On treating animals!

Just because you eat them doesn't mean you can treat them like shit.

A rabbit in a small tube with hardly any room to breathe, monkeys in small hold outs, cats and dog being janked. Weasels fiercely pulled by their skin after they get dropped on the stage. A cat being tossed in the air. Utter fear on the monkeys faces. Disoriented dogs, doves in obviously too tight dove holders. The claws of the cat obviously being trimmed so they cannot inflict any damage. Kittens dropped in a box. Ducklings being squeezed flat so they can be produced from the base of a transparent box. A small poodle in a drawer box that really isn't any bigger on the table in the background the whole time. The constant loud noise of the music, the idiot audience who clap like retards and the freaking pistol that is used. It's stress for the animals. Some are shaking, most are disorientated. And don't forget the hideous live stuffed animal in the second video near the end. The lady for the audience drops the monkey in a suit. This is fail... I hope Jack Takeda is no longer around.

It made me lol and rofl

Quoting Mr. Brooks in his latest Spam for Everybody:

On my recent trip to Las Vegas I was able to spend some time with my buddy Criss Angel who asked me if I could pass on some information regarding just one of his exciting projects, and here it is!

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha........ Buddy...... hahahaha. That sounds so wrong. Reminds me of this I found a while ago. Always wanted to use this.

WMF Gurguren

Failing on national television is bad. But being mocked for that fail on national television is even worse. Case in point Brasilian magician Gurguren. He screwed up while performing an illusion.

And here I am to point out that I think that illusionists are the lowest kind of magicians out there. All the dancing, the music the spectacle. All trying to misdirect that most of them have little to no character, style or charisma. Also the lack of actual skill, visions of grandeur and a massive inferiority complex almost always makes up the common illusionst.

But lets first watch the act that won Gurguren 50.000 Brasilian reals. (That's a whole bunch of money) on a TV show in March last year. He is the first of four magic acts. And if you get a very distinct Hans Klok vibe, well, surprise it's a direct rip off.

Also, there is a midget dancing with a goat:

Oh boy, Brasil has such class acts. Please note that you can win 100.000 Reals in that show. Yes Gurguren had to share the price with the goat dancing dwarf. So Gurguren does the TV circuit and naturally fails at one point.

There is a show called "Custe o Que Custar", literally "whatever it takes" and they have a weekly "top 5" of the worst moments in national TV. In only Sao Paulo 300.000 people watch the show on average. The video of Gurguren failing went viral in just a few hours after it's release. So I guess you are hyped now to see this utter piece of trash. Well it's actually not that exciting, but it will give you a bit of a laugh. (starts a 6:35)



Now speaking of failing. On his website, Gurguren (Btw, that name is even weird for people living in Brasil) has a nice picture in his gallery tying last post and this nicely together.

So the Masked Magician gets a unique treatment

So the masked magician does a show in Fortaleza which is in Brazil. It's a magic revelation show. And what do people see. utter disappointment. The same kind of disappointment we magicians have when buying the latest magic trick. Naturally people complain and want their money back.

Have a look:


At 1:20 a woman says that the tricks are made for children. At 1:26 a child says that he liked the tricks. Cute.

Even the news report this: G1 says this (using google translate and some common sense.)

