Hello !

Since this effect is
a) real strong
b) over-exposed , from beginners books to Criss Angel

I wonder if you still use it and if you still get good reactions. I do, but I am sometimes reluctant to use it due to the exposure.

Opinions and experiences are more than welcome.

I also posted this in the "strolling" section, but I think it's also relevant here.

Ello and welcome...

I wouldn't let it worry you. I've performed this effect impromptu a few times and never had a problem. Compared to the size of the population, the people who see these exposure shows and remember how the effects are done 5 minutes after the shows end are not even a handful.

Good luck...

If you start with your grandfather's funerary urn, it may sounds more interesting... (Most of the bizarre magic tricks start with something received from a grand father.)

My presentation is about my grandmother, but I see what you mean, monsieur Chelman...
And Silvertongue : hello and thanks for your opinion !

Once again, it's what you do with the effect that matters, not the trick.

Indeed... but still the trick should be deceptive. Or do you think that the story can carry the effect, monsieur Chelman ? Or do they have to be equally strong ?

If you feel it is over-exposed then WHY do it like EVERYONE else?

THINK ABOUT IT

You still can do this effect JUST rework it to look and FEEL like a totally different animal.


Ray

Oh, the point is (like I said above): I don't do it like everyone else.
I was talking about the METHOD that is over-exposed. The presentation is quite original.

The trick must me deceptive (at least perfectly performed), but the trick isn't the effect. There's always a confusion between both.
To give an example (and I usually hate to detail what I do), take a look at the KGB post.
Professor Van Helmont and me are currently working on a werewolf story, the same story but from 2 different points of vue (the Angara Experiment and Oboroten). We are reworking the myth of the werewolf on new basis, more credible ones...
The "tricks" we need illustrate the effect of an audience member becoming a werewolf after drinking a specific potion: I want the spectator to have a more elaborate sense of smell, vision and audition during a brief period of time. Also a better resistance to wounds and allergy to silver (in this case, silver is allergic to the werewolf). The question I've to solve is: what tricks illustrate those effects and "How can I maintain a suspension of disbelieve ?".
Well, those questions have been solved and if you read between the lines of the KGB texts, you may figure out some answers...
For the believability of the story, we've done our homework (including meeting with ex-KGB agents, finding specific artifacts and more).

Another example is Mary Ann: it's another kind of bizarre magic show for kids and adults. The story is illustrate by 18 effects, the effects are linked to tricks and so on...

I see what you mean and I try to live up to it, although I never went so far as to do historical research. Then again, I need the "ashes" for an effect about witchcraf (and the threefold law therein) and I need the ashes to appear on someone.
Hence my worry : the method fits the story, absolutely, the effect is performed in an original way,but still, the method for "ashes" itself has been exposed many, many times.
Awful, isn't it

I do not think that it is over-exposed. I do a version of it all the time and no one has ever caught on.

You said that you perform it in an original way, so why worry? It isn't the same old ashes anymore. If it doesn’t look anything like the original then it is not in the eyes of spectators.

Not what you do, but how you do it.

You can cover things with other movements and blocking. Heck, you could hand the person a book on witchcraft or a Stick (wand) to hold and do the dirty work at the same time. I have even done this AFTER doing a PK touch just to see what would happen. It rocked the audience and didn’t look anything like the original, because the work was done when no one suspected it.



R

Same answer as Ray.
If you do it correctly, no one will be interested by knowing HOW it works.

I guess you are right, guys. I haven't been caught on it either. It's just that - lately - I have been reading many beginners books (just for fun, I'm weird that way), and I've been surprised to see that this one is always included.
That's all, I guess.

In answer t the questionl; I continue to get good reactions to this bit on the street, but I wouldn't even think of using it in a corporate or stage show.

For that type of fee, they're expecting a lot better than that! The internet has exposed it badly!

For that kind of fee, they're expecting an artist, not a kleenex magician. It has nothing to do with any "trick".

First let me say that I agree with The Curator in his above statement!

I wasn’t going to write anymore on this thread until I read the above.

This makes me laugh because this is exactly where I perform it! I do not perform in the streets like so many of the café say they do, but what I do is play for people who pay me. And I have played a few stages and did a few corporate gigs so I do have a little insight on what may work. Then again the people that I perform for don’t hang out on the talk boards and read beginners magic books.

You are very mistaken when you stated that for this type of fee they expect a lot better…… Let me tell you that what they really expect is to be entertained and this effect dumbfounds people pure and simple.

As I already said, DO NOT DO IT LIKE THE BOOKS TELL YOU TO DO.

I realize that you are only talking about the METHOD being over exposed and that it is a shame. I am here to tell you that if you change the blocking then the METHOD will never be seen.

This effect in the right hands can play spooky or bizarre with the hint of telekinesis. Then again I realized that people here base their views on what they know of this effect. ……… Guys believe me when I tell you that if you think a smear of ashes on a persons’ hand is all there is to this effect you are mistaken and are not created in your thinking. My own twin brother USE to think this was a lame effect also, until one night at a party we got to talking and I told him what and how I did it. He laughed because he still couldn’t get over the old smear ashes on the hand trick. “It will never work”, he told me. So I proved it to him that night when the whole room of people exploded in wonder and laugher because they were completely dumbfounded.

As been said before, make it different and it will be a show stopper. I have CHANGED this effect to fit my persona along with creating the blocking necessary to make it a hit in my show. I have people talk about this effect for days after I have done it. I have three completely different ways that I do this effect. Each is totally different looking from the other but all are based on the old ashes trick.

I wish that I could go more into what and how I do it but as been stated by someone already, this isn’t for corporate work or the stage, because people expect more for their money. After all, this effect has been exposed so much, that no matter if you give it a totally new face lift and make it look completely different it would never work. So I will keep it to myself for now. But I promise if you seen me do this, you would wonder how I did it and then say to yourself, “Wait a minute, that was kind of like that old ashes trick but complete different.”

This thread has run its course and this is my last thoughts on the matter. (Maybe)
Think outside of the box.

Just because you see or read something doesn’t make it the gospel and that it MUST be done that particular way. The secret squirrel stuff (method) can stay the same, but if you put a new dress on it and paint its face, then you have a new look and new effect in the eyes of the (paying) spectators.


Ray

I'll just say that, I used to close the first act of The Pandora Experiment (my last theatre show) with it. And, during the intermission/interval, everybody would talk about it and ask the participant if they were in on it.

I have an old roommate who knew EXACTLY how it was done and he still never knew when I "did it"-so to speak.

Someone who came to the show 3 or 4 times (and since as become a good friend) has confessed to me that she kept waiting to see the moment I touch the person and never saw it!

To be fair, it was dressed up in a whole other routine and the ashes were just a final touch to the whole thing...but the preperation for the ashes happened WELL before that phase of the effect ever took place.

All of this to say,
THE DARNED THING ROCKS! DO IT!

That was meant as a JOKE, because I was referring to what you wrote. I guess humor sound funnier in person than written in most cases.





R

I guess so, because I did get your joke and I tried to be funny myself.
Unsuccesfully, I'm afraid