talkmagic.co.uk

Damn, and I missed the show

bu**er me (as we say in Yorkshire) not making an invite

Lets hope for the repeats

how did all you other people out there get into magic

Hi and welcome! To a certain extent, we're all frauds but don't tell anyone OK?! I guess most of us got into magic because we've seen some on TV or at a live show which just grabbed the attention. A programme like Faking It will certainly have impact because it was very well done although not all stories will have such a happy ending. If you feel like giving it a try, check through some of the many Review and other postings for a taste of what's available and what can be done by newcomers to this art.

There is one force, called the Classic Force, that has the effect of making the spectator think they picked a card from a spread deck. However, it's very hard to do, and only has a 80%ish success rate.

I'll PM you.

Kati

On second thoughts, I can't really do that, because you're not signed up. PM me and I'll explain.

Tenko wrote:Damn, and I missed the show

bu**er me (as we say in Yorkshire) not making an invite

Lets hope for the repeats

It's due to be repeated on S4C on 30 March 2005 at 2130. I hope you manage to see it then.

Well it's inspired me to take my magic out of my comfort zone, and start performing/table hoping etc.
What I have to disagree with a lot of posts about since the show aired, was that I wasn't at all impressed with the coaching given. I suppose that makes us question, "how would you have aproached coaching someone?"
For starters, I thought that giving him a card trick that had a high chance of failing was only going to knock his confidence. A simple, but effective, self working trick would have been far better for his confidence.
Secondly, it took half the show before realising that he needed to be taught presentation skills (isn't this where that magic realy lies?). I would have spent 90% of my time with him teaching ways to present and make the magic his own. And thank god they decided not to use that opening line suggested by the female 'comedian' ("I'm the english david blaine, except that I was loved as a child"...nice!).
Obviously the make over gave him a lot of confidence, which was needed, but it made me laugh when his coach tried to make him look like himself, down to the scarf.
And I wouldn't have put him on stage to reherse, so he can be called "sh**e" whilst his mentor laughed his socks off. A bit of constructive critique would have been a bit more helpful.
having said that, kevin did pull it off amazingly and was a star. I'm just interested in what others thought, and how they would have aproached it.

mandrake wrote: think everyone who watched that programme will have shared the highs and the lows, all cringed in the same spots and cheered (yes, out loud as well!) when it all came together. You had some good mentors but, once on stage, there was just you and you did it very well. There's a strong case for making this programme required viewing for anyone thinking of performing magic

That says it all for me too. Kevin - almost without exception everyone here who posts regularly could empathise totally with you every step of the way, and the most encouraging thing was that you finally achieved for yourself the immense "Buzz" when pefforming magic. Talk about a crash course in not just learning the tricks, but in all the emotions that go with performing magic. You really excelled though. so a huge congratulations.

Some people - (like Matt Edwards for example), are natural performers and are almost born to it. For most of us though it is something we have to work constantly, but you proved that there is a performer hidden in us all waiting to get out.

You are an inspiration - and I am so pleased that it was a life changing experience for you and that you are now trying to do it full time. The best of luck with that.

I hope you don't lose contact with TalkMagic as we like to think of ourselves as a friendly magic community.

again. well done.

bananafish wrote: You are an inspiration.

Said in a nut shell. As a working Magician i can empathise with you, working pro is a bumpy ride ( i know its amost impossible to be a working pro at my age but i believe im pro for my age), there are great times, c*** (not the best) times but overall its great fun.

Im glad that the program has opened new doors for you Kevin, as magic has opened many doors for me

Congrats!

Mark

I agree with your comments about the training. I've experience of training others (though NOT in Magic!) and would have thought less than 25% on mechanics (handling the cards, props etc.) and 75% on patter, presentation, confidence etc. Critique is vitally important in training and building confidence.

Of course, it is possible that we've all been duped as the four weeks were condensed into about 90 minutes so we could be doing his mentors an injustice.

I just wonder of there's any way that the program, or clips from it, can be made available as I feel that it would be a good thing for all newcomers to see. I'm so pleased that I saw it!

I think that you've hit the nail on the head Juan, as editing four long weeks into less than 60 minutes, remembering the adverts and that the last 25 minutes or so were dedicated to the final performance and judging, cannot be an easy task.

Almost magic in itself to retain the sense of what the programme was about.

There were probably lots of things that were taught, that the mentors didn't want shown on TV for the same reason why we don't reveal secrets on this site.

Well, i sympathised when he got the first trick wrong after 15 minutes, but i cheered and laughed (out loud) at the final perfomance - brilliant. The transformation was amazing and I'm gald he also managed to weave some of his own ideas in with the Scottish-to English £50 rather than the torn-and restored newspaper.

Agree with Andy

Well it's inspired me to take my magic out of my comfort zone, and start performing/table hoping etc.

Same here...

And Also...

And I wouldn't have put him on stage to reherse, so he can be called "sh**e" whilst his mentor laughed his socks off.

I wouldn't have done that either...

Fantastic Show, Glad I taped it...heehee.
Good Luck, with the rest of your magic, Kevin...