SEPTEMBER 2009: That Feeling of Wonder

May 19, 2009
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I actually had like a life revelation or something jsut yesterday.

My buddy got in a fight and got punched in the nose. So he was bleeding a whole lot.

The blood was everywhere i gave him my shirt to wipe it off but the sight of blood was, to me, magical.

It wasn't red it was more dark red/black and i always thought i hated the sight of blood, but that moment was just, magical.

I don't plan on implementing blood into my of my tricks but that sight will be something i will never forget.
 
Sep 20, 2008
1,112
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That is the weirdest thing ive ever read in my life.

The sight of blood, is apparantly magical.
 
Sep 20, 2008
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I agree, and apologise at the same time. I may have sounded a bit arrogant in that post. I just find it highly.. Intriguing.

Cheers.

-Sin
 
I have always been the guy that is off the wall when it comes to inspiration. Growing up, i always like horror movies. I've watched A-list , B-list, even these really horrible production horror movies dating back from the 60's-present time. I always wanted to play the role of the most invincible horror icon. Something as badass as Jason, slick lines like Freddy, yet more disturbed than the family of Leatherface. I wanted to have powers beyond belief. So movies kinda did it for me. That element of surpise when a victim dies is really kool. Especially the way Freddy and PinHead does it.

I think the kills are creative. Fx artist like Tom Savini is atop of that list. The way he creates such horror to some people is really funny to me. For one, they aren't dead actually. So to have these icons kill in such a manner that makes me laugh is sweet. Once I watched this horrible production movie, which is good though.. called Satan's Little Helper. When the killer ripped this guy intestines out was really gory, but the next part was super sweet. He ties it into a knot around the chair. It was gory, funny, and quite inspiring. I'm not saying to go out and kill someone, I'm saying the creativity in kills inspire. Any movie can have a decapitation in it. But if anyone ever saw Friday the 13th: Jason Takes Manhattan, the decaptiation was sweet. The guy is punching Jason and out of nowhere he punches the guy head off and it goes rattles down a building and goes into a garbage can. That was creativity. I can remember me and my cousin's watching it for the first time and saying. "Threeeeee!!!!".....Thats was a great moment for me.


I do horror type magic...its a bit of geek, its a bit of comedy relief. I try and tie them together when I perform. I don't think motivation comes from one thing. Its the artist own ares that gives he/she their ideas. I like cartoons as well. The RoadRunner and The Coyote is another way of creative inspiration. The escapes of characters such as Bugs Bunny and The RoadRunner is really good so hats of to the great Friz Freeling. I think his creative ways is really inspiring.

Another movie that comes to mind in creativity is a horror movie called THE ICE CREAM MAN. Theres another decapitation scene that utilizes the guy natural area. Where the killer cuts this guy head off.(which is really common) But like most guys send women flowers. He sends this woman her boyfriend's head in a icecream cone. That was sweet. I know this may be cheesy to some, but to me its another thought that runs through my mind. the classic one to me is Jason goes to Hell: The Final Friday. A lot of punches can kill people, but i think the koolest kill of them all was when Jason punches the woman teeth down her throat. I've heard the phrase "I'll knock your teeth down your throat". But for someone to litterally do it is the greatest thing in the world.

Magic to me, is anything not done the normal way by human ability. And whenever someone defies a law or do the impossible. Thats when magic is at its purest.....
 
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Nov 8, 2007
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There are a few videos I've come across that, to me, were very magical.

Blinded by Business

Where the Hell is Matt?

Muto Wallpainting

Damien Walters

Danny MacAskill

In my own personal life, Cirque du Soleil's water show, "O," was absolute magic to me. I'm not even going to try and put it into words or explain why, because if you've seen it you know why, and if you haven't nothing can describe it.

Water to me is real astonishment. I've always been fascinated by it--the way our bodies and the earth are both made up of approximately 68% water, the way it can be one of the most destructive forces on earth and yet one of the most peaceful, the complexity and simplicity of it, how it provides an environment for life for creatures as small as amoeba and as large as whales, how it seeps into the ground and falls from the sky, how it can never be destroyed, how it's the basis for all beauty that grows on our planet... It's just something I always find myself in wonder of.

"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." - Loran Eisely, 1957

Thanks for posting this topic, Dan. Very good topic that has resulted in some very cool stories and opinions!
 
Sep 1, 2007
557
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Porthcawl, Wales.
When I was roughly 9 years old (12 years ago), my mother took me to see a Wayne Dobson stage show. Wayne is an incredible and accomplished UK stage magician.

During the show Wayne did a card stab effect and left loads of his own uniquely printed cards over the floor and being young I ran up and collected some after the show.

