Episode 7 - The Sting
In this episode DMC (Drummond Money Coutts) explores the overlapping worlds of the magician, the gambler and the cheat - worlds rife with control, greed, and high emotion.
DMC explores the techniques they have in common before merging his skills as a cheat and magician in a daring heist, designed to fool his audience and allow him a clean get away.
DMC’s journey begins with his demonstrations of sleight of hand and misdirection, in order to show how both the card cheat and the magician use them to their advantage.
Taking to the streets of central London, for a magical game of dice, he shows how a cheat prefers their skills to remain invisible whereas a magician seeks adulation for theirs, leaving his audience baffled and amazed.
He then creates a multilayered piece of close up card magic, demonstrating how these skills are best performed slowly and naturally – skillfully fusing manipulation and control alongside misdirection.
DMC then travels to Mexico where card playing is still regarded with suspicion due to its association with the once illegal world of gambling. On his arrival DMC dumbfounds spectators with a trick that teaches them that with gambling it’s about knowing when to stop. He then meets a local card magician and casino boss and learns that despite their recent legalization card play and gambling are still regarded negatively, before testing this notion with a trick that almost causes his audience to assault him!