talkmagic.co.uk

yes thats right ..im going to buy one ..... i figured even if i do know the main gimmick , a homemade one just wont do ....

so can anybody please advise me on what type please ? i see theres a few vernet and others ..... which is the best one to buy i wanna do the one with the foulard , i notice theres also zombies with no foulard needed ..are they the same or slightly different ?

not really a review now as it? I have moved it to support and tips for you - but please be aware where you post. thanks.

Home made ones will do. In fact, with a dinner roll, a fork and a napkin, you have everything you need to do a zombie dinner roll.

If you're planning on performing this in front of a real audience, then buy yourself a nice one. If, however, it's just for your kids and family, then any cheapie will work just fine.

The problem is that doing a zombie ball routine and making it look like something other than what it is - giving it real floating appearance - is difficult, at best. Take a look at Tommy Wonder doing a zombie ball and even when you know how he's doing it, it still doesn't look at all like what it is - it looks like the ball (or, in the late Mr. Wonder's routine, a bird cage) is honestly floating.

There are other zombies on the market that allow you to bring it out from behind the foulard. I've yet to see anyone of those that compares in elegance to the classic zombie presentation. A good magician can make it disappear, go 'round behind his back, jump to his arm and even wind up on his shoulder, all with an ordinary, classic zombie.

It's something that you actually have to study and put time into proper routining.

Most folks I would give a list of DVDs or books that cover this, but with you I will not, because you will find somewhere to illegally steal the material by download. I just can't stomach that idea.

Funny, my little pissant library is more valuable than your massive stolen one, since I know how to do a good zombie and you don't (and, in fact, can do it with a dinner roll, completely impromptu, if I'm of a mind to do so and make it look real).

I'm sorry to be so very vitriolic with you, but your whole attitude towards magic and its creators is pathetic in my book. Maybe, just maybe, you will have a change of heart, now that you are hanging with a crowd that denounces your point of view. Then again, maybe not...But I can always dream.

Mike.

hey you cant download everything can you, im mean some stuff just isnt there just like there should be stuff that isnt there even if u want to buy it ...a true secret...
look dont get me wrong i agree with paying for stuff , but consider this ..when i was a kid i got bought a few magic sets as most people do ...trouble was i learnt some of the tricks and that was all good ...but when i was watching tv ... even as a child i knew there was a profound diffrence from what i got in my magic box to what i was seeing on the tv ....
for example i remember watching some guy apparently revealing cards endlessly from the back of his hand it amazed me , still does ... as a child i was never ever ever going to learn how to do that , now with you tube i watched a video of the magic world champ no less telling you how to do it .
i let my kid watch that and hes practiced like a demon as have i , i can do it with about 8 cards now , reveal ..fan.hide .drop 2...reveal ..fan..hide drop 2 etc etc , and my son can do it with 4 cards and produce 1 at a time , as well as the reverse dissapear , any knowledge has got to be good knowlege , especially if its something that you need to practice to do ...simply knowing isnt enough .
i think people revealing stuff on youtube just for the sake of it is bad , and realise some secrets need to be kept , and maybe its a little too easy to find out how stuff's done.
but you have to go search for it and if you have the desire to do that for any other reason than to become a pro heckler then id say your doin ok.

how many magicians here , hand on heart can say they never stole a trick from somebody ? persoanlly or from tv or wotever

the great suprendo wrote:and if you have the desire to do that for any other reason than to become a pro heckler...

What on Earth is a pro heckler?

pro heckler was a phrase i think i heard ona youtube vid from some guy who was moaning somebody revealed his tricks on you tube ...then he had a hecckler shouting thro his act spoiling it .... at the end of the act the magician asked the guy how he knew his secrets , he said hed seen it on youtube ...
im not sure a pro heckler does exist but basically somebody who likes knowing magic secrets doesnt do magic , but likes to spoil when others perform

With out these people though you would have no resources would you?

for example I remember watching some guy apparently revealing cards endlessly from the back of his hand it amazed me , still does ... as a child I was never ever ever going to learn how to do that , now with you tube I watched a video of the magic world champ no less telling you how to do it .
I let my kid watch that and hes practiced like a demon as have I , I can do it with about 8 cards now , reveal ..fan.hide .drop 2...reveal ..fan..hide drop 2 etc etc , and my son can do it with 4 cards and produce 1 at a time , as well as the reverse dissapear , any knowledge has got to be good knowlege , especially if its something that you need to practice to do ...simply knowing isnt enough .

Ever hear of a deck of cards called a "manipulation deck?" Imagine, if you will, a deck of 52 cards that is, when set next to a regular deck, half to one quarter (some even less) in thickness. These are expensive decks, but imagine how many cards you can do if the cards that you were using were almost paper thin.

And, here's the rub: you say that simply knowing isn't enough...Well, for the average layman, watching this effect can be striking and magical. Unfortunately, if they know how it's done, it ain't magic (or even very striking) anymore. That's where this exposure screws us as magicians.

Sure, you can argue that they will appreciate the level of training and work, but they won't appreciate the magic. Once the secrets are out, then we are skilled jugglers, but not magicians.

Mike.

thanks mark, see i never learnt that from the tutorial now i know u can buy ultra thin cards i will buy some and see how many cards i can reveal @) cheers , the guy on the video was doing about 18-21 i seem to remember

sorry thanks mike

Wait till you see the price you will soon change your mind. You cant download them. I use to have a deck when I done more classical magic. Jerry Sadowitz sold them to me.

"That's where this exposure screws us as magicians"

not necessarily man, i mean i had to seek out that effect on youtube , i had to be interested in the first place .... its not like everyone who sees a magician will immediately go home to find how its done on youtube ..
and if they do they might try it themselves and awaken an inner magician.
the secrecy of magic is its best allie and worst enemy , secrecy is a necessity of illusion ...yet esoteric knowledge is required to become a magician .
thers no more magic on tv anymore , when i was a kid ther was magicians on tv every week , tommy cooper , paul daniels etc ...now tv is full of gardening , diy and whats in ya loft ....magic need all the people it can get methinks

now I know u can buy ultra thin cards I will buy some

First, what Mr. 'Dini said.

Second, unless you are going to be doing a formal show, I wouldn't waste your money on them.

Third, take that saved money and get yourself a zombie with it and a foulard (most don't come with foulard).

Fourth, go out and find some thin, lightweight material (like silk) and have it sewn into a double ply thickness to use as a foulard for this (mainly because the foulards sold to magicians suck).

Fifth, learn that doing a zombie presentation with backlighting kills the effect (so, don't do it in front of a window or when there is light behind you).

Sixth, study the zombie, use the search function on these pages, and find yourself some material for proper handling of the thing. Watching youscrewb is all fine and well, but in the end game, it will not teach you what you need to know. What will teach you is guys who've been doing it for years (guys like Tim Wright, who have marketed material on handling).

Seventh, actually BUY the material and pay these guys for teaching you what you need to know.

Mike.

And on that excellent advice, as we're tending towards the freebie versus buying angle - again - perhaps this is the time to lock yet another topic.