This magic moment...

Wow two posts in less than 24 hours! What is this 2003 all over again?

Regardless, this is something I have wanted to touch on for a bit (Kind of like a catholic priest) and I was talking about it last night with a friend so..

There is a theory in magic that talks about prolonging the "Moment of Magic"TM. That moment is different for the magician as opposed to the person you are inflicting your art onto. Lemme splain'.

Let's say you are doing a simple coin vanish. The moment you perform your fake take, le tourniquet vanish, classic palm, etc... the moment of magic is over. For you the trick is done. For them it has JUST begun. At this point you can wave your hand over the coin (providing time misdirection so they can't backtrack as easily) and then open your hand. The magical "gesture" is their moment of magic. You can even go so far as to ditch the coin somewhere and pass the "coin" from hand to hand thus further prolonging the moment of befuddlement.

It's an easy concept but a harder practice. For us we just wanna get the damn thing over with after we pass that point for ourselves. Some people however go a bit TOO far and try to prolong it to cure for insomnia type proportions. There is a fine line and YOU have to find it for yourself AND your audience. The one thing you don't want to do is hurry it along.. Let them get into it, observe your conviction, and be led TOTALLY down the path. No point in jumping the gun...

And any woman will tell you that is paramount.

Bizzaro.

A new trick started popping up on the magical boards. (How vague is that?) It's a way to make a signature move from one card to another.. more or less. Looks good.. however...

This is a good example of a few of the dangers to buying magic. First, is it easily resettable and repeatable if you are gonna be doing it ALL night? Is it a one trick pony that won't fit in with the rest of your repertoire? Are you gonna use it once and then have it end up in your drawer? (likely scenario)

Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea, but you should ALWAYS look at the limitations of a trick, not just what it does. Weigh the pros and cons of the trick itself. Do you need to have multiple gimmicks pre-set ahead of time? Does it require a gimmick? Can it be done for the same person and the outcome be different? All of these are valid questions along with many other personal choices that only YOU can make.

There is a lot of magic out there. Some good.. much CRAP. Don't believe everything you see. Buying new magic is like getting a tattoo. Make sure you REALLY want it and wait a bit for the dust to settle. Don't get caught up in that shiny new magic smell

Also, don't believe the hype.

Bizzaro.

Never met the man meself...

However, Jerry Andrus has passed away. He is most well known for his creation Zone Zero. (As well as the linking pins and MANY others)

The man had hands the size of Buicks and an odd sense of humor. Don't believe me? Check out this video.



This stuff comes in threes. I wonder whose next. Maybe it's you.

Bizzaro.

Making a point...

Magicians of old


Magicians of yesterday


Magicians of today


WTF happened!? When did we lose the ability to dress like show people? (mind you I am NOT a fan of the tuxedo look, but for this I was trying to make a point... and those photos were all I could find tee hee) Sure you could say "Well that's just a casual shot and they are not performing", but we all know better. That IS their performance outfits. (Lots of black and it looks like they are ready for.. tech theater?) What gives? Magicians are dressing like the homeless urchins people have always THOUGHT we were.

Good going guys. Magicians-1 Fashion-0

Bizzaro.

Hey Mikey, they liked it...

First review of my DVD I have seen. Go, be amazed.

Bizzaro

[/shameless self-promotion]

I'm with the banned...

Hey guess who joins the ranks of the no longer loved from the magic cafe? Thaz right our good pal, Steve Fearson!!

Let's find out why shall we? He has released a new effect called the Psi-Device. It enables you to make a small piece of foil or paper move. Not around the room, not jump like a frickin' grasshopper, but move a bit. As if you had mild telekinetic powers. Here is the kick. It can be totally covered over the top with a glass and on a spectators hand. No magnets, thread, blowing, etc. Sound impossible? It's not.

