The Big Blind Friday Ep. 43

Your weekly dose of magic from around the world from BBM

Hey Owen,

Friday, Funday! The day of the week when you learn new things about the magic world. This week we have bits and pieces from all different sections of magic - from card-stacking to fortune-telling. So let's dive in!

🎙️ 1. AI Replacing Psychics

Experts claim bot fortune tellers are better than real ones because they can draw on wisdom from a vast database and are 'unaffected by human emotions or preconceptions.

Psychics are now afraid of their job for AI might actually be stealing their clients away. What an interesting turn of events!

I'll link you to two articles: one more lightheartedly and one more tech-y with a more in-depth look at things.

Read about what's happening

Deep Dive into what is happening

🎮 2. David Blaine's Vegas Show

"The show is a combination of the most difficult stunts and magic I’ve done in my entire life. No two shows are the same. It’s a work in progress—it’s so physically demanding, can’t be rehearsed, and is always evolving where anything can happen,”

David Blaine talks about his new show in Las Vegas, why it's so demanding and what he does in order to be able to do it.

🃏 3. Hackers Rig Casino Card-shuffling Machines

Security researchers accessed an internal camera inside the Deckmate 2 shuffler to learn the exact deck order—and the hand of every player at a poker table.

After an amateur poker player called a veteran player's bluff, an entire online scandal blew up and people said the player cheated. This led to people at the casino looking into ways players could actually hack the card-shuffling machine and rig it.

It's an interesting read if you're interested in finding out more about the casino-cheating world.

See how you could rig a card-shuffling machine

✨4. Cardstacking Pro Offers Advice

As a professional cardstacker, Berg, who’s now 46, creates card structures around the world. Some are 12 stories tall! They’re so sturdy, they can hold a cement brick or withstand the force of a leaf blower - yet he never uses glue.

If you've ever wanted to create bigger card structures, here's some great advice from the man that's been doing it for more than 30 years.

Card-stacking legend spills the beans

🃏 5. Doug Henning : Real Magic and Transcendental Meditation

ILLUSION AND REALITY: A lecture and demonstration on magic and the expansion of consciousness by DOUG HENNING: First Magician of the Age of Enlightenment.

Did you know that Doug Henning stopped doing magic in order to pursue Transcendental Meditation? Well, I sure did not. This whole article talks about him and how he aided the spread of this meditation.

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Feature your story on Big Blind Friday...

Do you have a story that you'd like to share with us? Or maybe some news that you think others would enjoy knowing too? What about some gossip, legends or rumors that you know of?

Send us your story by replying to any of our emails and we'll consider including it in a future Big Blind Friday episode!

In case you missed it...

Pocket Voodoo by Liam Montier

Liam Montier’s ‘Pocket Voodoo’ is a perfect piece of gothic, pocket sized mind-meltory! 14 custom printed Voodoo cards with special hidden features that make magic and mentalism EASY!

Kit comes in protective carry case!

Here's Liam’s favourite routine: You draw a stickman onto a business card to represent a victim, which is left in the hands of a spectator. An innocent passer by is shown a collection of voodoo cards, with voodoo dolls that have pins in various places. The stack of cards is placed aside. The innocent party is now asked to name someone they wish to direct some 'bad mojo' towards. Let's say they go with 'Gordon'. They write the name on a piece of paper, and then select one of the cards at random.

The ritual is now complete, and the chosen card is turned over - it shows (for example) a voodoo doll with a pin in the chest. The paper is touched to a flame to complete the ritual, and the name vanishes in a brilliant flash of fire! You gingerly turn over the 'victim' - the business card placed aside at the beginning, and show that the stickman now has a serious burn, right in the centre of his chest! And this is just ONE routine with the Voodoo Cards

£21.99

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