The show finished and I had an opportunity to go back stage and meet him. Whilst in the queue to see Wayne back stage, an older gentleman asked me if I would like to see some magic using the cards I had in hand.

He took two red cards and placed them in my hands and he held on to two black cards, a magical gesture and I turned my cards over... I was holding the two black cards, he had the two reds. I came across with an almost euphoric feeling and remembering back it seemed like everything around me faded out and all I could see in my hands were the cards. Nothing else mattered for that brief, sweet, moment in time. I had just experienced magic.

The sad part to this story is that a number of years back I learned what this trick was and how it worked exactly (Dr.Daley's Last Trick for those interested). The magic was gone.

I perform this EVERY time I do magic. Because if I manage to give one other person the same feeling that I experienced, then I can truly call myself a magician.

Cheers,

Lloyd

(P.s. I still have the cards that I collected from the stage floor that day.)
 
Sep 3, 2009
21
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38
Indianapolis, IN
I was on a mission in Mosul, Iraq 4 years ago. There were no real bases where we were, so my platoon had to sleep in hummers parked on the sidewalks in "trouble areas." It was meant to reassure the people what we were there to "protect them."

One night, while we were sleeping, our fireguard woke us up because he saw people gathering on the rooftops. We took up positions just as an RPG hit our truck and blew it up. All hell broke loose and people were killed. Among the dead was a man who was the legal guardian of an 8 year old girl named Abida Widaad.

With no family to look after her, she would spend her days hanging out around us for protection. She slept outside our hummer on spare uniforms and bags we had inside. Orphans are regarded as undesirables there.

Anyway, I did a few magic tricks for her. Really nothing big. Making little pieces of chocolate appear, money, etc. I would always pull it from behind her little ears and give it to her. It was REALLY basic stuff.

Last month I got a letter from Iraq. I thought it was from a buddy of mine, but it turned out that it was her. She sent me a picture that was taken of us laughing about something, and she let me know that after I left, she was taken by an orphanage where she has been busy every day trying to learn English so that she could one day write me a letter and tell me how much she enjoyed the "miracles" I made.

The feeling I had while reading the letter was nothing short of amazing and heart wrenching. If I could find a way to evoke that with a performance, I would be a millionaire.
 
My first sonogram.

Unless you have been there in your own experience, you have no idea what its like.

KE

i had a sonogram, but it was for my liver, so it wasnt that cool. but yea thats amazing..


anywho onto my wonderful experience.
we all take it for granted. but whenever it is a clear night and i look up at the stars, all i can think about is how big the sky is. and how much is out there.
we have all looked up and wondered. and if you havnt, take a second to look up there.
the only thing i can think that is bigger is the spans of our minds. i look at the sky and think about what is at the end, or if there is an end. and how much is there we dont know about, or cant figure out!

if i was to relate this to magic, all i can say is that there is always another thing, idea, thought. it is all endless and always going.
we dont know if there is an end, but even if there is an end to magic, im sure it is just as amazing and astonishing as anything ever seen.
 
Sep 3, 2009
21
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Indianapolis, IN
Thanks, my friend. It was really an incredible feeling. When I went back last year I tried to take some leave time to go and try tracking her down, but I decided it would be too hard to find a needle in a haystack. Especially a haystack that hates needle finders like me and will try to kidnap me and cut my head off. ;)

I'm so glad we're vamping down in Iraq.



I've been thinking about how I could turn that story into a trick, but I'm not even close to having anything worth practicing. It's all in the "what if" mode.
 
Jan 5, 2009
80
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33
Small town Ohio
It's hard to pick one truly magical moment that has happened to me. I have many. But one that sticks out to me, still makes my heart feel like it's going to burst to this day.

Last year, I worked as a resident assistant in a nursing home. It's most definitely the hardest job I've had thus far. Not only was the work hard, but getting attached to the residents, and then a lot of the times have them pass away, was extremely hard on me.
There was this one lady, Mary.. she had severe Alzheimer's Disease. It broke my heart. Her children would come to visit her and she would have no idea who they were. They frightened her in fact. Her husband even stopped coming because of that.
Most days she would just stare out her window. She hadn't spoken in two years.
Well, one night I was working third shift and I get a help call on my phone coming from Mary's room. I rush in there and she's crying.
She asks me where her children, Jake and Amy are. I was beyond startled that she was speaking and even more shocked that she could recall their names.
I tried to calm her down but she was relentless on talking to her children.

So I ran to the office and found their phone numbers so she could call them. All she said was, " I love you so much and I will miss you".
(by this time two other RA's came in and we were all in shock)
She calmed down after that.. went to sleep.. and never woke up.

