Berglas interview

Discuss the latest feature articles in Genii.
Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 2nd, 2007, 5:51 pm

Jonathan,
No doubt, it's mentally challenging, but very rewarding too. I have to do it over and over again for my wife for about a week before I feel confident enough to do it for people. I use the method in a very popular Hermetic Press book, where you need to do some memorization and a little subtraction in your head, but for some reason it's hard to talk and subtract at the same time. Properly built up, it's about as strong as card tricks get. The plot is simple and people will remember it for a long time.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 2nd, 2007, 5:53 pm

Honest question for those registered under your full names (and assuming it's the same name fastened to you in performance): does the prospect of a delighted spectator/friend/family member googling your full name and finding their way to your activity here (whether it be hawking wares, arguing over attribution of a sleight, discussing new commercial effects etc.) strike you as maybe a little, I dunno, less than befitting the purportedly 'arcane' nature of our craft here?

I'm not so much speaking to the established full time performers/historians/collectors here as I am the amateurs, since I'd have to assume the latter are far better represented.

Just throwing out an aspect of this that I don't think has been raised yet...

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 2nd, 2007, 9:29 pm

Back to ACAAN, frequently in my patter for revealing the named card at the chosen number, I actually claim that the odds are 52x52 to one against success, even though I know full well what the true odds are. Sometimes I will inflate the odds even more. Since I'm blatantly lying anyway, I may as well pile it on even deeper.
This works great if you're performing for John Lovick.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 12:16 am

I've just been reading the book "The Mind and Magic of David Berglas" (haven't had a chance to read the Genii interview yet, but I definitely will!).
In this book there is mention of one of David's earlier books: "David Berglas Reveals -- Nearly Everything". Apparently it is a Dutch book (I presume that means it is written in Dutch?), published in 1967.
Does anyone have any more info on this book? I'm guessing it's long out of print, but is there any chance of finding a copy? What would be a ball-park figure price-wise?
Any and all info is greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Jason

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 3:29 am

This works great if you're performing for John Lovick.
Pete, I often read amusing or funny things on this forum, but it's rare that I laugh out loud. You made me laugh out loud.

Ian Kendall
Posts: 2631
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Ian Kendall » May 3rd, 2007, 4:04 am

It cuts both ways; I post under my name, yet have no credibility...perhaps it's because it's not my _real_ name.

Yep, that's it. Definitley.

Take care,

Peter Wyngarde (Mrs)

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 5:14 am

re: opinions (hoping that this avoids the Chief Genii proscription)

In a "hard" science, opinions are not created equal.
In a "soft" science, without dissenting opinions there would be no progress!
In art, opinions are relatively democratic!!

I've met folk who find "Strong Magic" to be windy, dull, and meatless. Others swear by it. Both positions are, frankly, respectable.

Some actually claim to appreciate the "meta-secret" in "Protocols". Others feel cheated. Both positions are, frankly, respectable.

We've heard both sides concerning the Berglas book. I suspect that there is validity on both sides. As is typical, very few concrete examples have been brought forward in support of either side. Mr. Asselin (salut!) being the exception -- whose posts are consequently far more valuable than most.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 8:15 am

Doug Peters has a decent point.

The examples he give all create a similar, vocal, either or division in discussions, on and off the forum.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 9:36 am

Oh Ian - Peter Wyngarde, you're showing your age!

Cheers

Andrew
Controller
Department S

Brad Henderson
Posts: 4547
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: austin, tx

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Brad Henderson » May 3rd, 2007, 9:37 am

Mike Rogers shared a story with me from the old days of the Gemini forum. Mike had two log ins. One was his real name, the other a fake one. He would play games. He would go in as the fake name and say things he knew to be true and have them shot down by "experts" UNTIL he logged back in under his real name and agreed with the fake poster - at which point public opinion seemed to sway as if by magic. While I do not recall the specific dynamics he managed to use, his point stuck clearly - in magic often the name associated with a point is far more important than the quality of the point itself.

