Ask Me About Magic

Originally Posted by hossoso

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What are your opinions of the Amazing Jonathan?

He is hilarious and absolutely deserves the Vegas show. (unlike some other Vegas acts.... Steve Wywrick) He has a really good blend of offbeat magic and comedy. Definitely worth seeing live.

Originally Posted by whodini

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He's awesome. So, so awesome. Does Ricky Jay seriously have the greatest hands within a five mile radius of a deck of cards? Why hasn't escape magic made a comeback post-Houdini? Metamorphosis doesn't count.
Ricky Jay is probably the best performer of classical sleight of hand. He easily ranks up there with the whole Magic Castle old guard like Jennings, Miller, Cervon...dare I say Vernon? There are, however some younger magicians using more modern technique that greatly rival the old school. Kostya Kimlat comes to mind - real mindblowing stuff. I also really like his work for David Mamet both cinematic and Magic-wise. I have no idea why escape magic isn't more popular. I'd say the difficulty doing it or even obtaining the supplies keeps the number of escape artists very low.

Originally Posted by whodini

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How did Michael Ammar make his hair disappear? Do you get as bored as I do going to a magic club (or the Magic Castle) and seeing the same 50+ year-old magician performing tricks that you could mentally price tag from Penguin?
"By merely casting a shadow over it (said in a West Virginian accent)" Often the most frustrating part of magic for me is other magicians. The culture is self-perpetuating and trapped in the golden days of the sixties and seventies. I completely agree with you - far too much of magic is watching stuffy old white men perform variations on the same tired dozen effects. The lees time I spend in the magic culture I feel the better. There are of course some exceptions. The Spanish school of magic (Tamariz, Lavand et al.) brings a unique passion and there are some real gems in the morass of modern magic literature. I feel like mentalism and mindreading is going to be the real future of magic and I find myself studying Luke Jermay, Derren Brown, Banachek and Andy Nyman more then anything else. Whodini, it seems like you used to be involved with the community yourself - we should talk. How come you stopped?

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Dear magician, Are you using your magic skills to keep Valentino alive and his skin particularly tanned and leathery? If so, your powers are greater than any of us can imagine and you frighten me.
HAhaha. Trust me if I could do that sort of thing I'd be selling it to aging baby boomers - not doing tricks at a bar all night for a meager paycheck.

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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(btw, I've been joking a lot with you in this thread, but I just want to say I think it's really cool that you are a magician and I have enormous respect for those who do as a profession what they love and what fascinates them. This quality is too rare these days and I'm glad to see you discussing it with us!)
Really appreciate it. Like i've said I've had a real love/hate relationship with magic and I'm finally getting back in to a love phase so it's fun to talk about. As I deal with the frustrations of college, car, housing etc I think more and more about saying "*******" and becoming a performer full time.

Originally Posted by Jerome

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Hi, are you a real magic(k)ian or only some trickster- I know that this can't be seperated that well but any hint woud be ok...also are you doing evocations and by what methods, and where do you stand incarnatively respectively what paradigm do you folllow? (do you have any clue about mutational alchemy; or/and if I would mention the Sirian Alliance and the Orion Empire/ and on this planet: the recent changes in Japan/ and previously around the Dutch-stuff? would you have any clue about those things?; alternatively would you like to talk about CM/XM or philosophy or anyhting else or are you only a stage magician?).? All the best, K.
You must be referring to some of the published systems. My work concerns more the essence of the Dark Arts then the codification of said ephemera. The other realm boasts fantastical and dangerous entities that have no respect for our laws and conventions. It is with this in mind that I melt my candles, scatter the bones and paint my pentagrams. ALSO I MADE ALL THAT **** UP. MAGIC IS NOT REAL. YOU ARE TALKING CRAZINESS. MAGIC IS NOT REAL.

Yesterday, I evoked King Bael of the East. We had a cup of tea. He really loves his Digestive biscuits.

1. I read about Copperfield using slight of hand to keep his phone from getting stolen. Have you ever used found yourself in a situation when you had to use magic off the stage for something?

2. Are you into mentalism? What are your ethical limits with it?

I would be impressed if someone could make an Aircraft carrier disappear and the re-appear

..

You must be referring to some of the published systems.

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Nope AFAIK most of what I mentioned isnt published anywhere; whichever the case: you will see that it can be very practical to personify certain of ones traits and emotions like greed in order to analyse them better; this also pertains to other "fuzzy" or hard to grasp things and concepts. Wish you good luck in your studies, then. Also good take on the "reality" of magic: both, the belief that it is not real and the ridicule of it (cf. redgrails post, too) are valuable instruments of banishment or: perspetive change- and thereby some kind of safety anchors! (On the other hand statements like those I made and the reactions to them let me gain knowledge about what is considered as "real" by people who participate in "consensus reality" or certain social systems etc. Today such "common" opinions are quite iffy too, since in this age science also largely deals with things we cannot see with our natural organs anymore- yet reap the effect from them...) sorry no time to explain further intricasies of science, philosophy and metaphysics for now- gotta go- if anyone has q.s about that they can p.m. me...all da best, J.

Originally Posted by Magician

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As I deal with the frustrations of college, car, housing etc I think more and more about saying "*******" and becoming a performer full time.


As a college teacher, obvious I'll be a bit biased, but I'd really recommend just sticking with it and finishing at least your undergrad degree. College has SO many stupid things about it, major time and money wasters, and teachers/other students who have no clue how the real world works. BUT, having that degree is also a decent back-up if magic doesn't work out for you. And, TRUST ME, it will be easier for you to get it done now, while you are young, than to realize this ten-fifteen years down the road and try to go back to school while having a full-time job and a wife and children.

