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Hello Everyone!

Something very special today. I am working on a book on the psychology of creating your own magic, and I am sharing a sample with you today! Please read it and give me your thoughts and feedback! Thank you! I have attached the saple to this message. I am in need of feedback and thoughts, so it would be appreciated if you could share them here.

Thank you!

Michael Kras

Um I do not see an attachment?

Oops My apologies! Must not have worked, so I guess I will copy and paste it. Here it is! I look forward to hearing you thoughts!

Michael Kras


















YOUR MAGIC

Michael Kras






Chapter 1: Exposure


WHAT IS MAGIC? What many young magicians do not understand about magic is that it is a highly respected art form by those who pursue it and are engrossed by it. It saddens me to see so many exposures by people young and old on the internet or live. What they do not realize is that, as kind as they may think it is, it is often hurting our profession. If everyone on the block starts doing Coin Matrix and Triumph routines, then what is left? Will the layperson soon become a vanished breed?

As long as magic shops are public and internet magic websites running, some average Joe could learn or purchase, say, a DVD by Jay Sankey or Tyler Wilson’s book, learn the effects they were not meant to learn, not take it seriously, and teach it to others without a care. The truth is, ANYONE can do what we do. How?

PRACTICE. If, for whatever reason (as an icebreaker?), a layperson is willing to put the time and effort, the person CAN learn the routine or sleight and will often use it. That is another form of exposure: poor handling of an effect. If a layperson learns an intermediate effect, the person will most likely slip up, or get caught. And what is worse, THEY OFTEN DO NOT CARE. They often do not take magic seriously. They think of magic as a simple hobby such as knitting or baking. But it is not! Most magicians’ jobs and lives rely on magic, and if laypeople know, for instance, a DL exists, they could call you on one, even if you aren’t doing it! I, for one, would be destroyed by that, since most card routines I do contain at least one DL. Many times we get away with sleights because laypeople aren’t looking for a palmed card or coin. They do not even know that type of thing exists, but if they do, POOF! The close-uppers career is weakened. Exposure happens; it is all too real. So how can it be avoided?

One of the best ways is to CREATE your own magic. To invent or innovate a new trick or sleight and keep it to yourself. “How can I create my own magic?” There are numerous ways to go about it. Here is the first way.

























































Chapter 2: A Simple Test

We are going to execute a test. Right here, right now. Do NOT leave your seat, but look around you. Find the closest object to yourself. Pick up the object. I am going to tell you exactly what you are holding. Concentrate on the object. Think of nothing else but the object.

So, you’re thinking of it, your mind clear of any other thoughts. Read the following:


The object you are holding is rather small. It has a slightly round quality to part of it. It is a smooth object. The object is slightly flexible. The object is…

Your first magic creation.

I am right, aren’t I? Of course I am, because that is the object you are stuck with for the next while. At least, until you create magic with it.

Look at your object. Now think of something magical that could happen to the object. Could it change colour? Could it levitate? Could it spontaneously combust? Could it be ground into powder with your bare hands? Of course not… in real life. I want you to think about reality now, and relate the magical occurrence you have in mind to it. What could be used with your object to make the magic happen? IT? Confetti? Paint? A TT?

Now, I want you to think of a way your magical occurrence could happen to your object. Could it be palmed? Could you use the paddle move? Could it be sleeved? Of course, most magic effects use more than one magic sleight or principle to make the magic happen, so you should think of numerous ways to accomplish your dream effect. Think of an easy method, utilizing (for example) a false transfer or key card principle. But also think of advanced methods, even if the method is far beyond your skill. As long as you know the mechanics of the advanced sleights, you should be fine. Think of methods using Culling, Multiple Breaks, Sleeving, or the Tenkai Pinch. For example, a Colour Changing Hair Comb could be accomplished simply with a couple of Paddle Moves or in a more advanced way with the Flipstick move and a quick sleeving.

Now that it has all been worked through, go get any materials you have in mind to make the magic happen, and work with your idea. If your idea doesn’t work, NO PROBLEM! Just use alternative methods! You must have skimmed through a few techniques while brainstorming, why not give them a go? It wouldn’t hurt to try.

Congratulations! You now know the basics of putting together a routine! All that is left is patter and presentation, and maybe an extension or improvement of your effect. There is definitely much improvement needed for your effect. HOWEVER, you are still not done. The next chapter is of great importance, so read it carefully before so much as practicing your creation.











Chapter 3: The Angry Magician and YOU

Michael Kras has just created a magic effect. He calls this effect “Coins Across” which involves the coins magically traveling from one hand to the other. He claims this is a totally new concept, and publishes it in his new book. His book becomes a bestseller, and magicians love this new magic! Michael sits in his armchair, greedily counting his money, when a loud knock on the door is heard. Michael jumps out of his armchair and makes his way toward the door. Through the peephole, he espies a group of angry close-uppers! Michael does the only thing he can think of: he RUNS! He gallops toward the back door, and a loud THUD is heard! The magicians have broken down the front door! They quickly hurdle toward Michael, and….