The magician's show Mister M U.S. ending squabble on Sunday (27), in Fortaleza. Spectators complained that the tricks were "weak", "made ​​for an audience of children," and said they walked out in the middle of the presentation. Some even ask the magician to take off the mask to prove it was him. A group demanded the money back and discussed this with the organizers at the box office. The tumult was videotaped by the student Isaac Pereira, who was watching the show with his father. The charge of the event said the presentation was correct.
The merchant Isaiah Pereira, 59, father of Isaac, left the theater one hour before closing and asked back the value of both the tickets. "The show was so bad that people got up in the middle to ask for money back. Totally weak. A deception. We expected the show we saw on television." he said, who paid $ 70 of entry and an additional $ 35 for his child.
Mingoni (owner of the theater) said that he was not present, but authorized the box office to give back the money to those who felt aggrieved. "We work with responsibility. The failure happened because I did not check. He presented a magic show that people thought would be the top notch. I also thought it would be. This show was the worst in the history of the theater," he said. In contact with the G1, the head of Sand Events, Reginald Achievement, ensured that the show presented in Fortaleza is the same spectacle presented elsewhere. He says it will do the compensation, but said it has sold the show properly. "The public said they did not like. We did not promise it, we promised the Mister M and he came," he said. "I think the public expects him to do a disappearing plane or a ship" he said. The G1 came in contact with the person responsible for the magician's shows in Brazil, but the phone was off. Achievement reported that people who purchased tickets for collective buying sites can be compensated by credit card. But the return by Sand events should take 30 days to 40 days, time needed for the company receiving the money held by the purchase card. The return will take place at the Teatro Via South.
According to Isaac, son of Isaiah, the public was disappointed because the show had not appeared with magical structure and simple, such as those made ​​for children. "We were disappointed. It was just magic with cards, with balloons, something for children. He had no structure." he complained. The teenager, who made the video at the moment of confusion, remembered that the show started 40 minutes late and many suspected that it was not Mister M. "People were suspecting that it was not him, it was a person wearing the mask. Hence the producer of the event asked Mister M, to take off the makeup and mask to show that he was himself," he says. Isaac said that the producer explained that he did not show the structure of which was improvised and it would be a simple show.
Isaac said that the translator was improvised. "It was someone from the audience," he said. There were two shows, one at 6pm and one at 8pm. "And I knew that the 6pm show, had a translator, but he was not good. Then someone from the audience did the translation,"

So we got another fail of Mr. Val Valentino. You can't even reveal magic anymore. Pathetic.

You got Sankeytized

Straight from Jay Sankey's website


A NOTE TO EXPERIENCED MAGICIANS If you think you already know the secrets behind all these amazing effects, keep in mind that Jay's been teaching people the secrets to performing REAL MAGIC for over 30 years. So no matter how experienced a magician you may be, you are still going to learn something special from these free videos! 

Yes and remember: even an experienced magician who teaches magic for thirty years can still do the Twirl Change wrong!

Yeah! So refreshing!

Wanna have a down to earth experience. Try a trash festival. With carnival rides, can knock downs, cotton candy and all of that glory where soon to be daddies drink a lot.

If you're hired, you don't care about having a perfect pitch. Just do some magic for the kids, the parents, the drunk and even the pubescent teenagers who dress way too slutty. It really dumbs down your magic. Down to the basic level of communication. And what fun it is. No perfectly arranged patter. No subtle foreshadowing and very little words, because it's too fucking loud.

You repertoire gets through an instant casting. Losers go, winners stay. No more complex card routine. Triumph is reduced to the actual effect of the cards "rightening themselves" without bothering to have a selection. Show a card, then change it... then have a card picked, signed and immediately produce it from the impossible location. Attentions spans are a rare thing. Then move on to the coins quickly. Make them vanish and reappear and then go into the cups and balls. Did I say cups and balls? I meant: One Cup Routine. Yeah... ball gone, ball back, ball gone, ball back, ball gone, final load, final load, final load... that's what people want.

Wish them a happy fucking day and that they should party hard.

Dear Barry

If you have a problem, dear magician, don't forget to address all your letters to "Dear Barry".

Remember, whatever your problem is, I'll never give a fuck about it.

BS

This is wrong

On so many levels

Too lazy to research!

So what is this all about? Rus Andrews releases and effect called "Numbers"



Then Jamie Allan comes along claiming that Rus Andrews has stolen his effect:

On the 28th May, Rus Andrews releases an effect called "Numbers" on DVD, through Magic Tao. This is an EXACT COPY of my effect "WTF" that I released on my website as a download in 2008.

At the time of my release, Rus Andrews purchased the download and emailed me to say he'd created a routine that used a COUPLE OF MY IDEAS from WTF and could he put them on a self-published PDF he was wanting to release. I replied and said that yes, he could use those ideas with my blessing. Sadly rather than use a couple of bits, he used the entire method. He'd taken the number force technique, the deck stack and the displacement method that I created (since used by Shin Limm without credit either).
The only real change was to remove the final phase where a 'random' card is named. Instead Rus has a prediction inside an envelope. Hardly a major change by any stretch of the imagination. As a working professional I didn't have the time or inclination to contact him again due to work commitments, but I was very disappointed. Mostly because he credited me only slightly and certainly gave the impression that "Numbers" was his routine and idea.

