Stranded with a Stranger: Jim Levell

Now , if you want to be a part of one of these , then please send in your list with a little bio and , of course , the reasons that you chose your tricks to salzaalakazamcouk In the subject line . Please put my desert island list . That way it comes through to me and I can get one of these recorded for you .

Now we do have another stranded stranger on his way to our island , and this week's guest is Jim Lavelle . He's given us a little bio at the very beginning to get to know him , and he says my name is Jim Lavelle and I have loved magic for decades . Mine is the usual origin story magic kit for Christmas .

As a young child , combined with a funny uncle who would show the occasional card trick , this grew into a lifetime love of magic , although I put the craft aside for a few decades as I started my business as an investment counsellor , I've always been fascinated by how things work . As we magicians know , often the method can be as interesting as the trick itself .

I would imagine many amateurs like me often buy tricks , so we can just know how it was accomplished . Over the years I've been fortunate enough to see some of the greats Doug Henning , penn and Teller , matt King , blackstone Jr , max Maven , michael Amar and Danny Deities , just to name a few .

When I returned to magic 20 years ago , it was fascinating to watch the evolution of instruction from multi-trick VHS tapes and DVDs to individual trick gimmicks and online streaming , as I'm a big fan of the podcast and enjoy the concept of cutting through the noise and boiling it down to the best of the best .

Unfortunately , I recently had a real-life experience of desert island tricks . Living in southwest Florida , we must deal with the occasional hurricane and recently my family and I had to quickly evacuate for Hurricane Milton .

As I stared at my magic and book collection with a small box in hand , I realized I could not take all of it with me and thus began the selection process . The following list of tricks all made the cut of being packed into the boot of the car as we headed for higher ground .

Thankfully , I'm happy to report , we survived the storm and all of my magic is safe and sound . That being said , let's take a look at what made it to the island . Wow , so you were almost forced into this . You didn't really have a choice , which is absolutely crazy . But I'm really glad to hear that you're OK and you made it through .

But yeah , being forced into that must have been a really tough decision . And you mentioned multi-trick VHS tapes . I wonder if we have any magicians , younger magicians , listening that are young enough to not understand what a VHS tape is . I wonder if we're at that stage , who knows ? Now we have actually been given some honourable mentions by Jim to go through .

So we're going to read these out first to see if we can gauge where we think his list is going to go . So his honour going to read these out first to see if we can gauge where we think his list is going to go . So his honourable mentions are the Raven , made famous in one second by David Blaine in his first street magic special .

Oh , my goodness , I think we all remember seeing that for the first time . It was phenomenal . B-wave , the king of packet tricks and perfect blend of magic and mentalism . Great choice A thumbtip , a100 bill switch , vanishing sort , just so flexible , absolutely . And free will such a clever wordplay concept that deserves further exploration .

Wow , so we've got some two mentalism tricks there B-wave free will , and we've got the raven and thumbtip two visual tricks . So I wonder if this is going to be a blend of visual magic and mentalism . Let's find out . So we are going to go to Jim's Island now and find out what he put in position number one . It is Any Card by Richard Sanders .

If you're going to carry one trick deck , it's better to be a good one , and any card meets that requirement . I prefer to make the selection process as slow and fair as possible , often involving multiple spectators arriving at freely named choice .

When you reveal the name of that card written on the back of the four aces , it is a magical moment , one of my strongest effects . I think Richard Sanders has to have been mentioned so many times on these podcasts now , in various different ways for various different tricks . In fact , I wonder who the most credited creator is on these podcasts .

I'm not sure I'm . Anyone wants to go back to really do the research on that one , but it would be interesting to find out . But a great first choice . And it leads us on to a number two .

Oh , sort of a utility item here invisible thread , the versatile magic prop that can take many forms , such as loops or ties or other devices like the spider pen or itr . I know you still want to pin me down to only one trick , to which I'll respond the helicopter card . There can be something almost therapeutic practicing this effect .

It also needs no explanation and works across language barriers . Just looking at the sight of a playing card floating around your body as you instantly understand the impossibility of it . Yep , absolutely great choice .

