talkmagic.co.uk

Hello Talkmagic!

May I take the opportunity of my first post to wish you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year. I have been reading the discussions on this forum for over a year now, and thought it was time to come and introduce myself.

My name is LP. As you can see in my profile, I am 33 years old, and live in Czech Republic, although I am originaly from France. I also studied (?) and worked (??) for about 9 years in your country (Staffs.).

I am a late comer to Magic, and my interest in it is only a couple of years old. In an introduction to his Cups and Balls routine, I believe Dai Vernon said he was 78 years of age, and had studied magic for 72, therefore wasting the first six... If he was right, I very much wasted over 30 years of mine... what a pity... hopefuly I can catch up somehow – not with him obviously, with myself

I started my education with R.Paul Wilson’s Royal Road to Card Magic DVDs, and am now working on Michal Ammar’s Easy to Master Card Miracles. In any case, my card skills are still basic, as are my presentation / routining abilities. Although my friends and family know I’m interested in the subject I have only shown them a couple of tricks.

The longer I spend reading, watching and practicing magic, the more I feel a connection to it and come to appreciate - even if superficially - its depth and potential artisic content, as well as the effort it must take magicians to come up with streamlined and seemingly effortless professional performances that deliver the „Bang!“ / „Wow!“; that special sense of wonder and amazement.

I have unfortunately never attended a live magical performance, but I watched several, be it on the internet or on some of the DVDs I have purchased. I’m quite sure it doesn’t compare, but still. My favourites are Tommy Wonder, especially his Ring, Watch and Wallet presentation, and Whit Hadyn performing his Linking Rings routine, as well as his Three Card Monte and Fast and Loose. I also like Greg Wilson’s style and his 3/4 across, and Richard Sanders, for his funny / friendly approach. As far as teaching styles go, I really like Michal Ammar as he goes in depth not only about the techniques, but also about the presentation and acting.

I also own a reasonable book collection: Wilson’s Complete Course, Tarbell (missing the first one), The Secrets of Alkazar, RRTCM, Expert Card Techniques etc... thanks to the write ups I read on this forum.

And hence my problem, I’m sure not unique: I have material enough to last me a lifetime, and I now need to choose and routine a reasonable act I can practice with.

I called this thread „My Magical Project“, because, although I have no plan to ever turn pro, Magic is still very important to me and I want to keep progressing along what I feel is a long but rewarding path, so that one day I also can stand in front of an audience and say : „Hello my name is LP, and I’m a Magician“- OK, I know I’ll have to find a better name than that

So far, with my level of skill, I have chosen to keep up with cards and isolated 4 „tricks“, that I want to use to learn techniques and routining (Mostly from ETMCM)

- 4 Ace routine: Spectator cuts to the aces, Twisting the aces, the Visitor, All the non conformists. ( I have a problem there because at some point I need to switch aces for queens / aces from different decks – I will post a question about that)
- Ambitious card: various
- Mind reading: OOTW (Galaxy by Paul Harris), Miracle, Tripe coincidence, Do as I do (RRTCM), Untouched.
- A longer one just for fun: Insurance policy, Paramount, Rising cards, Fists of Frost, Card in Wallet, Mind reading chicken, Card on ceiling.

As I said, this is more for my education and to structure my practice.

Next, I would like to be able to entertain an audience for say, 20 minutes, with a variety of effects, not just cards, also sponge balls, coins, cups and balls, rubber bands etc... Plenty to learn.

I’m looking forward to discussing this with you and I’m sure I can learn a lot from you all. I have plenty of generic questions such as : „What is Magic?“, „How / how much / when do you practice?“, „How do you bring people to suspend disbelief?“ etc.. as well as more practical ones such as „My DL sucks, help please“, „I can’t get my routine to flow“, „I’m looking for a matchbox penetration“... Many have been addressed here before, so I may revive old threads if that’s OK, or create new ones if I can’t find a past discussion.

Once again, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all, may 2009 be magical for you and the ones you love.

Take care, speak to you soon.
LP

Well brownie point number one: You made your first post in the introductions area and gave us a very nice idea about yourself (something a lot n00bs see as unimportant for some reason yet it's something we really like)

Brownie point number two: You have taken it would seem the best way to learn magic. Instead of getting lots of selfworkers and gimmicks you are taking the longer but more rewarding route of actually studying the skills!!

Welcome to TMUK and I look forward to more posts

hear hear everytrhing jordan said with gusto.
some of us don't reply to introductions, namely me, purely becuase it was a way to increase your post count, thankfully many nubes and oldies are now aware that it is noted and recorded how much of your posts are intros with no genuine content.

anyway I recomend you go to your local libary or a childrens grope and ask if you can go on there list as a reader this and public speaking are thge best ways to interact with your peers and the public.
90%, yes you heard, 90% of all magic is in the presentation of the effect even a silent act by that I meen comunicating with the audience and that is best done by being confident enough to speak to anyone, thats why i sugest you get yourself a hopping half set, haunted key, cut n restored rope or a scotch n soda set because thease effects need practicaly no skill to use and most of the dirty work is done before the effect begins, leaving you all the time in the world to sell the effect.
may your skills improve and your character shape over time, enjoy your magic and use it as a tool to comunicate.

Binevneue Le Petit Bateleur

Great intro...much to discuss...hope you find your way about the forum and drop me a PM when you get a chance...

Cheers

Dr T

Hi LP and welcome to TM.

