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MickeyPainless Inner circle California 6065 Posts |
Dave,
I hear ya on the dexterity thing! Due to my profession my hands have been crushed, smashed, bit and stomped so there are days when the brain to hand messages just misfire! One thing I did for my guitar work was to learn slide and THAT is a blast! Other than packet trick or self working tricks, I avoid most card stuff! I am somewhat of a coin junkie but again, I leave the knuckle buster stuff to the young guns! I just got a set of Foxy 2 combo's and where as the cups fit alright but I'm going to up the size of the balls simply because I can't even feel the wee 1/2 inchers! I made up a set of 5/8's that might do the trick though! Mick |
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walid ahumada Special user sinaloa, mexico 892 Posts |
My favorite effect is the the cups and balls, but for some reason I expend a lot of more time practicing cards.
“Magic becomes art when it has nothing to hide.” BEN OKRI quote
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vpatanio Special user 515 Posts |
I have currently learned/developed 3 different cup and ball routines.
I learned Gazzo's routine that has the hat finale (without Gazzo's humor though), I put together another more Vernon-esque three cup routine, and I recently put together a 2 cup routine. I absolutely love the cups and balls and find myself experimenting with them while relaxing by the TV at night. I do have a larger card repitoire, but I try to make all of my magic part of who I am. -Vinny |
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fortasse Inner circle 1201 Posts |
Speaking of cards, I've just finished reading "The Magician and the Cardsharp" which is a full-length book about Dai Vernon's obsessive search for a cardsharp in Kansas City who was rumoured to have perfected the art of dealing from the CENTRE of a deck of cards. It's a fascinating read. The book focuses a great deal on the three keys to Vernon's genius : practice, practice, and then more practice. He would routinely practice (especially his card magic) for hours and hours, well into the wee hours of the morning, day in and day out. On this part of the Magic Café forum we naturally focus primarily on Vernon as a C&B man but it's clear from reading this book that his first and greatest love-interest was card magic.
Fortasse |
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scottjenkins Loyal user 218 Posts |
I loved that book, especially the descriptions of how Vernon would start a trick not knowing where it was going to go, then improvising like a jazz musician. It was magic as an art, rather than merely entertainment. Something to aspire to.
Scott Jenkins
Magician Member of the AMA Joe Porper's partner! |
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fortasse Inner circle 1201 Posts |
Scott :
You sum up Vernon's magical artistry so very well. I'm glad you enjoyed the book as well. Fortasse |
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
The validity of the "jazz magic" approach depends entirely upon the context.
If you are performing in a situation where you must entertain "X" number of people in a specific period of time, then you must calculate how much time you spend at each group. For this situation, the improvisational aspect of your performance is restricted a bit. OTOH, if you are not under time constraints, then you are fairly free to go places with your magic. However, you find yourself using the improvisational time as a way of trying out material, evaluating it, and then filing it away for future use. This is true even of jazz musicians. My dad was a very close friend of Alice Hall, who was an underground jazz legend. She used to tell my father that the difference between what she did as a jazz musician and what he did as a classical musician was that no two of her performances were exactly alike. He said, "Really? That's funny. I have five recordings of you playing Caravan with your group. These were made in different clubs and studio sessions. They are basically identical." So she admitted that once she had found something that really worked well, she tended to stick to it.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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scottjenkins Loyal user 218 Posts |
Thanks for the analogy, Bill. You are, of course, right about the shows where you have X number of people in a limited time, but the improvisational way seems to be a great way to hone the craft, especially when so many people wind up doing the same stuff. And, I completely agree with sticking with what works and building a repertoire of routines that you can pull out of your pocket at a moment's notice.
However, I hear musicians who have hit it big who say that they get sick of performing song X or Y because it was a big hit for them. Does it get that way with magic? Do any of you veterans ever get sick of doing a particular routine over the years, especially if loyal fans ask for it?
Scott Jenkins
Magician Member of the AMA Joe Porper's partner! |
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
It's really funny about musicians. I was a pro musician for a long time, and I know how people get tired of various and sundry songs, even songs that have made them famous. Let's face it, more people can tell you the lyrics to a song than can tell you who was in the band that recorded it, at least in most cases.
We got into a big discussion of this on one of the bluegrass forums. A lot of "professional" bluegrass banjo players (this means that they work for chicken and beer instead of just beer) said they hated to play Foggy Mountain Breakdown, because it was so hackneyed. So when people requested it, they would refuse to play it. They would play another song that was similar but had a different chord change in a certain place. I understood this, because I had been playing Foggy Mountain Breakdown before most of them were born. However, I saw it differently. People ask for things for a number of reasons. 1) They may know only the name of that one particular song. 2) They may look at that song as a measuring stick for banjo players. 3) They may be trying to make some kind of contact with the banjo player, on a musical level. So WHAT if you don't like to play the same songs over and over. People hire musicians because they play the music they like to hear. So why should we punish them by not playing the things they like? Magic has some of the same characteristics. Do you get tired of doing the same tricks over and over? Do you know what they call doing the same tricks over and over? They call it "practicing." When I do the copper/silver transposition for people in restaurants, I usually close with this (if they like the routine -- which they usually do). "The next time you are here, if you bring someone along with you who hasn't seen me do this, please don't ask for 'the big penny trick,' because that will tip them to the punch line. Instead, ask for the trick with the silver dollar. Then I will know which one you want to see. And you can see the same look on your friend's face that I saw on your face when I performed it for you just now." and I wink. There is a point that you reach with your staple items where they flow from your fingers as naturally as the breath flows into and out of your body. That's the point you want to reach. Practice until it becomes boring, then practice until it becomes beautiful. Most magicians don't have a trick they have done 10,000 times. If your average band plays 300 shows a year, assuming they have played their hit 500 times before it became their signature piece, it would take them 31 + years of performing to reach that point. Watch BB King play "The Thrill is Gone" sometime. My wife is not a blues fan. But when she saw him play that a few years back on Austin City Limits, she said, "He means that."
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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