Saw Curtis Kam lecture in Chicago last night. Still not convinced that complex coin magic is appealing to laymen but can't say for sure as I can't really do complex coin magic. But I could watch Curtis do his "toss" retention and click pass all night and still bet money the coins were going into the other hand. It's a different kind of skill then being able to hold out 6 dollar size coins and silently move them from hand to hand but to me even more impressive.

The thing is he can do the complex stuff, hold out six coins and produce a coin star ala Downs - as well as those more direct effects.

I've seen Curtis produce Silver dollars, one at a time, from back palm. complex, no ?

Effectwise -not IMHO.

Curtis definitely has some knuckle busters and many of them make magicians go "aaahhhh!", but remember magicians are audiences too. I've shown some folks just the performance stuff off of a couple of his videos and they were wowed! Can you do it easier, possibly. Do it better, I doubt it. I love working with his stuff.
His "The Pocket Book" is a must have for every coin worker. Not really magic, but data on coins, terms, you name it. A reference I go to often.

What I don't like about him.... HE IS TOO DOGGONE ENTERTAINING!

Nobody should misunderstand. His ability to knuckle bust was well on display and well out of my reach. I like to think some of the more straightforward stuff is a matter of timing and finese

Curtis came to visit in NYC and trust me, We were at a bar with some other friends and he performed to random strangers and it KILLS the laymen.

He has a new 6 coin Ramsey Coin and Cylinder effect and YES, he did it to laymen. Got a standing ovation.
Try to do Coin and Cylinder in a bar and come back and tell me that his stuff isn't good enough for laymen.

..and his card work is pretty good, too.. ...

Curtis has all of this AND he is a also very good person with a lot of class.

Curtis you're a pillar of our community. Thank you.

No discussion among the Curtis Kam Admiration Society would be complete without mentioning a few other skills of his that really do contribute to the magic community.

One is his deep knowledge of the history of magic in general and coin magic in particular. I know other professionals who, before they publish, check with him as to making proper attribution in their materials before they publish. That shows great respect and recognition of his extensive background in the field. He has a very extensive knowledge of the evolution of the classic routines and he generously shares it with the community.

Another wonderful skill of his is the abilty to write about magic and describe its history, taxonomy and structure (read his Pocketbook for a brilliant little treatment on the structure of coin magic). This abilty is also evident in his notes and other publications which comment on the essentials of mechanics, performance and psychology of specific routines. Inciteful stuff you'll agree when you read him.

I love his magic but I also wish he would write more about this particuar subset of close up. It needs someone with these skills to describe comprehensively, its evolution, its major contributors and its classic and cutting edge routines under one cover.

Curtis is the Man!

I didn't know he wss in Chiago last night. Wah.

Last week I was at dinner with Curtis, John Born, my fiance, and Tony Cabral. The other magicians delighted in performing for my fiance, who is a great spectator. I got to see Curtis do the stuff he does for real people, and it was just great. The next night we were out with Joshua Jay, Tony Cabral and Tony Chang, and it was a non stop magic session. I had to get to sleep at midnight, but I think the other guys pulled an all nighter. I have no idea how Curtis managed to get on that plane and lecture in Chicago the next night! I guess its the magic that keeps him going! It was great to spend some time together, and talk coin magic.

He did tell us he was doing the Ramsey cylinder that morning at a bar in NY. I knew he was an incredible coin worker but seemed like a nice guy as well.

Hi,

At the First European Coin Magic Symposium Curtis KAM came with a true Diamond. His last DVD for the Milan Convention includes 7 routines with, yes with coins.

You have:

- the Minimillion which is a new way to perform his tian an Men Square routine. You open with only a pen and a purse and you finish with 12 different coins on the table.
- Cup Runneth Over, which is an easy routine with 3 quarter and a very big finish, you produce a bunch of coins under the coffee cup,
- Six Cylinder, this is a new way and a new look at the Cylinder and coins routine. Everything is logical for the audience,
- Handyman, this is the little hand mystery but with a difference, a complete routine,
- Box jumper is a wonderful Okito coin routine, it is a transposition with three Chinese coins and three solver dollars,
- Quartermaster is the classic routine in which you put coins in spectator’s hand and the coins traveled from the spectator to you hand in a magic way. To finish it’s the classic but in a very special way, the quarter through the hand,
- Nonstarter, is a new routine, when the magician say something, the things went wrong. It is a routine inspire from a Kainoa Harbottle routine but without any shell.

Thanks

Curtis Kam is another great coin guy who's routines are just beautiful. I'm learning his new York spellbound routine at the moment (as it's one of the easier ones!) and it looks just magical. Not all of his routines are complex. At least not from the point of view of the spectator. I think he just uses whatever is needed to achieve what he Wants. Sometimes that's complex and sometimes that's simple. He has the tools and knows when to use them. I've never seen Curtis live but I have seen him on all the POS 1-4 and the Coinvention DVDs. Just amazing work.

Curtis was gracious enough to relay his Milan DVD to me through Alex Conradi. Just spent the night studying it. Very good magic even if the performance conditions for such gems were not ideal. Some of the greatest ideas from this DVD will be possibly overlooked due to these conditions and this is exactly what I love (selfishly I confess).

It made me change a few things in my Cylinder and Coins routine which was already pretty well documented.

Thanks, Curtis, and congratulations.

Etienne

Can anyone tell me the issue of Reel Magic has Curtis doing his seven coin routine where a coin keeps going from the participant's hands to his?

KJ

37.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=202

I love Curtis Kam. What is this "Pocketbook" talked about above?