Where would I like to go with my magic.

So I figured I'd get on here and talk about where I'd like to go with my magic. Do I want to be a corporate or restaurant magician and do the strolling thing. Do I want to be a busker, and stand in one spot doing the same thing over and over again all day. Do I want to be a stage magician with huge illusions surrounded by half naked assistants. Well part of that last one sounded good.

OK so here is what I would like. I want to get together a performing troupe and take them on the road performing cabaret size shows (35-50 people in the audience). I want to get some juggler and hoopers and other performance artists together and they and myself would do short little pieces, 5-10-15 minutes long for the first hour and then a 15 minute intermission followed by my 45 minute bizarre stage act. Looking for a sort of dark cabaret burlesque feel to the whole production and I want to call it Magnus Asbjorn's Bizarre Bazaar.

A paper on the Cups and Balls

A few months ago I had a class at school that required me to write a research paper. I choose to research a classic effect of magic know as The Cups and Balls. For any that may be interested in the result of my research you can read the final paper found at the link below.

My Paper on the Cups and Balls

Magic Makers's Jeff Maxwell's Jack to backs.

So I don't remember what I paid for this but I think it was somewhere in the $20 range. What does this DVD teach well it teach one effect and a bunch of random moves. You take four jack square them up into a packet and fan it back out ones turned around back wards, you do this again and again till all four are reversed. Its a nice visual effect I should probably learn but meh. It's too darn complicated I can do all the moves but I don't feel the pay off is worth all the practice required when I could just do Dai Vernon's Twisting the Aces. What I did take away from this video were a few of the random moves. So while Jack's to backs isn't worth it the moves to accomplish it and some other are.

I do have one problem with one of the moves taught. On the box and in the video they call it a "Bittle position" but its quite clearly the "Biddle grip" This just seem like a glaring oversight to me.

Overall this is a dvd I'm glad I got. It has a false cut called the Play Boy Cut which I like to use to set up for card forces. A move called the Orbital Spin which is a nice flourish for packet tricks and I use it in Twisting the Aces. The Snap Change and the Gamblers cop which I use but not often.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

Magic Makers Inc.

I just wanted to say that I think I have more reviews up for Magic Makers Inc products and almost no traffic on those pages, which is weird to me. I dunno it seems to me that Magic Makers Inc is very hit and miss when it comes to products and I could have used the sorts of reviews I'm doing here back when I got the products I have. If you're wondering why I have so many Magic Makers products when I have such a spotty view of them then allow me to explain. When I decided to seriously pursue magic I went to my local brick and mortar magic store for supplies and material. Well my local magic store should be a licensed Magic Makers Inc dealer. I'd say 80% or more of his magic related stock is from Magic Makers Inc. Nothing wrong with that, I mean I'd like to think I learned a little something from each Magic Makers Inc item I've bought. Chances are that I will be getting more of them in the future. I still very much want the Rainbow deck trick which I think Magic Makers Inc produces. I know this post is kind of random but it's my blog and I can post what I want.

For those that are curious the most read post is my review of Bicycle's Dragon backed cards.

SfS Perfect Pea

Well if my last post about them has not made it clear I am a fan of the School for Scoundrels. The last time I mentioned them was for their Introduction to the Shell Game DVD. Now though I'd like to talk about their Perfect Peas and why I will only be using another type of pea if it came with a set of shells (yes I'm the sort that wants every style of shell ever made) and I want to be reminded of how much better the perfect pea is.

So what type of peas have I used? Well there were the Peas that came with my MagicMakers DVD, a pea I made from a pencil eraser, and finally the SfS Perfect Pea. So not an expert on the topic but this blog is about my experiences and not my expertise. The worst by far is the one I made from a pencil eraser. It barely work at all. In the middle is the MagicMakers, it has a very noticeable mold line around it. It lacked the functionally of the perfect pea also I got two in the package. Now the Perfect Pea costs about $2.15 per pea but you get them 5 at a time (an you need them in batches cause they get lost fast) It has no visible line around it and performs awesomely.

But here is where School for Scoundrels insured my future business. I had stored the pea loose in a silk bag and when I woke up the next day the pea had visibly discolored and no longer performed properly. When I took my problem to them they were ready to replace it no questions asked. I imagine that most any other company would have claimed that it was my fault for improper storage of the pea.

If you found this review to helpful or you thought it sucked let me know in the comments section.

My very first trick.

I don't know about anyone else that reads my blog but I still remember the first bit of magic I saw, the first trick I ever learned, and the first one I performed for other people. Its kind of easy for me because all three are the same trick. When I was but a wee lad (around 10 maybe) I went to a friends birthday party and there was a clown who did clown things but also did magic and by magic I mean one trick and I'm pretty sure he got it from the Dollar Tree (I don't know if they have those every where so if they don't the Dollar Tree is a store where nothing in it cost's more than one dollar) If you haven't figured it out by now he did the Ball and Vase. I saw it and it was the spark, I had to learn it and did. And I performed it just like it said on the box and then I eventually set it aside and moved on with my life. But now I still have a special love for it and most recently I've been trying to remove the gimmick and do the effect completely through sleight of hand because it seems that every one I know is aware of the gimmick which is not surprising when you consider how many magic kits come with one.

Any way I'm going to leave you with a clip of a pro doing this 'beginner' trick.