Desert Island Tricks
Episodes are uploaded every Friday and are available via all Podcast service providers!
To find out more about the team behind Desert Island Tricks, please visit: www.alakazam.co.uk
Desert Island Tricks
Kyle Purnell
This episode features the incredible Kyle Purnell, a master magician and creator with over 20 years of captivating audiences and pushing the boundaries of card magic. We explore his preferred Desert Island Deck, the Butterfly Deck, a revolutionary marked deck that enables peeks that many other deck's do not allow, including instantly locating any card named by a spectator from a shuffled deck. Kyle also shares his go-to routine using this deck, offering a glimpse into the deck's unmatched versatility.
The discussion then transitions to Paul Richards' Shanghai coins, a set of gaff coins that add a visual flair and seamless transitions to his performances. By combining the elegance of the Butterfly Deck with the tactile allure of Shanghai coins, Kyle ensures his acts are not only varied but also deeply engaging, captivating audiences whether in close-up settings or on the stage.
Lastly, Kyle introduces us to the fascinating world of coin box magic, David Penn's eight ball and the Copeland coin box. Revealing how these props have enhanced his routines with added elegance and impossibility, Kyle shares his personal journey of integrating them into his performances. We also get an insider look at Kyle's innovative trick, Lightyear, and its special place in his heart despite its rarity in his shows. A perfect blend of insight and passion, this episode promises to inspire and amaze both aspiring magicians and magic enthusiasts alike.
Kyle's Desert Island Tricks:
- Butterfly Deck
- Shanhigh coins
- Dropped Call
- Magnetic 8 Ball
- Copeland Coin Box
- Simese Waltz
- Lightyear
- Perfect Square
Book) Mentalissimo
Item) Post It Notes
A podcast about being an artist from a practical perspective. The series will...
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
Thank you for watching.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to another episode of Desert Island Tricks. You will not be aware of this, but I'm recording this very late at night, and if I'm recording this very late at night and if I'm recording this very late at night, that means that we have a very special guest that we've got from overseas. So we do have an overseas guest. Of course you would have seen the title by now. This gentleman has been around the magic scene for, I would presume, over 20 years at this point, releasing different effects. I've definitely owned a couple of his effects and I'd be shocked if you do not own one or two of his effects. He has been on Penn and Teller Fool Us, which he did superbly on A really, really good act, I thought. And he has presented many different lectures. I think he did a Murphy's at the table lecture. I think he's done a penguin lecture, he's done downloads, he's got products, he's literally everywhere, and now he's here. So we're very, very lucky to have him. Today's guest is, of course, mr Kyle Pernell. How are you, kyle?
Speaker 3:I'm doing great, jamie. How are you man?
Speaker 2:I'm very well. Thank you, I'm very excited to hear your list.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Now, normally I have a guess, but I don't know you well enough so I'm not going to even attempt to guess. So the idea is that we're about to. Well, kyle's already there. He got an early flight to this island, but Kyle is about to go to this desert island. When he's there, he's allowed to take eight tricks one book and one non-magic item that he uses for magic. The particulars how big the island is. What's on the island? Are there people there or they're not? Are there animals? All of that good stuff? We do not mind. This is Kyle's own imagination playing these games. So, with that being said, carl is very excited to get in there. So what was that first trick?
Speaker 3:the first thing, uh, yeah, it's not even a discussion in my head. I I literally go no, nowhere without these, um, which is andre janiska's butterfly deck. Uh, the man, this Andre Janischka's Butterfly Deck man, this thing is a game changer. I tell everybody that I think this is the most revolutionary addition to the card magic community in the last 20 years. These cards are not only absolutely beautiful, they handle absolutely elegantly, but they have a very special we'll say it's a mark deck, but it's marked in a very particular way that allows you to do things you can't do with an ordinary mark deck.
Speaker 3:Uh, so I think one of the most magical things that you can do with the deck of cards is not to have someone pick a card, but to have someone name a card, because, especially if it's shuffled, so they shuffle the deck, they name any card. But to have someone name a card Because, especially if it's shuffled, so they shuffle the deck, they name any card and you have instant access to any card that they name. And then I do it as like a multiple selection routine, and it's just a beautiful tool that allows me to kind of change up my routine every time too, to make it fit the audience that I'm working for. Uh, so sometimes I'll, you know, start off with a color change, sometimes I'll start off with just kind of stealing it out, um, but again it seems completely impossible, because the deck is completely shuffled and the deck is face down the entire time and within a second you have instant access to whatever card. The name game changing, I love it.
Speaker 2:They are superb. Well, so normally when someone says this item, because we've had this item a few times, not this specific version of it, I normally am Devil's Advocate and I push them for one routine. So if they were to do one routine with that deck so I'm guessing you just elaborated yours would be a multiple selection.
Speaker 3:It is multiple selection in fact. I can give you details, uh, I'll. So I'll give you, generally speaking, my, my routine. Um, first I have someone shuffle cards. Then I have, uh, the first person name a card. Uh, so, whatever they name, I say we're going to try to find it with one hand. And then I riffled, uh, with one hand down the side. I say oh, oh, I'm sorry, I meant this hand. And I show that I have the card already pumped in my hand. So that's the first one. But I said let's go to you, sir, let's go next. What card do you want?
Speaker 3:They say two of clubs. I say, watch the first selection If it's the Two of Hearts, and then you might do a move to turn it back to the original one and then do a revelation for the second one again. Then I have someone name a third card, king of Clubs, let's say. Then I go back and show that the King of Clubs is in my back pocket. So a little mentalism in there. And then I find the first two cards again from the middle of the deck and then the whole deck vanishes from between my hands. And that's usually my kind of opening card routine and it's done from a shuffle deck.
Speaker 2:Wow, that sounds incredible. That sounds great. There's some really nice moments where you're so far ahead and the audience are just catching up with you constantly.
