Hello There!

Two months of not posting... such a dick move of mine! I'm such an asshole...!

Now that I got that out of the way; How are you guys? I've been busy. The development for the new show is done (the main reason for me not posting btw) and the show is in rehearsing stage. 24th of April is the first show.

How many card tricks do you do compared to the many you know? My guess is that you do about 2-3 per show of a standing repertoire of 5-6 out of a pool of about 40 card tricks. If that is the case raise your hand.

To all of the others... Stop buying card tricks!

Check out this 99 cent trick being sold on T11's Wire!...



well more of a technique in a project that has been years in the making. At least according to the 20-year-old creator John Bendewald. Is this supposed to be a convincing Second Deal? It doesn't even look like the top card is being taken at all. The fingers don't even give an indication they they are supposed to take the top card. The right hand thumb goes clearly under the top card which has weirdly been angled off from the deck.

If it sounds like I'm being over analytical, that is because I am. The Second Deal is one of those techniques, that if you do it well you can do it under scrutiny. If you suck at it, (like me) you better need a good reality outside of the move misdirecting from the move.

For instance. You just made the four aces appear by changing a single card into the four aces. The reality is different. Only three aces are there but thanks to Alex Elmsley it looks like four. But you planned ahead the missing ace is on top of the deck.
      So you drop the four card packet on the deck and then deal them out. The fourth card is the X card and the fifth card the last ace. So I can deal out three aces regularly giving me enough cover to do the one Second Deal.

Also the main idea has been done better before. Check out Card College and hell, even The Expert at the Card Table will do!

Harry Potter

Spot the Moment

The name of the performer escapes me, but he does all sorts of demo shit. And you can tell that he's got the chops, so demoing a cheap self working trick is a downgrade in a humiliating kind of way.

Take a look at the following video. Skip to the very end, and you see what happens after the demo. You can see his fake smile fading and his true disgust comes through. You can actually see the moment his heart breaks as he realizes what sad, sad thing he's done.

Looking for a Change Bag?

"Looking for a Change Bag? Everybody needs a Change Bag! It's not just a great trick, it's a necessity in magic!"



Now I'm convinced, I need a Change Bag. A giant one! This is big enough to put a small person in. Imagine the possibilities... A somewhat reversed quickchange....

Just have two little people, One already in the Change Bag wearing the same clothes as the other little person who is assisting you all the time. Then for the finale, the little person climbs inside and voila the little person changes. Not the clothes but the person. This is seriously good material!

I take 3 of them!

This is truely exciting magic. Endless wonders. If the magic sparkling comes with the trick I'll take 3 of them. Imagine the possibilities. Three Tube Monte! Where is the little yellow hanky? After that the finish.... you pull tons of stuff from the tubes. Wow.... Even the creppy smile at the end of the video needs to be in everyone's show.

There is a metaphor in this somewhere!

The original Paddle Move

Lately I've been pissed off at people who truly believe an opinion is as worth as facts. As if they are equal.

I'm talking about magic. It was another magician's opinion that a large action covers a small one. While this is factually not true he created a trick which was utter garbage based on that.

His opinion was so much stronger than the fact that it did not fool so I had a discussion about it with him and it took me a while to understand that "the larger action covering the small action"-myth was the reason for his conviction.

So based on that myth he formed his opinion and stood by it in spite of contradicting evidence....

There is a metaphor in this somewhere!

Flabbergasted

I think once in a while we need to be reminded of the great magicians around us. The ones that make us feel dwarfed by their presence. Those who keep the art in an eternal process of improvement.

Case in point Dr. Gertes:

I want you to marvel at all the little things that you won't pick up right away. The long rubbing of the wand and the hands to prove the objects are the way they are. The poetic insinuating overtones of sexual anticipation, cleverly disguised by the symbol of light going into a blossom of a rose that came out of nowhere.

This is deep shit man.

The choice of music allures even the most rational guy to bow down to the magic impossibilites of three lit lamps appearing.

This is magic at it's finest. As long as there is such wonderful magic out there, there is no need to mention it on my blog.

Unsocial Interaction 101

I visited a magic club last night. It was a sad, sad experience. A member drove me there and I sat down. Other members arrived. And talking started. No magic. Just talking about all sorts of things dealing with the club itself. I was okay with that. During that talking a magician arrived that I knew. I nodded towards him and he sat next to me.

Further talking and still no magic.

After half an hour of me being silent and just drinking beer I leaned towards the magician I knew. I asked him when the magic starts. He told me that it is his first time here. I said it was my first time here at the club too. Then more talking and so on.

After an hour or so I got vocal, I couldn't bear it much longer. "I know I'm a guest, but when does the magic part of the magic club start?"

This led to a rather fruitless and poor discussion of the TT.

Oh well. Some had to go. Only 5 members were left. That new guy, the one who drove me, a young card obsessed magician, a senior member and me. It was then that we slowly got into some magic talking. It was about card magic but it was good.

As everyone got up to leave I asked the new magician if anyone had even asked him his name. He smiled at me and shook his head. So this new magician, that nobody knows of comes to the club and nobody even acknowledged his existence. Seems to be a common theme in magic. We both had a laugh at this social train wreck, but seriously this must not be.

