That Ellen clip shows two magic tricks. Then on the MemoryMaster website, there is this claim:
Quote:
What sets Jim apart from other mentalists in the world is that MOST of his mental abilities are ABSOLUTELY REAL!
Now, it is absolutely real (and pretty trivial if you really try to do it) that he memorized that deck of cards, it's just that it's a deck of cards that has been memorized previously and reused over and over. He did not take a 10 second glance at it and memorize it -that is a lie. I would say, "misdirection," but he is claiming that his abilities are real.
The second trick on the Ellen clip is a standard implementation of the Invisible Deck. A kid can learn to do that in 15 minutes. Nothing real there either.
The hot tin foil trick on Stern is another standard of magic -although it uses a dangerous chemical so it isn't common anymore (I have heard of non-chemical ways of doing this but they won't have the effect it had on Stern). Also not real unless you count regular old chemical reactions as magic.
I have a problem with magicians passing off what they do as "ABSOLUTELY REAL." Especially when the things they are passing off as real are very standard well known magic tricks.