Magicana in the Real World

Discuss the views of your favorite Genii columnists.
David Acer
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Magicana in the Real World

Postby David Acer » June 6th, 2002, 3:07 pm

Under Richard's guiding hand (the clean one...), Magicana continues to offer an astonishing array of powerful, practical magic that, in my opinion, is worth many times the subscription price (The Tokyo issue, the Skinner Issue, the Hamman issue, the Vernon issue - these were all books unto themselves!). I'm curious to know if anyone out there is actually using anything from the section since Richard took over as editor.
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Larry Horowitz
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Larry Horowitz » June 6th, 2002, 3:25 pm

David, the answer is yes.

The very week it arrived I started to do things from the Tokyo issue. And you are right these issues are like books. Always great stuff and insight.

Larry

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Pete McCabe » June 7th, 2002, 11:18 am

I immediately added James Swain's "Finale for Collectors" to my own collectors routine.

Every couple of months I go through the magic magazines on my shelf, cut out the tricks (and occasionally, articles) I wish to save, and recycle the rest. The saved stuff goes in a big file.

This file is full of Genii material, plus a few selections from other magazines.

And yes, David, I have at least two of your items in there. (Bespectacle and Unflappable).

Someday I'm going to steal David Regal's "Speaking Volumes" idea (one of only two articles in my permanent file) and ask magicians to name their favorite trick that they learned in a previous Genii. That ought to help sell a few back issues.

Guest

Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Guest » June 7th, 2002, 12:03 pm

While I dont have the issue around me at the moment, so I dont know the exact title, I use Mike Skinners handling of the Slow-Motion Aces all the time. Ive read many, many versions of this over the years and for whatever reason economy of motion, brilliant psychology, the wonderful Skinner touches that Mr. Kaufman so eloquently described this is the handling that has stuck with me.

Just for the record, heres the sequence I use it in:

First, an ace production. But maybe Im using too many cards, I say, then eliminate most of the deck other than the aces and the twelve cover cards.

Then comes Skinners Slow-Motion Aces. But I think Im still using too many cards. All the cards other than the four aces are moved aside.

For the finale comes Larry Jenningss Invisible Palm Aces #6, from Jennings 67.

It may be a simplistic presentational structure, but it flows logically and packs one heck of a wallop.

Thanks Richard, for the wonderful writing and material, and thanks to David for allowing me to share one of my favorite effects.

Zech Johnson

David Acer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby David Acer » June 18th, 2002, 2:22 pm

In case anyone's interested, Brian Marks mentioned in another thread that he plans on doing Phil Goldstein's wonderful "Caffeinomenon" from this month's issue. Score another one for Magicana in the Real World!
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Guest

Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Guest » June 18th, 2002, 2:43 pm

So that's FOUR people already?! WOW!

David Acer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby David Acer » June 18th, 2002, 6:39 pm

[sigh]... John, must you poo on everything?
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Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » June 18th, 2002, 7:56 pm

Having spent some time on the "producing end" of writing up tricks and sleights for magic magazines, I have come to a tardy, lamentable conclusion: Most of the "stuff" put into magic magazines is not usable or applicable in the nitty-gritty precincts of the Real World. If I were pressed to hazard a guess, I'd put the percentage of "real work" for the Real World at roughly 5%.

However...

This does not mean that everything is 4-F: fluff, fodder, falderal, and frippery. I liken most of the material to SEEDS strewn into the winds of chance, change, and incipient creativity...into the bluster of backrooms...into the perturbations of the players "on the make" and "on the dole"...into the Glut and into the coffers of the unethical, exploitative, and predatory...into the minds of the hungry, the overfed, the sated...

And many of these seeds have grown, do grow, and will grow into usable, commercial, enduring things.

And this is why the beat goes on...and why we go on reading and bleating and bleeping and doing our doo-dah and doo-doo and ya-hoo...

Onward...
(I guess)

Dave Shepherd
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Dave Shepherd » June 19th, 2002, 6:05 am

I am a "recovering academic." I was a tenure-line assistant professor who didn't make tenure (for largely economic/political reasons). I spent many years of my life engaged in research--summers in the Library of Congress, weekends writing and reading. My field is German Studies, and my specialty is political literature of the Weimar Republic. Not an area that's of direct interest to ANY-damn-body in the whole world.