Speaker 3:I love the idea of a multiple selection routine, but you know, there's to me, when you do a multiple selection, this is not a problem, it's not problematic. But I think with most of them it's touch a card, then reveal a card, right and so it's. It goes from tangible to tangible, which is fine. But how much more impacting can it be if it goes from intangible to tangible? So the intangible is they just have a thought and they say it. That's intangible, and then the revelation is the first time that they actually see the card. To me, that's always going to be more impacting than if they touch it and then I reveal it yeah, yeah, I agree.
Speaker 2:And what is it about the Butterfly deck, specifically, out of all of the versions that you could have chosen? Yeah, so there's.
Speaker 3:As far as I'm aware, there's really only two we'll call them E-marked decks that I'm aware of and I haven't really played around with the other one. I believe it's from Steve Gore. Um and uh, from what I hear, it's excellent, it's really great, um, uh, so I've got no reason to not go for that one. But, uh, these I've just fell in love with and I learned the system and it's kind of second nature to me now. Uh, I love how beautiful they are.
Speaker 3:Um, and that also helps me out, because there's always that issue when you're talking about, uh, uh, you know strolling magic and you introduce a card that are a deck of cards that's not a bicycle deck of cards, right, and then as magicians, we think, well, is that a problem? Well, they think it's a special deck or anything like that. Um, so I like the fact that these are just genuinely beautiful cards and even if they were a straight deck of cards, the standard deck of cards, people would comment on how beautiful they are. So they aren't necessarily like so extravagant that they, that they, they demand suspicion, but they, they kind of have that that simple back design like a bicycle deck would, uh, but it's different enough that they might comment on it, and usually I'll even say I want you to shuffle it, look through it and you can even uh compliment me on how beautiful my cards are right, and it just it feels natural, but it also gives it just a little touch of class. I, I like the butterflies.
Speaker 2:I think they're beautiful, um, and it just really fits, uh me pretty well amazing first choice, excellent, uh, and interested to see where this is gonna go now. So what's in your second position?
Speaker 3:yeah, second position is something that is not, uh, super well known, um, but I adore this, uh, and I've only been actually working with this on September or so, and it's Paul Richards Shanghai coins. It's a, it's a gaff coin, um, that, uh, I usually pair it with a lot of sleight of hand that allows me to do a routine, uh, as follows so I I'll always just make one coin appear first and it's a, it's a Kennedy silver dollar, uh, and then I have that examined and then I'll go into just make one coin appear first and it's a, it's a Kennedy silver dollar, uh, and then I have that examined and then I'll go into like a one coin routine kind of thing, where the coin falls up and, uh, I do coin on shoulder, um, and then I show all my hands completely empty again, uh, again, this is after they examined it. And then I produced a second coin, I produce a third coin and then, with apparently no moves, you can change all three coins at the same time to Chinese coins, and then from there you wipe again and then they change into three different coins from each other. Each one is a different coin. Then you wave again, they change all back to the Eisenhower dollars, and then from there you can make them vanish one at a time, and then I usually end with my next thing that's on the list too, so we'll, we'll get to there. But it's a, so it's similar to other GAF coins on the market, but this one in particular I love. So I would say it's similar to the split by greg gregory wilson. It's very similar, and I used to do split focus, um, but this in particular, uh the uh.
Speaker 3:It has a, an added feature that allows you to do a lot more changes, and it's a lot um, so there's just more built into it, and I think the quality is excellent as well, because I'm not easy on my props, and this has held up very, very well. So I highly recommend it. And he doesn't. He only sells it like in person when he's at conventions. This is Paul Richards, so it's not on his website, it's not through Murphy's, it's not distributed anywhere Like. You can only get it from him, and I highly recommend that his website. It's not through Murphy's, it's not distributed anywhere. You can only get it from him and I highly recommend that you do. It's not cheap. It's a coin set, of course, right, but man, it's worth it. They are so good, they're so well made and it allows you to do things that other coin sets don't allow you to do.
Speaker 2:It sounds great, but it does feel like there's going to be an onslaught of people trying to find this coin set after this, because that sounds phenomenal.
Speaker 3:I hope I can make Paul a few sales here because it really is good. I didn't even buy it from him, I got it as a gift from one of my friends who he bought it from Paul and he realized, you know, he's just not a coin guy, he just bought it because it was cool and he gifted it to me. I'm like I'm going to use the living bleep out of this and it was like my favorite magic gift I've ever gotten, because not only is it cool, but I'm using it every single gig.
Speaker 2:Amazing. Well, whoever your friend is is going to be very thankful to Mr Paul Richards for this. I think that's right. That's right, that's great. And it's great that you started off with a card trick straight onto a coin trick. So it's nice that there's going to be a little bit of diversity. But it does feel like, are you primarily a close up performer?
Speaker 3:I'm primarily close up. Yeah, I have have a stage show, just because in this day and age you kind of have to run the gamut of things just depending on what people want who are going to hire you. I'm pretty happy with it. It definitely needs a lot of improvement. I have a very high standard for myself, but, no, I would say the hefty majority of the work I do is close up.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm very excited to see where this is going to go. We are at number three, so what's in your third position?
Speaker 3:Oh, number three is something that is near and dear to me because it's one of mine. It is dropped call. Dropped call is a cell phone vanish that myself and my one of my good friends, zach Evans, worked on and it is a really, I'll say, practical way to do a cell phone vanish and the thing that has going for it that maybe other cell phone vanishes don't have going for it is you can activate it with one hand and it's very versatile because you can use it as a standalone thing. You can use it as an enhancement to, like a coin vanish. We make the coin vanish first and you shine the light as a piece of misdirection and then they look back and the phone is gone, piece of misdirection. And then they look back and the phone is gone, um, uh.
Speaker 3:The way I've been using recently is it's the way it's designed is perfect for a card to wallet. So this is actually a card to wallet so you can have your phone out uh, the whole time, uh, and the uh, the process to get to the point where you can do the revelation, the. Can we say load? We'll say load, um, the. The load is super, super fast um, which allows you to then take as finish your card routine by taking your phone, turning on the light, and they can see the phone through the holes in the case, and then the light turns off, then the phone vanishes. They see that and then a card appears where the phone was and it's their sign card.
