Dear Reader,

Are we back? I keep asking myself that question. I think that it could be interpreted in many ways, depending on where you are in the world, and the time at which you’re reading this. But I keep coming back to it nontheless.

Coming up, I’m going to likely curate some of the older blog posts, and, if I can, restructure the blog portion of this site (don’t hold your breathe on this one). But right now would be the time to take a snapshot of this site, if you care about the posterity of it all.

I find myself at a curious cross-roads in life. For the first time, it really feels like jumping into the unknown. Kind of a wild time to be a live performer when a significant amount of my audience isn’t ready to watch live performance in a room with other strangers, which is kind of the whole appeal of live performance.

I mean, yes, there are other things which I can do for fun and hazard, but if that theatre is missing, but, worth it? Not sure. Anyways, I’m sure we’ll see eachother soon, we do have so much to look forward to after all.

— J.R.

Dear Reader,

I have been thinking about the concept of gift-giving lately. And, while there is plenty of anthropological drivers for receiving/giving a gift within the anthropocene, see The Gift by Marcel Mauss, there are also many reasons to have a strong reason for materialism, and not simply purchase something for the sake of it, or because we see it on a list, or read it in a catalogue and are told we should like it.

I will often make the argument for experiences over materials. Back before the #COVID times, I would advocate to travel places, thereby creating memories that would essentially last longer than any material possession. How are these experiences created during these #unprecedented_times ?

Memory.

Purchase memory.

Recently, I purchased a fragrance for myself. It’s called By the Fireplace. The scent is supposed to evoke the memory of sitting by the fireplace. Honestly, I just liked the smell. BUT, do you know what does transport me back in time?

Allspice Dram brings me to Winter in New York City in 2017.

Strawberry Frosted Pop-Tarts bring me to my elementary childhood in Los Angeles, and also, weirdly enough, Portland, Maine.

Crushed dried mint brings me back to my second home. Not a very good time overall, but a real one that grounds me.

POINT IS: Perhaps you can think of a time when things weren’t like this. Or think of a time when you really had some fun with someone, made an experience with them in the past. if you’re seeking a gift for someone this year, perhaps try to give a material gift and recall an amazing memory?

— J.R.

related reading: https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/

Dear Reader,

Recently I began wandering the public domain sphere of magic. I found a lot of really cool old art, old theatrical posters, old paintings of medieval magic/theatre festivals, old theatres. Those are all awesome, and I will be sharing some of those with you next week.

However, in the effort of recreating the experience I had digging through a series of public domain works (many of which are from the 1920’s and beyond) I also came upon a significant amount of modern magician publicity images. Now, many of these have been uploaded by the magicians themselves, onto public domain servers such as wikimedia commons, so it’s all fair game for me to share them here, but every time I think about doing it, I almost feel sad. Granted, I know I’ve taken some cringe photos as well at a younger age, but then again, I didn’t have the wherewithal to upload them onto a server for literally anyone to access and use for the rest of eternity.

I link you here for either your enjoyment or suffering, or perhaps both: some of them are really a sight to behold.

— J.R.

Dear Reader —

I was looking through some old novels and found this highlighted from an earlier reading:

“Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions, seems still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth. Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery, and be overwhelmed by disappointments; yet, when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures … Thus strangely are our souls constructed, and by slight ligaments are we bound to prosperity and ruin.” — Mary Shelley

^ That’s from Frankenstein. A truly iconic work which as a whole describes some of humans most beautiful sentiments and fatal flaws. They say that the monsters we create as a society, the monsters we write about and create in myth, reflect heavily upon the societal fears of the time. I think many of these fears present in her time can also be seen today.

Above, she highlights some of the beauty to be found in the center of a human soul, a human soul that we all have inside of us, and which connects to the others around us. I find it both comforting and concerning that we still face the same fears and pleasures of a time gone by, but an overwhelming joy that the human spirit, and the spirit of magic, is capable of connecting and uplifting those around us.

Enjoy the beauty of humanity, it’s here to stay.

— J.R.