Brad

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 9:43 am

"Oh Ian - Peter Wyngarde, you're showing your age!"
And the fact that you recognise the name shows your age, Andrew. (And mine too, I fear.)

Dave

User avatar
Pete Biro
Posts: 7124
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Hollyweird
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Pete Biro » May 3rd, 2007, 11:26 am

Mike Rogers and I used to have FAKE FUEDS on the Gemini Forum.
Stay tooned.

Ian Kendall
Posts: 2631
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Edinburgh
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Ian Kendall » May 3rd, 2007, 1:58 pm

There's nowt wrong with the classics.

While we're off the subject, a favourite quote from Peter Buckley Hill (ever so slightly mad English comic/folk singer):

Roger Moore! It's not an impression, it's a new year's resolution...

Eye thangoo!

Pete

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 3:03 pm

My Nickname is Crimsonking

My real name is Mattia Preti

I think that the important thing is to be polite and always express our opinion without offending others.
I don't honestly think that posting under a pseudonym means something so important to criticize.
I personally like to write with the name Crim, but it's just a taste.
And i personally don't bother to show my real name.
But maybe some people don't want to put their names for privacy reasons or for wathever reason they consider proper for themselves.
They have all the right to do so i think.
Regards
Crim

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 4:25 pm

Brad Henderson's post and its veracity from what I've seen might be used as an argument that we should all be forced to post under anonymous names.

Of course it is utopian and naive to assume that a really good point would stand on it's own no matter who made it...to some extent names are needed to prove that a concept has worked for so an so.....

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 4:55 pm

Alas, it is indeed difficult to separate the message from the messenger. Im not sure which is more troublesome: folks who dont (or cant) judge a post on its merits, or folks who cant (or dont) read and write for understanding.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 3rd, 2007, 7:28 pm

It's important to remember that there are many different kinds of posts, and some of them are useful regardless of who said it, while others depend almost totally on the source.

For example if I post this:

An Elmsley Count doesn't look natural if you start with the cards in your left hand and count them into your left hand. I think you should figure out some way to get the cards into your right hand, then count them into your left hand.
...you can consider the point entirely on its own merits.

But if post this:

I've seen lots of magicians use the double-undercut and never once has it looked natural.
Now you pretty much need to know who I am. Not to know if my opinion is "valid," but to know how many magicians I've seen. Am I a 13-year-old in magic a year, and all the magicians I've seen are also 13 years old? Or have I been in magic for 20 years, and live in Los Angeles, and have seen hundreds of magicians, including most of the best close-up magicians in the world?

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 4th, 2007, 9:14 am

Brad, your post above is completely correct!

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 4th, 2007, 10:24 am

To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, Sometimes the messenger is the message. Occasionally, someone will post here under a false name just to stir up trouble. He isnt interested in discussion or an exchange of ideas. He just wants to start trouble because he thrives on negative attention. Being able to identify individuals like that allows us to dismiss them and their prattle immediately.

Further to screen names, some time back I noticed posts on the Genii Forum by someone who seemed well-connected in magic, someone who knew certain aspects of history. Because of what he posted he seemed familiar, but I couldn't exactly place him. Over time it became clear who he was. I knew him as a convicted child molester who had served hard time for his crimes. He was a real monster who used his connection in amateur magic to find and groom victims.

I informed Forum management and they kept a close eye on him and he seemed to behave himself while here. While I generally ignored his posts he made the mistake of sending me a private email. He received my thoughts on pedophiles in no uncertain terms. He hasnt been back since which is no loss to this Forum.

The point is, if hed posted under his real name from the beginning, Id have known who and what he was. Instead, it took a large number of posts to for me to recognize him.

