Just A Sunday Post #38

I cannot believe I never posted it. I always thought I had...

WMF Theory11

Read the post below... Read it...

And now we talk about Theory11. Theory11 is a magic dealer that advertises as the "underground magic" place. Even if there was underground magic, Theory11 would be as far from it as possible. I remember the launch of the website. It was hyped weeks ahead. And it turned out to be just another magic dealer.

The target audience for Theory11 are under aged magicians who cannot tell a bullshit magic item from actual practical magic item. Theory11 suggests that magic makes you cool. They suggest that performing the tricks they sell will make you cool. Well if somebody is in such a desperate need to be cool he obviously is not cool to begin with.

So Theory11 is selling a lie. Because it is not the magic tricks that make you cool. It is the performer who needs to make magic cool. But most of the performers are under aged nerds who are trapped in a delusion. What those kids need is not a cool deck of cards or a crazy card change that is not angle proof at all, but real social skills.

And yes, social skills can be learnt through magic, but I doubt that this is the right way. When I was in school I did no magic at all. But I had a class mate who did. He thought he was cool, but he was not. And there was no Theory11 during those times. I imagine if there would have been a Theory11 he would have jumped on that hype waggon and would have become a social outcast like the most of us.

So I am saying that Theory11 hurts magic and the perceptions of and about magicians. That is why Theory11 is Weekly Magic Failure.

There is no Elite

Just to clear up some things:

There is no elite in the magic community, there is no hidden organisation that keeps secrets. Everything has been done before. Everything that is sold as NEW, is actually old, or at least based on old principles. Whenever something is revealed for the FIRST time you can be pretty sure that it is not. Don't dismiss old lecture notes that are actually typed on paper. Don't fall for any hype... Learn to wait. It will save you money.

Ellusionist Is The Best!

Ah Ellusionist... there is no better magic dealer out there. Period. The prices are affordable, the service is great. The product line is not over crowded with magic junk. Everything is quality and the delivery time is lightning fast. They have a great forum, solid reviews and knowledgeable people working in the front lines. It is thanks to Ellusionist that the magic community has made a leap forward from dusty apparatus to visual, hard hitting in your hands magic.

Respected magicians like Brad Christian, Justin Miller, Adam Grace, Rich Ferguson, Daniel Garcia, Wayne Houchin, De'vo and Ray Singson have collaborated with Ellusionist, because Ellusionist is a company that you can trust.

If I could make a wishlist the Bicycle Shadow Masters would be #1. I really dig the look of the cards and I am sure the feel of them is great too, if I would get my unworthy fingers touching them, the third wonder in the Bicycle Masters Series.

Oh, how I would love to "reach into the shadows"

Simply put: Ellusionist is the best magic dealer on the planet!

I Bet You Can't Do It!

You cannot watch the video without skipping forward or looking away. ^^

Comic Time #31

Just A Sunday Post #37

Today's Garfield is magic themed...

WMF Jim Callahan

Remember this one?


Criss Angel vs Jim Callahan - MyVideo

This first time I saw that I couldn't stop laughing. I thought this must have been staged... because after all, Jim Callahan is just a regular mentalist, doing tricks and all of that, right? No, I was wrong. Turns out Jim Callerhan actually is the real thing. He is a Paranormalist. Don't know what that means... check this out. In that link he says:

Note: I am also a Master Magician and because of that I draw a strong distinction between my work as a Paranormalist and a Magician.

Wow, if this is true it means that Jim Callahan actually doesn't use tricks, although he would know how to use them...

so far it sound like a bio of any regular bullshit mentalist. But I think he actually believes he has the "power". in 2005 he actually tried to get that one million dollar from the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF)

JERF wrote:

THE USUAL TIRADE
Callahan

Go to [www.jimclass.com] tinyurl.com/872yx and see how desperate this “Callahan” guy is about the JREF prize. He writes: “It is my sincere intent to make $1,000,000.00 off of [sic] James Randi and his foundation.” As expected, he tries to rewrite the rules and protocol to suit his carnival approach. Won’t work, Jim. “Sincere” or not, apply like anyone else, or go away. We’re not playing showbiz games here; we’re serious.

Callahan expresses his belief in the efficacy of numerology and “card reading.” He runs on about those other guys who are fakers – but not him, of course. Well, we got your number, Callahan, and we’re eagerly awaiting your threatened “sincere intent” to win the million.
(yawn)

(Quote)

well Jim Callahan is either a human being with serious delusions or smarter than the rest of us. In any way he is a failure from a magic point of view.

Dead Marlo Online

I am still tinkering around, but it is online. Dead Marlo

Don't get me wrong!

A few days ago I made this post. It might appear that I am against this kind of rehash. Well not really. I just think that proper credit should be given to the ones that originated the effect.

