Search found 207 matches

by chetday
March 27th, 2024, 2:30 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Aha! Look what I found!
Replies: 6
Views: 431

Re: Aha! Look what I found!

An all-too-short but fun to read interview with a legendary magician.
by chetday
March 20th, 2024, 10:30 am
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Who is the best coin magician you have seen?
Replies: 82
Views: 16182

Re: Who is the best coin magician you have seen?

Here's Ponta working the magic on his Sick DVD:

https://youtu.be/o0u_5834RGo?si=Ax9_nQU__exW917S

Amazing, just amazing. Flows like water.
by chetday
January 7th, 2024, 11:49 am
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Italian Amusement
Replies: 8
Views: 900

Re: Italian Amusement

Mark, I wish I could think as fast as Italians talk. The internet has blessed you with international recognition in your (dare I say it, I guess so...) in your old age. Anyway, thanks for sharing this fun video to watch.
by chetday
December 25th, 2023, 3:21 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, et al.
Replies: 6
Views: 1741

Re: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, et al.

Thanks for all you do, Richard. Wishing you and everyone on Genii a happy, healthy, productive, and prosperous 2024.
by chetday
December 8th, 2023, 9:54 am
Forum: General
Topic: Baritone magicians
Replies: 14
Views: 4593

Re: Baritone magicians

I haven't talked to or spent any time with Jon Racherbaumer since the late 80's/early 90's, but my recollection is that he had a deep and memorable voice.
by chetday
July 28th, 2023, 3:31 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Instagram sensation!
Replies: 7
Views: 2077

Re: Instagram sensation!

Fingers crossed and good vibes sent for a positive outcome, Mark. :)
by chetday
May 19th, 2023, 5:02 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic in the park!
Replies: 16
Views: 1805

Re: Magic in the park!

Mark, your juggler friend sounds like a wonderful companion to keep you both sharp and happy. I'm glad Corrie is adding to the fame you already have from the zillions of video views of you on TikTok and all the other social media sites. I'm still chuckling about the flight attendants demanding to se...
by chetday
May 17th, 2023, 4:56 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic in the park!
Replies: 16
Views: 1805

Re: Magic in the park!

Great fun, Mark. Thanks for sharing this joyful experience.
by chetday
April 29th, 2023, 4:27 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: 10 types of magic video by Kevin Parry
Replies: 5
Views: 1298

Re: 10 types of magic video by Kevin Parry

The videos were fun and interesting to watch. Thanks for sharing them.
by chetday
April 25th, 2023, 4:12 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The Struggling Juggler
Replies: 17
Views: 1727

Re: The Struggling Juggler

I was a pretty good three ball juggler in my drinking days in the very early 70's... until, half in my cups, a pretty large guy at a party started bragging about his juggling skills. Three tennis balls were produced by the host and the braggart did a bit of juggling, but nothing impressive. Having a...
by chetday
April 12th, 2023, 10:47 am
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Al Jaffee
Replies: 13
Views: 1909

Re: Al Jaffee

I spent many fond hours of my misspent youth reading MAD, copies of which I had to hide from my father who considered the magazine worse than trash. My old man wasn't keen on my obsession with magic books, either. To reveal one of the great ironies of life, when my now grown sons were boys, I genero...
by chetday
February 7th, 2023, 3:44 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: 3 shell game tips
Replies: 30
Views: 8107

Re: 3 shell game tips

The question of performing speed has always interested me. Though I agree with what I think Mark is saying -- that Ouellet goes too slow in the linked video -- I generally prefer to watch magicians who work slowly rather than those who stomp the pedal to the metal from the first hint of a green ligh...
by chetday
February 5th, 2023, 11:01 am
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: 3 shell game tips
Replies: 30
Views: 8107

Re: 3 shell game tips

I'll second Matt's recommendation on Ouellet's Super Shells routine. Although I mainly obsess with cards, Gary's shell routine gets a good reaction whenever I show it to anyone. The ending is especially strong.
by chetday
February 1st, 2023, 4:37 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Jon Racherbaumer is 83 Today!
Replies: 10
Views: 1452

Re: Jon Racherbaumer is 83 Today!

