Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Discuss the tricks and sleights which appear in Genii.
Guest

Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » February 25th, 2006, 2:40 pm

If you haven't seen the video of this trick on Al\'s site , you haven't lived. If you haven't read the effect yet, see the video first.

This wonderful effect can be fairly easily adapted to produce the ultimate version of Expansion of Texture. Hold a half and an English Penny in the left hand, under the hank, and a Copper/Silver in the right. Whichever coin the spectator names, no magician's choice, you pull visibly right through the handkerchief. Then pull the other through (or don't). The C/S stays in your hand the entire routine and is automatically switched out at the end.

Thanks for releasing this, Al. It is a thing of rare beauty.

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Pete Biro
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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Pete Biro » February 25th, 2006, 5:04 pm

Awesome. The cups and balls is a fooler.
Stay tooned.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » February 25th, 2006, 7:35 pm

It is a lovely Cups and Balls routine, and not like every other routine you see.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » February 25th, 2006, 9:18 pm

And it's always a pleasure to see the matrix done the original way. So much more direct and magical than many of the later variants.

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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Pete Biro » February 26th, 2006, 10:58 am

He didn't show it, but one of his routines with the cups has a final load that I have seen done 3 or 4 times and am still fooled by it.
Stay tooned.

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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Todd Lassen » February 27th, 2006, 8:11 am

Wow, that really looks great Al. And holding the coins in this manner for the multiple (one at a time) vanish is great too. What a guy! ...but isn't there some way to gaff this? Too much purist stuff isn't good for EVERYONE.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 4th, 2006, 9:44 pm

Thanks guys.
Gimmick for Osmosis?
Hmmmmmm. Don't know. Need to think about that.
Most think it a difficult routine.
If you go over it things happen almost automatically.
I have been accused of having incredible skill to do the routine. It actually is like doing a basic Spellbound routine.
About the cups. I am working on an improved version of the one on the site.
Actually this is one of five or so new routines. Working on a collection of cup and ball moves.
This includes thimbles to waste basket cups for stage work. Think of Larry Jennings (Stencil?) handling. I have taken this work far beyond that basic stuff into something that enables a basket ball to be produced using a waste basket cup and ball routine on stage. No servant. A thin board across two chairs is used for a table so the audience has a clear shot of everything.
Cheers.
Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 4th, 2006, 11:17 pm

Originally posted by Todd Lassen:
...but isn't there some way to gaff this? Too much purist stuff isn't good for EVERYONE.
So what's a copper/silver, chopped liver?

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 5th, 2006, 4:45 am

Originally posted by Jonathan Townsend:
Originally posted by Pete McCabe:
[b]
Originally posted by Todd Lassen:
[b] ...but isn't there some way to gaff this? Too much purist stuff isn't good for EVERYONE.
So what's a copper/silver, chopped liver? [/b]
Going "international" and using a gaffed coin set of some kind is not so likely to add value to audiences and introduces a vulnerability to "grabby" muggles.

For those who INSIST on going gaffed: consider using a c/s and a s/B along with a legit S and a legit B for the routine. Then one can use the HPC variation to unload the gaffs and turn them over as you apparently put then down after they penetrate. This approach is an almost trivial variation of one gaffed method for doing a Latta Coins Across routine from CoinMagic, or if you stay at the fingertips... :D
Anyway I abandoned this gaffed approach over twenty five years as it tends to distance the audience instead of inviting them closer to the magic. For a counter example of this in action, check out Doc Eason's handling of the C/S/B routine.

In short: Like his Matrix routine, this elegant piece of routined magic can be encumbered, endangered and weakened by introducing unexaminable props [/b]

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 5th, 2006, 11:43 am

Dear Pete McCabe
The idea of the C/S is brilliant.
I like it.
Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 5th, 2006, 3:29 pm

Thanks Al. It does avoid the problem that Jonathan mentions, because the C/S stays in your hands at all times and is never available for a spectator to grab.

Sorry for repeating myself, but I wasn't sure if Jonathan had read my post.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 5th, 2006, 6:01 pm

Originally posted by Pete McCabe:
Thanks Al. It does avoid the problem that Jonathan mentions, because the C/S stays in your hands at all times and is never available for a spectator to grab.

Sorry for repeating myself, but I wasn't sure if Jonathan had read my post.
I very much like that approach. I had that and similar working many years ago for the coins across effect and am almost ready to kick myself for not applying that thinking to the expansion of texture effect.

Instead I will face West and bow to Al as the one who had the important insight in to this effect.

;)

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 5th, 2006, 8:31 pm

Osmosis is brilliant! I really like it.

