December 2010
40 posts
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Library of Babel
I’ve always felt kind of guilty that I never stuck around to learn any musical instruments. In a culture where music is deified and magic is a joke, it’s hard not to feel down about having spent half your life practicing a way to invisibly cut a deck of cards.
But then I consider all the time and energy and creativity I’ve put into this, and that it’s something I’m...
“Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their...”
– Friedrich Nietzsche (via ageofreason)
Reminds me of that Vernon comment about the magician who thinks he’s great at palming, but really he just has very polite spectators. So true.
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Card in Glass
Disregard that I said I don’t make a card appear in a glass. I meant bottle. I’m practicing Vanni Bossi’s card appearance in a glass as we speak. If you aren’t familiar with it, do yourself a favor and check it out. I learned it from one of the Card College books—vol. 2, I’m pretty sure. It’s a doozy.
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Re: Overindulgence
I never, ever make a card appear in a wallet, envelope, glass, etc etc.
There are a few reasons why.
1) Primarily, I’ve just never bothered to throw down for any sort of gimmicked wallet. I’m too lazy and broke for that.
2) Most of the time it’s unnecessary. This goes back to an earlier post regarding the “impossibility” factors that magicians seem determined to...
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Why is the lift shuffle so underused? It’s incredibly deceptive, and doesn’t require an extra shuffle or cut like a jog shuffle does. Oh well. More for me.
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Intuitive Poker →
Once again, Paul Cummins has released another write up of a typically great trick. I remember cherishing this gem when I originally read it in FASDIU. I’ve fried more than a few with it. Cheers to the Magic Session guys.
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Eat Him By His Own Light
I had a great Christmas. My lovely girlfriend got me a large poster of Tom Waits and season 4 of the Simpsons (she’s a keeper). I really dislike the way our culture has flipped Christmas’ values on its head—at this point Christmas is like a massive, disgusting orgasm that makes you feel really guilty and spent afterward. Well, at least that’s what it tries to be. But if...
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Appreciation
Happy Holidays!
Apologies for the infrequency of posts the last couple weeks. I’ve been very busy with school, and now Christmas and family. Consequently, I really haven’t had much time for any magic lately. It always sucks, cause magic is like meditation for me, you know? But it’s also nice to see old friends and family again, and stepping away from your magic for awhile is...
Three Cheers
pasteboardpimps:
For Mr. Ian Swiss. That’s what I’m talking about! None of that Ellen shit.
Fantastic.
My oh my, just watched this. That’s how you do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqI-dBQRa0Q
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WatchA very fun presentation with some nice handling touches. What more could you ask for?
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WatchGot a couple hours? Of course you do. Watch this now.
tumblrbot asked: WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?
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RE: OOSOOM
Similarly, I admire the trick more for it’s method and inventiveness than the effect itself. I think this is a very rare example where much of the so-called improvements on the original actually are improvements. Granted, there are quite a few handlings that have manage to complicate things further, but there have also been successful attempts.
Notable methods include: Giobbi’s,...
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Leipzig Would Have Loved (To Criticize) This!
Flooping around with cards. Started using a D’hotel Change-type action to bring about a Leipzig Opener-type effect. It’s passable. I just feel guilty doing it.
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Interesting conundrum that I just realized.
Laypeople for the most part are entirely in the dark when it comes to amateur close up magic.
I look at it like this—laypeople are really only aware of two kinds of magicians: professionals (mainly stage/standup) or Uncle Bob types. Unbeknownst to them, there exists a massive amount of serious close up amateurs like myself and most readers of...
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Red Herring Location →
Another write-up for a great Paul Cummins trick. This time it’s his Red Herring Location, which is basically his personalized handling of Peter Duffie’s “Thoughts On the Bottom”. I’m kind of bummed, actually, cause Duffie’s trick is absolutely brilliant and until now I’d never heard anybody mention it. But since the secret’s out, check it out. You...
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The Opposite of Subtlety
Everyone knows hype is quite prevalent in magic. It makes money, it brings fame and recognition. But I think it goes without saying that hype can be very detrimental to magic. More precisely, how we perceive magic.
Due to hype—and hype machines like The Magic Cafe—a lot of bad magic is blindly accepted as good, great, or fucking excellent, when it just isn’t. A prime example,...
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Fancy That
I’ve been playing with a couple methods for doing Triumph with fans. Anyone tried this? It’s quite easy. Not too sure if the illusion is as strong as I want it to be, but I like it because it’s a very messy mixing procedure, and it’s very open. Unlike, say, a closed riffle shuffle, with this you simply make a couple one handed fans and mesh them together.
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The Invisible Card →
Here’s a write up of Paul Cummins’ Invisible Card, from his FASDIU notes. Very much recommended. It’s one of my go-to effects.
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Decent Exposure
I usually avoid this topic, but since it’s come up, I’ll say what I need to say. I avoid it because I get pretty worked up over it, and probably not for the reasons you’d expect.
My stance is pretty simple—common sense. Use common sense. Any true student of the art would look at Castle’s website, or a bad Youtube tutorial, and know that this is bad exposure. Plain...
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Coming Up In the World →
For you credit junkies out there, here’s a miniature essay Wesley James just wrote on the history of his Coming Up In the World move on the Magic Cafe.
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Just realized that if you’re doing a Mechanical Reverse to right some cards (say in a Triumph routine), you can do a dribble at the end. It covers the action and has a nice flow to it.
Eh. Just thought I’d share that.
Penumbra
pasteboardpimps:
Just a kind “warning” Penumbras are damn good. The issues are/have been going out of print for a long time. 10-15 bucks you can’t lose.
We may be lucky enough to have a nice hard cover book of the complete series someday….*Ahem*……Bill….you dashing man you.
Damn good call right there. They’re a steal.
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Tyler's Twitter Tip
Tyler Wilson had a neat suggestion on Twitter the other day. If you keep signatures in your deck, then throw in some fake signatures into your Invisible Deck (or any gaffed deck, for that matter). Thought that was interesting, and a good idea for those that would use such a thing. If Twitter’s your thing, I recommend following him— @CherryVillain. Or if ya’ll care to, you can...
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Oil and Water = Magic and Funny
Cardman recently mentioned Chad Long, and how, unlike other magicians, he manages to be genuinely funny without trying to be and failing. I heartily agree. What a common problem in magic, eh? I was trying to come up with other magicians that fit in this category. There ain’t much. Bill Malone, David Williamson, Tom Mullica… Anyone got any suggestions? Oh, for a good laugh, check...
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Passing Time With Pet Peeves
I got to my class 20 minutes early, so I figured I’d kill some time addressing some pet peeves I have. You know what I hate? When magicians make a big, deliberate cut before a riffle force. It’s silly, stoopid choreography. And lazy. Either pass or jog shuffle. —but make it good. I’m so baffled by how many people can screw up something a jog shuffle— Also what...