I will leave that to your imagination. Sorry if I scared you, but that IS what will happen if you rip-off a published magic effect. Okay, maybe not so extreme, but many in the magic community will be against you. Why? Because you have STOLEN.

Whether you know it or not, you have stolen an existing effect from a potential artist. As negative as it sounds, it happens all the time. Magicians do not do there homework before releasing their effect to the magic community, and get burned on it later.

How can this be avoided? Easily! Just do your research and find out if the effect has been done before. Of course, you can easily find out if the effect is the same as a slightly famous effect just by looking around. Surf the internet, read a book. It is acceptable if the EFFECT is the same but your METHOD is different, but a routine accomplished by a method that is already in print is definitely a no-no. Heck, you should even be careful in Case A. Some magicians STILL think if your effect is the same or even somewhat similar to an existing effect but the method is different, it is still stealing, especially if you call the effect original. Just take a look at every magic book and DVD you own and check if your effect is in print before releasing. If it is, you can still remodel the effect until it utilizes a different magic principle. The best place to research is in the Tarbell Course In Magic, since so many methods are in print just there. Of course, it would be impossible to study and research every existing magic book, video, manuscript, or marketed effect, especially for one effect, so the best thing to do is study the most popular magic products and records. If you reprint something that has been long forgotten, it can be called a discovery. Note that I said “discovery”. That is a mistake many magicians make. Since it is near impossible to create something totally new these days, the best you can say you have accomplished is DISCOVERED an effect. Not created, not invented, but discovered! There is no possible way of telling if an effect is original, which it most likely isn’t, so you lose all credibility in the magic community by, basically, lying!


As long as you have studied and have really TRIED to find an effect, you can call your effect a discovery. Since the earliest magic book in print dates back to 1584 with a book entitled The Discovery Of Witchcraft, there is no possible way of finding out if an effect has been done before. Note the word “Discovery” in the book’s title! Even in the 1500s there was no way of telling! If someone in those times could figure that out, so can you.








Chapter 4: Effective Ways To Create Magic

You are in a creative mood. You feel the need to play around to create an effect. Ideas start brewing in your mind, and you anxiously jump out of your seat and lunge for a deck of cards. STOP RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! STEP AWAY FROM THE BIKES!

I strongly recommend you do not try to create a card effect until you have some experience in creating magic. Why? Believe me, as common as card effects are, you will find it VERY difficult to create a card effect… at least one that is as “new” as possible. You might find yourself re-inventing The Ambitious Card or Twisting The Aces. Trust me, as experienced as you may be with cards, it is no picnic to create something new with them. You will most likely get burned, or worse, stuck. But do not fret! You can still brainstorm today, my friend. Why don’t you grab the hammer in your garage? Get a sponge from the bathroom while you’re at it!


Believe it or not, the best way and easiest way to discover something that is hopefully new is to play around with the most uncommon props in magic! Tennis rackets, batteries, broccoli, ANYTHING. That is, anything BUT cards or coins.

How about recharging the battery with your hand? Biting and restoring the broccoli? Levitating a tennis ball and whacking it into the distance with the tennis racket? All great examples of effects with the most uncommon of magic props. What can you do with a kite? A television remote? A belt? A knife? The possibilities are endless! I suggest using the technique in Chapter 2 to start brainstorming with your object. However, use this technique in a different way. Enter each room in your house, and grab the first object you see. While you do this, think of the possibilities. How could your object do the impossible? It doesn’t matter if the effects won’t fool other magicians! To fool any layperson from age 5 to 105 is the goal. Don’t stop with household objects either! Check your backyard. What can you accomplish with a rock? A fallen leaf?

While reading this, you may feel rushed to create magic with everything in sight. I advise strongly against that. If you want to create something great with an object, work with that object for a while. THEN move on to something else. Rush is never a good thing, unless you suffer a sudden violent bowel movement.
























Chapter 5: Magic That Is YOU!

Close up magicians create close up magic. Stage performers create stage magic. Children’s performers create children’s magic.

Close uppers don’t normally create stage illusions. Children’s magicians won’t experiment with cards and flash paper. It’s just NOT what they do. Which is why you should create the magic that suits you. Do not create magic that is not your style. You are wasting your time creating something you will never use. The main reason magicians create magic is to keep to themselves. To use themselves without fear of other magicians already having knowledge of the effect. Don’t just create for the sake of creating or keeping yourself busy. There is no point!

