The Genii Forum

Brad Henderson

Way too much ‘magic with meaning’ loses all power when the magician defines everything. They do this - I believe - from a lack of trust in the intelligence in their audience or fear they can’t convey their meaning without spelling it out. The moment we ‘define’ a symbol for the audience we kill its ...

Brad Henderson

Anytime That’s the nature of the presentational symbol - as opposed to the discursive symbols. The latter has both connotation and denotation, the former only connotation. Their meanings (presentational symbols) are ‘all at once’ experienced and created by juxtaposition with other symbolic stricture...

Brad Henderson

You are on the right track. What you are missing is that the function of art isn’t to communicate but to convey. If something can be described to a 12 year old, it should be. Art is for conveying concepts that can’t be described to anyone. If we could put it into words, we would. We can’t - so we us...

Brad Henderson

If someone has to pick the deck to feed you, you can eliminate 51 decks. Deck is in memdeck order. Card named - removed by secret assistant Number named - put in proper place (easy as the order in memorized) I’d use a card box as the shell. Have a gaffed card in bottom of the pack with image of box ...

Brad Henderson

I think carrying pocket knives is less a function of age and more a function of lifestyle. There are young(ish) people who carry knives because they work in jobs or have hobbies that require their use. Having said that, even with them being less ubiquitous they are still easily recognizable. It’s no...

Brad Henderson

Virtual, Rubik’s cube, and other modern niche genres of magic might not be worth entire sections but could be represented in a modern ‘old wine in new bottles’ chapter.

Brad Henderson

TAOM is scheduled to go as planned

Brad Henderson

Bruce Walstead and Dick Barry are both cop/police man. On a more amateur level, Mike Gold here
In Texas us a retired cop.

Brad Henderson

Bob. Your link returns an error message.

Brad Henderson

TerryTerrell wrote:Hit Frankfort, KY yesterday

And neither will ever be the same.

Brad Henderson

I just checked and The Prestige received an Academy Award nomination for best Art Direction (art director and set director). Plus best art direction nominations at various other awards venues. I think that illustrates the relative unimportance of any quibbles about the accuracy of certain period de...

Brad Henderson

Bob, you’ve demonstrated that it’s more important for you to be right in your mind than accurate in reality. Tom is of course correct. He is basing his positions on real facts, Unlike like your Erdnase defenses which are so widely broad that they have no value. I mean you are literally trying to cla...

Brad Henderson

Tom Moore wrote:
.... and I hadn't really found a way to articulate it but Richard nails it, every major character in it was an absolute dick.

So they got that bit right.

Brad Henderson

The point is you said you didn’t think there was other magic theory presented in the movies and that was clearly wrong. It’s literally the frame for the entire movie Having said that, the theory as posited by the movie ISN’T “ "You’ve got to take the observer from the ordinary, to the extraordi...

Brad Henderson

Edit: anyone who has studied Jay’s work or the body of magic literature that exists outside of the realms of fiction . . .

Brad Henderson

Ones study of Jay’s work (and a full understanding of the theory posited in the prestige) reveals he didn’t. The fact he referenced ‘the prestige’ - a word never encountered in any magic text in this context - is the clue that he’s talking about the theory per the movie. Once again, you are tuning y...

Brad Henderson

In the article jay explains the premise of the movie at the prompt of the authors praise for the movie. He then says magic has a structure. (Which it foes(. That’s his quote. The article does not suggest he believes the prestige structure was relevant to magic. For someone with such gifts at reading...

Brad Henderson

The Prestige is total bullsh*t. Well - no. All the magic ‘theory’ stuff is... I saw the movie quite a while ago and don't remember many examples of magic theory aside from the anecdote about the Chinese conjurer (Ching Ling Foo?) changing his normal style of walking (outside performing magic) to be...

Brad Henderson

The Prestige is total bullsh*t. Well - no. All the magic ‘theory’ stuff is, but magicians have taken great personal risk to create magic. Del Ray looked into having electronics implanted into his hands and the use of radioactive material for effects. One of the senior Bamberg’s had traps installed ...

