Search found 908 matches

by magicam
January 22nd, 2024, 11:42 pm
Forum: General
Topic: ERDNASE
Replies: 8153
Views: 11972862

Re: ERDNASE

David, many thanks for posting the youtube link for the film (I hadn't heard about its release either, but am woefully out of touch these days on magic news!), and thanks moreso for contributing to it with your valued perspectives on the technical and historical aspects of Expert and its author. For...
by magicam
January 21st, 2024, 5:34 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Bad Magic
Replies: 14
Views: 1747

Re: Bad Magic

fred kirchner in part wrote: Is magic advancing or still almost a century behind?

Can you please clarify, a century behind what?
by magicam
January 3rd, 2024, 1:16 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: 2023 in Review
Replies: 15
Views: 2713

Re: 2023 in Review

Really enjoyed that, Dustin, thank you! Lots of time and love invested in it, for sure.
by magicam
December 30th, 2023, 3:46 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Harry Lorayne in NY Times Magazine feature
Replies: 8
Views: 2020

Re: Harry Lorayne in NY Times Magazine feature

My favorite quotation from the piece is: “We are all, each and every one of us, completely and irrevocably alone,” Lorayne wrote. But he had stumbled on a way to “relieve that loneliness just a bit.” The key was to look outward, with a wide-open mind: “I have never yet met anybody, from any walk of...
by magicam
December 26th, 2023, 1:08 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, et al.
Replies: 6
Views: 1726

Re: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, et al.

Happy holidays to all, in the hope that you will be surrounded by family and friends.

And thank you, Richard!
by magicam
December 23rd, 2023, 7:15 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
Replies: 48
Views: 23239

Re: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst

What an early Christmas present! At first blush, the set's design and production are first-class and very attractive. Congratulations and many, many thanks indeed to Bill Kalush and his learned team and CARC for such a gift to magic historians. It's a notable milestone in the literature of conjuring...
by magicam
December 2nd, 2023, 1:49 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Are Children more Imaginative than Adults?
Replies: 6
Views: 1576

Re: Are Children more Imaginative than Adults?

[edit: I now see Dennis' query] I've heard magicians talk about "childlike imagination" in their presentations, but is it true that children are more imaginative than adults? I've been out of performance magic for decades, so maybe it's ignorance (it usually is!), but what do magicians mea...
by magicam
November 22nd, 2023, 5:19 pm
Forum: Alternative Media
Topic: AI Generated Magicians From The Past
Replies: 29
Views: 4341

Re: AI Generated Magicians From The Past

Dustin Stinett wrote:We need laugh emojis for this place ...

:lol:
by magicam
November 21st, 2023, 5:20 pm
Forum: Alternative Media
Topic: AI Generated Magicians From The Past
Replies: 29
Views: 4341

Re: AI Generated Magicians From The Past

Interesting to see a few spatial/perspective oddities: the oversized airborne eggs. the dwarfish RJ, and the front seating arrangement in the doves pic.
by magicam
November 17th, 2023, 11:19 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
Replies: 48
Views: 23239

Re: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst

No, my friends, his (passive?) Nazi affiliation -- or if he abused his children or cheated his clients -- is irrelevant to CARC's new edition and its merits. Let's stay on topic, please, and celebrate the book.
by magicam
November 15th, 2023, 1:19 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
Replies: 48
Views: 23239

Re: Bob Read Book?

Congratulations and many thanks to the CARC team for producing Volkmann's history in English!

Considering how big a deal this is, we should at least amend the thread title to give this publication its props.
by magicam
October 14th, 2023, 6:41 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Not the Bob Read Book...Kurt Volkmann's Geschichte der Zauberkunst
Replies: 48
Views: 23239

Re: Bob Read Book?

This could only be one thing, I think, and if so it's very exciting!
by magicam
August 27th, 2023, 8:06 pm
Forum: Platform & Stage Magic
Topic: Egg Bag
Replies: 55
Views: 21443

Re: Egg Bag

Dustin, that act was in print in England over 300 hundred years ago (see The Old Hocus Pocus , c.1718). For those interested in a history of the egg bag in medieval Arabia, check out Pierre Taillefer's excellent essay in Gibeciere (v17n2, 2022), which covers the egg bag as only a small part of its s...
by magicam
August 4th, 2023, 3:32 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: RIP Pee Wee Herman
Replies: 9
Views: 1291

Re: RIP Pee Wee Herman

^^^ Now that's a nice bit of trivia, and begs the question of who appeared the most on the Dating Game. :)
by magicam
July 27th, 2023, 1:03 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Have you ever experienced the "Yips" performing magic?
Replies: 17
Views: 6159

Re: Have you ever experienced the "Yips" performing magic?

