For context: I’m a longtime amateur student of magic whose primary purpose is performing magic for laypersons. What I enjoy most of all is discovering secrets that I can use to improve the stuff I already do--I love the practical! Although I’m a longtime member of both IBM/SAM, the social aspects of conventions are somewhat less important to me. I haven’t attended a magic convention for over 10 years.
LOCATION AND FACILITIES:
Location: St. Louis was a very convenient and cheap plane ride from my home. The hotel was well placed—a 30 minute, $4.00 Metro ride from the airport, and a brief 2 block walk. The hotel was near places to eat, including the Busch Stadium eatery complex, and LeClede’s landing one metro stop away. More importantly for me, there was a well-sized supermarket on the next block, so I was able to stock up on fresh fruits, veggies, etc. The close-up shows and contests were held in a large, modern convention/theater complex directly across the street, and the gala shows were held in a beautifully restored Opera House that was only a 10 minute bus drive away.
Facilities: I was impressed by the appearance of the hotel—it was pretty, very open and spacious. It was connected to bunch of large meeting rooms, which were big enough to hold everyone—it never felt crowded. The staff was friendly, and able to accommodate my request for a refrigerator (which is what made the grocery store important) and a quiet room, which was clean and comfortable. Finally, the free self/valet parking with unlimited in/out privileges allowed my family to drive in later in the week. For $115 a night, I felt it was a real good value.
Niggles: First, the lack of free Wi-Fi in the rooms was a definite minus. I thought the entire complex was kept about 5 to 10 degrees way too cool for my taste. The balcony in the Ferrara Theater was like an icebox—looking around, I don’t think I was the only one who felt that way. Also, although the AV Staff tried hard, with 2 very large monitors for the close-up shows and 5 monitors in all of the lectures, I really wish they had been high definition monitors for viewing sake. The lighting on the performers in the lecture hall seemed a little dim, which made things difficult to see at times. I think having an actual person manning the close-up camera to adjust the view would have helped as well.
Conclusion: All in all a very nice choice by the convention planners.
VENDORS' EXPOSITION:
This was open every day from 0900 to 1700. About 50 to 60 dealers. It seemed like a fair amount of money was changing hands, but I’ll defer that discussion to Richard and others.
A Few Highlights: Richard Turner doing one of his false dealing demonstrations 18 inches from my face while I’m burnin’ his hands and me not seeing anything. His small session show at night was equally stunning. It was fun to watch him amaze Henry Evans; Dani DaOrtiz and Christian Engblom performing more miracles in 15 minutes at their table than are included in most 4-disc DVD sets (plus, the kid to my left screaming after each denouement
) Plus, they offered some fantastic package deals on their DVD’s and books; Mike O’Dowd selling off much (?all) of his book collection and amazing prices (Although several people told me that 2 prominent dealers grabbed many of the most desirable items prior to the dealers’ room opening); Pattrick’s Close Up pads—I really do think these are the best I’ve ever seen. Picked up the “plush” burgundy ProPad 2. (Hot Tip: he now has professionally made nylon drawstring travel bags for all of his mats for a measly $10); Andy Greget really does have a copy of pretty much everything ever printed. Got a copy of Aronson/Solomon’s “Sessions” which I’ve been hunting for years, and a near mint Hoo’s Coin Box set to learn Dave Stahl’s routine with. Auke Van Dokkum and the Tommy Wonder items at the Steven’s Magic booth. That guy is a true magician with the lathe. (I sure wish he’d make the TW Cups and Balls props to fit the Johnson cups.) His coin matrix with killer ending is, as Joe Stevens put it, poetry both in technique and craftsmanship. (Make sure you stand in front of him instead of to the side to fully appreciate this). Genii Booth: I extended my subscription to get the bonus gift bag for one reason (Hint: Derek Dingle Repeat Card to Wallet). Plus, Richard hand delivered my copy of The Skinner Tapes! They are just terrific—THIS is the Skinner of legend I’ve always read about. Also, it was nice to chat with the “Head Genii” and the “Evil Fascist Overlord” in person. H & R Magic Books: So good to finally meet Richard Hatch, Charlie Randall, and Marshall Petersen after all these years. Good people, good stuff! Gabe Fajuri paged through some glorious stone lithographs for me, and I got to see a copy of the Harbin book in person for the first time.Conclusion: Good mix of dealers offering enough different items. Some made a point of rolling out new offerings throughout the convention so it paid to cruise through each day. However, there did not seem to be one trick that really became THE hot seller. I was happy I managed to only buy one thing I regret. Didn’t see quite as many “convention specials” as I would’ve liked, but still came home with a big haul.
LECTURES:
These are what I really came for. So here goes…
Henry Evans: The first Monday night lecture. He explained 9 tricks, 8 of which required props he sold. His Triumph routine was a notable exception. I was particular taken with 2 of his routines—one a very visual opener with a knotted watch on a rope and the second, the best instant deck production I’ve seen for a long time (the method makes me laugh)—I bought one on the spot!
