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In the film industry, we call people like you "critics." It has negative connotations, but I don't think it's a negative thing at all. A "magic critic" is an interesting idea.

You know it's funny because people call guys like Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson or Spike Jonze "auteurs" because they have such distinctive styles. But they're not auteurs. "Auteur" originally meant a director who can still do something interesting and distinctive even though his films...

The biggest lesson I learned in film school was that what interests me doesn't usually interest others. And the even harder truth is that even the most interesting things can be rendered completely inert by a poor storyteller. It made me realize how difficult it actually is to be a good...

The trick of biopics, like Christopher is hinting at, is that life is inherently boring. It takes a lot of skill to pick the drama out of an entire lifetime and make it interesting and relatable to the average person. The documentary I posted did a pretty great job; though I will say that I...

I've had my eye on Counterfeit for a long time, and I recently watched several performance videos some people have posted on YouTube, to see it in realtime and decide if it would be a good fit for me. The performances were pretty dismal, and maybe that's the issue, but they definitely raised a...

"With the new generation of technology, books have sadly become almost obsolete." You're hilarious.

I watched this through today, for the second time in a few years. While I disagree with many of his life decisions, Dai Vernon is a fascinating character and one of the greatest magicians to ever live. This documentary is well worth a watch if you haven't.

Taking a break from something like magic can have its silver linings. For instance, you get some fresh perspective on things that are often taken for granted. I was watching the trailer to an effect the other day, and one of the selling points of the effect was that you could offer the...

Thank you again for all of the thorough and very helpful answers! This is along the same lines as my thinking. I was surprised to see the routines in RRTCM be so disjointed in terms of the type of effect. I imagine there may be some presentation out there that could glue them all together...

First of all, I want to say thank you for your thorough and well-worded responses. I knew I could count on you three at least to lend me some good advice in this area. The point about persona hits the nail on the head, and I have to admit I'm still figuring things out in that department. I've...

The question is pretty self-explanatory, but to give a few more details: I'm wondering what process you fine folks use to build your routines, from selecting effects, establishing a theme (if there is one), writing patter, etc. I have a couple effects that I like to perform together, and I even...

It is VERY time consuming at the start, like most skills that require fine motor manipulation. I try to practice sleights whenever my hands are free. Don't get discouraged. At first it will seem like there's some weird trick to the sleights that you just can't master, but you'll realize that...

That's the one!

Hey MagicAbs! Welcome. People learn differently and have different interests and budgets, etc. no one is going to give you the perfect advice for you; you'll still have to do some searching and figuring out on your own--and that's as it should be! But here is what I have to offer: The best and...

I mostly agree with David (Reality One) here, but even though his presentation is minimal to a fault, I still find David to be one of the most entertaining and intriguing magicians to watch. It seems to me that many magicians are trying "too hard" to entertain, and they come off very...

Uhhh...

Thanks David! I was actually confusing "spring" with "dribble." The dribble force is exactly what I was thinking of. Fortunately I already have a resource to help me out! It's been a couple years since I was into magic; glad to see guys like you still around and helping others out. I was kind of...

Hi, I've seen a couple routines where it seems a card is forced by springing the deck from one hand to the other and asking the spectator to say "stop." They always stop on the forced card. Does anyone know a good resource for this?

I completely agree, David. I'm not really interested in new methods (with the exception using a pinkie count to get a break), but I am really looking for pointers on the nuances and details of the Knock Out and Strike doubles. I was hoping one of these sources would have some advice on those. In...

Hey guys, I've been a little flustered with my DL'e and I'm looking into further resources (already have RRTCM and Crash Course 2). I've heard nothing but praise about Greg Wilson's Double Take, except that he focuses a little more on tricks than the nuances of the techniques. Also, it's...