^^^ Thanks for that definition. Interesting. One of those words I've heard often enough in sports commentating and discussion, but don't really use. If asked to define it, my best guess would have been a situation where the player's performance abilities have dropped due to a lack of self-confidence...
by magicam
July 17th, 2023, 6:36 pm
Forum: General
Topic: ERDNASE
Replies: 8153
Views: 11972862

Re: ERDNASE

Thanks for posting, Tom, looking forward to reading about SBJ and your other July 2023 blogs!
by magicam
July 16th, 2023, 8:57 pm
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Top Ten Movie Stunts -- Houdini Mention and Footage
Replies: 0
Views: 1364

Top Ten Movie Stunts -- Houdini Mention and Footage

Buster Keaton on the list but not Houdini. However HH does get a mention with a short bridge jump clip in the context of Tom Cruise wanting to do a Houdini biopic. Scroll to the 16 minute mark. I wonder how Houdini's stunts would stack up, like on the biplane. Obviously the videomaker knew of Houdin...
by magicam
June 30th, 2023, 11:27 am
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The Science of Optical Illusions
Replies: 0
Views: 416

The Science of Optical Illusions

For those who enjoy the science and theory behind certain optical illusions.

https://www.livescience.com/health/mind ... n-revealed
by magicam
March 10th, 2023, 12:53 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Edwin A. Dawes, 1925-2023
Replies: 9
Views: 2272

Re: Edwin A. Dawes, 1925-2023

I'm still processing this sad news and the loss of an old and dear friend, but it feels like the end of an era. My condolences to Eddie's sons, Michael and Adrian, and to the rest of the Dawes clan. Below is information on the services to be held for Eddie. EDDIE DAWES A Service and Celebration of H...
by magicam
January 16th, 2023, 11:57 am
Forum: Magic History and Anecdotes
Topic: Coke, Magicians and Murder
Replies: 1
Views: 1802

Coke, Magicians and Murder

by magicam
December 18th, 2022, 12:31 pm
Forum: Close-Up Magic
Topic: Odds of an Adjacent Pair
Replies: 19
Views: 1955

Re: Odds of an Adjacent Pair

AJM wrote:I used to have an adjacent pair.

Not so much now as I get older…


:lol: Perfect!
by magicam
December 16th, 2022, 11:36 am
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Comfort Books?
Replies: 30
Views: 2604

Re: Comfort Books?

Fun thread! The 'read to pieces' book would be a Dover edition of Gibson/Young's Houdini on Magic , purchased at Disneyland's Main Street magic shop (a regular hangout spot for me during summer vacation) in the early 1970s. For that era it had an unusual mix of how-to and biographical and historical...
by magicam
December 7th, 2022, 11:52 am
Forum: General
Topic: Card Sword and Card Stab History
Replies: 5
Views: 3720

Re: Card Sword and Card Stab History

Maigret, many thanks for creating and sharing this wonderful contribution to magic history! Very interesting and illuminating.
by magicam
December 3rd, 2022, 1:30 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: RIP Volker Huber
Replies: 4
Views: 948

Re: RIP Volker Huber

Wittus, many thanks for posting that article. It's been a long time since we've been in touch and I hope you and your family are well. How are the cats doing? :) Volker Huber's passing is indeed sad news and a great loss to our community, especially the magic historians. Many of us on GF won't recog...
by magicam
November 2nd, 2022, 12:57 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: RIP Max Maven
Replies: 69
Views: 11148

Re: RIP Max Maven

As students and lovers of magic history, we'd been acquainted for many years through events such as the LA Conf. on Magic History, but for whatever reason it wasn't until after Max's cancer diagnosis that we communicated more regularly. Among other things, I will miss Max's grace and wit to the end....
by magicam
October 20th, 2022, 11:26 am
Forum: Buzz
Topic: A magician-mathematician reveals casino loophole
Replies: 6
Views: 1552

A magician-mathematician reveals casino loophole

Nice article about card counting, shuffling machines, and Persi Diaconis.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/2022 ... o-loophole
by magicam
August 9th, 2022, 1:30 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Youtube Takers
Replies: 100
Views: 6316

