Hey Theory 11, allow me to introduce myself:
My name's Mat. About a couple years ago when I was 12 I got into magic after one of my friends showed me his ACR routine. I was so amazed that I decided to pick it up myself and (I regret this decision to my fullest) looked for as many magic trick tutorials on YouTube as possible. Although only learning through pretty crappy 9 year old kids, I have to admit, I wasn't all that bad at it. It was then I discovered a website I'm all sure we're aware of, Ellusionist. Being a little wannabe David Blaine, I thought buying a whole bunch of unnecessary stuff would make me a good magician. I went ahead and picked up a Bicycle Masters deck, a gaff deck to go with it, and two effects called Factory Sealed and Bullet, which I actually still do today. However, I butchered the gaff tricks so much because I never learned how to do sleights properly (but I never realized this until I matured
). Through Ellusionist, I discovered a magician that truly inspired me, Wayne Houchin. Later I left Ellusionist for Theory 11 when I discovered Wayne left as well. I found that I was quite fond of the Theory 11 community ten times more (this was when Theory 11 was in it's early stages. It was about the time when Wayne's Distortion was the best effect around.). However, as time went on, I discovered that the only real way of learning magic was through books such as Royal Road or Card College, etc. I also realized when trying to perform certain tricks, that I would butcher the most simplest sleights because of such poor teaching through YouTube. In an attempt to drop the bad habits, I ultimately stopped performing and practicing magic in hopes of "forgetting" how to do these sleights so in time I would start from scratch again. However during this time period I just lost interest in magic and abandoned Theory 11. However recently, in a poker game with my friends, it turns out I was the best dealer out of all of us. I started reusing some of the flourishes I learned when I was into magic. My friends were amazed at all the things I was able to do. It was their amazement that inspired me to get back into it. I went ahead and picked up all five volumes of Roberto Giobbi's Card College and I can honestly say that this is the best teaching I've ever had. Remembering Theory 11, I decided to take a look at it for the first time in I'd say about two years. Like Dante in The Count of Monte Cristo I found the whole community totally different than I remembered it. And I admit I'm still a little uncomfortable going around the site I'm no longer familiar with. Looking around in the forums, I couldn't quite find members that were popular in the days of the old (However, I'm glad that I couldn't find that one guy that was obsessed with Brian Tudor, hahaha). Well I decided to register for the forums, and I'm glad to say that I'm excited to progress with my learning along with seeing the progression of the community. Real quick, since I'm no longer familiar with this new site, I have some questions I was hoping someone from the old days of Theory 11 could answer:
- Whatever happened to "The Wire?" I never stuck around long enough to know whatever became of it.
- What's up with the new logo? No offense but I thought it looked like the Johnny Rocket's burger joint logo haha.
Well anyway, this point was kind off pointless so I apologize to anyone who wasted their time reading this, but I just wanted to say that I'm back into the art for good and I'm glad to be once again a member of Theory 11.
- Mat
My name's Mat. About a couple years ago when I was 12 I got into magic after one of my friends showed me his ACR routine. I was so amazed that I decided to pick it up myself and (I regret this decision to my fullest) looked for as many magic trick tutorials on YouTube as possible. Although only learning through pretty crappy 9 year old kids, I have to admit, I wasn't all that bad at it. It was then I discovered a website I'm all sure we're aware of, Ellusionist. Being a little wannabe David Blaine, I thought buying a whole bunch of unnecessary stuff would make me a good magician. I went ahead and picked up a Bicycle Masters deck, a gaff deck to go with it, and two effects called Factory Sealed and Bullet, which I actually still do today. However, I butchered the gaff tricks so much because I never learned how to do sleights properly (but I never realized this until I matured
). Through Ellusionist, I discovered a magician that truly inspired me, Wayne Houchin. Later I left Ellusionist for Theory 11 when I discovered Wayne left as well. I found that I was quite fond of the Theory 11 community ten times more (this was when Theory 11 was in it's early stages. It was about the time when Wayne's Distortion was the best effect around.). However, as time went on, I discovered that the only real way of learning magic was through books such as Royal Road or Card College, etc. I also realized when trying to perform certain tricks, that I would butcher the most simplest sleights because of such poor teaching through YouTube. In an attempt to drop the bad habits, I ultimately stopped performing and practicing magic in hopes of "forgetting" how to do these sleights so in time I would start from scratch again. However during this time period I just lost interest in magic and abandoned Theory 11. However recently, in a poker game with my friends, it turns out I was the best dealer out of all of us. I started reusing some of the flourishes I learned when I was into magic. My friends were amazed at all the things I was able to do. It was their amazement that inspired me to get back into it. I went ahead and picked up all five volumes of Roberto Giobbi's Card College and I can honestly say that this is the best teaching I've ever had. Remembering Theory 11, I decided to take a look at it for the first time in I'd say about two years. Like Dante in The Count of Monte Cristo I found the whole community totally different than I remembered it. And I admit I'm still a little uncomfortable going around the site I'm no longer familiar with. Looking around in the forums, I couldn't quite find members that were popular in the days of the old (However, I'm glad that I couldn't find that one guy that was obsessed with Brian Tudor, hahaha). Well I decided to register for the forums, and I'm glad to say that I'm excited to progress with my learning along with seeing the progression of the community. Real quick, since I'm no longer familiar with this new site, I have some questions I was hoping someone from the old days of Theory 11 could answer:- Whatever happened to "The Wire?" I never stuck around long enough to know whatever became of it.
- What's up with the new logo? No offense but I thought it looked like the Johnny Rocket's burger joint logo haha.
Well anyway, this point was kind off pointless so I apologize to anyone who wasted their time reading this, but I just wanted to say that I'm back into the art for good and I'm glad to be once again a member of Theory 11.
- Mat
