I didn't see an intro section so I figured I'd drop my saga here. Feel free to move the thread if needed.
I'm Jaems. I'm 36 and live in the Houston area, originally from California. And boy do I <3 Magick and Mentalism. I've been on a 19 year hiatus from the arts and recently just poked my head back into the world and get involved again.
So I got involved into the arts when I was 6 years old. I was brought up onstage by a magician at the Pomona county fair and was instantly hooked. I then sought out a magic shop called, "Would you believe?" in Pasadena, CA where I proceeded to visit every Saturday and learn the craft (and spend way too much of my father's money). Luckily he encouraged my interests and I quickly became apt at magick. More on why I spell it with a "k" later.
So I practiced my ass off for 9 years and began working as a demonstrator at Oasis Magic Shop in Temple City, CA at age 14. It was my first job and provided me great exposure to local conjurers alike. A friend of mine, David Zirbel (who is now well known) said that I should audition for the Magic Castle Junior's Group. As many of you know it's not easy to get into this group and you really had to show talent versus the adult members who could audition a simple trick and pay their way in.
I believe at the time they were auditioning every 6 months so I worked on a routine that would fit the 5 minute time limit. I can't even remember what I did, but I ended up going over by 30 seconds. Feedback from the crowd and the panel was good but I broke the time limit somehow. Fail #1
I waited 6 more months and auditioned again. During this time I had just turned 15 and was going through a carney phase in my life. Fedora, vest, and a crappy attitude to boot. I did a few tricks and apparently used too much "blue" humor in my act. While the crowd was laughing hysterically one of the panel members, Peter Pit told me in a drunken voice, "you're too young for all of this blue humor. Your act was solid but inappropriate". Fail #2
Finally I got on the phone with the leader of the Junior group and asked what's the next steps. By this time I had a bad taste in my mouth about the whole group. He told me to keep it simple and show off some mechanics. So I decided to do a hanging coin routine with a twist. I was lucky enough to meet and session with David Roth at my magic shop so we exchanged notes and he gave me a lot of ideas on how to improve my performance and own it. I was set. I was going to keep my mouth shut and do a silent hanging coin routine to some Japanese instrumental. Shaking like a leaf (I really wanted in the group) I popped into the parlour and started my routine. Now remember, I had this timed to music so there was emphasis and cues which punctuated different segments of the effect. All of a sudden things came to a grinding halt when my music stopped. Technical difficulties? I shrugged it off with a smile and finished my routine. I was told by the leader of the group that it was one of the cleanest hanging coin routines he's seen and that I've definitely matured. Needless to say I received my welcome letter and became a member of the prestigious Junior Group. I was pumped.
I attended the monthly meetings but I was going through a change in my performance style and was really getting into bizarre magick and getting away from heavy knucklebusting and mechanics which I was known for. I wanted more mystery and less gimmicks/sleights in my routines. There was a requirement to showcase an affect twice a year which I failed to do. For some reason watching all of the other teens do linking rings, card to wallet, and dove routines made me cringe on the inside. I was working on an effect where a chosen card is found by someone stabbing me in the heart with a dagger. I felt it was more entertaining but when I asked if I should showcase it I was discouraged by the leaders of the group. This gave me a feeling of being an outcast.
I was on the verge of turning 17 and ended up moving to San Francisco for a spell. This prevented me from attending regular meetings and ultimately ended up ejecting me from the group for non-participation. As sad as I was (seeing as though I'd worked my ass off to get in) I felt liberated at the same time. I wrote letters to the leader of the group and Irene Larsen explaining my situation and wishing them well. Even wrote a letter to my favorite bartender, Sam who I spent many a Sunday afternoon trading stories and working on card tricks. I respected their decision but ultimately felt excommunicated. I made a decision to give up magick all together and I hung up my hat for the last time. Mind you, I was performing at restaurants and other gigs so I definitely had potential, but I lost my love for the art. Instead I picked up my second passion, computers.
