talkmagic.co.uk

Kenneth wrote:

Zombiefreak wrote:
Half of the battle of RRTCM is reading, then deciphering what is written to your hands, then executing the action, then finding the page again because the book closed... the other half is practicing the trick.

haha.. ye, its can be quite an uphill battle but rest assured, you guys got it easy... Im left handed and for some reason when I started by converting tricks and now I have to convert EVERYTHING... (NOTE TO SELF: get both hands onto all sleights...)!

Erdnase was also a serious effort... wow! Especially with his wacko talk...

First I must say RRTCM should be on the top of the list of all asspiring card magicians. It has almost everthing you need for getting a good grip on the basics. I've learned much from this book and I am buying the DVD next week because it will teach the timing of the effect and angles that should be watched. I never heard anyone call Ron Wilson incomprtent before. He is one of the most amazing card men of our time and has many credits to his name. Take a chance and get his book the Uncanny Scot. Its a good read and you will find much to learn and challange you. Then go back to the RRTCM DVD and watch it again. You may not like everything in it but you will find there is alot you will use.
Al

This is a great book, i remember reading it years ago, taught me how to do the riffle shuffle woohoo. And many other things.

Wish i had some cards lol, i need to get learning more stuff. Slacking behind here.

Anybody new to magic should buy this book. Whether you do card tricks in your act or not, when people hear your a magician you sometimes get handed decks of cards and told "DO MAGIC MAGIC DO MAGIC". So you might aswell be prepared.

Plus card skills come in handy when you wanna cheat the drunk old guys down the pub out of a few quid to pay for your drinks.

I should explain to Mr Doty that I have no problem with Ron Wilson. He is not the author of the DVDs in question. I am referring to another Wilson personage who did NOT write the Uncanny Scot.

I did see Ron Wilson perform many moons ago and was underwhelmed. The chap mumbled too much and did not seem to be a showman. However I won't hold that against him since I prefer to see someone perform more than once before I condemn him wholeheartedly.

As for the Wilson involved with the DVD in question I saw a clip of him purportedly "performing" the 3 cards across in the book. I stand by my statement of "incompetence". You are supposed to have the spectator drop the cards all over the place not put them into a neat little pile. Furthermore his performing style is as dull as dishwater. Since the book is full of tips on showmanship I don't think he has read it properly and is therefore not entitled to teach from it especially when the authors haven't given their permission.

I am a psychic medium and have been in touch with the authors in the spirit world and they remarked that they have been turning in their graves over the matter.

Yes, R. Paul Wilson can be boring at times, but his technical skills are brilliant. Most everyone here likes the RRTCM DVD and find it useful. I think Mr. Lewis might be short changing himself by condeming this only after watching two clips. After all, these are instructional videos and not for entertainment purposes. The idea of instructional videos are to teach and make you use your imagination. Michael Close on palming doesn't need the cards tossed upon the table to add the palmed cards. Where would magic be if we all did everything by the books. We would still be performing old magic the old way. Magic has evolved only because people tried different approaches to magic routines. Is there only one way to do a DL, Elmsley count. cut and restored rope, proffessors nightmare and alot more. If it was for the variations on effects then magic would not progress. I too was rigid in my thinking about a Paul Harris effect and was wrong to think that way. The worst thing I could have caused was to keep someone from looking at it and making up their own mind whether they liked it or not. RRTCM is a beginning point and you progress from there. Are the authors still alive? If not they must have gotten permission from whoever has the rights and I'm sure that they did.
Sincere Regards
Al

I can assure Mr Doty that both Hugard and Braue are extremely dead at the moment. I have been in touch with both of them in the spirit world and they have assured me that this is the case. They have also assured me that they have never met Mr Wilson and may have died before he was born. Or at the very least when he was breastfeeding. They did not give permission and neither do they approve of the treatment of their marvellous book.

I do agree this is a wonderful book and perhaps 50% of my repertoire with cards comes from there. I know the book backwards, forwards and inside out.

With regards to the "rights" I have no idea of the politics of it but I strongly suspect that no permission was requested from Faber and Faber regarding the DVDs on the grounds that none was legally necessary. I am against the DVDs because I have a gut feeling that they are not teaching the stuff correctly because of the clip I saw.

It is true that I only saw one or two clips but it was enough for me to judge that the tuition was wrong. They should have got me to do it but even then it would be against the spirit of the book which was originally written on the assumption that the authors would be the sole interpreters of the material.