David Stone: One of the most entertaining lectures I’ve seen. Full of humor, character and call backs. He demonstrated some interesting coin moves from his act, as well as several bottle productions for which he is known. The Marlo snap change looks great when he does it with a torn card, and he demonstrated a control of a card from a face up fan that just became part of my working toolbox. He spent an extended period demonstrating ideas with “The Tool” (clever), and closed with his hilarious (and fooling) swallowing balloon routine. Some very practical ideas here, and dude comes loaded for bear (literally).
Miguel Angel Gea: Wow! His stuff looks and feels like real magic. Amazing chops, underpinned by solid theory and presentation. So many coin guys look like they are performing for themselves—not this guy. His Coin Purse extraction routine is brilliant, and I loved his spectator triumph. His use of the catapult move is extraordinary and brought gasps and groans. He even managed to load a mouth up Okito box on the table! English is not his first language, but I had no trouble following.
Christian Engblom: The calm Fat Brother.
He only discussed 2 commercially available tricks, but I was not disappointed in any way because he gave up all the details and work that made them magic. “Easy is NOT simple” was his mantra, and he went over the subtlety, thinking, and rationales for each of the moves in both routines. Even went over various outs for when spectators go out of bounds—clearly a guy that actually performs for real folks. I LOVED this—principles I can put to use immediately, and inspired a lot of ideas. Oh, and for those at the green place who mercilessly dogged “The Cooler”, I’m here to report, he torched me with it—I had no idea! I’m glad the hoi polloi won’t be using it. He also deserves extra kudos as I saw him arrive early to the session to go over all of the camera angles and lighting with the AV folks to make sure we could see everything.Magic of Germany in Session: A joint lecture by those from the German gala show
Timo Marc: Presented a simple, but entertaining card routine that allows you to get your contact information to tons of people in your audience quickly. He says he had gotten more future work out of this one routine than any other, and I believe him. Martin Eisele: Presented his Always 5 Coins!? Opener as well as a neat one-handed matrix with backfire. His dice matrix closed the lecture. Sebastian Nicolas: A Chicago Opener style routine using the Vapor gimmick (this gave me some good ideas for other routines). A versatile ball holder—easy to make—low tech and reliable. Timothy Trust & Diamond: Center tear routine. Nothing terribly original here, but did like his (?) idea of using the spectators initials as a revelatory device. Gaston: Detailed his Kleenex tear and deck vanish from his FISM routine.
Stage critique: There was a break in the action for Martin Eisele to sell his lecture notes and dice matrix after which a whole bunch of people left. I’m glad I didn’t as to me this was a rather useful session. Gaston brought up three juniors who gamely performed their acts and then he proceeded to constructively critique/coach each of them, who then redid portions of their act with the suggestions. While the actual results were mixed, I found great value in the suggestions Gaston provided. I could see my own act through this lens and I think both the performers and the audience profited from this.
FFFF Lecture: A combined lecture from 3 former FFFF guests of honor. Shawn Farquhar: He offered 2 workers from his act. Seriously. These are 2 routines he makes his money with, and he is a consummate pro. First up was Sean’s presentation for Stephen Bargatze’s “I hate kids!” bank nite effect. For a performer with a personality, it’s great—so funny! He then went into great detail on his deck switch—all the thought, tricks, and details to make it play, even in semi-surrounded situations. It went by me twice—once on the public show, and then in the lecture. It was invisible because it was so natural. This is something I will use. Henry Evans: Back for more. Demonstrated a couple of effects he had for sale. To me, the second (which he used for 2 impossible location type effects) has a very versatile gimmick which would work great in any “chaos magic” cards routine. The last part of his segment was devoted to his “jazz magic” techniques as described in his “Opening Doors” DVD set, which is his exploration of Vernon’s “The Trick that cannot be explained”. Wow! Just wow. Listening and watching the gears and levers behind some of his incredible work just gives me so much respect for the man. How he is able to keep track of things and create plausible effects on the fly, while continuing to present in his charming, casual manner is impressive. (He credits his background as a drummer for some of this facility). So much for me to process—I still am thinking about how these concepts can apply to me. This is a sequence that keeps giving the more I consider it. Seriously thinking about picking up his DVD’s to see what else he’s come up with. He closed with his “Card Expert” routine, which I think was his FISM closer. Fooled me terribly, mainly because of the all the talk about jazz magic earlier. The actual method is something you all have in the drawer—just applied in a devious fashion. This would be murderous in the right context. David Stone: This was a new lecture for David, and unfortunately, not as strong as his previous session, IMHO. One new application of “The Tool” with a “radioactive” card case and plastic bag. One interesting idea where a selected card appears in an iPhone picture taken with THEIR camera (I’ll bet Blaine ends up doing this). Finally, a gimmick to change a bill to a folded card (or vice versa).
