The Genii Forum

Bill Duncan

That was a gift.

Bill Duncan

Alfred. Correct. I'm getting up in years and have found I can be clever, or I can spell correctly.

Or autocorrect whichever makes me seem like I pay more attention to what I'm typing.

Bill Duncan

I've not seen anyone do Blizzard for real humans, so I can't speak from personal observation but such a questionable selection process seems like it wouldn't make the effect much stronger. I think the effect gains it's strength from the certainty of your "prediction". The reason B'Wave foo...

Bill Duncan

Brad,
The effect built on perception not math. You should see the effect Max can get out of an either/or choice.

Bill Duncan

Pretty sure you've still got mine Marc but holler if you don't.

Bill Duncan

And to all a good night!

Merry Xmas everyone.

Bill Duncan

A friend recommended purchasing a light ring for cell phones. If they are good enough for YouTube makeup tutorials I suspect they'll work pretty well for our needs.

https://www.imore.com/best-ring-lights-for-selfies

Bill Duncan

I'm just going to leave this here for anyone who finds the subject of free will interesting.

Conscious Robots

Bill Duncan

Yet another reason Regal deserves all the success he gets.

Well done sir!

Bill Duncan

That's exactly what I'm saying. The act of being selfish ultimately causes more good than bad. If you define existing as good and not existing as bad, then by trashing the planet you cause a different set of people to be born. And as such you are doing them a favour by helping to bring them into ex...

Bill Duncan

The same argument means we can trash the planet and future generations cannot be mad at us - since the act of trashing the planet will cause an entirely different set of people to be born. As such - they will have owed their very existence to the fact that the previous generation selfishly trashed ...

Bill Duncan

Perhaps the golden ratio is pleasing to the eye because it is so common in nature? Most folks take comfort in the familiar.

Bill Duncan

Hulu is free?

Bill Duncan

Alfred,
A perfect example of Paul's work; effortless and charming.

It's also one of his best tricks (for my money), and for those who are thinking marked cards, or stacked deck, that is done From A (borrowed) Shuffled Deck In Use.

Bill Duncan

Geoff also tipped some of the work online a few years ago.

Bill Duncan

Assuming an iPhone, have you explored Notes? It has a number of formatting options, and search is global so if the codes are unique...

Bill Duncan

doubly so.

Bill Duncan

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime...

Bill Duncan

Don't feel bad Richard, it's not a great plot.

Roth managed to make something wonderful of the premise with the Purse and Glass. The simple addition of those props makes all the difference in how interesting the effect is... and allows for a wonderful ending.

Bill Duncan

I think we're talking about Jules DeBarro's Coins of Ishtar.

John Kennedy's Translocation is four silver coins. The DeBarro routine uses equal numbers of copper and silver coins, as I recall.

If it's the routine I'm thinking of Skinner used an extra coin and thumb palm, yes?

Bill Duncan

it is indeed.

Bill Duncan

Do you have The Complete Works of Derek Dingle? That was my second book on coin magic and it's essential study as far as I'm concerned. Rubenstien's work (I have not seen the book yet) is both evolutionary and occasionally revolutionary (his matting work will slay you). Bertini doesn't really break ...

Bill Duncan

But that doesn't change the fact that I felt embarrassed for you as a viewer. That moment always seems awkward, and somehow just...wrong. As I said, my young son judges the quality of magicians on the program by who fools P&T and who doesn't, because, despite the best efforts of the producers, ...

Bill Duncan

He was a nice guy and excellent magician. He will be missed. We should be thankful that we can continue to watch him perform via DVD’s and online videos. The Book of John was an early favorite for me in my study of close up magic, so I had to get his L&L DVD set when it was published. I was ama...

Bill Duncan

I'm not sure if you're making my point, or yours.

Bill Duncan

Bill Duncan Wrote : "...a pot that asks people to question their personal reality." Gosh Bill, that sounds like it could be an elevator pitch for one of those "medicinal" dispensaries out in California or Oregon. OK. That's funny. And Joe Lyons, thank you for that image. If I co...

Bill Duncan

Richard Kaufman wrote:You only need an elevator pitch if you are performing as a particular character, and that is entirely unnecessary for most magicians.

Agreed. But the exercise can still make you a better performer. And that's worth the time, no?

Bill Duncan

In my opinion, there is no purpose of close-up magic in and of itself. But rather it is the purpose of each individual performer that matters. So I would reframe the question as, "What is my purpose in performing close up magic?" Finally, something we can agree on. I like to think of what...

Bill Duncan

Magicians who engage in exposure don't "push" the boundaries of our art; it destroys them. So for the English language that would mean magic was officially destroyed when? 1583 ? 1635 ? Exposure has always existed, yet magic endures. But instead of creating content about how to make magic...

Bill Duncan

I am having difficulty believing that there are magicians who are vehemently DEFENDING or trying to rationalize exposure. To me, that's like a cop defending unlawful conduct. Bad analogy man. Cops are hired by someone else, and need to follow the rules of their assigned work. Just like coders have ...

Bill Duncan

In any event there are tons of commercially successful magicians who have done very well without ever exposing a single trick. There are tons of the "commercially successful" magicians who are are kind of crap, doing someone else's tricks, with someone else's patter. Often without permiss...

Bill Duncan

I wholeheartedly agree, Peter, and the inevitability of many such awkward, discomfiting and undignified moments, just points up the fatally flawed premise of the show. The "fatally flawed" premise of one of the most successful magic shows on television? Sigh... the most successful Star Tr...

Bill Duncan

Alfred, my point was that "yes" that adds to the deception, but only if you do it well. I've seen so many people who were taken in by it and adopted it, but don't understand what it isn't. It's not a one-two punch. If you don't do it well it's not more deceptive than a well-done French Dro...

Bill Duncan

...the right index finger pointing in the air (NOT at the other hand!) and the magician says, "Watch!" In that instance, the right hand has been subtly shown to be empty (even if not definitively so) before the coin is shown to have vanished from the left hand. Perhaps it's because this i...

Bill Duncan

Jack Shalom wrote:Bill, thanks, but Step 6 is not clear to me. Did you mean, "Look at your palm up right hand"?

Yeah, sorry. I'm a southpaw and sometimes I miss when flipping in a write up.

Bill Duncan

Try this. 1. ROV into the left hand. Make a palm down throwing action followed by a snap of the fingers to set the "moment" of the vanish. 2. Reproduce the coin from your left elbow/sleeve at the elbow. 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2. 4. After establishing a pattern with the repeat actually place...

Bill Duncan

Jonathan Townsend wrote:It appears aimed at describing an anodyne median for magicbook readers. A productive dialectic. Such could encourage writers to reshape what they would say into what others would pay more to read.

Holy cow. Jon is channeling (other) Jon.

Bill Duncan

If all he ever gave us were the videos of Tommy Wonder, and Simon Aronson it would have been enough. That he gave us so much else makes adequate thanks impossible. We can only say that we owe him a debt.

Bill Duncan

I'll try again Bob. Content editing is deciding if the Carrot Cake we're describing will be the one with raisins, or the one with sour cream in the frosting. Copy Editing is checking the steps are in the right order and the proportions are correct. Proofreading is when someone makes the cake followi...

Bill Duncan

When I read anything that was self published, and it's full or errors, my first thought is always... what did you use to write this? If you have a PC running Windows you almost certainly used Microsoft Word, in which case look under the Tools menu and you will find Spelling and Grammar. If you have ...

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