I have not seen Michael Close's work on palming but if he also does not have the cards tossed over the table then he is doing it wrong too. And I shall be quite happy to tell him so when I speak to him.

I am intrigued to see that Mr Doty has admitted that the Wilson personage can be "boring at times". This to my mind is all that is important. I don't give a stuff how allegedly technically brilliant a magician is. That is only 10% of the equation. The other 90% is down to showmanship, presentation, psychology and manipulating your audiences rather than just manipulating the cards. If a person is merely brilliant at finger flinging and negligent in the other FAR more important areas then that person is indeed incompetent. Granted that virtually every close up magician I have ever seen is negligent in those areas too and Wilson is not alone in his uselessness. Out of hundreds of performers in this area I don't think I have seen 10 in slightly over 50 years of doing magic that I would call showmen.

I will also readily admit to bias against Mr Wilson because I do not approve of his behaviour when he worked for a friend of mine many moons ago but I try to put that out of my mind when seeing his work.

I would have to see more clips to judge if he is teaching the stuff correctly but what I have seen so far does not create a good impression in my mind.

As for doing close up card magic the "old way" I wish to God everyone would. All this new fangled stuff is bloody awful. It is no coincidence that all the best close up magicians are dead and on occasion I don't feel that well myself.

As for doing things by the book that is precisely what you should be doing if you are purporting to teach the book in question. The stuff in the Royal Road holds up just as well today as it did 50 years ago. I prove it every day in my own performances.

I agree that instructional videos are there to teach and not to entertain. However this case is different. The book teaches you how to entertain and Wilson doesn't so he hasn't done his job properly. Furthermore I have a suspicion that he isn't teaching the moves properly anyway. He certainly isn't in the three cards across so I expect he isn't anywhere else either.

No. Leave the book alone I say. It doesn't need any help from incompetent Scottish card magicians. It has done very well for the last 50 years without that help and it should be allowed to continue in that vein.

Although I find myself agreeing with Rev. Lewis on many points, I feel that the DVD teaches the content within Royal Road pretty well, but the performances are rather lacking and without personality.
In some ways this can be seen as good as you are given a blank canvas on which to paint your own character, but there are many people who imitate things exactly as seen/read and the performances on here are more like demonstrations of the effects rather than something to entertain.

Royal Road is a marvellous book and is the first step for anyone wanting to perform decent card magic beyond self-workers. In my mind, the best magic books were written around this time as the effects are still strong today and have the power to entertain the layman (with the right presentation!) along with Tarbell and Bobo, I count RRTCM as one of the vital books in matering magic and they were all written over 50 years ago.

Thankyou Mr. Lewis for your last post. You explain your position better than you did in your first as I thought it very strong and out of character. I have read many of your posts about other topics and got the impression you are someone with knowledge and ability willing to share your thoughts, but your first comment here was surprising to say the least.
The fact that there is something personal beteen you and Mr. Wilson is evident and I'm sorry for that. It happens in all walks of life and I know of a few magicians that I could stay angry with to the day I die, but it just isn't worth the trouble.
As for all the great close up magicians being dead and your not feeling well, stick around others need your help.
As for me, unfortunatly my accident has left my right arm with four metal plates in it and my wrist does not turn like it should, so if I'm to do the magic I like I must make adjustments and change the methods of my performances. Hugard and Braues work does stand the test of time as does many other great old books like Our Magic, Greater Magic, Bobos Modern Coin Magic and a long list of others, but effects at times need a fresh approach to bring them into modern times. I agree there is alot of awful stuff out there for us to sift through, but that is part of the learning process for most beginners. They need to see the bad in order to appreciate the good. Continue to be a guide and don't let personal things get in the way.
Sicere Regards
Al

I love this book. I hope I can remember every card trick written inside this book.

I can assure Mr Doty that I was joking when I said I wasn't well. When I die there will be great celebrations in the world of magic but it isn't going to happen for a while.

I have no personal issues with the Wilson personage. I have artistic issues with him. Furthermore I don't like the idea of people reinterpreting the works of an author without the permission of said authors. If I were to write a book on card tricks I would hate the thought of incompetent card magicians interpreting it and making money out of it after my death. I would want them to mind their own business and leave my book alone.

As for me cursing magicians and the way they perform that is not out of character for me in the slightest. No doubt when you read more of my posts you will tend to agree.