I wanted to talk more about visual noise in magic as mentioned in Lesson #1. I really want to stress the importance of having less tension and awkward moves just for the sake of the method. Laymen’s perception of magic usually boils down to a few things. We are “faster” than the eye and misdirection. It’s not good if the spectator says “Well you did it while I was looking away.” Even if they can’t figure out the real method, they will tell you that you are just doing sleight of hand (horrible at that). What other explanation do they have since all they see is you man-handling the cards. These are prime examples of having visual noise. Does it make the effect weaker? Would people even understand what is going on? Dai Vernon said it best, “Confusion is not magic.” Roll Film. Excuse my language. This stuff pisses me off. Please don’t do it.
Link Dead
you are god damn right. It is fucking confusing.
Link Dead
did you catch his “classic” pass?
Posted: November 30th, 2008
Comments: 11 Comments.
This will be my diary on learning the classic pass.
I had never really thought about the classic pass before but the blog has given me a new excitement for this move. I will be able to share my thoughts and thinking process. I think the best way to learn from others is to also learn side by side with them. I am not a beginner in any sense but I am aware of the weaknesses I have with the move. Every time I post, I will post a video of me doing the classic pass. Hopefully looking back in a few months it should get better.
Whoever wants to tackle this with me please feel free to send me a link of you doing the classic pass. (preferably on vimeo and passworded). I will put your video side by side as this diary progresses. I think it will be a great experiment for all of us. So here is a video of me doing the classic pass as of 11.26.08.
Password is “What is a form of a pass/shift that the basic packet movement is opposite of the classic pass?” Answer is “______ Pass.” I mis-spelled it. It only has 1 “r” and 2 “n”
Since the new website. I need new people to have the “embed” option on. for now here it is.
If you guys think this is a stupid idea, feel free to express it in the comments. I feel this would be a interesting way to collectively try to learn one of the most difficult moves out there.
Posted: November 27th, 2008
Comments: 32 Comments.
I am taking off the tutorial because of the lack of credits for the move. I too hastly put the tutorial on without giving credit and references to the move. That is my fault and I apolagize. I will put the tutorial back on in the future when I find proper credit and also make it better and more refined.
I am taking off the tutorial because of the lack of credits for the move. I too hastly put the tutorial on without giving credit and references to the move. That is my fault and I apolagize. I will put the tutorial back on in the future when I find proper credit and also make it better and more refined.
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Here it is guys. The nitty gritty on the push off double I use. If you have any questions, post them in the comment page and I will try to help you out. Here are some wishes I hope people respect when viewing this.
This is intended for people who respect the art of magic. If I see anyone post this anywhere else or passing it off and not crediting this blog, I will take it down. It’s free so hopefully none of this will happen.
If I see some person trying to do this on youtube and is horrible, I will take it down. Take the time to perfect it. Please. That’s all I ask.
Have fun with it. This isn’t a easy sleight and is really for people who really love sleight of hand.
Password is from The Expert at the Card Table. In the description of the S.W.E shift, he writes “We have not dubbed the following process with our initials because we wish to appear ‘big on the _____,’”. Fill in the blank. Hope you like it.
Posted: November 23rd, 2008
Comments: 15 Comments.
Think we got a small group of people reading the blog (thank you by the way) that I will begin to start giving little tips and advice on card magic. If you guys hang in with me, down the road will be some good lessons that wouldn’t want to miss. Any feedback would be great. Thanks guys.
Password is the answer to this question “What state is the U.S. Playing Card Company located?”
At a bar with some friends. Sooner or later you get drunk and throw up, or do card tricks… Its not perfect I know, but you know what? Its my blog and its shielded from the public so fuck the police!
Password : Who invented the card trick “Twisting Aces”? Answer: Dai ______
So I have a confession to make. The only thing that gets me through the day is to watch kids ruin the name of magic. It’s like watching someone torture a turtle. I don’t like it, but I sure hell would watch it. For fun only of course.
Ever since Dan and Dave Buck came out with two card transpo trick Tivo, there has been a shit-load of “variations” from kids trying to make it better. They don’t. Which comes to the topic for today. Why do these kids think that their variation is better, more visual, and more magical? Roll film.
LINK DEAD.
I won’t go into all the little things he is not doing well since it seems like he is a beginner. The major things that stand out is the construction of the trick itself.
After the first insertion, he does a DL but uses a KM move to get the card in place.
Besides using the KM move at the worst time, the logic behind it is just plain horrible. There are much better ways to get the card into position for the change. This is a case and point of a magician doing something different for the sake of difference so he can call it his own. If it doesn’t add anything to the effect, its not worth it.
After the transpo, he takes way too long to reveal the card has changed places.
Did the kid forget where the card transported to? The fact that he takes more than 10 seconds to turn over a card is enough to say that this method is poor. Is it really that hard to turn over a card? I mean, can’t you just turn the fucking card over? Instead, you pull it out while holding the double, then put the card back on top of the deck putting the double card back on top, then thumb off the top card to show the card that was in the middle? I mean watching this guy makes more sense than the method of this trick.
The only reason this kid made this variation was that he wanted to be “original” and get praise from the chat groups. In fact, many kids put videos on solely for this purpose. It is amazing how these kids even think that their variations are improving the original method.
I will leave you with a post that the creator of this video wrote. It says it all…
"Yes it is a simplified tivo more cleaner though"
To quote from the show Boondocks, “Bitches love the smiley face.”
Posted: November 13th, 2008
Comments: 16 Comments.
