Dancing Cane - a new design

Discuss your favorite platform magic and illusions.
Brad Henderson
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Brad Henderson » February 10th, 2015, 5:25 pm

I think the exceptions in this case (may) prove that the rule is improperly stated. I have seen real people mesmerized by the dancing cane. that makes me reluctant to put the onus on the cane.

Jonathan Townsend
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 10th, 2015, 5:34 pm

Brad Henderson wrote:I think the exceptions in this case (may) prove that the rule is improperly stated. I have seen real people mesmerized by the dancing cane. that makes me reluctant to put the onus on the cane.


that approach gets into art versus the brushes and canvas. for our discussions here by-and-large we already know animation works for audiences ( folks buy into the effect of ventriloquism with a puppet ) and are looking at the effective/deceptive utility of the method.
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

Brad Henderson
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Brad Henderson » February 10th, 2015, 5:41 pm

and I stand by those comments. I don't believe that the cane as an idea, effect, or embodiment of method is inherently bad. Challenging to present convincingly? absolutely. But that's no less true of many effects/methods.

I hope that was an appropriate reply to your follow up.

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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 10th, 2015, 6:06 pm

I'm fine with your statements. My position is that the swingaround/rotation moves folks seem to like using are really tough sells for deception. Maybe more difficult to sell as effective deception than the backpalm work with cards that's devolved into open manipulation. Have you often seen folks get a "where the heck are they going?" to the card backpalm and turnover routines?

:)
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

IanLand
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby IanLand » February 11th, 2015, 5:19 am

Exactly right. Even when the cane or the card productions are done flawlessly, or with presentations which attempt to do something new with them, the basic problem is that these are no longer magic effects, because absolutely everybody can tell how they are done.

When I first got into magic over 40 years ago as a small child even I could tell how these things were done, instantly, no matter how well they were done.

They can be elegant theatre, and there's nothing wrong with that. And they are demonstrations of skill, for sure. But they don't fool anybody.

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Spellbinder
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Spellbinder » February 11th, 2015, 8:45 am

The same can be said of the floating ball and the floating lightbulb, but not, I believe, of the dancing handkerchief or a GOOD Zombie or Astro-sphere performance. The floating table ... I haven't seen one yet I could believe.
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Bill Mullins
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Bill Mullins » February 11th, 2015, 10:04 am

Brad Henderson wrote: I don't believe that the cane as an idea, effect, or embodiment of method is inherently bad.


But I think it is not only possible but likely that the cane, as an object, is extraordinarily difficult to present in such a way that "thread" isn't the obvious solution.

The hook up is directly to the magician, so the moves of the cane have to be generated by the magician. Everything the cane does is immediately preceded by some action from the performer, often (usually?) in a way that telegraphs what is going on. And it has to be close to the magician, because of the length of the thread. Movements of the cane are usually in an arc centered on the performer, which implies centrifugal force about the performer.

Much more effective stage levitations can be done where the thread is attached to something other than the performer (Thurston's or Hooker's rising cards, floating light bulbs, Teller's red ball, etc), or is done by a rod or similar rigid hook up (Tommy Wonder's zombie, floating table, etc).

If you want to give the impression that you can make inanimate objects come to life, this

Image

may be a better model to emulate than

Image

this.

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Alexander Wells
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Alexander Wells » February 11th, 2015, 2:45 pm

In terms of creating movements that appear dissociated from those of the performer, as one would with the zombie (it moves you're still, you move & it's still) - Some of these isolation moves from the flow performers could help...

http://youtu.be/B7j8P2hlq7c

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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Jonathan Townsend » February 11th, 2015, 3:55 pm

Getting away from the swing/string as obvious...
One may as well ask how might one use the prop to make a magical effect? IE what if the audience does not see the cane move and instead the magician uses the hookup and balance of the prop as method? Maybe there's some potential for a deceptive magic trick?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Richard Kaufman
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Re: Dancing Cane - a new design

Postby Richard Kaufman » February 11th, 2015, 11:07 pm

Earle Oakes performed Silver Stick beautifully, and even fooled Finn John with it!
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