talkmagic.co.uk

Adding a little extra.

Evening...

I am curious as to where I may find a DVD other learning aid as to how to make a deck vanish as I would like to do this for my ambitious card ending......you ask the spectator if there card is lost in the deck they say yes then you go onto slam your hand on the table and say that it is immposible as there is no deck and jsut the card in use.

If this does not make complete sense PM me and I will respond quickley


Regards Smithy.

I believe that James Brown does something similar to what you're after, I'm guessing it's on one of his DVDs though I could be wrong on that

i think i seen greg wilson do this on ine of his dvds i think its pyrotechnic pasteboards

Why do you limit yourself on DVDs.
Assist your literacy and read a few books!

For example:

• Al Baker - Gee!!, Secret Ways, S. 103
• Al Baker/Roberto Giobbi – The Vanishing Deck, Card College 3, S. 679
• Roberto Giobbi/unknown – The Vanishing Deck Reconsidered, Card College 4, S. 874 (this applies to the previous vanish but ends in a different way – switch)
• Derek Dingle – A Case of Kings, Complete Works, S. 181
• Paul LePaul - The Vanish and Reproduction of a Deck of Cards, The Card Magic of …, S. 124
• (Ed Marlo, Cased in Vanish, Marlo’s Magazine 5, S. 300; here is it a deck that vanishes from the case)
• …

Cheers
Th.

its good to gain knowledge from a book but the only true way to get the full effect is to watch it in real time as it happens. im not stating that books should be put to one side far from it but dvds are a great way to watch the methods just like your learning from the masters themselves

magicmentalist wrote:... but dvds are a great way to watch the methods just like your learning from the masters themselves

I disagree!
But I know that especially novices find it less exertive to be exposed with a constant stream of moving pictures.

I guess there is no "master" who has learned his skills and knowledge from DVDs.
But I know plenty of "masters" who are consuming books many times over DVDs.

But: Do what you prefer and find your way.

Th.

kolm wrote:I believe that James Brown does something similar to what you're after

Indeed he does, it's a stunning effect. James can be contacted via PM - theboss - or at http://www.jamesbrownmagic.com

Thomas Heine wrote:

magicmentalist wrote:... but dvds are a great way to watch the methods just like your learning from the masters themselves

I disagree!
But I know that especially novices find it less exertive to be exposed with a constant stream of moving pictures.

I guess there is no "master" who has learned his skills and knowledge from DVDs.
But I know plenty of "masters" who are consuming books many times over DVDs.

But: Do what you prefer and find your way.

Th.

I'd also add that watching DVDS is a great way to find yourself copying the "masters", ( and the not so masterfull)

if you watch other dvds you will notice that magicians have stated on there dvds that they learnt it from other magicians and that all they did was work it a little to either add a move or subtract a move to make it work for them

they have also said they have had the idea from watching such and such

so magic is a great way to learn from both video and written work

it might seem like they are copying from other people but they are making the magic there own and performing it in what is comfortable for them

i have read books and some are hard to understand and some are easy but least videos can give you an insight at what is being interpreted in the books

learning from a magician in a one on one, or lecture situation is way different from learning parrot fashion off a dvd.
And that's what people tend to mean, when they say that they have learned such and such, from so and so.

A perfect example, which i often bring up when discussing learning off of dvds, is the Frances Taberet rope routine.

you can with 100% accuracy, tell which magician has learned teh routine from video, or dvd.

They are the ones that do a french accent when they do it.
I dont mean, they mutter "horhehor".. and shrug their shoulders.
but their timing of teh effect, is exactly the same as Tarberet, including pauses, and the way that the words are used...

would you not agree so ?.... like so! ect.

Now, in this case it wouldnt be so bad, if the whole act was like this. But ive seen many a performer go .."Awight mate ears a pack of cards......Nah, some rope.... like so, Would you not agree so?..... and nah some coins Cor Blimy Guvnor!"
Shattering the concept of character, and revealing that the performer not ony has a gift for conjuring, but would do well to add into his repetoir a few impressions as well.

you learn from books, because you take that knolwedge and enterperate it to suit your understanding. in the process, you will often create a different method that suits you.
A dvd, only shows you one method, and if you cant do it... you drop it.
Like as not loosing out on a really good effect.

Dale, consistently rookies find reasons for them to justify their preference.
And with regularity they are obstinate concerning this matter.

I don't know any colleague who is more than a few years in business who prefers DVDs honestly.

Books are for the ones who think and create and practice and reflect and expand their intellectual horizon.
DVDs are for the ones who consume first and foremost.

Just my humble opinion based on personal experiences.

Cheers
Th.

Ahhh the snobbishness of the book reader over that of the dvd learner. Never fails to bemuse and amuse

I find learning routines from a book the most frustrating exercise imaginable.
For an effect you've never seen in practice it is often hard to decipher what to do from the often confusing list of which digits go where and when.
Plus I also find reading magic books which are pretty much a list of instructions to be as engaging as reading the back of a cereal packet.

This "copying style" business is also a load of bull as most amateur magicians have the same act anyway; Corny gags lifted from the 70's, general double entendres are the order of the day.

Personally I know I can pick up a new sleight or routine faster from a dvd, find it generally more entertaining and only ever watch the performance once so I get an idea of what the effect is without copying the style.

Saying this though it is a fact that people who read books (especially magic ones) are a better grade of human being as they are holding up a tried and tested technology over these new fangled televisual, computery things .This in the long run makes you far more intelligent, worthy of going on Newsnight review and saying "Shallow and Pedantic" a lot.

greedoniz wrote:For an effect you've never seen in practice it is often hard to decipher what to do from the often confusing list of which digits go where and when.

That's the point.
Why do you want to learn an effect you've never seen and maybe you can't imagine?

When you know what you want to show before you study any kind of material you have a concept in your mind.

From my point of view your remarks befalls those persons who have less notions in their own mind before they start to construct a routine.

When I develop a routine I'm not looking for an effect I've never seen.
I know from the beginning what the effect should be and search for solutions of technical problems.

Starting this thread MagicalSmithy had a technical problem.
He had an image in his mind: Vanishing the deck.
I gave him some sources that may help him to solve the problem.
That's it.

Regards
Th.

In my opinion, (and I don't have anothers opinion so it can only be mine) I agree with you totally. When Micheal Ammar first came out with Card Magic made easy, card magicians were coming out of the wood work. The problem was they were all little Micheal Ammars most with the slight Texan accent and the nervous laugh.

Yes, learning something overly difficult through a DVD does make life a little easier I think learning sleights from a DVD is a good idea but routines and concepts I much prefer a book.

I have two pennies to add to this malarkey.....

IF you are learning a sleight or GOD FORBID, some kind of flourish, it's a lot easier to click play on a DVD and have your hands free to.......oh i dont know......manipulate the cards?......than it is to place a book on a table, use two different ' heavy things ' ( technical term ) to keep the pages open, then find you have to turn a page at a moment when your hands are knotted up with the deck of cards like a pile of spaghetti.

Plenty of good books for some things. Plenty of good DVDs for others.

I wouldnt want to watch 13 Steps on DVD, but i find watching certain effects from The Devils Picturebook a darn sight easier than reading the same ones in Pure Effect.