Puzzles and Great Magic Performances

Jun 18, 2019
540
293
20
West Bengal, India
A question:-

Am I the only (or one of the very few) magicians who strongly dislikes (read: HATES) puzzles? Till date I've only found 2 other magicians who dislike puzzles, that is Tony Chang and Darwin Ortiz.

As Chris Ramsay (the most popular magician on You Tube right now) is graviating more and more towards puzzles (and taking a large percentage of 'magic' channels with him!) and the fact that Dan and Dave have an entire branch dealing with puzzles, I can't help feeling afraid that I am unfit to be a magician just because I get zero satisfaction out of puzzles or trying to solve them.

Is anybody with me or am I really alone?

Secondly, and more importantly, I want to spend this time watching some great magic. Please reply with links to your favourite magic PERFORMANCE videos down! I'd love to watch some amazing magic now that I am pretty much sitting on my bed doing nothing.

Do reply!

:)
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Dan & Dave started that trend, I believe. It makes a certain sense if you step back and think about who's doing it. Dan & Dave were at the forefront of the flourishing movement. ie: Things to do with your hands. Puzzles are also things to do with your hands. Turns out, though, that puzzles make more money than flourishing (or magic, apparently).

Always remember that when it comes to YouTube, views = money. Therefore, if someone uses YouTube as their income, you can assume everything they are doing is because it gets views. Apparently people like to watch videos of puzzles being solved.

Personally I like puzzles a little bit. My dad used to always get those 'pub puzzles' at Christmas and we'd all spend time trying to solve it, so it's nostalgic for me. But I wouldn't spend my time watching someone else do it. That being said, I spend a not insignificant amount of time watching strong folks pick things up and put them back down - so who am I to judge? We all have our hobbies.

Secondly, and more importantly, I want to spend this time watching some great magic. Please reply with links to your favourite magic PERFORMANCE videos down! I'd love to watch some amazing magic now that I am pretty much sitting on my bed doing nothing.

 
Jun 18, 2019
540
293
20
West Bengal, India
Dan & Dave started that trend, I believe. It makes a certain sense if you step back and think about who's doing it. Dan & Dave were at the forefront of the flourishing movement. ie: Things to do with your hands. Puzzles are also things to do with your hands. Turns out, though, that puzzles make more money than flourishing (or magic, apparently).

Always remember that when it comes to YouTube, views = money. Therefore, if someone uses YouTube as their income, you can assume everything they are doing is because it gets views. Apparently people like to watch videos of puzzles being solved.

Personally I like puzzles a little bit. My dad used to always get those 'pub puzzles' at Christmas and we'd all spend time trying to solve it, so it's nostalgic for me. But I wouldn't spend my time watching someone else do it. That being said, I spend a not insignificant amount of time watching strong folks pick things up and put them back down - so who am I to judge? We all have our hobbies.



I've seen this video and till date, irrespective of which magician I have seen perform on video or in real life, regardless of the many Shin Lim performance videos I have watched, this performance, by far, is the best. Magic. I. Have. Ever. Seen.

I really wish I had the knowledge required to transform my 'tricks' into 'Extraordinary Moments' like this. :(
 

WitchDocIsIn

Elite Member
Sep 13, 2008
5,877
2,945
Adam is a cool guy. Very creative. Had a jam session with him a couple months ago that spawned some really interesting ideas and helped me refine a couple of my own.

The key to building presentations like this is to have a cache of concepts and ideas to pull from and build off. For Adam, he built that presentation around what is genuinely his favorite childhood book. It helps that the story is genuinely pretty good.

For me I often look to the occult, or unsolved mysteries, or just weird historic stories (like Sin Eaters) for presentation ideas.
 
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Nov 3, 2018
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I'm a sucker (pun intended) for cheating demos done expertly by people who know what they're talking about. In that spirit, may I present to you: Steve Forte.


Turns out, I'm also a sucker for impossible and masterfully executed card magic (original as well) and hilarious shows with a vocabulary pretentious enough to make Derren Brown's books slink off in shame, quietly sobbing into their dictionaries.

 
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