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00:00 Hello, my name is Don and Jim Tyler and thank you for purchasing the video version of Pockets
00:23 Full of Miracles.
00:24 New routines that you're about to see are things that I've used in the close up world,
00:28 parlor shows, private parties, restaurants, you name it.
00:31 I'd like to thank many magicians for inspiring me, such greats as Paul Harris, Dan Fletcher,
00:37 Michael Weber, to come up with ideas of my own.
00:41 Things like Pieces of 8, The Gunslinger, things you'll see here shortly.
00:44 My magic, like my suit is flashy, like my name Diamond Jim, things that put people right
00:50 between the eyes, that's the kind of magic I like to do so they'll remember who I am.
00:55 So I hope that you'll take the effects, make them your own and enjoy what you're about
00:58 to see.
01:07 Excellent, you would be so kind.
01:22 Thank you.
01:29 Thank you.
01:53 [Laughter]
01:58 I do it behind my back.
02:00 Behind my back.
02:01 Now the hard part, back up.
02:02 That's the hardest part.
02:05 The Lester Shuffle, you know the Lester Shuffle?
02:07 Cut off a small stack of cards.
02:09 Thank you very much, see that gives me Lester Shuffle.
02:12 [Laughter]
02:13 Of course, quicker.
02:14 That's how I do it.
02:15 Here's a good Texas Shuffle, it's the cow patty shuffle.
02:17 This is how a cow does it.
02:19 [Laughter]
02:22 And then thank you, the Australian Shuffle, see that under.
02:26 The Congressional Shuffle, see nothing gets done that way.
02:30 And one of the more difficult shuffles, I call it the Carpool Tunnel or the Arthritic
02:34 Shuffle as you can see why.
02:36 There we go.
02:38 [Laughter]
02:39 And thank you, thank you.
02:41 Please treat me like any other celebrity.
02:43 [Laughter]
02:44 And then one of my favorites, the Confusion Shuffle.
02:46 See this really makes it the most.
02:48 You don't know which way they're going.
02:49 Cards are what, face up or face down.
02:52 They're back to back.
02:53 The hard part, of course, put them all back in the same order.
02:56 [Applause]
03:01 And I like to do the comedy shuffling routine.
03:04 It looks like this.
03:07 First I do what I call the Dovetail Shuffle, which has been so named.
03:12 Complete that with a bridge.
03:14 These are standard things that you probably know.
03:16 Then the Overhand.
03:18 You're basically just giving them an overview of the different shuffles.
03:21 The Hindu Shuffle.
03:24 I'll show you that from the side.
03:25 If you don't know the Hindu Shuffle, basically just pulling cards off the top.
03:28 Great way, again, to force a card or to have a locator card.
03:33 See that card there?
03:34 It stays on the bottom.
03:36 Then I go into the Rush.
03:39 See, they're down under.
03:42 The Cow Patty Shuffle.
03:44 Basically you're just dropping blocks of cards.
03:48 You've got to get the ploppings on, though.
03:50 That's important.
03:52 And the most impressive, probably the Carpool Tunnel or the Arthritic Shuffle.
03:57 That helps if you have one of these, the robotic hands.
03:59 These are great to have.
04:01 Here, let me fix that.
04:02 Hold on.
04:03 Ah!
04:04 Ah-ha!
04:05 Jeez!
04:06 Hold on.
04:07 Okay.
04:08 Let's back up.
04:09 Here's the One-Handed Shuffle.
04:12 I explain in one of the Diverting Books of Magic.
04:15 You'll have to look it up.
04:18 Oh!
04:19 Just like so.
04:20 Let's try that again.
04:22 The One-Handed Shuffle.
04:25 Just like so.
04:28 And then I do what's called, I call it the Confusion Shuffle.
04:32 Now, I used to call it the Aggie Shuffle, but I'm trying to be politically correct in Texas.
04:37 I don't call it that any longer.
04:40 It's basically just turning cards face up, face down.
04:42 Now, what happens here is you've got a run of face up cards and face down cards.
04:47 Let me show what happens after you do this.
04:51 All this half is face up, and this half is all face down.
04:57 Now, one thing I do before I do that is I put a little bow in the deck.
05:00 The reason I do that is so there's a natural break between the cards.
