talkmagic.co.uk

Hello,
So Christmas is coming up soon and I thought I should top up my repertoire with some solid workers, I was looking at a deck vanish (humbug,panic kind of thing), something along the lines of a three card monte routine (switchblade by dan harlan or 3 by steve valentine), and something other than the traditional tricks (e.g. richard james, snap or noted, icontact by rsvp magic and i'll most likely get some version of the cardtoon effect. I have also come across something from nothing by michael murray), I was wondering if anyone had any views on any of these tricks, whether I should steer clear of an effect or you really recommend one, I would like to hear them.

Thank you.

Might i suggest buying a book instead? You could buy all those tricks (Cardtoon = £12 + iContact = £19.99 + 3 Card Routine by Steve Valentine = £39.99 + Panic = £19.99) = £91.97 - based on alakazams prices
thats 4 tricks for nearly £100...
You could definitely buy a good book for £30 and learn a lot more. Perhaps you could tell us what books you already have, and we could suggest some good ones for you. Maybe check out this post: ftopic44829.php

Of the tricks you've mentioned I have iContact, It is a really fun trick, in my opinion there is a weakness in the method described in the DVD, but with a little bit of thought it is quite easy to eliminate this weakness. If you do buy it feel free to PM me and i can explain how i altered the method - just ensure you do this before you write anything!

Ill be putting humbug up for sale! If you want dibs!!

Much love

Aza

I already have bobo's modern coin magic, expert at the card table, royal road to magic and, expert card technique, also could you pm me the price for humbug Aza?

If its "solid workers" you're after, why not take a break from cards and get a split coin, some normal matching coins and a copy of split happens by Craig Petty. You won't regret it.

well I've never really thought about that as I don't know whether you'll agree but I always thought that was sort of awkward to perform an observant layman could see the unnecessary actions, I own a scotch and soda so I don't think there would be much point in buying a split coin as well. my hands are quite small so I do find it hard to palm cards, in fact none of the tricks I perform involve palming a card. what does anyone think of chaos or shinag. I really like tricks which have a twist(eg shake out by richard james or chinese sticks, card to mouth etc, have a hard hitting effect (transpos etc), or not so hard hitting but there is absolutely no way it can be done eg ootw. I also like tricks like chaos, shinag, 10 exact cuts and master deck that make the magician look like he has incredible skill while he doesn't. Any suggestions or recommendations or anything I should avoid?

how hard is shinag and master deck?

magician242 wrote:well I've never really thought about that as I don't know whether you'll agree but I always thought that was sort of awkward to perform an observant layman could see the unnecessary actions, I own a scotch and soda so I don't think there would be much point in buying a split coin as well. my hands are quite small so I do find it hard to palm cards, in fact none of the tricks I perform involve palming a card. what does anyone think of chaos or shinag. I really like tricks which have a twist(eg shake out by richard james or chinese sticks, card to mouth etc, have a hard hitting effect (transpos etc), or not so hard hitting but there is absolutely no way it can be done eg ootw. I also like tricks like chaos, shinag, 10 exact cuts and master deck that make the magician look like he has incredible skill while he doesn't. Any suggestions or recommendations or anything I should avoid?

how hard is shinag and master deck?

That line I highlighted is where you're having problems . . . until you actually decide to start LEARNING MAGIC vs. TRICKS you're going to be gushing out cash and getting next to nothing in return. My suggestion would be to stop surfing the net looking for tricks and invest the next year or so into actually studying and practicing the material you claim you have (the books you listed previously). Learning proper palming technique takes time and patience, most all of us have physical quirks that must be overcome. In the case of cards, you may want to try a Bridge sized deck vs. the more common Poker size, in that they are a bit smaller (I had to use them for many years because of the hand-size issue, just as I used American Quarters instead of half-dollars . . . hand-size can always be overcome IF you get resourceful).

Maybe, if you really need to spend the cash, you should look into the McBride Manipulation videos, Jeff is a great teacher when it comes to this sort of stuff.

You cannot "succeed" in living up to the idea of being a "magician" if you do not put time & effort into learning slight-of-hand; this is the core to our craft via which you can deliver "magic on demand" -- true improvisational magic using what's right in front of you vs. (as example) needing the right deck or packet set or even coins.