Speaker 3:Um, so it's just a really uh, versatile thing, uh the. The downside is that, because there is a reason that it almost didn't make the list, uh, for me, and the downside is it is very prone, uh, in a way, that the other things on the list aren't to obsolescence, because we designed it after an iPhone 10, which is already very old now. So in a few years, people are going to look at you, happen this and be like that's really weird. Why do you have a phone that's almost 10 years old, you know kind of thing? So it definitely comes with its uh, you know inherent limitations, uh, but until that day comes, I'm gonna carry with me everywhere I go yeah, I think it's one of those ones as well.
Speaker 2:When it first came out, it was everywhere it was. You know, every social media channel that I turned on to, there was someone performing it, either to camera or at a gig, and that's what's so nice about it, though, is it translates really well to social media as well as in-person performances.
Speaker 3:I really appreciate that and I don't think it's bad for social media. I'm going to respectfully disagree when someone performed it on social media. To me that's not the best method for a phone vanish on social media. Um, because, uh, we designed it for real world because I know and again, not not talking specific method here but I know what people care about in the real world and I know what they don't care about and I know they don't care if they see the front of the phone Because just being in the moment, if I'm out with my friends, no one cares about seeing the front of the phone. People just assume it's there, because if I'm just out with my friends and someone else is on their phone, they might be texting. I rarely see other people's screens. So I know in the real world no one cares about that.
Speaker 3:But the game has completely changed when you're doing social media and immediately that'll be suspicious on social media. So I think the Cyrix I forget what it's called Syrix something where you take it out of the case and you show and then you put it back in and then it disappears from the case. That's much better for social media. Uh, but I love when I got to see people doing this to real people and real life, because that's what it's designed to do, and then you can see how versatile it is and that you can do it with one hand, or you can do some like misdirection things, and it's just it's so. There's so many different ways to perform it. That's that's why that's where I really think that the value is dropped. Call amazing.
Speaker 2:And that brings us to your halfway point. So we're already at number four. Uh, what's in your fourth position?
Speaker 3:fourth position is uh something uh that uh, I actually just recently started doing really recently, just a few weeks ago and that speaks volumes for it for how, how beautiful it is. Um, it's, uh, it's. I'll call it something that's not actually called because I obviously we don't want to talk method and the method's kind of in the title, so we'll call it something else. It's David Penn's eight ball, and I don't know why this hasn't been done before, but I again, I don't go anywhere without it. Now it is, it's one of those things that is really easy to carry around with you, but it but the impact of the end is so big, um, that obviously you can do with any eight ball, but his, his in particular uh has a uh, a feature that makes it uh so easy to not only carry around but access unbelievably quickly. It makes you think why has no one never thought of this before? So not only is it a great idea, but the execution is really really good too, and when you drop it because I usually I usually do like a bare hand of production and then it drops on the table, like, like the paint doesn't chip or anything like that like it is excellent quality, uh and just the uh, the immediate access to it is just really really, really nice.
Speaker 3:Apparently we have different size eight balls. Uh, apparently american ones are bigger. I had no idea. I don't play pool, so apparently this is a snooker ball. And so then I'm like, well, I have to get a smaller eight ball now. And I thought, well, if I'm going to do that, why don't I just support, uh, the guys? And uh, because that's because david pens is the one that wayne recommended, that's the one he uses I'm like, if I'm gonna spend money again, I might as well just, you know, get this one. It has an extra feature.
Speaker 2:That extra feature is game changing and it just shows we've gone now from cards to coins, to mobile phone, to an eight ball. You don't get more diverse than that. I don't think in a in a set. But that brings us over your halfway point, to number five. So what's in your fifth position?
Speaker 3:uh, number five is specifically a copeland coin box, but, uh, you could really just put in any Okito coin box. We're going back to coins now. Sorry about that. We were doing so well, but I honestly never thought of myself as a coin box guy. I always thought of it as kind of like magic for magicians kind of thing. But it is so satisfying to play around with. And when played around with it, I started making a routine. Then the routine was something I started working and it just got such good reactions. But it was also so easy to carry around.
Speaker 3:Uh, it looked really nice and elegant, um, and, and I think, as long as you structure it in a way where it doesn't look like the prop is doing the work, it looks like you are doing the work, which you are right Because, like at the end of the day, like we know, okita coin boxes are specifically designed, but they're not gaffed per se, right? Um, like they have to be very uh, methodically produced, right, but there's no like trap doors or anything, right? Um? So, uh, that's what I really love about. I love that I can just hand it to someone.
Speaker 3:I say check out the coins, check out the box, and then you are able to do, uh, some crazy sleight of hand, uh, but with the, with that touch of elegance again, because, especially, and again it's specifically a copeland coin box which which I got from jeff, um and like they're just some of the best boxes available today. I mean they're, they're just the, the weight is beautiful, like it's a perfect coin box, um, so I I just can't say anything. I just can't say enough great things about it. It's one of the best investments I've had and it's just a metal box, but I love it though.
Speaker 2:The thing with a coin box is it's something that I've never played with. But number one I love to watch coin box routines. There's something incredibly satisfying about watching them. Number two I think methodologically, a lot of them are actually really clever routines. There's there's always an element in them where when you're watching it, you go that's, it's clever that you're in that position now, yeah, and you've not had to do anything without giving anything away. Um, and what I also like about it is sometimes coin routines can feel a bit samey, if that's the the, a nice way of putting it. Um, whereas by placing that coin box there, there's an element of interest from your audience straight away. There's an element of impossibility now, so I'm not touching those coins.
Speaker 3:They are away from me, I cannot manipulate them absolutely, yeah, absolutely, and that's kind of where I like to live too is like having interesting props that still feel like they're from earth, right, like, like it's. It's an interesting prop, it's a classy looking prop, um, but it's so it kind of feels magiciany. But I think it's okay to introduce magiciany props as long as they look elegant and and they, you know, like. I wouldn't do a coin box routine if it was plastic, right, um, but uh, the, the, I'm gonna play devil's advocate with myself.