Jon, I'm catching up with you. I was 75 on Friday the 13th of last month. And, yes, I'm late in wishing you a happy 83rd. But at least we're still above ground and still loving card magic. I miss the all-to-few late night sessions with you after SAM club meetings back in the 80's, as well as fun at ...
by chetday
January 31st, 2023, 4:23 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: ChatOpenAI's Best Tricks for Laymen... and more!
Replies: 23
Views: 2607

ChatOpenAI's Best Tricks for Laymen... and more!

I visited ChatOpenAI's website today to see what all the fuss was about and out of curiosity asked the artificial intelligence software this question: What card tricks play best to non magicians? Here's the complete answer, which I found interesting given the speed at which the software replied to m...
by chetday
December 15th, 2022, 2:32 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Comfort Books?
Replies: 30
Views: 2633

Re: Comfort Books?

The Magic of Matt Schulien by Phil Willmarth. I bet I've wandered happily through this one more than a dozen times. I continue to read and reread as much of Jon Racherbaumer's writing as I can... best way I know to add to one's vocabulary. And of course our dear forum host's wonderful books, especia...
by chetday
November 8th, 2022, 3:37 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Dani DaOrtiz
Replies: 132
Views: 82716

Re: Dani DaOrtiz

Wow, just plain wow... cubed and cubed again.
by chetday
October 14th, 2022, 4:14 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Donna Lucas, Our Office Manager, Has Died
Replies: 12
Views: 2575

Re: Donna Lucas, Our Office Manager, Has Died

Gosh, more bad news. I'm so sorry to learn about this, Richard. I hope fond memories of Donna will help you during this awful time.
by chetday
October 14th, 2022, 4:11 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The Queen of the Svengali Deck has died.
Replies: 14
Views: 1884

Re: The Queen of the Svengali Deck has died.

Mark, I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. Still coming to terms with the passing in November of 2019 of my wife of almost 48 years, I thank you for sharing good memories of Ann Fuller with all of us. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I didn't have so many wonderful memories of my ...
by chetday
October 9th, 2022, 8:45 am
Forum: Buzz
Topic: David Blaine Does Magic While Eating Spicy Wings
Replies: 6
Views: 1155

Re: David Blaine Does Magic While Eating Spicy Wings

That was a hoot to watch. Thanks for the tip and link.

If you haven't seen the episode with Halle Berry, I recommend it as equally good viewing at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwHwq5W18uY
by chetday
September 10th, 2022, 1:04 pm
Forum: General
Topic: A Talk with Richard Kaufman
Replies: 19
Views: 3693

Re: A Talk with Richard Kaufman

What a fine interview. I'm also fond of Richard's Dingle book and the Collected Almanac (to go with my file of original newsletters back when Richard was still a spring chicken). Great stuff. Thanks, Richard and WunderAkademie Talk.
by chetday
September 3rd, 2022, 2:55 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Pitchman at work!
Replies: 18
Views: 1829

Re: Pitchman at work!

If I had the email address for the producers of the Penn & Teller show, I'd shoot them the link to the most popular TikTok video of Mark. The only thing I can think of that would tickle me more than seeing Mark fool P&T would be for one of my novels to suddenly show up out of the blue on Ama...
by chetday
September 1st, 2022, 4:19 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Best Okito Box and Routine...Your opinion?
Replies: 164
Views: 92968

Re: Best Okito Box and Routine...Your opinion?

Cool video is right. I loved the fact that he was apparently timing how long the routine took him. I wish I could handle coins like that. :)
by chetday
July 27th, 2022, 3:08 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: FISM 2022 - Day Two
Replies: 6
Views: 1961

Re: FISM 2022 - Day Two

Thanks, Craig and Brad, for your useful and interesting commentaries on the FISM convention.
by chetday
July 23rd, 2022, 12:46 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Slydini coins
Replies: 30
Views: 3312

Re: Slydini coins

The new version showed up in my youtube feed last night, Mark, when I was about to watch the 24th episode of Court TV's seemingly endless retrospective of the OJ Simpson trial. And, yes, I can't believe I'm spending so much time watching that Trial of the Century. Anyway, I enjoyed your new video. T...
by chetday
July 20th, 2022, 2:59 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Slydini coins
Replies: 30
Views: 3312

Re: Slydini coins

Thank you for taking the time to film and then share the video, Mark.
by chetday
July 19th, 2022, 1:56 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Slydini coins
Replies: 30
Views: 3312

