Questions

[I am a Magician]

Hello,
I have a couple of quick questions to everybody who either does magic or cardistry. I am just interested about yall.
1) How long have you been into cardistry and/or magic?
2)What got you interested in the craft (was it a magician or maybe a magic kit that you got when you were 10?)
3)Favorite type of magic (Coin, cards,etc,.) (Favorite Flourish)?
4)Which one do you prefer: Physical Magic Shops or Online Stores?

Thank You Very Much!

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!

 

[Gustav Dubh]

A few short answers:
1) 53 years, 32 as a professional.
2) My mothers uncle's name was Bram Bongers, he gave me a Scotch&Soda for my eight birthday and that started it all..... His stage-name was Fred Kaps. He is dead a long time but i still have and use that S&S and it is not for sale.
3) I work mostly with coins, cards, ropes, cups and balls and sponges. I don't care much for cardistry, that is a form of juggling to me and i have no real use for it. I like to watch a good cardistrian but it is not for me.
4) Physical shops are the best, online it is easier to order stuff. I try to get my stuff direct from the creator but that is not always possible.

Gustav Dubh.

 

[Scodischarge]

1) I've been practicing with cards for ~14 months, but started practicing magic per se about 3 months ago, so I'm still a newbie.
2) Summer last year I watched Richard Turner's performance on Penn and Teller Fool Us. This got me interested in card cheating, an interest that has only been growing since (don't worry, I won't ever use it in real life).
But as I spend so much time with cards, I wanted it to be of some use, at least, so I started practicing a little magic as well.
3) Only cards so far.
4) Every town or city I visit, I do some research whether it has a magic shop. Haven't been lucky so far, but I hope to be able to visit one soon. To answer your question: Until now I have only been able to visit online shops.

2) My mothers uncle's name was Bram Bongers, he gave me a Scotch&Soda for my eight birthday and that started it all..... His stage-name was Fred Kaps.

A name like that, what did he need a stage name for?

These are great questions, by the way, thanks for asking them!

 

[Mr_ARPY]

1)I think it’s a bit over 3.5 years now. I mean I don’t care much for magic as its performance aspect, and tbh don’t know that many tricks. But I do love learning sleight of hand with cards, tabled stuff mainly.
2)My aunt bought me that classic transposition of the ball to the cup (I forgot its name) when I was almost 10 years old. That kinda got me started and I bought a simple magic kit and started practicing for about a year or so, but then stopped completely. Until I heard that a friend of a friend of mine does card magic and kinda good at it. I had never met that person and didn’t know much about card magic, so I did a quick web search for it, fell in love more or less at first sight. That was when I found out that magic is actually an industry such communities like T11 and website that sell stuff and creators that share their stuff at social media, etc exist. I more or less learned a bit of every close up sleight in my first year (cards, coins, rubber bands, sponge bolls, cardistry, etc) but now I just stick to cards.
3)As I think I mentioned above a few times, my main obsession is gambling sleights, but I love any hardcore sleight of hand with cards.
And even though I’m not the best at it, I occasionally practice a bit of cardistry.
4)The only magic shops I’ve ever been to are kids magic shops with the stuff that you can find in magic kits, etc. so as I’ve never seen an actual magic shop (like Tannen or Fantasma), I prefer online shops.

My mothers uncle's name was Bram Bongers, he gave me a Scotch&Soda for my eight birthday and that started it all..... His stage-name was Fred Kaps

Wow, you were introduced to magic by probably one of the greatest minds in magic. What an honor

 

[Gustav Dubh]

1)I think it’s a bit over 3.5 years now. I mean I don’t care much for magic as its performance aspect, and tbh don’t know that many tricks. But I do love learning sleight of hand with cards, tabled stuff mainly.
2)My aunt bought me that classic transposition of the ball to the cup (I forgot its name) when I was almost 10 years old. That kinda got me started and I bought a simple magic kit and started practicing for about a year or so, but then stopped completely. Until I heard that a friend of a friend of mine does card magic and kinda good at it. I had never met that person and didn’t know much about card magic, so I did a quick web search for it, fell in love more or less at first sight. That was when I found out that magic is actually an industry such communities like T11 and website that sell stuff and creators that share their stuff at social media, etc exist. I more or less learned a bit of every close up sleight in my first year (cards, coins, rubber bands, sponge bolls, cardistry, etc) but now I just stick to cards.
3)As I think I mentioned above a few times, my main obsession is gambling sleights, but I love any hardcore sleight of hand with cards.
And even though I’m not the best at it, I occasionally practice a bit of cardistry.
4)The only magic shops I’ve ever been to are kids magic shops with the stuff that you can find in magic kits, etc. so as I’ve never seen an actual magic shop (like Tannen or Fantasma), I prefer online shops.

