Search found 752 matches
- March 16th, 2024, 7:31 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: BREAKING NEWS: AMA Members Petition for Meeting to Address Creation of Executive Director Position
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1152
Re: BREAKING NEWS: AMA Members Petition for Meeting to Address Creation of Executive Director Position
Many college and university presidents, running much more complex organizations than the Magic Castle, don't make $350K/yr.
- March 3rd, 2024, 5:26 pm
- Forum: General
- Topic: The Unknown Life of Karl Fulves
- Replies: 46
- Views: 4740
Re: The Unknown Life of Karl Fulves
I know a guy in Sweden - an expert in both European and US copyright law. Glad to put you in touch. (Sorry... so full of snark today!
- February 23rd, 2024, 6:56 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Who is the best coin magician you have seen?
- Replies: 82
- Views: 16510
Re: Who is the best coin magician you have seen?
katterfelt0 wrote:F.Amílcar wrote:Dear friends,
In my opinion the great magician in close-up with coins was JOAQUIN NAVAJAS. R. I. P.
For those wishing to see his work, here's a YouTube video.
The bit at 1:44 is beautiful.
- February 10th, 2024, 1:04 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Tyche's Fiddle
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1191
Re: Tyche's Fiddle
A little video tip for Tyche's Fiddlers. Password = the last name of the magician who conjured up the five-card mental force (all lower-case). Cheers!
https://www.gnominal.com/tf-tip
https://www.gnominal.com/tf-tip
- February 6th, 2024, 7:10 pm
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Donate Magic Books
- Replies: 5
- Views: 945
- February 4th, 2024, 2:43 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Christmas in February
- Replies: 2
- Views: 776
Re: Christmas in February
It being 1:29am 2/4/24, I can now reveal the riddle's answer. The "secret number" was 159 - simply the number of words (per Microsoft Word) in my original post. Omitting numerals and URL components (technically not "words") reduced this number to 150, but did not change the winne...
- January 31st, 2024, 7:25 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Christmas in February
- Replies: 2
- Views: 776
Re: Christmas in February
A very good question just in: In the event of a tie, the early bird gets da worm.
- January 31st, 2024, 6:59 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Christmas in February
- Replies: 2
- Views: 776
Christmas in February
I have one test print each of Tyche's Fiddle and Sleightly Hopped taking up space on a sofa table. In the spirit of Jack Shalom, I’m going to mail each of these to an interested party – at my expense if you’re in the United States, at yours if in saner territories. I have a number between 1 and 500 ...
- January 26th, 2024, 6:41 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Tyche's Fiddle
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1191
Re: Tyche's Fiddle
Sorry, Andrew. The gnomes must persist. If it's any consolation, Tyche is far more serious than (if nearly as whimsical as) the website.
- January 24th, 2024, 7:10 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Tyche's Fiddle
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1191
Tyche's Fiddle
As some grow older, they veer toward conservatism. Others just have more fun with reckless abandon… hence last night’s disjointed launch of http://www.gnominal.com . While the site is shamelessly goofy, Tyche’s Fiddle – the Gnominal Gnomes’ new utility device for equally reckless, goofy magicians an...
- January 19th, 2024, 6:55 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: AMA / Magic Castle issues
- Replies: 10
- Views: 1728
Re: AMA / Magic Castle issues
Corporate entities - for-profit and nonprofit - almost all exhibit self-preservation instincts extending beyond "what's good for the customer." In this case (pure speculation), it sounds like an LLC and a 501(c)(3) are dancing around some sort of formal merger or permanently binding legal ...
- January 1st, 2024, 10:46 am
- Forum: Marketing & Magic Business
- Topic: The Aretalogy of Vanni Bossi
- Replies: 8
- Views: 2825
The Aretalogy of Vanni Bossi
I'm currently watching the gazillionth copy of "The Aretalogy of Vanni Bossi" dip below $20 a Penguin "Open Box" flash sale. I absolutely LOVED this book, and can't help but think something went horribly wrong on the business end of things - i.e., gross overestimation of market p...
- December 7th, 2023, 7:04 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: All Backs Routine
- Replies: 52
- Views: 18953
Re: All Backs Routine
I guess this is heresy, but All Backs always looked to me, even before I knew much about card magic, exactly what it is--a bunch of face to face cards in different configurations. It never seemed magical to me at all. You're not alone. The "printing" plot (more or less the same thing thro...
