Though he tries to project a gruff and curmudgeonly exterior, audiences cannot be fooled: They see right through John Archer’s stern looks from behind the microphone, and they are instantly charmed by his funny turns of phrase and his clever magic. And boy, do they laugh. That’s what John does: He loves to make people laugh.
After 30 years of working comedy stages around the world, John’s never lost his core passion for entertaining nor his love of magic. And in those long years of working showrooms of every sort, he’s taken classic routines—the Magic Square, the Tossed Out Deck, Bank Night—imprinted them with his trademark humor, and developed methods that are polished, and yes, ruthlessly practical.
With the magazine’s relaunch humming along, Genii Enterprises is now adding book publishing to our portfolio. We have just received the first drafts of John’s new book, Enjoy!— and indeed, it is a delight! The book will contain 30 routines and nine essays, which will cover a host of topics for the working magician—from comedy writing to managing hecklers. The new book will be coming out later this year (keep your eyes on geniimagic.com for details), and we’re thrilled to be sharing a sneak peek with the following excerpt. It’s John’s reimagining of a Three Envelope Test, a great example of his approach to zeroing in on a clean method and total clarity of effect. Enjoy!
—By Julie Eng
After 30 years of working comedy stages around the world, John’s never lost his core passion for entertaining nor his love of magic. And in those long years of working showrooms of every sort, he’s taken classic routines—the Magic Square, the Tossed Out Deck, Bank Night—imprinted them with his trademark humor, and developed methods that are polished, and yes, ruthlessly practical.
With the magazine’s relaunch humming along, Genii Enterprises is now adding book publishing to our portfolio. We have just received the first drafts of John’s new book, Enjoy!— and indeed, it is a delight! The book will contain 30 routines and nine essays, which will cover a host of topics for the working magician—from comedy writing to managing hecklers. The new book will be coming out later this year (keep your eyes on geniimagic.com for details), and we’re thrilled to be sharing a sneak peek with the following excerpt. It’s John’s reimagining of a Three Envelope Test, a great example of his approach to zeroing in on a clean method and total clarity of effect. Enjoy!
—By Julie Eng
Mind Reading Class
An excerpt from Enjoy! by John Archer • New book coming soon to geniimagic.com.
What you are about to read is a routine I developed and refined over several years, using a method I call Three-One-One. It is named that because it is a billet and envelope routine, similar to a Three Envelope Test or, as some call it, Fourth Dimensional Telepathy, but it uses only one billet and one envelope. This streamlines the process and improves the clarity of the effect. Three thoughts on one card in one envelope.
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