Introducing...
...me!
Sorry, that it's not some kind of cool new product that enhances your life but maybe I can help a little too. I love to enrich people's lives with magic because: isn't that what life is supposed to be? Amazing every day? Full of wonders? ...
Sorry for the philosophical part. Let's get serious... haha
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Guten Tag!
I'm David, a German exchange student who is currently staying in Arizona. I hope no one is going to kill me for any spelling or grammar errors.
I would really appreciate it.
The following is just some stuff I wrote a little while ago...
How I came to perform magic wrote:Once upon a time there was a little boy called David. He was barely six years when that one day a family, who was friends with his parents, was coming over for tea.
His mum had made one of her special cakes with her special chocolate muse. It was so creamy and light and at the same time so deeply chocolaty that little David would stop anything he was doing when his mother made it, longingly awaiting the time when he would be allowed to lick the bowls.
Now that day it befell, for what reason I don’t remember, that the husband, Helmut, arrived at our house two hours before his wife would be able to come. So he sat down on the neatly set table and with him little David, eagerly awaiting the point where his mother would dish up his beloved cake. When the adults where sitting down, he knew, it wouldn’t take too long. But he waited and waited...
Although when you are little time seems to go slower anyways now it just seemed to stand still for little David. Every minute passing seemed like a year, like century, like the time from the age of the dinosaurs to the present. Nevertheless little David sat quietly while the other adults where sipping coffee and talking about matters of no importance to a young mind which only circles around the thought of the most amazing chocolate cake in the world, sitting somewhere in the refrigerator, waiting for him.
So he exercised his patients minute for minute, annoying his parents with asking the same question over and over again: “When do we eat the cake?”. “Later, dear.” was the reply he got every single time.
Centuries of minutes passed and David’s chin sank on the table, he sighed and must have looked so pitiful that Helmut, the guest, in an attempt to cheer him up said: “Hey, David, look at this.” He grabbed his thumb with the other hand and pulled and it extended and extended, and stretched nearly to the double of its size.
Little David was amazed. The chocolate cake was wiped out of his mind. He begged Helmut to do it again. He did and little David just sat there in awe, gazing at the huge thumb.
Next Helmut pulled out a coin, took it with his other hand, and vanished it. David laughed and was even happier when Helmut pulled the coin from behind his head. It was a great day. When Helmut’s wife had finally arrived and David’s mother wanted to bring the cake, he refused. He wanted to see more magic. But of course he had to be a good boy and eat the cake with the chocolate paste that stuck to his teeth and slowed him down in gulping the cake as quickly as he wanted to.
At David’s next birthday he received a huge box from the Helmut, wrapped in dark blue paper with little wizards on it waving their wands. It contained a vase that would stick to a string, and a little purple ball and a box in which it would appear, disappear and reappear, and many, many other wonderful things.
...
Memo to myself: I think I really annoyed my parents, friends and relatives with being such a "cute little magician".
After being obsessed with magic as a six-year-old I kind of lost the trail. I still enjoyed watching it but didn't really spent much time furthering my own skill. One reason was that it really frustrated me that my little hands just couldn't handle some of the tricks.
10 years later I watched a life performance and was completely on fire once again.
Now this was one year ago and I learned quite a bit since then ... of which the most important thing is that this fire is not going to burn down as the first did.
I often stay up until 2 in the morning watching random stuff on TV and practicing my slights.
By the way: I am really into card magic. I don't like gadgets and love everything impromptu.
I currently put most of my energy into practicing card magic, simply because it can be performed anywhere. Most people have a deck of cards in the house, and there are just thousands of tricks that can be performed with only one regular deck!
I also say most of my energy because I can't believe how easy school is here in the US. That makes life twice as much fun! And the two hours reserved for homework are very well spent on practicing card tricks.
Here in Arizona I made a friend who as a summer job did gigs at a restaurant and he taught me some tricks. Unfortunately he moved away a month later. But before he did he recommended me to read Paul Harris' "The Art of Astonishment".
Now I'm nearly through with the third and last book of this trilogy, I added the tricks I liked and made them fit me and discarded the ones that only work when you are performing for a drunk spectator.
Do you have a recommendation which book/DVD/resource would be good to study next?
I'm really glad that I found your forum. I have been searching for a place to discuss tricks and techniques since my old "mentor" went away.
I am looking forward to the discussions and hope that I eventually also will able to contribute. I'll do my best
