My Sales

[Guest]

I'm planning on selling these 2 things first later on in the future on PayPal:

1. Center Shot (http://www.magicvideodepot.com/view.php?a=v&t=2522)

2. Sweet Ace Production (http://www.magicvideodepot.com/view.php?a=v&t=2508)

Can you guys tell me if these are MY effects and that it is alright to sell them? Thank a lot. =)

[Matthew Field]

Does this 3-second post constitute your research on this? Are we all supposed to run and watch your tricks and give you guidance?

Sorry.

Matt Field

[Guest]

Sure, go ahead.

[Brad Henderson]

As the great Del Rey once said to me, "Magicians stop thinking too soon."

As a magical revelation, the center shot is non-deceptive. Until you work out a get ready where it is not obvious to everyone that you are setting up for a move, then all you have is an interesting flourish (but I would contend that there are other flourishes out there just as effective). Is this worthy of selling to others, I would honestly say no. For a magazine article, yes.

The Ace production is a variation on several that have already appeared in print. I think you should track those down and then ask yourself what exactly you are bringing to the table, other than just a different sequence of moves. Further, to release this commercially without including a sequence where the aces are deceptively lost and then controlled is to offer an incomplete product. Again, this would be great for a magazine, but I do not feel it is different enough to merit commercial release.

Not wanting to discourage you, you do these moves well. I just think that we need to be realistic about what we have to offer and where it best belongs in the distribution channels of magical information. Why do you want to sell them? Certainly it is not for their revolutionary content as both are variations on existing ideas. If it is to get credit for your variation, which is as good a reason as any, submit it to a major magazine. Your name will go much further to a much wider audience than it will in a private release. Plus, you will establish your work in a much more solid cornerstone of the historical record.

Good luck.

[Jamy Ian Swiss]

>As the great Del Rey once said to me, "Magicians stop thinking too soon."

The great Del Ray -- and great he truly was -- was however quoting the great Al Baker. As Vernon was indeed also fond of quoting.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Originally posted by Jamy Ian Swiss:
...As the great ...once said to me, "Magicians stop thinking too soon.".

It gets much worse when they then go and publish.

[Glenn Bishop]

"Magicians stop thinking too soon."
[/QB]

I feel that some magicians think to much at times and there should be a little less thinking in magic and a lot more performing magic in front of audiences.

I feel that more performing magic for audiences would improve the magicians thinking!

[Bill Mullins]

I was thinking about performing before an audience, but then I stopped.

[Guest]

Hahahahahahahahahahaha....now, this is...hahaha....a funny.....thread.....hahahahahahaha....opie

[NCMarsh]

I feel that some magicians think to much at times and there should be a little less thinking in magic and a lot more performing magic in front of audiences.

I guaran-f*cking-tee you that Al Baker spent a heckuva lot more time in front of an audience than you have...

ditto for Tamariz, Fitch, Close, Wonder, Swiss, Henderson, Brown, Weber, Kurtz et alia.

The thinking that we're talking about is thinking that is intimately connected with the realities of performance and informed by (in the case of the gentlemen cited above) decades of experience in front of an audience.

Constant performance will provide you with the bedrock of proficiency that is absolutely essential for excellence...and thinking without performing is empty...

that said, it is only through concentrated reflection that you are going to maximize the benefits of performing experience...e.g. "these tricks that I thought little of got huge reactions -- are there common elements involved in them that I can use to make my material stronger?"

but, more importantly, all the performance in the world will not give you the unified intention that separates powerful, memorable, performances from those which are simply amusing distractions (keep in mind that 'amusement' is, literally, the muse negated by an alpha privative -- it is an occupation of the mind that is unholy)

the performers who really separate themselves from the crowd: Derren Brown, Penn and Teller, Mac King, David Blaine, Harry Anderson, Cardini, Del Rey, David Berglas all share in common one hugely important element: however basic it may be, there is a unity to each performance...Each is a distinctive character that has a message -- something inherently fascinating about him that is developed by every piece he does...

this intention, this message, so critical to excellence CAN NOT be acquired solely by thoughtless performance! It certainly grows with performance, and we learn about ourselves through performance, but this progress can only be made by reflection upon our performances...and our work onstage must be rigorously thought about before we perform -- and then adjusted when we are confronted by what we find in being faced with an audience...

no one, particularly not Brad Henderson (to whom you are responding and who makes his entire living performing superb magic, mentalism, and hypnotism across the country, and whose lecture notes are aptly titled "Theory into Practice" emphasis mine), is suggesting that we confine ourselves to magical masturbation -- sitting down in our living rooms thinking about magic whilst insulated from the world of performance. Far from it! But to refuse to push yourself in reflection about magic is to fail in your preparation and to short-change yourself and your audience.

I apologize for the harsh tone.

yours,

Nathan Marsh.
IllusionArtistry.com

[Guest]

Glenn, I just wanted to thank you for the DVD you gave me at the SAM convention. I gave C. J. the one you sent for him. Am happy to see your posts occasionally; I like your sense of humor...

Keep on keeping on...opie