What is the point of someone picking a card again? I took it for granted probably like every other magician, but lately I have been thinking what is the reason. I mean it is a great effect when a spectator selects a card and returns it to be shuffled and to find it again, but I think that we as magicians might be taking it too far…
An example. Triumph. what is the trick? It is making a shuffled mixed up face up/face down deck magically right itself into a normal state. Now where the fuck does having a card selected come into that equation? Do we dilute the trick because of the selection? Isn’t it clearer if triumph is done without a card being selected?
Imagine handing a spectator the deck and having them throw it on the table and shuffle face up/face down. you have them square the deck on the table. You then do your magical move and then spread the deck. The deck magically rights itself into all face down. that is impressive, clear, direct. Now add a selection into that trick…. it makes me wonder why. Its like we want magic to happen “around” the selection. The selection really takes a back seat.
“Look, I turned all the cards face down!… and found your card.”
Think about it this way. If you did a set of card tricks but never had a card selected, do you think it would stronger or weaker than a set of card tricks where every time it had to have a selection?
Do you just cut to the fucking meat of an effect because you don’t have a card selected? How many times had you have a layman say “like it really matters where I put the card… you know where it is anyways.”
Here is some homework. How many effects do you know that doesn’t involve a selection?
Alex is an up and coming magician. Don’t believe me? Here is a video of him doing a move that is very difficult and doesn’t have any applications. My kind of stuff.
Long time since i blogged. Sorry about that. I started getting into coin magic. I actually started out basically in coin magic before I got really heavy into card magic. It’s time to go back and re-learn it again.
Now the topic is about this Japanese coin magician, Ponta the Smith. I’m sure you seen his videos on youtube before, but if not here is his youtube channel. Amazing hands, amazing coin work, and best of all… no gimmicks.
One big reason I got out of coin magic was because of the trend of where it was going. It got so god-damn gimmicked that it sickened me. What happened to the good old days of just using one shell. Now its all about the triple threat gimmicks and flipper coins and crap. Now I for one am not all against using gimmicks but like in my previous posts I feel many people use gimmicks because either they don’t have the skill to pull it off or they are just lazy.
If you disagree, check out the work of Ponta and Kainoa Harbottle. They do things that are so magical and visual without the use of gimmicks. That is the difference between good magic and bad magic. Many forget that magic is a craft. You can’t be a good painter if you have a machine do the painting for you. You have to hone your skills.
Anyways, just a little rant. If you want to learn some good coin magic wait until Ponta comes out with his DVD over here in the states. Also pick up anything by Kainoa, expically Coins on Edge.
Warning : I tend to talk in stream of consciousness.
I don’t know why I rather see something as simple as a coin vanish performed well. If you ever seen Alex Gieser do any of his coin magic you will know what I am talking about. No patter, No misdirection, just pure magic. I guess I have to define what I mean as magic. Many consider that presentation and patter is above the sleight of hand. The old saying of “The magician is an actor playing the part of the magician.” has always rubbed me in the wrong way. What is a magician? How does the actor know what he is suppose to represent. Its like telling an actor to act like an alien from outerspace. Does this mean that the actor is trying to act out what he “thinks” a alien is suppose to be? I somehow think that’s why they want to put more thought in presentation and patter since that’s what they know. But what if you are presenting to a person from another country? What if you can’t use the power of language? I can’t stand when magicians say that magic is a sub-set of theater. If anything magic is its own art. Magic can use theater to help create a better illusion (sometimes), but magic isn’t some bitch to theater.
I feel a reason that many people need to use patter or presentation is that magic at its core is illogical. Logic tells us that in order to get from A to C, you have to go through B. But magic creates something that can make it “seem” like A can get to C without B. this is the sense of magic for me. You create a situation that can’t be possible logically unless you know the method. With the method it does not defy logic at all. Think about it. Magic is the only thing on this damn planet that creates this. It is such an amazing thing. Now back to why people want to use presentation… Magic creates a blank spot in your mind. Paul Harris describes this as feeling like a baby. Your mind doesn’t know how to categorize what just happened. It doesn’t last for long though, the mind HAS to do something about it, thus it will creates one of the two emotions, amazement or frustration. That’s is why you get people who are just amazed or hate you. I had women cry before by just doing some card tricks. Its a card trick for fuck sake, but yet it hits them hard.