Speaker 3:Which is the thing that is not great about coin box routines is, even though, to borrow your phrase, it is not samey as everything else, it can feel samey when you do a routine where you're like the first coin goes to the box, now the second coin goes to the box, now the third going goes to the box, right. So, as a performer, it's still your job to to make it not samey and you know and understand, you know rising action, falling action, and you know understand the structure of a magic effect, so that way it's still, you know it leads to a climax, right, um. So you still need to, you know, use your magic skills here, uh, to to make sure it's not, you know, just a boring kind of linear path, uh, but the prop itself opens up a lot of doors. That's what I really like about yeah, that's very true.
Speaker 2:really good point there as well. So here's a question for you, then With your Coinbox routine, what is the hook that you would use for your audience?
Speaker 3:Yeah, absolutely. So I start with an element of truth. I got to tell you something about myself. I lose everything, everything. I uh, I was just a few months ago. I was out of town at a uh magic convention. Uh, am I out of town? I was out of state. I was like eight hours away, uh, from my house and my house and across state lines and I didn't know where my glasses were, I couldn't find my driver's license and I didn't know where my wedding ring was. I also lost my room key a few times. So literally I cannot keep track of anything. And so when I was down there and to be clear, this is what I'm telling my spectators While I was down there you know, as a magician, we go to magic conventions and we can buy magic from other people, and I bought this coin box from another magician.
Speaker 3:Now, I know you might think that's a weird, tricky, crazy magician box, but you can check it out. It's literally just a box. Magicians will buy just plain old boxes, believe it or not, for a hundred bucks, but it's so nice. Is that's a really nice box? Check it out, make sure it is really is nice, and I bought this so I will not lose my coins.
Speaker 3:I always lose my coins, I lose everything, and so I like that because it gets into it, because I I love putting truth into my magic effects. I do genuinely lose everything. I did genuinely buy it at a magic convention and it genuinely is a normal box, and so that means now I'm not opposed to being a little deceptive if I need to, but if I don't need to be deceptive, I like to be honest and so I'll. So I'll say all those things and I think that it creates intrigue as well. I don't think it's wrong to talk about magic inventions. I think people find that stuff fascinating, and so I I genuinely tell them where I got it, why I got it, and then then I go into. If, if I do lose one and it vanishes, then it appears back in the box, you know, and that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it sounds great. I love it. I think it's great, although when you started saying that, I genuinely thought you'd lost your wedding ring.
Speaker 3:What is funny is I did and I only got it back this morning genuinely Like I lost it again. Jamie, I lose everything. I can't keep track of everything. The thing that is second on my list the Shanghai coins. I lost that a few days ago. I had no idea where it was, although I just got a text from my wife today and she said I found something of yours, I will give it back to you for a price. She hasn't told me what it is. I think it's that coin set though.
Speaker 2:Oh, I've got everything crossed for you, but I feel like if you lose that ring one more time, you may lose a significant other in the process as well.
Speaker 3:This is my third ring, First wedding, third ring. She she knows this about me, so you know.
Speaker 2:Let's hope there's not a ring flight on your list. Let's hope that's not coming up.
Speaker 3:There's not, there's not.
Speaker 4:Hello guys, I'm here to talk to you about Alakazam Unlimited. This is the best streaming platform in the world, I'm telling you now. With Alakazam Unlimited, you get access to over 150 magic routines this is video performances and explanations. We have card magic, coin magic, kids, magic rope, magic, mentalism, stage parlor, impromptu. We've got you covered. All of this for the low price of just £4.99 a month, and you can cancel at any time. Perfect if you've got commitment issues. Yes, I'm talking to you, guys. You are going to absolutely love it. If you haven't joined the platform already, what the heck are you doing? Alakazam Unlimited is a streaming platform that you need to be a part of. Not only that, there is also exclusive content only available on the platform. Check it out now. Alakazamcouk Cheers.
Speaker 2:Out now, alakazamcouk cheers so that brings us to the sixth position. What's in the sixth place?
Speaker 3:sixth position is one of the strongest card effects that I don't do all the time. I only do it for special occasions and it's Siamese Waltz by Benny Chikorin. It's the best card trick. It's so versatile too, because I'll do it, you know, for a special couple, I'll do it. Uh, I'll do it in my stage show because it plays really big and I get everybody and you can get everybody else involved and, uh, and get the couple to, you know, put the pieces in their hands and, you know, really play that up so it works close up, works on stage.
Speaker 3:You get to go away with impossible objects. I mean, genuinely, the only thing that's keeping it from being absolutely perfect is the fact that it's super expensive to keep buying refills. But I get why they're expensive. They're perfectly made and he makes them by hand and I have no complaints about that. So, genuinely, some of the best reactions and like, who's not going to frame that?
Speaker 3:And I think it's better than anniversary waltz, because for for two reasons. One, it can do pretty much everything an anniversary waltz does when you're in that position. First it kind of is like you're in that position of an anniversary waltz, but then you end in a position where, if they want to like, if you're doing this at a wedding and they want to frame it, they can see why it's impossible. On one side, right, anniversary waltz. You would have to put it on like a clear frame or something so you can see on both sides, or something right. But this you can see why it's impossible just by looking at it, right, you see. You see for one second, you know that's not what a card is supposed to look like. Um, and I, I really love that. And they go home with two souvenirs so each person gets one. I mean, mean, it's perfect, it's a perfect trick.
Speaker 2:That was going to be the point, that I was going to say how many times I've done anniversary waltz to a couple and each of them want something to take away and you're never in that position. But for those at home that don't know, it's an effect where two cards are signed, they're placed face face or back to back One of them.
