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bananacube New user 10 Posts |
Hi, I am a new guy to the magic world of magic, (btw just saw Monkey Magic and wasnt as impressed as with the first series, maybe that's because I know more about magic now, hmmm) Anyway. I live near London, and was wondering whether there are any good magic shops in London, I tried searching on the web the other day for them but couldn't find any. Anyone know of any? Cheers. Matt
Magic is as Magic does!
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Ollie1235 Special user England 533 Posts |
Try searching for davenports on google. ive only ever been there once and that was a while back but from what I can remember it was pretty good there.
hope this helps ollie Davenportsmagic.com ollie |
Payne Inner circle Seattle 4571 Posts |
My favorite shop in London is Repro Magic. you kind of have to hunt for it but it is well worth the trip
"America's Foremost Satirical Magician" -- Jeff McBride.
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bananacube New user 10 Posts |
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I am going on monday and unluckily repro is closed but ill check it out another time, I have the address for davenports though so I am going to check that place out. any other places any one thinks of would be gratefully appreciated.
Magic is as Magic does!
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Luke Sherratt Loyal user The Isle Of Wight, England 246 Posts |
International Magic they are good it looks kinda like a joke shop at first but it is good, and be prepared to prove your a magician (don't ask)
Best, Luke
We're 106 miles from Chicago, we have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses
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bananacube New user 10 Posts |
Hiya, I went to davenports and international yesterday and was a bit overwhelmed. I think it didn't help as I didn't know what I was looking for so that's what I am asking for now, please, thanks. I know it has probably been asked before but the search thing doesn't work on my computer, don't know why, maybe I am dong to general a search. wat id like to know is what books/tricks etc should I get, I want to do street magic (non paid, just for my enjoyment I would like to add). I have mark wilsons first book am making my way through that fairly quickly. any advice is greatly recieved.
cheers, matt
Magic is as Magic does!
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cheesewrestler Inner circle Chicago 1157 Posts |
Mark Wilson is a good start. Otherwise, your best bet is probobly to look through the entire "Sidewalk shuffle" and "street magic" forums here, and note what effects people are doing, and which of those sound like effects you'd like to do.
Street performing is really a pretty advanced form of magic, by the way - it requires not only performing skill but skill in spectator management as well. |
bananacube New user 10 Posts |
I have done some street theatre before so I have those skills, I jsut want to combine magic into stuff I do. I would like to add magic into the shows I do without saying, "and now I am going to do a trick" (obviously not that obviously but you know wat I mean)
Magic is as Magic does!
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magicbymccauley Special user 830 Posts |
What I find interesting is that people have a different perspective on what is a good book for beginners. Sometimes when I liten to other magicians, I just don't get why they would think that a certain video or book is good for beginners.
I'm going to be a little bit critical here, and I hope no one takes this the wrong way, it's not aimed at any particular person. I've only really been doing magic seriously for 3 years. In that time I've heard the oft repeated line from the old masters that "Books are far superior to videos." Okay. Hold on a second. In my experince there are four levels of difficulty in learning. 1. Learning one-on-one from a qualified instructor. This is simply the best, hands down. There is no substitute for direct, mind to mind teacher to student transmission. Finding a mentor in magic is THE best thing you can do to improve your magic. 2. Learning in a classroom or lecture setting. This is second easiest. The teacher will still correct you and can answer questions. 3. Video. This is like learning in a lecture, but there is no instructor who can answer questions. 4. Books. Books are the most difficult source to learn from. Period. Sorry, that's how it is. It takes a good year and a half of study just to be able to read a typical magic book. There are several reasons for this. 1. A beginner doesn't know what the terms biddle grip, mechanic's grip, dealers grip, a double, and so forth and so on MEAN. You must accquire a familiarity with the vocabulary first, and this takes some time. Magic books are written, by and large, with the insider in mind, the guy who already does a lot of tricks, knows pet names for the sleights, and knows all the classic tricks. It's basically incomprehensible. 2. There are many magic books that are produced that are AWFUL. I refer to these books as "torture-books". They have no material in them that a professional would ever consider doing. If you are at the library or the general bookstore, you will find a plethora of these magic books. Beginning magicians stuggle with these tricks and end up humiliating themselves (myself included). The magic books I am referring to are magic books that a magic dealer doesn't carry. If you don't have experience as a magician, you won't be able to distinguish these books from quality books on magic. 3. Books do not show the ACTION involved in a particular sleight, just a "before" and "after" photo. The movement is what a beginner most needs to see. Again, people "in the know", look at the pictures read the author as describing it as similar to "taking a double" and they get it. The beginner doesn't. Now, that being said, books far outstrip video, once you are "in the know". The cost per trick goes down geometrically. The writing stimulates your imagination rather than you being wedded to the presentation given by the author, as so often happens in video. So, if you want to learn magic in the best, most efficient way possible, find a teacher, go to lectures, buy some videos, and read some books in that order. If you have a mentor and THEY reccomemnd a book, you can ask them questions about the book and they can clarify. All this being said, there are a few exceptions that I think are excellent books for beginners that are exceptions to the rule. 1. Bobo's Modern Coin Magic You simply have to have this, it's a reference text, like a dictionary when you read or see something somewhere. 2. Bill Tarr's "Now you see it, now you don't." This is one of the only books ever written on magic that has ACTUAL step by step illustrations of sleights so that you can see the action and movement in the slieghts. 3. Tarbell Course in Magic Witten by a consumate performer AND sketch drawing artist. He also assumed you knew NOTHING and there were no strange references to grips, slieghts or so forth. As well, all of the effects were presented in a very simple form. For instance, instead of a 4 step ace assembly routine, you got four different quick ace assemblies to make a routine out of, each using a different method to accomplish the effect. Tarbell is really what you want. 4. Hugard and Braue's Royal Road to Card Magic These two magicians set out writing this book in order to prove that you could do professional quality card magic without the use of the pass or other difficult slieghts. Get it. It's 10 bucks. 5. Steve Beam's Semiautomatic Card Tricks This is quintessentially what you want a beginner to learn. Powerful, professional card magic with a minimum of slieghts. Tricks from these books were the first tricks I was actually able to fool people badly with. more later............ -Chris
"Tricks are about objects, Magic is about life."
-Max Maven |
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