Dear American Magic Publishers

When you write a magic book or create a DVD and you need to tell the audience about the measurements of certain magic paraphernalia please by all means, add "metric" measurements as well. If you design your shit for the American market only, then so be it. But the rest of the world uses the metric system. (Yeah I know that Liberia and Myanmar don't use it either, but the average "Murican" doesn't even know where those countries are.)

Thank you!

His name is Indiana

Alright guys have you heard about the Eric Jones rumors concerning the costumer support? I'd like to hear more about it. Somehow boxes of magic get lost after they have been send from abroad, never reaching the costumer.

Anybody know more than that: Genii, Monster?

Quote of the Week

"Anyone know of the best wood to use for creating props such as a square circle? I was thinking white pine?? Any ideas? Also how about the best metal for the tube?"

Isaiah

Episode 3 "Just A Cup"

Click here for a more detailed review

Pathetic Force

Wow, just wow... you see there is a guy named Mathieu Bitch, or something like that. And he releases a trick called Poor Man's Casino... and guess what it's shit. Utter shit. But first watch the trailer:



If you are amazed you are a fucking retard. if you take away the box it looks like the glide. It's not the glide, but handling looks like the glide.

So here is the thing. It would be stupid to assume that laypeople don't know anything about card tricks. Some principles are actually well known. The key card principle for instance. Also the GLIDE.... you see where I'm going with this?

To a layman this is not the best fucking way to have a card picked under "laboratory conditions" The best way is to give the deck to the spectator and have him take one out. This is the fairest procedure.

So I don't care how clever the principle in the "Poor Man's Casino" is. It looks like a fucking glide, ergo it is not fair.

BTW: If you need to point out that a selection of a card is to be "as fair as possible" then by all means you are doing something wrong. A selection of a card should be "fair" no matter what. To a layperson picking a card has to be above suspicion anyway. If they do suspect anything you ruined the impact of the trick. So to force the thought of possible sneakiness with the introduction of a box with a window in it is the worst of all approaches.

Reminds me of the force where you have the spectator cut the deck under a cloth.

PS: Totally unrelated joke:
Why did the Mule stop posting?
Because he's a Mole now and Underground!

Who's to blame?

Gabriel Palacios is a Swiss magician that I got to know by seeing him on the German version of the next Uri Geller. He did some mentalism there. And then he got kicked out very early in the "contest" because he spoke with a fat Swiss accent. So his business plan doesn't seem to work out that well so he does the only logical thing: Becoming a charlatan!

Executive consultant is one of the many things. He also does hypnotic therapies and teaches hypnosis. That in itself is a pretty smart move if you don't wanna end up on magic blogs. As he does no magic anymore.

Well... sort of. he still needs to prove his skills in suggestion and hypnosis. Here is how: He hase someone hold a die and he can tell what number is up. He has a few cards placed in several pockets and knows which  card is where. Sounds pretty traditional to me.

So the president of the Zurich magic club, Luciano Gerosa (check out his awesome website) is pissed off by the young Gabriel. So he goes on to reveal the methods in public, doing a huge disservice to all mentalist, by admitting that certain methods are in play, instead of just replicating the tricks stating that those are just tricks.

I'm wondering who is failing here.

Tell me!

What the hell is this dangling mess:



This is seriously a slap in the face of magic. I've seen a Peter Pan play, and it was way more convincing that this. Even if this wouldn't use thread the direct connection between the hands and the movements of the ball makes everyone see threads.

How much is this atrocity? $224.25 Holy Crap!

BTW: Kind of lovely how Charlotte Pendragon becomes more and more of a sellout.

Jon Racherbaumer

His website seems to be "discontinued".

Sucks for those who signed up and paid for a 12 month membership half a year ago! No more Marlo stories?

Could you...

....big guys in magic please stop endorsing shitty products calling them the "Holy Grail"!

Well not really shitty, but not new, nor original and/or rehashed!

Please!

You got my Curiosity

So what is new in the magic world? I heard rumor that Dani DaOrtiz is being accused of having stolen material by Helder Guimaraes. Derek DelGaudio claims on FB

Dani recently released an (unpublished) effect belonging to our mutual friend, Helder Guimaraes. I love Dani like a brother, so it's disheartening to see someone I respect so much, make a decision that is so blatantly disrespectful and hurtful to someone I know he cares about. It's one thing to be ripped off by some kid who doesn't know any better, but when it's "family"... Brutal.

Anybody know more on this? What effect? I'm leaning far out of the window here, but I'd say it's cards!

Edit: Alright it was apparently "Card under the Glass" and both are fine. Nothing to read here. Sounded promising though.

