Macobre Magic?

William Draven · Dec 25, 2008

Looks like I've got some christmas money to spend on new magic tricks. ^_^ always a good thing.

My current act focuses on strange and unusal magic, mentalism, and other macabre effects.

Is there anything exciting out there that I should look for to add to my act that would be spooky, strange, unsual, etc that you'd recomend?

Cardz9863 · Dec 25, 2008

The only things I can think of are Stigmata, Disjointed, Saw, Thread and I know theres many more but those were off the top of my head.

William Draven · Dec 25, 2008

I perform stigmatta and it's okay.

Disjointed sounds interesting...

Thread I've been doing for a year or so now. Except I pull from my stomach, not my eye. ...And no. I don't run gaffs. The effect is actually called "Belly Ribbons", and it's my current closer. Killer effect. Absolutely killer.

Saw... I've got issues with. Technical issues. If anyone's got any real experience working with it professionally PM me please. I can't discuss it here without exposing the effect.

The Wordsmith · Dec 25, 2008

Derren Brown performed an adaptation of Out of this World with dead people and alive people which was pretty macarbre. Look it up on youtube. I think it is under "The undertaker's trick". If you have a good out of this world, you could do that.

William Draven · Dec 25, 2008

That's pretty cool actually. I never thought of that. I think I'll have to resurect my OTW.

Bizzaro · Dec 25, 2008

I know a place to get some good unusual stuff.... (Grin) Some of them involve Razor Blades.

nexusmagic · Dec 25, 2008

I highly recomend bizzaro's book and dvd on the razor blade illusion. Buy it and find out for yourselfz.

joshrobarts · Dec 25, 2008

Shock F/X by Andrew Mayne, has some good stuff, pen through cheek, a bizarre eating routing and some other great stuff. check it out

The Wordsmith · Dec 26, 2008

Wayne's Shock F/X looks pretty good. I am going to have to keep a tab on this thread - you lot are coming up with some pretty awesome stuff. I have just added Shock F/X to my Magic-To-Get list.

romeo sierra · Dec 26, 2008

I once saw a magician perform a macabre style Cups and Balls routine. It felt very dark and medieval. He ended the routine with the surprise production of a live rat underneath each cup. Name escapes me unfortunately. To offer a starting point, I know that Johnny Ace Palmer does a similar light-hearted routine with the production of baby chicks. Might be worth looking into.

I also recommend looking into some of Marc Spellmann's material. I don't personally own them, but I know he released a multi-volume DVD set that focuses on a similar venue that you're looking for. It's admittedly gotten mixed reviews, but a lot of the negative comments seem to have come from people who favor more clean-cut, traditional magic. I'm sure you'll find something of value in them-- the trailers look pretty solid.

I'm sure you're familiar with Swami/Mantra. It's a great book on geek-type effects and general close-up magic. I think it's pretty difficult to find these days. If you want, I'll send you my copy. It's just collecting dust on my shelf and I rarely use any of its material anyway. Let me know.

RS.

romeo sierra · Dec 26, 2008

And with regards to Disjointed, I actually favor the original method by Shinkoh Nagisa. Although Disjointed has a few added tips and visuals, I think Shinkoh's method hits harder because it actually involves audience participation to sell the illusion. I also like the way Blaine presented the effect on Street Magic. He lifted his sleeve to show his forearm with real, twisted flesh around it. Sick. I only have the small written manuscript, but I know Meir Yedid released a video years ago showing added bonuses on how to make your arm twist three consecutive times, etc. If you look around, I think you'll agree it's a superior method to achieve the twisted arm effect.

RS.

William Draven · Dec 26, 2008

romeo sierra said:
And with regards to Disjointed, I actually favor the original method by Shinkoh Nagisa. Although Disjointed has a few added tips and visuals, I think Shinkoh's method hits harder because it actually involves audience participation to sell the illusion. I also like the way Blaine presented the effect on Street Magic. He lifted his sleeve to show his forearm with real, twisted flesh around it. Sick. I only have the small written manuscript, but I know Meir Yedid released a video years ago showing added bonuses on how to make your arm twist three consecutive times, etc. If you look around, I think you'll agree it's a superior method to achieve the twisted arm effect.

RS.

This sounds good. What am I looking for as far as title for this origional method? Publisher? anything that would make tracking it down easier.