talkmagic.co.uk

Beardy wrote:PK Touches!

You suggested this just to get me riled, didn't you?

C'mon, we're dealing with a kid that don't know what it is he's going to actually do or what the differences are between magic, mentalism, et al. Let's not toss more kindling on the pyre

My suggestion is (as I've said before) LEARN THE BASICS!

If you think you need props then Cups & Balls, a Chop Cup, a set of Fakini Billiard Balls, a couple of Fanning Decks all make very good sense as would an array of coin & card gaffs.



I'm trying to understand how the kids of my generation were able to decide what to throw money at before we had the internet and an army filled with opinions to tell us what to do

Just to add another offshoot here, whilst good magic will always involve spending realistic amounts of money, the act of spending money doesn't always guarantee getting good magic.

Not sure where that takes us but I thought it needed to be said !

Mandrake wrote:Just to add another offshoot here, whilst good magic will always involve spending realistic amounts of money, the act of spending money doesn't always guarantee getting good magic.

Agreed!

As far as I can tell, there are a number of elements that make up magic (good and bad). These include principles, routines/effects, props and presentation.

You can buy the principles very cheaply in books, form routines yourself for free and buy the things you need to make props inexpensively in many cases. The presentation is almost always going to be free, but is a non-trivial part of the job.

I guess it depends on how much time and effort someone wants to put in. You can buy a prop with instructions and use the enclosed patter, and be up and running in minutes. This is clearly going to be more expensive (and not the best) than buying one book and making thirty effects.

EDIT: That said, there's nothing wrong with someone wanting to buy a magic trick just for fun, and playing around with it without putting their heart and soul into it. Thank heavens for all the amateurs whose cash keeps magic inventors in business.

It's funny, the things that I've spent the most money one are the things that I've ended up never actually performing. It's the little gems that I've picked out of Fulves, Mark Wilson and other books that are always in my set. I love just taking a simple idea or two, playing around with it and seeing what I can come up with. To me, that's the most fun part of magic.

Lady of Mystery wrote:I love just taking a simple idea or two, playing around with it and seeing what I can come up with. To me, that's the most fun part of magic.

I prefer the women

you really are heading for a slap, Beardy!

Lady of Mystery wrote:I love just taking a simple idea or two, playing around with it and seeing what I can come up with. To me, that's the most fun part of magic.

I am the same. For me this creative process is very important and at least as much fun as actually performing.

I agree, there are really three things I currently have my eye on. The first is Ring Flight Revolution (because I just got sent the dvd and it looks 'imba' as they say), Coinvexed (need to do more research on this) and a good book on card magic with ungimmicked, unprepared cards.


I've been surprised by just how few card tricks there are in Card College (which are very good, don't get me wrong), that involve a normal; shuffled deck.

If anyone knows such a book which contains good magic tricks like that, I would really like to know


Thanks for all the help so far guys, its been handy

Tom
xx

Eshly wrote:I've been surprised by just how few card tricks there are in Card College that involve a normal shuffled deck.

What?!?! I think you should try reading it again!

Once you learn the Spread Cull in volume one Eshly, you'll find the few tricks that need a setup can be done from a shuffled deck.

TheStoner wrote:

Eshly wrote:I've been surprised by just how few card tricks there are in Card College that involve a normal shuffled deck.

What?!?! I think you should try reading it again!

Maybe he meant Card College Lite?

How 'bout buying the 6 DVD set Malone Meets Malone? Bill Malone is an excellent instructor and he's teaching the material of Ed Marlo. There's enough material therein to keep one busy so long as he can stay focused.

I'm on the same page (no pun intended) as alot of others who've replied. Get a book like Bobo's rather than a one-off thing if you don't have a coin routine at all, you can pretty much make an entire routine out of something like that and add gimmick tricks later if you like.