And that's one of the ones that I remember seeing it on magictrickscouk when I was much younger , in my probably early teens , and being absolutely fascinated by it . I had no idea how it worked , no idea how it could work , because you know , I remember it flying through the loop of the arms and then around the body .

When it's done well , it really is phenomenal . Um , and , of course , loops and ties are an everyday utility tool for a lot of performers in the world , me included . I think that they are phenomenal and I literally could not live without them . They stay in my wallet all day , every day . So a great , great choice .

And that brings us to number three , which is poker test 2.0 by eric casey . I use this as an opener when performing because it's quick , easy and has several moments of magic plus . You'll get to skip the entire . Pick a card game and get right to the magic .

Not sure what the first poker test was , but it seemed like they got it right the second time around . Yeah , I think we've had poker tests before on the podcast , because it's so strong . You're absolutely right , it gets straight into the action . It's a great opening piece , I think as well at tables .

Um , if you're a walk around magician , just have these cards bang straight away into the action . It gets them questioning what's going on . A great , great choice . And that leads us to number four . Look , look who that creator is Extreme Burn by Richard Sanders . There are many variations of changing money Hyundai 500 , flash cash , etc .

But Extreme Burn has been my favorite for a while . If we had real magical powers , we wouldn't be using them to find your card . We'll be doing something like this making money , guess . That's why myers's dream has stood the test of time money makes the world go wrong round .

Yeah , I mean , I know , um , it's Steve Deller who speaks about money being mentioned early on in your set , because it just gets instant interest from your audience . They instantly want to know what you're on about . The idea of winning money always gets people . So , yeah , a great choice . And again , extreme Burn has to be in the top ten .

Now , surely it's in the top 10 for people's lists , but it does bring us to number five , which is Ring on Rope . Once again , nice to do something that isn't a car trick and a ring and rope is limited only by your imagination . Use the rope to make knots appear and disappear , penetrate your body , cut and restored and , of course , professor's Nightmare .

The ring adds another dimension by linking and unlinking in a variety of ways . My time on the island would allow me to develop other handlings and routines . A great choice . Yeah , you're right , I've not thought about that . Really . You can use it without the ring and of course , you have the rope for a myriad of different tricks .

And then , of course , by adding the ring , you have another routine as well . So a great , great choice . And that brings us to number six , which is chop by craig petty . Craig has created something special with chop it hides in plain sight and can do things a normal chop cup cannot do .

I also believe that using a crunched up dollar bill makes it more organic and less suspicious . It's been said that you can tell a real magician by their ability to do the cups and balls . Take me to the island so I can master this legend of magic . Absolutely .

I think that the idea of being able to do a chop cup anywhere so really , if you forgo the bill just for a second and you have the apparatus which just fits into a pocket , doesn't even take up the whole pocket .

It literally clips to the pocket without giving anything away , and then you'll have something attached to that which then you can borrow a bill and then start the routine , or borrow a napkin and start the routine . You can literally be in a coffee shop , get a cup and do the chop cup .

It's that organic , it's that spur of the moment it's the only time that I can think of that . You can do a chop cup at the spur of the moment , wherever you might be . So yeah , it's great , it's a great tool to have in your pocket . I remember when Craig originally bought it out many years ago now , thinking it was just so , so clever .

It really is a superb routine and it brings us onto the tail end of Jim's trick . So we're at number seven , and number seven we have . Oh , he said I'm running out of time because the storm is coming . So here is number seven . Wow , imagine at this point just trying to get everything together

. Charming Chinese Challenge by Troy Hooser . Troy has constructed a beautiful routine of three coins magically melting off a red ribbon , but it's a bit of a knuckle buster . Some quiet time on the island would allow me to polish this masterpiece again . This has to be one that a lot of professionals use . It's a great , I would say , like parlor upgrade .

If you're close , if you're used to doing close-up magic , this is a great one . To start doing it in parlor and as a stand-up piece , because the whole audience can see it . It's really easy to and it's such a wonderful trick , a great , great choice . And it brings us to number eight . A deck of cards . Uh-oh , am I going to have to be devil's advocate ?

Let's see . Yes , just a normal , ordinary deck of cards to while away the hours . The entire card magic field is so wide and varied one hardly knows where to begin as a new deck is unwrapped , full shuffles , controls , culling , palming or passes to warm up the hands , and then a million card tricks to explore .

