Stranded with a Stranger: Tom Rolfe

A deck of cards turns into dental floss, a salt cellar melts through a table and a “Russian roulette” style routine somehow becomes a smart lesson in character and control. Tom Rolfe sends in one of the most varied Stranded with a Stranger lists we’ve had and every choice points to the same goal: close-up magic that feels like it could happen anywhere, with props that look normal until the moment they don’t.
 
 We dig into why Gypsy Thread hits so hard when it’s framed as an everyday dental floss problem and how a simple transformation gimmick can steer the audience away from “here comes a card trick” and into something more surprising. From there we move through the workhorse power of Salt Cellar Through Table, the tension mechanics behind Hook by Eric Ross and a hard-to-find gem from Tobias Dostal that makes a lollipop look like it’s edited in real time.
 
 The second half shifts into practical performance picks: Tenyo’s The Final Piece for a clear, self-working prediction in close-up or parlour and Contactless as a wallet-based prediction that earns its spot as a true everyday carry. We also hit two card effects that keep the magic where it belongs: in the spectator’s hands, including a torn and restored card using the M Case for an isolated, impossible ending.
 
 Tom’s banishment sparks a real conversation about magic dealers chasing quick money, how to avoid buying tricks you’ll never use and why “bad” is sometimes just “not for me.” We wrap with a book that rewards repeat reads, Juan Tamariz’s The Magic Rainbow, plus the most on-brand non-magic item imaginable. 

Please send us your Stranded with a Stranger lists to sales@alakazam.co.uk. Please include a little bio about your, your 8 tricks, their reasons, banishment, book and item!

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Transcript

Welcome And How To Submit

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Hello and welcome to another episode of Stranded with the Stranger. This is our companion podcast to the Desert Island Tricks podcast where you get to send in your list to us and we can go through them. Now, if you want to be a part of one of these, then please send in your list of eight tricks one banishment, one book, and one non-magic item that you use for magic to sales at alakazam.co.uk. Please put in the subject line my desert island list, that way it comes through to me. Of course, put in a little bio about you, let us know a little bit about you, and then place in your tricks and, of course, the reasons behind your selections.

Meet Tom Rolfe

SPEAKER_01 1:10

We have a stranded stranger. He is shouting out all the way from Canada, from Ontario in Whitby. Now, he's not actually given us a little bit about him, but we know him very well. His name is Tom Rolfe, and I've had the absolute pleasure to meet him many, many times. He frequents the Magic Circle quite often, so a lot of you will have known him from the Magic Circle. He is super, super lovely, and I'm really excited to get into his list, so I know it's going to be really interesting.

Dental Floss Gypsy Thread Opener

SPEAKER_01 1:44

So, in his first position, Tom has put Gypsy Thread Using Dental Floss by Lonnie Chevry, with patter modified to fit me. He says his patter is much like notch changing the toilet roll, my family members forget to let me know when the dental floss is about to run out. Honorable mention to sellout gimmick, which I use to introduce the dental floss. It's a deck of cards transformation into Dental Floss. So I'm a huge, huge fan of gypsy thread. I think it's one of the most incredible impromptu looking effects. This is one of the ones where it's great to have this method and this routine in your little toolbox, your little mental toolbox, because if the right time calls, all you need to do is go to the local supermarket, pick up some thread, and you can do this effect. It really takes a very, very little setup. And there have been different versions over the years. I believe there was one with a balloon. I know Ben Hart, I saw him lecture his version, which uses an awful lot of thread, which was really, really good. Of course, you can get different kinds of threads now as well. You can get glow in the dark thread, which seems to be a popular one. And if you do want to learn them, of course, you have the wonderful Eugene Burger who teaches his version in a lot of his books. And if you go to the Magic Circle and you get the chance to see her lecture, then do check out Faye Presto's version as well, which is very similar to uh Eugene Burger's. But using it with Dental Floss, I think's really cool because it takes it, updates it, makes it more modern. And I love the idea of the sellout gimmick. So the sellout gimmick, I did have to Google this one. It's basically a large card, and when you uh play a large playing card, I should say, and when you tap the deck of cards, it turns into something, and in this case is turning into dental floss, which I really like. I I think the the idea that the audience is thinking that you're about to do a card trick, you tap the deck and it just turns into dental floss, which is so weird and bizarre, and then leading into gypsy thread, I think, is a wonderful idea. If you don't know what gypsy thread is, the idea is that you have a length of thread, in this case we've got dental floss, you break it into lots of little pieces, you roll them into a ball, and you place them onto one piece, so it kind of just floats there in the middle of one long piece, and then when you pull the end of that piece of thread, everything goes back together and completely restores into one long piece of thread. It's a stunning effect, it's really worth you learning if you've not learnt it. So it's a great one in at number one, Tom.