05:04 I'll show you that break here in just a second.
05:07 Now, there's a natural break that you create by bowing the cards like this,
05:11 which makes it easier when you show.
05:13 You say, "Look, cards are face up, cards are face down."
05:18 And then you separate right at the natural break.
05:20 Cards are back to back.
05:23 Place the cards back face down on the back.
05:25 Now, you can show that all the cards have righted themselves.
05:28 The hard part, of course, is putting them back in the same order again.
05:34 So, that is the Comedy Shuffling Routine.
05:36 Now, once again, the great thing about this routine is you can do it before any routine
05:40 that you don't have to have the deck prearranged.
05:43 And it's just a fun bit.
05:45 You know, you don't always have to try to amaze your audience to entertain them.
05:50 It's just a good way to have them participate, shuffling cards, cutting cards,
05:54 and get to show yourself, show off a little bit in some of the things that you can do.
05:58 So, that's the Comedy Shuffling Routine.
06:00 Wouldn't it be great, instead of turning them on and over, if I could turn this into a $100 bill?
06:05 Of course, that's going to get their attention real quick.
06:07 They're usually up for that.
06:09 Now, they're not expecting any kind of transformation at this point.
06:12 So, just basically switch hands, pull this bill forward.
06:18 You can show the bill.
06:22 Now, you've got their bill in this hand, the punched out bill in this hand,
06:27 the one that's exposed now.
06:30 Now, you want to ditch the dollar in your pocket.
06:32 Now, as you take out the hole punch, you have motivation for leaving that in your pocket.
06:38 The hole puncher is used as your magic wand.
06:40 Since you can't find your wand, use the hole puncher instead.
06:43 And so, of course, it doesn't change into a $100, but they do get a special surprise on their birthday.
06:47 Now, this is the pretty part.
06:49 When all of the holes fall out, they get a nice little message there.
06:54 I'll turn that so you can see it better.
06:56 There it is.
06:58 Happy birthday.
07:00 Now, once again, you've created a souvenir, something that they'll keep forever.
07:03 I give this to them, and you know what?
07:06 I've never had anybody say, "Give me back a good bill, one with no holes."
07:12 In effect, with a leather lace, a string that, of course, you're all welcome to check out.
07:16 I need to borrow a men's ring, a wedding ring, a big--a class ring.
07:19 Have you ever ringed?
07:21 No?
07:22 No.
07:23 If I may--yes, if you would.
07:24 Thank you very much.
07:25 Gentlemen, drink.
07:27 And we'll place it right on here for you all to see.
07:30 And keep your eyes on the ring.
07:32 First thing I always do is this.
07:35 Cause it to melt right off the center.
07:37 Imagine it makes a dance.
07:38 Thank you.
07:39 I don't know what makes it come back.
07:43 Watch, I'll hypnotize you.
07:45 Don't worry, it never works.
07:47 Don't think that one works sometimes.
07:48 It'll come in handy for a minute.
07:50 Feels like it's on there, doesn't it?
07:51 Looks like it's on there.
07:52 It's actually not.
07:53 It's an illusion.
07:54 Here, I'll prove it.
07:55 I'll hold onto the ends.
07:56 If you would, sir, hold this end for me very tightly.
07:58 If you would.
07:59 Yeah, just don't let the ring come off.
08:02 That's important.
08:03 Thank you.
08:05 Thank you for that applause.
08:06 You're a good audience.
08:09 Last thing, and if you would please.
08:11 Thank you very much.
08:12 And I have you do the same.
08:14 Hold on.
08:15 Just like déjà vu, see?
08:16 All over again.
08:18 I'll give you the ring.
08:21 Did you notice the ring has a hole in it?
08:23 See, that's how I get in on my fingers so easily.
08:26 Now, people think I use my sleeves.
08:27 I don't.
08:28 I use one of these robotic hands.
08:29 Have you ever seen these before?
08:30 Oh, yeah.
08:31 Don't worry, I can fix it.
08:32 It's okay.
08:33 Hold on.
08:34 Oh!
08:35 Jeez!
08:36 [laughter]
08:38 Can I touch your hand?
08:39 Don't worry, it's not going to hurt me a bit.
08:42 Oh, that felt better?
08:43 There you go.
08:44 Feel good?