Dear Reader -

I’m working on a little pamphlet to publish soon. It’s called the “Lil Book of Magic Hacks” and it’s going to be super cute. They’re all just small snippets of ideas I’ve encountered in magic research that parlay quite nicely into other situations. I figured I’d share with you one of the hacks in advance:

Hack #7
Counting Cards
Counting cards (w/ a Hi-Lo count) in BlackJack is predicated on Aces, Faces and Tens counting as High Cards, Twos thru Sixes as Low Cards, and Sevens thru Nines as null cards. If you’re able to track the cards that have come out of the deck, you’re more likely to predict the upcoming cards. This kind of pattern isn’t only present in card games, it’s present in any defined set of values. If you’re paying attention to what’s come before, you may be more likely to predict what shall come to be. Always be counting.

— J.R.

Well well well!

It’s alive, folks! DEFCON 28 (Safe Mode) is officially live and online!

Are you following our village on twitter? @RoguesVillage to interact with us there, we’ll be going a bit radio silent here, but we invite you all to join in on the fun to be had this weekend!

It’s going to be a really, really good time. http://www.foursuits.co/roguesvillage to check out what we’re up to, and yes, it even answers the question of: What is DEFCON?

Dear Reader —

We’re BACK again! For the first time ever, for the second time in a row.

Is anyone here ready for ZY’s labor of love, the #roguesadventure? Check out the game (going live when DEFCON goes live) here: http://www.foursuits.co/game

If you want to see how we magically interweave the areas of tech and, uh, magic, give us a look: https://defcon.org/html/defcon-safemode/dc-safemode-villages.html

We’ll be live on Discord, here’s our schedule: http://www.foursuits.co/roguesvillage

— Four Suits

Dear Reader -

Pretty lofty title, huh? Fortunately, changing the world is inevitable. I promise, that by the end of your life, you will have changed the world. That’s the thing. In the most general terms: every person, with every action, changes the world in one small way every single day, right? Now, by the end of your life, those moments have built up some mighty influence over one’s surroundings. Victory, you’ve changed the world. Whether it be in an intimate way, or a grandiose way, you’ve done something.

Now that we’ve agreed on that, suddenly it might feel like a lot of responsibility to handle. However, no need for despair, all it takes is a little step forward every day. But you must take a step. It reminds me of an old idea: Indecision is a decision. Standing still is a choice against moving forward. And the decision or choice you make when you decide to stand still is: “I agree with the status quo.” Which is great sometimes, honestly. Don’t know where you want to eat? Let your friends decide. Don’t care what movie you watch? Have someone else pick one.

But, what if you don’t know where to step? What if you don’t know which way is forward? Honestly, with the information overload of this modern age, we’re being put into harder and harder decisions to make. Which makes the decisions that more meaningful. Which, if taken the wrong way, can be an anxiety-inducing thought. However, the opposite is true. Most of us want the best for humankind and one’s fellow spirit. The key decider is how we capture and parse information.

In the spirit of this, I urge you to seek dissenting opinions. Seek new information. Seek completely whole new realms you never once accessed. Because, just like you’re changing the world day by day, so are others. And imagine how sorrowful it would be to not know how they are changing it?

— J.R.

Dear Reader,

It has been clearly shown that the fabric of society is woven a bit thinner than we presumed. The truth is, the texture hasn’t been truly tested yet. While it may seem easy to allow despair into your life based on the unraveling of a societal safety net, it is important, now more than ever, to identify the driving-force inside of you and activate it to accomplish the change you seek. For this, I have a ritual. 

Tomorrow, I’ll be centering myself around what I seek to change within the next month. I will break it down into small steps, and plot it out on a calendar. I find that by visualizing these events, and placing them on a timeline, I begin to set my intentions and implement the framework to achieve these goals. I ask you to do the same for yourself. 

It is important to know that this incentivizes you to think of positive change. Meaning, nothing can ever be accomplished if you only think of what you don’t like, accomplishments are only made when you think of what you want. The guiding light of your subconscious can be more easily carried out when it has a destination. A destination being something that you can do. If you seek nothing, you also find nothing. Keep in mind the old adage from Nietzsche: “He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.” If we are to achieve a beautiful world, we must first imagine what this beautiful world looks like. If we dwell on a world filled with monsters, we may generate one filled with the monsters of ourselves. Focus on the positives and you’ll be surprised by how you are moved to achieve them. 