Wow, you were introduced to magic by probably one of the greatest minds in magic. What an honor

Thank you, for me he was just uncle Bram, a nice guy who came to our house a few times a year.

 

[Scodischarge]

Wow, you were introduced to magic by probably one of the greatest minds in magic. What an honor

Ok, just goes to show how well versed I am in magic. I'm sorry for my rather flippant comment earlier.

 

[RealityOne]

1) How long have you been into cardistry and/or magic?

11 years.

2)What got you interested in the craft (was it a magician or maybe a magic kit that you got when you were 10?)

Doing a magic show for my son's Cub Scout Den.

3)Favorite type of magic (Coin, cards,etc,.) (Favorite Flourish)?

Parlor magic.

4)Which one do you prefer: Physical Magic Shops or Online Stores?

I enjoy visiting brick and mortar magic shops, but I end up purchasing from on-line shops just because everything is always in stock.

His stage-name was Fred Kaps.

That is a wonderful story and your uncle was one of the most amazing magicians ever.

 

[Mr_ARPY]

Ok, just goes to show how well versed I am in magic. I'm sorry for my rather flippant comment earlier.

Well, you know people that many magicians in this forum have most likely never heard of. People like DOC and Mr. Z are as unheard of to normal magicians as Fred Kaps and Max Malini are to the tabled move monkey.

 

[Scodischarge]

Well, you know people that many magicians in this forum have most likely never heard of. People like DOC and Mr. Z are as unheard of to normal magicians as Fred Kaps and Max Malini are to the tabled move monkey.

Thanks for the encouraging words

 

[Antonio Diavolo]

Hello,
I have a couple of quick questions to everybody who either does magic or cardistry. I am just interested about yall.
1) How long have you been into cardistry and/or magic?
2)What got you interested in the craft (was it a magician or maybe a magic kit that you got when you were 10?)
3)Favorite type of magic (Coin, cards,etc,.) (Favorite Flourish)?
4)Which one do you prefer: Physical Magic Shops or Online Stores?

Thank You Very Much!

Hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week!

1. I've been into magic for like 13 years but I only became serious about it about 5 years ago or so. And I only became REALLY serious about it like 3 years ago. If that makes any sense.
Basically, about 8 of those years, I had an on and off interest in magic. It would come and go in spurts but I always had a passing interest and would go out of my way to watch magic on TV and whatnot. When I started high school, I got really into magic and have stuck with it since then, but I cringe looking back at that time when I first started. It was bad but that's for another post. I started to actually read and really work hard on my sleights and whatnot about 3 years ago. So you can pick whichever of those you'd consider valid haha.

2. When I was 6, I went to this evening daycare thing for a week while my mom and my friends mom had "mom nights" together. On one of the last days, a magician came to perform and I had never seen magic before in any capacity so my little 6 year old brain was rocked. He ended the show by giving us each these little silver cylinders that he told us to throw into the air on the count of 3. I threw my little capsule in the air and it popped into a wand. I was hooked. My mom hired him for my birthday as his contact info was printed on the wands. Obviously, because I had a magic-themed Birthday party, I got a whole bunch of magic kits and then it took off from there.

I hate to admit it, but a combination of YouTube magicians (One that rhymes with Derek 4:20) and my 7th grade science teacher who, in hindsight, was most likely an amateur magician got me interested in magic again. I learned the french drop at some point and then when I started high school, I started learning tricks from YouTube. I was that guy who had 3 gimmicked decks on him at all times and thus only knew 3 card tricks. I'm happy to say I haven't been like that for a long time but I still feel like I have a lot of room for improvement.

3. Easily card tricks, although I don't think they're always the most fun for me to perform. I don't really do flourishes but a spring or ribbon spread seem to get some good reactions haha.

4. Physical shops all the way. Online shopping is very convenient and has a lot of positives (love u Theory11 <3) but I don't think I'd be half of the magician I am now if it weren't for all the great people I met at my local magic store. Plus, there's something special about being able to see a trick demoed for you live. I think magic is at it's best when it's done in person but that's just me. Plus, the owner, Steve, is very honest about your skills, products, etc. and I think that's super helpful.