Ok so I don't update as much as I should however this time I have an excuse. From Wed morn until Mon evening I shall be in Long Beach, CA. I shall return with an update into the seemy underbelly of the magic world as I shall be visiting the magic castle to be sure. So if you want to kill some time go see our brand new Promo Video Updated for 2004.

Also if you wanna amuse yerself head over to Space Slugs dot Com and watch episode 5!!

Toodles.

Bizzaro.

Is there a method to our madness?

I know for a fact there are some tricks I create that work only for the way I perform. My style, demeanor, and body motions. Mind you I think most effects created are like that, but when they try to sell them, it becomes mainstream and loses something. Somethings only make sense in the hands of the originator. Some moves only come off correctly when performed the way they were intended.

So why do we bother to sell our personal moves for people to butcher and hack them to hell? Do we want to be remembered for something like Alex Elmsley? Do we want to be considered a great magical thinker like Eugene Burger? Or is the fact that we just wanna make a big fat buck like Donald Trump? Some moves should stay with who creates them because if it is tailored to their body language. It makes sense.

Bizzaro.

C is for Cookie

Which has NOTHING to do with my post, but I am listening to The Independents version of that song. It's awesome.

Ok so the other day I was talking to someone about how much I really don't like cube zag or hardly any other box illusions. (Which I think perturbed them a bit. I wasn't saying I hate them for doing it, just I really hate that trick. More than I have a major disdain for that damn Interlude illusion.) When I was younger I was all into doing box illusions. Then as someone put it "I snapped" along the way and started doing magic a bit differently and really going against what has been established as what a magician is. So why don't I like box tricks you ask?

Well riddle me this Batman, if you could REALLY cut a girl into pieces or stretch them or crawl thru them or WHATEVER would you really need a big gaudy box to do it? Why not save 3,000 dollars and just do it. Hmmm maybe because it's a TRICK!! GASP NO!! Oh but yes. So now why do I hate the cube zag? Prolly the same reason I hate all the illusions I do. They make NO sense. Oh sure Copperfield tries to justify it by saying stuff like "I had this nightmare once...". Give me a break the only nightmare this guy has is that his cocaine supply runs dry and he wakes up married to Lance Burton. Ok sure you can make up half assed reasons to cut yourself or someone else in half, but what is yer excuse for shoving different shaped tubes thru a box? The only way I can see this is to make it look like a giant version of that square peg in the round hole thing they give to kids to teach them tab A goes into slot B. (We still have trouble with that as the years go on right ladies?)

So I am not saying I hate the magicians who do these tricks I just don't like the tricks themselves. Hell I will still watch them being done especially if it is a good presentation. Only a few magi have had boxes make sense. I wish more would.

But hey magic isn't supposed to make sense right?

Bizzaro.

"What makes you a magician?"

This question was posed on a Penguin Magic forum. Many of the responses were just about how good someone was or how long they do it or if they are a "pro". My response was as thus...

"There is a point here that is being missed methinks. Professional by definition is someone who makes ALL if not most of his living from his job. Now this does not mean you won't GET a real job and do one show every 6 months and still live with yer fambly. No no. You can live on your own doing it.

What does it mean to be a magician? It's not being flawless at your skill. It's not knowing every trick in the book. It's not even being better than other people. (It helps but that is not it.) You use the knowledge you have learned to entertain others and give them an enjoyable experience. You weave many elements together to make something that furthers the art and outlook of what we do."

Now there is a lot missing from this. Tonight me and a magic fiend of mine were discussing this. In today's instant gratification society kids have access to TONS of info none of us EVER had when we started. Even before I started it was even more sparse. No videos, no DVD's or internet. It was a book here and there and you had to follow the teachers around and watch them. They in turn had to watch you to see if you were worthy to teach. Today I will NOT teach someone who is not ready. To apprentice a learned person is hard work. Magic taught me discipline and patience. (Just like martial arts but without all the pretense.)

Today very few have patience nor will they research or try hard to make themselves better. They just go with what they are told or think they know. To quote Billy Barty in Willow: "Forget everything you know, or think you know." Which finger has the power to change the universe. If you can answer this question you are well on the way to being an apprentice yourself. (Of what I don't know.)

To be a magician it takes knowing that you are not one. You are an entertainer. You put together many elements to entertain the masses because JUST being a magician.. is well.. boring. It takes knowing your art and how to use it and how to teach it. A magician is more than putting girls ina box, and producing doves. (I know I know.. how dare I say such things?) Is a dancer someone who JUST dances? Is an artist simply someone who JUST draws? Is a mime.. well a mime is just a mime we'll leave it at that. Is a magician JUST someone that fools people and gets paid to do it? Nay... it is more.

Much, much more.

I'll leave you to figure out the rest.

Bizzaro.

I will let This speak for itself.

Bizzaro.

Mmm high in iron at twice the price.

Someone pleeeeeeese explain to me why there is the trend of people putting coins into one's mouth. Recently it has become a big thing with Mickey Silver and his eyeball scorching Retention Pass. (I.E: it's very good.) It's very unnatural and not very dignified. I can't see Dai Vernon ever doing something like this. (Quite frankly what I have heard about the man he wouldn't have thought much about a lot of today's magic but I digress.) He wore suits, moved slow (not just because of old age), and tried to have an air of refinement. Placing a dirty foreign coin in yer mouth, (I don't mean foreigners are dirty, just their money), is kinda, well.. common. Something David Blaine would do as a common dirty man on the street.

While I am on the subject I think David Blaine's name should be used in the same way actors use the name Macbeth and therefore treated as such. Bad luck if spoken unless otherwise using it in context such as, "I saw David Blaine do this trick on TV and boy did he fuck it up. lemme show you how to do it right." or "Yah I could put my hand thru a window front to steal watches too if I had David Blaines lack of ethics." Regardless.. I digress again. Where was I?

Ah yes, coins in the mouth. Makes no sense to me. This rests right up there with unnatural props and strange hand motions. It also lends itself to my theory of impossible is not amazing. It is a puzzle. "Ok so he put the coin in his mouth and pulled it out of his ear. Either he is as brainless as his choice in clothes OR there is a trick to it. I wonder if I can figure it out." We all know there is no tunnel from the throat to the ear big enough for a coin. It must be magic right? But.. there is no such thing as magic right? Quite the conundrum aye?

I think my point is I sure as hell won't be pretending to eat any coins anytime soon. I know where my money has been... and it's dirty.. oh so dirty.

Bizzaro.