Salt Cellar Through Table Classic

SPEAKER_01 4:35

Let's go to number two. So, sort seller through table. Tom says, a classic effect that everyone should perform. I've had so many strong positive reactions to this effect. Absolutely, what a great effect. And of course, this almost feels like a more impromptu version, I guess, than the bottle through table. But 100%, it's a great impromptu piece. I guess all you need is a napkin and a sort cellar, then you're ready to go. I like the idea that this is just uh another one of those ones that when you have the method in your mental toolbox, you've always got it there. You could always go into this trick whenever you want. And if you're someone who really wants to start practicing misdirection, then this is a great effect. It's a great one if you just want to build up your confidence with this style of routine. So I think there's a great one in number two.

Hook And Safe Stunt Tension

SPEAKER_01 5:28

Number three is Hook by Eric Ross. This routine allows me to expand the range of effects I perform by giving me the opportunity to live within my character, but explore the stunt side of magic. And that's really interesting because when you meet Tom, he's a very gentle, very kind, likable character. And I like the idea that he wants to put in this slightly darker effect, but wants to still make it feel like it's part of his character. And I guess that's one of the hardest things when you're putting together a list of tricks that you're gonna perform. Not necessarily, you know, lists of things that you just love, but things that you're gonna perform. They all have to represent you and your character in a certain way. And this definitely is the curveball routine that I wouldn't have put in here for Tom, but I would love to see him perform it. I think this would be such a fun one. If you don't know what hook is, the idea is you have um a bunch of strings and a fish hook. You place the fish hook in your mouth, and one by one, audience members pull strings. One of them is attached to that fish hook. Hopefully, it's not gonna be the one that they pull, otherwise, it's gonna rip out your teeth. Um, so it's a very, very scary effect. It very much is a Russian roulette style effect, much like um obviously the classic spike version, or staple guns, or nail guns, or whichever version you're gonna do. Razor blades I've seen before as well. Um, so it can be a scary effect, but this is a very safe version, uh, and it's a very, very clever version as well. Definitely the curveball of this list as well. So I think it's a great one in at number

Pop Lollipop And Photo Moments

SPEAKER_01 7:18

three. Let's go to number four. Pop by Tobias Dostal. A very visual magic effect which leaves you in a position to hand out a small gift, perfect for adults and children. Now I'm gonna be honest, I had to actually reach out to Tom on this one because I couldn't find anything about this routine online. It was very difficult to find, and I do know that uh when we put these episodes out, we do get a lot of emails and messages of people wanting to find the effect. So I reached out to Tom, and here's what he said. He said, Pop is something Tobias sold and lectured at Blackpool. There's no instructions or video aids, etc. If you weren't in the lecture, it's unlikely you know about it. The effect is a candy lollipop which you appear to pull off a stick into your mouth and then blow back onto the stick. It literally looks like trick photography. Maybe at some point he'll launch it, but for now it appears to be staying under the radar. So yeah, it does seem to be one of those uh like bitten and restored effects. So you bite the lollipop off and you spit it on. Um, and maybe this is one that he will release in the future. But I'm just looking at Tom's list so far. So regular listeners know that for some weird reason I like to pull these lists apart. And when you look at his list so far, we've got gypsy thread, but with dental floss, we've got a sort seller-through table, we've got hook, which is the fish hook Russian roulette routine, and now we have a bitten and restored lollipop. When we talk about, you know, at a gig, you want photo opportunities. Imagine all of these as snapshot moments. So, you know, you'd have him pulling the gypsy fred dental floss into a big line in front of his face. That would be a photo opportunity. A sort seller where he's sort of focusing on the sort cellar going through the table. Hook, you you he would have all of these strings coming from his mouth, and now pop by Tobias Dostal with a lollipop, uh, which you know he's spitting back on. I think in terms of quirky routines, all of these really have those prominent photo opportunity moments, and I think that's uh a really interesting list. Now, now that we know this about his first four, where do we think the rest are gonna go? Okay, so we've got four more. Where do you think number five is gonna go? Do we think that we're gonna go into a card trick? Because we've not had a card trick yet. He did say sell out, which you know is a deck of cards into Dental Fluss, but I wouldn't say that's a card trick. So let's go

