Michel Huot September Lecture

MICHEL HUOT LECTURE

Thursday, September 19, 2024

Ring 17: The Sid Lorraine Hat & Rabbit Club

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Written by: David Sutherland

Last month, members of Ring 17 had the privilege of watching the supremely creative magic of Michel

Huot.

Michel began by explaining how he got into magic. During dark times in his early twenties, Michel had

gone to a magic show and when it was over he realized that he been able to put his sorrows aside for its

entirety. Recognizing what a remarkable gift magic had given him, he began to pursue it in earnest. The

first magic book he read was Mark Wilson’s Complete Course in Magic. A book he still loves to this day.

I was instantly intrigued by the first item involving a large gift box sitting on his table. Nicole was invited

to assist and she chose one of a number of images of stuffed animals and the one she chose ended up

being the exact same stuffed animal in the box. Not only that, Michel asked Nicole what its name should

be. Nicole said “Cuddly”. When Nicole opened the box and removed the stuffy, it was wearing a tag

around its neck that read “Cuddly”. Inspired by John Archer’s Collared, Michel has made some clever

modifications to make the effect even stronger.

Re-match was a cool trick wherein a candle was lit with a wooden match. Then Michel stared at the

burned match and we all witnessed the char visibly vanishing off the match until it became like new

again. To prove it had gone back in time, he lit the match once more.

Imagine Paperclipped without the paperclip or the Clarity Box without the box and you’ll understand

what Michel showed us next. A folded card was placed in the outer breast pocket of his jacket. Then,

Michel displayed a number of signs (i.e. red or black; heart or diamond; odd or even, etc.) which led to

the audience creating a playing card. When the card that had been in full view, protruding from in his

pocket the entire time, was unfolded it was seen to be the very card created! This was called

Cardvertisement (including HIPS). You’ll have to check his website for further details.

(www.michelhuotmagic.com ) Genius I tell ya.

Next up…a mash up, not of tricks but of songs. In one hand Michel showed cards with various songs

written on them and in the other hand cards with various artists. A card was selected from each packet.

When the cards were dealt, one from each hand in unison, it was seen that none of the artists matched

up with their songs. One of the selections was shown and the artist was seen to be Sinatra, Michel then

played a song which sounded like New York, New York, but turned into I’ve Got a Feeling. When the

Sinatra card was turned around it now said The Black Eyed Peas. Think of this like a McCombical Deck

using music to add an additional punchline.

Watch as closely as you want, you are only going to see magic!

Andrew Sutherland assisted Michel with his next trick by selecting a card. The card was lost in the deck,

the cards tossed into the air and a glue stick plunged into the cascading cards. Unbelievably, the

selection ended up stuck on the end of the glue stick. I believe this was used one time as a back-up

when Michel’s Card Sword was left behind and ever since it’s this version that has stuck. (Pun intended.)

Following a similar plot, another card was chosen, Michel put some chewing gum on the toe of his shoe,

tossed the cards in the air once again and kicked his foot into cascading cards. Perhaps even more

unbelievably, the signed selection stuck to the gum on his shoe! Appropriately, this trick is called Shoe-

ing Gum. I saw this in July at the Browser’s Bash where it was a stage-filling piece and it was also good to

see it done in this intimate lecture setting where it was equally effective.

Chosen card stuck to his shoe! Amazing!

Nostalgia is a mentalism effect using a toy many readers will recall from their childhoods. A number of

ViewMaster reels were shown and one was selected and the images thereupon were viewed by a

spectator who chose one of the many images. The volunteer concentrated on the image and Michel

successfully drew a picture of what was being imagined.

Priceless was a crowd favourite. Michel asked us to guess how much his blazer cost. We did and he

explained that he paid nothing – he stole it! Removing his jacket, he showed that the security tag was

still attached and we could see the price tag hanging off of it. Sure enough, when the tag was turned

around it showed the same price that we had guessed.

Michel Huot showing off an expensive jacket

Michel closed his lecture with Dirty Pool in which cards with different pictures of billiard balls were

shown and an audience member selected one. Michel explained that he had a prediction in the card

case. He shook the case and a full-sized billiard ball fell out of it, the very one selected!

Michl Huot surprising all with a billiard ball!

Overall, Michel presented an action-packed lecture that was filled from start to finish with direct, hard-

hitting effects using an eclectic mix of items all of which were done with practical, audience-tested

methods that have been honed over years of performances.

In addition to the effects mentioned above, his merch table was filled with other treasures including

three different sets of lecture notes (including his Penguin lecture), a booklet discussing the best way to

choose audience members and last but not least, The Comet Table which all restaurant workers will

want to have the minute they see it.

Again his website is: www.michelhuotmagic.com

I can’t wait to see what he comes up with next.

Michel Huot captivating his audience (as always!)