Saturday Night Contest - Resolutions For 2019

Jul 1, 2014
181
167
In 2018, I actually spent most of my time finishing my university degree. However, I still kept Mentalism as my hobby and occasionally performed for strangers, which was very satisfying. I did not learn any new Cardistry moves, I think it's time to move on after 6 years. I still carry a deck of cards with me everywhere I go though, it's probably become something that I cannot go out without.

In 2019 I look forward to having more time for Mentalism, both practicing and performing. I will definitely revisit 13 steps and PME and also other books as well as DVDs.

Thanks t11 for creating this forum so that magicians, mentalists and cardists all around the world can share their experiences to make our Arts better. Have a wonderful year everyone!
 

JPS

Dec 21, 2016
75
43
This year I helped a childhood friend of mine put out his own deck of cards which so far has been doing fantastic, it's been really awesome to start participating in the magic community as opposed to just being a part of it.

Something I started doing was attending meetup events, which is probably my biggest resolution moving forward.

Its really easy to fall into this trap of just watching online tutorials and performing every now and then but never making an effort to interact with people who share this similar, honestly pretty obscure hobby. So I think in the new year i'm gonna start attending a ton more meetups
 
Jun 18, 2017
104
77
I only got back into magic last year and a lot had changed. Streaming wasn’t possible when I started out and downloads took a long time so the sheer volume of material I suddenly had access to changed everything!

Mostly my motivation to stick with it has stayed. I’ve branched out from cards this year, dabbling in invisible thread, coins and mentalisn to understand more magic theory. I’ve learnt that very few tricks are entertaining on their own, and have been studying presentation and character development over everything else.

In fact my recent foray into invisible thread was not because I wanted to imitate something, but because it resonated with the character and plots I was developing.

So I guess for 2019 I really want to focus on two things. One, on a personal level, is to improve my confidence and handling of the tricks I already know. They need to become second nature.

Two, I’d like to finish the short show I’ve been putting together, keeping the magic varied and believable whilst also being something I can perform for people who already know me. A challenge, because this really restricts your character, but one I’m looking forward to.

Happy new year!
 
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Sep 2, 2017
31
35
This year has been by far the hardest and more challenging year of my whole life. Losing family members, breaking my 4 years relationship... It has been extremely hard to fight and not give up. But finding new ways to see and enjoying life has helped me a lot and magic is a HUGE part of my year's happiness. For the first time, I have been a semi-professional performer. Doing some close-up acts here and there, creating my own show... I can say and ensure that magic has saved my year and my life.

My plan for 2019 is to keep improving and learning. Sharing my thoughts and knowledge with the newcomers and creating a show that inspires others. This is going to be my magic year, this year will be the one.
 
Mar 1, 2018
90
67
The year 2018 was very good for me in terms of magic. I spent a lot of time on my DL and now I am finally happy with it. I also learnt some useful controls, for example the turnover pass. I also bought my favorite magic book so far - Mnemonica by Juan Tamariz. I have been studying it for the last two months now. Towards the end of the year I finally started performing for strangers. I still need to improve my performance skills, which is one of my objectives for 2019.

I also want to start learning coin and rubik cube magic. But most of all, I just want to have fun learning and performing magic. :)
 
Jun 21, 2017
21
17
The highlight of 2018 would be performing in front of a huge crowd in my university on our annual welcome.
Being extremely shy, it was a huge moment for me since I was terrified and the real magic was in keeping up the appearance of calm. But as all the practice came into play and things went smoothly, it turned from a terrifying experience to an extremely exhilarating one.
Even though it wasn't perfect, I found I loved every moment on stage and found out ways to improve my future performances which I wouldn't have thought of if I just continued doing magic for myself or for close friends.

In 2019, I hope to continue watching, experiencing and performing even more magic in front of even larger crowds. And also, I want to continue to develop a recent fascination with cardistry!
 
Dec 30, 2014
279
344
So 2018 in terms of magic has unfortunately been lack lustre. Due to my fear of performing for whatever reason it might be (I don’t know why) I haven’t really learnt anything new nor performed much. I know their are lots of threads regarding getting over this fear but in order to actually overcome it I believe it has to come from inside me. Despite this I still managed to perform a little bit to friends and it felt great! So it’s really annoying how I haven’t managed to push past that fear yet I definitely still love magic but this year just took a bit of a hiatus from learning and haven’t practiced an awful lot although I am still very capable and haven’t forgotten much.

2019 goals!!! So 2019 approaching I really want to get back into magic and start learning cardio try a bit more as well! My goal is to become confident in myself because my fear I believe comes from my shy personality and low confidence. I really want to just go up to someone on the street and say “hey! You wanna see some magic” so that’s one of my goals. Perform for at least one person I don’t know I’m also going to Argentina for 6 months in 2019 and so I’d really like to perform magic in Spanish. Not my native language.

