Desert Island Tricks
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Desert Island Tricks
Stranded with a Stranger: Rob Sweet
Join us as we welcome Rob Sweet, also known as Sweet Deception Magic, a talented close-up magician from Coventry. Inspired by the Quick Trick Show and a cherished Paul Daniels magic set, Rob shares his journey into the magical arts, revealing a thoughtfully curated list of his favorite tricks. Featuring breathtaking routines like "Swindle" by Steve Cook and "Double Back" by John Allen, Rob’s selections are sure to amaze and inspire both veteran magicians and budding enthusiasts alike.
But that’s not all – we also explore some of Rob’s top picks for modern magic tricks that seamlessly blend traditional elements with cutting-edge technology. From the mesmerizing visuals of Leviosa by Joao Miranda to the mind-bending mentalism of Wikitest by Mark Kerstein, each trick is designed to leave a lasting impression. Discover how a Joshua Jay-inspired Instagram trick adds a personalised touch to social media magic, and how "Spread" by Ace Magic Studios creates unforgettable memories with a surprise photo reveal. Tune in to uncover the secrets behind these innovative performances and learn how to captivate any audience with a perfect mix of classic and contemporary magic.
If you would like to be a part of Stranded with a Stranger, send in your list of 8 tricks, 1 book and 1 non-magic item you use for magic to sales@alakazam.co.uk and you might just appear on a future episode!
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Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
Thank you for watching. Hello and welcome to Stranded with a Stranger. This is our mid-episode episode in which you guys can send in your lists and we will read them out. Episode in which you guys can send in your lists and we will read them out. Now, don't forget, if you do want your list read out, just send your list of eight tricks, one book and one non-magic item that you use for magic to sales at alakazamcouk. Please put the subject line my desert island list. That means it comes through to me and I can filter through them and read one of them out. That being said, today we have an entry from the wonderful Rob Sweet. This is what Rob says. Hello, my name is Rob Sweet, but in magic I go by Sweet Deception Magic.
Speaker 1:I'm a close-up magician based in Coventry and have had a huge passion for magic since the age of five. When, growing up, I used to enjoy watching the quick trick show on CITV and breaking the magician's code. My nan got me a Paul Daniels magic set from Brent Cross in London. I joined the Coventry magic circle in late 2019 but had to stop for Covid. These tricks are, in no particular order, amazing, yeah, the quick trick show, which, if you're not in the uk was a kids magic show and it was performed, I believe, by stephen mulhern, who is a magician over here, but he's also a tv personality and a TV presenter as well. And Breaking the Magician's Code, I think, is a fairly universal program. That was around when I was certainly younger, and I used to watch it, I think on a Saturday or a Sunday, and of course, that got worldwide interest because of what they were doing and I think a lot of people had that Paul Daniels magic set. In fact, if you did have a Paul Daniels magic set, let me know below the video on YouTube. If you're on YouTube, do let me know. It'll be interesting to see how many listeners actually had a Paul Daniels magic set. I had the small little 50 tricks, I think it was, and it had just the standard cups and balls. I think it had some coloured rings in it as well and some thin balls. But, yeah, excellent.
Speaker 1:Hello to everyone at Coventry Magic Circle as well. I hope you're all doing well and hopefully our friend here, rob Sweet, has rejoined or is going to rejoin. But, with that being said, let's see what Rob's list consists of Now. Remember he hasn't put this in any particular order. This is just a random order. So he's begun with Swindle by Steve Cook.
Speaker 1:When I first saw this I thought it was too simple but soon realized it's a good opener and the spectators have no idea how I made them pick the wrong box. A black box and a white box is shown to the audience and I allow them to freely choose a box and talk about magicians influencing spectators. Whatever box they choose, they open it and a note is found inside which says congratulations, you get to see an amazing card trick. This gets laughs. But when I open the other box, it has a £10 note inside and it gets even more laughs, along with cries of oh no, can I pick again? Absolutely.
