> I can consistently get 51 cards correct every time.

That's not a bug, it's a feature! Just do a "new deck order restore" with the selected card out of seq. :-)

> when you know how hard the trick is, it makes it better.

Totally! A few years ago I shared my view on "The Progression of Close-up Magic" (pardon the paste):

1. When you're 12, you're happy if a trick fools anyone.

2. Once you get older and have practiced a lot, you start to feel cocky that almost all your tricks fool almost everyone.

3. Then you keep practicing obsessively, start sessioning with good magicians and get humbled all over again. But in their work you start to realize there are levels of depth beyond just fooling people. You can finally see the path and your journey begins.

4. If you keep no-lifing it, eventually those magicians you respect, start respecting a few of your moves back. And that feels better than the loudest applause from any audience.

5. If you're a public performer, you're now probably working regularly. You fool all non-magicians all the time, and even other magicians some of the time. All your years of practice and study have finally paid off. Then you realize, most nights the valets make more than you do. :-)

6. But you keep doing it because you love it, except now the only audience you're working to impress is yourself. Non-magicians love it just as much whether you do easy tricks the easy way or hard tricks the hard way. In competent hands, they all look identical.

But you keep looking for even harder stuff, and then spend hours reworking the methods, exploring how to create the same effect in new ways. You sweat the meta stuff - structure, timing, flow. You pick up new subtleties by studying ancient VHS videos of the old masters. How Slydini's body language made his lapping transcendent. You contemplate how Goshman put that goddamn coin under a clear water glass, in the middle of an empty table, under a spotlight, with 80 year-old arthritic hands. And no one saw him do it. No trick, no move, just pure Jedi misdirection. And no audience will ever know the hours you waste obsessing on this. To everyone else, the tricks look exactly the same, but you do it your own weird, much harder way simply because you think it's neat, elegant, clever or sometimes just because it feels a little more right.

7. At that point, whether you keep working as a pro or even still perform magic at all becomes irrelevant. It's just a day job like any other. You do magic for yourself and maybe handful of others who 'get it'. The tech equivalent is kind of like the time I realized I'd spent more time (and had more fun) reading Doom's source code than I ever had playing the game.

> I can do them infinite other cooler ways, so what’s the point?

One cold deck is worth a thousand perfect Faros :-).

> Very cool your training.

I'd been obsessed with magic since I was 7 and was lucky enough to live in Los Angeles. When I was 16 I heard about the Magic Castle Junior program, then just in it's third year. When I auditioned, Vernon himself (then in his late 80s) was one of the three judges. No pressure, kid - it's just the guy that book you've had since you were 12 titled World's Greatest Magic says is "the greatest magician of the 20th century." The Castle Juniors was the hardest audition in magic because they lose money on (and have to mentor) every kid they let in. Three tricks, 10 minutes. I was so nervous, I blew two of my three tricks. Complete fail. I was so naive and stupid, all three tricks I picked were originals with insanely high difficulty. I had zero chance of nailing them under the pressure and lights of the Castle close-up gallery. :-)

I was shocked when I found out I'd gotten in on my first audition (the avg was 3). Vernon was at my first meeting, took me aside and made it very clear he'd voted against me because I "sucked." He blamed the other two other judges for being 'softies' who gave partial credit to my failed tricks because they were "mildly interesting" twists. Vernon stayed tough on me for all my years in the Juniors, but I did learn a lot from the cranky old bastard. Once when I was classic palming a coin, he slapped my hand and snorted "you palm like a girl!" Offended, I replied "At least the coin didn't fall out when you hit my hand." He rolled his eyes, and sighed "Kid, if you're doing it right, it should fall out!" Vernon passed away a few years after I turned 21 and became a regular member. It wasn't until I was invited to be a judge for regular member auditions that I learned Magic Castle auditions require that all three judges vote "Yes" to accept anyone. Vernon had lied to me! That was the moment I began to suspect maybe he didn't believe I was completely hopeless! I think he just saw how arrogant and cocky I was and knew I needed to be humbled before I could learn anything he had to teach. At best, Vernon seemed to find all the Juniors annoying, and at worst, insufferable. We used to wonder why he bothered showing up to every meeting since we were so hopeless. Only in later years did I appreciate the gift he was giving us and the legacy he was creating. That first decade of graduates from the Juniors created a shocking number of the top magical performers, creators and teachers in the world (although I don't count myself in that lofty company).

I 'dropped out' as a performer after 4 years working full-time as a pro to become a serial tech startup entrepreneur. A few years ago, Stan asked me to give the opening keynote at Magic Live to reflect on how, in my case, so much early magic potential and world-class mentoring "had gone so horribly wrong." :-) My conclusion was that learning the centuries-old craft, rigor and discipline of inventing all-new ways to make the impossible seem possible, and then the showmanship to present it well - was the best training possible for a successful career in tech.

> The burnable 2nd I have.

I'm envious. Mine's just ugly. I kept playing with it on and off over the years but when I saw Lennart Green do his (face up!) I officially gave up on it forever. :-) Of course, Vernon was one of the few humans ever to master a perfect burnable middle. But that's a god move beyond us mere mortals. (Excellent book on Vernon's years long journey to get that 'perfect middle': https://www.amazon.com/dp/0805074066).

> Wasn’t planning on Magic Live, but I should see where it is and when.

First week of August in Vegas (usually the same week as Blackhat). I go every year just to hang out with friends from the old days. Ping me if you go.