talkmagic.co.uk

K.I.S.S.A.T.I.T is the watchword, Keep It Simple, Stupid, And Think It Through. Simple is good, less chance of screwing up and more scope for presentaion, showmanship whatever you want to call it - that's where the real magic lies.

TonyB wrote:reminds me of the joke about the man who stops a farmer in the middle of nowhere, and asks him how to get into town.
"Well, I wouldn't start from here," said the farmer

There's an extension to that joke, the man gets annoyed and says to the farmer, 'You're an absolute idiot!' 'That may be the case', said the farmer, 'but I'm not the one who's lost am I?'

I think it was Darwin Ortiz who made the point that ironically magicians (esp. hobbyists) almost "believe in magic" and end up on an endless (and expensive) quest to find it.

They see a levitation trick and think "must get that - it's amazing". Then they find out that it uses IT and get disappointed. Then they see another levitation that says "no IT used" - they think "wow must get that!". Then they find out it uses magnets and get disappointed again. Then they see another levitation that says "no IT or magnets used" - they think "WOW! Must get that!!!". Then they find out... etc etc etc. It's like they are hoping to find a "real" levitation and knowing the method deflates them each time, it's an endless cycle that companies like the evil E exploit to the max.

You mean, levitation ISN'T real?!?!?

I've made this mistake so many times, I've read an effect somewhere and thought to myself, there's no way that anyone's not going to spot that. But now and then, when I've decided to try these sorts off effects out on people I've been stunned at how I've managed to get away with it and the reaction that I've got.

Lady of Mystery wrote:I've made this mistake so many times, I've read an effect somewhere and thought to myself, there's no way that anyone's not going to spot that. But now and then, when I've decided to try these sorts off effects out on people I've been stunned at how I've managed to get away with it and the reaction that I've got.

It's a blessed relief to know I'm not the only one who's been through this! I've spent the whole of today going through some of the packs I've bought and effectively discarded, working through the method with an imaginary audience. Although I'm still doubtful that anyone could be decieved, I'm going to throw caution to the wind and just try them anyway.

Thank you Lady of Mystery

kolm wrote:That's why I like to see the trick first before learning the secret. If the trick astounded me I couldn't give a flying fungus what the secret is. In fact, the simpler the better, since I won't then mess it up :p

Same here for me. "The simpler, the better" absolutely applies in my case, even though I don't mind putting in the extra practice time where I have to. At the end of the day though, my biggest concern is the effect.

Last week I completely slayed a room full of people with effects that I wouldn't consider too difficult for anyone who's a member here. They weren't acting completely like an L&L audience, but they were close. I like to think it was all due to my performance, but I can't verify that.

What is an L&L audience? I'm not familiar with this one.

L&L is a company who produce magic DVDs, certain members of their audience are quite well known for their OTT reactions.

Lady of Mystery wrote:L&L is a company who produce magic DVDs, certain members of their audience are quite well known for their OTT reactions.

Hehe, oh! I'll have to watch out for that one. Cheers for clearing that up.

Mandrake wrote:

TonyB wrote:reminds me of the joke about the man who stops a farmer in the middle of nowhere, and asks him how to get into town.
"Well, I wouldn't start from here," said the farmer

There's an extension to that joke, the man gets annoyed and says to the farmer, 'You're an absolute idiot!' 'That may be the case', said the farmer, 'but I'm not the one who's lost am I?'

The Yorkshire version of that is -
A smart city gent is driving through a miserable downpour in some remote rural area of North Yorkshire. Utterly lost, he sees a gruff farmer type repairing a dry stone wall.

"I say!" he shouts, "I'm afraid I'm jolly lost. Would you be as kind as to tell me my whereabouts?"
The farmer raises a suspicious eyebrow and grunts, "There's a sign post at bottom t'road."

The young man, angered by the farmer's unhelpfulness, exclaims "well - supposing a fellow can't read?!"

The farmer replies: "It'd suit thee then. There's nowt on it."

Wishmaster wrote:TonyB - I have Royal Road and am spending a lot of time with it at the moment. It's a brilliant book, but I'm finding being left handed a bit difficult when working with it. It's easy to think, I'll just replace "right" with "left" when reading and working through examples, but in practice it's extremely hard to do.

I am glad you are going about things right, but I appreciate your difficulties. Rather than struggle with the mental difficulties of switching left to right in your head, why not tippex out the left and right, and use a black biro to re-write them? I know it will deface the book, but it will completely remove the difficulty. Sometimes a simple solution will work. Hope it helps.

TonyB wrote:I am glad you are going about things right, but I appreciate your difficulties. Rather than struggle with the mental difficulties of switching left to right in your head, why not tippex out the left and right, and use a black biro to re-write them? I know it will deface the book, but it will completely remove the difficulty. Sometimes a simple solution will work. Hope it helps.

I never even considered doing this. Blonde moment!! Thanks TonyB

OK it's not worth $20 to learn how to slide a coin into your pocket but the reactions to that are amazing!

Give it a go