Nothing can make a bad trick good, but there are thousands of ways to destroy a great trick.

Here’s one……

iTricks.com just posted information regarding the Japanese entrants at the 2009 FISM.

The video is a delightful young lady performing classic manipulation without any of the transparent cutesy crap we see so often. I love this routine:

There are several books out that teach you how to get women with your magic e.g. Tricks To Pick Up Chicks or PUMA. Those guys meet the classic definition of consultant:

consultant – someone that knows 350 ways to make love, but doesn’t know any women

Criss Angel may not be much of a magician, but whatever he does must work. His latest squeeze:

Way to go Criss!!

You would not have to read this blog for long to know that I consider 2 types of people the worst forms of the breed – bullies and hypocrites. Some of my favorite characters from the Cafe are world class in both categories, including the primary subject of this essay. Bullies, in my definition, are those that take advantage of their status or situation to inflict their position on those unable to respond due to their respective stations (e.g. the abusive boss). There is no lower form of life and I know there must be a very hot place in Hell for them – it’s going to be a crowded place!

Some years ago, Stephen Youell, his holiness, ran a paid website called Cogitations. There was a lot of discussion whether Youell actually delivered what was promised. From my perspective and that of many others, he didn’t. His friends and other enablers persisted in excusing him by claiming they got value for their money. So what! The man had created a contract with his subscribers saying he would do certain things and he didn’t. That’s a fact.

I received and retained a number of messages that Youell sent to people that were just unbelievable in their hatefulness and meanness. At the same time the footer on his Café signature cited a Bible verse, hence the moniker his holiness. At the end of this particular conflagration Youell did his best you won’t have me to kick around anymore (Richard Nixon circa 1966) and rode off into the sunset. Apparently, his horse got lost and turned around. He’s back. Just like getting shit on your finger – you can’t get rid of it.

B. D. Erland wrote, maybe the most intense magic blog I’ve ever read. I don’t know who he is or even if that’s his real name, nor does it matter one whit. I do know that he is a young man who cares about his magic and the state of the art. His essays are brilliantly conceived and thoughtfully constructed. Do I agree with everything he says? Absolutely not! He is however someone who is willing to civilly debate any issue. After he closed his blog — come back B.D. — he apparently became embroiled in a verbal altercation with Youell on the Café.

Anyone that has been around the Café for any length of time realizes that trying to argue with one of Brooks insiders is absolutely fruitless. Your posts will be deleted and his buddies’ posts will either survive or be the last word. Here’s B.D.’s recount all of the altercation:

Ye Olde Magic Blog

(B.D. and others – put Evernote on your computer. When you get a PM or thread on the Cafe that you want to keep – move it to Evernote. Brooks and his henchmen are impotent to alter history then.)

The battle moved to The Weekly Magic Failure. Youell’s posts certainly fit the classic definition:

The act of trying to make something hopelessly weak and unattractive appear strong and appealing. An impossible process that usually results in a larger, uglier turd.

The whole thing is absurd. Youell long ago lost the right to claim any sort of heat of the moment defense. Hiding behind the incredible bulk makes it even less palatable.

I don’t attend many magic lectures any more. Although I came to the conclusion long ago that most professional magicians are pompous, overbearing and over-rated gas bags, I used to be willing to attend 20 or 30 lectures a year hoping to find a few gems. I had the opportunity to see David Williamson, Paul Harris, David Roth, Michael Ammar, Duke Stern and a few others that made the hunt worthwhile – at least I used to think so. As I’ve gotten older and gas has gotten more expensive, I’m going to fewer and fewer. You have to open a lot more oysters to find a pearl it seems.

I recently attended John Lovick’s lecture and was sorely disappointed, as were many others that I spoke to. Here was a lecture that had been advertised for months and Lovick acted liked he just heard about it that afternoon. It was disorganized, uninformative and, in general, just not very good. From my perspective, he wasn’t very gracious to the attendees either. I will admit that I enjoyed getting a glimpse of his Handsome Jack persona, but it certainly wasn’t worth the cost or time invested in attending the lecture.

So….. when I was invited to attend a lecture by David Regal, my initial impulse was no way, but I remembered how much I had enjoyed his DVDs and he certainly seemed like a nice guy and the magic was clever and doable. I decided to go and boy am I glad I did! Regal is a nice guy and his lecture was fun and informative. He was well prepared even though it was the first time he had done this particular lecture.

In all fairness, this is probably more of a book tour than a lecture. Regal has produced a huge and expensive book called Approaching Magic. It is pregnant with every type of material imaginable and it was a real pleasure seeing some of the things performed that I had recently read. As expected, some looked better and a couple actual looked worse than I envisioned. He sold a bunch of books!

Two things struck me as I thought about the lecture. David Regal structures his magic to fool his audience. Even though he does some story stuff, he’s a magician and the trick comes first. Thanks for remembering that!

The other thing I’ve been formulating in my mind all day and I’m still not sure I can state it as succinctly as I would like. Entertaining magicians like Regal don’t spend their time talking about entertainment – they truly teach by example. It seems that only the dullards keep beating their audience constantly with the entertainment stick.

See him if you get a chance – it’s worth the effort I assure you.

Take care……

Final Drivel – Regal did a lot of stuff with magnets – well hidden stuff. It may be time to drag out the old pendulum principal and combine that with these modern magnets.  It could be a powerful combination. I kind of wish I hadn’t sold my Upside Down Topit books now.

I’ve really been enjoying David Regal’s new book. With all of the unadulterated crap floating around, it’s nice to find a genuine future classic.

We’re fortunate that we have people like Regal involved with magic. This type of quality and magic thinking is becoming increasingly rare.

I understand he’s going on a lecture tour shortly. I hope I can catch him.