Re: Slydini coins

Add me to the list, Mark. That makes four of us who want to see your historic improvement. Four here on the forum is equivalent, or so my tech sources tell me, to a half million TikClock views. :)
by chetday
May 14th, 2022, 2:52 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The Power of Jibber-Jabber
Replies: 2
Views: 693

Re: The Power of Jibber-Jabber

Fun watching you at work in that Facebook video, Mark. And I got a great laugh out of one of the comments, where a woman wrote, "His website is so old, its adorable." :)
by chetday
April 5th, 2022, 1:21 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Tic Tok
Replies: 41
Views: 4072

Re: Tic Tok

My fumbled attempt at a singular contribution to magic on TikTok has garnered, I believe, all of seven viewings, so I have many miles to go before catching up with you, Mark. For those with fifteen seconds or so to waste, my video on TikTok can be found at: https://www.tiktok.com/@oldmanstillgotjuic...
by chetday
March 23rd, 2022, 2:44 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Tic Tok
Replies: 41
Views: 4072

Re: Tic Tok

Bob Farmer wrote:You certainly have broken the record for the most views of a Svengali pitch in the history of the world.


Ha!

Mark, it's too bad each view of you working on TikTok didn't also result in a Svengali sale.
by chetday
February 7th, 2022, 3:28 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Insane ACAN method
Replies: 32
Views: 7940

Re: Insane ACAN method

Out of curiosity a few years ago, I was sitting in the living room with my wife. She was reading and I was messing around with a deck of cards. I looked at the bottom card. A three of spades. Holding the deck in my hand so the three of spaces was visible to my wife's field of vision as I scratched t...
by chetday
February 7th, 2022, 2:46 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: The Word Magic
Replies: 42
Views: 4393

Re: The Word Magic

Magic - Noun - Any sudden and often unexpected surprise that makes you smile or laugh, even when your jaw just dropped practically to your knees.
by chetday
January 29th, 2022, 3:37 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Anyone know the name of this card trick?
Replies: 29
Views: 3581

Re: Anyone know the name of this card trick?

I've gotten better mileage and spectator reactions out of Poker Player's Picnic than just about any other card trick I've learned in the last sixty or so years of my pasteboard obsession. I like to present the trick with discovery of the four queens when a woman handles the deck. If a couple of peop...
by chetday
January 24th, 2022, 3:47 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: The Elfin Purse by Koudai
Replies: 15
Views: 2279

Re: The Elfin Purse by Koudai

Very nice!
by chetday
January 17th, 2022, 1:42 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Trio Assembly by Koudai
Replies: 6
Views: 1045

Re: Trio Assembly by Koudai

Another beautiful routine. Thank you!
by chetday
January 14th, 2022, 1:47 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: World Magic Center
Replies: 18
Views: 2619

Re: World Magic Center

Sitting here shaking my head in admiration at the four new videos. Great work, Al. Just great. Thank you for all your creations and contributions to our magical world over the years. Much appreciated from my little patch here in North Carolina. :)
by chetday
January 14th, 2022, 1:36 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Best Mathe-Magic Book?
Replies: 24
Views: 7149

Re: Best Mathe-Magic Book?

If my fading memory hasn't slipped a gear again, I believe there are several fascinating mathe-magic card tricks in his book "Destination Zero." I need to dig that volume out of the bookcase and give it a new read, now that I think about it. I recall it being quite good when I first read i...
by chetday
January 7th, 2022, 2:28 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Chameleon Coin by Koudai
Replies: 8
Views: 1292

Re: Chameleon Coin by Koudai

I liked this new video a lot. Thank you, Koudai, for sharing it.
by chetday
January 3rd, 2022, 2:53 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Any Card at Any Number by Koudai
Replies: 6
Views: 1216

Re: Any Card at Any Number by Koudai

Yes, very nice. An English version would be great, too. Thank you.
by chetday
December 26th, 2021, 1:39 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Hungary's greatest magician!
Replies: 4
Views: 1667

Re: Hungary's greatest magician!

That was one of the funniest magic videos I've ever watched. I'd probably be unconscious from a lack of air from laughing so hard if I understood Hungarian. Gosh, that was kick to watch. Thanks for posting the link, Mark.

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