People ask me what my favorite books or videos are. I personally prefer books over videos. Although I did learn many tricks from Michael Ammar’s Easy to master card Miracles series, it was books that taught me the subtleties and theories needed to surpass the Ammar clone of doing magic. Yes, I said it, I was a Asian Ammar Clone. (magicians call it A.A.C) Before I give my list, I will not be listing the basic books that everyone needs to have. That is of course the Card College series, Expert at the Card Table, Royal Road to Card Magic, and Expert Card Technique. There are many more, but those are my must haves. So here is my top list of books that I recommend.
Paper Engine by Aaron Fisher
This book focuses on taking tension out of your card magic. Designing moves around gravity is an amazing concept. My favorite book of all time. When magic is done slow and elegant, we call that person a “Smoothie”. I love Smoothies. Not sexually.
By Forces Unseen by Ernest Earick
Move Monkeys beware. This is the hardest book ever devised on sleight of hand related to a deck of cards. Currently my Bible®. You will be seeing more videos from this book.
Card Fictions by Pit Hartling
Even though it is a small book, It’s the only book I would perform every single trick to an audience. Try “Color Sense”.
Revelation by Dai Vernon
The new edition that just came out this year is by far the more beautiful book I have seen. It is a must have. Not only do you get to go through Expert at the Card Table again, you get to hear what the master, Dai Vernon, has to say about it.
Pure Effect by Derren Brown
This book is pure gold. Derren Brown’s touch of mentalism while he was still a card magician? What else do you need.
Absolute Magic by Derren Brown
This is the only book on theory I would really recommend. I read it every half year to inspire myself.
Posted: November 11th, 2008
Comments: 10 Comments.
No major updates today. Filling up the blog with some fun sleight of hand stuff. Dug this video up from the grave. Tell me if this is convincing as a false cut. It’s something that either looks good or is just plain obvious.
Password is again the same as the last post. “What was the Elmsley Count first called?” The _____ Count.
Good friend of mine, Gary “Auuuu sexy” Au doing some quick passes for the blog. Nothing major, caught him off guard doing some passes. He has some great hands and a major move monkey when it comes to magic.
The password for the video is the answer to this. “What was the Elmsley Count first called?” the _____ Count.
Here is a prime example of what magicians think good sleight of hand is. In the video he is “performing” the classic pass, or some sort of horrible shift. Obviously he is using dupes to trick you into believing that his pass is “My Best Invisible Pass Video card trick magic” there is. He says in his description of the video so it has to be true.
"Well this is my final pass but it can always be better i do need
to work on my double lifts and color change thou but i would one day do
the pass with out even moving my hands if that is possible. love the
invisible pass no one can catch it even if i am surrounded with 100
people coz they just dont know. Check my other video old one but that
is slow invisible pass + learn how to do this with the tutorial."
So this begs to ask the question. Is it really that hard to do something so simple? The layman’s perspective is showing the card in the middle of the deck and squaring up the deck making them believe it is lost in the deck. For the sake of argument, lets say that using a duplicate card would be the most convincing way while keeping control of the card on top. Then why does he square up the deck so horribly. Its like an infant who never seen a deck of cards. Is it REALLY that hard to square up the deck?
Next time you perform any sleight of hand, ask yourself that question. Is your D.L. easy on the eyes? or does it feel like you are turning over a brick? is it REALLY that hard to turn over a single card? The whole point of sleight of hand is that it should emulate the same exact action as if done for real.
Why do magicians think just because they are doing sleight of hand that they can get away with it when it obviously looks like shit? Does something go off in their brains that say “Oh, that looks perfect! The illusion is complete.” Looking back now, I can see how horrible I was younger but yet easily blinded to it. Its like someone new to using Photoshop who would basically put all the filters known to man onto one photo and parade it around like some masterpiece.
I strongly believe in order to break this “spell”, you have to go out and perform for the real world. They are the real judges. All those Youtube magicians get no feedback and even if they do, they don’t listen.
Below is an excellent example of this phenomenon. Be warned, the spell has taken over this kid greatly.
Does this kid really think he fools anyone? Why does he publish this onto You-tube? Why does he even film it? This stupidity is what ruins magic as an art. Knowing the method does not mean you have mastery over it. The only reason I think the performance is bare able is because I really do think this person has serious arthritis, the mental toughness of a 3rd grader, and Arachibutyrophobia.
As magicians, we lie to our audiences to create the illusion of magic. Just like actors aren’t really the characters in real life, they “act” that way to create the belief that he/she is the character. Being decietful is part of the game.
So then why do magicians get really angry when other magicians try to fool them by non-sleight of hand methods? For example, Daniel Madison’s color change. This is pretty amazing in its own right, but why all the controversy about it being a video-editing trick instead of real sleight of hand? Regardless of what the method might be, the illusion is still the same.
So my question is, do magician’s have some “right” to not get fooled? I mean we fool magicians all the time with methods of sleight of hand that they don’t know. But what about making a video of a trick claiming it is sleight of hand but in reality you use some other method like video editing? Did we step over the line there? Why can’t we do that? we do it to laymen all the time. We tell them false methods making them believe we have more power than we do. If you think we don’t, then think of pseudo center deal gambling routines.
What gives us the right to bitch and cry foul play when it is us that is being lead in the wrong direction.
Hey guys. Sorry for the lack of updates. No more. I have gotten myself aFlip Mino. I will be updating this hopefully daily or every other day. Every Sunday I will upload a new video talking and showing little things here and there to help improve your card magic.
Just to soft launch back into this website, Here is my little performance of the Cherry Control. I WILL be password protecting all my videos due to the lack of ethics in magic lately. Don’t worry, they are nothing major if you are respectful of the art. the password is the last name of the Cherry Control’s creator.
More about the whole password thing later this week. Hopefully Ben Pratt will not convince me to stop doing magic. He is a douche.
more cleaner though"