You have your intentions set, now it is time for some reflection, which strengthens these intentions and often provides the psychological toolset and vigor needed to achieve them. I recommend any sort of meditative ritual executed by yourself and yourself only. My go to is the I Ching, however you may also read tarot to yourself, practice breathwork or other physical meditations, work with a pendulum, the choice is yours. No matter what you choose, you are attempting to free yourself of your own individual perspective, and gain the perspective of something else, often times the inner self, allowing further connection with your desires and the methods by which to accomplish them. 

This is my ritual for you. Know that if you do this, I will be joining you as well, in positive intent and action. 

— J.R.

Dear Reader —

Things I’ve done during the quarantine:

• I’ve improved my DPS.

• De-scaled our espresso machine.

• Completed every level on Super Mario SNES.

• Organized my desk.

• Developed routines for “no-touch” close-up magic (way more successful than I thought).

  • “Picking cards” becomes a dribble and a stop.

  • Slip-forces.

  • Bill-changes.

  • Coin routines ala 3-fly.

• Maintenance on my car.

• Preparing to file my taxes.

Remember, Isaac Newton allegedly came up with some of his grand theories during the quarantine for the bubonic plague, so, stay vigilant my friends, and I’ll see you on the other side (whenever that is).

— J.R.

Hello fine friends of Four Suits —

We had quite the ride for 2019, with members of our collective sharing our distinct brand of magic all the way from Los Angeles to New York City: DEFCON, the Houdini Estate, Spyscape, Black Rabbit Rose, and more.

In 2020 we aim to reprise and embiggen (just made that one up) all of our recurring events from 2019, choosing to primarily build on our projects and partnerships in place of beginning new ones. Of course, there will probably be a number of new projects that come our way, which we’ll deal with in turn.

Right now we’re thinking about Spectokular, our cannabis magic extravaganza, and we’ve got a couple venues on the line, but nothing set in stone quite yet. Adding some bits to the formula of the experience to spice it up. Cannabis has had a wild roller coaster of a time in LA lately, with Lowell Cafe being the first consumption cafe in the United States, and then the parent company suddenly shutting down and selling the license. But, you bet when the industry gets more situated and stabilized, we’ll be the first ones in that space doing our work.

We’re also thinking about DEFCON 28. Arguably a lot more work logistically and planning-wise than the above. We’re making some big asks that we’ve been wanting to make for a while, and making things we’ve wanted to do that haven’t reached maturity until this year. I still don’t quite understand the people who don’t understand the connection between magic and security, Steve Forte literally wrote a book on this years ago, if anything this sector should be more exploded by this point. We’ll carve out that space for everyone else then. Maybe we’ll do a Q&A to get the answers out there.

Just a ramble as we prepare. Stay tuned…

— J.R.

So, as I thought about what to write today, a memory flashed through my mind that really only a handful of people “in the know” as it were would even have the chance of appreciating. For efficiency purposes, I’ll just talk about it here and in classic FS manner, will not be mentioning any particular names, it’s the takeaway that’s the most important anyways, regardless of who we’re talking about. 

“Trust me, I’m an expert.”

Recently, the team and I were doing a lecture of sorts, with one of our associated specialists talking about one subject in particular, somewhat tangential to magic. In the crowd were a few “known magic names” people we’d all probably recognize and listen to, but probably not very well known outside of the magic community. They always come across as knowledgeable, and they’re all the type of people who would have the ability to “hold court” at any sort of gathering of magi-folk. You get the point. Gravitas, knowledge, etc. Anyways, in this particular subject area that our specialist was talking about, one of these “known names” decided to speak up and command the floor. If our specialist friend was a magician, and this more “well-known” name decided to speak up, we might bow to the known name, and think to ourselves how we were just illuminated by their grand wisdom…

HOWEVER, this area was not in magic, everyone was a bit confused as to why this person stood up and started speaking their mind given that this lecture wasn’t about them at all, and only the magicians in the crowd witnessed this insight into this particular persons mentality. They’ve been so used to being the crown of the court, that they just have to chime in on things that they may not even have an expertise in. In other words, they’re just used to being the person that people listen to, regardless of expertise. Here’s why that’s a problem: they sound like they have an expertise in everything, which is physically impossible. (Further review into the statements they made only proved this. They simply didn’t know everything they claimed to know.) 

