Mirrors
Good afternoon, magical buds. It's freezing here in Tulsa
today. Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I walked hand in
hand to the local cafe, it was sunny and a balmy 72
degrees. A few hours later we got hit by a cold front, and
it started sleeting. This morning it was 22 degrees with a
wind-chill factor of -2 degrees. Thankfully, this type of
weather does not occur often and it never lasts very long
either.
Schools were closed today, so Daddy is having a hard time
working with the kids screaming at each other in the
background. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids
-- but I love them more when they are in school.
Trilogy: 3X Dan and Dave Buck
-----------------------------
I wanted to tell you I have been reviewing the content from
the Dan and Dave Buck DVD set, Trilogy, which I mentioned
last time. Sad to say I will probably not learn a lot from
these DVDs. There is some very cool stuff, but very little
of it is actually explained by the kids. Most of it is
captioned: do this, do that, kewl, right? I can't learn
this way.
What I want to know is why does my LePaul Spread look
crappy compared to theirs? What do they do to their cards?
I'm using the same deck of cards, mine have been broken in,
and they have been treated with fanning powder. Still my
cards zig when theirs zag. I guess it's back to practicing
for a few hours a day until I get the knack. The problem is
most of their stuff is so damned complicated, that I am
afraid my knicks will get knacked before I get knocked.
Mirrors
-------
I also wanted to tell you about a neat thing I came across
while reading a magic review in The Linking Ring. They
mentioned this new DVD featuring the magic of James Prince
that has an effect called Mirrors. Before I get into it,
let me explain my interest.
Back in 19XX when Paul Harris came out with his effect,
Solid Deception, I was intrigued by the idea of a deck of
cards turning into a solid block. I played with it and came
up with my own routine called Rent-A-Deck where a rented
deck (solid) requires a deposit of a dime to be used
(loose). You put the dime in the slot in the deck, and the
cards transform from a solid deck to a regular deck --
until the time expired buzzer sounds -- and then the deck
is solid again.
I entered this routine in the 1976 SAM Close-Up Contest and
it was about the oddest act going that year. I give myself
credit for going against Imam and Peter Maloney (Peter was
very gracious, but he won hands down).
I later marketed the effect and years later actually found
someone who bought it and performed in his restaurant magic
-- Ken are you out there? You are my favorite subscriber.
Well, as luck would have it, this solid deck theme
continued to perpetuate with a Screwed Deck, a Glass Deck,
and a few other renditions. I owned them all at one point
or another, but this new one called Mirrors seems to be the
best application yet.
You do an Ambitious Card routine and then hand them their
card and the deck and ask them if they know how the trick
was done. Of course, you explain, it was done with mirrors.
When they examine the deck, they discover it is really a
stack of 5 mirrors! I think this is brilliant -- a perfect
ending.
RSVP Magic makes a limited supply of these mirrors, so I
ordered a pair immediately. They are cut the same size as a
poker-sized deck and you must glue 5 cards onto the back of
the 5 mirrors. The corners are rounded, the edges are a bit
rough, and the mirror surfaces are covered with protective
plastic which should be removed before performing.
I used a spray adhesive because I was impatient and that
got glue everywhere. I spent more time cleaning the edges
than if I would have just rubber cemented the 5 cards on
the backs of the mirrors. When stacked they look somewhat
like a deck. You need to hold them in a deep grip after the
switch.
The mirrors are supposed to come with a DVD showing a
routine, but mine did not arrive with the mirrors. I'm
waiting for my replacement. To order your own set, go here:
http://www.rsvpmagic.com/mirrors
You can order by sending an inquiry to info@rsvpmagic.com.
They are UK-based.
Cap Through Bottle and Magic Cafe
---------------------------------
You know, it doesn't take me long to get sick of magic
forums and magicians. All I have to do is spend enough time
surfing through the Magic Cafe and I realize what a bunch of
a--holes there are out there. Back when we used to share
ideas on USENET news groups, I used to call them forum
nazis -- these are self-proclaimed, self-righteous,
self-appointed guardians of magic -- who tell you what you
can and can not do online.
I love it when these guys get into it over something stupid
on the Magic Cafe. They start arguing about anything. Don't
these guys have a life or is this it? Pathetic, sniffling
bunch of losers.
Anyway, so I was surfing around looking at reviews, trying
to find some sensational effects for some possible
restaurant magic I might start doing in the near future.
The Cap in Bottle effect intrigues me if for now other
reason than there are so many versions out there. It's hard
to know which one to choose.
After careful consideration, I selected Aquarius and
Elmwood Magic just sent me an email to let me know it
shipped. I'm excited. Of the many example videos I saw,
Aquarius displayed a performance that absolutely killed me.
You show a clear bottle of water with no label and water in
it. You come up from behind with the white plastic bottle
cap and push it visibly forward through the back of the
bottle. You actually see it vanish from the hand as it
penetrates the side of the bottle, and then, and this was
the coolest part, you watch this same bottle cap slowly
float to the top of the bottle. I have absolutely no way to
reconstruct that effect, so I made my deposit and ordered
it. I'll let you know how it is when I receive it.
If you have any recommendations for earth-shattering
effects for restaurant or walk-around work, please share
your list with me.