Fast forward 19 years. I've had a successful career as an IT professional although now I'm at a point of terminal burnout. I picked up a pack of playing cards the other day that had I bought online a while back (Shadow masters) and realized I could still perform effects, sleights, flourishes, etc albeit very rusty. Something just snapped in me. I came to the realization that I missed the arts in a big way and wanted to get involved in some facet.
So here I am. 19 years later. A former badass who is practically starting over. Sure I still have an arsenal, but a lot has changed. With the advent of the Internet the new generation of finger-flingers are doing things with cards and coins only once imagined. I feel very behind the curve.
I've decided to focus on the bizarre/mentalism side of magick since that's what interests me most. When I was a kid I had similar interests however being young it was hard for people to take me seriously with "heavy" story lines to my effects. Now that I've matured, have some grey hair, and am fully tattooed people take me little more seriously it seems. I'm admittedly a bit nervous about performing in public, I need a lot more practice. So I end up performing for my other half who is a receptive audience yet exercises scrutiny in every move I make. I'm finding it challenging to perform for her because she's wicked smart and has a scientific mind and is very hard to misdirect.
I've also noticed my hands slightly tremor when I perform. I'm not sure if this is nerves or neurological (I had a bad car accident in 2006, haven't been right since). This truly concerns me and at times discourages me from practicing/performing even in front of her.
Beyond that, I'm excited about the arts again and want to dive in head first but am not sure where to start. I'd like to have 5-10 solid effects in my arsenal that I could do anywhere. I have a couple of original routines (which I'll record someday soon when I feel comfortable and showcase) that I'll keep, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on some lovely mentalism/card routines that are purely lethal.
So to summarize:
Sorry for the long post but I had a lot to say and figured it wouldn't hurt introducing myself.
Cheers!
-Jaems
I'm Jaems. I'm 36 and live in the Houston area, originally from California. And boy do I <3 Magick and Mentalism. I've been on a 19 year hiatus from the arts and recently just poked my head back into the world and get involved again.
So I got involved into the arts when I was 6 years old. I was brought up onstage by a magician at the Pomona county fair and was instantly hooked. I then sought out a magic shop called, "Would you believe?" in Pasadena, CA where I proceeded to visit every Saturday and learn the craft (and spend way too much of my father's money). Luckily he encouraged my interests and I quickly became apt at magick. More on why I spell it with a "k" later.
So I practiced my ass off for 9 years and began working as a demonstrator at Oasis Magic Shop in Temple City, CA at age 14. It was my first job and provided me great exposure to local conjurers alike. A friend of mine, David Zirbel (who is now well known) said that I should audition for the Magic Castle Junior's Group. As many of you know it's not easy to get into this group and you really had to show talent versus the adult members who could audition a simple trick and pay their way in.
I believe at the time they were auditioning every 6 months so I worked on a routine that would fit the 5 minute time limit. I can't even remember what I did, but I ended up going over by 30 seconds. Feedback from the crowd and the panel was good but I broke the time limit somehow. Fail #1
I waited 6 more months and auditioned again. During this time I had just turned 15 and was going through a carney phase in my life. Fedora, vest, and a crappy attitude to boot. I did a few tricks and apparently used too much "blue" humor in my act. While the crowd was laughing hysterically one of the panel members, Peter Pit told me in a drunken voice, "you're too young for all of this blue humor. Your act was solid but inappropriate". Fail #2
Finally I got on the phone with the leader of the Junior group and asked what's the next steps. By this time I had a bad taste in my mouth about the whole group. He told me to keep it simple and show off some mechanics. So I decided to do a hanging coin routine with a twist. I was lucky enough to meet and session with David Roth at my magic shop so we exchanged notes and he gave me a lot of ideas on how to improve my performance and own it. I was set. I was going to keep my mouth shut and do a silent hanging coin routine to some Japanese instrumental. Shaking like a leaf (I really wanted in the group) I popped into the parlour and started my routine. Now remember, I had this timed to music so there was emphasis and cues which punctuated different segments of the effect. All of a sudden things came to a grinding halt when my music stopped. Technical difficulties? I shrugged it off with a smile and finished my routine. I was told by the leader of the group that it was one of the cleanest hanging coin routines he's seen and that I've definitely matured. Needless to say I received my welcome letter and became a member of the prestigious Junior Group. I was pumped.