You cunts have no more excuse not to practice!

Check out Moritz Müller:




Let's hope his ego can handle this little bit of viral fame. And let's hope he credited everyone correctly. I can see bad blood brewing!

Any Monte Tosser out there...

To all of those who do a monte routine, but do not use cards, shells, those rubber discs or matchboxes.... how is that doing for you?

I'm talking about sponge squeeker monte, frog squeeker monte, LED color monte, that brass tube monte. Do audiences buy that shit? Is it even entertaining?

Only once in a life!

You wouldn't believe what happened...
I did my show today
busking style
the weather very cloudly
almost raining
a kid said
"can you make the sun come out"
I raised my hand to the sky and said: "Let me try!"
at that very moment the clouds opened up and a single beam of sunlight hit me....
"Is that enough for you?" I asked...
the audience was in awe
I was in awe

Hey, long time no see

I've been busy the last few weeks. And I will be busy some more. And this post almost wouldn't be here if not for the fact that I got a little time.

I was thinking. How come that every single week dozens of magic releases happen? Seriously! I was wondering. Magic routines has been released for ages now. But the really big ones were reserved for conventions. Now it's every single week. Fuck that.... learn a routine and polish it. Don't learn anything new until you mastered the repertoire you already have.

Here is are a few rules you can apply to most of your magic presentation:

Don't be creepy!
Don't be a dick!

If you think those rules don't apply to you, you are either in a way higher league (but that means you are smart enough not to read my blog) or you unable to see that these rule should apply to you.

Creepy people often don't know that they are creepy. How do you tell them? Does anypne want to tell them? I think somebody should.

You may notice that I just write what comes to my head. But you are reading it anyway.... Sucker!

Here is a video that I find hilarious.... A kid's magician. He is actually good. Has jokes, some strong tricks for kid's and then hell opens up, when the indoctrination starts.

It's a long video, the brainwashing starts about half way in:

The Dunning-Kruger effect

It's amazing how well the Dunning-Kruger effect relates to magic.

Ask a fairly new member in our circle of nerds. Be prepared to be surprised and to be disappointed at the same time.

Have you ever rated your material?

Have you?

There is A-material and B-material. Your tricks fall into either category. A-material is the stuff you do regularly, your bread and butter repertoire. And then there is the B-material. Stuff you do sometimes.

The problem is, that technically most of the A-material's filler is B-material as well. Most magicians just do it, to get the time filled. Everyone is guilty of that. And strangly in the B-material box there are some A-material gems, that are not done, because they are horrible to reset, to set up or do.

Fuck that. Put the stuff in it's proper place.

Social Interaction 101

Did I ever tell the story about my visit to the magic store in Brussels?

I've been there with a magic friend. We entered the store. The guy working there was talking to another customer. We stood there waiting... and we stood.... and stood... No reaction by the person working there.

Here is a rule about social behaviour... "If somebody comes in the room, acknowledge their existence!"

There are several ways to do that. Eye contact and a slight nod will do. This has not happened. What a sad experience.

Wanna see a sad, sad video?

Charlotte Pendragon doing the Metamorphosis in the Forever Alone version. Going through all the moves as if there was a second person. Sad! But somehow deservedly satisfying to watch!

Hey Big Blind Media...

...I got an email by yours truly:

"Hi there Roland The man genius who is Michael Ammar has a message for YOU! Click on the image below to hear it! "

Fuck you! Seriously! If Michael Ammar has a message for me, he would message me. He wouldn't use henchmen! Get your advertisment together ;)

Well, look what the cat dragged in!

Now I have to review that piece of shit!

Just Monday!

Remember Christopher Wayne? The naked magician? Aka the Gospel magician? I was a bit confused to see an outspoken Christian magician doing a naked act. I assume others have felt the same, so an open statement by Christopher Wayne was about due:

Hey guys, I have something very important to share.Alot of you would know me as a "Christian Entertainer".As of today I want to publicly let you know that this is not something that I identify as any more. This is a journey that I have been on for some time, and want to be really straight forward and open because of my profile.Im still very passionate about encouraging people to live their... lives to their full potential, but the Christian faith is now something that I am no longer tied to professionally or personally.
I will still be working in entertainment, and I am still the same guy that you know and love.
For the years that I shared my faith journey on stage, I will say that it was a real pleasure to be able to use my story to encourage people on their own personal journeys.
If you have any questions or thoughts, Im more than happy to hear them and would invite you to contact me directly on morethanmagic@westnet.com.au
Much love always. CW

That brings up a very interesting thought. And being the devil's advocate I feel the need to share that thought: Pretending to be a Christian magician would get you performances as you would get into the Gospel circuit. And that would get you money. So did Wayne initially just work the church angle to get regular work?

Stop, just stop alright!

Dear magicians, could you please, for the love of whatever is holy to you, stop posting every single magic show you did. Seriously!

I know that you are proud that you do so many shows. I know that you think that a social network is exactly for posting such shit. Well it is. But it also tells something about you. That you are so desperate to get praise for your work that your inferiority complex shines through. And that is a sign of a social loser.

So stop! Just stop!