Scotty York Vol.2 - Hisownself

As the name implies, Scotty York Vol.2 - Hisownself is the second in a three DVD set of first rate lessons that follows his excellent Vol.1 - Professional Trick Bartender. York has performed bar magic for some 15 years in Washington D.C. and the effects that he explains here are baffling, entertaining and commercial.

A performance only effect, in “$20 to two $10's,” York borrows a $20 bill and changes it into two $10 dollar bills. This is good, visual material for the bar.

York merges three great and audience pleasing effects into a logical progression in “Cut to the Aces,” “Twisting the Aces” and “Pineapple Twist.” Spectators shuffle a deck of cards and the magician quickly cuts to the four aces. With the four aces, he performs a “twisting” sequence where the aces turnover one at a time and then a second twisting variation with “Pineapple Twist.” Finally, with “Last Trick of Jacob Daley,” York performs a transposition between the red and black aces.

I independently came up with a similar set of effects that I perform together (Nathan Gibson’s NFG), Andrew Normansell’s “Twisting Dai Vernon” and (John Carney’s Sanverted). I can personally attest to the strength of combining these effects.

“Just Tweezing” is a sandwich effect where a spectator’s card ends up between four aces that are quickly swept through the deck. Just as the name implies, in “Card in Drink,” a spectator’s card ends up folded inside of a wine glass and dunked into the wine. You’ll have to buy the spectator another drink after this one, but the revelation is a good one if you don’t mind messing with spectator’s drinks.

In “High Jumper,” a selected card leaps out of the deck. “The Warpedist Cards” is York’s version of “Card Warp” where a card appears to turnover as it’s pushed through another, folded card.

“The Warmest Card” offers lots of bawdy humor. Here, York has a woman put a card under her blouse and after returning the card back to the deck, he states that he will find the card based on its warmth. In the end, the trick turns into a sucker effect that makes it appear that the magician has found the wrong card but reveals that he knew all along the right card.

A great effect to quell a smart aleck, “The Fist O'Doom” relies on a prop that finds a signed card in a manner similar to a card stab with a sword, but it’s a paddle in the shape of a hand that “stabs” the card while displaying a rude gesture. York specifically uses this one to quell amateur magicians who have brought their own cards and are trying to perform tricks and invade the space of the magician. (It’s hard to believe that someone could be so clueless and rude).

Not only does York flip the amateur “the bird,” he destroys the magician’s deck by having a card signed and throwing the rest of the cards on the floor, which in a bar is typically wet. The only problem with this effect is that it uses a specific non-magic prop that may be hard to find.

“Kinky Queens” is an entertaining packet effect that uses kings, queens and aces that transpose between the hands, on the table and in a wallet. York dresses this one with a good story.

“The Rose Trick” gets its name from the fact that York gives away roses to spectators, but it’s actually a killer mentalism routine. York brings out a room key and lays it on the table. Spectators cut and deal cards from a packet to form three, two-digit numbers. When the numbers are added up, they add up to the number that’s shown on the key. This one is good.

In “Poor Charlie,” York tells of a hapless gambler who brings different cards into a game of poker. Even though the cards are different, they form a key hand. I was very aware of the moves used on this one and I think that sharp-eyed spectators may catch them as they are repeated several times.