Halloween Effects?

Jun 5, 2010
140
0
New York, New York
I'd go to your local magic shop and ask them to order either Ghost Glass II for you, or Fuse. These are wonderful utility devices, that you can apply to a wide range of effects, and can easily be adapted to paranormal or bizarre plots.

Bonus is their not -too- expensive, I think you'll pay less than 30$ bucks each, and they will last you for a very long time. I've had my Ghost Glass II now for over two years, and it's not even half empty yet.

You could also look into Eugene Burgers book called "Spirit Theater" if you wanted some good séance information.

If you've never worked with Bizarre magic before then it may be just what your looking for! Tony Chris has a great introductory DVD on Bizarre magic called Karnival of Magick.


While JRobarts gave some other REALLY great suggestions, I disagree with this one. This isn't a trick. Most people don't have the stomach to do what this DVD teaches. Further, I don't recommend this kind of effect to ANYONE under the age of 18. You could seriously hurt yourself if you don't know what your doing.



For my review on Fuse, you can click this link here.

For my review on Spirit Theater click this link Here.

And if you'd like my review on Karnival of Magick then please click here.

All the best to you and your spooky endeavors!

I watched a video for Ghost Glass and it was pretty awesome. Thanks for all the ideas. I'll go check the rest of them out this weekend.
 
Jun 5, 2010
140
0
New York, New York
Yeah you said what I was thinking. I hope that one day with crazy amounts of practice that I can create my own effects. But as of now I still have a ways to go. Hopefully after working material from here and there I can form my own style and start creating.
 
Jun 5, 2010
140
0
New York, New York
Yeah that last post was for William.

But anyways I just had a thought. I'm pretty sure that every single one of us had that first moment when we saw someone perform something amazing and said, " I want to do that!!!". At which point you possibly went out and learned that effect or something else like it. Basically i'm saying that we were all inspired into Magic. We just didn't wake up one day and start creating. We all at one point or another have learned from someone else. I see it as a great thing to learn from others. After learning some of the work of guys like Daniel Garcia or Daniel Madison i've been exposed to new ideas and possibilities. Which in the future will help me to create my own works.
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
Didn't this make anyone else laugh? This is like, a Jr HS kid who is in the art club asking someone, "hey, I want to create a nice piece for the exhibition at the end of the month, what kind of picture should I create?" and then someone replies, "hmm, you should try to do something like this person's work, because it suits you well, and I think it would be really good." THEN, someone like this poster says, "OMG!!! How can you ever expect to go PRO and get the BIG BUCKS by copying everyone else's work???? You gotta be original and only create some new things, so instead of getting like 600 dollars, you can get like 2000 dollars and make it big time!"

The problem with this is, you are skipping about a gazillion steps in between.

There is nothing wrong with trying to learn other people's material. Heck, I even bet you do an ACR. News flash, you didn't create that. True, eventually, you will want to branch off and start making things more original, or creating brand new things altogether, but, you can't skip the learning and adapting stages.

So, back to the OP, please forget what this person said for now and if you want to learn some material that you have seen performed, please go ahead and do so. Learn why those magicians have been successful performing those tricks and learn to make them your own eventually.

Really? How many years have you been doing magic?

By the time I was six and seven years old I was doing magic shows in my backyard performing "original" magic... I had to, my parents were quite poor and I only had a handful of resources from which I learned the basics... aside from a couple of magic kits and the old Alakazam show (yes, Mark taught kids how to do tricks, on TV and wasn't crucified for it... nor was Blackstone, Henning and dozens of others that "exposed" magic prior to the mid-1980s) I have very, very little knowledge but I loved magic and understood enough of the basic principles to develope new material... You'll also find similar stories offered by a large number of old timers that came before my generation and a handful since, so let's not get on a high horse when it comes to being creative and resourceful.

BTW... I helped design a small cornucopia full of grand illusions as well as smaller effects, several of which were heralded as groundbreaking, cutting edge and in one case (Shadow Vision) nominated for best most deceptive illusion of the decade by Blackstone, Jr to the Awards Committee of the Magic Castle. So I think I know just a bit about what's behind developing new and original effects as well as alternative modes of handling when it coms to commercial pieces on the market.

When it comes to my "soap box" I can assure you, it's a croweded one given the number of working pros and impasioned amateurs that stand beside me on things. But let me clarify something...

If you are going to invest in some new neat toy out there, then INVEST... not the cash but your time! Learn to not see it in the same light as every other fool out there that owns it and choose to own it vs. just having it... there's a huge difference!

Most of you here would assume that buying something like a Thin Model Sawing (as an example) is all you need to do in order to perform it... run through it once or twice and voila!

Most of you would be horribly wrong!

Even tailor made props are just "starter kits" no matter who made it. Once you have the basic kit it is up to YOU to turn it into something ENTERTAINING if not miraculous and let me reveal why...

The big climax in the Sawing act is when you push those two boxes apart and yet, I've seen guys kill that point time and again because they don't understand how to build on it and PRESENT it. Then again, I've seen a handful come close to generating a standing ovation when doing this part of the act. My sawing routine ran close to six minutes because we exploited every nuance we could come up with that made it fun, funny and fantastic. The kicker is, I'd owned my original cabinet for at lest six months before I took it into a show... Richard Ross practiced his FISM Ring act for over two years before showing it in public... and the list goes on.

Nothing wrong with commercial magic, we have to have it and there are "classics" the public expects from us BUT, we don't have to do Vernon's Symphony of Rings everytime we do the Linking Rings or feature a Pollack Bird Cage in every dove act. What we do need to do, is think everything through and get creative.

When it comes to the detractors comments here... some years ago I attended a lecture of Eugene Burgers in which he paid tribute to the recently deceased Barclay Shaw, possibly one of the most amazing creative minds in magic. Eugene's talk dealt with how Barclay could take an off the shelf piece like Gwendlyn Duck, and transform it into being much, much more than the base effect everyone was used to seeing.

The following week I came to the restaurant our weeking meetings were held at to gab a bite prior to the group get together. I overheard a handful of the guys complaining about the lecture given by Eugene and the fact that he didn't "teach them anything"... in other words, these self-obsessed egos didn't hear what Eugene was sharing... information that was pure gold for any individual willing to get off their duff and actually become a magician vs. some clown that owns hundreds of tricks he bought on a whim and who may perform here and there but rarely anything steady let alone, for real money.

Sadly, this latter attitude is how the majority of people involved with magic really are. They just want to do "the trick" rather than learning how to be a "magician".

Think about it folks


IN CLOSING... I'd like to give thanks to the handful that stood up for me, I didn't see your posts until I'd put this piece up in response to Jr's tirade.

A few quick points on specific effects though;

GHOST GLASS is one of my favorite pieces but I can assure you, I do not do anything close to the "typical" mode of use with this; there's so much more that can be done IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT and more importantly, if you think through your performance conditions. I've literally made people pee themselves with this and more than a few folks become so worked up emotionally (fear) that they had to leave the show.... but you can go ahead and breathe on your little disc of glass if you'd like... :rolleyes:

HAUNTED DECKS are ancient but cool, some of the new handling that's come out over the past 15 or so years has transformed the thing BUT, if you are doing psychic type stuff or dealing with ghosts, why are you doing card tricks?

If you want to make their skin craw find different vehicles such as photos, tarot, post cards... ANYTHING BUT PLAYING CARDS if you really want to get the most out of this effect.

SAW is a very cool TRICK but other than being gross, making you look like some kind of eastern mystic or carnival freak, what good is it really? I can give you two dozen other really gross effects that cost a heck of a lot less to pull together and chances are strong, you already have most of what's needed to do them. (I was well known for gross stuff 25 years ago -- bleeding palms/finger-tips, Impaled Birdies, Removing a Blood Soaked Card from my forearm (literally cutting upon flesh, you could see fingers beneath the flesh, etc)... I was a Punk Rock Street Mage)

I like the effect but I'd probably never own it simply because it's not practical on any level other than maybe an occasional bit of personal fun here and there or, for someone like Dan Speary (sp) that's developed a quasi-interesting persona and handling that kind of makes it work.
 
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Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
You got a problem with us Carnival Freaks or something?

Let's see here... I worked for Ward Hall in both Circus Unique and Wondercade and Scott McClellan is a dear friend... I learned Sword Swallowing from John Meah... dare I drop any other names such as Bobby Reynolds, or Tod Robbins... or for that matter, the fact that Tod Browning was a cousin of mine???

In short, I am a carny... a bit removed from that world but I've been there, done that and miss it.
 
Let's see here... I worked for Ward Hall in both Circus Unique and Wondercade and Scott McClellan is a dear friend... I learned Sword Swallowing from John Meah... dare I drop any other names such as Bobby Reynolds, or Tod Robbins... or for that matter, the fact that Tod Browning was a cousin of mine???

In short, I am a carny... a bit removed from that world but I've been there, done that and miss it.

I'm going to assume that's a no then.
 
Dec 23, 2007
1,579
4
36
Fredonia, NY
no draven, he's self-loathing, he has huge problem with carny's. he just didn't say that in as many words

is it true you have small hands and smell like cabbage? (sorry, i love austin powers)
 
Jun 6, 2010
796
0
Nashville, TN
I would get the Almost Impromptu Rising Card, instead of a haunted deck, the card actually rises while the spectator holds the deck and can be done with a borrowed deck.
 
Oct 20, 2008
273
0
Austin, TX area
if you are doing psychic type stuff or dealing with ghosts, why are you doing card tricks?
This question has actually been on my mind a lot lately. I could see a little of it with some fortune telling or ESP cards, but not a poker deck. Still, I'm going to have to slap my own wrist for quoting that part of your post.

Thank you for putting some positive and constructive spin on the last third of that post.

I also recently had a chance to see Burger speak. His message was beautiful in a way that the written word can only begin to describe. On top of a lot of points you made about his speech - which were true - he also has a tone and a character which draws a person in and makes them want to agree with him. His voice and message are positive and empowering.

