|
|
Go to page [Previous] 1~2~3~4~5~6~7 [Next] | ||||||||||
Mr. Mindbender Inner circle 1566 Posts |
Three hours of interviews and a spoken philosophical essay...I know hundreds of effects, what I like to hear is the thought process of strong mentalism. That’s why I got so much value from Maven’s Nothing DVD. Looking forward to getting this.
|
|||||||||
Markymark Inner circle 1686 Posts |
I know I will get incredible value just from the entertainment value alone.
I found the advertisement to be more then clear. A charismatic performer with interesting and funny things to say while using pieces of cardboard. Not a bent piece of cutlery in sight thank goodness!
''In memory of a once fluid man,crammed and distorted by the classical mess'' -Bruce Lee
|
|||||||||
Snidini Special user 776 Posts |
Looking forward to this set of DVD's. Anything Max has put out is pure gold. We should be thankful that he is willing to share his knowledge of the arts to bring us great material, be it cards or whatever, and not quibble that over it's content. I agree with Mr. Mindbender that "what I like to hear is the thought process of strong mentalism." I agree 100% with you Mindbender.
|
|||||||||
Sigmund Clementz New user Oslo, Norway 4 Posts |
I've binge watched the complete set. Now I'm very, very tired. By the way, "Pocket Nightmare" - undisclosed for nearly 40 years - is worth the price of "Kayfabe" alone. The material is top notch, ableit mostly based on cards. Most of the effects and methods are of terrifying beauty... A must have DVD set for the serious and intelligent mentalist with a preference for quality material. Clean effects which mystifies and entertains the audience.
Also the lengthy Max Maven interview, EMC segments, and "Fabulous Monster" bonus documentary are great. Thank you to Max Maven, David Britland, and Louis de Matos for making "Kayfabe" to the magic community. |
|||||||||
Theo New user 62 Posts |
Thanks Sigmund for a good review. I will pick a copy up asap.
|
|||||||||
RichLind New user 56 Posts |
Thanks for all the comments about EMC's new Max Maven. I'm eager to view
-rich |
|||||||||
rjs Loyal user 296 Posts |
Pocket Nightmare is very impressive.
At first I thought Max might be using a method which was later finessed by Christopher Borer in Get Sharky. That special Phoenix deck would accomplish the same effect. However, Max uses a completely different method which he developed way back in the early 1980s.(He mentions on the DVD that he performed Pocket Nightmare at a FISM gala show in 1985). Max's ingenious method took me by surprise. And then when I woke the next morning I suddenly realised I would be able to perform Pocket Nightmare as the necessary ingredients have been unwittingly released by Alakazam for a different trick which has a completely different presentation. |
|||||||||
George Hunter Inner circle 2013 Posts |
Okay, my wife (with some atypical enthusiasm) has signed off on this for a Christmas present for me.
RJS: Can you refer us, by its name, to the Alakazam effect that supplies the useful ingredients? George |
|||||||||
rjs Loyal user 296 Posts |
George, I'll send you a private message.
|
|||||||||
CardFan Elite user Found the Socks ! 430 Posts |
As many of you said before I became a Maven fan at the time he was Phil Goldstein... Thanks to Gaetan Bloom !
I will then order my copy of Kayfabe ! The only work I didn't really understood by Max Maven is the "The protocols of the elders of magic". I own copy number 356 and since Max is reading this thread I would really appreciate some enlighment on that specific book. Since it is not a negative comment but pure interrogation maybe Max or one of you guys will tell me more (PM me if you prefer). Cheers
Aiming to become the only magician in the world that has ever produced the lost socks back from the dryer...
|
|||||||||
pierredan Special user Dai Vernon's birthplace 540 Posts |
My take on The Protocols is that we always hear that magic as an art form is suffering, that it is dead. This book drives home the point that people have been saying this for 100 years and magic is still here and thriving.
So what? I agree. I pre-ordered the book thinking it had some interesting magic principle. It makes for a nice collectible though. |
|||||||||
KLMind New user Seattle, WA 25 Posts |
I just finished watching the DVD. There are many gems inside DVD sets. Each routine is explained in detail with many subtleties. You know that Max spent years refining them. And is entertaining watching Max perform them as well. I think the DVD set is worth it. @RJS Which Alakazam effect has the supplies for Pocket Nightmare I have trouble finding ways to create the ingredients. Thanks
|
|||||||||
CardFan Elite user Found the Socks ! 430 Posts |
Thanks pierredan for your quick and bright answer. I just saw that this book allready generated a lot of thread 12 years ago but more conjecture and cheap chat than real debate (or maybe I missed the good ones).
Every minor and major arts have suffered from death prediction in many different ways. So why would we escape ? Sorry to have interfered within this thread chaps. Cheers. "I have never believed that magic has even existed... I believe in illusion, it's far more interesting." Charles Spencer Chaplin
Aiming to become the only magician in the world that has ever produced the lost socks back from the dryer...
|
|||||||||
Kozmo V.I.P. 5473 Posts |
This will be on the marketplace site in a couple days
|
|||||||||
rowdymagi5 Inner circle Virginia 3615 Posts |
Do any of the effects utilize the Gilbreath Principle?
|
|||||||||
pierredan Special user Dai Vernon's birthplace 540 Posts |
I have started to go through the videos. Great material and I love the interviews.