And the cups and balls routine is definitely very clever and mystifying.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 6th, 2006, 7:45 am

I am not sure how to say this and I am not even sure if it is true. I suspect that some that talk about Osmosis are really totally fooled.

I had the trick up as tri thru when I was chatting with people on the Magic Cafe. There people said wierd things about it such as it being incerdibly difficult and it is to bad it utilizes lapping. In fact my best friend Frank a fairly accomplished sleight of hand guy said a few of these things about it as we discussed it. I had in fact checked out a few handlings with him and found some of his comments curious.

One day I looked him square in the eye and told him that he was totally fooled by the trick. He denied it. Then I forced him to watch an explanation move by move. He said, "You know I didn't know how it worked. I thought you had three duplicate coins!"

The trick is actually quite simple. It is easier to do than Spellbound and a very very basic HPC.

I think Kaufaman learned it in about three minutes to reshoot the pics for the trick. (Very nice job with pics and writeup by the way.)

I think a lot of people are talking about it that do not understand how it works. I suspect that even after they read the instructions. The dirty part is very short.

This is just an observation. No comment needed.
Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 6th, 2006, 1:57 pm

Fantasic cups and balls routine! Is that routine taught on your dvd's?

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 6th, 2006, 3:11 pm

After watching Osmosis a couple of time I did figure out how its done. The great thing is that it makes me like the effect even more! Great job Al- the thinking behind this is so simple its brilliant. The illusion is great and I'm sure that you have audiences grabbing for your silk and hands after every performance.

Who says that figuring out an online demo hurts magicians? I want to go buy your dvd set immediately!

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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Larry Barnowsky » March 6th, 2006, 4:32 pm

It's a really great routine. The first time I saw it I was fooled. By the second viewing I was really annoyed (I substituted this for another word). The third time I smiled and had figured it out but was thrilled at the beauty and simplicity of it all. Thanks Al.
Magica Analytica
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Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 6th, 2006, 4:35 pm

Dear Sean Macfarlane

The cup and ball routine is still an experiment.
I have a new one that updates the one shown on my web site.

The goal is to perfect the final load sequence. While I certainly can't fool magicians with the loads, my goal is have them watch over again to be sure they caught it. Eventually I intend to put out a pdf CD on this routine. All is in process.

Thanks for everyone's comments.
Al

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 16th, 2006, 8:26 pm

Awesome! I know that this may be an old post, but, and forgive me, I am new to the forum. Very beautiful Mr. Schneider. Very Beautiful...


Nice Clean site by the way...

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 17th, 2006, 3:34 am

Originally posted by musicalspirit:
Awesome! I know that this may be an old post, but, and forgive me, I am new to the forum. Very beautiful Mr. Schneider. Very Beautiful...


Nice Clean site by the way...
not only awesome but explained in great detail in last month's magazine!

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » March 22nd, 2006, 9:23 am

Actually I was aware that the spellbound move was used but it had never occured to me that the coin they originally saw taken out was the coin that drops onto the table. My confusion (and Al is right - I was definitely fooled) was why didn't the coins in his hand "talk" and how did he get a new "duplicate in his hand" each time?

Once he "splained" it to me I was amazed at how down the garden path I had been led as a magician. It is my opinion that Osmosis will become a classic of the same magnitude as Matrix.

With the resultant endless amount of "improvements" that add nothing.

Frank Tougas

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 7th, 2006, 4:59 pm

I logged in just to post "that's beautiful, Mr. Schneider", only to find that sentiment was already expressed in the original subject as well as other posts

so: ditto that :)

I watched the video at least a dozen times in a row, many times just for the directness and beauty of the effect

[edited for rambling]

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 3:58 am

kevin_fortin
Most won't care about your post.
But I really appreciate it.
Thanks
Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 4:39 am

Originally posted by kevin_fortin:
...I watched the video at least a dozen times in a row, many times just for the directness and beauty of the effect....
I look at it every now and then as a reminder of how magical and direct a routine can look.

In this case (well in several of Al's routines) both the appearance and the methodology is elegant.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 10:48 am

I feel a desire to say something about the philosophy that went into Matrix and Osmosis.

In many routines there is a necessity to recount or show what has happened in order to set up for the next phase of the routine. Another affliction many routines have is what can be called "I got a good start but no finish." The first coin across looks good. But the last looks awful or is a dramatic switch in the flow of the routine. "Now let's make it even more amazing." I am sorry, often it is not.

Both Matrix and Osmosis emerged because I spent a great deal of time trying to avoid these problems. The idea was to set up the trick to do and do it by constantly moving forward. These tricks are not necessarily briliant. They just obey this concept. The result is quite spectacular. It is a simple mechanical solution.

