Guaranteed Super Bowl Prediction
Bill Belichick will still be an industrial grade dick after the game – regardless of the outcome.
Are we afraid to work?
I recently was involved in a discussion about the various versions of the torn and restored newspaper. I would imagine that most everyone reading this blog has a favorite. Personally, I prefer Gene Anderson’s classic method for normal situations and Osterlind’s Signed Torn and Restored for those very special occasions – if the venue is conducive. I have a friend that swears by the Elmsley version and, I must admit, it looks great.
We also discussed the various no tear versions and quick reset versions like the Bauer and Baxt variants. From my perspective, these are just poor imitations and you are better off not doing a newspaper tear than using these. I know, I know they reset so quickly and the Anderson tear is so much work. Yeah it takes some time in preparation and more practice than most realize, but don’t you want to give your audience your best?
I’ll bet the last time you were REALLY fooled, it was by someone like Tommy Wonder that never let difficult preparation get in the way of the final effect. Why were magicians paying $100 each to see a performance of the Hooker rising cards? Most people like to be fooled and, to extrapolate from Leipzig – they like to be fooled by a gentleman that made the effort to make sure it happened.
Good magic is hard work – there’s no way around it. If we’re going to be magicians, we’ve got to be willing to pay the price.
The alternative is bad magic or we can go to the joke store and load up on plastic poo, joy buzzers and whoopee cushions and be the life of the party. This is especially appealing if you wear humorous pants and do lame insult lines.
We’ve added the Dilbert…
AND…. My pants have disappeared
It’s certainly no surprise that Jim Coles at the Unexpected Wonders blog has written another insightful and intelligent post called Avoiding Confusion. 
Jim has hit on one of my favorite themes and one so frequently overlooked by magicians. You know the tricks I’m talking about – your card is the Jack of clubs – which now has a blue back AND now I’m wearing no pants! Huh?!?!
Think of the magicians that made it – especially among layman. Those that became popular because of their magic, generally did so because they practiced effect clarity. Never a doubt about what they did. As an example, take Michael Ammar. He made his reputation on the floating dollar bill, coins through silk, card on ceiling etc. Every effect easily described in a brief sentence or two.
Mike Skinner – what did you always hear about him? Every effect was clear and precise.
Go back to the Stars Of Magic and count the multiple ending effects – it won’t take long. Jim does a good job covering logic and how it can make a multi-climax effect work, but you must think and study.
Look at most of the Vernon effects. You can, again, describe them succinctly in a very few words. Of course, executing them like he did can’t hurt.
To me, this is why we’ve never seen a real improvement on Al Schneider’s wonderful Matrix. The original is so elegant – 4 coins covered by 4 cards all gather – one by one – to join the others. Don’t mess with it. You’re not going to improve it.
John Kennedy’s Translocation is another “perfect” effect. Want to argue that? Just watch Chris Korn do it. Four coins travel – one at a time – from under the left hand to the right hand. Beautiful magic.
Think through your repertoire. Can all of your tricks be quickly and easily described. If not, maybe you should remove certain phases that are nothing more than useless obfuscation.
Take care…….
