Being immature!

So I was watching the Fooler Doolers videos recently... In the explanation section I noticed:

Bravo, clap, clap, clap

And almost 5 years ago, this happened.

Can anyone...

...do a convincing Pop-Up move with balls? Every single version that I have come across that teach/show the move (Danny Archer, Johnny Thompson) do it in a very unconvincing manner. It just looks like a move. Is this one of those moves that simply has no place in the real world? And don't tell me that it it fly right by layman. So does a French Drop. And I dare to say that the French Drop is the worst of all transfers. So have you seen anybody doing the Pop-Up Move and it didn't feel awkward?

Sometimes you gotta trust your street fightin' instincts!

Being a performer is hard. And depending on what venue you are in the amount of assholes being present rises and falls. The street is a high asshole zone.

Sometimes you have to fight back. I wonder how this actually resolved itself.

Learn some routining!

I finally figured out my problem with Jay Sankey. I think. He simply is unable to construct routines. He is able to create effects and develop half decent methods for that. But stringing them into a coherent routine with dramatic structure built in seems to be an unobtainable goal for him.

Stand up comedians seems to divide into several groups. One of them is the "one liner comedian". There jokes are never tied to an overall story. They do not work to a certain ultimate joke or message. They simply do one lines. Jay Sankey is a one liner magician. It's trick, after trick, after trick.

Being a close up magician doesn't require that sort of stuff, yet I have to see something by Jay Sankey that qualifies as a closer trick. He is really good at creating filler. But that's about it.

Also his Erdnase change sucks. Jay, just in case you are reading this. The Erdnase change is NOT done by openly outjogging the top card. The out jog needs to happen unbeknownst to the audience watching. And you do that by making sure that NOT your middle and ring finger push forward the card, but the pinky finger. And it only starts pushing once the hand fully covered the deck. If you need to I will send you a video file of the Erdnase change done right.

On a positive note. I really like your Wichita Slip.

Genius at Work

I got this DVD set: Jeff Sheridan , Genius at Work. I was excited. I put the first DVD into the player and was anticipating the street routine that made him a star on the magic horizon. And you know what the routine is good. Some card manipulation, some rope magic and some TT-work. He had this aura of confidence as he went through the performance. Some minor flashes, but I was willing to forgive that as the usual LL-crowd sat there watching. I kinda saw what all the hub hub was about Jeff Sherian.

And then he started to talk. A nervous man, shifting his weight from side to side. Struggling to find the words, clearly not structured in any way. The explanations even though sufficient were hard to sit through. I felt sorry for this man.

I put in the other DVD's. Half backed ideas and in a constant struggle to keep some pride. I was more than disappointed. There wasn't a man who was a deep thinker. His routines where shallow at best. His pitiful attempt at mentalism got no further than the usual magician's understanding of mentalism. It was sad, so sad.

The second DVD is focused entirely on card manipulation. And that is a good one. So if you are interested in some card manipulation, then get the second DVD of the 4 DVD set. If you think highly of Jeff Sheridan, then by all means, DON'T get the set. It will disappoint you.

Hello from your old neighbor...

I'm getting weird emails lately:

"Hi Whit, C*** here, your old neighbor from Camino Palmero. Sorry, that we lost touch. How are you and Nancy? Are you still performing at the Magic Castle? I haven't been there since Billy moved over to Crescent Heights and was very sorry to read online one day that he had passed on. He will always have a special place in my heart.

A friend of mine's family is coming into town March 22nd, and she would love to take them to the Magic Castle that weekend for dinner and to see some of the wonderful performances. Since I don't know any other members anymore, I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to go about it. I assume you still have to be invited by a member?

I would love to hear from you. My computer is down at the moment, so I can only be reached by phone (am on a friend's PC right now). When you call please be sure to leave your phone number, since my Caller ID is not working right.

Be well and best wishes,

C***."

What's that all about? Also this one:

"To whom this may concern, I am a part of Relay for life a fundraising cancer organization, here at University of Michigan Flint and before I go into detail about the event, I was wondering if I had the right email and if your availability coincided with our event (march 22-23) and we were hoping if we could get you to come down and donate your time if possible and give a show for perhaps an hour or so. Is this the magician Dave J Castle? If at all possible or if you have any questions please feel free to contact as soon as possible

Thank you,"

Weird!

Here we go again!

Working Speed is a matter of personal choice I assume. I work rather fast, not giving my spectators much time to think. Which helps me to get away with rather bold methods. I've been criticised by many magicians to be that darn fast. I do not give my spectators the time they need to enjoy the magic. Really?

The attention span is set low due to the decades of TV. The ability to process information has risen due to the decades of Internet information abundance. Therefore I assume my spectators are well equipped to handle the speed and still enjoy it.

