Michael Skinner

Discuss your favorite close-up tricks and methods.
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Pete Biro
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Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 1:10 pm

Stay tooned.

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Pete Biro
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 1:34 pm

Stay tooned.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Jim Maloney_dup1 » January 18th, 2007, 1:37 pm

That first one is Vernon doing the Cups & Balls on Magic Circus, not Skinner.

-Jim

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Pete Biro
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 4:18 pm

Sorry... so don't watch it?
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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Dustin Stinett » January 18th, 2007, 5:50 pm

Heres another Skinner beauty: Card to wallet. With Alex Karras saying Mongo want to mark too dates this appearance around 1974. Watch this man palm off the card with the camera zeroed in on his hands; flawless! He was so good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN4uLWu5Nto&NR

One of the things I love about this is how he makes the wallet logical. Most of us tend forget this very simple detail when ending an ambitious sequence with the card to wallet. Watch and learn folks!

Dustin

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Steve Bryant
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Steve Bryant » January 18th, 2007, 6:07 pm

Lovely!

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 18th, 2007, 6:24 pm

Watching closely, over and over, I could barely catch the palm. Absolutely classic.

Gord

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Pete Biro
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 6:39 pm

What palm?
Stay tooned.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 6:44 pm

Check the Flip Wilson link near the Skinner ones.
Stay tooned.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 18th, 2007, 6:54 pm

Originally posted by Pete Biro:
What palm?
The palm of his right hand. It looks smooth. I wonder what moisturizer he used?

Gord

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 18th, 2007, 7:12 pm

He did a cups and balls on the Tonight Show using teacups and cherries. You don't have that one do you?

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 18th, 2007, 8:36 pm

very nice, a joy to watch Skinner working for real people.

Best Jakob

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 18th, 2007, 9:31 pm

The best moment for me was when he handed the envelope to Alex Karras and, without missing a beat, referred to him as Mongo, calling back to Karras's earlier line.

Anyone know -- was this a Topping the Deck palm?

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Pete Biro
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 9:44 pm

What palm?
Stay tooned.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 18th, 2007, 9:54 pm

Still looking, meanwhile, watch this wonder...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJ6qT8JvaMY
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Dustin Stinett
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Dustin Stinett » January 18th, 2007, 10:22 pm

Originally posted by Pete McCabe:
Anyone know -- was this a Topping the Deck palm?
I would say thats most likely given what can be seen.

Heres some nifty trivia about the clips:

The Card in Wallet episode aired on May 8, 1974.

The Three Card Monte episode aired June 1, 1973. Mark Wilson also appeared on the show that night.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 19th, 2007, 8:03 am

Originally posted by Gord Gardiner:
Originally posted by Pete Biro:
[b] What palm?
The palm of his right hand. It looks smooth. I wonder what moisturizer he used?

Gord [/b]
Don't know about 1974. He probably didn't need any back then. In the 1980s, he began to use a product called Lee Paper Cream. Came in a little pink tub that he used to keep in his sock so he could apply it secretly under the table. He never left the house without it.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 19th, 2007, 10:03 am

Thanks for the clips! Watching Skinner in his prime is always a real treat. :)

Also, I think that Dustin is spot on by pointing out that Skinner's logical reason for having a wallet in play really sells the effect.

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Pete Biro
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 19th, 2007, 10:15 am

Of course I was joking when I said "What palm" -- my guess, based on his learning from Vernon was his using "topping the deck" -- the handling looks exactly like Veronon... but the dirty hand moving back to the table edge comes from the way bar magicians worked.

And yes, seeing Michael in his prime is a real treat.
Stay tooned.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 19th, 2007, 12:29 pm

Originally posted by Pete Biro:
but the dirty hand moving back to the table edge comes from the way bar magicians worked.
Michael used the same technique on his version of Slow Motion Aces. It was his natural resting place when palming and holding out. I especially appreciate the slight flex in the hand as it moves back. John Carney is a master of this type of movement. Must come from Vernon as well.

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Pete Biro
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Pete Biro » January 19th, 2007, 3:31 pm

Right. Just came back from seeing Carney do cards across, and other fine effects, and the Vernon influence shows. It was such a treat to see a performer work a show with PERFECT EXECUTION of all the moves.
Stay tooned.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 22nd, 2007, 10:16 am

Thanks for sharing the Skinner videos Pete.

Best

John :)

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » January 22nd, 2007, 10:45 am

Originally posted by Pete Biro:
Right. Just came back from seeing Carney do cards across, and other fine effects, and the Vernon influence shows. It was such a treat to see a performer work a show with PERFECT EXECUTION of all the moves.
There's a quote from the Ascanio book -- can't remember the exact words, but basically he says that masters always have perfect technique. This is not because they have mastered all technique, but because they never use any technique thay haven't mastered.

It's a good way to think about magic, especially for amateur performers like myself.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » December 23rd, 2007, 4:45 pm


Rafael Benatar
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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Rafael Benatar » December 24th, 2007, 2:07 am

Hi Pete,

Here is an Ascanio quote from the forthcoming Vol.3. I think something similar appeared in Vol. 1:

A good artist is not necessarily one who does difficult things but who does the easy things exceptionally well.

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » December 24th, 2007, 5:35 am

Another clip of Michael SKINNER performed the
Three Card Monte.


http://www.dailymotion.com/fondouble/vi ... kinner_fun

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Re: Michael Skinner

Postby Guest » December 24th, 2007, 8:52 am

The Skinner clips have been removed from YouTube due to "copyright claim by Carson Productions".

Too bad :(



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