talkmagic.co.uk

Hi everybody,

I have been pretty impressed by the "Wand Manipulations" video on Doug Conn's web site http://www.dougconn.com/videos.htm

Does anyone know a good book where such sleights are taught? Surprising enough, there don't seem to be any wand sleights in "Now you see it, know you don't", although this book covers lots of flourishes.

Does anybody use non-gimmicked wands and likes to show off some flourishes? I could easily imagine that it would work well for distraction in many other routines.

Cheers,
Rumburak

I only use a wand in my cups and balls routine. It helps as an aid for direction and misdirection. I also use two sleights with the wand to vanish a ball; the wand Through Fist vanish and the Mora/Vernon Wand Spin Vanish. Both of these are covered on the second volume of Michael Ammar's Cups and Balls video, aswell as a couple of other wand vanishes I think.

Goldfish,

Thanks for your response. I have heard of the Cups and Balls DVDs before, but their main focus is on, well, Cups and Balls. At the moment I am not trying to learn this effect. Hence, paying 60-70 Euros for the wand sleights alone appears to be a little too much.

Nonetheless, I think that Michael Ammar is a good teacher - I have the second of his IT DVDs and got lots of good advice and great material from it.

But still I was hoping that there is a cheaper source just for wand sleights somewhere. Many laymen first think of card tricks and of wands when they hear the word magician. There are zillions of card tricks out there, some working with skills (sleights, presentation etc.), other with gimmicks. How come there is so little on wands?

Rumburak

Probably because traditionally the wand has always been seen as a power or authority symbol ie the catalyst that makes the magic happen rather than the medium through which the magic happens e.g. a deck of cards.

However, there are a variety of gimmicked wands available which are consturcted in order to perform certain effects.

What exactly are you looking for when you say "wand sleights"?

GoldFish wrote:Probably because traditionally the wand has always been seen as a power or authority symbol ie the catalyst that makes the magic happen rather than the medium through which the magic happens e.g. a deck of cards.

Is it just my impression or is the wand just out of fashion at the moment?

There are countless people doing cut-and-restored ropes, card tricks, coin moves and Balducci levitations. Even thimbles and cigarettes are found in some repertoires.

But do you recall any contemporary magician who is famous for wand work?

GoldFish wrote:However, there are a variety of gimmicked wands available which are consturcted in order to perform certain effects.

What exactly are you looking for when you say "wand sleights"?

Well, there are gimmicked cards, coins, etc. Almost every item can be obtained with some gimmick.

But there are still people who do one-handed cuts, card spreads, coin rolls etc. I was just curious if there are similar moves or even routines for wands.

I cannot say that I am interested in just a single sleight. If I had a book in front of me I would browse through the selection of available moves and start with the simple ones. Then if I like them I would venture into the intermediate ones etc. And eventually try to incorporate them into a standard routine.

Regarding the video I have quoted in my previous message: At the moment I am not able to judge how difficult e.g. the wand vanish actually is or how to get the wand hidden without moving the left hand unnaturally strong and fast. Given that I can hardly hold the wand stable in the hidden position, I believe that such a move is far beyond my skills at the moment. But then, reverse engineering moves from low-res demonstration videos is not the most effective way to learn them efficiently.

But you see, paying about 50-60 Euros for two DVDs and Balls and Cups which only contain limited info on what I am just casually starting to look into is probably not a good investment. I am still hoping there is some resource available which is addressing my question directly.

Thanks nonetheless for the info!

In short; no, I'm afraid I personally have never come accross any resource dealing purely with "wand sleights".

However, that is no to say that such a resource does not exist.

Sorry that I can't be any more help.

Some of the cool stuff with the wands I've seen done with Pens. As far as I recall it is all under the banner 'Pen Spinning'... pretty self-explanatory title...

I think it was links from a De'Vo website www.superhandz.com originally. The one I remember is PenTrix http://www.pentrix.com/index.php

There is loads of stuff around which will work with a Wand as well as a Pen, I'd imagine...

Good luck!!

-C

Crayfishuk,

Thank you very much for the links. This is what I have been looking for.

Some moves may not work with a heavy wand, but probably other moves are even simpler with a balanced, large object.

Thanks again!

Hey rumburak!
I'm a magician, but believe it or not... I'm a drummer, too! I've impressed many people just by spinning pens, wands, and sticks through my fingers! It's really easy to learn, and impreses people!
-impromptucards

I remember watching David Williamson spinning a wand a few years back at Blackpool. Its a very good flourish. He turned his hand palm up and spun the wand on top of his fingers.

Thanks for the responses so far. I have started to practice the simple spin - after following the instructions on one of the web sites quoted by crayfish - and it works with both a light pen and a heavier wand.

It is not quite smooth yet, but I will keep practicing it ... actually, it appears to be easier to make the movement look graceful with a wand since it's weight prevents eratic movements.

This artform is also similar to wand spinning in some ways - and loads of fun when serving drinks at home or wherever...

Flair Bartending

Flair Bartending Practice Bottle (from the UK) I have one of these, and they are superb.

Enjoy!

Blimey - we'll be talking about juggling next...