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KI'll be honest with you... assuming you are expected to perform for more than five minutes, don't do the show. None of your material is suited for stage, you've done one stage show and it sounds like that didn't go well and you don't have enough time to develop, practice and rehearse a stage...

Check out Expert Card Technique for a gimmickless version. There is a gimmicked version called Shoe't (check out Magic Geek for a great video performance).

Effects aren't hard hitting. Performances are. Any effect in the hands of a good magician will be hard hitting. The same effect in the hands of an unskilled, unpracticed or unrehearsed magician will be awful. The effect isn't the magic, you are.

The "voice" people are talking about the over-exaggerated melodramatic tone you use and the words you choose. I doubt very much you go around saying, "I am going to make an exciting journey to the refrigerator to get a beverage... not just any beverage but a white beverage... not just a white...

Good performance, you entertained your spectator and that is what matters. A couple of thoughts to make your performance better: Check the position of the deck in mechanics grip against the diagrams in Card College. It looks like the deck is too far back in your hand... look at the thumb in...

Agreed. How does tearing someone else down make the OP or any of us better magicians?

Rabid: I won't speak for Draven, but I think practice and rehersal are two different things. Practice is going through the techniques, sleights and moves necessary to accomplish an effect and thereby commiting those moves to muscle memory. When practicing, you need to be practicing the...

The smaller the better. Try THESE Sorry... couldn't resist.

Volume 1. Each part of Giobbi's books builds on what came before it. There will be some things in there that are a review of Royal Road, but it is worth going over them. Giobbi is very precise with finger positions in the his books. There was some stuff I learned wrong (from Royal Road and...

That is my question too. What is your patter? How do you routine the effects?

This reminds me of something I've posted in another forum... I've learned that that close-up magic needs to be a conversation. There needs to be an interaction between the magician and the spectator. You can do this by asking questions or by having the spectator participate in the...

USPCC moved its manufacturing from Ohio to Kentucky and started up a new manufacturing line using new presses and cutters. To me the card edges seem rougher and develop a click bend easier, but that could just be my imagination. Also, that may just be a result of them working out the kinks in...

As Blindside said, read Strong Magic chapter by chapter and take notes on what is being said. I would add that you should think about how it applies to you and take notes on that. Just reading Strong Magic won't make you a better magician... you have to apply it. I would assume the same is...

I think there is something between "fast hands" and "magic is real." To me "fast hands" implies that the audience is thinking that there is a method (even though you are good enough that they can't figure it out). In some ways, the audience feels "tricked." "Real magic" implies some...

Toby: I think you realized something very important about presenting magic. TokyoUW: You tendency to put down people just to make yourself look better really weakens any ideas that you put forward in your posts. Lose the superiority complex and the sarcasm. Not every thread has to...

Good job on the performance and starting the journal. The only advice I have is to be more specific. How could your performance have been better? Why didn't the patter work? What other patter could you use? What you did in your note on C3 is really what the journal is about. The best...

Great review and a great effect. I saw Greg perform this at a lecture a couple of weeks ago... it is good stuff.

Casen: Good performance and kudos for actually performing for a live spectator! I didn't like the pick a card joke initially, but upon watching the video a second time I understood the reason for saying that. In the beginning (around :22 to :24), your hand is unnecessarily covering the...

Exactly. After a performance, write down what you performed, how you performed it, what went well, what didn't go well, something that the spectator said which was funny (incorporate in your patter next time) what you would do differently and what you would do again. If you see a video and...

I'm going to recommend that you get 12 copies of THIS. It is the best book for moving your magic to a higher level.