In case of the Mismade Bill, P. Howard Lyons apparently devised the effect in 1956, which later was adopted by Harry Anderson who created a wonderful "Torn and Restored Bill"-plot, which you find in the book Wise Guy, called Inside Out Bill. The New York Magic Project (NYMP for short <----- lol) sells THEIR handling of their effect. So in terms of effect you won't get anything new. And in my opinion that is what counts, but if you look for yet another way to switch bills with the TT (Kozlowski should do fine) this might be for you.

I am not saying don't get that DVD (hey, a Mismade Bill comes with it) but I am saying do get "Wise Guy" and to quote myself "it's fucking good."

Btw: The Mismade Bill is an awesome plot, as the magic is not over in a second, but can be absorbed. Just like that pencil through the quarter, a floating cigarette and lightbulb that emits light without anything touching it.

Magic

This is not really a rant about magic, but about how often the word "magic" is used out of context. Often a detergent cleans magically or a drink is magical. I know that we tricksters do not have the exclusive right to use that word, but hell I wish it would be so. Imagine a world in which something is "like magic" and people actually think of magicians instead of some toy for children, a delicious snack or a fruity perfume.

But I guess it is mostly our fault, that we are not thought of when the word "magic" is uttered. Whenever "magician" is used the famous "Uncle Bob" who did card tricks comes to mind. And that is a sad truth.

Whenever I do a magic show I have to fight that image. Fortunately it takes one trick to do that. But I always get that first look, whenever I am announced as the magician. And after I have done that first trick I get a look of relief. And that tells me that their expectations were really, really low. How come?

Well I usually ask my audience, if they have ever seen a magician doing tricks for them. And usually it was a bad magician. (Who unsurprisingly make up the majority of magicdom)

That is why magicians do not come to mind whenever the word "magic" is used. Instead a layperson thinks of Pen and Paper RPG's, books, movies, technology and Magic Cleaner.

Who Is Ripping Off Who?

I was studying Indian Magicians lately and especially how they misdirect and how they use the bag as a servante. So naturally I stumbled upon this.



I was thinking that only Gazzo's act was copied by uncreative lazy magicians. I was so ignorant.



Both acts are identical. Same exact effects, the same staging and the same gestures. Even the number of coins used is the same. Damn!

Comic Time #30

Just A Sunday Post #36

Cheesy but what the hell. It's Valentine's Day.

Have a loaf of bread in a shape of a heart. Stick a card (Jack of Heart come to mind) with a corner torn off inside the loaf. Make sure that as little slit as possible is visible. Keep the card's corner.

Get out the deck of cards, and force the dublicate. "Here is something for you, my little Valentine" and offer your heart. (the loaf that is). She takes it, because chicks dig that sort of stuff. Yeah right!

Tear the card into pieces and add the corner from the card that is inside the loaf of bread. Pick up that corner "Here, have that as a receipt of my love."

Then take the remaining pieces (actually the whole card) and vanish them. (Burn them in an envelope or whatever comes to mind)

Now you are ready for the big finale.
"If you wanna know how this trick ends, you have to break my heart. But if you care for me, just kiss me and we forget that there is magic."

Skynet

February 2010 Cyberdyne Systems Corporation's Skynet finally takes over. Humanity is lost, only a few survivors still fight against the machines. Those are called the resistance, while this is an elaborate placeholder for the awesomeness that is to come.

How Is This New?

Four Quarters Official Preview from NYMagicProject on Vimeo.

Harry Anderson did that years ago...


Buy that book, it's fucking good.

Seasons Don't Fear The Reaper

If you ever wondered if the man running this blog (that's me) has any weak side here it is: I am afraid of dogs. Big, black dogs to be more accurate. I was walking down the snowy streets today and one of those dogs was walking towards me. The owner of that dog was about 40 meters behind that dog. Of course no leash and unmuzzled. I did what I do best in such situations, cross the street through a giant heap of snow, instead of curling up into fetus position, breathing heavily.

Anyway, I have learnt to live with the disrespect of the dogs owners that people like me could actually be. In fact if I tell such a dog owner of my problem they completely dismiss the whole thing by saying: "My dog is harmless". Even worse some try to "heal" me of my phobia by calling the dog letting it very close to me. In such cases I actually do curl up into fetus position and breath heavily.

Those people seem not to understand how a phobia works. I know that the dog is harmless, I know that he won't bite me. But if this dog is close to me I do not know those things anymore. In fact I cannot even think at all. And because I cannot think, I cannot be unafraid.

Now I might be a rare case hear. But lots of people are afraid of spiders. And yet there is this magic trick out there by Jim Pace called "The Web"



A fake spider is loaded under the spectators hand. This is a nightmare scenario with people with Arachnophobia. And most magicians, just like dog owners are unaware of that fact. They even call it a killer reaction.

A person with a specific phobia tries to stay away from situations where that phobia might be triggered. Some avoid heights, some small spaces, some insects and some like me stay away from dogs. How can one prepare for "The Web"? Well there is no way, that would spoil the effect. So do not do it.

