the DG version of the classic effect 'oil and water' aka 'fire and smoke' is absolutely one of my favourites in his latest projects. here are some thoughts after playing with this effect for... maybe dozens of times...
1) the impromptuness (sry about my english, you get it dont you...)
the DG version taught in his DVD is a 3 phase routine but it needs quite a lot setup... or maybe a little bit in your eyes. but in my opinion its too much... what i want to perform is just randomly take out 3 reds and 3 blacks and do the effect, and i made it a 3 phase just using 6 cards which i will talk about later on...
plus, what DG showed in his DVD is to do the first 2 phases, and then shuffle the cards and then show the effect. i think the sequence should and must be you shuffle the cards right after you have chosen the 6 cards, then the 2 phases, then you explain that red and black dont mix, you ask the audience whether he remembers you have shuffled the deck (NLP and some body language or psychological subtleties can help the audience to recall this move later on)
then show the effect rightaway. this is much better. if you really want to do the 3 phase routine as DG told.
or i can do a helder guimaraes routine 'betwixx'(sry forget the name) right after the 'fire and smoke'... but anyway, i dont really like the deck idea... cuz im lazy...
PS. im not saying DG's version is not good. it just doesnt fit me. and im introducing my way.
2) the first phase of 'fire and smoke'
in my opinion, the effect is already super strong. maybe a little bit too strong for the first effect in a routine. there is no problem is this effect... except a little one.
some audiences will take a peek at the cards you give them. its not the '44' effect because you switch the bottom, so the peeking action is lethal. what i add is one small thing. i tell the audience to take out both hands and make a little table. so when i put the cards on their hands, and immediately i take out the top card. there is almost no possibility for them to turn over the cards... if they do, i do another trick...
anyway, this version of 'oil and water' is very strong, it shows the audience each and every card(which is a trick...), and you left clean.
3) the second phase of 'fire and smoke'
even after loads of practice, i cannot find myself confident to do this phase. the move is just too bold... its better to do this with new cards so that you can make the move a lot smoother.
another thing to notice is the timing... something i cannot reach yet. the big move covers the small move... the rising of hands and the seperate should be done in a rhythm, and the whole move should be very done in a very confident way, just like you have done nothing and you believe in yourself that magic will happen. because the heat in on the cards when you are doing the move, so its difficult.
i ve done badly, once be looked through... but i just continued like nothing happened. another time i didnt do the move completely so when i showed the cards they werent seperated yet. i explained that its a process and i used methods in helder guimaraes's 'shaaaaken' to finish my act. anyway...
here's something risky but interesting. if you dont have the confidence like me to do this phase, just tell the audience to mix the cards face down as much as they like. and when you get the cards back show them face up and explain they are really in chaos. most of the time you just have to do a 'pass' to complete the effect, other times you have to do DLs, very easy, actually, easier than you think. the worst case is you have to do the move DG taught... and the best case is they just seperate red and black~ i ve done this lol.
4) the third phase of 'fire and smoke'
to explain my version of the third phase, its just another trick and i applied the handlings. basiclly its a '33' version of '44', a transposition of the cards. i will not come into details of the method, those of you interested can go to '4 for 4' by Chris Kenner or '44' by Daniel Garcia.
for those who cannot accomplish the switch, just false count the cards... i cannot explain the method here, but i think you can find them in DGP5 or, as i find, in Paul Wilson's 'extreme possibilities', very easy to do.
thats it.
i'll add something if necessary.
Mickey.
PS. sorry about my english... i'm CHINESE...
1) the impromptuness (sry about my english, you get it dont you...)
the DG version taught in his DVD is a 3 phase routine but it needs quite a lot setup... or maybe a little bit in your eyes. but in my opinion its too much... what i want to perform is just randomly take out 3 reds and 3 blacks and do the effect, and i made it a 3 phase just using 6 cards which i will talk about later on...
plus, what DG showed in his DVD is to do the first 2 phases, and then shuffle the cards and then show the effect. i think the sequence should and must be you shuffle the cards right after you have chosen the 6 cards, then the 2 phases, then you explain that red and black dont mix, you ask the audience whether he remembers you have shuffled the deck (NLP and some body language or psychological subtleties can help the audience to recall this move later on)
then show the effect rightaway. this is much better. if you really want to do the 3 phase routine as DG told.
or i can do a helder guimaraes routine 'betwixx'(sry forget the name) right after the 'fire and smoke'... but anyway, i dont really like the deck idea... cuz im lazy...
PS. im not saying DG's version is not good. it just doesnt fit me. and im introducing my way.
2) the first phase of 'fire and smoke'
in my opinion, the effect is already super strong. maybe a little bit too strong for the first effect in a routine. there is no problem is this effect... except a little one.
some audiences will take a peek at the cards you give them. its not the '44' effect because you switch the bottom, so the peeking action is lethal. what i add is one small thing. i tell the audience to take out both hands and make a little table. so when i put the cards on their hands, and immediately i take out the top card. there is almost no possibility for them to turn over the cards... if they do, i do another trick...
anyway, this version of 'oil and water' is very strong, it shows the audience each and every card(which is a trick...), and you left clean.
3) the second phase of 'fire and smoke'
even after loads of practice, i cannot find myself confident to do this phase. the move is just too bold... its better to do this with new cards so that you can make the move a lot smoother.
another thing to notice is the timing... something i cannot reach yet. the big move covers the small move... the rising of hands and the seperate should be done in a rhythm, and the whole move should be very done in a very confident way, just like you have done nothing and you believe in yourself that magic will happen. because the heat in on the cards when you are doing the move, so its difficult.
i ve done badly, once be looked through... but i just continued like nothing happened. another time i didnt do the move completely so when i showed the cards they werent seperated yet. i explained that its a process and i used methods in helder guimaraes's 'shaaaaken' to finish my act. anyway...
here's something risky but interesting. if you dont have the confidence like me to do this phase, just tell the audience to mix the cards face down as much as they like. and when you get the cards back show them face up and explain they are really in chaos. most of the time you just have to do a 'pass' to complete the effect, other times you have to do DLs, very easy, actually, easier than you think. the worst case is you have to do the move DG taught... and the best case is they just seperate red and black~ i ve done this lol.
4) the third phase of 'fire and smoke'
to explain my version of the third phase, its just another trick and i applied the handlings. basiclly its a '33' version of '44', a transposition of the cards. i will not come into details of the method, those of you interested can go to '4 for 4' by Chris Kenner or '44' by Daniel Garcia.
for those who cannot accomplish the switch, just false count the cards... i cannot explain the method here, but i think you can find them in DGP5 or, as i find, in Paul Wilson's 'extreme possibilities', very easy to do.
thats it.
i'll add something if necessary.
Mickey.
PS. sorry about my english... i'm CHINESE...