Re: Youtube Takers

Agreed, the gratuitous public exposure of magic secrets is irritating, but I'm not sure about the long-term harm (and not intending to start that debate here). IMHO, as long as magic -- really its practitioners -- can entertain the public, I think we'll be good. English-language exposures of the cup...
by magicam
August 7th, 2022, 12:25 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Magic in the Magic Kingdom (Anaheim, CA); 8-2022
Replies: 40
Views: 3039

Re: Magic in the Magic Kingdom (Anaheim, CA); 8-2022

For several summers in the early 1970s, I'd go to Disneyland 20-30 times each summer to hang out with the Main Street magic employees, when I was 9-12 years old. My parents would drop me off at the Disneyland Hotel and I'd take the tram to the park (yes, very different times then!). One of the Main ...
by magicam
June 9th, 2022, 6:26 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The "Too Perfect" Theory -- Investigated
Replies: 77
Views: 4843

Re: The "Too Perfect" Theory -- Investigated

Richard, in the quote above there were two scenarios: in the first the mentalist got 5 out of 5 words; in the second the mentalist got 4 out of 5 words -- so 80% success. You don't think an accomplished performer could succeed doing 4/5 as part of a routine? I'm not an advocate one way or the other,...
by magicam
June 9th, 2022, 12:18 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: The "Too Perfect" Theory -- Investigated
Replies: 77
Views: 4843

The "Too Perfect" Theory -- Investigated

"Can a Magic Trick Be 'Too Perfect'? Study Tries to Resolve a 50-Year Debate" See https://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2022/06/04/can_a_magic_trick_be_too_perfect_study_tries_to_resolve_a_50-year_debate_835027.html Excerpt: Magician Rick Johnsson proposed the idea in 1970, stating that if...
by magicam
December 30th, 2021, 6:38 pm
Forum: General
Topic: Merry Christmas
Replies: 5
Views: 1822

Re: Merry Christmas

Yes indeed, congratulations to Dustin on his editorship!

And happy holidays all!
by magicam
October 9th, 2021, 4:37 pm
Forum: Marketing & Magic Business
Topic: Why is editing so bad in magic publications?
Replies: 115
Views: 27655

Re: Why is editing so bad in magic publications?

I've enjoyed reading this thread, with all its meanderings, and in that spirit offer another. In the 16th through 18th centuries, writers expected their words to be punctuated ("pointed") by the compositor. There are exceptions of course, but the vast majority of manuscripts from this era ...
by magicam
September 9th, 2021, 12:41 pm
Forum: Collector's Marketplace
Topic: Ricky Jay's Collection
Replies: 50
Views: 8090

Re: Ricky Jay's Collection

Jay's collection and files had been shopped around to institutional libraries since early 2020, with an asking price (I'm told) of about $4.5M. Evidently there was little interest at the price being asked, so here we are.
by magicam
August 8th, 2021, 7:40 pm
Forum: General
Topic: For Card and Beer Mat Tossers - Throwing Tips
Replies: 0
Views: 1033

For Card and Beer Mat Tossers - Throwing Tips

Study shows why beer mats do not fly in a straight line: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 171557.htm
by magicam
June 2nd, 2021, 1:13 pm
Forum: Buzz
Topic: Sending good thoughts to Max Maven
Replies: 87
Views: 18291

Re: Sending good thoughts to Max Maven

Max, sending good vibes and well wishes your way! Clay
by magicam
June 25th, 2020, 7:22 pm
Forum: Marketing & Magic Business
Topic: Why is editing so bad in magic publications?
Replies: 115
Views: 27655

Re: Why is editing so bad in magic publications?

I am a professional writer, but not a professional writer . (How's that for clarity?) Apologies if this has already been quoted: Good writing is hard to do and easy to read; bad writing is easy to do and hard to read. In the really old days, like before, say, 1970, readers had an expectation of lite...
by magicam
February 28th, 2020, 10:07 pm
Forum: General
Topic: ERDNASE
Replies: 8153
Views: 11972862

Re: Discuss Steve Forte's Book "Gambling Sleight of Hand" HERE

Richard Kaufman wrote:In terms of The Expert at the Card Table, it's shocking to learn how much is plagarized, and that the original Erdnase shifts were published earlier elsewhere.

So Gallaway was Erdnase after all!

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