That was one of the most surreal moments I've ever had.
I could try to explain the feeling had/have but it wouldn't give it justice.
That was true magic to me.
 
Oct 24, 2009
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SEPTEMBER 2009 That Feeling of Wonder

All the time. I think my inner ear plays games with me. Gives the feeling that the bike is squirming.

More often then not Im feeling really slow and think the tires have gone down or the brakes are rubbing, though. Never is the case, Im just slow.
 
Oct 27, 2009
71
0
Philippines
I did a bending quarter effect. Literally the simplest one, it wasn't even signed and I just did a switch lol, very basic. So she loved it and I went about my day. 2 years later, i am sitting in class and some girl screams 'OH MY GOD!". And I look and she goes "It's you!". I'm freaking out, wondering what the hell i did lol. So she pulls out the quarter and my jaw just dropped. the reason I knew it was her from 2 years ago is because I only performed the bending quarter effect 1 time ever in my life! So the fact that she kept it and didn't forget about me was truly amazing!

I'm out of words, wow.
 
Nov 20, 2007
4,410
6
Sydney, Australia
It's hard to pick one truly magical moment that has happened to me. I have many. But one that sticks out to me, still makes my heart feel like it's going to burst to this day.

Last year, I worked as a resident assistant in a nursing home. It's most definitely the hardest job I've had thus far. Not only was the work hard, but getting attached to the residents, and then a lot of the times have them pass away, was extremely hard on me.
There was this one lady, Mary.. she had severe Alzheimer's Disease. It broke my heart. Her children would come to visit her and she would have no idea who they were. They frightened her in fact. Her husband even stopped coming because of that.
Most days she would just stare out her window. She hadn't spoken in two years.
Well, one night I was working third shift and I get a help call on my phone coming from Mary's room. I rush in there and she's crying.
She asks me where her children, Jake and Amy are. I was beyond startled that she was speaking and even more shocked that she could recall their names.
I tried to calm her down but she was relentless on talking to her children.

So I ran to the office and found their phone numbers so she could call them. All she said was, " I love you so much and I will miss you".
(by this time two other RA's came in and we were all in shock)
She calmed down after that.. went to sleep.. and never woke up.

That was one of the most surreal moments I've ever had.
I could try to explain the feeling had/have but it wouldn't give it justice.
That was true magic to me.

Holy crap. That's really something... I can only imagine what that experience must have been like. Thanks for sharing.. :)
 
Sep 12, 2007
153
1
40
Normandy, FRANCE
I'll just say one thing : best topic ever.

It's said that the one thing that interests people the most is people, and now I really understand why. Every single reply here tells an amazing story, something that will be remembered by those people forever. It made me think about my own life, about what I've experienced, and what I have yet to experience. It's great that we magicians are still able to experience this feeling of wonder...

I won't however even try to describe anything here, because it's already hard to describe such a thing in your mother tongue, so describing it in english would really make it impossible to do. :p
 
Oct 16, 2009
11
0
39
washington
I really really like this one.

I work as a Lifeguard at a pool/waterpark here in Virginia Beach. Each day, hundreds of kids and parents come through the pool. Many can swim, and many can't (hence me having a job). Swimming is, to me, the most important thing in my life besides magic. It allows me to compete, surf, and save lives. It is the most important skill I think a child can have. It allows freedom like no other experience in the world.

Well, about 1 month ago, a small 4 year-old girl was running around the pool deck. She hopped into our deep water area, and could not swim. I went in the water, and pulled her out. She told me that her parents did not teach her, nor cared to teach her how to swim, but that it was her goal.

2 weeks ago, I saw her at the pool again. She was hopping in the shallow water, went under water with one big breath, and swam. I could not believe it, I witnessed the exact moment in her life that she will never ever forget. Her mom realized finally the accomplishment, and had tears in her eyes just watching her daughter's excitment. There was magic in the air that day, the kind of real magic that changes someones life forever. I was simply glad to be a part of it.


I am a coin magician, surfer, snowboarder, and swimmer. Each and everything I do involves fluidity like no other. I watch a surfer set up for a carve and then blow his tail to the top of the wave in one smooth, quick, powerful motion. As if life moves in slow motion until the action happens. I apply this principal to my coin work as well. My hands will move slowly together, as I throw the coin across. Then, like a surfer blasting a carve, I vanish the coin, or make it dance from hand to hand in one magical moment. One moment, interconnected by a series of fluid, slowly flowing motions. My intent is to mesmerize with the hands, and astonish with the magic.

All the best,
-Chase

are you cereal right now?
 
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