The Magic Cafe Forums - The Ultimate Travellers by Michael Vincent

Review: The Ultimate Travellers - By Michael Vincent
For any card magic enthusiast, the name Michael Vincent should be very familiar. He's a modern-day master magician and is a serious student of the art. His performing style is charming, engaging, intriguing and exquisite magic. Most of you will have seen Michael perform on Penn and Teller fool us, gaining huge admiration from the audience and Penn and Teller alike. It makes me proud to think of Michael as a representative of great magic, and it's even nicer that he's from the U.K. for those of you that are old enough you may also remember him on the Paul Daniel's Secrets magic show, I need to dig that out!

Penn and Teller fool us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOpK-shRFhE

So why in the world did I not know about Michael's publications in print is completely beyond me, there's a lot of videos, but my personal preference is books. I'm sure Andi Gladwin said on a recent Vanishing inc. Podcast (December 2019) that books are the preferred format these days. Incidentally, it's great that we have a superb magic author in Andi and a master like Michael keeping the solid of foundations of magic alive, thanks guys!

Review:
Down to the booklet review - Ultimate Travellers- one word 'Masterpiece' - it's true perfection. I've never encountered a routine ever where I've thought it couldn't be improved, but this is it. The routine loosely follows the Dai Vernon Travellers plot but takes it in a much better direction and builds a real performance piece out of it. You can watch it here - starting at 12.27, but why not treat yourself and watch the whole performance!

Magic Castle Performance: https://youtu.be/Lu_odQmit9Q

Travellers (the original) is something I've rehearsed (as it's a natural progression from homing card, that I do perform) both found in the stars of magic series. But I've just never performed it, as I could never quite figure out how to present it without it being confusing (and not hitting home), it's over too quick and let’s face it, one card going to a pocket is enough.

Not only will you get a superb routine but I felt this booklet has another lesson to teach and this is Michael's approach to putting the routine together itself, his patience, thinking and approach is most certainly a masterclass for anyone thinking about striving for perfection with their magic.

This is certainly not for the casual card guy, there are some advanced sleights, those of which I would call core sleights, that you may need to learn. As an example, a pinkie pull down and pass. However, there are no knacky moves such as Looy Simonoff's flippant move. These are all moves that are within the grasp of everyone with practice. Also you would be a fool to not use the exact moves Michael is using, as I've said it's perfection, you don't mess with perfection.

Who would this suit?- This would suit any magician wanting to learn more about the approach to putting a strong routine together and learn a perfected routine in the process.

Conclusion: A masterpiece of magic, which will be a very rewarding journey for anyone that studies this outstanding booklet.

Available from Michael - Cost £50 (and worth every penny, cent.. etc!)
https://www.michaelvincentmagic.com/dai-vernons-travelers/

Score: 10 out of 10 - Perfection.

Bonus: you get an essay on the Quest for mastery.

Phil Lawson New user 47 Posts	Posted: Jan 8, 2020 11:55 am 0 Review: The Ultimate Travellers - By Michael Vincent For any card magic enthusiast, the name Michael Vincent should be very familiar. He's a modern-day master magician and is a serious student of the art. His performing style is charming, engaging, intriguing and exquisite magic. Most of you will have seen Michael perform on Penn and Teller fool us, gaining huge admiration from the audience and Penn and Teller alike. It makes me proud to think of Michael as a representative of great magic, and it's even nicer that he's from the U.K. for those of you that are old enough you may also remember him on the Paul Daniel's Secrets magic show, I need to dig that out! Penn and Teller fool us: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOpK-shRFhE So why in the world did I not know about Michael's publications in print is completely beyond me, there's a lot of videos, but my personal preference is books. I'm sure Andi Gladwin said on a recent Vanishing inc. Podcast (December 2019) that books are the preferred format these days. Incidentally, it's great that we have a superb magic author in Andi and a master like Michael keeping the solid of foundations of magic alive, thanks guys! Review: Down to the booklet review - Ultimate Travellers- one word 'Masterpiece' - it's true perfection. I've never encountered a routine ever where I've thought it couldn't be improved, but this is it. The routine loosely follows the Dai Vernon Travellers plot but takes it in a much better direction and builds a real performance piece out of it. You can watch it here - starting at 12.27, but why not treat yourself and watch the whole performance! Magic Castle Performance: https://youtu.be/Lu_odQmit9Q Travellers (the original) is something I've rehearsed (as it's a natural progression from homing card, that I do perform) both found in the stars of magic series. But I've just never performed it, as I could never quite figure out how to present it without it being confusing (and not hitting home), it's over too quick and let’s face it, one card going to a pocket is enough. Not only will you get a superb routine but I felt this booklet has another lesson to teach and this is Michael's approach to putting the routine together itself, his patience, thinking and approach is most certainly a masterclass for anyone thinking about striving for perfection with their magic. This is certainly not for the casual card guy, there are some advanced sleights, those of which I would call core sleights, that you may need to learn. As an example, a pinkie pull down and pass. However, there are no knacky moves such as Looy Simonoff's flippant move. These are all moves that are within the grasp of everyone with practice. Also you would be a fool to not use the exact moves Michael is using, as I've said it's perfection, you don't mess with perfection. Who would this suit?- This would suit any magician wanting to learn more about the approach to putting a strong routine together and learn a perfected routine in the process. Conclusion: A masterpiece of magic, which will be a very rewarding journey for anyone that studies this outstanding booklet. Available from Michael - Cost £50 (and worth every penny, cent.. etc!) https://www.michaelvincentmagic.com/dai-vernons-travelers/ Score: 10 out of 10 - Perfection. Bonus: you get an essay on the Quest for mastery. The magic researcher https://themagicresearcher.wordpress.com/
Jon Hackett Special user UK 737 Posts	Posted: Jan 8, 2020 07:17 pm 0 Fantastic review, thank you. Michael Vincent’s performance is, as ever, exceptional. Jonathan Hackett It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them -- the character, the heart, generous qualities and progressive ideas. Doystoyevsky
mrmagik68 Special user NYC 574 Posts	Posted: Apr 30, 2021 03:53 pm 0 Happy Friday All! Hope everyone is doing well. I have a question for those of you who own this revision of Michael Vincent's Ultimate Travelers book. I've seen Michael's performance clip of this routine from his website. As usual, Michael does an excellent job in performing this routine. I love the Traveler's/Card to Pocket theme. I do the routine out of Stars of Magic but have changed some of the handlings to suit my own style. I'm tempted to purchase this but I must admit, the price tag ($105 US) seems a bit high for me. For those of you who own this, in your opinion, is it worth the price tag? Are there lessons in the book that are practical enough to use in other routines? Any unbiased feedback will be greatly appreciated. Be well! Best, Roberto Original Card Clinician
Illusion77 Veteran user 383 Posts	Posted: Mar 27, 2022 12:41 am 0 Michael's magic is always so well done and put together.
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Books, Pamphlets & Lecture Notes » » The Ultimate Travellers by Michael Vincent (0 Likes)