- November 25th, 2023, 12:16 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Card Craft, Collected Almanac, Totally Out of Control All Reprinted!
- Replies: 23
- Views: 6354
Re: Card Craft, Collected Almanac, Totally Out of Control All Reprinted!
Kenner is in the house. Richard beat December by a week!
- November 18th, 2023, 9:10 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Mark Elsdon's UNLOCK
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2806
- November 16th, 2023, 9:36 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Ibidem #20
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2378
- November 14th, 2023, 7:12 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Ibidem #20
- Replies: 7
- Views: 2378
Ibidem #20
I must have perused the bound Ibidem set 100 times over the last XX years, and only last night noticed that volume two lacks issue #20. No pages have been removed; the page number simply skips from 406 to 439. Is this speed reading feature exclusive to a specific edition or print run, or are all of ...
- October 30th, 2023, 12:53 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Method as Accoutrement - A Minor Rant
- Replies: 25
- Views: 4990
Re: Method as Accoutrement - A Minor Rant
"Method" is never irrelevant for the simple reason that each of us is different. Method A might work better for Magician A than Magician B. This is often confused with the argument that "method is irrelevant" because the only thing that matters is the effect. These are two entir...
- October 29th, 2023, 10:19 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Method as Accoutrement - A Minor Rant
- Replies: 25
- Views: 4990
Re: Method as Accoutrement - A Minor Rant
I hadn’t planned on getting into Brad’s points explicitly ( though many of the same observations are “baked into” my original rant). Agreed on all counts. It’s the lack of such nuance in “method doesn’t matter if it ‘works’” proclamations that drives me nuts!
- October 28th, 2023, 10:28 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Method as Accoutrement - A Minor Rant
- Replies: 25
- Views: 4990
Method as Accoutrement - A Minor Rant
I recently stumbled upon an intriguing(?) video by one of magic’s more prominent book reviewers. His opening thesis: The latest often isn’t the greatest because “method is [largely] irrelevant.” He supports this bold, steaming pile of insight by asserting that the reasonable execution of any reasona...
- October 16th, 2023, 6:17 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Precedents for Ring/Coin Move
- Replies: 10
- Views: 4151
Re: Precedents for Ring/Coin Move
Thanks Dave & Philippe. I just found some video of the Himber move. Not precisely the same technique, but pretty close in concept!
- October 15th, 2023, 10:58 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Precedents for Ring/Coin Move
- Replies: 10
- Views: 4151
Precedents for Ring/Coin Move
The video linked below is a bit odd/awkward in that my arms are wrapped around a camera tripod for a "rear view." This knacky-but-fun thing is designed for circumstances where someone insists on seeing magic performed from behind. From the front, you'd see my right pinky hooked (its tip co...
- September 30th, 2023, 2:51 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
- Replies: 48
- Views: 27217
- September 30th, 2023, 9:59 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
- Replies: 48
- Views: 27217
Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
A while back, I happened to obtain a "Performing Hare" bronze sculpture that was later determined to have been owned by Bob Read. An individual whose name I don't recall approached me for photos of this piece - for some sort of book-in-progress. I'm curious if this book is still in the wor...
- September 8th, 2023, 6:18 am
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Amusement vs Amazement
- Replies: 4
- Views: 1188
Re: Amusement vs Amazement
Isn't one who's amusing but not amazing better described as a comedian than a magician? I understand a handful of wildly talented folks (e.g., the late, great Tom Mullica) might succeed in both areas, but they're the exception.
- August 21st, 2023, 7:19 pm
- Forum: Buzz
- Topic: Mr. Andrews is on the Cover of the September 2023 Issue of Genii
- Replies: 22
- Views: 3181
Re: Mr. Andrews is on the Cover of the September 2023 Issue of Genii
Maybe another reviewer could take a crack at the The Bammo Gridlock Dossier? Tom Frame just can't let go of his disdain for the genre of grid magic. After a painful 3-paragraph introduction detailing how he was repulsed by the prospect of reviewing a form of magic which he detests, he can't let go ...
- August 17th, 2023, 7:19 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Wtb: Bill Wisch’s Helicopter card
- Replies: 7
- Views: 1633
Re: Wtb: Bill Wisch’s Helicopter card
Richard Kaufman wrote:You can buy the Slydini books in which it is described, and also watch Slydini do it on YouTube on the Dick Cavett show. You don't need more than that.
