A member informed me that you guys like to get to know new members a bit so here’s my little introduction (actually, big introduction but you don’t have to read it all
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About Moi….
My name is Rachel, I was born and raised in Maryland (USA). I’m 22 years old and work at a pet store.
I’m also a student right studying biology and neurology (getting a bachelors in biology), hoping to eventually become a radiologist or neuroradiologist. I also have a degree in Advertising Arts.
My hobbies include magic & illusions , reading, studying human psychology and brain physiology, reef tanks, volunteer work helping domestic and wild animals, scrapbooking, digital art(like adobe photoshop), B&W and macro photography, and lastly, I love learning about space (‘space’ as in the planets & galaxies).
As far as magic goes, here’s my story….
I’ve been watching ‘magic’ since my fifth b-day party (yes, I had a clown lol). I was never good at sports and stuff so I started playing with cards during gym class. Throughout the years, I got little things like ‘101 magic tricks for kids’ box sets as gifts. I eventually started performing things like card tricks, cup n sponge, and object levitations around age 10.
The older I got, the more my fascination turned from “COOL! HOW’D THEY DO THAT~!?” to “no seriously…how DID they do that, because if they can do it, I can figure it out and then do it too!” So it became like a game…every trick I saw, I would try to figure out so that I could do it myself. The ones I couldn’t figure out popped up my interest even more…I also found it fun because when I’d see a trick and say “I know how they did that…” and was asked how, I would say “it’s magic!”. When they nudged me and laughed, I would smile to myself because I really DID know how they did it, but would never want to ruin the fun for some one else. So I did tricks I picked up from watching, and I also bought a bunch of those stupid little boxed tricks that come with rigged items and directions from the store and a few cheap 'basic card trick' books. For years I performed stuff like that for friends and family.
Sadly, I had to stop performing my ‘amateur’ tricks for years because I got in a terrible car accident and one of my many major injuries was to my thumb, which made me unable to shuffle and do a lot of other necessary things. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I had a lot of time to think. A little over a year ago when it began to work a little, I starting thinking about starting again but this time around I wanted things to be different… I promised myself that I was going to set my standards high and only do the kind of tricks that I couldn’t figure out when I was younger. I shelved every one of my tricks (but kept the knowledge and experience!) and literally started ALL over again.
I’ve always had this fear of getting ‘caught’ during a trick and messing up and people figuring out the ‘secret’. I know it happens to every one sometimes but it bothers me because there are two types of magicians. There’s the people who are known as ‘someone who practices little tricks that anyone could do and then does them for other people, and even sometimes messes up,” and then there’s magicians that people seriously claim (I’m sure you’ve heard it about Criss Angel, David Blaine…etc) ‘they are incredible and just have this ‘special mysterious gift’ and a really good ‘sixth sense’ so they are extra good at whatever they are really doing.’ I don’t ever want to work hard and spend my time practicing, only to mess up and then be seen as ‘just some girl who practices store bought magic tricks’….After performing, I wanted to be seen as on a level of bewilderment higher than “oh yea, very good trick you bought there!” I wanted to have them believing that I’m doing things that they or an average person couldn’t do. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t see want to be viewed as some Godly figure or anything like that...or I don’t think DavidB and CrissA are some amazing guru’s (FAR from it! lol)… I just think they’re seen differently by their audience than some magicians and just want to amaze people at a new and different level than “pick a card, put it back in the deck...is this your card?” I realized that REAL magic isn’t being really good at a trick…it’s the art of doing a trick and making people actually question reality and if ‘real magic’ really exists.
My plan was to go learn a bunch of new, 'GOOD' material, secretly practice like crazy without telling even my closest of friends/family (I’ve just been telling them I’ve been meditating! lol), then after completely mastering everything, finally coming out and performing to everyone. BTW, I've been criticized a few times with people complaining to me “that’s stupid and you're defeating the purpose because it’s all about enjoying doing the magic and it's an art and a passion...blah blah”, So let me just say that every one is different and though I enjoy doing it, to ME it’s all about the people I’m doing the magic for and about THEM enjoying themselves and leaving a lasting impression so that they have something inconceivable to remember and talk about. That's what's most important to me..... I'm still enjoying myself when I practice though. I guess everybody likes to do it their own way.
So- this is where I stand as of now…. I’ve been practicing for about a year now, trying to get good at my 'new' and 'better' tricks. I’ve never performed more than a couple of them, a few times each outside of my house. And I don’t really plan to until I have them down FLAWLESSLY and have no doubt that I will not meet my nightmare of messing up and giving the trick away. I know a year may seem like a long time for just practice but it’s also been so drawn out because I’ve been on a VERY limited budget this entire time, slowly buying one trick at a time…
I use Bicycle for my card tricks… I really like incorporating the black tiger deck. I also looove tricks that involve ‘everyday’ items. I’m about to buy the Gaff deck from ellusionist and I'm hoping to learn some cool stuff involving that deck and hopefully you guys can give me some ideas too. The main thing that I’ve personally been trying to work on and improve lately is the speed and smoothness of my movement when I'm doing both card tricks and the different types of shuffling/fanning..etc. I guess as I start posting more you’ll get to know all the tricks I've been practicing and hopefully we can trade some pointers
. Also, something particular that I'm looking forward to on TM is that I have all these tricks but b/c I haven’t been performing them outside the house, I don’t have an actual “routine” yet…. So eventually I'm going to be asking for you guys to help me in basically setting up the plan for my entire routine. I really need help with that because I'm not sure how the order makes it a good show (like, maybe a really good one first to get their attention and definitely a big stumper for the last one to leave a lasting impression?...etc), and don’t know how many tricks to do (like what’s considered too many or too little..), and don’t know which ones to include (like how many involving cards and which ones might be too long or take too much preparation...etc) and all the other stuff to consider. Another thing I want to add is that remember, I’m on a tight budget which isn’t so great when you are only interested in ‘worthy’ tricks. So, if you ever come across any resources that offer really great deals…..I’m the person to share it with!
Oh one more thing- Another new interest of mine that I just began is coin manipulation…like types of knuckle walking and other stuff. I got into it because I got bored with regular handling when I do tricks involving coins… I wanted something that I could put into my handling to give it a little more edge and make it more interesting. Plus it makes me look more like I actually know what I’m doing, hehe. So, if you’re ever interested in learning some of my personal favorites that I’ve been trying so hard to do (it’s pretty challenging to me and takes a lot of coordination!), feel free to PM me~ I can send you close up videos of them to study and use for a reference (it shows them in regular speed, then slow mo) So don’t hesitate…
Though I’ve been doing magic for like 12 years, I can’t help to feel like such a rooky right now! I guess it’s just one of those fields that you never stop learning in….I must learn something new almost everyday or every time I practice a trick. And I know I’ll be learning even more when I begin in front of an audience (you can’t plan for everything!)
Soooooooo……
That’s everything about me, my experience so far, and a little about my current goals with magic and TM.
Let me just say that I’m very pleased to have finally signed up with TM and look forward to getting to meet you all!
Rachel
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