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I've been turning this over in my mind for a while now, and I'd like to put forward this consideration: When you buy a DVD, is it the quantity of material, or is it the quality of the teching of that one effect or small handful of routines that matters more? I know people have been...

Conversely, most of the material available on dark magic assumes the reader already knows the basics. You have to find the balance somewhere.

I do agree with you on this, but I have to disagree with most of your choices. Don't get me wrong, they're all great effects, but I'd be more in favor of him learning more utilities. On that, I do have to agree with the Guerilla Guide to Loops. Though I personally would recommend a couple...

So you only had the balls to admit it after your identity was revealed? Slick. Anyway, I own the DVDs and I can safely say that I would trust Hellen Keller's judgment on this set more than yours.

As brilliant as Banachek is, he's not the end-all of mentalism. Bob Cassidy, Max Maven, and others reference Jean Hugard's Encyclopedia of Card Tricks as a valuable source of mentalism using just a deck of cards. It's not to be underestimated. On top of that, Theo Anneman's work contains...

I have just as many books as I do DVDs. I say that both have their advantages and I have a whole slew of derogatory words for those who fall hook, line, and sinker for the dellusion that limiting themselves to one makes them an inherently better magician than everyone who has gone...

Interesting you say that, because my experience has been the complete opposite.

I think I just have an uphill battle trying to set a standard of discourse. I'm going to flat out say it, I think the main problem with Theory-11 forums is that most people come here, see the rules are more flexible than at other forums, and take that to mean anything goes. As a result, the...

Posts like these are why this topic inevitably goes absolutely nowhere. You either have people typing out one-liners that serve no purpose, or you have people throwing more gasoline on the fire over at the rumor mill, all the while knowing full well that they can't possibly back up any of...

Commonalities This is what human beings really bond over. When we have a shared passion to talk about, we can just go on and on. Me especially. So it only stands to reason that you really should try to find a way to work your interests into scripting when you know that your audience is going...

Sort of. It can be an original story, but there has to be a message and a theme. Motif is optional. The theme is the idea around which the story revolves. A Clockwork Orange was a story about the nature of free will. Oedipus Rex was a cautionary tale of hubris. Rashomon was about the...

Allegory Using magic as allegory is a tricky but rewarding scripting technique that requires a strong sense of showmanship and a lot of creativity. It’s not enough to say, “The coin represents this, and the bottle represents that.” You have to create meaning. Allegory is an extremely...

I really hope that was sarcasm. Otherwise, I may be crushed under the irony of a joke being lost in a discussion about humor. Are you familiar with emotional memory? People who act aren't faking laughter. They're actually recalling something funny to them and laughing about that. The...

Humor Comedy is an amazingly powerful force, but also one of the most difficult and elusive skills. Humor is incredibly subjective, but also ubiquitous because of its diversity. John Waters is famous for his bad taste comedies like Pink Flamingos, and also hated by some for the same reason...

On that note, I'm actually working on a collection of pocket squares for my suit and blazer. If people aren't carrying handkerchiefs anymore, there's a way around it.

I can only tell you what works for me, not what works for you. The four topics I'm writing this on are all themes I've used in my own performances at some point or another. I have a very multi-faceted style, so I'm able to do a lot of different things. I suggest you wait until the...

Much as I would love to write a novel that eventually gets made into a movie with Javier Bardem, I'd be content with following in the footsteps of Roger Corman. I've often used Teller as an example of how to be emotive without talking a mile a minute, but in this instance I picked David...

Welcome to the beginning of a 4 part essay on scripting. Let's cut to the chase, shall we? A large part of what goes into magic is what you say… and what you don’t say. Language is a fascinating thing and magicians have been working on how to use it to their advantage for years. Kenton...

A method without a good presentation is just some slick moves. A method without an audience is masturbation. Magicians guard their methods and secrecy with more fervor than a CIA agent guards his identity. And for what? I'm with Jim Steinmeyer on this one, we really are guarding an empty safe.

Back palming and pivots are covered. Later volumes cover back palm vanishes in more detail and backpalming multiple cards at once. Jeff is one of those people who can back palm an entire deck and produce the cards one-by-one.