I've been engaged to perform a magic routine based around Harry Connick Jr's 1994 jazz fusion album "She". Some of the lyrics on the album deal with a magician doing card tricks with a red 6 [that the crowd mistakes for a black 7]. I plan to lean heavily into this part - I'm thinking some card changes will work along these lines, but I'd like something that would have the spectators pair up these cards when doing a selection, ideally being a trick that works in their hands.

I don't have the technical skill to do Dr Daley's Last Trick, so as a compromise, my gut instict is to do Gemini Twins with a red 6 and black 7 as the two face up marker cards [each then revealing their mismatched pair item]. I'm comfortable with this handling that would engage 2 spectators [each finding their own pair] - but are there any other possibilities for multiple partipants? Maybe C3 [with 2 red6's and 2 black 7's]?

Update: I've now also got a Svengali deck of red 6's, I figure I can have someone select a card by jamming a copy of the She CD intro the (rifled) deck - if the disc is upsidedown, then the top reflective surface will reflect the face of the red 6 - the idea being to get them to jam the CD in to the deck as its rifled, 'pry' the deck up for a quick peek [via the reflection on the disc] - such a small peek that 'of course' I won't know what it is, and then start a routine from there with the red 6 successfully forced.

Alright, so now at the start of the routine I'm using the Sven***ali deck/CD trick above to force a red 6 selection, which then becomes an impromptu Am*****s card trick [with a black 7 second from the top of the deck], then a Paintb***h colour change to turn that red six into the black 7 - at that point the deck is put aside for a packet trick [being 3 card monte with a paperclip that has SHE written on it].

Then a normal deck of cards is used for the CD/prediction trick, which then segues into G*mini T*ins with two spectators. My original intention is to put this deck away at that point in time, but given all the red 6/black 7 theme that's been occurring, I feel like given I have the those paired cards right there at the end of G***n* Twi**, this is a good opportunity to do another colour change -- -- - -- but I also know the one thing you shouldn't do is repeat an illusion - would doing an Erd**se colour change at this point in time be a mistake if I've already done a P**ntbrush colour change?

I am confused, you don't have the technical skill for Daileys Last Trick yet the technical skills for Erd**se colour change?
If I were to do something using red sixes and black sevens, I would investigate an oil & water premise.

Perhaps I haven't described it well enough - thanks for the comment however, Wrarvyn - I shall collect my thoughts and try again.

Oil and Water is a fantastic suggestion, thanks for that.

After doing some research, I'm adding Ackerman's Mixed-Up Blues as an Oil and Water routine.

I also don't want my routine to be too card heavy (red 6's and black 7's is only a part of the entire album, after all), so I'm dropping the E****** c**or chang* - I'm thinking that at that stage I'll do a silk vanish and then try a c**** acr*ss routine while I'm being blasted with jazz fusion - maybe 3/4 coins across (a la Gregory Wilson), which would allow me to snap my fingers in time to the beats.

So, after consulting with the party planner I've finalised my set - some of my set pieces had to be awful tight in the timing because my act will be happening at the same time as some other acts [it's a 90's party]. I had to do a few dry runs of my pieces to make sure of the timing -- note for other magicians, in The Amateur Magician's Handbook, Henry Hay very specifically says about making a set of index cards for each of your tricks writing on it the name, the props required, general effect and, of course, **how long it takes**. I wish I'd actually done that before - now I know why it's such an important step. Experience is an expensive school and fools will learn in no other, however..

Anyway, my planned (and timed) routine is as follows

Introduction
Production of She CD in case
Polish with red silk, vanish with Th*** Tp
Sven**li Forc* of "red 6" [Lyrics from "That Party" track] with CD
DL "black 7" on deck for mini AC* routine [Lyrics ibidem]
Dec* sw*tch for red 6/black 7 G*m*ni Tw**s routine

-Intermission 1: Skateboard Tricks/Chester Cheetah Macarena dance-

Wh***ering J*ker ("Whisper Your Name" track)
Im**omptu O*TW ["Honestly Now" euroclub 1999 track remix]

-Intermission 2: Kid n Play Hip Hop Routine/Jackass Trolley Cart Jousting-

Coin* A**oss ("Between Us" track used, coins labelled Booker and Funky Dunky)
B*nnon Triu*** [Lyrics from "Here Comes the Big Parade" track]

-Silent Air Bud/Cool Runnings tribute-

M*sers Dr**m with POGS ["Joe Slam and the Spaceship" instrumental]
Big Finish: W**t U***l D*** [prediction card features "Harry Cardtrick Jr"]
End

"Oil and Water" was removed from the list out of respect for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina at the planner's request.

I'd like to thank everyone publically and privately offered me advice and help when compiling this routine. I perform it tomorrow, so I'll keep you posted on how it goes. And of course the above is available for anyone to use or modify as they see fit [if they are approached for a set of routines based around Harry Connick Jr's She album as well]

This sounds awesome! I love the trick for Here Comes the Big Parade; brilliant fit!

Any chance you could PM me what W**t U***l D*** is? It's the only code I can't decipher, lol.

I don't think I'd be speaking out of turn if I said it was a John Bann*n tr*ck from his book D**r M* F**tasy and one of the words is "Wait" [though I won't reveal which one]

Of course! Now I know the one Thanks!

I thought D*** was "Deck" and I was trying to figure out what special deck it was, lol.

Well, I performed my set (for better or worse), and it certainly was a learning experience! I won't recount the entire thing [this isn't my blog, and so on], but here's some interesting things I learned/had happen:

1. The Th*** T*p silk vanish was just meant to be a quick throw-away moment but pleasantly surprised to get a visible gasp and applause - it's hard to see things from laymen's perspective so sometimes we overlook just how some of this stuff must come across

2. Act went as planned right up until Im*****ptu O**W - then the rapper impersonating Snow [one of Kid n' Play couldn't make it, so instead the remaining rapper became Snow] came out early and started sassing me, probably eager to start his act. Unfortanately O*TW is a long piece, and part of the Harry Connick Jr song lyrics that were up on the main screen that everyone was singing along to were "I'd build a house in a hurricane" - before I realised what had happened, Snow had come from backstage with a leafblower and launched my cards all over the stage while rapping about being a hurricane. Everyone applauded because they thought this was part of the transition between our acts, but it obviously wasn't what I was expecting. I just left the cards on stage/in the crowd as they were and left [thank heavens it wasn't a g*ffed deck]

3. At the beginning of my B*nnon Tri**** routine, Snow snuck onto the stage with his leafblower AGAIN and right at the start of my act launched all my cards in the air, this time performing "Return of the Mack" by Mark Morrison, saying "By the Mack, I mean the Hurricane" every time. It got some laughs, and it was clear he wasn't leaving, so I bumped up my Miser's Dr**m act and wandered the stage during the rap, producing POGS from mid-air - people seemed to accept this was how things were meant to be and the last minute duo act went well (as well as can be expected, anyway). I had some stern words with him back stage during the Air Bud/Cool Runnings tribute, but I could tell he frankly didn't care about the professionalism of the magic act. I guess most rappers are like this, including their impersonators.

4. Big Finish went well - predictably I could see Snow sneaking out on stage yet again with the leafblower, but he didn't get his way this time. One thing a magician learns is misdirection, and that was exactly what I was using backstage during our little talk - removing the power pack to the leafblower. His failed attempt to get the machine going a few times got a few laughs, and I finished my act as intended. Afterwards people were convinced we had planned all this out together and we were some sort of Magician/Rapper double act pantomime. I can't even imagine what that would normally play like.

I complained about the rapper to the party organiser, turns how he was a relative of the birthday guest - no wonder no one else seemed to be having a problem with all his, let's be honest, nonsense. Goes to show "audience management" isn't something you need to practice just on the audience, I guess.

All in all, it was an okay gig, I'd give it a 7/10.

Wow! That is quite a story. I want to give it 11/10 because as much as my heart sank reading about this... fine gentleman... messing with you, I could feel vicariously victorious reading about your using your magical skills to come out on top in the end.

It is a crying shame that the audience lost the chance to see two such strong tricks as OOTW and Triumph, but I can't think of any possible way you could have handled this better. I doubt I could have played it off the way you did, and kept the audience experience as top priority. Just brilliant.

All clouds have silver linings - I'd be lying if I didn't say I hadn't been running my session on a continuous loop in my head these last few days to appraise what bits worked, what didn't, and how I would transition these acts again in the future for a similar set [not that I'm exactly basing my future around performing magic sets based on Harry Connick Jr's "She"]....

Chatting with a friend at a burger place later on, I stumbled on a handling to drop B*****'s T*****ph on him from a deck in *** - which makes it almost ideal for on-the-spot business, though of course you'd need a working surface [in this case, the diner bench we were eating at]