here on the ExoMagic forums and over the entire wide web. Look into as many reviews you can find and read them through. This way you have the forum reviews, other peoples reviews and the product page to learn from. When you read through a review, check for quality, reactions, comments on the teaching and gimmick if included. You want to find positive reviews and positive comments from Magicians who are like you. Look at bad reviews to see what people hated and see if it will apply to you. If I don’t understand something, I ASK A LOT OF SPECIFIC QUESTIONS about the product that I am educated on. Sometimes stupid questions. BUT THEY MEAN SOMETHING TO ME because I know the product now. I remember asking a friend if the smoke in US2000 lingered, raised, or sunk. It seemed like a weird question…but I wanted to know. (And I bet you want to know now too!) During this part, if you find out that a product isn’t for you…look into another one on your list. It doesn’t mean you never will own the effect or product. Maybe later on down the road, but for now…move on to a better product that you like!

***Side note***Instead of making a list..sometimes I just add it to my basket, and then remove it if I don’t like the idea anymore.***

• Step Four: So far, you have researched your ideas, and you were OH so TEMPTED to ask the other people which one to buy…that shiny product or the one that smells really good. (hahahaha) But you didn’t! That’s a huge pit fall. (not saying you can’t trust them…but pick a product is PERSONAL) It’s really like picking your underwear. Anyways…step four is looking at the price. I suggest you don’t look at that until your towards the end. DON’T let the price of a product make you not buy it. If you want something bad…don’t let anything get in your way. Make sure you shop around and look at the different prices around the web. It’s not a bad thing to find a product for less. But you can’t forget shipping! If you find you can’t afford the product…WAIT! Wait a while and get some more cash. It’s worth it. Remember, after all that research and decision making, you must have picked a sure fire hit!

• Step Five: Order it! Make sure you have enough cash to RUSH it to your door with over night…just kidding. I always do Priority Mail. That way I don’t have a LONG wait, but I am not spending an arm and a leg to get it here. You may be surprised to find special free cards or something that come with certain packages. Promos, give aways, and free-bees are always something to look out for. Bundles are also a great thing to do. Check out specials and other things to. Definitely worth looking into. Check out this post that actually has discounts for you already! (password is “seeker” without the quotes and case sensitive)

• Step Six: Wait on edge until your package arrives….then enjoy. (DON’T FORGET TO POST REVIEWS FOR EVERYONE!)

Tip: I always suggest waiting out on orders and buying a lot of products at once to cut down on shipping. Especially for Flat Rate Shipping. But if you can’t wait…you can’t wait.

If you have any more questions…POST THEM! And if you have tips to add…POST THEM!

I hope this helps and cuts down on the “Need Help Deciding” threads.

I am always on the look out for Magic, especially fun “conversation” Magic that can stump my friends who are always begging me to do a quick effect for them.

I was introduced to these Google Magic Tricks long ago, and wanted to pass on these fun sites that can really stump people.

First off is a Google Trick by DarkArts Media. This trick is known as the “disappearing” OO trick by my friends. What the spectator sees is a Google home page, you place you fingers over the two “O”s in Google and when you remove them…they have disappeared from the site. You replace your fingers and then remove them showing they have reappeared. The search engine can then be used.

The secret is the site itself. It is made so all you need to do…is left click you mouse button and the OO will disappear in 3 seconds. Click again to make them reappear and then once more to redirect you to Google’s home page…where you are safe to start searching…and they are none the wiser! You can find the effect HERE!

And here is my personal favorite Google Magic Trick that will KNOCK your socks off. This effect is a Google Mind reader… The spectator is asked to think of a card, or ANYTHING for that matter, and you then type into Google search: “What is it that Sam” (or any name) “is thinking of?” Then Google gives you an answer by giving you search results of the answer…

Heres how it works step:

Note: If you like, you may hide the address bar in your browser, but when performed properly, no one will notice that the address is different.

1. Go HERE. This is a fake Google Site that has an amazing tool built in. Bookmark it for use later…

2. Have your spectator select a card or object or whatever in their mind, and covertly determine what it is they are thinking of. You can use any method you like. Or you can ask what it is for an “experiment” and skip step 3.

3. Make a few bad guesses.

4. Go to the fake Google page. If you like, you can click on the “Images” button to do an image search (this way you get pictures of the card or object). Otherwise, it does a regular google search that returns text results.

5. In the input field, type a slash (/), and then the object they are thinking of (special quick codes are explained below), and followed by another slash (/).

For cards, there is a quick card, if the card is the four of clubs, you would type: “4C” but to the user it will appear as if you typed “What”.

Then finish the rest of the question, phrasing it any way you like, such as “What is it?”

When you hit the search button, Google will perform a search on the phrase “four of clubs”, or whatever card you covertly input.
The two letter card code is a rank, followed by a suit. Ranks are a,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,1,j,q,k. Suits are h,d,c,s (first letter of the suit). For example to encode “ten of diamonds” you might type: 10d

Key stokes would look like this: /10d/ or /hamburger/

6. You may use either the web search, or the image search only.

Note that this page will behave more or less like normal Google if you don’t type the slash.

