Ye Olde Magick Blogge

I like card tricks, but I don’t like card tricks that feel like card tricks. I really don’t. If somebody’s going to pull out a deck of cards, then I want a clean “Travellers” as a minimum. Maybe a Sankey’s “Back in time” or a convincing All Backs or a full deck Oil and Water. And if somebody’s going to do a bare-bones “Be Honest, What Is It?” rather than David Williamson’s “Memory Test” then I hope their doubles split. Or something.

Anyways, there are card tricks that feel like card tricks, and little more. To me, anyways. Sandwich effects. Showing the card reversed in a spread. Spellers. Ace Assemblies. Maybe I’m jaded from having watched too many card tricks in my life trying to find good stuff to add to my repertoire, but if I’m going to have to sit through one of these plots, then they’d better fool the snot out of me.

Well, Jack Carpenter is one of those guys. The guy does card tricks that feel like card tricks, but while they might not be major miracles, every now and then you can see just how clever and baffling they can be, without any obtuseness.

When I was in university studying creative writing, there was a phenomenon talked about, that of writers who were so creative that English teachers would read them religiously just to see what neat stuff they’d do with language next. I think Jack’s like that, but for card tricks, and you just get the feeling that he’s got the added advantage of his stuff being good for regular audiences as well. He’s a humble guy, not trying to pass himself off as a card God like Darwin Ortiz or Ricky Jay or Juan Tamariz or anything, but I’d be willing to bet that he’d hold up well to any of those guys, if they were sitting around sharing card tricks.

So here’s some Jack Carpenter. His youtube channel is here.