Dani DaOrtiz: Whoop! As David Williamson has said: Dani is what would happen if Lennart Green ate Juan Tamariz. He is absolutely the real deal—the very avatar of casual chaotic style magic where the spectator seems totally in control, but with a brutally cunning understanding of applied psychology lying in wait underneath. The combination is devastating, and after a while of having your head boxed, you can’t help but give in. He began by doing a number of unexplained routines where merely thought of cards were found at mentally selected numbers, a deck and card that marched back through time, a funny memorized deck with Christian Engblom, a true “invisible deck” , and closing with his Triple Intuition. Once again, the theory presented along with the tricks was the gold. It’s interesting that so much of what he accomplishes hinges on attitude, and the particular turn of a phrase. He does stuff thought to be less than reliable, but his techniques bring it to as close to 100% as you can get it. (I would recommend reading the cover story on Dani in the November 2011 Genii because David Britland says it a lot better than I can---it’s all true!). I thought it interesting that although Dani has killer chops, he prefers “Easy” (which, of course, is not simple ala Christian Engblom). Here’s hoping that the magi in attendance will put as much or more time into practicing the psychological techniques as they do physical techniques so this beautiful material won’t get unartfully butchered.
Niggles: Most of the lectures ran about 90 minutes long, with the exception being the German session, which went about 2 hours. With strong performers with lots of material, this was no problem, but I felt that having longer lectures (or having to lecture twice) resulted in some “B” material being shown, and I could feel attention flagging a bit in the audience and some even left early. Also, I wish more of the lecturers would have followed Christian’s lead and done a bit more preshow work with the AV guys so they would know what to expect to televise the action/explanations better. Finally, many of the lecturers had no lecture notes available, which would have been nice (see below). As it is, I ended up writing furiously and probably missed a few details here and there.
Conclusion: As a close-up kind of guy that loves practical theory, I was very satisfied. Would have preferred more, shorter lectures—but that’s a small thing. Overall, really happy.
FAT BROTHERS SEMINAR:
I signed up for the convention before knowing who 99% of the talent was going to be. I did know the Fat Brothers would be there, and that’s why I ultimately signed up. I was pleased to find out that a late Saturday night private session was planned, and I was glad enough people signed up (25) to hold it.
For me, this was the absolute highlight of the week. A mix of oldies (me) and young folks were seated in 2 semi-circular rows while the guys went through a few routines, several of which are unpublished and/or in hard to find resources. Even in the published routines, extra details, inspirations, and the creative process were expounded upon. I find it so useful when creators detail HOW a finished routine came to be (See the sequence Re: Open Travelers in Jennings ’67 as an example). I want to see how they think and modify what is already in the literature, so I can learn how to think/create as well. Lots of psychology discussed: underselling premises, why absurdity works (and why it doesn’t), controlling attention and why magic in the spectator’s hand is not always better, etc.--so thought provoking. I was especially fascinated by their description of the Spanish school of magic, and how much time the magicians in Spain spend thinking about and practicing magic. (Example: Rings and Assemblies meet once a month. In Spain a serious magician meets with various groups 4 to 5 times a week, sometimes starting at 1900 and getting to bed at 0700. Given this, it’s not surprising where a lot of the real work is coming from these days. ) In addition, all of the guys just look like they’re having fun. They are patient, friendly, funny, willing to share, and will answer any question. Just had a terrific time as three hours just flew by! I was entertained, amazed, and inspired to be better. Plus, Dani let this exciting tidbit drop at the end of the session: https://twitter.com/DaniDaOrtiz/status/ ... 08/photo/1
Conclusion: If you get a chance to do a session with these guys, do it!
A FEW BUMMERS:
No convention is perfect because conventions are put on and attended by humans, none of whom is perfect. However, I found my main moments of slight aggravation were not systems issues, but rather by the behavior of some (a minority?) of the attendees. For example: smarmy magicians creeping on wives and young daughters….not cool. (“How are you enjoying the convention?” [as they sidle up into personal space] Are you from Hawaii? [said with the requisite wiggling eyebrows] No? Then why is there a banana in your ear?”……..Really, guys?
). Second, I understand the scarcity principle of marketing; however, it would never occur to me to literally shove someone aside in my zeal to buy a $15 set of lecture notes that are readily available on-line (and in the dealers’ room all week!). The same holds true for waiting in line. Time and again, people would just blatantly cut the lines of folks who had been patiently waiting far longer than they. As has been pointed out before by many--most people get into magic to help deal with preexisting social pathologies. However, when folks become adults, I wish they would at least try to overcome them and at least fake a bit of common courtesy. As it stands, I felt a bit embarrassed at the negative stereotyped image of magicians a few folks were projecting, but I suppose in any group, there are going to be a few clowns. Other than that, my personal regret was spotting Eugene Burger and Steve Bryant and not getting a chance to meet them. Sadly, I also missed a chance to talk to Michael Close. FINAL THOUGHTS:
The Fat Brothers "made" the convention for me. I very much enjoyed meeting and chatting with a lot of my magic heroes (way too many to name), all of whom were unfailingly gracious, intelligent, pleasant people. I was very glad I attended, and I salute the organizers for all of their hard work!
