BBQ BUDDIES
THOM PETERSON
INTRODUCTION
Billy McComb’s genius and practical approach to our
craft cast one of the largest shadows ever felt on the
magic world. One effect that’s inspired variations upon
variations is his wonderful “McCombical Deck.” What
follows is my version in which I endeavored to make the
routine more self-revelatory.
EFFECT
A stack of photos are shown one at a time as the
performer explains that these are his ideal guests for
a fictitious barbeque. Choosing a guest for one of the
spectators the magician removes a card that appears to
be a picture of himself. When the spectator is asked to
make a “free” selection from a duplicate stack of photos,
the audience can see that they are all images of the
magician. In the end, the magician’s and the spectator’s
photos are both shown to reveal a surprise for both the
magician and the audience.
REQUIRED
To perform this you’ll need two sets of cards. One set
consists of eight pairs that are rough and smoothed
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VANISH - International Magic Magazine
together. Let’s call this the “red set.” Mine are pairs of
pictures of me and pictures of Homer Simpson. So, the
face of Homer Simpson is sprayed with roughing spray,
and the back of my pictures are sprayed with roughing
spray.
In addition, you need eight photos of people you’d
want at your ideal barbeque party, as well as one more
rough and smoothed pair of you and Homer (or whoever your punch line character is). Let’s call this set the
“blue set.” (Fig. 1)
A note about construction: The set of cards I use are
perfect for a cabaret/parlor environment. If you plan to
use these on a large stage or close up, you’ll need to adjust the size accordingly. The size of the cards