The only complaint I can raise is the editing... This is not supposed to be an MTV production. Why so many cuts to different camera angles? In the interview portion, in a laid back setting, the camera cuts several times to different angles in 10 seconds. what is the point of this? It only gives me a headache. L&L did a better job at this. |
|||||||||
Tim Cavendish Inner circle 1404 Posts |
Quote:
On Dec 4, 2017, pierredan wrote: Adding to this: Grumpy old magicians (the "elders of magic") commonly declare magic to be dead. It is their standard practice (their protocol) to do so. Sometimes they do so because they're old and grumpy, but sometimes there is a triggering event that causes the entire magic community to despair. Dai Vernon's death in 1992 was such an event. MANY declared magic to have died with Vernon. The book's point is that for every single year that Vernon was alive, others were declaring magic to be dead. Through documenting those cynical declarations during every year of Vernon's life, the book seeks to discredit the perennial claim of the grumpy old magician that magic is dead. This is why the quotes run from 1894-1992, the exact years of Vernon's lifespan. I find it to be a book of hope. For all the years of Vernon's life, people declared magic to be dead. They were wrong -- clearly they weren't seeing Vernon. Likewise, when we despair and declare magic to be dead, who or what are we overlooking? T. |
|||||||||
pierredan Special user Dai Vernon's birthplace 540 Posts |
Nice insight Tim. Thanks for sharing.
|
|||||||||
asherfox Veteran user 366 Posts |
I wish someone can share more their insight to this set.
|
|||||||||
Maxyedid Special user Panama 843 Posts |
After watching this DVD set I have to admit that my impression is not so favorable as I would have expected.
We have certain rules in magic and mentalism, and we are advised to follow those rules, mostly by experience - our own and other's. Of course everyone is free to break those rules and do as he or she pleases, and experiment with the results. There are many ways and different criteria to evaluate and assess those results. One very good way of measuring them would be "cash" - if people are willing to pay you for doing what you do, then you have a nice chance of trusting that your rule breaking is working. There are other critera as well (awards, etc.) One of those rules is that "the effect is more important than the method" (Kaps?) and that "effect is everything" (Jennings?). I would dare to find anyone who performs for laypeople that would completely disagree with this rule. I remember the first words I heard in Mr. Maven's Videomind Set at the beginning of his explanations: "When I learned the Gilbreath Principle, I got infatuated by it" (or similar words). Very strong words, in my opinion. When a performer gets "infatuated" by a method rather than an effect, he is in danger. It's an out of balance relationship. If a chef becomes infatuated by salt, he runs the risk of producing food that is out of the right proportion - and not in a good way. People may not enjoy those results. The result of that imbalance is "Kayfabe". Mr. Maven's sin is that he is too smart. "His virtue is his defect". I remember reading many years ago that he reads 150 books each month. Even if 10% of that is true, it would still be impressive and I guess above average. But standing in front of an audience is very difference than sitting in a library. The reality is that the majority of people of the world are dumb, and dumb people enjoy dumb things produced by other dumb people. You don't have to go far to see that (just open Youtube). Dumb people enjoy seeing other people fall from a bicycle rather than pondering on the meaning of existence. That's their language. Creating commercial material requeries a little of that "dumbness". The magicians that you see on TV understand this very well. Or better said, they don't. I have no doubt that the brilliance of Mr. Maven allows him to understand methods and principles like very few others in the world do. But that's only the first step of the process. Then you have the challenge of translating that work into real world performing pieces, that comply to the rules of "good entertaining material". Most performing magicians and mentalists I assume stay away, at least in general, of effects that involve dealing cards and long procedures. The ease of technique is leveraged by the difficulty in presenting them to a lay audience - and have them enjoy and not fall asleep. If this material works in the real world is hard to say from this set. Luis de Matos chooses to have performers perform to an audience of portugal-based people, which english is not their natural first language. And there is a cultural barrier as well (see the reactions of the people as Max brings them Zen-related jokes). And sometimes the case is even worst: the PERFORMER's natural language is not english. So imagine that: a performer performing in his second language to an audience who listens in their second language. I ask to myself: Is that difficult and that costly to have a performer perform to an audience that is demographically "natural" to him? A video performance is a record in time of that performer. I have never seen Mr. Maven perform live. I have not the slightest doubt that his performances are incredible. And still, the only "sample" I have of that performances are his performances in this DVD set. Its very difficult to asses the material under those circumstances, especially when that material does not comply to the accepted definitions of good, commercial, material. Then - there is the reality that Mr. Maven does not reveal everything. He kept his secrets for 40 years, and even in this set not everything is revealed (Ironically, the most commercial effect in the set is not explained). So maybe it stands to reason that all of the bits of business, jokes and interactions were held back, for obvious reasons. But if that is the case a disclaimer should have been made, so we don't get a wrong impression of the material. So what do we get at the end? We have strong material, methodologically-speaking. For a sophisticated audience this could be strong, fooling material. For a simpler audience maybe cruder methods are the way to go. We all know that a marked deck can accomplish what 10 Gilbreaths can't. But a marked deck will not always help you. Sometimes you need the deeper secrets of complex methodology. The challenge remains of creating from that material entertaining pieces that please the audience.
NEW BOOK! "Semi-Automatic Miracles" - INSTANT Best-Seller at Lybrary.com
https://www.lybrary.com/semiautomatic-card-miracles-p-925333.html chaos handlings, out of hands effects, and more |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Penny for your thoughts » » EMC's new Max Maven project (95 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page [Previous] 1~2~3~4~5~6~7 [Next] |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |