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@Bliff , it seems that most of your posts are opinions on what is wrong with other people’s magic. I get the sense that parts of those opinions come from things you have read elsewhere rather than things you have seen and observed base primarily on the general and generic nature of your...

My first thought is that this uses the method for Mark Wilson’s Automatic Card Discovery and a box. It sounds like a great effect but if I’m right about the method, it probably isn’t marketable.

Part of that is magician’s guilt. You know the deck is gimmickef so you handle it differently than a regular deck arousing suspicion. Treat it like a normal deck and the audience will assume it is a normal deck. If you want to end examinable (Intend to build examination into my routines...

I cringe when there is nothing but narration of the props in the performer's hands.

You need to get a doctorate.

Seriously… you're making me watch that video... no Red High Victorians for you! ;) I don't think it is a marketed effect. The force is a face-up psychological force. The earliest reference I can find in my library is in Greater Magic on page 329 in a section titled "Forcing the Mental...

Billiard Balls Linking Rings Miser's Dream (for all of them, check out the Levant DVD sets) Zombie Ball (check out Jeb Sherrill's DVDs) Rope Effect - Fiber Optics by Richard Sanders Let me know if you need any sources for the props.

Welcome to the forums, Mahdi. That is a great article. My sense of what is natural from a technical standpoint includes the elimination of tension in movement (Aaron Fisher’s influence there), making sleights look like the action you are using as cover (Ascanio and Giobbi) and using the right...

I don’t see a difference between magic methods and mentalism methods. Look at Annemann, Maven, Waters and Leslie’s work - they all contain methods that a magician would be comfortable with. And, as you said, the audience doesn’t know the difference. I think the difference is in the...

Postcards, written on index cards, photographs, and anything else that is flawed and stackable.

Those two statements seem inherently contradictory. It doesn’t make a difference but people believe a true mentalist presentation more. I agree methods don’t matter. I could do a mentalism show using entirely magic methods (forces, peaks, gimmicks, switches, etc.) that would be as believable...

Shouldn’t every piece you perform be a reputation maker? Here are mine (mostly my names of the effects because their presentation is personalized): Uncle Jim’s Legacy Fan Mail End of the Day Margarite’s Wishes Resolutions

Methods are irrelevant in stopping hecklers. Presentation is the key. Do presentations that are fun and amusing - disarm the heckler rather than challenge them.

David Copperfield Andy Nyman Al Baker Juan Tamaraz Jim Steinmeyer

Have everyone in the audience write down a date and why it is significant on an index card Have them pass the folded cards to the front. As you put the cards into a paper bag, read off some of the dates and significances and have the person raise their hand. Ask one of those people to come up...

Scripting. Have a script for the first effect that gets audience reaction - be it a laugh, an answer to a question or an expression of interest. The positive feedback quells the primal fear that the audience might just kill you and eat you if it doesn’t go well. Scripting also gives you...

Have fun and try it with objects other than playing cards to force a selection.

It only teaches card magic and basic flourishes -- no cardistry.

You lost me at the word "test" -- nobody likes to take a test.

That's all you need to know.