08:45 One last time in slow motion.
08:48 We'll tie a knot.
08:50 If you would please.
08:51 And, sir, I have you do the same.
08:53 If I make you all blink, melt right off.
08:56 I would like you to keep this as a souvenir.
08:58 Thank you.
09:00 Thank you all very much.
09:01 I appreciate it.
09:02 Thank you.
09:03 Thank you.
09:06 Now I suppose it's time to teach you.
09:08 Let's see.
09:09 Yeah, it's just about time.
09:10 Oh, now!
09:12 Well, for the ring and the string,
09:14 uses a leather lace.
09:18 You don't have to use a leather lace.
09:20 I prefer to use leather lace.
09:21 I just like the way it feels when I perform the effect
09:24 and it stays firm.
09:26 And then a finger ring.
09:27 Now I like to use a ring that has a large signet or a jewel.
09:31 A clasp ring works great.
09:33 Even a man's wedding ring.
09:34 I try to never use a woman's ring when I perform this trick,
09:38 mainly because a woman's ring,
09:40 sometimes they're too small, one, to fit on your fingers,
09:43 and they have stones in them.
09:44 So if you were to drop the ring, the stone could come out
09:47 and you might end up doing magic for them for the rest of your life
09:50 to repay them.
09:51 So anyhow, use a man's ring and you don't have that problem.
09:55 Now I try to always borrow the ring.
09:57 Only in the cases where I have to do it, I use my own ring.
10:01 The first phase is this.
10:04 It goes on to the center of the string.
10:09 Show it.
10:12 And the ring is actually going to come off.
10:14 I throw this back over my hand.
10:16 And as I come down underneath, I'm going to let the ring fall.
10:21 I'll do this again.
10:23 Let it fall into my fingers.
10:26 One more time.
10:27 Like that.
10:28 But you do it underneath the cover of the motion I did just then.
10:32 I come around and then pull the string free, like so.
10:38 Let your right arm relax.
10:41 Now you bring your hand up to show that it's vanished.
10:43 Now as soon as I open my hand, I release the ring from the string
10:47 and let it fall to the center.
10:50 So that's phase one.
10:52 And then phase two, it's back.
10:56 So I say, "Let's try this again."
10:57 I'll tell you what.
10:59 It looks like it's on there.
11:00 It feels like it's on there.
11:02 But it's not.
11:06 I grab the string like this in a scissor-like grip.
11:11 Basically, my thumb is going to separate the string from the ring.
11:16 As I come up, I'll do this for you.
11:19 Come up in slow motion.
11:20 You see that it's unthreading.
11:23 Push the two together.
11:24 You go to hand it to them.
11:27 I let the magic happen right there, just as--right as they're just about to touch it.
11:32 Now, thank you.
11:35 I'll place it back onto the string once again.
11:40 Notice the routine builds.
11:41 It gets more impossible as you go.
11:43 Now you say, "I'd like each of you to hold onto the end."
11:45 So I have someone hold onto one end.
11:48 I'm going to do the same drop move.
11:49 If you see the ring drops into my fingers here.
11:54 Let's see.
11:55 See, it drops just like so.
11:57 As I come back around--now this is an important subtlety that I've added to the ring and string.
12:01 This is probably my only true contribution to it
12:04 other than putting the moves into sequences that fit me.
12:08 That is to--as you reach the end, you turn your hand, grab, and it will pop out.
12:16 So it looks like you've actually never come close to the end.
12:20 Many times--let go for just a second, please.
12:22 Many times as this is done, I'll see guys come to the end and then hand someone the end
12:28 and then pull it off.
12:31 So once again--throw that back on there.
12:37 Someone holds onto this end, still the ring, come back, and it pops out the end.
12:44 And so it looks like, once again, you never came close to the end.
12:47 Now, put the ring onto my finger.
12:50 As I come up to point, I just simply slide it onto my finger, point, show this hand,
12:58 open, turn, and the ring has reappeared on the finger.
13:04 Now I'll do the retention of vision vanish that I've used for some of the coin routines
13:08 where I pretend to put the ring back into my hand,
13:10 hand it to the gentleman as I put the ring back on my finger.
13:13 For another surprise, it comes right back.
13:18 Now for the final phase.