When you create an effect, make sure it suits you. Not only your style of magic, but your personality. Add your own humor and your own patter. Patter that is YOU. Not only does it make creating and developing magic much easier, but it makes the magic more believable. If you are a welder that does magic as a hobby, people will relate to and find the magic more believable if, for example, you fuse two pieces of metal together with the heat of your hands. If you are a young magician and start pattering about being on the job or purchasing a new car, you automatically lose credibility for creating real magic. This not only applies to creating magic, but performing magic in general. My advice to you is to NEVER use the patter and presentation supplied in the instructions that come with an effect. Create your own patter and presentation that screams “YOU!” This makes magic more believable and more fun for laypeople when you perform impossible feats that relate to your normal life. That alone makes real magic.

It looks good frm the samples given, and I also liked the make magic YOU part. I always try to come up with a personal patter to suit a new trick I've learnt, unless the patter tells a story such as with Gemini Twins.

Thank you for reading it! Chapter 5 is also my favourite... the chapter I am most proud of so far. Did you find it informative?

Thank you!

Michael Kras

OH sorry! By the way, have you voted in the poll? I am not sure if nobody has voted or it just isn't working.

Thank you!

Michael Kras

I like it, It is well written.

Thank you! Please everyone ley me know if, in your opinion, you think the finished product would be worth purchasing.

Thanks!

Michael Kras

It looks pretty good, but you might want to consider Craig's post.
http://talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic14907.php
I think you went a bit over board on bashing exposure, though. I don't condone it in any way, but the truly great performers who really love the art will be successful exposure or no exposure. Penn and Teller "exposed" card forces on TV. I learned the force they taught and use it pretty often. The amateurs who eff up aren't going to take away jobs at all. My friend is trying to learn the french drop and tenkai palm. There's a layperson girl who's a mutual friend of ours and he occasionally tried some sleights on her. He got caught out. I used the EXACT same sleight, but with misdirection and a decent presentation and entertained the girl and her friends for ten minutes.
Regarding exposure, I would like to read your thoughts on the actual ethics of it. If a psychic medium is using a well known principle to make people think that she is contacting the loved and lost, wouldn't exposing the psychic as a fraud be acceptable?

You may also want to read some of the forum's other post.

The same, and more, and better, is available on here for free.

Mike, even though you have put out this and decided to market it, I don't see it going places. While you are pretty good at magic and have demonstrated your prowess at the craft, I'm not sure people would buy it from you for two reasons: (1) Unfortunatley, you are fourteen and while what you are writing is good, people will be biased against you because of your age. (2) You haven't been doing magic for very long and people might be wary of what your advice is. I know 7 years might seem like a long time but other magicians have waited much longer to write books than seven years.

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for your advice! I agree with what you have said, monker, and Yes, I know I was a bit harsh in the first chapter (sleghtlycrazy). I plan on changing that. Thatnks again for your advice!

Michael Kras

I have revised the first chapter so it should be much less harsh. Here it is!

Thank you,

Michael Kras




Chapter 1: Exposure


WHAT IS MAGIC? What many young magicians do not understand about magic is that it is a highly respected art form by those who pursue it and are engrossed by it. It saddens me to see so many exposures by people young and old on the internet or live. What they do not realize is that, as kind as they may think it is, it is often hurting our profession. If everyone on the block starts doing Coin Matrix and Triumph routines, then what is left? Will the layperson soon become a vanished breed?

As long as magic shops are public and internet magic websites running, some average Joe could learn or purchase, say, a DVD by Jay Sankey or Tyler Wilson’s book, learn the effects they were not meant to learn, not take it seriously, and teach it to others without a care. The truth is, ANYONE can do what we do. How?

PRACTICE. If, for whatever reason (as an icebreaker?), a layperson is willing to put the time and effort, the person CAN learn the routine or sleight and will often use it. That is another form of exposure: poor handling of an effect. If a layperson learns an intermediate effect, the person will most likely slip up, or get caught. And what is worse, THEY OFTEN DO NOT CARE. They often do not take magic seriously. They think of magic as a simple hobby such as knitting or baking. But it is not! Most magicians’ jobs and lives rely on magic, and if laypeople know, for instance, a DL exists, they could call you on one, even if you aren’t doing it! I, for one, would be destroyed by that, since most card routines I do contain at least one DL. Many times we get away with sleights because laypeople aren’t looking for a palmed card or coin. They do not even know that type of thing exists, but if they do, POOF! The close-uppers career is weakened. Exposure happens; it is all too real. So how can it be avoided?

One of the best ways is to CREATE your own magic. To invent or innovate a new trick or sleight and keep it to yourself. “How can I create my own magic?” There are numerous ways to go about it. Here is the first way.

By the way, to avoid confusion, I have also edited the Chapter 1 in the initial post.

Regards,

Michael Kras

Is each chapter 1 page long, or are thses just samples from each chapter?

As seige said, what is there here that cant be found for free on most forums? I would say stick to concentrating your creativity on effects right now, as you are more likely to come up with something original. Dont forget, the psychological/presentational side of magic has been covered excellently by Derren brown, Eugene Burger, Darwin Ortiz, Banachek etc. THere is a lot to live up to.