doublefacers

Happy Holidays everyone. Hope you guys like the blog. I try my best to speak my mind about things I personally find important to improve the art of magic. But you may wonder, if Tony Chang wasn’t a magician what would he be?

I would deliver pizza.

On the side I would make extremely retarded videos. Check them out and happy holidays. Make sure to click on the links below to view in HD.

Chad Rees does the Rubik Cube from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Chad Rees does the weather. from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Dolphin hands = good color changes.  Take that to the bank, senator.  The blood bank.

Trust me, when it comes to magic, Mr. Seagal’s opinion is the final answer.  So what do I mean by dolphin hands?  I think the term (which I made up because i have a fetish for dolphins) describes how to successfully execute a classic color change.

The classic color change.  While holding out the card in a classic palm, our hands assume the dolphin hand.  It would flash if it wasn’t.  That’s the easy part.  The hard part is the ditch and what happens after the color change.  The reason I feel that the last two parts are the most crucial is because if you do it wrong, the spectator can back track and figured out how you do it.  The simple answer is to say that you had a card and added it on right?  So how do we make sure they don’t go down that path.

The Ditch.  So here is my thoughts on the ditch.  The hand must stay in the “dolphin hand” position even after the addition of the card.  As magicians, we have a tendacy of over proving the cleaness of our hands after doing something dirty.  You know what I’m talking about.  When magicians do a color change, all of us open our fingers up like we are doing jazz hands.  It’s a very subtle thing but it tips off to the spectator that it was at that point where the card was added.  Sure its a subconcious thing, but it is something we can avoid.

This is probably the main point of the post.  Get used to having dolphin hands at all times.  Why?  If the magician’s natural tendency is to have closed fingers, then having a card palmed will not be out of context.  Just like having your hands in finger palm gestures all the time while doing coin magic. Instead of having your hands wide open all the time and then close it when you palm something, it keeps your actions natural and doesn’t raise a subconscious flag in their heads.

What Happens After. Similar to the ditch, what do you do afterward?  The need to disguize when the card was ditched is very important.  Many people doing a color change will stop the waving, magic gesture when the ditch is made.  Mission accomplished.  The card has been changed.  The spectator can feel the ditch because of this simple flaw.  Many color changes (in the classic sense) have the magician fly the hand toward the deck to drop the card and then back up to expose the change.  The simple change in direction is a major tip off when the color change was made.  It doesn’t matter how much waving you do before hand, if the last motion the associated with the color change seems different, then its game over.

The main point is to keep waving even after the change.  It’s all by feel of the color change so to speak.  If you can’ tell when the ditch happens in the color change in its whole, then you are on the right track.

Ricky Smith has probably one of the sexiest classic color changes I have seen.  He has taken all of the above to heart.  He didn’t even need my help or know of my existence.  check it out here.  This is what you should strive for.

Ricky Smith’s Standard Color Change.

Here it is guys, one of the most visual multiple color change out there. Sounds like a lie, but no gimmicks. This will be on the all new 9 DVD set by Paul Harris. We actually shot some of Cheng’s material for the DVD 3 years ago. long time to get something out. click on link below video for HD.

Poker Change from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Old video dug up from the grave.  He does real magic.  period.

The real magician.

Ambitious Card from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Password is the answer to this. “Who’s name was the Olram Subtly named after?”

So I had an great response when I performed this to a laymen friend of mine.  From now on I will call the above ACR routine as the “3ACR” and the normal one that I use all the time (basically Ammar’s version with the card going to the mouth on the 4th phase out of 5 phases total) will be called the “5ACR”.

Her reaction to the 3ACR, espically the ending, was literally something I have never seen before in any laymen.  It wasn’t the typical “Holy shit! I don’t want to play poker with you because you should goto Vegas!  That would be so cool since you know how to use cards really well.  Wow! You would be so rich if you dealt cards in Vegas, but I would never play poker with you hahahahaha…”

The reaction was much more “deep”, if that is the correct word to term it.  It felt as if to quote Paul Harris, She had the “Moment of Astonishment.”  It was basically everything a Derren Brown want-a-be would want in a spectator reaction.

As we kept talking, I asked her what she liked about the routine.  She said that this was very personal,  there wasn’t a wall between us so to speak.  What I found interesting was the fact that she was telling me back what I said during the performance.  She would say things like “I put the card back in,  and I even turned the card over.” even though it was me doing it the whole time.  I wanted this routine to make the spectator feel the way I would if this really happened.  I was pretty happy with the reaction.

