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You're talking about an artform that has existed since before written language. That is a very bigass "if" and getting there is difficult as hell. Mastery of a skill follows 5 stages without exception in exactly this order: 1. Imitation 2. Comprehension 3. Evaluation 4. Invention 5...

I'm saying it looks very familiar. I can't name a specific source as card magic is not my specialization. What I can tell you is that I have repeatedly thought that I invented something new, but when I combed through the Jinx on a hunch I found out that Anneman had already published before...

I've heard that before. Not exactly an air-tight claim.

Seriously? He has the stones to perform in front of an audience, and none of you step forward to encourage or help? I don't even do card manipulation and I'm the only one offering any kind of support?

Oh dear. Christopher is right, you should be studying actual buskers. Real street magic is nothing like most people think it is. It's more akin to parlor magic. I don't have enough information to say more than that. You've told me a whole lot of nothing so far. I cannot tailor any...

As of this time of writing, you only came up with this 8 hours ago, you don't know if it's original or not, you've never performed it for a live audience in the context of an actual routine... and you're already trying to talk us out of our money? I would lecture you about having some...

So you accepted a gig in a setting that you have no experience in and you don't even have your material ready? I'm not even going to bother asking why at this point. Given the context you described, there's no way to back out and be able to save face. Okay... What are you asking for...

No you don't. Sounds like a whole bunch of stuff that you can't actually make a routine out of. That wasn't long, it was just disjointed. That said, your problem is that you have absolutely no foundation and beyond that no focus. You bought a whole bunch of single tricks, but how...

Pretty much, yeah. All magicians are egotists to some degree. We have to be to want to routinely get up in front of an audience and command a spotlight. Most of them just don't know when to turn it off. They can't abide the fact that anyone out there could figure out their precious secrets...

If you're choosing to specialize in telepathy, then your whole show should be telepathy. What do you already have that's telepathy? Because I guarantee if you the books you say you do, there's enough for an entire stage routine right there.

My heart is breaking. Now what of my other questions? What have you actually performed and what are you gravitating toward: telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition or psychokinesis? What Bob Cassidy books have you read? If Fundamentals isn't in that list, that needs to be fixed. You may have...

Just watched it now. Would have preferred they show their faces a little more, but these guys obviously set about learning the actual craft of digital video, cinematography and editing. The camera was mobile when it needed to be, but cut when that was the better choice. Visual effects were...

Please no. I can't recommend crap unless I know what I'm dealing with. My only concern right now is that I'm talking to someone who's more interested in buying tricks than actually learning what makes for good mentalism.

I would argue that it gets forgotten completely and thus has absolutely no effect. Jesse Eisenberg is not known for being a magician. So when he screws up a card trick, people just forget because it's ultimately not important to his overall career or why anyone goes to see him in the theater...

Awkward Silence, you are cleared for landing. Begin approach... I haven't actually gotten around to watching a single episode of The Mentalist yet. I probably should. See, over the last couple months, I have lost track of the number of people who asked me what I do, and when I tell them...

Okay, back up for a second. What do you already have? What have you already performed? What specialization are you gravitating toward right now?

Pretty much. A lot of this stuff is so ancient, and writing our secrets down is such a new phenomenon relatively speaking, that the genesis is lost to time. Even Max Maven when asked who invented the Buddha papers shrugged and said, "Buddha."

Talented character actor though. Loved him in The Social Network. I think a lot of us need to back up and remember that no one will ever give as much of a **** about this as we do. No one. Getting pissed off because Jesse Eisenberg screwed up a card trick on TV is a waste of emotional...

This is a technique otherwise known as acting. Not trying to be negative to you personally, Tyler. I just tend to get a burr under my saddle. I've lost count of the number of guys who quote Robert-Houdin (actors, conjurers, etc), and then none of them actually bother to take an acting class...

This is indeed simply one of many variations on having multiple outs. Larry Becker, Bill Severn, Docc Hilford, Banacheck, Max Maven... pretty much everyone in mentalism has used this at some point. It's also one of the main utilities in mental magic. Pretty universal. Which means if this is...