Welcome Andrewzuber,

The more the Merrier!

-The Mowder Maryer

Day One of rehearsing went well. I'm gonna start scratching my progress into the wall in the form of tick marks, like a prisoner awaiting his release date.
My landlord won't be thrilled, but I'll be out of the country and back in the states by the time they discover it.

Dear Andrewzuber,

Why not use paper instead? You're just starting so the conversion would be easy.

-Mary Mowder, former Property Manager

Mary - I figured that the landlord would be able to rent the place for a lot more money one day, pointing the wall and saying "see those tick marks? The world famous magician, Andrew Zuber, is the one who made those."

-Andrew Zuber, delusional/careless tenant

Love it Andrew! I can see the advert to rent the flat now...

Blue Owl - I will check into John Bannon's Chop2. I've used some of his card work and liked it very much - easy to understand and good base script to start with.

Had a great Thanksgiving with lots of cousins that I only see once a year, so I had a lot of new material since last year. Did the Danny Tong chop cup and the sponge ball routines that I've been practicing with the support of this group. Also did Design for Laughter - I've been practicing that routine for only a couple of weeks, but had all the skills before, so wasn't too difficult to get it up to snuff. Amazing impact!

Did everyone else have a good weekend?

Hudson

For me, a great weekend, Hudson, thanks for asking! My Shell Boot Camp has started, and I am finding it great fun, as well as a wonderful lesson in how to construct a practice schedule that is easy to keep up with.

Andrew, I am flattered you would like to see my routine, and you have inspired me to try to video the thread routine to post. Will let you know how that goes. Enjoyed the Thompson vid. It is similar to the Luka approach, except John uses different colored balls. He calls his "Chroma Balls" I believe. Good luck with your practice - I really like effects that can be carried in your pocket or "satchel" and yet leave the specs wide-eyed. This one is on my list to learn also...


Regards,

Jim

p.s. Andrew- forgot to mention the Ron Saylor vid- a very nice approach. It is fun to see the different "takes" on this classic of magic...

Jim, glad you enjoyed that! I too like to see different approaches to routines and see what other people are coming up with.

The three ball trick does pack small, though I'm working on a version that uses an oversized (as in, hilariously oversized) brandy snifter, which John Carney told me was an idea of Vernon's. In that sense it packs huge and plays fragile, but I've seen Carney do it and the effect is wonderful.

In other news, I've spent the last month working on a 3 coin routine and a rope bit for a show this evening. Eight hours before show time and the gig was cancelled due to snow. Crazy English weather

Andrew-

Major ouch! Hope they re-schedule soon. Almost makes one want to hit the street looking for a traffic jam or something where people are stuck and you can do your show! Hey, the airports could be the perfect venue!

Regarding different approaches, I have become a bit of an L&L "World's Greatest" junkie for this very reason. The one on Gypsy Thread, for example, had Cellini with a really unusual approach and a couple of other interesting ideas. It is fun to see the way some of the top names approach an effect.

Hey, Everyone!!!

On the subject of Hindu Thread, Gypsy Thread, whatever: never, I repeat, NEVER wash your good black magic performance shirt with a spool of white thread left in the pocket! This is good advice!

Jim

Never wash a tuxedo with your towels either.
Not that I have, I'm just saying I wouldn't recommend it.
I'll try this out in the airport, Jim - that's a good idea! I fly to Paris on the 10th, am in London on the 19th and New York on the 20th, then Seattle, then L.A. on the 6th of January. I would say that's more than enough time in airports to find bored people in long lines to perform to.
I would agree, "World's Greatest" has some good material (no pun intended.)

Good evening everyone,

First off, welcome Andrew!

I am glad that everyone had a fun and successful Thanksgiving! I definitely took advantage of the holiday and gorged myself. I planned to perform at my wife's family's Thanksgiving dinner, but we couldn't make it because it ended up conflicting with one of our other Thanksgivings... ah blessings and burdens of having large families So I rescheduled for their party on Christmas Eve.

Practice has been going well, and I am starting to feel very comfortable with my overhand shuffles and am picking up the knack for Bro. Hamman's instant double turnover. As Jim mentioned, my practice feels more focused when I have a performance, or goal, to work towards. So, I have set-up a weekly show for my wife and any interested friends and family. Next week's performance will include a sandwich effect for the overhand shuffle, Dancy's Misprint for the DT, and Chevrie's Clean-thru. Also, I am planning to crack open "The Ostrich Effect" after I finish this post!

Jim - How is your boot camp coming along? What a wonderful idea for Bob Sheets to structure a practice schedule into the package. Sorry to hear about your performance shirt...

Mary - Good luck as you prepare for your Christmas parties and parlor performance. Have you narrowed down your set for the parlor/banquet show?

Andrew - How is your routine developing? What event do you have on Feb 1st? Your idea to perform routine with an oversized brandy snifter is quite intriguing, keep us updated. I wish you safe travels later this week.

Hudson - Congratulations your successful Thanksgiving! Sounds like you might have a large family too. I'll have to check out Design for Laughter?

Hope everyone has a fun week!

~ Nathan

Nathan - I wish I could take credit for the brandy snifter! I actually first saw John Carney do it, and when I started talking with him through email about it, he said that (surprise surprise) it was Dai Vernon's idea. It made for a really nice opening moment to the trick when John brought it out.
I don't think I have anything booked for February 1st! I just set an arbitrary date to have a good presentation ready for it. I'll be working on it with a friend of mine when I'm in L.A. next month - he does a few magic tricks here and there but is good at helping me come up with ideas to make a presentation really shine, so I just sent him video of the work in progress this weekend to get him thinking.

I too work better when I know I have a performance coming. I work comedy clubs during the holidays so prepping for those kinds of things keeps me busy. I try and incorporate some new stuff every year as I tend to get a lot of repeat business and I don't want to be the Christmas song of magicians (the one you get sick of hearing every single year.) I like your idea of putting something together each week! When I was in the states I would do that - set up dinner parties and have friends come over (typically the same group that I would take with me to the castle) and we'd eat and chat, and then settle in for an evening of magic. It was always quite fun, and a great way to test drive material on an audience! I'm currently putting an act together to do once I'm back home that we'll set up and properly film (L&L style) to use on my website and for promotions and such.

Have a great week and thanks for the well wishes!

Andrew

"Jim - How is your boot camp coming along? What a wonderful idea for Bob Sheets to structure a practice schedule into the package. Sorry to hear about your performance shirt... "

Blue Owl -(I started to abbreviate, but it just didn't look right)...

I am amazed, simply amazed, at how much thread they can put on one of those spools!

Boot Camp is a blast- 'bout half way through and going very well. The hardest part is not making changes because you think you have come up with a good idea- Bob warns you not to do that until you have completed camp. For what it is worth, I am thinking of how to make this part of a magic routine as it is well suited to move in that direction. I feel the one-minute workout looks more like magic than just a con. I have two Christmas gigs, though, and need to take a LOA from BC till after the holidays so I can work up some other stuff and ... party.

I have put together a neat "soul/jazz/smooth Christmas" mp3 disk of about 40 tunes. If anyone is interested, PM me with your address and I will send one your way...

Hope everyone is gettin' in the Holiday spirit!!!

Jim

Good afternoon everyone!

I was definitely in the holiday spirit this weekend. Yesterday my wife and I traveled to Groveport and spent all day baking and decorating delicious Christmas cookies Then to wrap-up the evening I put on a quick show for everyone. I performed B'wave, Alice's Revenge (with a personalized card for the hostess), and sponge bunnies. All of the effects went over well, and the hostess loved the bunnies so much she ended up playing with them for about 5 minutes after the show. I am eager to apply the principles in the Ostrich Factor to these and other effects. This will help me focus on a few specific effects, but I am still scheduling in "fun" time to practice and experiment with a variety of methods and effects.

Andrew - Hope you are enjoying your time in Paris. You mentioned incorporating new material into your Christmas performances each year. What new material are you planning on utilizing this year? Please let us know when you have your act recorded and uploaded to your website next year.

Jim - Glad to hear you are enjoying your time with the shells. I have always been fascinated with routines where hustles are turned into magic and entertainment. Good luck with personalizing your shell routine once the camp is complete. But enjoy your holiday furlough Also, I love the holiday spirit in your new picture!

Hope everyone has a great week and productive practice sessions.

~ Nathan

Hello all,

Lately I've been doing more full show practice sessions due to the unusual seasonal material (and music). I do more one of a kind shows this time of year. I'll use most of the same material but there are more requests for short Stand-Up shows this time of year. The unusual material needs more blocking and property management work.

I did get a 20 min Stand-Up set for adults together but I won't perform it till Dec. 15 so, we'll see how it goes. I'm much more confident with Close-Up for adults. I know I have good material so now it's a matter of performing it well.

Happy Holidays.

-Mary Mowder

Nathan - Paris was indeed fantastic! I had dinner with Etienne, who shared all kinds of good things with me (magical and otherwise.)

I'm working on some new rope pieces and some coin stuff (though coins aren't great for comedy clubs - too small.) I'll let you know once I've posted something!

I performed my new 20 minute Stand-Up Adult act and it went over great. The room was a little bigger than I had envisioned but my Happie Amp did fine.

So I'm very pleased and hoping I'll get more chances to perform that act in the New Year.

I plan to do more writing for my shows this year, particularly comedy and segue lines.

Are you all making any resolutions?

-Mary Mowder

Nathan- thanks for your comments on the pic!

Andrew- You lead a charmed and interesting life!

Mary- Glad your show was a hit! Yes, I am working on resolutions, but not finished purging the list yet. Will let you know. In the meantime, I took your comments to heart, and what follows is my Hindu Thread patter for the holidays. I have used it several times to really good effect.

Anyone is free to use this and change it to suit your style, circumstances, etc...



Curious how a year plays out in unexpected ways; (begin unwinding thread)
A connected strand of 365 days (slowly continue. (showing entire spool)
Perhaps that's why we feel a little thrill of fear, (finish unwinding)
At yet another New Year (break entire strand)

Somehow the holidays stand alone, (break matrix section - show it)
from a year that has known: (show larger strand)
concern, (break)
remorse, (break)
disappointment, (break)
worry, (break)
even loss. (show final piece)

Now along that trail of daily woes, (make ball)
December comes, and this (show ball) all goes. (transfer ball)
Outmatched by a joy so clear, (show thread with ball)
We welcome the bright New Year! (denouement).

Have a great Holiday season, everyone!

Jim

Jim - Fantastic patter! I've got to say, I've never been a fan of the Hindu Thread routine, but THAT one gets me interested. I love it!

I'm sure my life sounds far more interesting on the Internet than it is in real life, but I try to live for the moment and experience everything I can. I'd rather look back with a little less money in my pocket and recall all of the incredible experiences I've had, than look back with a pocket full of cash and no memories.

I'm working on quite a bit of close up at the moment (including a few parlor routines, like the 3 ball transposition.) My goal is to have a solid show put together so that when I return to L.A. I can put an evening together with friends in a formal setting, serve dinner, and then settle in for an hour or so. I want to film the event (kind of L&L style) and put a good demo together. So that's my big goal for this year!

Well, that and finishing my Master's dissertation. Just attended my last class today for my MBA. Now the writing begins!

Andrew- great philosophy! Here's hoping you get to look back with the memories AND the cash!!

Jim

Hey Jim,

I really like the new patter and I'm not surprised it's going over well.

-Mary Mowder