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Hostile18 Loyal user London 231 Posts |
How odd. I think it's one of the most fascinating DVDs I've seen. I'll be interested to see what others think.
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fridoliina89 Special user 503 Posts |
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On 2008-12-30 07:51, Hostile18 wrote: Its one of the best dvds I have ever seen, everything is SOOO well thought out and the routine is just fantastic. When you start to read the digits on the back of their hand people around you really starts to think "What the hell is really happening here?!" and that's just one part of the effect. |
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Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
This is a very clever, well thought out and constructed piece that I for one think is brilliant, with the focus being on the participant and what they are experiencing over that of the item bending visually... though that also has it's part.
Excellent stuff, well worth learning. Until I myself, or another, post a full review, if anyone has any questions or concerns regarding 'Skin' then post them here and I, or another who has this, will try and help. |
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Exitmat Special user 641 Posts |
I absolutely loved this DVD too. Benjamin Earl really understands magic. Right now I'm using the Quantum Bender 2 for my coin bend routine. I don't plan on switching my entire routine to Earl's, but I definitely plan on using some of his techniques.
On another note, I did not receive the booklet that was advertised on the order page with my DVD. I was pretty disappointed in this because that was the whole reason I ordered the DVD now rather than in a month or two when I have a little more money to spend and am not trying to financially recover from Christmas. It just kind of bothered me that they advertised an extra booklet as an incentive to order it now then didn't deliver it. |
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kissdadookie Inner circle 4275 Posts |
Please tell me it's much more than applying the concepts of Jermay's Building Blocks to a coin bend presentation because I've been applying that to my coin bends since I read Building Blocks years ago.
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Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
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On 2008-12-30 11:51, kissdadookie wrote: To be honest I've never read 'Building Blocks' from Jermay, but there is a lot that goes into this that makes it into the fantastic piece it is, from the way each phase builds and plays off the last, to what is happening within each phase, to the clever use of linguistics and the like. Also remember that this is one of Benjamin Earls working pieces, your getting a routine that has been worked on and performed countless times out in the trenches, that has been refined and tinkered with over time to give as strong and amazing an experience as possible, and one that has proven to work and play well. May I ask for an example of how your coin bending routine may play out, as this will give me a good way to compare what you are doing with what 'Skin' accomplishes? |
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kissdadookie Inner circle 4275 Posts |
Basically using suggestion techniques to convince the spectator that what is supposed to be happening is truly happening. Also using suggestion techniques to mentally convince them of feeling what is going on in their hand. I also give some cues at appropriate moments so that they can give a visual confirmation of what is going on thus conveying to the other spectators what is going on within her hand instead of leaving the rest of the spectators like sitting ducks waiting for a end result. I don't want to tip anything with both what's in Jermay's book or may be in Ben Earle's routine and thus being quite vague with the details. As a general idea though, I'm basically placing emphasis on having the spectator truly make themselves believe what's supposed to be happening is truly happening and in turn they will at certain points convey it overtly (gasp, widening of eyes, etc. etc.) which gets the rest of the spectators involved and invested in the routine.
As to the technical aspect of the routining, I use a three phase suggestion while the coin is in their fist. Before the coin even ends up in their hand however, I use suggestion and subtleties similar to those in both Building Blocks as well as Banachek's Psychological Subtleties to prep the spectator mentally. There's also certain little "experiments" and things I do prior to the coin bend or anything I do with suggestion, they are used so that I can gauge the spectators and see which one I will get the best reaction from. I hope I did not reveal anything thus far For those who are familiar with Building Blocks, what I'm doing with the coin bend is basically the same thing as Hot Ring that's in Building Blocks, except obviously with a bent coin instead of a ring. Just to add as an end note, this kind of presentation is NOT easy because there's certain criteria's that needs to be met to be able to pull it off. It's not a technical difficulty, in other words, it's not complicated sleight of hand etc. etc. but it's actually very difficult from a performance point of view. I've been performing the Hot Ring with coins, bent coins, and of course, rings for quite some time now and thus have fine tweaked it so that I won't miss. With a bent coin, you obviously can not "mess up" the end result but the majority of the impact is in the performance and in my mind, the bent coin reveal is just the final convincer of what has just happened. |
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kissdadookie Inner circle 4275 Posts |
Had a chance to watch some of the Skin video which I borrowed from a friend. It's actually quite good and a lot more drawn out than the way I perform my bends. I think that it may be a little too drawn out though, you're basically doing a lot of small effects with the actual coin bend being both the end result as well as the main big effect. I feel that a lot of the little effects gets lost in the end because the fact of the coin being bent is such a strong image that in a spectator's mind it is all that matters. It is good none the less for folks to pick up Skin and learn the little bits of suggestion techniques that Ben teaches though.
