across Bertram on Sleight of Hand and I knew I had to learn it . I ’ ve changed and styled it a great deal since first reading it . I guess I should probably describe the effect ! * Laughs *
In brief , five playing cards are taken and one at a time , thrown up in the air , where they disappear and you show empty hands after each tossing of a card . When they have all gone , you show your hands empty then proceed to reach into the air and pluck each one back into existence . It ’ s not a very long trick but it is really powerful . There ’ s a lot of beautiful sleight of hand involved and it seems to have a unique effect on audiences . There ’ s just something about watching pure sleight of hand that resonates with people . I don ’ t know how else to put it . It ’ s like they truly appreciate the work , even though they might not really see it all .
LAST QUESTION , WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM SHANE COBALT IN THE NEAR FUTURE ? Big question ! Well , there ’ s probably three things in the future . I have been spending a lot of time working on
www . DoBetterMagic . com along with my partner in crime Derrick Chung . It ’ s a group that I write and teach magic to every month , we host amazing lectures as well . Those lectures inevitably lead to late night sessioning . We ’ ve had some really special events on magicians like Alan Wakeling and Ernest Earick . We ’ ve had Avi Yap , Jim Steinmeyer , Jared Kopf , Paul Vigil and so many others I ’ m missing . The pandemic has been a mixed blessing in that it ’ s kept me at home , but it also means everyone else is home as well . So it was really born out of that realization and during really difficult times it ’ s been possible to help many magicians in financial crunches . I ’ m really proud of what it ’ s become and where we ’ re going !
The second thing is a bit of a tribute to Johnny Thompson which I think you ’ ll hear more about in the near future if all goes as planned .
Lastly , my goal is and has always been to have a live ticketed show somewhere overseas . So I think once the world is open for travel and safe for live entertainment I ’ ll be on the hunt for the perfect location for a show like that . But until that happens I ’ m staying at home , working on new material , and will continue sharing magic with the technology available to us .
SEPTEMBER | 2021 19