Otherwise a Wiccaphobia might be the result.

Have we Forgotten?

It seems to be the time in which a heated discussion can not take place in an Internet forum. I am talking about magic here. And I am not only talking about the Magic Cafe. But it seems to happen more often there than anywhere else.

To all those soft magicians out there: Believe it or not, even a heated discussion, even a flame war can end well. Often, very often threads disappear or get closed. Why? Because the discussion got a little personal, maybe someone got offended. But why close the thread? Why delete it?

Among grown people a dispute is a common thing. And we have learnt how to resolve such a heated issue. By listening to our opposing partner and, after reevaluating the own opinion, by comparing new arguments with ones own thoughts, possibly formulating a new concept or defending the own opinion, we respond.

Sometimes the opposing partner is a person who is just a moron or an asshole, which still leaves us with the option of ignoring that person. Have we forgotten that age old way of handling a dispute?

No we have not, yet the administrators of such forums feel, that a deletion or closing of a thread is better then letting others get the impression that the members of the forum actually have an opinion.

Editorial

I published more than 60 comic already. And it really is a lot of fun. But two per week is a little too much. From now on, Monday will be comic day, and just one will be published. I am trying to get a schedule working here.

Btw: I get no feedback on the comics. Is anybody even looking at those?

Comic Time #29

Just A Sunday Post #35

Presenting a Brand New Illusion
Peter Loughran's Pierced Alive
Visually skewer and separate your body into 3 pieces!

Effect: A menacing looking cabinet is introduced with 2 long spears hung on its front door. The illusion is rotated 360 degrees. The back door is opened up and the performer (or an assistant) is locked inside of the cabinet. There are two handles on top of the illusion for them to hold on to while the torture begins. The spears are removed and the front door is opened showing the performers body in full view. The first spear is thrust through the side of the cabinet visually piercing the performers midsection. The spear is thrust all the way through the performer's sides, and out the other end of the cabinet. The second spear is now thrust through the performer's body from back to front. The audience can see this spear penetrate right though the front of the performers stomach with a devastating blow! Next the assistant pulls the spear running through his back and stomach, taking the performers midsection along with it, as it slides along the other spear going through the side of his body. His midsection is slid all the way over to the other side of the cabinet separating his body into 3 separate pieces while skewered by two criss-crossing spears. All is reversed and the performer steps out unharmed!

About Pierced Alive:
- This can be performed completely surrounded.
- The illusion breaks down for travel.
- Pierced Alive only takes a few minutes to set up.
- Pierced Alive requires no special lighting or staging and is completely self contained.
- May be performed with the magician or his assistant.


PLEASE NOTE THAT THE DEMO VIDEO SHOULD BE PLAYED WITH SOUND, AND IS INTENDED TO BE A RIDICULOUS AND COMEDIC SPOOF ON TRADITIONAL "B" STYLE HORROR MOVIES - ENJOY!



Is this in any good? Or am I blind because I know the method?

WMF The Magic Video Depot

It is kind of weird to consider a website a magic failure, but in the case of the Magic Video Depot I am willing to make that bold step forward. Five years ago I uploaded a cups and balls video that I did to that website.



It was new at that time, it was exiting. Many magicians saw others perform. It was a cool place to be. As cool as the Internet gets that is.

Anyway within the next few years I added more than 60 videos. Most of it being non card material. I met a whole bunch of magic friends there. And it was cool.

I even met a few of those people in real life. And that was cool too.

On the 6th of February 2008, exactly 2 years ago I uploaded my last video:



Until then I was an active member of the community there.

But then something weird happened. Almost all the good magicians left. Had their videos deleted and never went back. What happened?

Well the majority of the people who submitted stuff were teenagers and the videos were horrific. The Magic Video Depot had no quality control. And among all the shitty videos it was hard to find the good ones. That, and lots of flame wars marked the decline of the Magic Video Depot.

So it is kind of sad what this place had become. The forum was virtually dead with one post every two months or so (unanswered of course), the community was dead.

So why does this place still exist? YouTube has become a much bigger bragging field for the young magicians! I do not know. But I am sad what the Magic Video Depot has become.

So check this place out! It was cool once. And if you manage to look beyond the card stuff you actually find a gem or two in there.

Don't Be Scared!

Let's hype this shit into heaven!



Even you can do it.

Comic Time #28

Another Good Demo Video

The effect is shown without cuts, it is explained what you get and how to get it.
No fancy editing, no fake audience reaction. This is a good demo video.



Are we on the brink of a change?

Interesting

The Magic Video Depot is down.

"We are upgrading the site to bring you faster video streaming and uploading. We estimate this may delay the relaunch until the beginning of February."

Didn't even know that anybody was still there. Last thing I heard was that even the administrators didn't bother checking in on a daily basis. Let's see what this is going to be.