moonbeam wrote:beeno wrote:No idea what a Jardin Ellis ring is though, will have to find out if it's a useful classic.
Copied straight from an Ebay seller:
One of the most versatile Props you will ever own and it can be fully examined.
A classic magic trick that every magician should have in their collection.
A solid ring penetrates on and off a rope, silk, ribbon etc.
Make the ring to penetrate through a solid table top or counter.
Have the ring examined, close your fist and place the ring on the back of your hand - It penetrates right through the back of your hand into your closed fist and the ring can be examined!
Many other exciting tricks are possible with this excellent, precision engineered prop.
A very versatile magic prop. You'll wonder how you ever lived without one.To be honest, you get what you pay for - and at around four or five quid, don't expect too much.
The first time I'd ever seen a Jardine Ellis ring used was at a lecture by Steve Hart. He had two assistants on stage from the audience (a man and a woman), both seated at a table. At one point, he took the ring, had the woman do a "thumbs up" and put the ring over her thumb. Hart then put a silk over the woman's hand, removed the ring from her thumb and vanished the ring. When he removed the silk, the ring was back on her thumb. She was floored as well as the entire audience being floored - how did he possibly get that ring back on her thumb without her feeling it?
Of course, he later explains it in his lecture. No need to tell you this, but I bought one of those rings on the spot. I've further presented this effect (as per Steve Hart) during table hopping sessions and it is a big winner. The Jardine Ellis ring has been around for decades and it is a lesser known item amongst magicians (which, in my opinion, it a good thing). This is an item where if you purchase it and have no idea how to use it, then it is useless to you. However, in the hands of a creative individual (like Steve Hart) it can make miracles happen.
Because it is an obscure item, you'll rarely see it discussed on any magic forum. Of course, as soon as Blaine, Angel or Dynamo figure out the power behind it and put it on one of their specials, then you'll find that every magician and their brother will own one and it will no longer be obscure. At that point, we'll all discuss it to death on the forums.
...cups and balls were seen more like juggling than magic. The thinking behind it is simple, it is probably the most well-known method in magic. Unlike card magic, which 99% of spectators do not beleive is actual magic but rather sleight of hand, there is little mystery to how the cups and balls are done. They are also extremely difficult to do well. A tiny minority of the audience may actually beleive that the balls magically disappear and reappear but that is a very small minority. This isn't a criticism of cups and balls, let alone a 'slating'.
The most well known method in magic? Nah, I'd say that the TT is the most well know method in magic.
And, yes, they are extremely difficult to do well. But, the cups and balls are magic at its purest form. Three cups, three balls, no gaffes, no gizmos, just you, the cups, the balls and the audience.
Done properly, you are continuously showing your hands empty and proving, over and over, that there are only three balls (again, done
properly).
The difficulty behind the cups and balls is proper routining. In all reality, the moves are amongst the most simple of all magic done. Seriously, what sleights do you have to be very strong with to do a cup and ball presentation? A finger palm. Of course, you can add a classic palm and a thumb palm in for good measure, but you really only
need a finger palm. No passes, no Tenkai pinches, no Braue reversals, no double (or triple) lifts.
So, to make the cups and balls magical, you have to routine it properly. Routining is something that everyone talks about but few actually have any real abilities in doing or give any real time to studying. Same with misdirection - lots of talk but very little real understanding. Sadly, the cups and balls which are overlooked by so many magicians (again, Blaine, Angel and Dynamo aren't doing them) teach routining and misdirection as well as teaching a great many other important aspects of magic (like the one ahead principle, timing, hiding things in plain site, etc.).
Does the audience think that those little balls are really travelling around by real magic? Oh, come on, give me a break. Do you think that the audience believes that the magician magically becomes the assistant in Metamorphosis? Or that Copperfield is actually flying? Or that Angel is some kind of otherworldly being? Or that Dynamo's body pops create rifts and tears in the continuum of reality? Let's be serious, here, shall we? Do you think that your audience believes that you are restoring that torn card via real, true magic? Not hardly. So, let's not use that argument with the cups and balls in conjunction with whether or not they look like real magic - because, when done properly, they really do.
I am getting magus capsules andI think that will be more my style
The Magus Capsule will be a good introduction. However, I would suggest that Jiggernaut works better for a single cup, cup and ball presentation because a final load is mostly impossible with the Magus Capsule. In order to pull off a final load, you'll have to do it much as you would for anything that is too large to fit in the item you want it to appear to have come out of. Not to worry, though, Sankey covers that in the DVD that comes with the capsule. Personally, I think the best use of the Magus Capsule is "Wild Fire" (one of the tricks given on the DVD for use with the capsule).
But, as a cup and ball, or chop cup, presentation the Magus Capsule falls short of the mark. I hope that you'll be able to make better use of it than me.
Regarding subjects that are under discussed on these pages:
Dunninger.
Mike.
by Lady of Mystery » Apr 13th, '07, 09:50 