Now to my point. Many times presentation and patter is to “soften” the blow of magic. How many times do you see magicians make jokes after the magical moment. They don’t like that tension that it creates. A main reason that I stopped perusing magic as a job was that I felt both of the emotions, amazement and frustration, were equally valid. You can’t leave your customers frustrated as they leave the restaurant if you were doing magic there. That isn’t your JOB. You are suppose to entertain them. But magic at it’s core is not to entertain. You can USE magic to entertain, but at it’s core its something different. I remember reading on the magic cafe about someone asking how many phases for an ACR. Someone said “as long as they are entertained”. That’s fucking bullshit. Just because they are entertained doesn’t mean its good magic. Its like saying a comedian that plays the guitar is a good guitarist. That’s stupid.
But the problem is that you can’t get paid for just doing magic as it is. People want drama, people want stories. Its how we are built. That is why I do magic on my own terms. When your life and well-being isn’t dependent on magic as a job it will open magic as an art to a bigger arena. For me it is to simplify my magic. My dream card trick is to show a joker to the audience and say that it can change to any card they name. They do and I wave the joker and it changes to the card, and then back. That’s it.
Alright, enough ranting. Here is a color change I have been working on for quite sometime. It is called the “Be Kind Change”. Anyone who can actually read through this whole thing should deserve a little treat.
Password : The Boldest change or switch that is executed with a card in one hand for the card on top. Its the “_ _ _ change”
Just want to remind you to read the actual handling of the DPS in Expert at the card table. I show you what adjustments I have made to make the DPS fit what I want, but I am not going through the sleight’s nuts and bolts. Thanks to Ricky Smith and Gary Au for helping me through this. I am by no means a master of the move but the reason I want to teach this move is that I want more magicians to read the classics. The DPS has many applications.
Oh by the way. Don’t just watch the video to know how its done. Learn it. Use it. Otherwise there is no point.
Password: What does Erdnase call the section in his book about magic effects.
Here are two tricks I have been working on using the DPS as the main sleight. A variation of the Hofzinser’s Ace Problem and Bureau d’Echange by Ernest Erick. Enjoy. Next week I will go further in detail on how the move is done.
Password : Ricky Jay and his __ assistants. (number)
If anyone was wondering what I have been doing magic-wise in the many months of not updating this blog, the topic explains it all. The DPS is explained in “Expert at the Card Table”. Rarely done by magicians, but if seen in the hands of an expert, its a thing of beauty. The mechanics of the move is something all sleight of hand should achieve.
Now, I do not claim to be an expert of the move. I have only been doing it for 4 months but I do feel I am qualified to show students of the move some tips and pointers that will help them along. I won’t teach the move in full detail since I strongly feel that this move is something only learned completely if one goes though the trails and errors to make it perfect.
The learning process of the diagonal palm shift will perfectly demonstrate what YOU, as the magician should go through with every sleight of hand. The DPS is not forgiving to the lay men’s eyes. You can get away with a poor double lift, but the DPS is not as forgiving. That is the main reason that only seasoned magicians perform the move in public.
So here is a video of me doing the move and a few pointers on the sleight. Throughout the coming weeks, I will be adding more pointers on the move. If anyone wants to upload their DPS and show it on the blog, I’ll be more than glad to do so. If you don’t think the DPS has any applications, trust me when I say this… I have came up with some amazing tricks that use the DPS exclusively. It has more applications than just stealing a card out of the middle.
Password : What year was “Expert at the Card Table” published? *Hint* last name of author “.com”