I attended the monthly meetings but I was going through a change in my performance style and was really getting into bizarre magick and getting away from heavy knucklebusting and mechanics which I was known for. I wanted more mystery and less gimmicks/sleights in my routines. There was a requirement to showcase an affect twice a year which I failed to do. For some reason watching all of the other teens do linking rings, card to wallet, and dove routines made me cringe on the inside. I was working on an effect where a chosen card is found by someone stabbing me in the heart with a dagger. I felt it was more entertaining but when I asked if I should showcase it I was discouraged by the leaders of the group. This gave me a feeling of being an outcast.
I was on the verge of turning 17 and ended up moving to San Francisco for a spell. This prevented me from attending regular meetings and ultimately ended up ejecting me from the group for non-participation. As sad as I was (seeing as though I'd worked my ass off to get in) I felt liberated at the same time. I wrote letters to the leader of the group and Irene Larsen explaining my situation and wishing them well. Even wrote a letter to my favorite bartender, Sam who I spent many a Sunday afternoon trading stories and working on card tricks. I respected their decision but ultimately felt excommunicated. I made a decision to give up magick all together and I hung up my hat for the last time. Mind you, I was performing at restaurants and other gigs so I definitely had potential, but I lost my love for the art. Instead I picked up my second passion, computers.
Fast forward 19 years. I've had a successful career as an IT professional although now I'm at a point of terminal burnout. I picked up a pack of playing cards the other day that had I bought online a while back (Shadow masters) and realized I could still perform effects, sleights, flourishes, etc albeit very rusty. Something just snapped in me. I came to the realization that I missed the arts in a big way and wanted to get involved in some facet.
So here I am. 19 years later. A former badass who is practically starting over. Sure I still have an arsenal, but a lot has changed. With the advent of the Internet the new generation of finger-flingers are doing things with cards and coins only once imagined. I feel very behind the curve.
I've decided to focus on the bizarre/mentalism side of magick since that's what interests me most. When I was a kid I had similar interests however being young it was hard for people to take me seriously with "heavy" story lines to my effects. Now that I've matured, have some grey hair, and am fully tattooed people take me little more seriously it seems. I'm admittedly a bit nervous about performing in public, I need a lot more practice. So I end up performing for my other half who is a receptive audience yet exercises scrutiny in every move I make. I'm finding it challenging to perform for her because she's wicked smart and has a scientific mind and is very hard to misdirect.
I've also noticed my hands slightly tremor when I perform. I'm not sure if this is nerves or neurological (I had a bad car accident in 2006, haven't been right since). This truly concerns me and at times discourages me from practicing/performing even in front of her.
Beyond that, I'm excited about the arts again and want to dive in head first but am not sure where to start. I'd like to have 5-10 solid effects in my arsenal that I could do anywhere. I have a couple of original routines (which I'll record someday soon when I feel comfortable and showcase) that I'll keep, but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on some lovely mentalism/card routines that are purely lethal.
So to summarize:
- I'm back from 19 years of inactivity and would love to meet new friends and magick/mentalism fans.
- I'm apprehensive about performing due to hand tremors, how best to overcome them besides taking a medication to combat it (Propanolol).
- What are some effects or who are some performers I should keep an eye on to become inspired?
- Besides Theory11 what's a good source for apparatus, gear, cards, accessories?
- Finally, are there any folks in Houston that want to get together and session?
Sorry for the long post but I had a lot to say and figured it wouldn't hurt introducing myself.
Cheers!
-Jaems