A very nice introduction and you've taken a very good path to date. I recommend that you don't hurry - you have plenty of time left for magic. Just take a good look around and find out what interests you.

Bienvenue - warm welcomes to TalkMagic.
And congratulations on your superb introduction!

Hi Jordan; thanks for the warm Welcome! I am studying the skills, yes, it’s slower, but I enjoy it and am quite happy to spend the time ... I still want that matchbox penetration though

Hi Magicdiscoman; I’ve been thinking about what you wrote regarding public speaking. I don’t speak much Czech, so I think I would make the children wonder who that big weird guy was, reading with a funny accent However, I looked up the list of courses offered in local schools and found a public speaking class in English. Done this sort of things at work before, but there’s always more to learn of course. There’s also an English speaking actor’s group in Prague, I’m not sure I’m quite ready for that big a plunge yet… You mention confidence; I think you hit the nail on the head. I’m used to working with people, I’m a project manager, so it’s actually part of my job to present, I don't mind it, but doing a MAGICAL presentation in front of people, I actually find quite scary. It really is not very logical. I don’t know why; it’s probably a “comfort zone thing”. Thank you very much for your recommendations regarding the hopping half, I never actually heard of it before. I have read a review about it on this forum this pm. It seems they all use “foreign” currencies? Would you know if there is a Euro version? Finally regarding your final statement: “enjoy your magic and use it as a tool to comunicate”. I like that a lot, need to let it sink in and think about it a bit more.
PS: Please note that I am replying to all posts in one go, in order not to ungentlemanly increase my post count

Hi and Merci Dr Todd; will send you a PM shortly

Hi Dat; I see you got awarded the CUPS distinction this year, congratulations I have read with a lot of interest your posts on the topit and holdout. I am not at that level yet, but I would really like to start learning the skills. I saw you were going to do a review on Bob Fitch’s DVD set, I am very much looking forward to reading it especially how it compares with Ammar’s!

Hi Gunnarkr; merci beaucoup, I look forward to speaking with you soon.

Take care

LP.

Hi! I also live in the Czech Republic! Where do you live in the CZ?

Ahoj Ollini;

Tesi mne!

Posilal jsem tebe PM.

Stastny novy rok!

LP.

PS: you guessed right my Czech is pretty bad

I also sent you a PM. And Happy New Year to everyone! Your Czech is ok!

Hi Le Petit Bateleur. You mentioned that you wished to do about twenty minutes of magic "on call". Here are a few suggestions that you may find useful. I never leave home without the following. Rubber bands, a finger ring, a length of string, TT and two silks, eight coins and a colour change knife. I believe Arthur Setterington created the penetrating rubber bands, now frequently called the crazy man's hand cuffs. I think the method is explained in one of the Tarbell volumes. It's a good trick and involves the audience. The rubber bands can also be used for the jumping bands effect where the bands jump from the index and second finger to the fourth and pinky. Although this is a very basic trick and is seen in all the children's magic books, it can be quite effective as there are variations using more bands which make the effect more deceptive. The finger ring and string allows me to do four variations of ring off string which appear more impossible as they progress. The ring and rubber band can also be used for the elevator effect where the ring seems to travel along the rubber band. The basic TT vanish of silk in silk and then a vanish without the second silk always gets a good reaction, especially if you ham it up and hold the empty hand in a tight fist, as the audience always jumps to the false conclusion that the silk is enclosed there and get quite nonplussed when the hand is opened.
The coins allow me to do coins across, coins through table and various other simple yet effective coin routines. Even if you don't carry coins with you they are normally readily available so it's wise to get a few simple coin tricks learned. Finally the colour change knife. I am amazed at how few people use tricks using the the paddle move. I well remember going to a convention and showing a friend the paddle move with a knife when we were sharing a hotel room. There was a huge mirror opposite the beds and he practised the move in front of it and nearly fell off the bed in surprise as he fooled himself. So a ring on your finger, a few rubber bands around your wrist, a hanky and TT in one pocket and a bit of string and a knife in the other and you have twenty minutes of entertainment. Who needs cards?????!!!!
Best of luck in your journey into magic. I hope you get something out of these ideas.
Tricky Dicky

Strange, I posted a reply last night but somehow it didn't work.

Hi Tricky Dicky, thanks for you welcoming note and great advice. Sorry it took me a while to get back to you I missed your post.

I like the idea of Portable Magic, it would nice to be able to do some impromptu effects with just a few items on hand.

I have a nice rubber band DVD on the way and some gaffed coins as well so that will help.

With regards to coins in general, I know everybody recommends Bobo, but I find it hard to read through and visualise. There is a 4 DVD series by Ben Salinas that illustrates the book, I've also got that on the way.

May I ask you a couple of questions:

What's your view on sponge balls and how they are received?

Do you know where I can learn to use a TT?

Thanks a lot

LP

Hi LP, Darwin's Encyclopaedia of TT magic is a three DVD set which covers just about everything to do with tt. With regard to sponge balls- they are always included in any close up work I do and are suitable for both adults and children. Some people prefer to use large sponge balls, but I prefer the 1.5 inch set. It's not how big the balls are, but the surprise of them multiplying in the spectators hand that is the magic. I frequently see colleagues at the magic club using larger balls and they generally tend to "flash" them without realising it, which defeats the whole purpose. Buy yourself an Okito Box- it's a great intro to coin magic.
Wet Fishes.
Tricky

Thank you very much Tricky!