13:20 Now, the robotic hand, that's something you just have to be born with to do that.
13:24 But the snapping gag or the popping the fingers gag is something popularized by
13:29 Peter Studebaker and Giovanni, to my knowledge.
13:33 Basically, you grab the finger, and as you pull down, you want to snap your fingers as loud as you can
13:38 and bend your wrist at the same time.
13:40 It creates this horrible sound.
13:42 People cringe when you do it.
13:44 And that's one of the reasons I expose it.
13:46 I grab their hand and do the same thing.
13:49 That way they know it's just a gag.
13:50 They don't walk away feeling ill.
13:54 Then I'll go in for the last phase.
13:57 I'll go in for that just a second, thank you.
13:59 By threading it through.
14:03 Now, by the way, Greg Wilson has a great tape that defines all of these moves.
14:07 It's called Ring Leader.
14:09 It goes through step by step showing you exactly what they're called
14:13 and some of the different variations.
14:15 As I thread this through, I simply keep going.
14:21 But I'll allow the long part of the string to hang on the back of the left hand.
14:25 I'll show you in slow motion.
14:28 Show it.
14:29 I just keep going.
14:30 It unthreads itself.
14:33 And then I push it into the york position, scotty york position.
14:38 Another one of my little additions here is this.
14:40 Basically just tying the knot.
14:41 I have someone hold this end, and then I have someone to hold the other end.
14:46 Thank you.
14:47 And then that is pulled tightly.
14:49 And then it just snaps your fingers, pops right off.
14:53 You've got a nice and possible ending where a ring is penetrated a knot.
14:57 So that's the ring and string effect.
15:01 A little effect with a string and a ring instead of using my ring.
15:06 May I borrow a gentleman's ring?
15:08 May I borrow your ring?
15:09 Thank you very much.
15:11 Just put a ring on the string.
15:13 Now all you have to do is watch the ring.
15:15 My job's the hard part.
15:17 First thing I always do is this.
15:20 I get it to melt.
15:22 I imagine it makes it disappear.
15:24 I have no idea what makes it come back.
15:26 [laughter]
15:31 Watch, I'll hypnotize you.
15:32 Don't worry, it never works.
15:34 It doesn't feel like it's on there.
15:35 It looks like it is.
15:36 It's not.
15:37 It's an illusion.
15:38 I'll prove it.
15:39 I'll hold it onto the end.
15:40 If you would hold this end for me very tightly.
15:42 Just don't let the ring come off.
15:44 [laughter]
15:46 I get more and more of that.
15:47 [applause]
15:50 If you would please hold this end for me.
15:52 And you do the same for me.
15:54 Thanks.
15:55 My deja vu.
15:56 See?
15:57 A little ring.
15:58 [applause]
16:01 Did you notice the ring fits underneath the glass?
16:03 [applause]
16:08 Have you ever seen a trick coin up close?
16:11 Let me show you what they look like.
16:12 See, they're a lot bigger.
16:13 [laughter]
16:15 They don't fit in your hand.
16:16 People would see that.
16:17 I'll do it again.
16:18 That's my favorite part of the whole trick.
16:19 You want to lift up the glass?
16:20 Show everybody?
16:21 It fits underneath the glass.
16:22 [applause]
16:24 Thanks a lot.
16:25 [applause]
16:29 This is my own routine.
16:30 I call this "Pieces of Eight" because it uses the eight coins.
16:33 If you count, there's actually one, two.
16:35 That's seven.
16:36 Oh, I forgot about number eight.
16:37 [applause]
16:45 Well, my Pieces of Eight routine is a routine that's developed
16:48 over many years.
16:49 Here's the items that we'll need to use to perform the effect.
16:52 You need five half dollars.
16:54 One, two, three, four, five.
16:55 You need a jumbo coin with a shell, a mating shell.
17:00 They fit right inside one another.
17:02 Aha!
17:03 That's how you did that.
17:04 And a large coin.
17:07 Now, I believe you can get these from most of your magic dealers.
17:12 You'll also need a crystal glass.
17:15 Now, it's important to use crystal because when you toss the coins into a glass
17:19 glass, it breaks on a regular basis.
17:22 The glass will actually crack.
17:23 Crystal is much stronger, and I think I've been using this particular glass
17:27 for over five years.