I used to know a fair number of card tricks, but have lost the ability over the years, but from what I can remember would you say that the most important techniques to master would be the force (all variations thereof), double lift, palm, and pass? From what I recall, those maneouvers in variation constitute the majority of tricks out there.

I have issues with card manipulation as I have smallish hands, for example, I can only palm in ten kai, as a classic palm exposes corners of the cards. Do you know of anyone with the same sort of issue who I could study to overcome this deficit?

How long did it take you to master the pass? Once again, i have issues with this as my hands are not large enough to cover the actual movement of the pass from most of the angles, and the actual movement tends to catch on my palm. Because of this I tend to rely on the turnover pass which is a passable yet unsatisfying alternative.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Reggs

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1. I read about Copperfield using slight of hand to keep his phone from getting stolen. Have you ever used found yourself in a situation when you had to use magic off the stage for something?

2. Are you into mentalism? What are your ethical limits with it?

The Copperfield story is great. I am somewhat suspicious of it being a publicity stunt but it's the sort of story I love to hear. Apparently he and a lady friend were mugged, and he concealed passports, money/wallets with some clever sleight-of-hand.

Mentalism is an area I am studying a lot now, and my show has been moving in that direction. The ethics of mentalism is a complex area, and I haven't come up with a satisfactory solution just yet. I will never, however claim genuine pyschic ability and will continue to denounce that stuff as the nonsense it is.

Originally Posted by Star

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I would be impressed if someone could make an Aircraft carrier disappear and the re-appear

This amazing feat happens all the time at great expense to the American taxpayers. Thanks no-bid defense contracts!

Originally Posted by merkur

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I would be impressed if someone could make the sun disappear and then re-appear. Oh wait, that happens every night/day.


Little do you know...

Originally Posted by Jerome

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...all da best, J.

and all da best to you.

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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As a college teacher, obvious I'll be a bit biased, but I'd really recommend just sticking with it and finishing at least your undergrad degree. College has SO many stupid things about it, major time and money wasters, and teachers/other students who have no clue how the real world works. BUT, having that degree is also a decent back-up if magic doesn't work out for you. And, TRUST ME, it will be easier for you to get it done now, while you are young, than to realize this ten-fifteen years down the road and try to go back to school while having a full-time job and a wife and children.
I know what you are saying is true - this is precisely why I have remained in school this long...but the lack of tangible rewards when I have such a fun career alongside is very frustrating. Still it's good to have some people knock some sense in to me every now and then. Thank you!

Originally Posted by denning

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I used to know a fair number of card tricks, but have lost the ability over the years, but from what I can remember would you say that the most important techniques to master would be the force (all variations thereof), double lift, palm, and pass? From what I recall, those maneouvers in variation constitute the majority of tricks out there. I have issues with card manipulation as I have smallish hands, for example, I can only palm in ten kai, as a classic palm exposes corners of the cards. Do you know of anyone with the same sort of issue who I could study to overcome this deficit? How long did it take you to master the pass? Once again, i have issues with this as my hands are not large enough to cover the actual movement of the pass from most of the angles, and the actual movement tends to catch on my palm. Because of this I tend to rely on the turnover pass which is a passable yet unsatisfying alternative. Cheers.
It's great that you used to be involved with card magic - it does indeed take constant practice to remain sharp. While I do have a background in standard card sleight of hand and do all the moves you mentioned, I find myself moving towards more subtle and novel techniques. It is rare that I do a true double lift, pass or classic palm in my work (though tenkai in the right situation is quite devious.) I spent considerable time (about 3 years) trying to master the pass and ended up with a decent riffle and a half-jiggle that was a beauty if the angles are right - but I have come to view the pass as an inelegant, outdated technique and usually use my version of the Marlo side-steal instead. My hands are surprisingly small for being a sleight-of-hand guy as well - but I find most moves can be modified successfully. Pure sleight-of-hand is a rewarding study and very important to learn magic fundamentals, but I think there is far too much influence on it - this is one of the reasons magic culture has stagnated.

Originally Posted by Magician

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(...)
Still working on it. Right now the closest thing to time travel I have is to talk about music with someone like Thomas.
(...)

H8er!

Originally Posted by Magician

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Come on home, girl mama cried on the phone
Too soon to lose my baby yet my girl should be at home!
But try to understand, try to understand
Try try try to understand
Hes a magic man, mama

Finally a sing I recognize! But I liked Crazy on You better.

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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Dear magician,

(btw, I've been joking a lot with you in this thread, but I just want to say I think it's really cool that you are a magician and I have enormous respect for those who do as a profession what they love and what fascinates them. This quality is too rare these days and I'm glad to see you discussing it with us!)

What he said.

Originally Posted by rach2jlc

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As a college teacher, obvious I'll be a bit biased, but I'd really recommend just sticking with it and finishing at least your undergrad degree. College has SO many stupid things about it, major time and money wasters, and teachers/other students who have no clue how the real world works. BUT, having that degree is also a decent back-up if magic doesn't work out for you. And, TRUST ME, it will be easier for you to get it done now, while you are young, than to realize this ten-fifteen years down the road and try to go back to school while having a full-time job and a wife and children.

What he said, again, times 100,000. Trust me as well on this one.

Funny. So many words in this post, so few original thoughts from me.

^ Thanks a lot for the support guys. This is really the beginning of magic as serious business for me and it's nice to see some love.

I've got to get some videos up. For all you guys know I actually suck at magic. lol.

Originally Posted by Magician

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^ Thanks a lot for the support guys. This is really the beginning of magic as serious business for me and it's nice to see some love.

I've got to get some videos up. For all you guys know I actually suck at magic. lol.

Yeah, but so far you're good at mocking and generalizing, so you've at least got that part down.