Search results

There's been several such acts including full mime parody (Vitto Scotty . . . watch the old Gilligan's Island series, Vitto was the mad scientist with the monkey who wanted to steal Gilligan's brain, he was in several WWII films as well). Several Tribute type spoofs have been done such as the...

Chris offers some sound advice and I am going to add to it a bit. First of all, make absolutely certain that what you've come up with is worth marketing. The industry is swamped with folks that believe everything they thing up is the next million dollar success story when move than 95% of it...

In the old days I used the Fred Kapp's gimmick which actually held a piece of a lit cigarette and allowed you to blow billows of smoke all over the place. The thing to remember is that originally there was no gimmick but a technique known as tongue-palming -- you literally held the cigarette or...

Apparently "This Video is Unlisted" according to Youtube.

I've had chats with well over a dozen major headliners on this and related subjects tied to SHOWMANSHIP and what it means to "Create an Act" and the summation to these discussions can be seen in my signature; If We Are But Actors Playing a Part, Why Aren't We Taught About Theater and Acting...

My eldest step-son used to buy and trade sport cards and did quite well at it. One day as he bragged about one particular card he had that was worth hundreds to the collectors market I pointed out to him that said value applies only to those interested in such things, not the rest of the world...

Ady, I personally can't fathom why you have problems on line unless there's some kind of government block on your end??? I'll try to put a pdf together on my two versions of the Swami device mentioned and let you go from there. In the meantime, I'd suggest you find a music store and pick-up...

Traditional "under the nail" gimmicks are a pain in the waazoo which is why the majority of pros avoid them, either making their own via a thumb tip or banjo pick or else purchasing the Thumb Tip style from Vernet or alternative versions that can be obtained easily through the net . . . I...

Most Resumes are broken into sections such as Most Recent Work History (usually in the past 18-24 months depending on the number of entries; or highlights of major gigs). This is followed by a general bio composed of 3 or less paragraphs concerning your work and followed by a "What I'm Seeking"...

In my years of being around this stuff I find that most newbies go on a massive spending spree during their first 3-5 years of being around magic; every new piece that gets any sort of hype or Tv exposure becomes the next thing to buy . . . even Copperfield used to complain about how his annual...

There's been a couple of points brought out since my post yesterday and I'd like to address them briefly. . . Jerks @ the Cafe. . . personally I'd say RUN and get away from the cafe if you really want to learn about the craft. The cafe is a marketing spot more than anything but likewise a...

Maybe it's just all the saw dust on my shoes but every time I see or hear the word "Levitation" in conjunction with Magic I envision people floating in the air . . . none of that tippy toe crap, but true levitations & suspensions and so, when I read this post the smart-azz in me instantly...

Well, as one of the grumpier old bears in the woods I admit that I'm jaded and more than sick and tired of seeing the same inaine posts month after month, that's actually why I put out those FREE pdfs last year as a way for we old farts to simply point. . . here's the link, read it before you...

At one point in time my mentor alone had the largest private collection of magic ON THE PLANET (actually noted in several history references including the Who's Who of Magic) when we tossed in my pile of junk there was over 300 major illusions and at least twice as many hand-props + books...

Welcome to the world of being a new magician. . . This sort of thing is normal and it's what will force you to study your handling and clean things up or make you give up and run away from magic (or worse, become gimmick & prop dependent). Find yourself three mirrors that are about 14-16...

I had a club ask me to come in to do table magic and I quoted them my rate. They went nuts, "No one gets that kind of money!" I pointed out that I was making more then three times what they were offering per night, three nights at week when I was 19 and 20 years old working for Playboy and my...

If you plan on being a Pro you more or less have to travel and chase the checks, there are very few exceptions to this even amongst the part-timers. The question is, how much traveling are you willing to do, which can only be answered with "Why?" . . . why are you willing to do the traveling...

If you've been at that location for more than a few months (I'm assuming you've been there for more than a year) it's YOUR location, YOU are the House Magician and as such you may talk to the management of the facility about helping you make that very clear by printing some table cards with YOUR...

This has been my biggest gripe about the magic world since desktop publishing became a concept. I had a kid a few years ago that "had an original trick" -- a big illusion that he'd not even made a cardboard prototype of yet, let alone working mock-ups. I showed him Shadow Vision and a few...

The short story is simple; I made reference to a critique Dai Vernon made to me personally, about relying on too many packet tricks and how grabbing after this and that different packet or gaffed deck WASN'T Magic, it was just someone doing a bunch of tricks. Unlike many in my age group (in...