Speaker 3:I'll tell you how I do it. I have one person select a card and then a second person select a card. I have the first person sign theirs, the second person sign theirs. Yeah, I put them back back to back, then I tear them when they're together down the middle, and then I put all the pieces in their hands and then, and then, as, uh, they restore. I showed that they are together, but I only show the backs and I tell them I'm only showing you the backs because you're not ready to see the fronts. And then I turn them around and then show, uh, what it was, so uh, and then each so, and then the. The effect we still didn't get to the effect is that you're restoring half of one signed card with half of another signed card, but you're doing that with both of them, so they both get impossible objects and they are genuinely signed as well.
Speaker 3:They're genuinely signed. They're genuinely restored. You can see frayed edges, but you would if you were genuinely restoring things. You would see some frayed edges, but they are genuinely back together in one piece. It's perfect.
Speaker 2:And to make it even better for those who haven't seen it, it's pretty much self-working. There's very, very little involved in that routine, it just works.
Speaker 3:Once. Yeah, basically you're done the moment that you tear it.
Speaker 2:But that does bring us to the tail end of your eight tricks. So what's in your seventh position?
Speaker 3:Here's another one of mine. Here it's Lightyear, uh, which is funny, um, because I actually don't do it light year much at all. Um, but I would feel really empty without it though, uh, it's one of those uh tricks that I'm it's probably the trick I'm proudest of that I that I invented uh, but after road shop, road, road road shopping, road working, road, what's the word road testing, workshop, road testing, there it is, thank you. After road testing, it um, over and over again, like I I love it, but it doesn't fit my performance style. So, like I find that sometimes when I invent things, um, I've got like two different I've got, I've got inventor kyle and I've got performer kyle and sometimes my inventions don't necessarily match up with what I perform, uh, and because maybe the pacing is off or it's just not, it doesn't routine well with other things that I'm doing, or or because I'm usually using dropped call that means my phone is gone, but my phone doesn't match the drop call gimmicks. And but in order to do light year, I need to shine light. So I need my phone, but I can't use my phone Cause I already used drop call Like. So all these, so I genuinely don't do light year all that much, but it is so special to me and it was.
Speaker 3:If I had to put together a list of, like, the best days of my life, this would be top 10.
Speaker 3:The day that I figured that I cracked the code for light year Cause I was working on it so long but I knew it was possible.
Speaker 3:Basically, the effect if people aren't aware is that someone either writes down a number or says it out loud, depending on how you want to do it, and you bring out these eight tiles. They're like plastic kind of the shape and size of cards, but they're made out of acrylic and they have a bunch of random patterns of holes in them and you can examine them. There's nothing crazy about them. But when you square them up over a light source I usually use my phone the dots only line up the holes, they only line up in a certain place and when they line up they make the shape of the number that the person's thinking of. So it's really cool and I really love it. It just doesn't usually fit what I'm doing, performance wise, so I personally don't do it, but I think it would have been a really big disservice if I wasn't able to figure out, because I think it was a thing that should have been brought saw it that I spoke to went?
Speaker 2:how has someone come up with that? How has someone managed to think that up and then make it a reality? It's incredible.
Speaker 3:It was. Thank you so much. It was. It was a nightmare. To be honest with you, I I hated, I hated coming up with it because it was it had. There was so many like roadblocks that I didn't even think of when I was doing it, like cause I went into it so cocky. I'm like, oh, I know how this is going to go, but it was. It was actually like the actual making of it that was so hard.
Speaker 3:Because I'm like, oh, okay, well, I'll just have to like I'm talking about prototyping here, I'm just going to take a hole punch and take like an old card and just punch on some holes and some shapes and then, you know, do any movements that I have to to punch to the next shape number with holes, and then I'll do the movements again that I need to to not realizing a few things. Uh, one hole punches only go about an inch and a half into a card, so there's a lot of holes that I needed to put in that I couldn't reach. That was, that was the first part. Uh, the second part is, when I was doing it, I would like punch the shape of a one and then I would go and I would do the movements that I had to, and then, uh, punch a two and then do the movements I had to, and it was all looking really random, which is what I wanted to. But then when I got to like a three and a four one I was running out of space and two. When I went back and I tried to do the one again, it doesn't look like a one cause there was extra holes. So it was.
Speaker 3:It was a nightmare. I'm like maybe it's not possible, and I spoke with my dad. My dad gave me a suggestion. I don't even remember what he said, but he gave me an idea that made me think use graph paper and graph out the coordinates of each hole. And so I had this like four different quadrants and putting it down, all the coordinates for each of the holes, making sure that none of them overlapped, and then, at towards the end, I like the last number, I, I, I remember this specifically the last number I had to put in, believe it or not, was an eight. I had to somehow get coordinates to put an eight in and I'm like it's really filling up. There's really not much space. I don't know how I'm going to get an eight in here, but there's literally just enough that I could get the eight in there, and that was the day that everything changed and I stopped hating it and it was like my favorite thing ever, because I cracked the code and then kind of things went on from there.
Speaker 2:Wow, what an incredible journey that must have gone. Even the graph paper and plotting it. That must have taken hours upon hours to work out all the permutations of it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah it did, man, it was worth it. And then, even after I figured it out, obviously there was hours upon hours of work after that, but that work I didn't mind, because at that point I knew that this was possible and it was going to be a thing. So that's, you know.
Speaker 2:that kind of gave me the incentive to keep going yeah, it's an incredible trick and I'm glad that you put it on your list because, uh, I I think it it was one that I was hoping you were going to go for out of out of your effect, um, but that does bring us onto your last item. So, just to just to reflect on what we've gone through here, we've gone from cards to coins, to phone calls, to eight balls, uh, to a coin box, to siamese waltz, to plastic with holes in goodness knows where, where this is going to go. I'm excited to see what's here. So, what's in your last position?
Speaker 3:My last one is the closer to my stage show, which is perfect square, which is the cube matching routine. I'm fully aware that reasonable minds will differ what the best method is for a cube matching effect. I'm not even here to argue that this is the best method, but I am here to say that I use it all the time and it gets excellent reactions. It's very reliable and it is. I would feel very empty if I had to do this a full stage show on this deserted Island and I didn't have I didn't have this with me. So basically it's a a cue matching effect.
