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I've got to second ChristopherT here. It really isn't polite or ethical to watch someone else's performance and steal it. It's fine to take inspiration from it, but using someone else's performance as a shopping list of stuff you want to try isn't the correct approach.

Yes. How does that mean that learning from books is the only valid learning method? You don't understand what "straw man" means. I don't. Just to save you looking up what a straw man argument is, here's a lovely example. You'll notice I haven't ever suggested that I only learn from videos...

Correct. That's not really the point, though. I'm saying that it would be very easy to closed-mindedly say that someone couldn't be a good magician if they hadn't studied the classics. Richard Turner and Jerry Andrus prove that to be wrong. In a similar way, it's easy to say that someone can't...

Two magicians who didn't learn from books are Richard Turner and Jerry Andrus. To my mind that's a pretty good argument that learning from books isn't necessarily the only way to go. Don't get me wrong, I love books. I love magic books, philosophy books, science books, novels, comics...basically...

To be fair Craig, much as I agree with every point you've made as a general rule, the OP is from Romania, so maybe his spelling and grammar are perfect in his mother tongue. By the way, it amused me, and I only mean this in a gently humorous way, so please don't take it as an attack, that your...

That's pretty much Lennart Green's Circulation Shuffle. Check it out on his Green Magic or Masterfile DVDs (which are well worth it anyway).

1. Giraffe 2. Duck-billed platypus 3. Aardvark

You've used the expression "burden of proof" and characterised as "dishonest" any attempt to shift it. Shift it, I might add from a side of the argument upon which you arbitrarily chose to place it. My entire point (which you haven't addressed) is that all assertions can be made in a positive...

I'll chip in on this to make the observation that any negative assertion can be rephrased as a positive one (e.g. "Telepathy does not exist" could be rephrased as "Human perception of stimuli is limited to that which they encounter via the sense organs or physical contact") so this notion of...

The problem with multiple card revelations is that after the first two, the audience pretty much knows what to expect so they're unlikely to be surprised. They might be impressed by the first revelation, and the second one if it looks different and more impressive than the first. After that...

Absolutely. To build a strong brand, you have to distinguish between "clients" and "fans", and be aware of the differences in how you need to communicate with these two groups. A client could be someone like the promotions manager of a chain of cinemas, a bar manager, or just a celebrity...

I tend to agree with you Steerpike, but with a caveat. The way people approach media nowadays is changing, and I think user-generated content sites and social media are becoming a lot more important. In five years time, the "big break" for a magician won't come when he gets a TV show, but when...

Recently, I've started using them to practice routines that require a card to be crimped. That allows me to practice them while still maintaining a full deck of uncrimped cards.

Cool. That's the theory I've been coming round to recently, so glad I've got authoritative support for my thinking! I think it's hard to get away from the idea that Erdnase was basically an enthusiastic sleight-of-hand hobbyist who hung around in the right places in Chicago to meet people like...

Well done. Now you've got a good work ethic established, broaden your horizons by spending at least a couple of those hours going out and practicing performance skills by performing for real people. After you've done that for a couple of months, you won't need to ask anyone else questions about...

Sorry to chip back in again, but I think there's a slight flaw in the argument here. You argue that Erdnase couldn't be a magician because he's written a well-respected book on card cheating techniques. We can take it, then, that you're suggesting that a similar argument would hold for anyone...

Another alternative is Daryl's Mexican Turnover Top Change Second Deal (basically a complicated name for a variation of a Mexican Turnover) which he teaches on his Ambitious Card DVD (or book if you can find it).

The move itself is performed well, although I've got a couple of suggestions. First, I think the angle you're filming from is slightly unnatural. If the camera was a bit higher, looking down from eye level, it would give us a better idea of how the shift would look in a real-life situation...

That's not quite accurate. There are lots of genuine cheats who are also interested in card magic. Maybe they wouldn't bust out a flourish at the card table, but among friends they certainly would. I don't know whether Daniel Madison was a good card cheat or not, but what makes you say that...

Patrick, I think you've got an excellent attitude towards the art of magic, so my advice would be to trust your instincts. A bit vacuous as advice goes, sure, but I don't think you really need a lot of guidance. Having said that, though, while I'm writing a post, I might as well share a couple...