Now here is the twist.  I then showed her the 5ACR.  After I was finished I asked her which one did you like better?  She said the 5ACR.  That hit me pretty hard.  I asked to talk more about why.  Her main point was the mere fact of me putting the card back in over and over but it got more and more impossible.  Like the card jumping up to the mouth and ending with the bent card.

Then she said something that we all should pay attention to.  She said, “This was very visual.  It hit me visually, but I felt the wall between us.  I felt like a spectator just observing what was happening. The (3ACR) was very emotional.  I felt it down here (she pointed to her heart).”

She then thought a little bit more and then said “Actually, I really like the (3ACR) much better.  The (5ACR) was good, but it was just a trick.  The (3ACR) was much better because I connected with you.”

I then told her the saying that comedians have about wanting people not say that you have “good jokes” but that you are a “good comedian”.  She admittedly nodded and said, “That is exactly the feeling I was getting.”

Now mind you, this is something I wouldn’t pull out to a complete stranger.  The way I perform is very casual.  Most patter I have is reactionary to what they say.  After I do some of my openers, I usually get the usual questions of  “How did you learn to do magic?”, “How long have you been doing it?”, “Whats your favorite trick?”.  If those questions pop up, I know they are investing enough to the question for me to pull out these kind of  tricks.  It’s long, and many magicians would probably hang themselves than sitting through the trick.  But I assure you that when the time is right, these kind of presentation and trick would be something special.

Thanks Bijou for letting me pick your brain.

Rarely do I get really impressed with coin magic, but Eric Jones is one of the best I have seen out there.  I for one personally think coin magic is the hardest close-up magic discipline to perform well.  There has to be a naturalness and smoothness that takes much more time and effort than any card trick.  We all should support this guy.  Buy his new DVD that just came out.

Eric Jones coin work.

So I was surfing YouTube last night and decided to look at all the popular known magicians and how they handled the routine.  Daryl’s routines were the ones that caught my attention. While he is technically amazing in any aspect,  I find something odd with the routine…  Roll Film.

Daryl’s Ambitious card.

Now before I go further, I want to point out that Daryl’s routine was probably influenced by the DVD he was making.  I’m sure he wouldn’t of shown that many phases in a real performance setting.  It was to show all the sleights he taught on the Ambitious Card DVD.  I talk more about the performance in general, It has nothing to do with Daryl personally.

Now, what I noticed right away was how he showed the card has risen to the top.  Daryl brushed the first reveal off very quickly.  Most of the phases he brushes off.  It felt like a throw away.  The audience didn’t get to savor the moment.   In fact, the audience were catching up the whole time.  There is something to be said when you, the magician, isn’t surprised with the your own little miracles.  I think attitude is key in making your audience believe the effect.

Daryl’s routine is what I mean by an effect that has gone too long.  Does the audience care?  What is the point of being fair and more fair through the effect.  Why learn all these magical ways to get the card to the top if it wasn’t fair in the first place?  When does it stop being magic and becomes a showcase of sleights.

Now people will argue that it doesn’t matter how many phases there are in a ACR as long as you keep them entertained.  I agree, but I also think that its your entertainment that keeps the routine moving, not the magic anymore.  It takes a back seat.

If you don’t think the number of phases matter in a ACR, then why don’t we do a 50 coins across?  Where did J.B. Bobo and David Roth come up with that magical number 4?  So is it okay to bring out a bag of half dollars and make them jump across 50 times, just as long as you keep them entertained?  Where is the magic in that?  Actually, it would be quite amazing if you did a backfire when you had 49 in one hand and 1 left in the other. (I have a method for that)  ((This is a running joke… I don’t have a method for that.)) (((But seriously, I do.)))

The frame of these 2 effects are quite simple.  A coin jumps to the other hand.  A card jumps to the top.  I think a major reason that a 50 coins across sounds stupid is because we don’t know 50 different unique ways to bring a coin to the other hand.  On the other hand, (It’s a Pun!) we all know many ways to control a card to the top.  It is that live long obsession of card magicians to find the next amazing control to the top.

So there lies the problem.  How can we make a simple effect like that into something amazing.  A coin disappearing from one hand and appearing in your other hand is quite amazing.  Why not a card that jumps to the top?  Just because we have a dick doesn’t mean we have to go fuck any hole we see.  Just becuase we know many card controls doesn’t mean we have to show the audience everyone of them and then label it a trick.  That Ho.

I have been getting comments about magic videos on this website and critiquing it harshly.
So here are the reasons to my madness.