It is one I have tried to take myself when the compulsion to post strikes.

On that note, however, I am going to dig up the dvd I bought where Vernon teaches his Symphony of the Rings. I promise not to copy the routine, but the man had some moves. ;)
 
Sep 26, 2007
591
5
Tokyo, Japan
To Mr. Browning. My apologies for my post. I reacted in a manner that was more heated than it was composed, and hasty to the point in which I did not award you the benefit of the doubt. I reacted to my initial interpretation of the sound of the post, and what I got upon first reading was a post from a sort of, "high-and-mighty" pedestal. What I first only saw was, "omg if you are any good, you would create your own magic." I now know this was not your intended message, but to be quite honest, this is what it does sound like.

I would completely agree with you that the modern day mentality of "I gotta do this amazing trick I saw on TV!!!!" for the mere sake that they saw it on TV, is a very bad mentality. However, since I reacted hastily, I jumped at the opportunity to defend the position of, "everyone has to start somewhere." Again, I apologize for this. I do realize you have been in magic for a long time (I did have to google your name however) and know the field quite well (understatement perhaps).

To answer your question, I have been in magic for just over 10 years now, and have been performing professionally here in Japan (not my main job as I need a company sponsored job to maintain a work-visa), for the last 6 years.

To the other posters: Your hastiness to jump at Mr. Browning's defense was just as hasty as mine dismissing his comments. No better, no worse. My research into someone's name before posting should not be required each time upon visiting a web forum. All anyone can do is react to the information provided. Just as I reacted to what was provided, so have you by making reference to and by making absurd connections between my post, and my teaching ability (as a profession). Those comments too were hasty, illogical, heated, and w/o the benefit of the doubt. Again, nothing better, nothing worse than my original reactions. And in my own defense, I am one of the better teachers at where I work (to KeoSilver).

Lastly, my not knowing of Mr. Browning is not a federal offense. Living in a non-English speaking country for over six years does have it's apparent disadvantages. Those being, I am not privy to the same magic community, resources, etc... that those of you living in the states have at your exposal. I could pretty much guarantee that 90% of the magicians I come in contact here in Japan do not know of Mr. Browning, and thus, no one can tell me to "hey, you should google Mr. Browning!" Again, one can only respond to what is presented in a post.

I have made my apologies as they are rightly deserved and can assure you they are sincere. For future's sake however, let us all realize the reality of an online forum before we hastily expect anything short of a peaceful online utopia (or hierarchy for that matter).

Mr. Draven, I applaud you for always conducting yourself in a peaceful manner, regardless of how much you might agree or disagree with ideas that are presented.
 
Jul 13, 2009
1,372
0
33
Why so melodramatic? I was more calling you out on the fact that you leaped to defend a fallacious argument as a knee-jerk reaction.

But does this knee jerk reaction surprise you still? If it does...come on Steer! *smacks ya with a trout...in his mind.*

On another note, if you end up doing something with cards, tarot, esp, whatever, make sure you actually make them seem special. Carry a tarot deck in an antique looking wooden box wrapped in the fabric from the fallen angel Gusion's* robe. Doesn't that introduction of a deck of cards sound better then pulling out a card box and taking out a deck of cards?

*Gusion is the fallen angel who can discern the past, present or future.
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
TokyoUW... I more than understand knee jerks and being a jerk, et all... I'm very guilty of such things. The "High & Mighty" sense of attitude I project simply stems from being a mentor of sorts to so many. Most all of my mentors and guides in life as well as magic, were very matter of fact an didn't where the politically correct knit gloves so many folks tend to insist upon these days, so when I bark or growl it upsets them and makes them think I'm some kind of elitest... though a bit of a perfectionist, I'm far from being anything "elite"... just a well worn bear rug.

KeoSilver is correct when it comes to "setting the mood" and "creating enchantment' around any prop and effect you plan on presenting. If I use playing cards in a haunted situation, they are typically worn, a bit dirty, etc. the very thing you'd expect to find in someone's kitchen drawer or, if your storyline is about a gambler that traveled extensively and you happen to have his favorite deck, it would be illogical for that deck to look anything close to prestine... so think about it all so you can create "environment".

Bizarre/Haunted Magick as well as Mentalism require context -- THEATER -- more than any other aspect of magic. While many are drawn to it, they soon find that it's not an easy arena to work in because it does require solid speaking skills and the ability to create intrigue by way of the spoken word more than any physical effect you may present. For an example; if you were simply telling a story... let's say you were doing a routine akin to the Lee Earle Muse Box and at the end, you have blood tears rolling down your cheeks... you have created a very powerful image in the minds of all gathered around you. They will never forget the story, the Muse Box effect or you because of how you carefully accented the finale.

If you don't know the Muse Box I'd highly recommend you do some research on it. Lee describes it in his Manifestations script. I have yet to perform this piece and not had most of the people in the room sobbing. It's a wonderful ghost story!
 
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