The $100 Challenge

We gave a young magician $100 to buy some current magic. See what tickled his fancy and what he thought of his purchases.

Jordan Meller
Photo of Jordan Meller with magic items
Photo courtesy of Jordan Meller

We gave $100 to Magic Castle Juniors member Jordan Meller of Los Angeles, California, and asked him to buy any current trick or tricks that appealed to him.

Jordan has been a Magic Castle Junior since 2021 and has performed at The Castle. His specialty has been close-up magic, but he is gradually transitioning to more stand-up material. His ideal is visual magic, and routines that allow him to focus on the presentation and storytelling.

When Jordan accepted our challenge, he ordered Repo, Tobias Dostal’s new trick. He was a fan of Dostal’s Liquify, and he was intrigued by the idea of performing a visual sleight routine with a key and chain. Having also performed coin magic and Chinese coin effects, Jordan was drawn to Charming Chinese Challenge (2024 version), Troy Hooser’s new version of his popular coin routine.

Jordan reviewed his purchases for us; his comments are taken from his interview about what he found after he opened the box.

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