1.)  Anyone who puts their magic performance videos onto a PUBLIC site, as in it’s not pass worded or private, I feel I have free range on critiquing it.  I don’t feel there is any need to contact the person to get permission to put it on the blog as it seems obvious to me that the person wants everyone to see it.  If the person did only want a selected few to see it, Youtube or any other public video posting site is a bad idea.  May I suggest using VIMEO, they give you the option to password the videos and also gives you the power to not allow others to embed to their websites.  If you did not want other people to comment about your performance then WHY put it online?  You can easily skype with trusted magicians and workshop any ideas you have.  If you put it onto Youtube, I feel you give me or anyone freedom to comment.

2.)  No one in magic should get special treatment.  We are all here to better the art and if the only reason people feel “bad” of me commenting on people who are known, well is it shame on me or them?  If Dai Vernon (in his prime) was doing something bad, I would tell him it’s horrible.  Reputation is based on your skills as a magician.  You have to keep it up if you want to keep that respect.

3.)  I show all my non-magician friends the videos before I put them on.  In the end isn’t it the audience that has the final say if the magic was good or not?  I show my non-magician friends these videos and get a feel of the are thinking.  They always say the same thing.  “What the fuck was that.”

4.)  Many people think I am somehow immune to all of this.  You should critique me the worst.  I set a standard on this blog, I should hopefully back up my words.  I try to walk the walk.  I am not a master magician.  Hell, who is.  I call it like I see it.

5.) I use the videos to point out what I think are important for close-up magic in general.  I am also here to learn too.  I am a big believer in that you learn more from mistakes.  If you think the only reason I put up these videos is to make fun of them, then read the comments under the posts.  I am not alone.

One final thing.  READ MY INTERNET LIPS.  I do not hate any of these people personally.  I am not a big fan of putting half-ass videos onto the Internet.  You shot it on a camera, for god sakes make it perfect.  There is a rewind button.

When I put ideas or anything half-assed onto this blog, I have the common sense to password it to keep it away from non-magicians.  Why don’t you?  There should NEVER be a reason to not have a near-perfect performance only on your public video account.

Game on.

No Standing from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Every magician knows it.  Every magician has a version of it.  It’s the staple of any card worker.  Besides the routine being a playground to practice your amazing controls to the top, the routine has lost its magic.  Here are some problems I see with the routine in general.

Too many phases. I have seen magicians do up to 20 phases in a Ambitious Card routine.  First of all, It ruins suspense and surprise that we all love about magic.  Of course the card will come to the top… it has the last 19 times.  A friend of mine, Gary Au once told me in a drunken haze that in order for magic to become a miracle we can’t dilute it.  If Jesus H. Christ back in the days cured some person of their blindness (I know a method) it would be a miracle.  If he then turned and said “…and for my next act…” and performed the water to wine miracle (I know a method) then he would be lessening the impact of the first act.  I see it like this.  If the audience can only go from 1 to 10 on the WOW Scale®.  The first trick would usually be up to a 9 or 10 if they never seen good magic.  If you keep performing, then the audience will only have your other tricks to compare to on the WOW Scale®.  This is why I try not to perform to laymen when I have other magician friends around.  Instead of the audience saying “Wow that was great!” They say, “Tony Chang was clearly the best out of all you magicians.  Stop what you are doing please.”

The raping of the D.L.. Now don’t get me wrong this move is great.  It is basically in every crouch magic card trick known to man.  But the use of it in almost every phase of Ambitious Card?  I personally think using this sleight and showing the card coming back to the top is the BEST method there is.  Then why do it 5 times in a row?  You dilute the impact it has to give.

So here is my challenge.

Create a Ambitious Card Routine that only has three phases and the last phase is the standard D.L.. This means there is no D.Ls until the last phase.  I think it will be a good exercise to strengthening your magic without adding more phases.  Make those three moments last.  Make them different.  Make them connect together as a single piece of magic.

I will be posting my version in a week.  I have never given much thought to it, so it will be fun.  Also give some good patter with it.  If you talk about a puppy that lost his way home and the only way to bring him back to the “top” is to pet the deck like a dog… then I will kill you.  Magically of course.

Ever accidentally drop a coin while doing a routine?  Make sure you brush it off by saying “don’t worry, that’s the sound of magic.”  Its funny.  ha ha.

This kid has taken that joke to the next level.  Make sure you turn up your speakers.  Its hard to hear the sound of magic.

Link Dead

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?

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.

Alex’s Pass is here
Frank’s Pass is here

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.

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.

————-

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.

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?”

Lesson 1 Visual Noise from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

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 ______

Random magic trick from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

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.”

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.

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.

False Swivel Cut from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

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.

Gary Au Pass Work 11.09.09 from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

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.

The video.

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.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAYN2ZmZpG8&feature=related]

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.

What do you think?

-T

Hey guys.  Sorry for the lack of updates.  No more. I have gotten myself a Flip 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.

Cherry Control from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Sorry for the lack of updates.  Surfaced came out last week.  It has taken my soul away and locked it in a cage.  If you have been under a rock, go and get this DVD now.  Its not easy, but anything worth while is never easy.  More postings will come, trust me, I haven’t deserted my 3 readers.

Oh yeah, please do not post your “check out my clip shift! only practiced for 2 hours” youtube video please.  Do yourself and everyone else a favor and don’t embarrass yourself.  If you need something to mesure to, check out this video.  When you can do it this good, feel free to post it.

The best Clipshift.

How do you find that perfect sleight?  That perfect move that makes kids cry and hot women say “so… why should I give a fuck?”  Here is something I recommend any magician to think about when they ask themselves on how good an effect is.

Lets go back to yesterday’s example about the simple effect of a card changing into the selected card.

Once again imagine how the effect would be done if you had magical powers.  How clean would this effect be?  pretty damn clean.  How clear is the effect?  do you even need the deck anymore?

My idea of the perfect effect is this.  You bring out one joker.  You ask them to think of any card, don’t say the card, just think of it.  You ask them to stare at the joker.  With a shake, the joker magically changes into their thought of card.  You give it to the spectator as a souvenir.

Now of course there is presentation envolved, but we are just talking about the method now.  This is my “perfect” effect, you may have one that is even better.  But once you have it, your job is to emulate it as closely as possible with sleight of hand.  How close can you get to that ideal effect?

The idea of magic is to give the illusion of the perfect effect.  So the next time you perform an effect ask yourself is this the best it can be?

If you been in the magic community long enough, you will realize that all the effects and tricks out there are really similar.  They are.  You can only do so much with a deck of cards.  There’s only so many ways to show a random card changing into the selected card.

For this post, we will concern ourselves with the effect of a card changing into a selection.  Very simple effect, which can be presented any way.  My question would be this,

Why isn’t there a standard way of performing this effect? The ultimate method so to speak.

What I mean by this question is this.  If we imagine that we had real magical powers and for some stupid reason we would perform card tricks instead of healing the blind and saving starving children, how would we make this effect work?  Well… by magic.

Now, we obviously don’t have real magic powers, except for the guy who invented the “Indiana”.  But besides him, how would you approach this?  Sleight of hand is the obvious answer. But just like how there is so many variations for a single card effect, there is also many variations for sleight of hand.  There is a god awful amount of methods to control a card to the top and the same amount to perform a color change.

I think there is a perfect method out there for this effect.  My quest in magic is to find the perfect sleight of hand.  Isn’t this something that every magician should be working on?  Why are the majority of performers out there satisfied with just a control to the top because it gets the job done.  Shouldn’t it be PERFECT?

I’m blabbing here, but really think about it.  Why do we have so many ways to perform the same effect when the ultimate purpose for magic is to give the BEST illusion that you do have magical powers. Do you really need another trick?  Another variation?  Why not find the best method and make kids cry and poop in their pants.  They don’t need you to show them 5 variations of the same card trick.  Trust me, they just… don’t.

the video below is my quest to find the perfect method.  It’s progress, but its what keeps me from burning my cards and quitting magic.

Joker being a joker.

I’ll do one better, I’ll talk about magic.  This blog is about me telling it all about my views about the magic world, sleight of hand, and why 90% of magicians are horrible and should stop immediately.

Why?

here are some reasons.

Kids and adults alike ruin magic by not respecting it and practicing. (Youtube magicians)

I want to pass my wisdom (or lack there-of) to people who are willing to treat magic as an art.

Need something to do during work because I’m tired of my boss yelling at me when i sleep on the job.

There will be virtual cookies and milk for anyone willing to listen.

Rants may include postings about theory, presentation, and how to improve magic. (in my humble opinion) The majority of this Blog will be used to help people with their sleight of hand.  I will be posting videos on how to refine your sleight of hand basics to levels you only wish you knew if your grandpa was Dai Vernon and was kind enough to teach you his wisdom.

Well, more postings coming later.  This blog will be like a river of my thoughts transformed into magicial-goo like substance that will stick on you like white on rice.

-T