Speaker 1:Now we spoke about 50 50s very briefly on the Derren Brown episode and I know several other people on the podcast have mentioned different versions of 50-50. Obviously, one of my favorite 50-50 effects is Chair Swindle by Andy Nyman from his DVD set Get Nyman, which for me is one of the best mentalism DVDs out there. But the idea of giving this 50-50 some sort of credence and some sort of narrative that makes it interesting is always a fun thing to play with. So absolutely, the fact that you're using this as an opener as well really shows that you've considered how your set is being put together. Of course you can build on a 50-50. It may be not as impactful at the end of the show, I guess, depending on how you're going about it, but certainly it's great at the very, very beginning. So that takes us on to the second item. He has put John Allen's double back Excellent trick. I use this as the second item. Uh, he has put john allen's double back excellent trick. I use this as the second trick in my set as a reward from swindle, and I love it because it really gets the audience involved, allowing them all to partake in a card trick.
Speaker 1:In this I explain that some people, when doing card magic, forget their card and it's a bit of an anti-climax. So we're going to do an observation test to see how good their memory is. I bring out four cards two kings and two fives. I tell the audience they have 10 seconds to remember the cards. After this I ask questions based on what they've seen. For example, how many cards were there? And there's five. There's a red five in there. Was it a heart or a diamond? The audience will get all of these correct until the final question, where I give the fives to the spectator and I show the kings in my hand. I ask if I have the kings, what cards are you holding? They say the fives. I then turn my cards over and I have the fives, and they now have the kings. It's a brilliant moment, because the audience just saw the kings in my hands. People really do lose their minds with it At this point in my set I've influenced them into picking the correct box with swindle and now I've somehow used the best sleight of hand to switch the card that they were holding with my own.
Speaker 1:I love this routine. It's so, so strong. It also doesn't matter if everyone else is burning your hands. You still come away clean because of the method. John is a genius for creating this, absolutely. I remember first seeing this when I was younger and being absolutely baffled, and there are many, many versions of this, I think, probably off the back of John's original double back routine, but it really is a phenomenal trick and certainly if you're looking for a packet trick or a trick just to have separately from everything else, this is a wonderful, wonderful trick. It's a great, great choice. This brings us on to Wow Vision by Nick Einhorn.
Speaker 1:I use this with a little bit of sleight of hand and some blank playing cards. I also use DFB to influence the choice of a celebrity. Once the spectator is thinking of the celebrity, I then get them to sign a blank card. This goes into the wow gimmick and I get the spectator to concentrate on their chosen celebrity. I then get them to hold their finger on the wow gimmick and magically their thought of celeb appears inside of the gimmick. Wow, but that's cool. This gets great reactions. But the best reaction is when I tell them to pull their card out with their signature on and the celebrity is printed onto the card with their signature on the back. It's an amazing trick that gets great reactions. I get the celebrities printed at Print by Magic and there are a few to choose from. So if I do the routine multiple times for different people, I get different results Depending on how you handle the gimmick. You can make the celebrity appear as fast or as slow as you like.
Speaker 1:Excellent, excellent choice, rob. I mean again. I remember seeing the WoW gimmick for the first time in Davenport's Magic Shop in London and I would have been well, maybe 16, 17 when this came about and it was an absolutely phenomenal effect and I still think it's one of the best visual transformations of a card that we have. It's just absolutely phenomenal. And Nick's idea of incorporating celebrities and the way that you've routined it there using DFB and you've really considered how everything goes together. I think that sounds like a cracking little routine and I love that you've provided us with little routines in this. I've already read ahead, so I know that you do this a little bit later on as well. So absolutely excellent. Those who haven't seen Wow, you're missing out. It's absolutely phenomenal. There are lots of different versions of it around nowadays, but that sounds absolutely brilliant, rob.
Speaker 1:And that does take us on to Rob's fourth entry, which is Steve Rowe's Rolo Polo. I saw this from Steve himself at a lecture at my local club and thought it was an amazing trick. The premise is you show the spectator a load of cards that have prizes on them Sharpies, a ring a phone, crisps, etc. They choose one and I tell them to whisper it around the room. I tell them I have a prize in my pocket and I have supersonic hearing. They whisper it around the room and I tell them to name it on the count of three. They scream polos and I pull out a packet of Rolos oh no, awkward, this makes everyone laugh. Then I say, okay, as I'm a magician, I'll try and fix this. I then magically turn the R from Rolos into P for polos, nice. These are then snapped in half and a load of polo mints fly out. It's brilliant, has a lovely giveaway and is super commercial. It's also a brilliant effect for kids and, as I don't do any children's magic, this is the one I'll save if I'm asked if I can do anything for the little ones at a wedding. I also do this with Steve Rose fruit pastels with a card reveal on it Excellent. Yeah, all of Steve's tricks are super commercial and his name seems to be coming up more and more in the podcast. Now hopefully spoiler alert he'll be coming on the main Desert Island Tricks show in the future podcast in the future, so keep an eye out on that. But absolutely, and I love the fruit pastels reveal. I think it's so funny. That has also featured on an episode. I'm not going to tell you who said it because I know that episode hasn't gone out yet but absolutely wonderful routine. The idea of snapping the Rolos and there being Polos inside as well. I've never performed it, but I bet that gets phenomenal reactions. It's a great, great choice.