Basically, once you type the slash, the tool enabled on this page will hide you typing the actual thing the spectator is thinking and then once you close with a slash, you finish the sentence of the search.

I have fooled many people with this site…so use it wisely!

Do you know of a Magic Site that you want to share? Let us know in the Blog Section of the Forums!

Halloween is coming around the corner…sooner than you know it!

We wanted to point out a few great tricks to use to scare your spectators on this awesome holiday. Who knows what treats you may get for it.

First we want to point out the “HAUNTED GHOST PROJECTOR.” There are a few people selling these in the Magic community for about 25 bucks a pop. So we wanted to tip you all on a source of these Japanese Toys. They “project” an image of a “ghost” appear in a photo of you and your friends. SOUNDS FUN! And who knows what kind of Magic applications you can do with this when you take it apart AFTER Halloween! Not bad for around 10 bucks!

Another classic for Halloween is the NEEDLE THRU ARM and now with the use of a STAT Wipes, you can make the effect happen in NO TIME! You can really have people running for the hills. Blood is a must for Halloween!

Also a GREAT source is Mr. Sean Fields! Creator of such effects like SAW and SICK! These effects from Sean will really leave your audience grossed out and scared of you this Halloween! (Check out these at Ellusionist!)

And who can forget Wayne Houchin’s THREAD. Yet another great Halloween effect.

One more great effect, The Razor Blade routine. Great source? Bizzaro! He came out with a book and DVD that is a great source on the subject. Helter Shelter! (Link to the book: here)

So remember guys and gals. Have a fun, Magic filled Halloween! Make things float, move, and ENJOY the chance to use a great holiday to really creep out and scare your audience!

Mwahahahaha!

About Ellusionist:

Ellusionist.com is a on-line Magic store that offers “hand selected” effects and accessories that are geared toward “Street Magic.”

Ellusionist was founded on January 1st, 2001 by Brad Christian. His goal was to create the best on-line training environment for people who want to learn high-impact, effective magic tricks. Ellusionist’s growth has been unprecedented. To date, over 60,000 members worldwide participate in their discussion forums.

They offer DVD and instant download training, Special Custom Playing cards printed by the United Playing Card Company, and accessories for Street Magicians.

Who is apart of Ellusionist??

Their advertised teachers include: Brad Christian, Justin Miller, Wayne Houchin, Daniel Garcia, Adam Grace, Rich Ferguson, Devo, Nate Kranzo, Criss Angel, David Blaine, and David Stone.

The Effects:

For a complete list of Ellusionist products (without have to navigate their sometimes confusing site) CLICK HERE.

The effects that Ellusionist create, package, and sell are great effects. They range in difficult and practicality and are usually categorized pretty well.

Some effects and materials to highlight would be their custom playing cards (and gaffs), their Wayne Houchin effects, and David Stone’s effects.

What else about Product Quality?

The DVDs are always shot in high quality. Ellusionist wants you to learn the effects and perform them well. The teaching is always spot on and have many helpful tips in their DVDs along the way.

What else is good?

Their customer support is one of the prized features of the Ellusionist site. They are willing to answer just about any question about their products (except the secrets of course). Shipping options are various in range and are always sent with care. I have never been worried about ordering from Ellusionist or worried about not receiving the package.

The are approved by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and have a 129-bit safe server encryption with industry standard Verisign, Ellusionist is tested hacker-safe each day. (They are safe to buy from…no scams)

Final Thoughts:

Ellusionist’s professional manner, creative team, and strong passion for magic driven by Brad Christian is an inspiring quality that many on-line magic stores could and do try to emulate. Some succeed and others fall short.

:::ELLUSIONIST FUN FACTS::: (As of September ‘09)

Average Load Time for Ellusionist.com:

—Slow (2.797 Seconds), 63% of sites are faster.

Where people go on Ellusionist.com:

• 86.9% ellusionist.com
• 9.3% forums.ellusionist.com
• 2.6% magic-tricks.ellusionist.com
• 0.9% magic-videos.ellusionist.com
• 0.4% blog.ellusionist.com

Ellusionist.com users come from these countries:

• 42.1% United States
• 6.8% South Korea
• 4.2% Indonesia
• 3.9% India
• 3.5% Egypt

• 2.7% New Zealand
• 2.7% Canada
• 2.5% Malaysia
• 2.4% Denmark
• 2.2% United Kingdom
• 1.5% Ireland
• 1.5% Oman
• 1.5% Italy
• 1.4% Australia
• 1.4% Germany
• 1.3% Singapore
• 1.2% China
• 1.2% Poland
• 1.2% Netherlands
• 1.2% Mexico
• 1.1% Sri Lanka
• 1.1% Thailand
• 0.9% Belgium
• 0.7% France
• 0.6% Estonia
• 0.6% Taiwan
• 0.5% Turkey