talkmagic.co.uk

...maybe, just maybe....

howabout a little list for people starting off in magic? Like a mentalist starter-kit, a cardician's kit and so on...

...maybe put together by the more experienced members?

books to read/brands of cards to use/sites to use/dvds and so on...all in one place rather than in their different catergories...

...just a thought - maybe even a total of how much it costs so people can budget...

That sounds like a very good idea to me...

Yeah it does sound like a great idea,

My thoughts on this: there could be 3 suggested shopping lists for each budget, ranging from £50, £100, £150 etc

Cardicain: Budget £100 - List 1 - List 2 - List3
Cardicain: Budget £150 - List 1 - List 2 - List3

Mentalist: Budget £100 - List 1 - List 2 - List3
Mentalist: Budget £150 - List 1 - List 2 - List3

etc etc......

Something like this could realy help the new magician out.

I like the Idea

yeah nice. Im looking into going into mentalismen my self. it seems to be a magic genre that fits me. Whould be nice to have somthing I could refer to when im thinking of buying new books. I think it will help a lot of new magicans like me.

I agree, this is a great idea, athough I like the idea of "..working towards your goal" not mkaing it hard for people just not so easily accesible. Surely to become a good magician, you have to research, read lots etc. I know its just a beginners kit so maybe I'm being a tad harsh?

suggested shopping lists for each budget, ranging from £50, £100, £150

trust me for a kids show that would be one or two items each list.

but just for reference some kids magic essentials:-

sponge balls.
sliding die box
production box
square circle.
change bag.
bag to cape / costume / silk.
multiplying wands.
20th cent elephant / rabbit / pixe / starburst.
run rabbit run / chost house / sun and moon.
topsy popsy wand.
whats my job.
comedy egg can.
comedy funel.
foo can / lotta bowl / beach bucket.

just to name a few.

If you want to do mentalism, get an ESP deck. I got one a year ago and despite the fact that I can entertain for a couple of hours with a straight deck of cards I use ESP cards more than playing cards. I now have 4 ESP decks and the reactions from people are stunning.

I would rather forget my pack of Waddingtons than my ESP cards when I go out.

Hey - can I bump this because I've just written out a similar proposal, then realised it was right here.

I was thinking along the lines of a sticky thread in "support and tips" (perhaps) where people can post the best things they found for getting started, and trying to just discuss the items mentioned. Rather than a starter kit as such, people can just mention what they've found helpful in a particular field (coins, cards, mentalism - perhaps even name the field in the subject of each post?) and new users can pick and choose - it would save a lot of these "how do I become the next David Blaine" threads!

I would actually suggest not just limiting it to the more experienced magicians, for this reason: whilst some of you may refer back to the basic ref. books, some of you will have left them behind now - it is actually the fairly new folks who will have been using this stuff recently and will have fresh in their minds the best and worst things about a particular book or DVD! So whilst they may not have the benefit of being able to say, "I started on this and look at me now!" they can say, "I was advised to use this, but I actually found it quite difficult to get to grips with, I found *this* much better".

Mods?

A list of works and sources which were found to be useful would be OK - different people will have different opinions and we once had an almighty flaming session over even thinking of mentioning RRTCM. Fortunately the guy who kicked up the fuss was eventually banned but, to be of the safe side, the list would have to be just a basic one with a few pertinent comments. Any disagreements over choice would need to be made elsewhere (if at all!) to avoid flooding the thread with surplus text.

Do I have permission to start it then?

Hmmmm.....

After seeing yet another teenage "mentalist" on here, could I suggest that the Mods ask Craig if he could do a sticky.
He has written many times about this, so it would be good to know one we can link newbies to.

I know he has a list of references, but it lacks his advice and insight.

As I said in another thread, the "resource" is here and FREE

http://www.talkmagic.co.uk/ftopic11429.php

http://www.ipswichmagicalsociety.co.uk/downloads/becomingamentalist.pdf

Mr Browning, man, you are awesome