Speaker 1:This brings us on to Rob's fifth item, which is Leviosa by Joe Miranda. We're seeing this a lot. This is basically Harry Potter in real life and I'm sure most magicians know what happens. A card is selected and put back into the deck, the cards are put onto the floor and then, with a swipe of my hand, the card flies out of the deck. Of course, it's found to be the spectator's side card. After this, I raise my hand up and the deck floats to my hand. It gets amazing reactions and I try to use it when there is a large group of people. It's a little bit tricky if it breaks, but the reactions are priceless and it really does look like real magic. You know what? I just think that Leviosa feels like a modern classic. It feels like something that everyone is either performing or is adjacent to performing, ie they've got it and they're learning it or they're waiting for the right time to use it.
Speaker 1:It's a phenomenal trick. I think we all know what it is by now and how good it looks, and I know that harry dems it in the shop an awful lot and it always gets incredible reactions. It really is one of those tricks as well that I think looks better in real life rather than on video. So if you think it looks good on video, then wait till you see it in real life, it than on video. So if you think it looks good on video, then wait till you see it in real life it's even better. So that brings us over Rob's halfway point to his sixth position, which is Wikitest by Mark Kirstein.
Speaker 1:Some magicians do not like app magic, but Wikitest really is amazing. You get a spectator to search for anything on Wikipedia. They do so. Then you ask them to remember a word from the article. You then reveal what they searched for and the word on the article as well. I like to do this with a notepad and write down what they searched for. It's a fantastic piece of mentalism and it's great for close-up parlor or stage. I use it all the time now, as most people have access to the Internet or 5G.
Speaker 1:Again, phenomenal choice. It's one that we've had before. We will definitely have again. Wikitest is just a wonderful, wonderful piece of magic. It got a lot of us through virtual shows. Not going to lie, that was very much something that was a standout piece in a lot of virtual shows, so thanks to Mark Kirstein for that. I think a lot of people, yeah, performed it then, but a lot of us still have it and perform it as well. I know it's a staple of a lot of people's routines. It feels inexplicable, sorry, and it feels absolutely magical. So absolutely excellent choice there, rob.
Speaker 1:This does bring us on to your seventh item, my instagram trick. He says this was a joshua j trick. Essentially, you have someone pick a card from a deck and have it lost back inside. I would then not be able to find it and show the wrong card. I then say, okay, well, last week I had a feeling this moment was going to happen. I'll show you what I mean. Are you following me on Instagram? I then get them to follow me and point out the picture of a card I've pinned to the top of my feed. What's even more impressive is it says thanks, jane, for choosing the Jack of Hearts Looking good in the pink top and trainers, have a lovely time at the wedding or whatever event I'm at. The post is also dated the week before, so there is no way they could perceive I've changed it in any way. Finally, the wrong card I took out magically turns into the jack, bringing the trick full circle. It also gets me another follow up, which is also a bonus.
Speaker 1:Do you know what Excellent, great routine there? Again, this is what I meant by you putting these little routines together. That's excellent. What a great idea. I'm not sure the name of the trick, now I did try and research this so that I could tell you where to find this trick. I'm afraid I don't know. I know Patrick Kuhn has something called Instagram which I think has elements of this, but I can't be sure. But either way, the routine is phenomenal.
Speaker 1:It's always good to think about marketing tricks when you're out working, especially if you do weddings or restaurants. You're at a lot of tables every night, so it's always good to get those people. I always think about it like a modern newsletter. Back in the days, you used to have to collect data by getting someone to sign up to your newsletter. But really, instagram and TikTok now are these places that you have All of these people constantly being active and seeing what's going on, so it's a great way to get to a mass audience or a large group of people really, really quickly, especially if you have tickets for a show and stuff like that. They can just see it all in one place. So really nice that you're thinking about things like that as well.
