Just a question... and I know that the original post is a little old... but what did the video clip refer to look like? Can anyone remember? The link doesn't seem to work any longer.

-Alan

Banachek and Osterlind's bends are classics of course, but also check Patrick Kuffs. He has some very interesting ideas in his metal bending videos, which also contain some amazing bonus effects (e.g., how to follow metal bending with a seemingly impossible drawing duplication!).

Psychokinetic Silverware by Gerry & Banachek is a great DVD. Very instructional but also a fun to watch due to the humor of the two. One of my better purchases.

Best,
G.

Saqib,

I just read your opening message to make sure your original question is being answered.

I have most of the dvd's being discussed above on utensils.

In my opinion, Osterlind's spoon bend may be a more "direct" effect for your needs.

It is done flatly in the palm, and without some of the finger-wrangling of others.

Hope this helps,
Tod

For me it was an Al Mann manuscript that taught me metal bending.

It focussed on Banachek and Richard Osterlind. Since then I have bought numerous DVDs and Books and nothing compares to what I read all those years ago.

Al Mann put out some amazing stuff and this is one I will treasure forever.

Thank you Al Mann, Banachek and Richard Osterlind for introducing me to metal bending.

The prong/tine bend on the Banachek Fork Bend is out of this world. When people see it bend towards themselves they freak out!!!

You cant get better than the two masters.

(I bought liquid metal a while ago and thought it was a bit too "moovy". far too much going on and you can achieve the same result with a little bit more misdirection and time. I like for the bends to appear slowly not instantly)

Peace & Love

Matt

I can only get a spoon to bend once or twice very subtley...i like it that way...

same with if I can make a coin bend, it always feels very hot to both me and the participant..and sometimes..just sometimes..it causes a little blister to appear on my finger too...

Again, it all comes down to putting in the hours and hours of practice that great magic requires. To be able to perform the trick or effect as second nature, without thinking about it, being totally confident you know what you are doing.
Spoon bending is powerful magic. Uri Geller made his name and reputation doing it, as have a few others. Its worth the work!

Wow, it's a very old thread !
Perhaps if you dig deeper you can find a thread before the Café was there

Is it just me or should this thread be down in inner thoughts.

[quote]On 2006-12-29 04:23, Sven Rygh wrote:


Perfection is fooling your audince not fellow magicians. We tend to over think effects just to be able to fool our fellow performers. I finally got out of that trap. I don't need to impress magicians. I need to entertain my audiance

That 'misdirection and stuff' is the route to just about every wonderful, entrancing, amazing, wow-did-you-see-that!, possible life-changing moment it will ever be your privilege to give to a spectator or an audience. It's a shame that you place such little value on it. As others have said, give it time, grow in your experience and understanding of what it is we do, and explore the alternatives all you like. Eventually, you'll come to realise that 'misdirection and stuff' is the art that makes miracles possible. You will also realise that Banachek is the finest practitioner and teacher you could wish for.

There are two persistent and very damaging beliefs in magic and mentalism. One is that there is such a thing as a 'self-working' trick. There is another that effectiveness and greatness are available to anyone able to purchase the latest toy or device offered to the market. Both of these beliefs are just plain wrong. This is easily understood as soon as you invoke even a simple comparison with any other performing art, such as singing. Do singers browse through catalogues advertising 'self-singing' songs? Do they think owning the technology to mime to a song will confer praise and respect as a singer?

Learning 'misdirection and stuff' may take time and be difficult. Well, so be it, because there is no viable alternative.

Try pointing off stage and shouting "Hey LOOK a hedgehog!" great misdirection

For non-gimmicked bending: http://forkbend.com/

Banachek and Osterlind are the best. With their techniques I have completely fooled some brilliant minds. Audience management and direction of attention are the key. That doesn't come in a box.

I've fooled some stupid minds, does it means at last brilliant and stupid minds are similar?

I love new gimmicks and fancy methods involving prep as much as anybody else. But I would never perform a mentalism/pk effect that I couldn't do via an impromptu method when necessary..silverware/key/coin bending...plastic bending...tk pen...moving objects..mind reading..all can be done without having any prep time or a single prop on you. That "misdirection and stuff" is the most important part of nearly every routine I perform..and if it's not misdirection it's certainly very indirect and psychologically driven/supplemented.

I think he meant if you can fool brilliant minds then you will be able to fool less clever minds. This is not logical?

Don’t own the book, but got to see Banachek do this at a lecture, sitting less than five feet away. Amazing stuff, no gimmicks, and very little preparation. You could do this impromptu if you had even 10 seconds alone (or with your back turned).

Actually, forget that. It's only one part of a routine; you can bend spoons instantly!

And that misdirection and stuff is the key to greatness. Immediately after the lecture I took my wife to lunch downtown, and was bending a spoon IN HER HAND as we waited for our food. Dynamite!

One of the things that Banachek taught at is lecture I saw 2 years ago in Orange County, CA was that when it comes to spoon bending, sometimes less is more. Even the smallest of bends will amaze a lay-person. It doesn't take a lot, sometimes when you do extreme bends it looks more like a trick that something real.

To be honest. It depends on your routine, how it's structured, and where you do it. I feel simpler is better but that's just me and my routine. I use, for example invisible touches and "hypnosis" to draw attention away enough to hide the slight.