Speaker 3:So somebody shuffles a cube. I usually do at the beginning, so it's kind of like a call back at the end it comes full circle. So the first thing I do is hand out a cube. They shuffled throughout the whole show and then at the end I take it back and I show I have another cube and they both match. And then I take one of the cubes then and then throw it up in the air and then it solves itself. There's nothing really crazy that I do differently than anybody else with it, but I just adore the effect. I grew up, you know, when I was in high school I learned how to solve a Rubik's Cube for non-magic purposes. I just thought it was a cool thing to learn, so it makes sense for me to perform it. I've always found Rubik's Cube fascinating, so maybe not the most exciting thing to put on the list, but I would feel very empty without it. So it has to come on the island with me.
Speaker 2:It's one that we've had quite a few Rubik's Cube solve effects on here, but for good reason. They play massive. They use something that everyone's familiar with. It feels more impossible because of the preconceived notions of what a Rubik's Cube is and how it functions. So I think it's the perfect closer to a stage show. I think that's great.
Speaker 3:I think it's the perfect closer to a stage show. I think that's great. I think it really is great. There's one big gripe that I have with Rubik's Cube Magic that I would love if you have a moment for a short anecdote that I think is worth exploring here and that is it's really frustrating that with Rubik's Cube Magic there's something that if you're doing a cube matching effect, everybody needs to know. But as someone who watches a lot of cube magic, I cringe every time I hear the number 43 quintillion. Every single time they say it I cringe Okay, all right, well, there's 43 quintillion ways to mix up, ok, so I cringe, although I also use that number in my show because it is important, because if you don't know that, then the impossibility is significantly diminished, because people might just say, oh, ok, yeah, that you know that looks slightly unlikely that that would match like that. But if you know the odds, then you do get a bigger impact.
Speaker 3:So how do you deliver that information without sounding hacky? So the way I do it, which I like, is so I build it up right, so I get the cues back back, I do what I need to, uh, and then I say what's interesting is there are over a million ways to mix up or mash up a rubik's cube. Yes, they say yes, I say no. And then I go to this side of the room I say actually there's over 1 billion ways to mix up a rubik's cube. Did you know that, sir? It's not true. There's over a trillion ways, right? And then so you're just building it up and you're building it up, and then you and they realize, you that you're just being a jerk right now, uh and uh. And then I say you know, I'm gonna skip to the punch here. There are and you can Google this, this is Googleable 43, then you pause. You have to pause there, right? Because if you just go into 43 quintillion, what happens is quintillion sounds like million, it sounds like billion, it sounds like trillion, right? So people don't have a natural intuitive sense as to how much bigger one billion is to one million, or how much one trillion is more than one billion, right. So I think it's really important to pause and then emphasize the quid. But there are over 43 and I kid you not, I'm not making this up when Alien ways to mix up a mesh of a Rubik's Cube.
Speaker 3:That is such an unfathomably big number. That is more than the grains of sand that exist on Earth. It's nuts, right? Then you let that sink in, right? So you're taking like a hack line and you're building it up. Because it's hacky, because people just say it, because they think they need to say it. Magicians say it Cause they think they need to sit like. Magicians say it Cause they think they need to say it, but they don't actually know why they're saying it. I think you say it because people don't know how big that number is. So if you break it up and build it up, they're going to have a little bit more of a sense as to how impossible this actually is.
Speaker 3:I love venues, but I feel like you need to know that, or else you wouldn't know how bizarre this is, Then I show that the sides match and then I go through the whole revelation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's superb. I love how you're building up the impossibility to the point where it doesn't. It almost feels like it's always going to be a joke. Yeah, and then when you hit them with the actual fact and you're like you can Google this. I'm being serious at this point. Yeah, I bet your audiences and you'll have to tell me I've never done it. I bet they must just be completely dumbfounded at that point.
Speaker 3:They're even dumbfounded when you just give the stat right. For a moment, I feel like they just forget about the cubes Right and. And so when he's given that stat that you know, that's even like a magical kind of feeling thing, like Whoa, this Rubik's, this stupid little cube, has a bigger number inherently involved in it than the grains of sand on earth, that nuts right, and so that that feels magical in itself. And then they realize, oh yeah, we're in the middle of a magic trick. And then you just kick them in the teeth. Um, so I so cue matching effects are great, and but they, they can be dangerous because they are pretty easy to do. So we forget that the structure is so important for it to be as impacting as you can make it.
Speaker 2:That's very true and I'm interested to know why this specific one. So the people at home may not have heard of this one because, truth be told, this was one of the early, very, very early versions of this effect, before Henry Harrius really had any of his versions, but I do believe it's after Greg Wilson bought out his one, it was sort of in between, so why this one still?
Speaker 3:Yeah. So John Allen says in his lecture if it's not broken, break it right in his lecture, if it's not broken, break it. He says if it's not broken, don't fix it. Or if it ain't broke, don't fix it, because then you don't get, you don't have the ingenuity to push the craft further. So, from that perspective, if I was trying to come up with my own method, I would absolutely say, yes, we need to keep pushing and, you know, come up with a better way.
Speaker 3:I, I am totally on board that this is not necessarily the best method. However, when I, right now, I'm using it to and I have such comfort with it, um, that at this point I do feel like, if it's ain't broke, don't fix it, because, uh, for for me personally, because I'm so comfortable with it, um, that it's not, there's nothing wrong with it, it is a solid method. And I I don't actually even know henry's uh exact method, but I do believe there's probably what, what do you could I say? Multiple pieces, um and uh. So an advantage of this is that it's it's a solid, it's solid, it's just one piece.
Speaker 3:There's less to go wrong, not that it goes wrong, but, uh, it's less to worry about. You know, I, I know nothing's going to go wrong, not that his goes wrong, but it's less to worry about. You know, I know nothing's going to go wrong because it is literally just a piece which is really nice. So, and that's kind of what, that's kind of how I think about all of my magic moving parts. The better, even if there might be a superior quote, unquote method out there that might require more moving pieces again, physical or proverbial. I love the ones that are as simple as possible. Then I can use my skills as a magician to take this simpler method and arguably inferior method and still make a play as strong as the superior method and there's a, there's a tiny element of skill involved in this particular method as well, which keeps you on your feet as well.
