The Magician's Pantry - Roughing Agents, Waxes, Blu Tack, Glue Dots, and Double-Sided Tape
This post will be very brief as it's purely informational, especially for beginners. Obviously, those of you who've been in magic for a while already know all these things and their many uses.
A pantry, according to the dictionary, is a cupboard, typically built into a wall, with doors and shelves where various items are stored.
For our purposes, if you're a beginner, it might be "the magician's case" or "the magician's drawer," but over time, we all accumulate more stuff, and a case or a drawer just won't cut it anymore.
ROUGHING AGENTS
Substances whose properties help reduce slipping and increase friction. In magic, they're used for certain decks and for various magical effects.
There are specific ones for magic and alternative options (as is almost always the case), available in spray, liquid, and wax stick formats (this type of wax is not the same as magician's wax).
The best ones (for me)... any of them.
What's important here isn't so much the product we use, but rather the knack (dexterity and skill) we have when applying it, REGARDLESS OF THE PRODUCT.
When using it on a single card, it's not a big deal to mess up or get it right after a few tries. But when you're making something like an Invisible Deck or a Nude Deck, for instance, you have to apply the product to many cards (whatever it may be) and that's when we need to tap into that hidden power called "PATIENCE" and do it slowly and calmly.
Products? There are tons. From specific magic suppliers, I'm not even going to mention them because a simple Google search should be enough.
Generally, the spray version is much better because it's usually less noticeable or even invisible (if applied correctly). It comes in both two-sided and one-sided varieties (the latter being more expensive).
I use a magician's roughing wax stick for a few cards or individual gaffs.
It's a hard wax that smells like horse grease.
Alternatives?...
Clear vinyl sprays, liquid rubber spray, matte varnish spray.
All kinds of clear matte liquid varnishes.
Anti-slip wax for glasses.
For entire decks, I use clear matte liquid varnish, applied with A GOOD BRUSH, and it works great for me.
WAXES, BLU TACK, GLUE DOTS, AND DOUBLE-SIDED TAPE
All of these are generally used for what they are: sticking things. In magic, they're used for various effects, for example, gaining complete control over a freely chosen card by a spectator and then making it appear WHEREVER YOU WANT (I'm saying this without over-explaining, as there are many ways to achieve this with the same method), or for cards to appear (stick) on any surface... like ceilings.
There's not much more to say about these materials (for now), just keep them in mind for your magic stash.
EXTRA:
Another very interesting product is repositionable glue (both in stick and spray form).
As I said, slowly but surely, we'll delve into each of these and some of their uses.
Cheers everyone, and happy magic!!!
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Jumping on this thread, I wanted to add a video from Armando De Miguel explaining different types of close-up pads, purely to add a bit more info to @Zeta's fantastic contribution.
He has another video where he shows some uses for close-up pads, but unless you want the link right away, we'll save that for another time 😉 hehehe
About WAX and BLU TACK
Both products are primarily used for handling close-up invisible thread, both regular and elastic.
Honestly, ever since I tried Blu Tack, I've almost stopped using magician's wax when making loops (especially in winter, when wax is harder to manipulate due to the cold). For gimmick reels, I still use wax.
Blu Tack is more affordable, cleaner, and initially more reusable (though it doesn't blend into the skin as well as wax does).
On the other hand, magician's wax is usually expensive for what it is (sun-bleached beeswax); in winter, it hardens and is difficult to handle.
The advantages of wax are that, in the long run, it can be reused almost "infinitely" by washing it and separating its impurities over and over again (but you have to do it and be patient).
Hence this post.
Nowadays, I think the best approach is to use Blu Tack, without completely abandoning wax (or at least having some on hand).
And here's the thing:
If you know a beekeeper, 😊, you can always ask them for "scraps" of honeycomb (especially the most disposable ones), which are more than good enough for magic.
Like these pieces my friend, from whom I buy honey, gave me.
I didn't take any photos or video of the process, but basically, in a pot with water, you put the wax, wait for it to boil until all the wax is liquid, then turn off the heat and let everything cool down.
The impurities will always remain at the bottom of the wax slab you're left with; just scrape them off.
If you add a little (and by little, I mean very little) hydrogen peroxide when it starts to boil and maintain the boil for 15-20 minutes, you'll lighten the wax.
(if you add too much hydrogen peroxide, the wax will become brittle and be useless)
(The natural method for bleaching beeswax is by exposing it to the sun, but since that can only be done in summer, the chemical method works perfectly during sunless periods)
And here's the result. Tons of free wax, ready to use.
Cheers everyone!
Hey everyone!
I'm seeing a lot of great ideas for working with cards. Here are a couple more that I use, and they're super cheap.
1.- Wax earplugs from the drugstore.
2.- A repositionable adhesive called ZIG. If you apply it to a card and immediately join another card to it, they'll stick firmly and won't come apart. But if you apply it and let it sit for a bit—not long at all—when you bring another card to it, they can be separated easily.
Great idea!
I'll definitely try it out and see how it goes.
Thanks a lot!
I find this to be a very interesting topic. I'd love for you to elaborate on it further.
@Ismael Obis Escuer:
It really is! :slight_smile:
@Ismael Obis Escuer:
Absolutely! But we'll have to take it one step at a time.
These are used for a ton of things, but since I don't want to give away too many specific applications (to avoid revealing secrets of effects still on the market that rely on these products), I need to be really thoughtful about how I explain their uses, while also respecting the creativity of the folks who put in the work to develop and share their ideas.
It's a bit like trying to run with my legs tied, which is why I'm saying we'll take it slow and steady. 😅
All the best, and happy magic!