Don't know about the others, by I refuse!

Jim

The practicing has been going great. I have been consistent most nights with at least one hour. I have found on some nights when I am just not motivated to practice, the commitment I made here causes me to go upstairs and put in my 20 minutes, which inevitably turns into an hour. Although it is not a formal routine I am working on, I have found Eric Jone's Simplex to be a good place to start in handling coins.

Mary

You will love sponge balls! Just yesterday, awaiting to disembark from a flight, a young girl next to me was on the verge of tears because her ears had not equalized yet. I did a simple 2-ball routine and she forgot all about the discomfort and was all smiles. I always carry sponge balls or bunnies when I travel and frequently find young families in need of a break. I keep them is a sandwich bag and they take up no space.

Hudson

Whiteoakcanyon-

Thanks for helping us break our addiction, for awhile I thought we would need to find a support group, like PA perhaps. Really glad to hear the practice has been going so well. Same here, no doubt because the weather in Ohio has been unreasonable, so a lot of time spent in front of a warm fireplace, such a great place to practice. I found what essentially is a bed tray for the rich to be served breakfast, I guess, and covered it with a faux leather. It works great for practicing sitting down or ever in bed. This makes me certifiably lazy I suppose, but it really works!

As I mentioned above, I have been enjoying the "full routine" approach, one a shell and pea and the other ring and string. For me, it helps to put together a full routine as soon as I have the moves down, so as to cement the moves into something I can actually use. I am starting to do the same with cards, putting together a full routine with perhaps 5 card effects that fit together and can follow a logical course of timing and patter.

I have also experienced the 20 minutes into an hour- ain't that great? Thing is, 20 minutes is so easy to commit to, and if you feel like more, then much the better. I know if I tried to commit to one hour, I would seldom even start. Odd, no?

I had forgotten just how much amazement sponge balls are capable of, Hudson, think I'll get back to carrying them. Good on 'ya with that girl!

How 'bout the rest of you? A little practice each day is good for you- don't sell it short!

Jim

I too am doing the routine thing, working on ways to make one card trick flow into the next. It's a fun project, going through all of my material and looking at the various options.

I do wish I could find some more material on cards that doesn't involve a spectator choosing a card. I'd like to just exhibit some skills of some kind (what little I have) in addition to audience participation. Any ideas?

Andrew,

The Charlier is a nice "gateway" flourish. Sybil is great and it never hurts to have a good one handed shuffle but not all at once or they might black out.

-Mary Mowder

I work on card effects that are easy to practice a bit at a time, use a regular deck and look more like magic than pick a card. One of my favs is Garcia's Torn- once you have it down you can do it almost impromptu. Next I like Asher's Twist- again get it under your nails and it is ready anytime you have four cards.

For really messing with minds I do Jumping Gemini as taught by Ammar. If I can do Torn (ruin some cards) I will add Card Warp, another crowd shocker, although perhaps too exposed for now.

I am also working on a version of Ultimate Monte using regular cards.

Probably should confess to you magic friends that when I say a "regular deck" I usually mean a regular "stripper" deck. Those things can do miracles...

Jim

Andrew,

If you can borrow a deck and then do the simplest of tricks, they will walk away shaking their heads. For non pick a card trick, try Doc Daily's Last Trick, and Twisting the Aces.

Hudson

Thank you for the suggestions! Twisting the Aces was the first card trick I ever learned and Doc Daily's is one I need to go back and watch on the Ammar DVDs again.

I am NOT a card person...my fans look terrible, can't do a clean ribbon spread, my shuffles (legitimate shuffles) are sloppy and don't even get me started on a Zarrow. I can do a so-so double lift and my Jordan and Elmsley counts are fine, but that's about it. The Charlier is, unfortunately, still "out of my hands" so to speak. I have small hands so it's difficult to do some of the moves where bigger hands help. Monte may be something I start looking into but I would love a great poker routine or something along those lines. A lot of the routines without spectators seem to be packet type effects with only a few cards, and while I LOVE certain packet tricks, I want to do more where I'm playing with a full deck. Or where I'm using 52 cards. I think the latter is far more likely.