In the end the question is, will I be changing my routine for Ben's? No. Is this because I don't like his routine? No. Like I said earlier, there's a lot little effects going on in Ben's routine, too many for the coin bend which to me is kind of a waste because I could have used them as individual effects in itself or used them as convincers for other effects I am going to perform. Here's my reasoning for this, for example, there's a pulse stop that is incorporated into Ben's, that pulse stop is very very very strong but in the context of the coin bend, it kind of gets lost at the end. That becomes somewhat of a wasted effect. The way I approach suggestion is that suggestion techniques should be used as convincers and an extra layer of deception which makes the spectator BELIEVE that what just happened has happened without trickery. This is VERY strong. Now, using suggestion techniques does another thing, it adds to your performance theatrically. However, there's no need to throw everything you need into the basket all at once when you can spread it out. Last but not least, Skin is excellent for all the little bits and pieces that Ben teaches but I suggest that the viewer breaks down those pieces and play with them to see how they could further use them for other things that they may already be performing. Don't just throw everything you learn into a big pot and perform it verbatim. |
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fridoliina89 Special user 503 Posts |
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On 2008-12-31 00:12, kissdadookie wrote: I think that skin should be performed as it is, Ben is a hard working magician who have worked out a routine for 8 years or something to get a routine with maximum impact, so why not? For us it might be allot of different effects going on, but for a spectator the effect will be that you stopped their pulse took their "energy" and moved it into the coin so it starts to pulsate and it bends. I have performed skin ALLOT over the last days and that's how everyone described it to their friends. I think that stopping someones pulse and make it move into the coin so it bends is much more impressive then they are as stand alone effects. |
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kissdadookie Inner circle 4275 Posts |
Have you ever performed the pulse stop as a stand alone effect fridollina? It is incredibly strong, equally as strong as the coin bend. Those who regularly perform pulse stops will agree with this. A magician watching Skin is different from a layperson watching Skin. A magician will remember all the parts of the effect because to be honest, we are a bit conditioned to remember effects with all their components and then to analyze the components. A layperson is not conditioned for anything, they just go for the ride and the strongest component will be what they remember (which usually will be the ending of a trick, rule of thumb, a trick should be easily described by a layperson in one sentence, for Skin, the sentence would be "The coin bent in my hand!").
Yes Ben has been performing Skin for a long time, that's how he is able to teach all the little bits of psychology on the video. That's how I learned to perform the routine I have been using for years. While Ben's approach on the video seems to be throw everything and the kitchen sink into the effect, mines has been using the psychology bit as convincers so that when the audience thinks back on the effect it will in their mind be real instead of just "Hmmmm, I wonder how he bent the coin without us seeing, etc. etc." Yes everything in Skin is actually excellent but using all of the bits at once is a bit wasted because in the end, you're audience is going to be left with just one exclamation, OMG the coin bent! Try performing the pulse stop as a stand alone effect fridollina, you'll understand how powerful it is when performed correctly. Yes it could be combined with other routines but with the coin bend, the other little bits of psychology is enough to use as convincers and thus dilutes the pulse stop quite a bit. HOWEVER, one excellent use of the pulse stop within a long multi-effect routine is on Bob Smith's Wounded. The way it's used for that was excellent because in the end, all three effects are remembered equally as strong. A audience member will remember that you stopped your pulse, made your palms bleed, and then shed tears of blood. In that case, it's put to good use (technically, the pulse stop and bleeding palms are both showcased in the presentation, the tears of blood is something that just happens at the end without a need of having to openly point it out, blood is streaming down your face for goodness sakes, LoL). But this is just my take of it and I've shared it so that others can start thinking about it |
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Y2John Inner circle 1498 Posts |
And talking of the pulse stopping phase... for those who got in whilst the bonus manuscript was being offered will find a way of having the pulse stop be 100%, a nice little thing to know for those who would like it to happen everytime.
For those who did not get the bonus manuscript, a very similar method to achieve the same can be found in the pdf manuscript 'Dim Mak'. |
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Hostile18 Loyal user London 231 Posts |
The tips in the booklet are well-worth reading (plus page 6 made me laugh out loud) so if you didn't get it when you were entitled I suggest you complain.
I found the DVD really interesting - Ben's a clever guy and if you enjoy effects using suggestion it's worth listening and engaging with the ideas. I've met Ben two or three times and I've been very impressed by his abilities as a performer. He's very sharp, very engaging, and he fooled the hell out of me. With some of his material I feel like it's quite personal to his style and you essentially have to be Ben to pull it off, but the ideas discussed in Skin are fascinating and I would have thought a lot of performers would get something out of it. I really like his ideas on scripting according to the primacy-recency effect and his dedication to improvising and maximising opportunities. A small thing that did annoy me though - he came out with the oft-repeated nonsense about communcation being "70% non-verbal", based on a popular misunderstanding of Mehrabian's research in the 70s. For someone who purports to be well-versed in psychology that kind of howler really grates. Some of Ben's thinking is really quite brilliant, so I felt a bit disillusioned that he undermined his credentials in this way. |
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Exitmat Special user 641 Posts |
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On 2008-12-31 12:30, Hostile18 wrote: I didn't get mine. I wrote an email, but nobody over at Alakazam responded. Sucks because this was the first time I ordered from them, and so far I'm not impressed with their service. |
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Dan McLean Inner circle Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur 1261 Posts |
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On 2008-12-31 12:30, Hostile18 wrote: I have. Mildly. Mr Nardi's Alakazam is a fantastic company. |
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Peter Nardi Inner circle 2238 Posts |
Hi Guys,
I am not sure why anyone who pre-order would not get the booklet. If you did not get a booklet please let me know. As for emails from Alakazam, please remember we have been closed between 24Th Dec and re open the 5Th Jan. Happy new year to you all. Regards Peter |
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