Over the past few months I have been working with Russ Stevens at RSVP, creating ideas for a new DVD featuring my presentations and ideas. The format is a unique one, which I'm sure you'll hear more about soon and also features several of my routines, one of which was "WTF" as a stage presentation. I now hear that Rus Andrews is about to release "Numbers" onto DVD. I immediately contacted him and told him he didn't have my permission for this and that he should withdraw the product from release. I received a rather arrogant and matter of fact email stating that I should have told him when he originally asked to use the "couple of ideas" that he couldn't release them on DVD. That it was my problem. So, he contacts me and states the release is for a self-produced PDF. I was gracious enough to say yes and now this is how he responds to my original kindness.
It appears that Rus Andrews and Magic Tao will argue that his small alteration to the effect, warrants a DVD under his name . This is not the case as apart from this tiny change, it is completely my routine. Rus Andrews tells me that I should have told him originally that he couldn't release my effect on DVD, but doesn't seem to grasp that it was he that sought my permission to use a couple of bits to use on a PDF. He has never mentioned the fact that he was releasing the DVD of my routine and it was his responsibility to ask me, not the other way round. To say otherwise is the most ridiculous excuse I can imagine.

I've read other posts here and see that Jeff Pierce also has an issue with Rus Andrews regarding one of his other releases, "Evolution". Jeff asked why he and Charlie Justice weren't asked for permission as it's discussed on the 'Prohibition' DVD. Rus Andrews never answered that question and I guess we all know exactly why that was. Before release, it's been pointed out to Rus Andrews that he doesn't have permission and yet still he goes ahead. Seems like he thinks he can act with impunity and without respect and regard for the original creators. This should not be allowed to happen.

Rus Andrews and Magic Tao plan on releasing "Numbers" it onto DVD without my consent or permission and to do so and they are fully aware of the situation and yet despite my objections as the creator, he and Magic Tao are still going ahead.

So what do I do now???

The release of "WTF" was one of the routines on my upcoming project with RSVP and is now negated. As the creator, that's not right. I've therefore decided to post the full routine for "WTF" up onto the internet for you all to enjoy for FREE and in the process you can avoid purchasing "Numbers'. If you like the effect and think you can use it, I ask that you click on the link that will be provided on the relevant page and make a donation to the Make A Wish Foundation. That way a little good can come out of the situation for me at least. Who knows, maybe Rus Andrews will see the light and donate some of the money he made from his PDF sales too?

"WTF" is a completely hands off ACAAN using a REGULAR deck of cards that can be throughly examined before and after. I think you should check out the full routine. I am even including the many improvements I have made to the method since its original release. This is not a sales ploy, but an attempt to not let Rus Andrews profit any further from my creation and most importantly claim the method of "Numbers' as his idea.

I'm currently performing abroad and will shoot the effect and explanation this week. The upload will go live on June the 1st and I'll post the link here then for you all to enjoy. I hope you like it and have fun with it.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoy 'WTF'.

Regards,

Jamie Allen

Anybody know more about this?

WMF Andriy Chekanyuk

Russia has a TV. Hard to believe I know.... On channel 3 there is a show called "Surprise Me" and boy did young Ukrainian Andriy Chekanyuk surprise.

Usually when people copy an act, they tend to put there own spin on it, by adding a joke or by adding a trick. Not so out 23-year-old Andriy Chekanyuk. He just copied Piff the Magic Dragon.

Oh wait maybe I was wrong, he has guinea pig instead of a dog. But watch the video first:



How do you feel now? Is your view on the magic community shattered? This is the norm guys. Usually not that blatant, but copying is the norm. Watch young people perform. You can always tell what DVD's they own. This dickhead took it way too far.

The judge even calls him out on that. "there is a famous magician who works in the same costume with the same act but the only difference is that he has a little dog and you have a little guinea pig." (around 9.50)
At least John is aware of this and released a nice comparison video.

WMF Aoni Jackson

One can fail in many regards. Misjudgment is one of them. If you are a magic stripper. That means you use magic to enhance your "stripping" skill. There is a certain audience for that. A very, very small target group but I'm sure it exists.