But the reason I did it (and found it important) is that the work I did was part of the ferment of ideas. I helped other German Studies scholars toward new insights about the margins of political and literary life in the years before Hitler. Hundreds of us academics doing similar work contribute to a body of knowledge and understanding that eventually might help readers of Time and Newsweek to better understand such diverse topics as the Third Reich, modernism in art, the socialist bloc after WWII, and so on and so on.

This is all by way of seconding what Jon R. has just written.

For me, Magicana, and Talk About Tricks, and the Hocus Pocus Parades, and all the other trick columns in all the other magazines are the outlets for academic writing about magic. Whether or not they contain tricks I might perform is not necessarily the most important factor. If I read these columns and work through the routines described, I might solve a problem in a completely different area. This has frequently happened.

I have only rather recently come to understand that I buy all those books on magic every month not to learn a lot of new material (even though I might learn a little new material), but to better understand the workings of magic.

Your humble ex-academic,
Dave

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Jeff Haas » June 19th, 2002, 10:45 am

Jon,

I think once you've performed for awhile, you can spot a trick that's a potential worker, at least for you. For example, last month, the stand-up Chop Cup routine jumped out at me as something that has been done in the real world. I put it on my list of "good stuff to rehearse" and try out. I'm always hoping to find something cool like that.

Jeff

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Brad Jeffers
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Brad Jeffers » June 19th, 2002, 1:34 pm

I would agree with the verbose Mr. Racherbaumer - very little of what is published in Magicana is of real use to me. However, even if I were to use but one effect from every two or three years of Genii, I would consider that to be a good value. I don't subscribe to Genii for the tricks, but I still enjoy reading the Magicana section and would miss it, if it were gone. One trick that I do use is "The Fishy Five" from a couple of years ago. I would like to see more effects with bills. I know Richard has a stockpile of these!

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 19th, 2002, 3:19 pm

I do not have a stockpile of fish.
Subscribe today to Genii Magazine

Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » June 19th, 2002, 10:30 pm

Verbose?
Hmmmmm...
These days I'm overly sensitive about word-count and I hope that I do not use "too many words."
Instead I try to find precise ones.
Verbose?
Prolixity?
I think the precise term should be...

...occasional sesquipedalianism...

Guest

Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Guest » June 20th, 2002, 7:41 am

These days I'm overly sensitive about word-count and I hope that I do not use "too many words."
You're kidding, right?

Bill Mullins
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Bill Mullins » June 20th, 2002, 8:23 am

So what if JR is occasionally verbose?? The man's got _style_ and that counts for a lot. He's one of the few writers in magic whom I can identify without a byline, just from the prose.

Bill

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 20th, 2002, 8:32 am

Jon's NOT kidding about the "word count." I give him strict word counts to write toward and he usually nails them. He writes and cuts and writes and cuts. If you think anything in Genii is too verbose, that's the editor's responsiblity (moi), not the writer's.
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Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » June 20th, 2002, 10:33 am

I don't want thiese offhand comments regarding my writing to develop into a tedious thread; however, I remember Martin Gardner's advice to me many years ago when I impulsively presumed I could write ANYTHING (let alone a magic book). He suggesting developing a style that will slow down readers, that would make them inch their way through explanations, concepts, and ideas. "A baroque style might be interesting," he said.

I said: "Baroque? What's that?"

So it was.
So it went.
So it is...

Bottom line: I hope that my explanations are lucid and detailed. At least that's the goal.

In the meantime, I thank everyone for their input, praise, and criticism. One NEVER stops learning.

Onward...

Bob Coyne
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Bob Coyne » June 20th, 2002, 10:36 am

Hey, what's wrong with a little verbosity as long as it's entertaining or enlightening? Better than backhanded little putdowns from some other posters. Anyway, I like JR's rambles and musings...and am glad no one's policing him on this forum. :)

Bill Mullins
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Bill Mullins » June 20th, 2002, 1:04 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
He writes and cuts and writes and cuts.
Isn't the cutting the hard part?

Don't many of the better magicians spend a long time learning tricks, and then a while throwing out tricks?

Maybe a general principle in there, somewhere. . .

Jim Maloney_dup1
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » June 20th, 2002, 1:16 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
He writes and cuts and writes and cuts.
Funny...I thought you were supposed to shuffle and cut...