Until next time,
Steve Schneiderman
today. Yesterday afternoon, my wife and I walked hand in
hand to the local cafe, it was sunny and a balmy 72
degrees. A few hours later we got hit by a cold front, and
it started sleeting. This morning it was 22 degrees with a
wind-chill factor of -2 degrees. Thankfully, this type of
weather does not occur often and it never lasts very long
either.
Schools were closed today, so Daddy is having a hard time
working with the kids screaming at each other in the
background. I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids
-- but I love them more when they are in school.
Trilogy: 3X Dan and Dave Buck
-----------------------------
I wanted to tell you I have been reviewing the content from
the Dan and Dave Buck DVD set, Trilogy, which I mentioned
last time. Sad to say I will probably not learn a lot from
these DVDs. There is some very cool stuff, but very little
of it is actually explained by the kids. Most of it is
captioned: do this, do that, kewl, right? I can't learn
this way.
What I want to know is why does my LePaul Spread look
crappy compared to theirs? What do they do to their cards?
I'm using the same deck of cards, mine have been broken in,
and they have been treated with fanning powder. Still my
cards zig when theirs zag. I guess it's back to practicing
for a few hours a day until I get the knack. The problem is
most of their stuff is so damned complicated, that I am
afraid my knicks will get knacked before I get knocked.
Mirrors
-------
I also wanted to tell you about a neat thing I came across
while reading a magic review in The Linking Ring. They
mentioned this new DVD featuring the magic of James Prince
that has an effect called Mirrors. Before I get into it,
let me explain my interest.
Back in 19XX when Paul Harris came out with his effect,
Solid Deception, I was intrigued by the idea of a deck of
cards turning into a solid block. I played with it and came
up with my own routine called Rent-A-Deck where a rented
deck (solid) requires a deposit of a dime to be used
(loose). You put the dime in the slot in the deck, and the
cards transform from a solid deck to a regular deck --
until the time expired buzzer sounds -- and then the deck
is solid again.
I entered this routine in the 1976 SAM Close-Up Contest and
it was about the oddest act going that year. I give myself
credit for going against Imam and Peter Maloney (Peter was
very gracious, but he won hands down).
I later marketed the effect and years later actually found
someone who bought it and performed in his restaurant magic
-- Ken are you out there? You are my favorite subscriber.
Well, as luck would have it, this solid deck theme
continued to perpetuate with a Screwed Deck, a Glass Deck,
and a few other renditions. I owned them all at one point
or another, but this new one called Mirrors seems to be the
best application yet.
You do an Ambitious Card routine and then hand them their
card and the deck and ask them if they know how the trick
was done. Of course, you explain, it was done with mirrors.
When they examine the deck, they discover it is really a
stack of 5 mirrors! I think this is brilliant -- a perfect
ending.
RSVP Magic makes a limited supply of these mirrors, so I
ordered a pair immediately. They are cut the same size as a
poker-sized deck and you must glue 5 cards onto the back of
the 5 mirrors. The corners are rounded, the edges are a bit
rough, and the mirror surfaces are covered with protective
plastic which should be removed before performing.
I used a spray adhesive because I was impatient and that
got glue everywhere. I spent more time cleaning the edges
than if I would have just rubber cemented the 5 cards on
the backs of the mirrors. When stacked they look somewhat
like a deck. You need to hold them in a deep grip after the
switch.
The mirrors are supposed to come with a DVD showing a
routine, but mine did not arrive with the mirrors. I'm
waiting for my replacement. To order your own set, go here:
http://www.rsvpmagic.com/mirrors
You can order by sending an inquiry to info@rsvpmagic.com.
They are UK-based.
Cap Through Bottle and Magic Cafe
---------------------------------
You know, it doesn't take me long to get sick of magic
forums and magicians. All I have to do is spend enough time
surfing through the Magic Cafe and I realize what a bunch of
a--holes there are out there. Back when we used to share
ideas on USENET news groups, I used to call them forum
nazis -- these are self-proclaimed, self-righteous,
self-appointed guardians of magic -- who tell you what you
can and can not do online.
I love it when these guys get into it over something stupid
on the Magic Cafe. They start arguing about anything. Don't
these guys have a life or is this it? Pathetic, sniffling
bunch of losers.
Anyway, so I was surfing around looking at reviews, trying
to find some sensational effects for some possible
restaurant magic I might start doing in the near future.
The Cap in Bottle effect intrigues me if for now other
reason than there are so many versions out there. It's hard
to know which one to choose.
After careful consideration, I selected Aquarius and
Elmwood Magic just sent me an email to let me know it
shipped. I'm excited. Of the many example videos I saw,
Aquarius displayed a performance that absolutely killed me.
You show a clear bottle of water with no label and water in
it. You come up from behind with the white plastic bottle
cap and push it visibly forward through the back of the
bottle. You actually see it vanish from the hand as it
penetrates the side of the bottle, and then, and this was
the coolest part, you watch this same bottle cap slowly
float to the top of the bottle. I have absolutely no way to
reconstruct that effect, so I made my deposit and ordered
it. I'll let you know how it is when I receive it.
If you have any recommendations for earth-shattering
effects for restaurant or walk-around work, please share
your list with me.
Until next time,
Steve Schneiderman
posted by Steven at
3:07 PM