Yeah, but the man is so bloody good he still gets the move past you!
- August 8th, 2023, 8:00 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Understanding the Bermuda Triangle
- Replies: 38
- Views: 15007
Re: Understanding the Bermuda Triangle
This is one of "those" effects that seems *so* bloody obvious to some (including me), but still somehow manages to fool people. Fascinating stuff.
Re: ERDNASE
"Broken from the very start" is probably accurate on more than one front. In terms of candidate identification, many researchers continue to rely heavily on the twin assumptions that Erdnase both desired anonymity AND chose to spell his name backwards (more or less). Unless we also assume ...
- July 28th, 2023, 6:25 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Thabbatical (Goldstein), Underground Man (Gallo), Inside (Murray)
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1154
- July 27th, 2023, 11:12 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Thabbatical (Goldstein), Underground Man (Gallo), Inside (Murray)
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1154
Re: Thabbatical (Goldstein), Underground Man (Gallo), Inside (Murray)
I've just been informed that Thabbatical was originally packaged with a little booklet for one of the effects entitled "Zodiagnostic." My copy does not include this booklet, although the book itself describes the content well enough to self-print.
- July 27th, 2023, 9:26 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: Thabbatical (Goldstein), Underground Man (Gallo), Inside (Murray)
- Replies: 2
- Views: 1154
Thabbatical (Goldstein), Underground Man (Gallo), Inside (Murray)
I’m rotating out a few more books. All prices include packing & postage to anywhere in the lower 48 United States: Lou Gallo: The Underground Man by Richard Kaufman and Mark Phillips (1996). GREAT material, and very difficult to find. Hardbound with dust jacket, very nice condition (small tear i...
- July 16th, 2023, 1:13 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Change Blindness References
- Replies: 13
- Views: 5132
Re: Change Blindness References
I think that’s better classified as inattentional blindness, though the two phenomena (from my untrained standpoint) are closely related. Really fascinating stuff - and you see it reflected in the recent surge of discrepancy-based methods.
- July 16th, 2023, 9:52 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Change Blindness References
- Replies: 13
- Views: 5132
Change Blindness References
While “change blindness” has been leveraged in many magical contexts (card under glass, coins suddenly appearing on close-up mats, etc.), our use of this psychological principle seems focused largely on masking object placement and obscuring small discrepancies with larger actions/visuals. I’m inter...
- July 15th, 2023, 12:03 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: Understated Advertisement - Genii June 1991
- Replies: 4
- Views: 2960
Re: Understated Advertisement - Genii June 1991
Dontcha love it? Long before demonstration/hype videos became de rigueur, paging through ads for magic effects and books provided endless entertainment and intrigue. I vividly remember "reading between the lines" (or trying to) for hints of modus operandi, attempting to discern the quality...
- July 9th, 2023, 9:00 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: John Mendoza Material
- Replies: 16
- Views: 4882
Re: John Mendoza Material
I wonder who ended up with the rights to Busby's other publications upon his passing...
- July 8th, 2023, 3:30 pm
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: John Mendoza Material
- Replies: 16
- Views: 4882
Re: John Mendoza Material
Thanks for the link - I hadn't seen that. Fingers crossed that Conjuring Arts follows through!
- July 8th, 2023, 11:08 am
- Forum: Close-Up Magic
- Topic: John Mendoza Material
- Replies: 16
- Views: 4882
John Mendoza Material
Hey All - Is anyone aware of any efforts to compile something like "The Collected Works of John Mendoza" in book form? I always liked his general approach to (and taste in) close-up, and frequently return to the Portfolio collection for ideas and inspiration. John cut quite the enigmatic f...
- July 4th, 2023, 10:09 am
- Forum: Collector's Marketplace
- Topic: The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser
- Replies: 1
- Views: 537
Re: The Feints and Temps of Harry Riser
This book along with others by Don England and Scotty York can now be found here >> https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=40 ... johos-5492
- July 2nd, 2023, 11:13 am
- Forum: Reference Room
- Topic: Prophecy Move "Subtlety"
- Replies: 6
- Views: 14583
Re: Prophecy Move "Subtlety"
john, that's the way i've been doing it for decades. i've always used it in ackerman's quick coincidence and just assumed that's how he taught the move. it was so long ago. i never thought of it as different. don england did it that way as well. i would probably lean toward it not qualifying as a v...