I worked on The Mystery of the 19th Card for quite awhile tonight, which I learned from John Mendoza. If you haven't seen it, check it out. It's self working...I Skyped with a friend at home and had her get a deck of cards, and did the routine along with her and when she got to the reveal she lost her ever lovin' mind. Then she did the trick again and had the same reaction. It's not as much a magic trick as it is some kind of weird principle; I sure don't understand how or why it works, but it does every time so I rehearsed the presentation for about an hour this evening.

Andrew just wondering when was the last time you broke open a new deck? Sometimes they can get a bit clumpy after a while even though they still look straight and work on sleights ok, I know sometimes I open a new deck and look like a pro xcm'r for a while

Just opened a new one yesterday in fact. I know what you're saying about older cards, but one of the first things I tried to do with this was a decent fan and it looked horrible. It's not the prop, it's me, I promise

I confess! I did not practice my mushroom routine as planned. I am reverting to another effect for the club on Monday and will pick up the practice of my sponge mushrooms at a later date. I have fiddled with some other things, but I promise to get back on track and set a new goal soon!

Pete

I think it is good to go off track from time to time. I have had occasion for someone to ask if I could perform at a luncheon or such, and had to put my plans aside for a few days or more to get ready. Other times, I just get bored or frustrated with what I am working on and need a break. If you think of this as a normal occurrence, you won't beat yourself up over it and can return to your goal easily...

Jim

I feel HORRIBLE. I spent 12 hours working on my dissertation yesterday; I wrote 4000 words, and yet I didn't practice a single routine. No moves, no pass, nothing. What a waste. At this rate I'll have my dissertation wrapped up by the end of next week and all I'll have to show for it is a crummy master's of business degree.

Though I did learn a Michael Vincent routine this morning and worked on my own variations. I guess that makes up for it. Is it weird that a dissertation was how I spent my BREAK from magic?

Andrew,

Don't discount the value of an MBA in supporting your magic career. I transitioned from the military to business via a full time MBA program a number of years ago. The business career has provided ample opportunity, and funds, to support my magical interests. I find that my full time magician friends worry about cost of magic supplies and how often they will be used in a show, I never worry about my ROI (thought you'd like that) - I have a budget for my hobby to spend as I see fit.

And should you decide to pursue magic full time, the skills you learn in business school will help you build a robust business plan that is realistic on both the upside and the downside. Most people who start a new venture are totally unrealistic and end up out of business in no time.

Good luck in school!

Hudson

Hey, I just got back from an early morning appearance on a local TV Morning Show. It was a last minute thing and only had a day to plan my material. Morning is not my time of day but I think it went fine. It was the first time I've done that sort of thing.

I did CMH and Stargazer in the first segment

Eskimo Yo-yo rope and pulling a knot off the rope as a silent bumper to commercial

Tokyo Penetration and String of Luck (Gypsy Thread) in the last segment.

I can't say they really explained what would happen very well but I sort of expected that.

-Mary Mowder

Posted: Feb 27, 2011 3:40pm
Here is a link to video of Tokyo penetration and String of Luck:

http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/

I'm listed as The Magician

-Mary

Hudson - glad we agree! I should have added a winking face to my post somewhere as it was mostly written tongue-in-cheek. I actually think the MBA is one of the most valuable degrees you can get because it applies to everything - regardless of what career path you choose, business will be involved.
I have a buddy out here who works at the magic shop (he posts occasionally on the Café) and he actually wrote his master's dissertation on the magic business. Anything is possible!

Mary - nice job on the news! Well done, especially with no notice.

Andrew - curious about your buddy's thesis, what was the conclusion regarding magic shops? Do they have a future?

Hudson

Mary-

So Cool! You should be very proud- a great presentation. Loved your patter for Gypsy Thread. ***, when is TV4 gonna call me...

Jim

Thanks guys. Were you able to see the knots pop off at the end of String of Luck?

Jim, I think you spelled *** wrong. Some of those morning shows will take you if you call them. You might check their website.

-Mary Mowder