talkmagic.co.uk

This thread has turned into an episode from "Mapp and Lucia"...

but are you enjoying it Tomo???

Oh absolutely. Wouldn't miss it for the world...

I must inform Cardza that as a man of the cloth myself I also believe in "unconditional love for all" Regrettably however that cannot extend to Australians for rather obvious reasons.

As for Slydini I met him once at the Magic Circle - a gathering place of great incompetents in the magic community-and he sat in a chair looking rather grand and important. There were various people getting down on their knees before him which he seemed to rather like. I had the impression that he rather loved himself and thought he was very important indeed. I fully understand this since I share his great egomania.

On the other hand I met Vernon once also and he didn't seem to be in the slightest bit egotistical. He was cantankerous and talkative and he amused me greatly.

Another old misery of a great magician that I spent a day with was Al Goshman. I asked him about Slydini and he said "Slydini couldn't handle trouble" which I took to mean that he couldn't handle things like awkward spectators or untoward incidents.

There is a thread on the Genii Forum at the moment where some innocent soul said that he never heard Goshman say a bad word about anyone. It must have been a different Goshman since I found his entire conversation all day was bad mouthing some magician or other.

I must now reprimand this rather silly and impertinent Bobby Cat Australian personage whose rudeness is only excelled by his lack of competence in magic. It is true that I have never seen him work but I am a very psychic person and have been receiving visions of his audiences screaming in agony saying "please stop-this is even more boring than Derren Brown!"

It is not true that I was born with my great and wondrous talent. I found it hard to learn magic in the beginning and I am still learning. It is true that I more or less know everything now but there are still a few details that escape me.

It is also true that if anyone reads the post of the Melbourne mutterer (or is the Sydney stutterer?) it will be seen quite plainly that there is an implication that he knows very little about Slydini and probably didn't realise his status until I just told him.

As for my "fixation" with Brad I thought that was what this thread was supposed to be about. I am merely trying to get us back on topic.

I am not concerned with people in magic fumbling their technique. That can be overcome with practice or simply using easier means to acheive the objective. What I do object to is the fact that 90% of so called magicians have the personalities of dial tones and are as dull as dishwater. They don't seem to realise that YOU are the magic not the tricks.

Dunninger said it best. "you can do anything. Nail through finger will suffice if you have some way of magnetizing and hypnotizing that audience"

And I venture to say that the way you "magnetise and hypnotise" that audience is not through the trick but through your PERSONALITY. If you don't have one then you might as well join the Magic Circle and mingle with the other incompetents there.

It is not the trick that makes the magician -rather the magician who makes the trick.

Australians please note. Especially Austrian/Italian Australians.

some very interesting information Mark... your starting to get the hang of this. first let me correct you... i knew very little about Slydini until i heard Brad Christian refer to him as a tutor, i then read some about him. i was hoping you could add some deep and fascinating personal insite first hand... not to be however i am glad i asked.

next i should mention that your continuing commentary of all that is Australian has lead a number of us to believe you yourself truely wish you were Australian. Amazing that a country of only 20 million people could lead the world in so many areas, medicine, science & technolgy, and of course sport... i can understand your desire to associate yourself with that. good luck with your application!

i very much agree with your comments on presentation being so important, far more so than any gaffed deck of cards, retractable wand our fold out bouquet of flowers. in fact, it is his absolute obsession with presentaion that has drawn me to Brad Christian's style of teaching, would you say that was something he shared with Slydini?

interesting link for those who are interested...

http://www.hellblazer.com/archives/2005 ... _misd.html

mark lewis wrote:I must inform Cardza that as a man of the cloth myself I also believe in "unconditional love for all" Regrettably however that cannot extend to Australians for rather obvious reasons.

It's because we're too far away, isnt it ?

mark lewis wrote:It is not true that I was born with my great and wondrous talent.