While I believe this to be a rare and isolated incident, it is another reason why I am not a fan of screen names. I like to know with whom I'm communicating and a real name is a good way to start. When we first meet someone, the first thing we is exchange names. Apparently that common courtesy has gone the way of the Dodo on the Internet.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 4th, 2007, 11:57 am

I think that if someone doesn't want to use his real name,he could do so also without using a pseudonym.
He only has to use a fake name which no one knows and which seems a real name.
And i also think that is impossible to know all the past bad deeds of every one in the forum or anywhere else also with real names.

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 4th, 2007, 12:18 pm

Anyone have anything interesting to say about the Berglas interview and tricks?
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 4th, 2007, 12:39 pm

The cost of Genii is insignificant in terms of what is received each month. Here we have a major figure in 20th Century magic talking freely about his life and career, available to anyone with a subscription or six bucks at a magic shop.

Every month Richard produces a quality magazine with a miniscule staff for far less than what it should cost. Subscribers are getting a bargain.

User avatar
Pete Biro
Posts: 7124
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Hollyweird
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Pete Biro » May 4th, 2007, 2:51 pm

I felt the Berglas interview, the 3D images and all his interesting happenings were worth a year's subscription for sure.
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 5th, 2007, 1:22 am

Growing up a teenager in the 80s, I remember watching Mr Berglas on television, both on his own "The Mind of David Berglas" series and as a guest on other shows.

He was someone who I believed was absolutely far more than "just" a magician; this was a very special performer whose origins and techniques I couldn't begin to fathom.

Fabulous article; thank you RK and DB.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 5th, 2007, 4:38 pm

In reference to Steve v's earlier post regarding the mystery trick of David Berglas, David Berglas DID perform a trick which he IS keeping to himself... I believe Berglas performed it only ONCE and once ONLY! He simply took advantage of an ideal situation and produced a miracle apparently impromptu!

Mark Lewis was there at the time and foolishly believes that this is a "pet" trick of Berglas' regular repertoire... Like any good mentalist, this is a prime example of the type of effect that legends are made of...

It seems to have worked for Berglas, of whom I'm a big fan (Berglas, not Lewis) lol

I will not explain the details of the effect however it has something to do with electricity and does not involve cards, billets or Swamis.

User avatar
NCMarsh
Posts: 1223
Joined: February 16th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Devant, Wonder, Richiardi, Benson, DeKolta, Teller, Harbin, Durham, Caveney, Ben, Hoy, Berglas, Marceau
Location: Orlando, FL
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby NCMarsh » May 8th, 2007, 10:46 am

Paul,

It would be safe to presume that Berglas is holding more than a single routine -- there is certainly plenty in the book that, in terms of nuts-and-bolts methods, is vaguely explained or not explained.

Best,

N.

User avatar
Pete Biro
Posts: 7124
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Hollyweird
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Pete Biro » May 8th, 2007, 10:55 am

Is the STORY in print anywhere involving Ken Brooke's pal, taxi driver, "Franklin" getting a safe cracker to load a prediction into a safe that was locked on Berglas "by surprise" ??? :confused:
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 8th, 2007, 11:28 am

Pete brings up an excellent point. Regardless if the story he references is true or not, mentalism can be loosely divided into three categories: regular routines that can be peformed on stage or close up; set-up circumstances that are done one-off; and what I call "Circumstantial Mentalism" where something happens that falls into the mentalist's lap and who, at the time, exploits the situation for all it's worth.

James Randi once told me about a member of the US Congress who'd been highly impressed by Geller in a design duplication. As I recall the story, he challenged Randi to duplicate Geller's feat. What was ironic in Randi's telling of the story was that the Congressman accidentally flashed his drawing so that Randi got a glimpse.

Of course, a miracle followed.

It is this latter type of mentalism that is so difficult to explain because the right circumstances have to come together at the right moment. Sometimes this can be arranges, and sometimes you just get lucky.

User avatar
Pete Biro
Posts: 7124
Joined: January 17th, 2008, 12:00 pm
Location: Hollyweird
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Pete Biro » May 8th, 2007, 12:47 pm

Speaking of Geller... a friend of mine who was hired by the U.S. Fed. Govt., to spy on Geller (Hey if he was real we don't want the Russians to get hold of him!)... and noticed a good sized HOLE in the wall of the steel building that the bozos at Stanford Research had built to house Geller for some tests.