So to summarise 2019 goals: get back into it, perform to someone I don’t know and perform in Spanish!
Happy new year everyone!
 

Gabriel Z.

Elite Member
Apr 26, 2013
1,997
2,358
38
NY
www.youtube.com
2018 has been a somewhat productive year. However, I hope that 2019 will be even more fruitful. I have already started on my resolution which is to lose weight. I will continue to learn card magic. My goals are very simple when written out , but when the time comes to actually carrying them out it is a bit more difficult.

2019 will have ups and downs however I have a feeling it will be the most productive year I have had since being diagnosed with schizophrenia back in 2008. As far as losing weight I have already a head start; I started my diet December 5 and have lost about 20 pounds so far(I have just been eating apples, orange), That and doing push-ups in my room. I realize that the closer I get to my target weight the more difficult it will become. Hope the best for everyone. Happy New Years!!
 
Jul 26, 2017
48
49
2018 was really stressful but still amazing year for me. It was my final year of college and I managed to finish it in time (that was the stressful part). Got my first job in programming and met an amazing girl who is now my girlfriend and loves watching me perform magic. I went to my first ever magic lecture held by Michael Vincent where I met a lot of really cool people. Thanks to this lecture I met a guy from my city and we became really good friends. Since I have been focused on finishing college and getting a job I didn't perform magic very often but I still practiced in my room almost every day.

In 2019 I can focus more on my magic and will try to get my first professional gig as magician. Magic also helped me to met a lot of new, cool people so I would like to meet a whole lot more (maybe some of you guys).

Happy new year to all of you!
 
Feb 20, 2017
34
12
France
I think 2018 was a good year, I understood myself a little bit more and understood what I wanted, the idea of creating my own deck of card is now deep-rooted into my mind and when I will be done with my studies, I will do it. But I want it to be original and that is the original idea that I am looking for. I think I will try to build my own card-printing machine. I created some cool cardistry moves and met 2 Irish cardists on my trip to Ireland and that was awesome.
As for 2019, I want to work hard for my studies and to carry on cardistry as well. I want to be efficient in what I do. I also want to organize a cardistry jam in my city and host cardists for a few days so that we can share our passion.

Happy New Year To All Of You !!
 

Nikolay Karagyozov

Elite Member
Jun 22, 2012
193
201
In 2018 I learnt a lot of valuable lessons. Started a new job, moved to a new place. Managed to teach myself how to stay calm and focused. Went through some tough health problems.

For the upcoming year I’d like to be able to find more free time for myself. To be able to take more care of my health, mentality and family. As 2018 was very busy and forced me to leave my hobbys aside, I really hope that the new year will be more gentle with me in this sence and give me more possibilities and time to spend with the deck of cards!

Anyhow guys, bust of luck to everybody! I really hope that all of you achieve your goals and live happily and healthy!

Nikolay
 
Dec 5, 2014
54
63
25
Philippines
2018 wasn't really the best year for me. I procrastinate a lot, my magic and cardistry life was dead, I didn't have much time with my family and friends, I didn't take care of my health. Because I was so busy with my studies. They said that was normal for graduating students. NO IT'S NOT!! I was very unhappy that time. But the last few days of my year (school break) I was very VERY happy and inspired coz I was able to do what I love to do. My heart is full of love. That's why I promised to myself that next year, I will be bold, spontaneous and I will ensue (not pursue) my dreams, my passion which is making people happy through my magic.

(Btw, check out Yes Theory on YouTube. They are one of the reasons why I wanted to be spontaneous)
 

FiliS

Elite Member
Jan 13, 2017
90
100
In the past year I practiced tricks so much that I really mastered them. I showed all of my tricks to family and friends and they really liked them. So basically at the end of a year I am on the path to start something new. Something beyond my comfort zone, like performing for a larger crowd or taking a leap and try to perform on the street. I believe that 2019 will be a great year for me. It should be the year where something new happens.
 