So over at the our favorite overblown magic board, the "pros" were speculating what it could be. Problem with this is they might be guessing at a method but putting ANY idea into someones head as to what it might be is almost exposure. They might get it right and then what? Well after a few harsh words about the expediate way the thread was moderated (apparently CRAP is a cuss word now) he was escorted out. The thread is deleted by the way, which is good.

Mind you with exquisite promo photos like this
I can see why the moderator took offense. He has probably heard the term crap regarding himself one too many times. Mind you with that kind of stuff not being caught and taken care of or moderated properly, you can hurt someones business. It's not just in magic, but everywhere. We are just going in circles around the edge of the bowl now folks. One day we are all just gonna get banned from everything and someone is gonna push the Game Over button and then what will we do? It's human nature to complain and see the negative in all good things. Look at the concept of Hell and Heaven. Gawd forbid we ALL get to go to a nice place. Nope, we gotta send the undesirables to a hellish unsanitary place.. like New Jersey. Well Steve, welcome to TMC purgatory. Here is a glass of lemonade and a nudie magazine.

We welcome you with open arms.

Bizzaro.

A great new magical product!!

Ok so let's assume you have a girlfriend. (If yer a magician you might have to go inflate her right quick. I'll wait.)

(Intermission music from Monty Python and the Holy Grail Plays)

Ok so yer girlfriend or wife or mail order bride wants to get into a bit of magic so she knows what the hell yer talking about when you say "Elmsley Count". What do you teach her to do? A double lift? Three flight? Hell no!! You buy her a trick off the intarwebz.

The best part? This card box can be used to amuse herself late at night when she realizes how truly useless you are. All you will have to buy her... are batteries!

A marital aid and a magic trick all in ONE HANDY SPOT!!

Bizzaro.

Get yer head outta yer ass and into the clouds!!

If that had been the title of this new book I would totally buy it! However, this seems extremely dodgy if you ask me. "In the right place, at the right time.." Well yes but I could say that for any magic really.

Update: After reading the description again I decided to add my own comments as follows. (In bold)

"In this book the authors strip away the veil of secrecy, revealing cloud secrets only known to a select few. Learn to make clouds vanish and appear. Sculpture them into images of selected playing cards, thought of numbers, ESP symbols, faces, and even animals. Yes you too can play GOD!!

Nothing is held back! Apparently change the weather by delaying rain or snow or even by making it warmer. Believe it or not you can do a lot of this long distance by using a cell phone! With the material in this book you will be more than just a magician or mentalist. (You'll be a wanker) You will be a real miracle worker, who apparently has complete control over the elements! (No a real miracle worker would heal the sick and make the blind see. This is gonna be WAY sillier than that.)

The book will teach you how to:

* CAUSE A CLOUD TO VANISH FROM THE SKY. (it will only take 3-6 hours to accomplish)It will also show you methods where that cloud and ONLY that cloud vanishes. The others remain intact.
* CLOUD MATERIALIZATION --magician points to an empty space in the sky and causes a cloud to suddenly form. (By blowing smoke up your ass)
* BLUE SKY--magician causes ALL the clouds to vanish leaving a blue sky (Psychotropic drugs not included)
* Cloud Moving--How to make clouds Move (Also learn how to make birds FLY!!)
* Cloud Sculpture--change the shape of clouds into objects (Such as blobs and chunks and a bunny!)
* How Fake Psychics Stop & Start Rain (See Fig. 1)
* Secrets Behind Making Rainbows Appear (And how to channel Doug Henning. It's maaaaagic!)
* How to Reveal Selected Cards with Clouds (Cuz' nothing says I am a real wizard by whipping out a deck of cards right?)
* Make Thought of Numbers Appear in the Sky (Sky Writing Plane not included)
* All THIS AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!!! (Ok well maybe like one more thing.) "

Is it just me or are we starting to reach a bit for crap to sell to our magical brethren?

Bizzaro.

PS: If anyone has purchased Helter Shelter: The Movie lemme know what you think about it. I'd like to hear some feedback on it. Thanx.