Speaker 1:And this does bring us on to Rob's last item, which is spread by Ace Magic Studios. This involves a custom deck that has a load of holiday destinations on the front of them. The spectator cuts the cards and picks a destination. Let's say they chose Paris. Even though I didn't see the card, I can then reveal they selected Paris. I then explain that they never really had a choice. I spread the cards face down on the table and in the spread is a picture of the Eiffel Tower. It's a great routine and I do it multiple times by using the rainbow Polaroids by Haiger. I can then use the spectator's phone, take a photo of them holding a blank Polaroid and when they look back, their selected location is found in the photo on their phone. It's a great little photo on their phone. It's a great little souvenir on their phone. I love it so much and the reactions you get are amazing. As I have multiple rainbow Polaroids, I can do this a few times to different people. Absolutely great choice. Now I obviously know this. This is an Alakazam trick, but even before I worked with Alakazam, I love this and I'll tell you why I love this in particular.
Speaker 1:A lot of this style of effect traditionally beforehand involved one specific deck of cards which had one specific reveal, but what Ace Magic Studios did is made it so that you can have multiple revelations from the same deck of cards. So, like rob brilliantly just said there, it's not a case of you having to carry an entire deck for one revelation. You actually have the option to do four different revelations and they have a genuine choice so you can have them select four random places from those floor. They have a genuine choice, so you can have them select four random places from those floor. They have a genuine free choice of what one they want and then you can reveal it. And what I love about Rob's routine here is he's added in those rainbow Polaroids, which again are a great tool. If you have them, they are just phenomenal. They're such a wonderful addition. So that extra kicker that you have there is really, really superb. What a great, great list, rob. Really wonderful risk uh list. You can see everything from. You know, swindle um, which starts off your set, to john allen's double back, which you use in conjunction with the first routine to carry on, and then you've routine things wonderfully, like the wow vision and the rolo polo. All of it is just phenomenal. Great choices. And it does bring us onto Rob's book. This is what Rob says.
Speaker 1:My book choice was difficult because I don't read many magic books. However, I've gone with Royal Road to Card Magic, as I've recently started reading it again to get my sleight of hand better and learn some new things. It's a great book that really shows the fundamentals of card magic. I do struggle with magic books, though, and prefer to be shown or have a DVD. I think a lot of people say that magic books are either something that you obsess over and collect, like some of us do. I know myself, andy, and my friend Sarah are quite bad with collecting books, many of them still unread, not going to lie but some people have grown up with dvds. It also depends how you learn. Some people learn from reading something almost like a manual, and some people learn audibly by listening to someone describe something you know, and some people learn just by watching and following that process. So, absolutely, I do think that maybe in the future we'll add that to the podcast. Maybe after the first year we'll change it up and we'll add a few things, and maybe that can be something that we add. Maybe it's a book or a DVD. I think that that might be a good way to go. But yeah, raw road card magic Excellent.
Speaker 1:This brings us onto Rob's non-magic item. My non-magic item is something I bought last week. It's a pair of small wireless mics Very nice from Amazon. They're well worth the £25 I paid for them. I now use them when I'm performing and in a busy environment so that I can hear myself and my spectators more clearly. As I won't be leaving the island, I want to make sure we have high speed Internet so I can send the footage of me performing to Instagram and have perfect audio. Great. I'm not sure if we've actually had mics yet. So that's a great, great choice. And you're right, there are a few performers that use microphones. Even at close up tables. It does take a bit of a strain on the throat, especially when the DJ comes out at wedding. We all know what that's like. So, yeah, that's a really great choice.
Speaker 1:But what an excellent, excellent list. Thank you so much, rob, for taking the time and writing that down excellent list. Thank you so much, rob, for taking the time and writing that down. Um, and don't forget, if you guys want your lists read out in the same way that rob just has had his, then please do send in your list to sal at alakazamcouk, I'm really enjoying finding out what everyone at large is performing. I think it's a really interesting little mid episode. So, yeah, please do send that in. Use the subject line my desert island list. We're going to try and get one of these a week, which we're doing pretty well at. We're getting some people sending every week. So, yeah, please do send in your lists. It really is wicked to hear all of your lists. So, that being said, we'll be back Friday with the next edition of desert island tricks, but this week, rob, sweet or sweet deception, magic has been stranded with a stranger. Thank you all and we'll see you again soon.
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