-Jim

David Acer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby David Acer » June 29th, 2002, 2:01 pm

Originally posted by Jon Racherbaumer:
Most of the "stuff" put into magic magazines is not usable or applicable in the nitty-gritty precincts of the Real World. If I were pressed to hazard a guess, I'd put the percentage of "real work" for the Real World at roughly 5%.
Hi Jon,

While the percentage you're suggesting may apply from a general stand-point, I think the current incarnation of Genii has a disproportionately high amount of real-world work. Everything I've seen so far from Swain, Richardson and Goldstein seems utterly usable, and I've yet to run anything in my own column that I haven't sprung on the laity.
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Jon Racherbaumer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Jon Racherbaumer » June 29th, 2002, 4:18 pm

Hi, David and other fellow Forumaniacs:

You won't get an argument from me regarding the Genii, which I tend to put in a category all its own. RK and I have this shape-changing, ever-reaching criteria of what a monthly magazine should and CAN be. This is how we measure our hits and misses.

I read other magic magazines like everyone else, trying to sort wheat from chaff. However, I don't interpret anything in terms of competing with them. Instead, we compete with ourselves.

The feedback of everybody on this active Forum and other readers of course is critically important.

Onward and thanks...

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 29th, 2002, 6:33 pm

Well, according to a poll in the latest (July) issue of MAGIC, Genii has pretty poor "tutorials." Hmmm. If I took a poll of Genii readers (as MAGIC did of its own readers), don't you think my readers would find my product superior? Duh.
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Glenn Godsey » June 29th, 2002, 7:26 pm

Well, I still perform Larry Jennings' Chop Cup Routine that I learned from Magicana around 1965? and Ron Wilson's "Highland Hop" from 1968. This is not meant to demean the current Genii folks: I am just old and a little behind times.

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Richard Kaufman » June 29th, 2002, 8:03 pm

Glenn,
Good magic never ages, and is something that still fools people is NEVER behind the times. The effects you refer to are classics.
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David Acer
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby David Acer » July 2nd, 2002, 3:15 pm

Originally posted by Richard Kaufman:
Well, according to a poll in the latest (July) issue of MAGIC, Genii has pretty poor "tutorials."
Richard, that is the most ridiculous thing Ive ever heard. I think you should call up Moehring and play a little game called Count the Literary Fellowships.
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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Dustin Stinett » July 2nd, 2002, 4:27 pm

Top 10 things Dustin loves about MAGIC Magazine:

10. The thinner it gets, the less room it takes up on my shelves.

9. Plenty of ads, fewer of those annoying articles to sift through.

8. It's about time they cut back on the amount of space allowed for Michael Close's reviews; I was getting tired of being well informed.

7. Having a kid less than half my age with twenty times my talent describing tricks I could never do makes me feel real good about myself.

6. Happy to know where I can find the magazine I already have in my hands.

5. They seem to have finally gotten rid of that Max Maven guy.

4. They DID get rid of that Jon Racherbaumer guy.

3. Always a thrill trying to determine the credentials of the unknown guest editorialists.

2. Happy to have a letter to the editor edited to the point where the original context is so corrupted that what makes it to print makes me look like an ignorant a-hole.

1. They're always ready with a self-serving poll.

:p

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Brian Morton
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Brian Morton » July 2nd, 2002, 6:22 pm

Dustin Stinett wrote:
Top 10 things Dustin loves about MAGIC Magazine:
You forgot:

11. Not printing "Who's Where" means fewer magic club geeks wearing blinking-LED rabbit-in-hat bolo ties showing up to your public professional gigs toting decks of cards and asking your patrons, "I'm a magician too; wanna see a trick?"

Only slightly tongue-in-cheek,

brian :rolleyes:

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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Dustin Stinett » July 7th, 2002, 11:01 pm

Originally posted by Brian Wendell Morton:
11. Not printing "Who's Where" means fewer magic club geeks wearing blinking-LED rabbit-in-hat bolo ties showing up to your public professional gigs toting decks of cards and asking your patrons, "I'm a magician too; wanna see a trick?"
No, no, no. I miss wearing my blinking bunny pins and asking people if they lost a black pocket knife - or perhaps this white one...

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Geno Munari » July 15th, 2002, 10:19 pm

Very loquacious

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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Dustin Stinett » July 15th, 2002, 11:08 pm

That's me, “Loquacious Dustin.” Mom always preferred “Garrulous-D.” Dad usually just told me to shut up.

