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Wes65 Inner circle I've said very little in 1219 Posts |
This question is for those of you (Jonathan Townsend) who are well read on the old classics of magic:
What classic books would you consider required reading if you were teaching coin magic or close up?
Wes
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harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Buckley, Downs, Okito, Kaps, for starters....
Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Given the opportunity I'd start them with the two books by Downs and have the student catalog the ideas and deconstruct the prose. From there... off to Bertram and Ramsay and then to the offerings of Buckley, Vernon, Slydini and later on to the survey books including those by Bobo and Kaufman (who wrote the Roth and other books of that time). This would contrast nicely to the Hoffmann books (modern magic etc) which were surveys of the times yet written for muggles and offering material without the slightest regard for the feelings of the inventors who probably did not want their methods in print or exposed.
Kaps... there is a poser. If you do study his routines in print you will find he was not such an innovator as a performer. He was practical and genial and did make quite the impression using a dove steal in context of a coin routine but IMHO he was not the technical powerhouse and innovator like Tommy Wonder or David Roth. The theme would be to find what has been explored and see how far they got and then to see how others built upon that work. And yes I suppose there would need to be a review of Hofzinser's work and the material in Ponsin's "New White Magic Revealed" and Sach's Sleight of Hand etc.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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gillesA4 Special user Brussels, Belgium 593 Posts |
I'm dreaming of the size of your magic library, Mr Townsend...
We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. (A. Einstein)
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todsky Inner circle www.magicstore.ca 2354 Posts |
Good thread! So what exactly are the names of the Downs, Okito, Kaps, Bertram, Ramsay, Buckley, Vernon and Slydini books that would be required for a coin worker's library?
Todsky's Magic Shop: over 15,000 tricks, books, DVD s and Card decks. www.magicstore.ca
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Larry Barnowsky Inner circle Cooperstown, NY where bats are made from 4770 Posts |
I am not a fan of Sach's Sleight of Hand. However I would add to Jonathan's list Gaultier's Magic Without Apparatus as an excellent source.
Larry |
Rik Chew Special user 538 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-05-24 10:47, Jonathan Townsend wrote: For the first bit, would this mean essentially rewriting the book in a more modern and readable way. If so that alone would be a considerable effort. I presume the other bit would be to take notes as a student in any other subject would do? With the second bit, could that be charting the development of f.ex coins through the table, cataloguing through the original to differnet aesthetics, and how problems were solved? And then continuing the work to see waht is good for oneself? |
Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
There you go Rik, to actively read a work and from it learn about the author, the times, the subject and by contrast one's own world.
Agreed that were one to be building a library the Camille Gaultier books are quite the resource and contrast well with the Hoffmann books. I wrote about a reading list of things to review, devoirs as they used to be called... and the result of your reading and experiments would be your coin magic grimoir. Todsky, the Downs books are Modern Coin Manipulation and The Art of Magic. The Vernon reference is to Lewis Ganson's The Dai Vernon Book of Magic. For Slydini I'd go with Slydini Encores as it's easily available and his his "one coin routine" which was revisited by David Roth in his book Expert Coin Magic. Ross Bertram was not much on writing but years later his friend put together two big books of his magic. You can get a start on his magic though via the Tannen's/Robbins book The Stars of Magic. John Ramsay was also not so much on writing so you will have to settle for the comments made by others and the painstaking work of his student done to document his routines both on DVD The Magic of John Ramsay and in print via The Ramsay Legend, The Ramsay Classics and The Ramsay Finale all by Andrew Galloway. John Carney has some commentary on some of the tricks which folks seem to like. Folks seem to like Buckley's Routined Manipulation so give that a shot. Hope that's of some use.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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todsky Inner circle www.magicstore.ca 2354 Posts |
Thanks, Jonathan. Nice moustache, by the way.
Todd
Todsky's Magic Shop: over 15,000 tricks, books, DVD s and Card decks. www.magicstore.ca
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Cpontz Special user Daupin PA 553 Posts |
Don't forget Amature Magician Handbook by Henry Hays. It has a lot of excellent stuff besides the coins.
Craig |
todsky Inner circle www.magicstore.ca 2354 Posts |
I learned the backpalm and the steeplechase from the Amateur Magician's Handbook:
it got me started on coin sleights.
Todsky's Magic Shop: over 15,000 tricks, books, DVD s and Card decks. www.magicstore.ca
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Josh Riel Inner circle of hell 1995 Posts |
I can't read
Magic is doing improbable things with odd items that, under normal circumstances, would be unnessecary and quite often undesirable.
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vinsmagic Eternal Order sleeping with the fishes... 10957 Posts |
I don't read ,,,,,
this is why I am waiting for Mano's teaching dvd the godfather |
Katterfel22 Regular user Greenville, NC 130 Posts |
Has anyone mentioned Ganson's Routined Manipulation series. I wouldn't consider it a great starting point, but it certainly filled a few important gaps in my knowledge of manipulation.
Cave ab homine unius libri - Latin epigram
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rrgg New user 11 Posts |
What are the modern classics? Wilson coarse? Roth on coins?
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