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.

Happy Holidays.

War of 1812 from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

password : booya

Password : Who invented the trick “The Visitor”? Larry ________

BeKind Sandwich from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

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”

Be Kind Change from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

-Tony

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.

Untitled from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

Password : Ricky Jay and his __ assistants.  (number)

Two tricks using the DPS from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

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”

DPS1 from Tony Chang on Vimeo.

I can now say why I have not been posting lately. I have been filming and editing all the videos for the new magic website, VanshingInc.  It is a new website created by Joshua Jay and Andi Gladwin.

Now I’m not a big fan of any of these magic websites but I can honestly say this one is different.  Why?  Well for starters they don’t carry shit just so they can sell it.  They handpick the books and DVDs that they truly think is good for magic as an Art.  You won’t see any vanishing milk from newspaper to light bulb in this website.  Also, you actually see many heavy hitters in magic review the items on the website personally.  There is no “I’m elite” status here with anyone working on the site.  It’s just our honest opinion on things that we think magic should be and what you need to read to become better.

Even better, I have put up my color change that has been floating around the internet for a long time.  If you haven’t seen my youtube video of it from a year ago, here it is below.  I have made a video through VanishingInc that not only teaches the change but also teaches 3 other tricks with it.  Get it here.

Yes yes, this is a plug for the website but I am not lying when I say this is a website has an anti-ellusionist feel to it.  I for one am glad that someone finally broke the fucking mold.

Check it out and expect to see more posts.  (hopefully).