However I have tried to go a little slower in the past few weeks. And you know what? No fucking difference. The reactions are the same. So it all comes down to personal choice again. Do I want to show a lot or is my repertoire limited?

I do not want my spectators able to remember every single trick. I want them to remember that they had a great time. There is only one trick that I do that I want people to remember in detail. And that is my Coins Through Table routine. And I am very, very humble saying that my routine is the god damn best routine in the world, overshadowing every single published routine in history. (I only get certain bookings, because I promise to do that one routine.)

So that is the only routine I want them to remember, so I work very slow on that one. It is a nice counter point in terms of balance of the whole show.

If you work slow all the time, you have nothing special. If you work fast for one routine to counter balance your show people will feel cheated as they realize that they have seen very little magic.

It burns, it burns so bad!

Now I got eye cancer.

WMF Brian Brushwood

When did Brian Brushwood become a greedy lying thief?

He came out with a book test. Every single element is clearly lifted from other mentalist's work and Brushwood claims it as his own. If he sells every copy as intended he will make roughly 600,000 dollars. Also, when has it become "the right thing" to openly claim that book test are gimmicked and that you cannot use any book? The main audience of Brushwood are laypeople. He is doing a huge disservice to both sides of the spectrum. Thank you!



Remember when he exposed the Invisible Deck? Hey, Brian, have you run out of ideas? How about a consultant. A capable one!

Gee it brings my piss to a boil!

Alright... When have I become so insanely stupid not to appreciate all of the following.

I log in to the Green Monster. Another spam message by Brooks. Hi friends over at Enigma have come out with a new deck of cards. Suddenly it's deja vu all over again.

First of all. Steve Brooks! Business partners that pay you money to advertise are NOT your Friends. Not even Facebook friends.

Secondly: Another fucking deck of cards? Seriously! So this better be different.

So I follow the link. "Moonshine Playing Cards" I watch the video. Just a guy doing the same fucking flourishes we have seen so many times. When will there be a new kind of card advertisement strategy?

(On a side note. Ellusionist came out with a deck that is advertised by Daniel Madison. In the video he trashes a Hotel room. Yeah send out the message brother. This "Weltschmerz"-thing is tearing you apart. I do understand the deep symbolism and the intended existential nihilism. The philosophers of days long past have overcome this problem. You don't!)

Is there anything new about those "Moonshine" cards? Nope! Just a new back design and a different Ace of Spades and a different Joker.

Collectors assemble!

When will the vanity thing end!

Btw. Our favourite Magic Fakers have come out with a unique deck too. They are a thing of beauty:

What's with the film references, you cowards?

If you want to insult me and Sandy,

you can come and do it to my face, motherfuckers.



BS

Just a minor thing that pisses me off!

This is more and more common. It has happened to me more than once. And now some friends share the same experience... so I'm not alone.

So here is my story: So I met this magician. He was talking about his magic, and then we would talk methods and suddenly he whips out his smart phone showing me a video of his retention vanish of a coin.
Really? He said he didn't have a coin the right size with him. So I watched his video and had to comment on that. I could have supplied him with the right size coin, but hell, who am I?

A similar thing then happend just a few weeks later. This time it was about a dye tube handling (yes, that's still a thing). He had no dye tube with him. But the video was bad quality and the handling was bad as well. As far as I could make it out. So I didn't even get why he would show me that.

My friend told me of an experience like that. So he met that magician who apparently has had some tutoring by one of the greats in our business. A magician know for his matrix. Anyway. So that padawan practiced that matrix, but was not able to show it. He had a version of him doing it on the phone however...

Sick Sad World!

Video Rant - ReCord

So these kids are having fun right?

Look at those kids! Interest starts fading the second the explanation starts.




Why is that? Well they anticipated an explanation that was as cool as the effect they have seen. It was not. In fact it was disappointing. As this could be the main reason not to expose magic. Never show them how the sausage is made.

I could be wrong. It probably was a long day for the kids. This is not the only video that Jason Suran did. The kids appear in a few of them.

So are those the kids the target audience for the video? If so, heaven help us.

Free Utilitarian Conjurer's Knowledge

So there you have it, that's gonna be the project's name. "Free Utilitarian Conjurer's Knowledge"
"Free", because it's free.
"Utilitarian", because it is having regard to utility or usefulness rather than beauty and ornamentation.
"Conjurer's" because it is for magicians.
And "Knowlegde" because that's what it is.

I'm still trying to figure out all of the rest. I'm not sure when the F.U.C.K. project will make it's first appearance. But now it's out. And I'm pretty sure it will not be me who will publish this, but my alter ego. But that is for later.