If the rules of the island require me to choose one trick , it will most likely be the Ambitious card , or maybe Chicago Opener , or maybe a Memorized deck , never mind , it's too hard to pick just one card trick . Uh , just 52 cards , but a million possibilities . I'll take ambitious card as your answer there . Um , yeah , great , great choice .

And again , you mentioned ambitious card , chicago opener . These are , you know , two tricks that everyone , pretty much , has learned in their career and many , many people use daily in their working sets Memorized deck work . You know it's something that I've spoken about before tackling .

Josh Jay , of course , bought out a new book recently called the Particle System , which seems to be sort of a modernized version of a memorized deck , a memorized deck system . So it's another one that's lasted the test of time .

And obviously , when we spoke to nick muhammad on this , I mentioned his performance , which is still one of my favorite memorized deck performances that I've seen , because you see the impact on the audience . You know all he's doing is revealing the order of a deck of cards . That's , that's what that trick is .

You get it for free is revealing the order of a deck of cards . That's what that trick is . You get it for free if you're memorizing a deck anyway , and the response from people just when you're reeling off these cards is just phenomenal . It's great , it just feels absolutely impossible . So , yeah , a great , great choice and a great list .

So we've gone from any card by richard sanders to invisible thread to poker test 2.0 , extreme burn ring on rope , chopped by craig petty , charming chinese challenge , and a deck of cards for ambitious cards or chicago opener or a memorized deck , and a deck of cards for ambitious cards or chicago opener or a memorized deck . A great , great list .

Nice mix of effects there as well , and it does lead us to book . So here's what jim says . As you know , choosing only one book is very tough .

Some of the titles I considered were the amateurs magicians handbook by henry hay , the royal road to card magic , the the Books of Wonder by Tommy Wonder , scripting Magic by Pete McKay , strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz or the Magic of Michael Amar All extraordinary titles that are special in their own right .

However , my choice is Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic . As a young boy growing up in Nebraska , I remember being so excited seeing the ad for this mail-in course on the back of a magic magazine when it first became available .

It was a bit too expensive for my mum at the time , so years later , when I discovered it had been condensed into book form , I was immediately taken back to my childhood in Omaha . The book is a clear roadmap to the basics of magic , but also has something for the more seasoned performer .

It covers several aspects of the art , including cards , coins , rope , mentalism , silks , billiard balls , even a few stage illusions . Overall , a quality read with excellent illustrations and instructions . Yeah , again one that we've had many times and no doubt we'll have many more , because it's a phenomenal book . It's , it's quite literally a bible through magic .

It has everything in there , from big illusions , small illusions , literally anything you can think of is in that book . So a great , great choice . Now , of course , that brings us on to our curveball . Curveball item , which is the non-magic item that you use for magic , and Jim has put in music .

One of the few things that brings me more joy than magic is music . Not sure how it will work or what form the music will take iPod with headphones , my old record collection or CD collection , or a coconut radio , like Gilligan's Island , but I must have music . The sound of waves would get old after a while .

But if you add a little Jimmy Buffett , then you would have a party . And when I break out my magic tricks now , the fun really begins . Thanks again for letting me take a short cruise to your desert island and forcing us to make the hard , magical choices . Love the podcast . Well , that's a great , great choice .

Music is one of those ones that I think a lot of performers use in one way or another . Some use it before a gig to get you into a certain mindset . Some people use it in a gig and use music in their shows . So it is one of those things that it's a a great tool to have at our disposal . But a great , great list .

Thank you so much , jim , for spending the time to type all of that out for me and for us all to listen to . Now again , if you guys want your list read out , please send in your list of eight tricks , one book and one non-magic item to sales at alakazamcouk . In the subject line put my desert island tricks .

That way it comes through to me and we can get one recorded . Obviously , the more of these we get , the more episodes we can give you , and I think that these are really interesting . It's so nice to see how the world at large is developing their act and their routines . Now , of course , jim is no longer a stranger to us .

We know everything we need to know about him . With that being said , we'll see you this Friday with another episode of the Main Podcast , but until then , have a great week .

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