17:29 You'll also need a bag, and the bag has many purposes,
17:33 and I'll get to that in just a moment.
17:36 You'll also need a couple of more items, and one is what's called the
17:40 "Dantong Holdout."
17:42 Notice I have it pinned in my jacket.
17:44 It's a little squeeze purse.
17:47 Holds coins.
17:48 You could put cards, you know, whatever you like.
17:51 What I do is I put the shell coin inside.
17:55 That's important that when it rests, the face of the coin, the shell,
17:59 is towards the jacket because it's going to be loaded underneath the bottom of
18:03 the glass here just a little bit later.
18:05 And the large coin, the giant coin I like to call it,
18:09 which is like a manhole cover.
18:11 This thing is heavy.
18:12 When it hits the table, it scares the dog out of people.
18:16 It goes into this special holder created by Peter Samuelson, just like so.
18:23 That's pinned inside.
18:24 Now, Peter's pretty clever.
18:26 Of course, if you've read any of his material, the way he's hooked this up,
18:29 you can also run this through your belt.
18:32 I've chosen to pin it to my jacket into the lining.
18:35 So that rests inside the jacket as well.
18:38 I start off with the four coins inside -- or the five coins, rather,
18:42 inside the glass, inside the bag, and you're set to go.
18:47 It's easy to reset this trick.
18:49 Now, the reason I initially added the bag was because when I would perform
18:55 strolling magic table to table, people would throw their change in it.
18:59 They thought that was my tip jar, and that used to irk me.
19:02 So I thought, well, if I cover this up, you know, that would prevent the problem.
19:05 The other great thing about the bag is that it acts as a close-up mat.
19:09 So if you're performing on a table, you have a wet spot on the table.
19:13 You can put the bag on top of it, and you've defined your performance area.
19:18 And then, of course, you saw me do the spider gag,
19:20 when they reach in the bag and the spider, you know, snorts at them,
19:23 or I snort, rather.
19:25 That's just a great way to keep them on their toes
19:28 and want to watch every move that you make.
19:31 Once you take these out, everything can be examined.
19:33 And I use reverse psychology here.
19:36 As I put the coins out, I say, "Go ahead and examine those as much as you want."
19:40 And as soon as they go for them, I go, "That's enough."
19:43 Now, by doing that, that makes them look at them even more intensely.
19:47 Now, I have them examine the glass, just for the sake of doing so.
19:53 I just thought it looked more dexterous, rather than bringing the coin around
19:56 from the bottom and coming back, to walk the coin backwards.
20:01 And you can just do more revolutions that way.
20:04 So, frontwards and back, just like so.
20:07 Now, I let it fall.
20:09 I say, of course, most coins fall down.
20:12 It's gravity. It's the law.
20:15 Mine, I've actually trained to fall up.
20:17 Now, you're doing what John Cornelius has popularized as the muscle pass,
20:22 where you're squeezing the coin out of the hand, up into your other hand.
20:27 Now, typically, when John does it, he holds the coin in this position in his hand,
20:30 a little bit higher up.
20:32 I basically use the same hold as the classic palm.
20:37 Just over years, I guess the muscles in my hands have developed enough
20:40 that I can squeeze it so it pops out of the hand.
20:44 So, practice that until you get calluses, and then you'll have it.
20:49 And that is the muscle pass.
20:51 All right, now, the retention of vision vanish that I use looks like this, basically.
20:57 Hold the coins, or the coin, rather, at your fingertip here,
21:02 and you're going to basically turn the hand like so.
21:05 So, this hand does this, this hand does this.
21:08 So, you put the two together, looks like that.
21:11 So, again, get a burning image of the coin here.
21:16 So, after that coin goes in, just let your hand relax.
21:19 So, the coin should look like this.
21:21 I'll do it again in slow motion.
21:23 Here, here, relax.
21:26 Let your hand relax.
21:30 Now, as they place the four coins back inside the glass,
21:37 you're going to secretly load the last coin underneath the bottom.
21:42 And it's very simple.
21:43 It's at your fingertips.
21:45 So, as you pick this up, it's here.
21:47 They place the coins back inside.
21:49 I'll place these back inside.
21:52 And I usually have them do it one at a time.
21:54 Place that down so the coin is underneath.