But here is what the target audience is not. The whole freaking TV audience.

Hypothetical scenario: You're eating razor blades. For what audience won't you do that trick? Kids!


Another one: You have cigarette routine. For what audience won't you do that routine? A lung cancer symposium.


Another one: You have an awesome Dead or Alive test. For what audience won't you do that experiment? A retirement home.


Another one: You have a "Hofzinser"-esque card routine. For what audience won't you do that piece? Young people in noisy places.

The same sort of reasoning also works the other way. You can tell what tricks are great for a certain type of audience.

Here you go: You do the bra trick. What audience will love that trick? Middle aged men having a party with a female stripper.


Another one: You do a cups and balls routine with lot's of corny jokes. What audience is perfect for this? A street audience.


Another one: You got this trick, where you pluck a coin from somebody's ear. What audience is suitable for this age old trick. Anyone, but especially kids.

So using this sort of deductive thinking: What audience is the right one for ring flight to the nipple using stock jokes? Middle aged ladies, that party hard in a club with no husbands around, because they are having a party with a female stripper.



I'm sure there are more venues, thinking of certain gay clubs and tattoo conventions and erotic trade shows, but not TV!

Cryptic Headline!

When did Paul Harris start slapping his shitty name on every magic product?

Almost as bad as Harry Lorayne!

The sad thing... whenever I hear the name Paul Harris I think of the little man and what an over hyped piece of shit it was. And having that in mind I can't take any product seriously even if it actually is good.

Know Who Henri Descremps Was?

Well?

Nah, didn't think so...


BS

Totally Off Topic

I really don't like to go off topic on this magic blog, but I have seen the following video. I never saw such an asshole. He has no idea what he is talking about. He oversimplifies, draws wrong conclusions, if any and even dares to say that he is interested in science. What fucking idiot. And that is not based on science, but my own opinion.

This guy made me angry. He is not trying to say that creationism is right, but he is trying to willfully hurt those who use the scientific method to further understand the universe. And the way he does it is by misdirection. He starts with one liners and jokes, which could have been in the repertoire of any close up magician.  And then he brushes over the topics in a breathtaking speed which make it hard to argue against, because one is hit with the next wall of bullshit a second later.

I'm all for freedom of speech and all. But he is just an fucking idiot.




Make sure you watch this too... before watching the above video. Kind of stupid of me to set them up in the wrong order!

How to spice up your linking rings!

Yesterday I was performing medieval style. In a castle courtyard with a well in the middle. The well was constantly overflowing creating a nice magical surface.

I asked myself, why not to use it in a magic way. I started producing coins from the well. I dipped my magic wand in there and produced a ball from the tip of the wand. Then I placed the ball into my left hand as the right hand with the wand dipped into the water again, then tapping the left hand to make the ball vanish. That's some built in motivation right there.

Realizing that I am building up the water as a power claim it struck me that the linking rings would greatly benefit from the magic water. So I showed two rings, dipped them into the water, linked them and came out with the small chain. Then I dipped in the 2-set and seemingly did the same effect. I could hand out the 2-set and the reaction I got was much stronger than those crash links. Then the usual antics and finally both chains of 2 would fuse inside the water to the chain of 4. It really is an eerie sight pulling out the ring from the water. Even though there is no difference in handling, the whole procedure felt very different. The effect was different. The water caused the magic.

If you got an endlessly overflowing well, use it!

Postin' da truth!

Hey Magic Café I'm talkin' to ya! Why you deletin' threads? They no threats. Answer me this sweetheart!

You afraid of differing opinions? You hatin' the discussion?

The reason: Possible lawsuit? If so... removing big ass claimer "All content and postings Copyright © 2001- 2012 Steve Brooks" would help.

Let da people's words be their own!

Flame War < Actual resolutions!

Jochen Zmeck is dead!

Two days ago Jochen Zmeck, one of the most influential German magician died. Born in 1929 in Berlin. His first magic show was when he was 14 years old. Then he became a teacher. After the second World War he became a chemistry teacher in Bernau a small town north east of Berlin.

My grandma was one of his pupils. She told me, that one of the ways to make sure everyone tried their best was to show a magic trick when the class did well. That's great motivation.