Stop looking for new tricks, look at a way to invest in your dream to be a solid magician . . . look at material that will help you be a better showman for an example (HINT: "Magic & Showmanship" by Henning Nelms) or material that deals with the psychology behind presentation & framing effects, Kenton Knepper has at least two such books that come to mind that should be on every aspiring magicians bookshelf "Mystery by Association" and "Secrets of Indirection". The point is, it's time to start working towards improving yourself in ways that will allow you to be an actual "Magician" vs. some clown that does (and collects) tricks.

I'd suggest practicing Bobo and the sleights in your card books again and again.
Single trick things are pricy for what you get.
To add to what Craig says about being a "magician" rather than someone who does tricks, the best advice I can give is to forget about tricks for a bit and practice performing. Do you love magic? Do you feel awe at magic well done? Can you project that into your audience? All of those is what I try to do and show when performing.
If you haven't dabbled in sponge work then I'd suggest trying that or even a cups and balls routine, you don't even need to buy a set to get started, just use plastic cups and aluminium foil balls- cheaper and good enough for Penn and Teller

ETA: I'd like to second the recommendation of "Showmanship for magicians", lots of useful thoughts even if you don't agree with everything or find it old fashioned.

Oh and for what it's worth I found Chaos to be knacky and requiring skill to perform clean, well the trick I have that is called Chaos- which one do you mean?

If you really want a DVD, Joshua Jay's methods in magic DVD is nice because it makes you think about creating rather than just copying routines.

There is no excuse for not being able to work cards. Rene Lavand only had ONE hand, and I can;t recall the other guys name just now but on the best card sharks the world ever knew had very small hands!

EDIT: DAI VERNON!!

EDIT EDIT: MAX MALINI not Dai Vernon, however Dai Vernon is a great teacher.

Jordan C wrote:There is no excuse for not being able to work cards. Rene Lavand only had ONE hand, and I can;t recall the other guys name just now but on the best card sharks the world ever knew had very small hands!

EDIT: DAI VERNON!!

Guys!!

Chill! The advice given is sound....but come on, palming is 99% confidence! And J, saying no excuse is not exactly the best way to nurture new members!

I would suggest listening to every bodies advice and buy some books and learn some sleights, Mark Wilsons course in magic is great for new starters and I personally love Tarbell complete course! Better than spending all that money on one trick DVDs.

Much love

Aza

It's meant with honour, not admonishment. There is ALWAYS a way

magician242 wrote:well I've never really thought about that as I don't know whether you'll agree but I always thought that was sort of awkward to perform an observant layman could see the unnecessary actions, I own a scotch and soda so I don't think there would be much point in buying a split coin as well. my hands are quite small so I do find it hard to palm cards, in fact none of the tricks I perform involve palming a card. what does anyone think of chaos or shinag. I really like tricks which have a twist(eg shake out by richard james or chinese sticks, card to mouth etc, have a hard hitting effect (transpos etc), or not so hard hitting but there is absolutely no way it can be done eg ootw. I also like tricks like chaos, shinag, 10 exact cuts and master deck that make the magician look like he has incredible skill while he doesn't. Any suggestions or recommendations or anything I should avoid?

how hard is shinag and master deck?

Unnecessary actions? Where? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-qYkEPPe_c

I'm not a complete beginner and I can do a large amount of the sleights in bobos modern coin magic and I am competent in several of the card sleights in the books I have. I just wanted to know what you guys think of the tricks I have mentioned. I don't mean to blow my own trumpet but I don't think my performance skills are that bad that I need to work on them rather than learning new material, I understand once you have a new trick it is very important to work on patter and style, however all of the tricks I have at the moment I have learnt and I feel it is time to invest in some new material as I have performed them lots of times and I want something new to learn and work on so any feed back on the tricks that I have mentioned? also the version of chaos I was talking about is the one the similar to shinag, a selected card is found by pulling the cards out of a card spring.
thank you

A wise man said to me once, can you get out of my house I don't know how you got in here but if you don't leave I'll call the police!

He also told me there is a world of difference between knowing how a trick is done and performing a trick, so when you say you have learned all you have and you want something new, just remember the wise words that you have never ever mastered a trick there is always room for improvement

Much love

Aza