Speaker 3:It keeps you in the moment, so to speak absolutely yeah, and you know there's yeah you have to. You know has been a time or two that I have missed. I'm not sure if that's what you're referring to, but when you have to do the move I have missed one or two times, but it doesn't ruin the whole thing. I can just kind of go back into it and try again. But I know that when I miss it's not the props fault, it's my fault, right? So I?
Speaker 3:I hate it when I have a prop that miss, that if something misfires it doesn't go well and I have no control over it. That's why I don't do a lot of stuff with electronics, because something can go wrong and if it does does, I can't tell the audience. But wait a second. No, I'm still good. I promise it wasn't my fault, it was. It was the props fault, uh, but stuff like this, I know the props never gonna fail me. It's, it's always gonna be me that fails me, uh, and I and I can get better. So, uh, that's that's why I this, this method in particular, works well for me.
Speaker 2:Well, it's one I'm not sure if many people are going to get, because I don't think it's been manufactured for a good few years now.
Speaker 3:That wouldn't surprise me, yeah, but if you can find one, listen, it might not be the one that's in vogue, but it's a solid workhorse and I would absolutely encourage if you find one for for purchase that you might consider it solid well, I think that's a killer ending to your, your eight tricks as well.
Speaker 2:I think you've got a bit of everything in there as well which is superb. I think that people out there will either know agree that all of these are awesome, or they'll be looking to seek one or two of them out. Yeah, I think it's a killer killer set, and it sort of shows you the way that you must like, think and perform. You must always go for interesting props and interesting ideas. You know it's funny.
Speaker 3:I wouldn't have said that, uh, but that's probably is true. I I remember, you know it's probably more subconscious than anything, because I remember growing up you know, learning magic pretty much all I did was cards, and it was frustrating when I always got the question so is all you do card tricks or do you do anything else? And I never felt comfortable doing anything else, right, because I just felt like it was the cards were my security blanket. And so then when I started feeling, you know, over the years I got more comfortable doing other things, um, and so now it probably is kind of a subconscious thing where I I seek uh variety out. Uh, because in my experience that's what people like to uh kind of latch on to is the variety of things a little bit of cards, little bit of coins, a little bit of weird props.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we had a guest on a few days ago who put it perfectly when they said it's nice for your audience to be able to surmise each of your tricks in one sentence, but each one sound different. So you know, he did a card trick and in this card trick this thing happened. And then he had these coins and with the coins this thing happened, and then he had his phone and then his phone disappeared. It just surmises that little thing and it makes it easier for people to talk about going forward. But that does bring us on to your two curveball items, the two things that we don't know where it's going to go, because you're only allowed to take one of each of them and the item I never know where it's going to go. So that's going to be really interesting. So what did you pick for your book?
Speaker 3:So, man, this was a tough one, because I have a lot of books that I love and obviously, you know, I assume you can't take, like you know, the Art of Assumption series. It can only be one book, I assume. And even if so, I assume that's a pretty popular one. So I wanted to go a little bit different. So I'm going to go with the book that kind of made me love magic books, because I had magic books prior to this. But this is the one that made me think, wow, I can learn some really sweet stuff from books, and it kind of got me hooked. And it was mentalissimo by john bannon, and not not only did it kind of rekindle my love for magic books, but it also, um, it made me realize what I like in a magic book and what I don't like in a magic book.
Speaker 3:I, what I love, um, well, so I'll say what I don't love. I don't love, um, the. I don't love learning card magic from books, like the intricate sleight of hand, like I love doing intricate sleight of hand, but I don't like learning it from books, um, for a few reasons. Uh, one it's just hard for me to visualize, even with the drawings there, because sometimes the text doesn't line up with where I think the drawings are going to be, and and then it's confusing for me and I'm also left-handed, so in my head I always had to reverse all the rights, then reverse all the lefts and then reverse all the pictures in my head, except sometimes you don't, sometimes it doesn't matter and you keep it there, and it's just super confusing. So I so, I, uh, so I think that that's what made me think all those years that I don't like learning from magic books, um.
Speaker 3:But then I found mentholissimo, which is mostly kind of cerebral stuff and it's not move heavy and it's all about like clever concepts and, um, kind of systems that you're building into the deck, uh, that make the magic work, and it's all kind of more mentalism based and it made me think I adore this because I can follow along super, I don't have to reread the same thing four times just so I can understand it and match it up with this figure, and this figure like it's almost moveless and it's so much easier to understand.
Speaker 3:He also has some great essays in there. I remember one in particular is about equivocate and how, uh what his thoughts are. In there he talks about, uh, what's really important when doing equivocate and what's uh, you know that you don't want to ever use scripting. That implies preference, so you always want to be very careful, and I just really latched on to his thoughts and his writing style. This is like my first John Bannon book that I've read, and since then I've gotten a lot of others, but I really, really love Mentalismo and I think that's going to be one that I would easily revisit on Desert Island.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a superb choice. All of Bannon's books are always interesting. He's he's very comedic with his books as well, and he's very I wouldn't say he's conversational, but he's uh, he's like chilled out when he's writing them, um, which makes it more enjoyable to read anyway. Destination Zero, another like mentalism based one, again. Another phenomenal book, again in that same sort of vibe and same as you when I first read it. It's amazing, it's full of incredible stuff. And one as well.
Speaker 3:I'm guaranteeing that I bet you've read it and discovered different techniques and different methods every time yeah, absolutely uh, and I'm also going through his uh new one, the very hush hush, also very good, very, very good. Uh, I I shouldn't, I haven't finished it yet so I couldn't, I couldn't make that my choice, but it's uh, I love the, I just love his thinking. I love how he like grabs onto one thing and just like, just heaps, keeps on exploring with it until there's nothing left to explore and he just puts all of his findings in the book and I just I think that's a beautiful way of doing it I recommend it very much, so it's a great choice of book um, and we've had lots of john bannon so far um, so I'm sure we're gonna have have lots more in the future.
Speaker 2:But that does bring us to your curveball item. So what was the item that you went for?
Speaker 3:Yeah, man, it was now that I know that you prefaced it with. You can only bring one. I don't know if this will be the best choice, but post-it notes.
Speaker 2:Yep, I'll let you have that.
Speaker 3:Okay, can I bring in like a 12 pack?
Speaker 2:I'll give you one of the block ones, one of the big ones, where it's just a huge block and they're all stuck together because then it's one thing technically so I, I adore post-it notes.
Speaker 3:For some reason, they're just one of the things that magic and outside of magic. Now, what's funny is I don't even use them that much, but I just love the concept of them. I love that there's just a blank slate, I love that you can stick them anywhere and then re-stick them, and so it's beautiful for taking notes and putting them in pages of my john bannon book, uh, or you know what, or whatever I need to do? Um, and even though it is a non-magic item, you can use it for magic. I have a trick that I do myself, which is called stick and twisted. Uh, which you do with a normal, a normal deck of sticky notes, a normal pack of sticky notes. And I just love because you know just the magic brain always going. I love holding it and just exploring, like, wow, this has.
Speaker 3:When I think about magic, I think about attributes of different items, right. So, like a rubber band, oh, it's round. Okay, what can I do with the fact that it's round? Um, I love doing things. I can see a rubber band. Oh, it's elastic, that's great. Um, it is. Oh, it's on, it's unbroken. So it's round, but it's also unbroken, right? So, like those are attributes, but there's some really interesting attributes of post-it notes that I think we still haven't really, uh, explored everything, uh, with it. So, like the fact is, um, it's, I'd like to use the really small ones, right, the ones that are kind of rectangle, rectangular.
Speaker 3:I like to use those because, uh, smaller than that even small oh, the really little ones yeah, yeah, yeah, not the flags, but the. But they are like like a solid rectangle, but, but they're pretty small. So what are some attributes of those? They're they're palmable. I love that, but they're also easily palmable because they're sticky on on one side, so you don't even have to palm them.
Speaker 3:Uh, I love the fact that it is on the stick. And here's another reason I like the small ones the. The stickiness is half of the actual note and most sticky notes it's only a small strip, like. It's the same size strip, no matter what the size of the post note is right. So the fact that it's a really small one, it's the same size sticky strip, so it takes up proportionally half of the sticky note, which allows you to do a lot more things. It has a lot more control over it if you need to stick it in a certain place rather than just having a small strip. That's a very small percentage of the actual post note.
Speaker 3:This is the dorkiest thing I've ever been geeking out about, but I love it. And also, you can do a lot of things with, like the depth illusion with those and because they're the same color on both sides, so, uh, so you can flip it forward, flip it back and put it on and experiment and explore with different ways of of concealing different things, concealing the depth in different ways. Um, so, even though it's a non-magic item, uh, there's a lot of magical uses for it. Uh, that I've explored a little bit, uh, but I uses for it. Uh, that I've explored a little bit, uh, but I, I really think we haven't even got to the tip of the iceberg on, uh, what we can all do with this thing that everybody has right here, uh, but no one uses it magic, but I think it's a great magic prop I really magic.
Speaker 2:I really like that. I think that's great, and a second ago you just said it's really really geeky. But I guarantee that there are a substantial amount of people listening to this, either in their cars or going for a walk, or however they're listening to it. That when you said it takes up half of the sticky note and it's always the same thickness, no matter what, I bet a lot of people went. I didn't, I didn't know that. That's. That's interesting.
Speaker 3:Most normal people don't know that that's interesting.
Speaker 2:Most normal people don't know that, and I wonder how many of them are going to go home and never, sarah, guess what? Did you know that, sticky? They're going to get a lot of awkward looks from their other halves.
Speaker 2:But another thing just touching on that is that there's so many kinds of them now that are all themed. You can get rubik's cube looking ones, you can get like teddy bear ones, you can get pencil shaped ones literally any design you want you can get absolutely for your act. So theming stuff around them would be great as well absolutely good.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's a great idea. I didn't even think. Think about that.
Speaker 2:It's a great idea so we've not had that before and I'm glad that you've said that one that's really really good, that's great. Uh well, thank you so much, kyle. If people want to find out about you and find out more about you, where can they go?
Speaker 3:yeah, so you can go to kylepernellmagiccom or you can go follow me on Instagram that'd be really appreciated which is kyle underscore pernell underscore magic, or you can just type in my name and it'll probably pop up. I would love to be friends on Facebook. I think I only have like 4,300 friends, so I've got room for 700 more, and I would love you to be one of the 700. So, let's300 friends. So I've got room for 700 more. Uh, and I would love, uh, you to be one of the 700. So let's be friends.
Speaker 2:Right, everyone, get on it. Everyone listening to this. All three of you go there now. Um, um, no, that's I'm sure. Everyone will get behind you. Please do. And you know, please check out the. Uh, carl's only mentioned two of his tricks here, but from my perspective, he's got some phenomenal tricks, so do go check them out. You know, lightyear is just mad clever. If you've never seen it before, go and watch the trailer as soon as you can. Look at it and go. That man must be crazy to come up with it, because it really is phenomenal. It's a great trick. So thank you so much, carl, for giving us your list and sharing your time with us of course, of course it was uh.
Speaker 3:It was great to have uh being on.
Speaker 2:Thanks for having me and thank you all for listening and we will see you again next week on another episode of desert island tricks. Goodbye of Desert Island.
Speaker 1:Tricks. Goodbye, hi, peter Nardi here and I really hope you enjoyed that podcast. I just wanted to make you know that Alakazam have their own app. You can download it from the App Store or the Google Play Store. By downloading the app, it will make your shopping experience even slicker. At Alakazam, you'll also get exclusive in-app offers and in-app live streams. So go download it now and we'll see you on the next podcast.