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Guest » July 30th, 2002, 9:24 am

Jon Racherbaumer writes: "Most of the "stuff" put into magic magazines is not usable or applicable in the nitty-gritty precincts of the Real World. If I were pressed to hazard a guess, I'd put the percentage of "real work" for the Real World at roughly 5%."

Well, I don't know who does the other 95 per cent but I'm going to have to stake out the "real-world 5 per cent" for myself.
Since 1991 -- more than a decade -- I have been writing the Showtime column in the Linking Ring magazine and every, single trick, effect, routine (call it what you will) in that column I have done for YEARS for lay people in the real world.
(The rare exceptions would be the half-dozen columns that have been contributed over the years by people like the late Gene Poinc, Larry White, etc.)
That said, I would have to agree that Jon has a point:
A lot of the stuff in magic magazines has no relationship to performing in the real world; it's mainly the pipe-dream of some wannabe.
But, then, a lot of the stuff in magic shops has no relationship to performing in the real world, either.
And a lot of the stuff in most magic books has no relationship to performing in the real world.
And a lot of the stuff done at magic gatherings -- from clubs to conventions and from contests to stage shows -- has no relationship to performing in the real world.
:D

cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Steve Snediker » July 31st, 2002, 6:35 am

Originally posted by Peter Marucci:

A lot of the stuff in magic magazines has no relationship to performing in the real world; it's mainly the pipe-dream of some wannabe.
But, then, a lot of the stuff in magic shops has no relationship to performing in the real world, either.
And a lot of the stuff in most magic books has no relationship to performing in the real world.
And a lot of the stuff done at magic gatherings -- from clubs to conventions and from contests to stage shows -- has no relationship to performing in the real world.
This thread is touching one of the Golden Nuggets of the Fraternity of Wondermakers... We are all influencing and being influenced by each other.

Although my name is Steve Snediker, I have a bit of each of you who have contributed to Magicana in me -- a little bit of Richard, David, Jon, Jamie, Harry, etc. Although I don't perform many of the effects exactly as printed in Genii, I have been influenced and changed by the stuff you guys share. Occasionally one of the routines makes it into my performing repetoire. More often a nuance of handling slips into one of my pet routines and I become more well-rounded, whole, complete.

That's why I subscribe. To be a better Magi --in part and as a whole.

Eventually all this unreal stuff works its way out of me and into my real world. So I remain an interesting blend of me and you. Not clones, but fraternal brothers and sisters.

I LOVE YOU GUYS!

Thanks.

Steve Snediker
WonderMakers Workshop

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Guest » August 17th, 2002, 10:20 pm

I would LIKE to be using the HEINSTEIN SHUFFLE. But I'm still practicing it! :confused:

Guest

Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Guest » September 3rd, 2002, 9:35 pm

I can honestly say that I love the Magicana stuff you are putting out, David. I've used your idea for the notebook force you had several months ago, though I'm using it to force the number for a different reason, I still wouldn't have had the idea if I hadn't seen it there first.
Keep up the great work, oh Canadian one! (You too, Jon and Richard!)

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Re: Magicana in the Real World

Postby Peter Vanspauwen » September 11th, 2002, 6:18 am

Originally posted by David Acer:
Under Richard's guiding hand (the clean one...), Magicana continues to offer an astonishing array of powerful, practical magic that, in my opinion, is worth many times the subscription price (The Tokyo issue, the Skinner Issue, the Hamman issue, the Vernon issue - these were all books unto themselves!). I'm curious to know if anyone out there is actually using anything from the section since Richard took over as editor.
I read all tricks and routines described in Magicana. Many of them belong to the world of pipedreams. Not because they are not good, but because I don't find a use for them or because I'm not able to do them.
An example of a coin routine I use for several months is a combination of M. Skinner's "Presto Chango" (Nov. 2000, p. 50) and Y. Wada's "Three different coins" (May. 2000, p. 40). For "Presto Chango" a C/S coin is needed and "Three different coins" asks for a C/S/B coin. Because I didn't want to switch coins, I'm using Gibson's "Chinese Bit" coin set, in which the gaff is constructed so that when "the 3 pieces are put together", it looks like and can be handled as (with a little care) a C/S coin. And on the right moment it can be used just as the classic C/S/B coin.
It's not hard to go smoothly from the first trick into the other and for the finale I use an easy, but very bold way to ditch the gaff, without using the pencil or going to a pocket anyhow.
It makes a great combo in which a lot of things happen.
Worth looking it up again. Thanks for sharing these nice tricks.
Peter


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