Just thought I would share that.
Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 11:18 am

Hi Al.

Your Cups and Balls routine on your site, is the smoothest routine, Ive ever seen. Great job!

Now, if I only could do this standing up..hmm

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 2:55 pm

Originally posted by Al Schneider:
Both Matrix and Osmosis emerged because I spent a great deal of time trying to avoid these problems. The idea was to set up the trick to do and do it by constantly moving forward. These tricks are not necessarily briliant. They just obey this concept. The result is quite spectacular. It is a simple mechanical solution.

Just thought I would share that.
Al Schneider
It's extremely insightful - thank you for sharing it!

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 6:29 pm

Mr_oldlove
You have noticed the TL MPL on the end of the cups and balls title. That indicates a version of the routine. I am working on a version with S at the end of the title which is to represent Standing.

Thanks for your compliment.

Al Schneider

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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby malbright » May 10th, 2006, 8:13 pm

Al,
Love your routine.

Can you cite any printed reference to the snap vanish you briefly described in Genii?

Thank you!

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » May 10th, 2006, 11:24 pm

Michael Albright
I think it appears several places in my publications. I think it is discussed in my 4 DVD set. It was first presented in Al Schneider On Coins (1965). A CD "reprint" is now available on my web site www.worldmagiccenter.com

I think the presentation of the move along with Osmosis in Genii is fairly accurate. There is not really much to the move although there are variations of its presentation. I think it is quite similar to a variety of vanishes out there. I suspect a lot of those came from my Snap Back move anyway.

Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » June 14th, 2006, 8:38 pm

I just got back from Minneapolis where I was lucky enough to have a couple of one-on-one sessions with Al Schneider. He taught me one of his latest coins across versions (French version), Osmosis, and some Cups and Balls.

I was just as wowed by seeing these on his web site as all those who already said, "Wow!". I advised all of my friends to go the site and look at Osmosis, the Cups, and Coins Across. I never imagined that the man would sit down and teach me the subtleties.

Wow! Thanks, Al.

Best regards,
Glenn Godsey

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 14th, 2006, 9:02 pm

Al is a good guy ... very generous. I suggest that all of you go to his website and buy something. He deserves it.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Geno Munari » June 18th, 2006, 5:05 pm

This is wonderful material. I really enjoyed it. A tip o' the hat.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » June 19th, 2006, 6:35 am

You guys are going to give me a fat head.
Honestly, as time has passed, one of the things I most enjoy about magic is meeting other magicians.

Right now I am planning on being at Richards booth at the SAM. Please stop by and ask to see me do something. If you have questions, please ask. I enjoy showing off. If none of the above, stop by anyway.

Al Schneider

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » June 21st, 2006, 6:13 am

Osmosis is one of the most beautiful coin routines I have EVER seen. Congratulations for this, and thanks for sharing it. Just cries out to be done with a borrowed tissue.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » June 30th, 2006, 10:34 pm

Congratulations on your website Mr. Schneider...
I saw Osmosis, Cups & Balls and Classic Matrix, and I have to say they look amazing...
Osmosis is very beautiful, and as a fellow magician said, nothing better than a classic elegant and perfectly performed Matrix...
I hope to see more videos of you soon...

Regards,
Antonio

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » July 1st, 2006, 12:48 am

jaw dropping.... great stuff!!!

a pure joy to watch.

Guest

Re: Al Schneider's beautiful "Osmosis"

Postby Guest » August 31st, 2006, 7:41 pm

So i had the opportunity to read the work on Osmosis in the Genii issue.

Now that i know how it's done, i like it even more!

What a clever thing of beauty... all this coming from a card guy. This is definately going into my repotoire.

Thanks Al.

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Re: Al Schneider's beautiful

Postby Jonathan Townsend » April 17th, 2014, 12:39 pm

Guest wrote:If you haven't seen the video of this trick on Al\'s site , you haven't lived. If you haven't read the effect yet, see the video first.

This wonderful effect can be fairly easily adapted to produce the ultimate version of Expansion of Texture. Hold a half and an English Penny in the left hand, under the hank, and a Copper/Silver in the right. Whichever coin the spectator names, no magician's choice, you pull visibly right through the handkerchief. Then pull the other through (or don't). The C/S stays in your hand the entire routine and is automatically switched out at the end.

Thanks for releasing this, Al. It is a thing of rare beauty.



Been a while - how are folks with this version of the trick?

Anyone doing the "expansion of texture" and consider a visual repeat?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time


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