WELCOME to a deep dive teach in on the fabulous NAP HAND trick.

But first, a story about something that happened recently:

I really love it when our members - team magic - really sink their teeth in…

Read on… this shows the power of the forums and why you should all be connecting on, and using them.

It revolves around the fabulous effect THE NAP HAND - This is the E.G. Brown trick, not the Lionel King, Billy McComb, Al Koran, Ken Brooke, David Nixon effect.

For the parlor and stage performer there is a detailed Valentine teach-in on the wonderful E.G. Brown effect already on Magic On The Go, and you should definitely check it out.

Not only do I detail the various techniques used by Brown and his friends, but I add original ideas, performance tips and techniques that bring this terrific plot into the modern age.

By the time you’re done learning this, you will have a brilliant performance piece that makes the audience feel powerful.

Within this NAP HAND playlist are four videos, the first is the main teach-in discussing the effect and methods in detail, including a cool move I created that works perfectly for the effect.

Then we detail a simple idea for holdout that makes access to the Royal Flush soooo easy and smooth, we look at a non-sleight version that's maybe a little too easy ( :) )and finally a version adapting a method that Douglas Dexter used for the STOP trick that's super clean and wonderfully sneaky.

But here’s what’s new…

One of our members is the great Pete McCabe, author of SCRIPTING MAGIC. You will find Pete's amazing ideas and thoughts peppered throughout the forums and comment sections here on MOTG. Nap Hand is no exception. Pete recently shared some terrific ideas, which will make more sense once you've watched the videos, he wrote them in the forums, but for ease of access here are Pete's additions to THE NAP HAND:

FROM PETE:

I love the staging of this trick. The glasses make a nice visual picture, and while they seem to be making cheating impossible, in fact they make it easier at a couple of spots.

I have two comments on this trick that I think are worth your time.

1) I do a trick that is somewhat similar in effect; a spectator shuffles a deck, then I show a lottery ticket with the five most common lucky numbers from around the world. We take the shuffled deck and count down to the cards at those five numbers, and they make a royal flush. (It’s called “Lucky for You” in Scripting Magic 2.)

It worked very well until I made one change that made it work even better: I stopped using a royal flush and I now use four aces for the climax.

I think Four Aces is a better climax for any magic trick than a royal flush. I can tell you that if I ask people what the best hand in poker, most will say “Four Aces.” Poker players will say Royal Flush, but they are a significantly less than half the population.

Everyone knows what Four Aces. Even poker players are amazed with Four Aces.

Anyway, if you do this trick, it costs you nothing to try using four aces.

2) I’d like to share a move to display the hand at the end while hiding the other cards. I came up with it for a routine in Scripting Magic 1, but it’s the kind of thing that seems like somebody must have invented it earlier, although I’ve never seen it. Perhaps Steve “Encyclopedia of Magic” Valentine has!

Anyway I think it is extremely natural looking that has a couple of advantages over the Buckle counts that are commonly used in this case. I made a video for the fine people here at Magic on the Go, in case you want to have a look.

It’s very easy to acquire so if it looks good you’ll be able to use it right away.

Here’s the link.

https://youtu.be/PkbaKVu1_Io

Thanks Pete you rock! I truly appreciate your kind comments and input. We are all here to make each other better, feel free to share ideas with each other, who knows you may just create something great.