21:59 Now, you can do your magic, make the coin disappear, it's gone.
22:04 Now, what's important is that they lift up the glass,
22:06 because, one, the attention will be on them and on the glass when they lift up the glass.
22:10 And as they do, your right hand goes to your side to steal the jumbo coin in its shell.
22:17 So, as they pick up the glass, the paper is being torn.
22:22 Now, as I do this, of course, make sure my fingers never leave my hands.
22:25 What's important is that the pieces go back together.
22:30 That's my job.
22:31 That's what I'm supposed to do.
22:32 Now, there's many different ways I could do that.
22:34 I could use tape.
22:35 I could use glue.
22:37 Those would be very challenging.
22:38 Now, I'm going to actually weld the pieces back together again.
22:41 Of course, I need my safety goggles.
22:43 So, if you have yours, I suggest you put them on now.
22:46 Safety first.
22:50 I'm going to actually skewer them here.
22:56 Now, don't blink or you'll miss it.
23:02 Oh, my God.
23:03 How good is that?
23:04 Wow.
23:05 Weld in there.
23:06 The pieces have actually welded themselves.
23:08 [Applause]
23:20 All right.
23:21 Well, now it's time to learn how to do fireball.
23:23 This is a great routine.
23:25 I do this in all my stand-up shows.
23:28 Very simple to do, and I have to give credit to John Bannon for his shriek of the mutilated done with cigarette papers.
23:35 Basically, I've taken John's idea and made it bigger and simplified it.
23:41 What I've done is I've purchased large sheets of flash paper that have not been folded,
23:47 and then I use tissue paper like you would get from your dry cleaning.
23:51 Now, don't go out and buy tissue paper because normally tissue paper in the stores is bright white.
23:57 Use what comes with your dry cleaning, and hey, it's free, so -- or comes with your clothes.
24:03 Now, the preparation is the tissue needs to be about an inch wider and taller -- or an inch bigger in diameter than the flash paper.
24:16 And the reason is because it's going to be crumpled into a ball, and when you unfold it, it's actually going to look smaller.
24:21 It'll look about this size when we unfold it.
24:24 So that's something I learned over time because when I cut it exactly the same size, people would say that it was a little bit smaller.
24:30 So by cutting it bigger, I've solved that problem.
24:33 Now, what I'll do is I'll fold this into a triangle, fold the ends -- or twist the ends, rather, like this, making little handles.
24:47 And there you have your restored paper.
24:53 Open it up to your thunderous applause, and that is Fireball.
25:03 Now, a little extra bit of business that I've added to this just for your amusement is something called Canolfire.
25:10 This is a little gizmo. I believe it's sold by Stevens Magic Emporium.
25:14 That's the only company that I know that carries them at this time.
25:17 And it has a little cotton inside and what they call cold fire.
25:22 You stick your thumb inside, hit the igniter, and it's on fire.
25:27 Great way to light an item for the Fireball trick. It works great.
25:33 So that is Canolfire and my Fireball effect.
25:39 All right. Here we have tissue paper.
25:44 Familiar with the old newspaper trick, the magician tears the newspaper, restores it back together again.
25:49 It's magic. Usually if you're on stage or on TV, you're not this close, you can't actually hear the paper being ripped like this.
25:55 But up close, you can see every little thing that happens.
25:58 We'll try this. There's many different ways I could put the pieces back together.
26:02 I could use tape, I could use glue, or try something just a little bit dangerous.
26:06 I'm going to weld the pieces back together again.
26:09 Of course, I need my safety goggles. If you have goggles, I think that's what you put them on now.
26:16 I have a little too much glue in here.
26:20 Just like that.
26:25 Probably 101.
26:27 There you go.
26:28 Don't blink or you'll miss it.
26:31 Whoa!
26:33 All right.
26:34 Don't get out.
26:35 Whoa!
26:37 Yeah!
26:39 [Applause]
27:02 You have to be nimble with your fingers.
27:04 That helps when you're counting the cards.
27:06 Do you do that when you're in Vegas, blackjack?
27:08 Oh, that's a great skill to have.
27:10 Show an example of what I mean.
27:11 Just cut off a stack of cards.
27:13 And these numbers are cards.
27:15 [Cutting]
27:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]