Tenyo Final Piece Puzzle Prediction

SPEAKER_01 9:55

to number five. Number five is the final piece by Tenyo. Something I perform either in a close-up or parlor environment. Since the effect is almost self-working, you can focus all your energy on presentation. This is such a wonderful effect. We actually have this in the shop set up permanently. So we have a small easel with a cloth over it. So if you're ever in the shop and you wonder what that is, just look up on the shelf and you'll see it there. It's just a wonderful effect. If you don't know what the effect is, the idea is that you have something on an easel, you can have it covered. Let's say it's covered for this effect, and you have lots of pieces of puzzle uh in a tray. You have them take several face-down pieces out of the uh tray. They can pick whichever one they like. As soon as they're happy with their choice, and it really is a free choice, you uncover the thing that's on the table to show a puzzle on an easel, but there is one piece missing. Of course, the piece that they've taken out goes into it. It's a self-working trick, and it's also ridiculously priced for what it is. It's very, very, very affordable. I also have this set up on my bookshelf at home. I think it's just a wonderful effect, and it really is a parlor/slash close-up version of this legendary effect. Uh, so it's very much one that if you don't have it, look into it. It's very affordable. It's a self-working piece, you don't have to worry about anything. It's all about the presentation, like Tom just said. So do go check it out. And of course, again, when we're looking at Tom's list, we've now got a puzzle, you know. All of these things feel very organic, all of the props that he's using, lollipops, a fish hook, I guess, is organic, a salt cellar, dental floss, all of these things just feel like he's just reached out, picked it up, and done this amazing thing with it. So let's go to number six.

Contactless Wallet Prediction Everyday Carry

SPEAKER_01 11:50

He's put contactless by Alakazan Magic. This wallet-based prediction effect is my everyday carry. I've performed this for years and the wallet is still in fantastic shape. 100%. This is a wonderful effect by Harry and Pete, and it is a like Tom just said, it's a wallet prediction effect. When I first saw it, I thought it's such a brilliantly clever idea. Again, it feels incredibly organic. Like Tom's list, you know, everything feels super organic. This is something that he just has in his pocket, he can pull it out, and maybe one day we should do like an everyday carry list. Because I would love to know what everyone has as their top eight everyday carry effects. So maybe that's going to be another spin-off of the other two spin-offs that we've already got to the main podcast. But that would be really, really interesting. I wonder what everyone's top eight everyday carries are. If you're listening to this on YouTube, actually, let's see if we can get a couple of lists down below. Uh let us know what your everyday carry list would be. Let's go to the last

Clean Card Magic Closers

SPEAKER_01 12:53

two. So we're on the tail end of Tom's list. We've got Double Back by John Allen, a lovely transposition card effect which happens in the participants' hands. It involves some relatively simple card slats, which keeps you in the moment and has a stunningly visual reveal. Now, this is one that we actually revisited at the shop literally three weeks ago, I think. We did a social video because Andy started gigging it again and he said, you know what, I forgot how wonderful this effect is. We should really let more people know about this that maybe haven't seen it before. It really is one of the cleanest card tricks. It is so, so clean. And considering the magic moment, the amount of work behind it is minuscule. It is absolutely so achievable for anyone. It's a very, very clever idea, a very simple idea, but it always to me feels like one of those effects that you can really build on. This could really lead you into different other avenues. And it is the first card effect that we have on here. But of course, it's a packet trick, so it's not really a full deck thing. So it's a great, great choice if you're gonna do a packet trick. So his last one is torn and restored card using the M case by Mikhail Chatelaine. My patter consists of asking people to participate in an observation and imagination test. The end result usually leaves people speechless or running, screaming from me. What a great choice. Now, if you don't know what this is, it's a utility prop, it's a uh card box which allows you to switch things effectively. Um, and the idea of using it as a tournament restored is such a brilliant, brilliant idea. Everything happens in the hand of the participant as well, which is great. Uh, you anyone that does tournament restore cards knows that normally it's in the performer's hand. So to have something like this happen so impossibly in the spectator's hand is such a great idea. And you know, placing the card inside the card box to isolate it actually makes it feel more impossible because there's no way that the performer could actually touch it or interfere with it in any way. So I think that's a great way to close out your list. So we had Gypsy Thread using Dental Floss with an honourable mention to sell out. We had Sort Seller Through Table, Hook by Eric Ross, Pop by Tobias Dostal, The Final Piece by Tenyo, Contactless by Alakazan, Double Back by John Allen, and the Retorn and R Torn and Restored Card using MKs by Mikhail Chatellaine. A great list, a very, very varied list as well. An incredibly, incredibly varied list, in fact. But Tom, we are about to dig a big sandy hole. You're not here, so I guess I'm having to do all the work today. I'm gonna dig a big sandy hole on your behalf, throw something inside. What am I gonna throw