I am disappointed! And to think I once thought so highly of you .

mark lewis wrote:I found it hard to learn magic in the beginning and I am still learning. It is true that I more or less know everything now but there are still a few details that escape me.

Like learning how to demonstrate some kindness and understanding towards your blood relatives in Australia.

mark lewis wrote:As for my "fixation" with Brad I thought that was what this thread was supposed to be about. I am merely trying to get us back on topic.

Speaking of that, where the hell is that guy? He hasn't popped in for a while! Not even to come to your defence! Or even his own !

mark lewis wrote:What I do object to is the fact that 90% of so called magicians have the personalities of dial tones and are as dull as dishwater.

Now you have gone too far and have started insulting dishwashers! That's it! I have had enough of you! Read the forum rules buddy!

mark lewis wrote:They don't seem to realise that YOU are the magic not the tricks.

Very true! And in my case extremely true!

mark lewis wrote:It is not the trick that makes the magician -rather the magician who makes the trick.

Does that mean I wasted all my hard earned cash purchasing magic books for the last two decades! And to think I really did have magical powers all this time ! But on a serious note, I totally agree with you.

mark lewis wrote:Australians please note. Especially Austrian/Italian Australians.

You leave me out of your derogatory comments! You don’t answer any of my questions! What is up with you man?

Nonetheless, thanks for the personal insight to these greats of our beloved art! Now when you decide to get off your backside and introduce yourself in the introductions section, you can drop us a PM so we can come over every now and then to listen to one of your rants, pick up some valuable knowledge along the way, and verbally abuse the hell out of you when we feel the need to. You should name the title of your introduction something like: “Mark Lewis’ Corner” or a “Madman’s Ravings”. Which ever one you prefer; it will be your thread. We can have a lot of fun with this !

Thanks, for the link Bobby! That was an interesting read. Who would have thought that magic and politics could be spoken about in the same sentence !

Somewhere on this stale thread there is a suggestion by an Australian personage that Brad Christian wouldn't sell my svengali book on the grounds that he only sells good stuff.

I wish to inform the multitude that the said literary masterpiece is on its merry way to the Excited States of America as we speak. Brad will be selling it on his site. So Na na nana!

I have sent Brad a free one which is autographed to him personally. The rest of you do not deserve an autograph so you will not be getting one unless you order from me directly.

However for those of you who are already customers of Brad you will no doubt find it convenient to order from him. You can get a svengali deck from him too no doubt.

wow Mark, YOU'VE HIT THE BIG TIME!

or become what you most despise???

congratulations and may you seperate many thousands of wishful svengalists from their money. and if finally a little of that falls into your Physic Reverend's donation bowl, spend it on a couple of Brad's DVDs... then we can have a meaningful debate about the pros and cons of their content.

now that you have declared your true capitalist self, i wish you every success. at least this way if one of your books finds itself in inappropriate hands... you can blame Brad.

B0bbY_CaT wrote:now that you have declared your true capitalist self

Actually Mr Cat, I think you'll find he did this a very long time ago!

Good luck with it Mr Lewis, may it bring you all you desire...

I have always been a great believer in the old adage "Art for art's sake and money for Christ's sake" a most blasphemous expression but I didn't invent it and besides I am a holy man of the cloth myself and am permitted to use it.

However I do have qualms where selling to the great unwashed masses are concerned. I refuse to pitch thumbtips, sponge balls etc; and keep to the traditional pitch items such as svengali decks, Dutch Loopers, Wonder mice etc; Even Sophie Smith of the Arcade Magic shop in Toronto where Brad got his training allowed the sale of the ball vase.

Sophie trained Brad in selective selling only to those who were deeply into magic but Brad very sensibly abandoned all that nonsense to make great gobs of money.

Since I am terribly old school myself I have qualms about this type of thing but I am also a wicked grafter. If I were offered great gobs of money by Fox television to appear as the masked magician I would do it for half the fee and without the mask.