Soon thereafter he worked for the East German movie company DEFA as a consultant and as an actor playing a magician in children's TV specials.

His wife Helma became his stage assistant in 1962. Both of them traveled around the world making money with magic. In 1978 he published "Das Handbuch der Magie" (The Handbook of Magic) which would become the German Bible of magic.

Jochen Zmeck became an honorary member of the German magic circle and the magic circle of Israel. The magic circles of Moscow and of the Austrian Graz made him a member as well.

In 1997 a serious accident puts a sudden stop to his many activities as consultant, magic judge and author (of over 50 books). From that time on Jochen Zmeck led a pretty private life. And that's when I met him.

The town I was born in is Bernau. Jochen Zmeck lived in the next small village called Rüdnitz. So naturally, having an interest in magic our paths crossed. Briefly. But it made me appreciate the vast knowledge that Jochen Zmeck possessed. And his ability to actually use that knowledge to create simple, direct magic effects.

If you are a German magician, it is virtually impossible to not encounter Jochen Zmeck in some form or another. And even though the kind of magic he represented is outdated it has and it will be a nice lead in to magic in general.

I will certainly miss him.

Anagramming

Playing around with anagrams. Will you find some?

A Bad Devil In = David Blaine
A Lady Went No = Dalton Wayne
A Pelvic Fodder Dip = David Copperfield
Charm Lame Aim = Michael Ammar
Scam All Jerk = James L Clark

Mind Magic and Mentalism

Wow, what a long ass week I had. Doing nothing but shows. So I got my personal taste of what it is like to be a high profile professional. Dude, I don't wanna go there. Too much work. I like my weekdays off. I'm happy enough being a weekend magician.

So what happened in the magic world: Well James L Clark got his Mentalism for Dummies book out. And what a controversy it started. As expected most of the routines described in the book are by others who did not give their permission to have their routines republished. Richard Osterlind's Change of Mind (58-60)and his Bank Night routine (60-63). Over at the Green Monster is a thread where Richard Osterlind makes it very clear that James L. Clark has not Osterlind's permission. The same goes for Andrew Gerard's Energy Bill (64-65) routine who also states that James L. Clark took his routine and published it without permission of any kind. Luke Jermay's routine where "seeing with the fingertips" is demonstrated is also republished (81-84).

Lior Manors' Invisible Touch (162-164), Eric Ross' Crush (166), Colin McLeod's Bookless Booktest (176-178), Ted Lesley's Teleport Envelope (178-182), Patrick Knuff's Bold Business (192-195), Kenton Knepper's Kolossal Killer (212-214) just to give you a snapshot!

ElliotB, author of SwitchCraft said:

Reading it, I got the impression that Mr. Clark sat by his computer with a thesaurus and a copy of Switchcraft in hand, and typed away; making sure to change and rearrange things sufficiently, so as to not violate any laws. Everything just seemed so familiar.
Mr. Clark starts with: "You can accomplish almost any trick in mentalism by using a switch."
While, in Switchcraft, I wrote "just about any effect in mentalism can be accomplished with a billet switch."
And on my website, I wrote "With a billet switch, you can present just about any mental effect imaginable."
Clark then teaches my EB Switch from Switchcraft. He does a very, very poor job of it too. He does not credit me or mention my name. He certainly did not have my permission.
Then, he teaches the "Switch and Read," just as I teach the "Simple Switch and Read" in Switchcraft.
He uses my EB Switch to switch billets and reads the participant's billet in his lap using a gypsy glimpse, just like in Switchcraft (although he does burn the dummy billet.)
I did not invent reading a billet or the "Gypsy Glimpse." But, Mr. Clarks section on switch work reminds me very much of a third grade child copying from an encyclopedia, but with a team of editors to back him up.

All of that is freaky on so many levels. I feel bad for those who have their work being used without permission, but it proves what the magic world seems to think about James L Clark. The book goes into details about certain gimmicks without even exploring the possibilities by using it in a routine. It is there for spoiler's sake only. This is a mean spirited book.

REAL Fuckin' Secrets - 2

It's organic, it's international, it comes out of a bull's asshole....

It's REAL Fuckin' Secrets!!!!

BS

Do you remember the Men in Coats?

Hilarious




And now for something completely different: