32 degrees in Sacramento?? Goodness Mary - hope they let you warm your hands first.
Great presentation!

Hudson - I'm not entirely sure what his conclusion was but I will have to ask him the next time I see him!

Jim,

Thanks for the perspective! Mary I can't wait to see your spot.

Had a great club meeting last night and got the help I needed on handling my new Porper Dye tube.

My next practice regiment is getting the handling down so I can move onto a routine that has been in my head for some time.

1/2 hour sessions 5 days a week. Re-evaluate where to emphasize each week. Goal ready to perform proficiently at next club meeting March 28.

Off to get my eyes dialated. Should be plenty of time to practice!

Pete

Posted: Mar 1, 2011 1:34pm
Mary! Great job on the T.V. show. Very polished! You handled your audience well. I always find it amusing when the t.v.personality struggles with being upstaged and thinks they need to provide patter for you and try and get in their own jokes. The payment was when you pulled the dollar through, he shut-up and realized that youhad it going on! I did knot see th knots pop off but then again my left eye is dialated! Keep up the great work! As a side. I worked on my color changing knifes and a few of my dye tube moves in the waiting room and the Doctor's office while I was waiting!

Pete

Nice job on the show Mary, That guy actually went quiet for a minute I bet his wife just took up a new hobby

Ja

Thank you all.

I'm sure you can tell the guy very nearly wrecked the Dollar effect (but didn't). I was gratified to see his reaction later.

Jim, I think I should have offered some guidance on getting a Close-Up shot for some of my effects. You might keep that in mind.

Peter, I practice card flourishes when I'm left alone in the dentist chair so I get that (I'm always packing a deck and to get me into the dentists office I covertly carry my favorite contact juggling ball as well). I get some practice and it calms the nerves.

Working on the Library Show effects but haven't chosen the order yet.


-Mary Mowder

Mary,

For your library show are you doing the World Culture Theme?

Pete

Dear Peter,

One World, Many Stories.

-Mary

Guys,

Last night I did a short CC knives routine for a friend that has become my "test subject" for new effects. Went okay, but not ready for prime tme yet. Need a better finish - routine is too short without real punch. Probably have a good intro to a routine that should be a little longer leading to a strong finish.

I gotJoe Mogar's knife set and his DVD - long on skills, but hasn't inspired a solid routine for me. Will probably get WGM CC Knives DVD. Ive found the WGM series to be good for inspiring - a little from this one and a little from that. Any other good sources for inspiration?
Thanks!

Hudson

Hi, Hudson!

I wish I could help, but the knives are something I have not used much. I could choke myself, because Joe is always at MagiFest and this year I had told myself that I was gonna get them and have him show me the ropes. Unfortunately, it was a new set-up and I just didn't get to it. I will be very interested to hear how you do and whether you think the WGM are as good or better.

I am just getting over some awful upper resp infection that has had me for about 3 weeks. Where the hell is spring????

Hope you all are well!

Jim

Spring has sprung in England, Jim! We only get eight days of partial sunshine a year and we seem to be using them all up at once.

(I'm back from my travels by the way - will dive into that card thing again when I get the chance. If you'd like to finish up my Master's dissertation I could get to it sooner...I'll email you the research parameters. 1" margins and 12 point font if you can.)

Hey Mary--I was going through some old videos and saw your name on the credits on one of them. You've been at this for a long time! Congrats!

Jim,

All is ell here, but we are still seeing snow in the Midwest - oh for the days when I lived in California!

Visiting family now in Boston and have had lots of impromptu opportunities. All cards and sponge balls - no knives on planes! Brought my chop cup, but not the right opportunity yet, perhaps Saturday night at a large family get together.

Hope you are feeling better soon.

Hudson

Yea, I've been on a lot of videos, I've watched my self age picking cards. Sometimes I'm just in the crowd. I've seen many of the best Magicians in the world.

I have been very lucky to see them in person. There is a reason these people are considered world class.

-Mary Mowder

Hi, all!

Hey, I actually feel like I have some energy! This time I am going to try to be a little smarter, and not go out in the cold to try to "do some things".

Andrew, NO WAY I would undertake (a bad term considering how I have been feeling) to write your Master's thesis- although I do know a few good dirty jokes that you could "pepper" it with. Just a thought.

Hudson, thanks for the thought- I am feeling lots better. Finally starting to want to practice again. Today is the first day of the rest of my magic life...

Regards to all of you!

Jim

Sorry to hear you've been sick Jim.

Consider this forced practice time (yea!) and take it easy.

-Mary Mowder

Saturday night turned into a nice show for me with lots of family I hadn't seen for several years. Started with sponge balls, then hopping halves and finished with Spin Doctor (variation on Twisting the Aces). Many of my relatives did not know I was a magician (business man by day!) and so they were doubly shocked. Was worth the effort put in over the past 2 1/2'years - when I got serious about developing professional-level skills and routines(not that I've arrived yet, but I am on the journey). Especially pleasing was Spin Doctor. For that I had to learn the Elmsley Count, which took many months.

As a nice surprise, I was able to visit Hank Lee's and pick up WGM Color Changing Knives and now have additional sources to develop a routine. Turns out HL moved to Medford - the very town I was visiting!

Jim - glad to hear you are feeling a little better. Hope to hear that you are up and about soon.

Mary - are ther good magic shows in the Sacramento area? I get out to Vacaville on business every now and then.

Hudson

Hudson - which Medford are you referring to? If it's Oregon I'll be passing through there at the end of April.

As an aside, I'll also be spending about five hours in Minneapolis around the middle of the month (layover on the way to Seattle.) I'll be the guy in the Delta terminal doing a coin matrix on a suitcase if you happen to be wandering by!

Jim - dirty jokes are welcome. The English have a filthy sense of humor. Er...humour. It took me three days to find a suitable birthday card for my mother that wouldn't give her a heart attack. I think the more blue humor I add, the better marks I'll get.

Spent some time this weekend on Sam the Bellhop. It has a ways to go but I'm enjoying playing around with it anyway. I'd like to make the story my own but that will have to wait a few weeks. Maybe I'll put one together on the plane when I fly back home.

Posted: Mar 28, 2011 5:58pm
Medford, MA. I Googled it. Answered my own question.

Andrew - I'm traveling all month and won't be back to Minneapolis till 22nd or so - complicated life! But if you've got a 5 hour layover I might suggest you take the light rail out to Mall of America. It is about 10 or 15 min, the last stop is at the mall. If you want to get more adventurous, you might go to Twin Cities Costume and Magic in Saint Paul. Nice magic shop with an excellent in-house instructor, Tyler Erickson. I've taken lessons from him, making unbelievable progress unfortunately due to my schedule, I had to stop the lessons.

Hudson

Thanks for the suggestions, Hudson! I've spent some time in Minneapolis...in fact the shoes I'm wearing at the moment came from the Mall of America. They've carried me well.
If I have the time, I'll try and check out the shop! This is the big move back to the states for me, so it all depends on how customs goes (considering I'm transporting my life back to the west coast.) Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing - er, flying.

Good luck with your move, Andrew!

Hudson

Thanks, I need it! Two weeks to finish a dissertation, wrap up everything associated with my flat, pack and ship my stuff back home, spend a little quality time with my magic buddies...I don't think I'll get a ton of practice in for awhile (PLUS I have several gigs as soon as I get back to Seattle, and then the move back to Los Angeles just a few days later where I have another show, work-related stuff and have to find a place to live.) I may need to give up magic entirely. I'd probably give up my real job first though.