On second thoughts if I did it without the mask this might traumatise the viewers and this might not be a good thing.

Generally speaking however I am not comfortable with every Tom Dick and Harry purchasing linking rings and Zombies. Still I also acknowledge the argument that beginning magicians have to come from somewhere.

We do have to fill up the magic clubs with incompetents somehow.

Incidentally I may be doing a tour of magic clubs in the UK to lecture there. I suppose I will have to learn the art of being nice to the members or at least pretend to be in the same way that every other lecturer does.

I am not sure I can manage it. Australians are renowned for their polite and gentle disposition. Any tips?

mark lewis wrote:Generally speaking however I am not comfortable with every Tom Dick and Harry purchasing linking rings and Zombies.

Anything that speeds up the death of these things can only be good. I haven't seen anything in a long time to contradict my view that any item/effect which is described as a 'staple' of magic is cliched, hopelessly over-performed and bores everyone (except the trembling and dribbling contingent at magic clubs) to the point chewing off their own extremeties.

mark lewis wrote:We do have to fill up the magic clubs with incompetents somehow.

Don't worry. That one will take care of itself. Just build them and they will come...

mark lewis wrote:Australians are renowned for their polite and gentle disposition. Any tips?

Yes, ask a Brit about the politeness and gentility of Australians. Oh...I think you may have accidentally left a word out of there.
Either way, as a Sadowitz fan I would say be as abusive as you like, as long as it's good abuse. The best tips for lecturing at magic clubs are to check for hearing aids before inviting someone to assist you and acclimatise yourself to the smell of rotting cabbage before you get there.

Good heavens! There is somebody worse than me here!

I must confess that I like the rings but it is indeed overdone. In fact apart from the Zig Zag illusion (which I love) it must be the most overdone trick of all time. I well remember working a club in Northern England somewhere and the owner said to me "you're a magician are you? I hope you're not going to do that bloody ring trick" I didn't and wasn't about to but his lack of enthusiasm made an impression on me.

Yet it is still a classic and in the right hands can still mean something. I wouldn't discount the old classics too quickly. Just about the greatest magician I ever saw was the wonderful Potassie of whom a book has just been published. He only did old classic tricks such as the sympathetic silks, the razor blades etc; yet I heard tell that he would get standing ovations from drunken nightclub patrons at 2am in the morning.

I used to perform for drunken London night club audiences at 1am in the morning and all I got was abuse.

Truly it is the presentation that does it. NOT the trick. That really is of little consequence.

As for the deafness of magic club members I am afraid that is not the problem I am worrying about. It is my own deafness. My hearing isn't that great either and I am equally as old and doddery as the magic club members. I can still stand though and can certainly still talk so that should be a saving grace I suppose.

i dont think there is such a thing as a good trick or a bad one... i think there is definately such a thing as we well presented routine and a poorly presented one.

in much the same way as a good comedian's routine should "flow" so too should a well presented magic routine flow... anyone can do a card trick, pause as the deck is returned to it's box while the TT is fumbled for and a silk produced...

a number of the Ellusionist DVDs i own deal (in part) with the importance of presentation.

for that reason i am always a little dubious when i hear tricks "written off" as "old hat" or "past their use-by date". i cant help but wonder how long it's been since the person saying that, saw the trick they refer to presented properly??? perhaps never me thinks...

i quite liked the rings routine as done by Lance Burton. i was left a little cold by the routine done by the masked magician and that was even before he let the cat out of the bag...

i dont have any experience dealing with cabbage smelling magic clubs although i do accept that English people eat cabbage. i guess these clubs are filled with the hard of hearing simply because the call for last drinks goes unnoticed so they never feel the need to leave... and perhaps also because tomorrow's dynamic new breed of magician doesn't need rings or playing cards... they are all busy practicing removing their heart from their chest on National Television... shame really, i do enjoy well presented card magic.

OUCH! take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVDNPtOf ... d%20blaine