We're going to Disneyland!

Some friends and I got together to have some fun and be creative. We also filmed it. Enjoy.

I'm in your brain...

I have always wanted to see a magic trick end like this...

I have made a prediction. I will lay it here on the table.

Now think of a card. When you have it turn over the prediction. (Click the card)

(I didn't say it had anything to do with the trick now did I?)

Sunning yourself...

I have a little something to say to my fellow magi who want to be more than they currently are.

STOP BEING SO DAMN LAZY!

The people who reach the top are the ones who climb. You have to work for what you want. The higher your goal the harder you have the work to reach the top. You can't just expect others to do it for you or hope it will work out. YOU have to make it happen.

Do you wonder why others are getting more gigs than you or maybe have better shows? They are working their damned fool heads off to get there. Sure luck plays a part of it all but they are moving forward and they don't stop. They are either working on and fixing their act everyday, making notes and jumping on them immediately to be better. They are on the phone sending out promo and making contacts everyday. (Some even claim to do this 8 hours a day like a real job but I think that's a little bit of BS sometimes.)

You have no one to blame but yourself for where you are (most of the time). Get up off yer ass and make your magic better, make those calls, shake those hands, book those gigs.

Otherwise, just shut up.

I think we're lost...

I have been catching up on the FISM reports today. It's interesting what plays for magicians and is really just for them and not so much for non-magicians. I have heard it said that the best kind of magic can be described in one sentence. "He put my bill in a lemon", "He cut the rope in half and put it back together" or "Use the word etcetera in a sentence".

 I think the biggest problem is we take a simple idea and convolute the holy hell out of it. I have a new bit which is a variation on a classic. The effect by itself gets a fine enough reaction. It's simple and to the point. A friend wanted to see something else tacked on to the end because he thought the initial effect was kind of bland.

This my friends is magician logic. Let me tell you something. Sometimes good enough is just that. My friend had a saying on his desk at his music studio. "Remember: Not Too slick". In the pursuit of trying to make something "perfect" (or in this case more "magical") you can actually screw it up. Sure the magicians would eat it up and give you bonus points in a meaningless competition, but will it play in Peoria?

Sometimes going that extra mile is ok and a routine NEEDS it. However you have to make sure it really needs it. If it's simple to follow for the simpletons you might not win any trophies but the real world might just love you for it.

Sometimes too much is too much.

When geeks collide...

Hack Lines?

So there is a video going around the magic community right now about hack lines magicians say. Now this post is not about that video. It is about a line I am sick of hearing magicians  say however.

"I'm not sure if this is going to work"

I have bemoaned the use of patter that insults the audiences intelligence many times in this journal. This is one of those times. People are not stupid enough, especially on stage, to believe that. (Ok some might be but you already have their money at that point so screw em') Much like "I don't know if this is going to work", the aforementioned line just makes you look like a condescending ass klown.

Be straight up with people. Don't try to get them on your side with blatant lies. Tell them it's new so when you say I dunno if this is going to work they might actually believe you. There is no reason to develop patter that makes you sound superior to the audience. If they wanted that kind of treatment they could have stayed home and watched TV. We are there to entertain them, not have them marvel at our magnificent penis.

There is no reason to be condescending.

The safest route...

Just a quick tip: If you are a magic builder, creator or want to be take my advice and invest in a Dremel Tool (Or similar brand). It's quite handy, takes up very little space and gets simple things done quickly.

Also, get one with variable speeds. It's a bit more but well worth the investment.

Also, Nipples.

I liked this idea. However you should read the comments. They said pretty much everything I was thinking. Tricks like this are fun to watch but I don't think they are huge foolers.

One of the comments brings up a good point as well. "She did all the work". Man if this isn't the emperor's new clothes of the magic world. Most of the time when someone is doing illusions one person is posturing and waving their arms about while someone else does the dirty work. I think anyone with two working brains cells huddling together to make warmth can see that.

So what then makes a magician? Is it his tricks? Is it his skills? Perhaps it's the shoddy product he shills on those with more money than sense? Hell perhaps it's all of these things? That's up to your audience to decide.

I think people are fascinated with the impossible, not magic. Yes magic makes the impossible visible. However sometimes it's NOT impossible and people see right thru it. Art is fascinating at times because it seems impossible. People do "impossible" things everyday. Many times we use what they don't know is possible against them. We're not the only ones. Many sideshow performers live and die by this concept.

At the end of the day people don't want to be fooled, they would rather be entertained. They sometimes enjoy the fooling stuff, but they rarely seek it out. They would much rather have a good time. It's hard for some performer to grasp tho' because to them...

it is impossible.