Episode 2 "Stash"

Click here for a more detailed review

BTW: Celebration... 1000th post

Hey Vinny

Hey Vinny, sometimes your magic is rather refreshing. This however is not:



A convoluted mess of methods only to get around the DL issue. And these are not my assumptions. He himself said it on the Green Monster

"This is a ambitious card routine with out the use of a double or tripple lift using all of my controls except for the Hop"

So, as one would assume I expected honest criticism. I expected people saying that the moves are telling a whole story on it's own. A story that leaves the performer in a not so magical light. I can see those moves as fake explanations of gambling moves like hand mucking and so on. But not a truly deceiving actions. The moments are wrong and the jerky motions truly signal the spectators that something tricky has been going on.

I expected all that but instead I read this:

"Great stuff as ever Vinny"

"Love the card handling. Can you point me in the direction of what books can show me some of them sleights. Don't want to spoil anything here, but one move I absolutely loved!
Great work."

"Nice work."

"Just a beautifully bold series of moves that makes this classic effect POP again and again. Great job, Godfather. Ain't nobody doing this stuff any better than you, IMHO."

"Vinny, as usual you just kill me. This is GREAT stuff. I'd love to get the handlings. Not only do you have great chops, but you're so generous to share this with the rest of us."

"Great job Vinny. Love your stuff. Would you also send me the handling? Thankx a lot."

"Vinsmagic - I am a relatively new poster, but would like to add to the accolades. A very nice variety of controls! Loved it!"

"Very nice, especially good for those who seen the ambitious trick and are now assuming it must be a double, this will make em rack their brain as its obvious no double"

So I'm Starting to think that I must be retarded for not liking this, when I read Bozo's comment:

"I've always held that the ambitious card is a classic due to the clarity of effect and a seeming lack of handling. WTF was that?"

Finally a sane person. I thought... but oh Bozo felt the wrath of The Green Monster:

"Bozo, Nice! 47 posts in, and you decide that this is the place to mark your territory? Show us what you have to contribute to this thread and we will show you a level of respect commensurate with your contribution (unlike the level of disrespect that you have shown to Vinny)."

So did I get that right? Because Bozo has not contributed he deserves less respect that Vinny? Hell I can criticize any move without being able to do it. Without having contributed anything. If somebody paints a horse and it looks like a cat and I say that the horse looks like a cat, nobody in the right mind would accuse me of not being able to judge it correctly, because I haven't done my share of horse drawings. But the accused troll, that is Bozo, defends himself by posting this:

"Lest I be accused of trolling. There may (or may not) be value in what Vinnie is offering. I simply find these moves inappropriate in the context of an AC routine. They are too fast, too covered, and there is (again, to me at least) more ambiguity than clarity of effect. pardon my WTF remark. That was rude."

So he details more precisely why his declaration of shenanigans is just. A fair comment, saying that the moves are inappropriate in the context of an ACR. I agree. An ACR should not be about not knowing what happened, but about knowing that nothing happened. Vinny failed to see that initial construction flaw. So Bozo is no troll at all. But he disagrees with the majority so he is the asshole here.

And then Bozo gets attacked ad hominem by the dick himself:

"I don't mean any harm here, but it is a bit difficult to take a critique from Bozo seriously... sey"

Oh yes, you mean to harm. But you don't know the difference. So I forgive you.
But maybe I see it all wrong. What's your opinion on that DL-free master piece?

Ah SEO and Google Trends

In case you don't know what a SEO text is. It's a text on your website with lot's of keywords so search engines will find you more easily. This can be done in a subtle way or in a very overt, almost childlike fashion. Like the following example.

Ellusionist actually has a very tiny link on the bottom of pretty much every page linking to a "Information Page" about David Blaine.

Here is a brief excerpt:

DID YOU KNOW?
The Card trick that landed his first ABC special was called "Strange Travelers". This is David Blaine's single favorite effect. The actual deal-closer David used for most of his professional career. It helped him close the deal on his first Network T.V. special: Street Magic.
We know you want information on Blaine and we'll give it... the real story and secrets of Blaine's life, TV specials, products, women, celebrity friends and the best places to learn how to do the street magic Blaine has become famous for. We suggest you read this page thoroughly but if you need to jump to a topic that interests you on this page, here are the jump links:

And this goes on, and on and on.

Hey Ellusionist. Do you really need that page? Are you so desperate for clicks? I looked up Ellusionist in Google Tends. The most prominent related search is "Ellusionist Torrent".

I would rather deal with that.

Episode 1 "Ritual"

Click here for a more detailed review

Happy New Year

Funny