Do they have skills in certain areas? Yes, certainly. Do they have as many skills in as many areas as they claim to? No. It doesn’t matter who this person is, but the fact that I KNOW so many of you reading this would know their name is the point here: you need to practice discretion when you learn from people, especially people who are recognized. Question everyone. When the people you think demonstrate that “social proof” of being labelled an expert somewhere, and your own knowledge and experience start to weigh the same on the scale, you’ll know you’re getting somewhere. Independent from what someone tells you regarding their experience, develop your own basis of knowledge, do your own research. 

— J.R.

I came here to do exactly what I’m doing.

When people ask me, “What’s your biggest dream in magic? What is it that you really want to do?” the answer usually is “To continue what I’m doing.” Even the biggest dream that I have is still achieved by something that I’m doing today. Even writing this here is something that’s been a dream of mine, to be able to contribute back to some of the people who have inspired me in the past.

I think, for a while, I was a bit lost in magic, in life in general. I chased fleeting ideas, goals, circumstances. I achieved a lot of them. Unfortunately, anything that can be achieved in such a short term also must be moved on from and must be course-corrected from. It was a period full of empty accomplishment, if that makes any sense. It isn’t fulfilling to chase accomplishment itself, however it is extremely fulfilling to chase purposeful accomplishments, things which complete the bigger picture of ones own life.

It’s human nature to look at something else and think that surely it must be better than what one is currently doing now. That’s because we only see the things that make it better, as it is only an idea. In reality, work is work. Everything exists day after day. The only choice I have is my attitude and approach to this daily existence. I think a lot of people who are hard-working individuals, imagine a life where they can sit back and coast on their savings, or their extremely high-earning wages, and then just travel or relax. In reality, if you’re the type of person to get to that position, your brain and desire for challenge and work won’t stop when you’re “done”. You’re never truly “done” with anything, after all. You’ll still continue to live, to wake-up, and continue to have things to do. And personally, if it were me, I’d choose to continue to do exactly what I’m doing now. Because that’s exactly what I live for.

— J.R.

Technology, within the realm of magic, generally serves to generate experiences, subserviently living in the background until you call upon it to enact your physical feats. Think: Pepper’s Ghost, Legerdemain, Invisible Wires. However, throughout magic history, one field has successfully merged the two fields of technology and magic to both be presented within the spotlight: Automaton. Here is where technology occupies the stage, and it is the magician who works backstage. The automaton fulfills our fascination that the mechanical turk may somehow have a soul, and that is where the magic is created. We ask questions: Do we really have this power? Can we generate a machine that can act as a human? In the explorations we’ll have within illuminating the technical elements of magic, it is important to understand how it has functioned within the past so that we may understand how we may introduce it again now.

Magic is inherently a cognitive, and therefore, mostly intellectual human pursuit. Without the perceptive flaws of a cognitive mind, magic would cease to function. To an omnipresent eye, magic is the exact series of both public and secret actions that comprise an effect. To the human eye, however, magic is a series of public action made possible by secrets. Just as a card trick has a human side to it as well as a technical side, it is interesting then, how in the automaton, the technical and human are one and the same. The mechanical face is made to resemble a human, and it’s actions are made to represent a magician or other performer. This experience in itself, while someone magical, can’t be strictly described as magic. However, what happens when this machine does something only a human can do? Such as improvise, or react to stimuli. How can a series of metal gears react to your every chess move? How can metal fingers locate your card within the deck? How can machine be transmuted into flesh?

— J.R.

Been doing a bit more proscenium style stage work recently, which has led me to draft a few scripts of my performances so that I can nail down the story line. I find that beginning the official scripting process is best once I’ve already established a basic routine and am able to work with a given structure of the effect. Working on some material for a couple upcoming Halloween engagements has me thinking about extremely farfetched magical effects coupled with some compelling storylines. With this great storyline supported by effects I have no clue how to accomplish, what’s the possibility that I will actually be able to construct and create the effects, even with double the time and budget? Next to 0%.

Which made me consider “What is the optimal methodology to creating a magic script?” Because magicians are almost always working with a prop of some nature, I think immediately creating an emotional/dramatic plotline which one must create 100% unique and new props for the plotline… yeah, that’s possible I suppose, once you got MGM showroom money. I suppose almost anything is possible then. But DC isn’t reading this site, so this advice isn’t for them.

What if you took a routine you’ve played with in a physical/effect manner and layered onto it whatever magic script could work with it? Then it would have all the freedom of a creative exploration, with the grounding of actually having workable effects/tricks within the story. Too often have I found myself in the creation zone and without a viable end product too close to a show. “Working from what you know” is a philosophy that will always leave your audience satisfied with magical moments, and while we may always want to create a lovely storyline, it must be supported by those moments of magic. Flex that creativity on the story, not the effects. Your magic-show-going audience will appreciate it.

-- J.R.

Mentalism as the Ability to Have a Relate-able Super Power

I’ve been playing with some mentalism lately (eg thought-reading) and experimenting with various structures/methods for presenting the work. One thing I’ve been thinking about lately (besides how greatly different it is from any sort of sleight of hand work I’ve done in the past) is how to create moments of a relate-able super power. 

I think with mentalism, more so than many other types of magic (save for certain illusions) make room for the audience/participants to insert themselves into the performer’s shoes and imagine what it would be like to have the ability to read minds. It’s a naturally common idea, the idea to read someone else’s thoughts, versus the bizarrely unique skill of the classic sleight of hand trope of finding someone’s selected card in a shuffled deck.

It’s why People Stopped Looking (<— that’s a previous blog post on speaking with a mentalist) and it’s also why people want to see that process of the thought-reading. One thing I’ve been seeing more and more is how much my audiences love seeing that moment where I finally get the thought they’re thinking of, and, equally importantly, how I arrived at this conclusion. 

Mentalism is inherently more about verbal storytelling than many other forms of magic and art. How do we let the audience take a ride along with us and feel like they, too, can read minds -- even if just for that very moment? It’s a special gift to give. 

— J.R.

A (so far) anonymous friend of the site has just created something super fresh, debuting at Magic Live 2019 in Vegas in just a few days. Check it out here first, and in real life at an upcoming magic convention near you.

In the interest of creative, poetic, and artistic hacking, (the essence of our relationship with DEFCON this August), we present to you a guide to hacking/replacing bus stop billboards and public ad spaces, spotted by Z.Y.: http://brandalism.ch/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Brandalism-Guide2.pdf

Now, go on and have some fun. But the first person to use this as a card reveal will be sent to Magician jail.

— J.R.

Your favorite people (us) will be presenting at DEFCON this year, one of the largest hacking conferences in the world. Come find us in Vegas this August, chat with Feds, get sketched out by the state of technology, and inspired by what we can do with it.

Check out our page for more info.

— J.R.

For a while there, while I was in University, I’d do a lot of writing. As it stands currently, I’m writing probably about 25% as much as I was back then. Which is kind of a bummer when we have a self-imposed weekly deadline for blog posts. I searched back in my archive for relevant material and found this entry from 2016. I still distinctly remember the moment this happened, it was on Broadway and 125th in West Harlem.

— J.R.

On Subtlety subtlety is life’s big changing agent [a/n: I have no clue what that means]. the only consistent thing that will remain true until you die, is subtlety. i once saw a man attempt to casually lift (steal) someone’s duffel bag. just, casually snatch it. put his hand on it with a loose grip. tugged a little while maintaining his walking speed. didn’t work, but the bag owner was confused after the seemingly would-be thief strolled away at a leisurely pace: did that man just try to steal my bag? he said. even though the thief-to-be wasn’t exactly hiding his actions, he wasn’t exactly making them conform to the standards of thievery. and that’s what made it subtle, to me. it was steeped in this strange netherworld where thieves sauntered into a store, perhaps with a monocle and a hoody, just faintly lifted up a tv, and kind of meandered to the exit, setting it down gently along the way. did that man just try to steal a tv? people stand around in confusion. the man walks slowly away and life goes on.