Banishment Of Cash-Grab Dealers

SPEAKER_01 15:52

inside? Tom says, if I'm allowed to make a banishment, I would get rid of all the magic dealers who are just out to make a buck. There is so much great magic being created and released to the community ongoing, but sometimes bad magic gets in the way. Money is tight and nothing puts you off more than wasting a penny on an effect or gimmick that upon inspection you'll never use. And I think this is a really interesting banishment. You know, as a consumer of magic, I'm a huge collector and fan of magic. Just like anyone else's, I absolutely love magic. I always have my entire life. So I 100% understand. One thing that I've learned is as I've gone through my career, if you can get an effect that works on stage and close up, then should you ever make that leap to stage, you've already got it there. You've already got the fundamentals and a way that you can start putting that stage performance together. Um, I think that magic is very, very subjective. And a lot of time we forget that something that one person really likes, someone else might not. And that could be for a very different thing. Maybe the method is just something that you wouldn't feel comfortable doing. Maybe the prop doesn't fit your style, maybe it's angle sensitive, it could be any host of things. And sometimes online you read someone say, you know, this is a bad effect, but it's not necessarily a bad effect for everyone. I think that if an effect fundamentally does not work, and you know, maybe it's a gizmo that just fundamentally doesn't function the way that it should, then 100% that's terrible, and that comes down to, you know, the manufacture of it. But if an effect works and is workable, then it may not be for you, but it may well be for someone else. And I think that's something that even as a dealer or working for a dealer, you tend to think about a lot. We have to think about the community as a large, and you have to think, well, you know, maybe that trick's not for me, but I know that there's a market out there of people that are gonna get a lot of enjoyment out of this, and you know, it's gonna get them bookings and it's gonna get gigs. So, you know, on this podcast, we do love Devil's Advocate. Hopefully, I've put a nice balanced view there. I've tried to be in the middle of this one, but I agree, you know, there is so much magic being put out. We have to honour Tom's banishment. So those are in the ditch, those are gone forever from

Tamariz Book Dental Floss Wrap-Up

SPEAKER_01 18:30

your island. Let's go to your book, The Magic Rainbow by Juan Tamaris. This is a book you can continuously go back to for additional learning. Until you have experience and aspects of performing magic, Juan's words don't necessarily stick. But once you have some experience, the light bulb goes on. I reference this book all the time. Juan Tamarese is just an absolute live and legend, isn't he? I watch everything he does and I just think the thought, the execution, everything that goes behind what he does is brilliant. And the fact that so many people follow his ideas and his philosophies really goes a long way to show, you know, just how good he really is. And I think the magic rainbow is a great choice. Let's go to your non-magic item. As already mentioned, performing gypsy thread using dental floss is my all-time favourite effect. So I take a large supply of dental floss to the island. Great. So you're gonna have lovely teeth on your island, and you're also gonna have gypsy thread. I think that's a great one to close out your list. Thank you so much, Tom, for sending in your list. And of course, we want to do more of these. We really do love hearing everyone's list. This podcast is supposed to be for the community, for everyone. So please, please send in your list. Send it to sales at alakazam.co.uk. Of course, like I said at the head of the podcast, put in there my desert island list, that way it comes through to me, and I can get one of these recorded to you. We're gonna be back next week with another guest. So until then, have a great week. Goodbye.

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SPEAKER_00 20:10

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