S_Darth

Elite Member
Jan 20, 2013
152
134
India
I'm a Cardist and 2018 without a doubt, was an eventful year for me as a Cardist. I took part in my first Cardistry competition and it was really a good, fun and challenging experience. I took part in the Cardistry Discord Championship (CDC 2018) which was held around June and continued till September, last year. There were 5 rounds in total (the first round was an audition round) and I fortunately got to the final round. There were 3 categories in CDC: Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced. I was competing in the Intermediate category. Although I did not win the Finals (nor came 2nd or 3rd too), it was an experience I will not forget since it was my first major cardistry competition. I remember how I had to brainstorm for every round to think how I would my plan and film by video and the moves I would put it, trying to meet the criteria of each round. Boy, it was challenging for me as I not only had to learn how to use Adobe Premier Pro to edit my videos during the competition but also had to work on the Cardistry part too of course since its a Cardistry Competition. I was not used to filming long Cardistry videos (had to film 5 for all rounds in total) and it taught me the importance of sticking to a deadline to get my videos done on time. I still remember the way I had practiced for some of the highly challenging (& yet fun) rounds, especially the Uncut Round 3. Not to mention the new moves I had to learn to use them in the rounds and so I also expanded my arsenal of moves in the process. One mistake I would never want to repeat again is what happened during the Final round. I legit shot my Final round the last moment and as a result of it, I didn't like the outcome because it was not well planned like my previous rounds and was done in a haste. I will always remember this experience. Also, since CDC 2018 was highly criteria based for each round (even the Final Round had a specific criteria), I have learned how to follow and not follow the criteria in a competition. Its Very Important :) and Overall, I gotta say that I loved the experience and had fun competing with many great cardists (who I have the pleasure to call friends).

So YES, CDC was the Highlight of 2018 for me as a Cardist! Would I like to compete in Future competitions like CDC ? Sure, Why not?! But before I decide to do something like this again, I really need to implement the learnings from the mistakes I made in CDC 2018 to avoid repeating them again. So that's where 2019's resolution comes in place! One of the things I am going to do in 2019 is Significantly improve my Cinematography and Editing Skills to produce better High Quality Cardistry videos for future competitions like CDC. I know at the Core, the Cardistry moves and creativity is what's all that matters but if I'm not able to showcase the Art in the Best way Possible, then I am failing the purpose of the Art itself. Now that's something I Cannot allow to Happen! (Of course, I'm still going to work on the Art at its Core too and Overall, be a better Cardist)

I'd also like to thank Theory 11 for giving me an excuse to reflect on my year as a Cardist haha xD
 

Patrix

Elite Member
Dec 24, 2018
192
182
Michigan
I'm returning to one of my first loves, that of Magic, this year. I was doing some magic for a two year old. she was delighted and sqealed "do it again" Something familiar in those words, i guess. I'm relearning effects,reading books and gained a new obsession in card collecting.
I've collected about 75 new decks in the last 6 months. I just had carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand,over the holidays.
I'm looking forward to regaining the strenth in my hand and continuing learning more methods and creating more magical moments.
 
Sep 13, 2016
8
20
In 2018, I'm feeling greatful because I've meet with Edo Huang and join to his magic community. If you active on Instagram, you must be know him. He is very humble guy & also good mentor for me in magic. He give me new perspective in magic industry and I have learn a lot from him.

In 2019, I want to improve my performing skill, try to make my own routines, design my own playing cards, and I hope with this hobby I can be a blessing for other people. Because I believe that's when the real magic happens.

Happy holiday guys
Cheers
 
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Jan 13, 2015
60
88
2018, was a good year for me. Learnt so many new tricks, and made so many new friends. I attended a magic convention. Preformed my first professional show and started a new Instagram account to help grow other magicians on the platform. In 2019 I hope to further grow the account, attend the convention again and start to preform professionally on a regular basis. Happy New Year Everyone!
 
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Dec 9, 2017
17
21
I'm actually very new to magic, so 2018 was a big learning year for me. I learnt so many new things abut magic and how to preform tricks. I say 2018 taught me a lot about myself and what i want to pursue. In 2019 I hope to expand my knowledge on magic and hopefully start a you tube channel possibly. Hope everyone had a great 2018 and here's to a great 2019!
 
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Stratego

Elite Member
May 18, 2017
146
182
This year I’ve mostly perfected my cardistry skills. I also gained confidence to perform magic to people instead of camera. For the next year, I’m looking forward to learn new cool cuts and make more music video including them. I have to admit I didn’t learn a lot of magic this year but I’m still working on the few tricks I already know well so it becomes perfect. In my opinion I prefer to only perform a few effects perfectly than a ton of poorly executed effects.
 

CWhite

Elite Member
Jul 22, 2016
769
962
Soooooo, where do I begin. My goals for 2018, were met half assed. I wanted to perform a trick for YouTube, I did that entering a SNC. The video positioning was horrible, you couldn't tell what was happening. My "acting" was brutal. It's become a joke around the house lol. With that said, the performance alone was really good considering it was my first full performance.. ever. Definitely a huge learning experience.
In 2018 I discovered linking rings, thanks to @obrienmagic . I got to see Criss Angel's Mindfreak, a very good show. I think I practiced more than I ever have. It definitely shows.. to me lol
So for 2019, I hope to film more content for YouTube, enter more SNC and just work on my depression and anxiety over all. That illness makes practicing very tough, as I'm sure a few of you can relate. I got Sucker Punch for Christmas, so I'm going to break away from cards a little bit to keep things fresh.
Good luck to everyone and happy new year!! Cheers!!
 
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