Brad Henderson

To be clear I was not suggesting any creative/historical lineage between rosenthal and the move i described. (A move I, along with others I’m sure, have discovered independently.)l I only offered it as an analogy because the moves are basically the same, except with everything done upside down and b...

Brad Henderson

Pull inward on the outer right bottom corner of the pack with the left hand forefinger.

This will cause the cards on the bottom to buckle open at the inner right end. Grab the break with the left pinky.

It’s like the rosenthal pop up move but exactly the opposite.

Brad Henderson

I believe our point of contention is that cannibals as a concept is reductionist. I feel this is a case of taking a theory (and a valid one) and misapplying it in this case. If I were doing a piece that attempted to be representative of say Figi and I represented them entirely with the trope of ‘sav...

Brad Henderson

Cultural appropriation?

Brad Henderson

Luigi, a point we should remember is that we are discussing a card trick. I’m not doing a dissertation on the ethnologies of tribes and their cultures. It’s a card tricks about a captivating cultural phenomenon that occurs in many regions throughout the world, including western societies. I’m not in...

Brad Henderson

PS. Having said all that. I used to close with a line that I DID feel evoke concepts of colonialism and racial power dynamics. It never elicited any negative comments or reactions but I felt that it potentially injected some of these elements of concern into the routine - and at the end when it coul...

Brad Henderson

I provided the script which Ammar used for his Cannibal Card effect. You can see me listed in the credits as a contributor. This led to my involvement as writer and primary consultant to his Money videos. Michael was teaching a different routine than the one I perform, though he liked the presentati...

Brad Henderson

Thomas Sawyer has a book on Hoffman which contains a bibliography of the various editions and how to identify them

Brad Henderson

The key word in Derren’s quote is revel.

We seem to be overlooking what it means.

Brad Henderson

I think the balance issue is an entirely different one than he is trying to express.

The key is the world revel.

What does it mean and how does that apply to Many magicians who present “ magic as art“?

Brad Henderson

I would recommend the work of Suzanne Langer, especially Philosophy in a New Key. It addresses well what you seem to be expressing, but in a manner that communicates WHY this is problematic from a symbolic/aesthetic perspective. Now, as to what Derren is attempting to communicate - what do you think...

Brad Henderson

I have a duplicate set I would sell. I also have a copy of the 50 years. Depending on it your profile name is accurate, being in texas, you might be able to save on shipping. Depending on where in texas you are. Sent you an email from Themindshow at gmail dot com. Email me if for some reasons I mist...

Brad Henderson

Sounds super.

But you will understand if I find it unwise to hold my breath in the meantime.

Brad Henderson

You’ll forgive me if based on many of your comments about magic and art that I remain more than a little skeptical.

Brad Henderson

Joe, have you considered thinking for yourself?

I think you will find it ends up being far more productive and rewarding than dedicating yourself to a messiah.

Brad Henderson

I have been told people have tried to leave positive reviews for my lectures but they are apparently deleted by moderators.

Brad Henderson

I see that Bill was responding to a different brad. And I agree completely with his observation. I do think there is something to the point it inspired me to make and will leave it here. Brad, The effect built on perception not math. You should see the effect Max can get out of an either/or choice. ...

Brad Henderson

There are (at least) two problems with this study. First, the context of an experiment is different than the context of a magic performance. In the former you are dealing with people willing to be complant and there are no antagonistic power dynamics in play. Further, the experimental context change...

Brad Henderson

I am.

Brad Henderson

Bob - yes you can sometimes identify someone without seeing them by their voice. And you can also just as likely get the identification wrong, especially when you are emotionally predisposed to want to to believe that is the person to whom you are talking. Just as correlation doesn’t equal causation...

Brad Henderson

I’ve read the exact same defense by Qanon types who are convinced in their conspiracy theories. Even down to the ‘do you own research’ angle.

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