When he asked the folks (who are NOT connected to the University of Stanford) they said the opening was for an air conditioning unit, but they never got it installed, and that they TRUSTED Geller to not use it.

But why was Geller's pal's chair just below the opening?
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 8th, 2007, 6:01 pm

Just wanted to offer my thanks and congratulations to Richard and the team for the brilliant Berglas interview.
I haven't had such pleasure reading a magazine since my early youth and those covert forays into the stash of my Uncle's "under the bed" magazine collection.
Too much information?
Anyway, great work, Richard!
Cheers,
Jason

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 8th, 2007, 8:25 pm

Richard, If Mr. Berglas did "cure" the lame on a ship to South Africa then what the heck is he doing being a mentalist/magician?

Wouldn't it be a heck of alot more profitable to cure the lame.

I sincerely hope you don't believe he can do these healings.

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 8th, 2007, 8:26 pm

He didn't "cure" the woman--he used the power of suggestion to get her out of the physical rut she had fallen into. I've seen people using canes without any reason, who've given up, etc.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 8th, 2007, 11:13 pm

Richard has a point.

There are literally thousands of people who suffer from illness because they think they have that illness.

Her condition could have been all in her head. What he may have done is simply given her the belief that she can be healed.

The power of the mind is amazing.

Do I think he can do this all the time? NO.

Can he do it to people who believe in thier own mind they can be healed? Yes.

Its a placebo effect.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 9th, 2007, 8:36 pm

My wife, who has major heart problems, is one of those people that if she isn't feeling will she will not improve until a doctor tells her a time schedule for feeling better. She will be sick for a month with something that others get over in a few hours but once she is told she us cured, she is cured. Odd eh?

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2007, 11:42 am

So, Richard... When is the in-depth interview with Kreskin taking place?

User avatar
Richard Kaufman
Posts: 27056
Joined: July 18th, 2001, 12:00 pm
Favorite Magician: Theodore DeLand
Location: Washington DC
Contact:

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Richard Kaufman » May 10th, 2007, 12:10 pm

I've asked Kreskin, but he's a reclusive fellow.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2007, 5:18 pm

Re the cure of the lady on the ship to Cape Town.
Nothing new about hypnosis being used to "cure"
a psychosomatic affliction. That was already known
and demonstrated in the late eighteen hundreds along with surgical procedures conducted without
anesthesia. It was not, however, accepted by the
medical profession who considered such practices to be quackery.

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 11th, 2007, 7:27 am

Just finished reading the interview and found it immensely entertaining.

Mr. Berglas does not sound as full of himself as I imagined before I read the thing, while reading the other posts on this thread. And anyway, slightly oversized egos are common in this business.

I understand perfectly that a performer such as Mr. Berglas's stature could seem bigger than life. It comes with the territory. I wouldnt expect a great magician/mentalist, whatever his name is, to have a flat and dull personnality.

You gotta live the part and the part is bigger than life.

Seb

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 14th, 2007, 10:17 am

Richard, Thank you for the Berglas interview. It was really fantastic and I enjoyed reading it!

Guest

Re: Berglas interview

Postby Guest » May 26th, 2007, 3:16 pm

I only recently procured my issue (I inadvertently let my subscription lapse.) I enjoyed the article immensely. Genii magazine has really surpassed the competition over the years, delivering top-notch articles. I only now need to re-subscribe, as there is a magic vacuum in New Orleans now, with no place to buy the magazine...

I also tire of this "amateur vs. professional" issue. Plenty of amateurs know more about magic history and evolution, and in some cases, even presentation than pros. I've seen my share of excellent "amateurs" as well as terrible acts by "seasoned pros." Let's all be a little more respectful, eh?

Bill Pearson


Return to “Feature Articles”