Search results

Shows how much I care, doesn't it? Translation: You weren't able to make it work and gave up.

You think you could adequately teach the muscle pass in five minutes?

They trudge through long stretches of wilderness and catch dysentery? Joking aside, I didn't buy the whole Isaac Newton thing the first time because they're not revolutionizing magic, but card manipulation. That is the fundamental flaw of your argument that people seem to be ignoring. Why...

But where's the mystery? Where's the sublime aspect of wonder? What the Bucks do is card manipulation, not magic. And it boggles my mind that everyone insists that it must be labeled magic to validate its quality.

Um... no. No, I'm not gonna do that. I would also like to point out that while they brought some new stuff to the table, a lot of the actual card magic I've seen them do has been around since the days of Howard Thurston. Except me, apparently. Well, if you're asking me to enjoy it...

Get used to disappointment because there's less of that than you might think. Derren actually uses sleight of hand a lot. He just dresses it up in so many layers of deception that you don't believe there is any. The best place to start with mentalism is Bob Cassidy's Fundamentals available...

It'll happen eventually, we just may not hear about it as whoever ends up getting pounded probably isn't going to want it to become public knowledge. In the meantime, let's hope everyone else can get over their stereotype that reading is gay and actually pick up a book or two on stage...

To keep it short, I think it's a cheap attempt to cash in on the surge of Derren Brown's popularity while ignoring everything that makes Derren great. It's a cheap knock-off of real hypnosis that convinces unqualified teenagers they now have Jedi mind powers. To put it another way, it's just...

Well parried my rapier-witted friend.

And there's a reference to this one function on message boards that everyone makes when a newbie treads old ground. Search function, I think? Whatever. Anyway, it's a useful marker for me. As the resident instigator here, whenever I'm thinking about how rude and arrogant I want to be, I...

No joke, I nearly fell out of my chair laughing at the idea that the Cafe is going to be the place that teaches me to rise to the next level.

What else can we expect? The internet has a way of tricking people into thinking they're experts.

That doesn't answer my question why.

Nooooooo ****! As if I needed more reasons to dislike Zap.

The first step in making a presentation yours is to first step out of your own head, consider your target audience, and realize that they're all asking, "What do I get out of this? What's in it for me?" I've asked those same questions of many magicians here and elsewhere. It's incredible...

Why? Uh oh. That's two warning bells.

Depressingly narrow lists. No one checks out The Magic Woods? Elmwood Magic? Online Visions? Lybrary.com?

It's the same plot with different variations. Eugene Burger teaches a nice variation on the plot on his appearance in The Magic Library series, volume 4. But just about any sponge ball DVD will have some version of it.

I'm really not a fan of Jay's DVDs. His technique is always sketchy at best and his teaching suffers from the same problem. There's a DVD simply titled "Amazing Magic Tricks with Sponge Balls" that teaches pretty much every basic sleight you need as well as a few routines. Great starter...

For the sake of devil's advocate, consider two things. First of all, as an entrepreneur yourself, surely you appreciate the metaphorical velvet rope policy. Catering to too wide a demographic at the same time can lead to trouble. Second, the Cafe is also an example of why popular sure...