Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Discuss your favorite close-up tricks and methods.
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Dave Buck
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Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Dave Buck » October 3rd, 2009, 1:52 am

A few months ago we partnered with Bill Goodwin to bring you Siamese Twins, a DVD featuring an underground version of Card Warp. The effect was not only strong and visually stunning, Goodwin was able to provide the complete history behind the effect as well as go into expert instruction by applying his experience as a practiced professional, studied inventor and professional author of magic. Siamese Twins received rave reviews but was only a tease for what was to come. Previously Dan and I mentioned a full DVD was in the works and were pleased to finally say the legendary card magic of Bill Goodwin will come to life on October 31st.

Reflections, the title of the project, has been in the making for months. Although strenuous, it has been a wonderful and rewarding experience working with Goodwin as his level of perfection exceeds ours and everything about the DVD has been thought out to the last part. There is not one detail that has been left out and many effects on the DVD feature alternate handlings and additional routines.

With over 2 hours of performances, in-depth instruction and complete history behind each routine and sleight, Reflections is not simply a DVD on tricks, but an important course for the advancement of your card magic.

It is a great pleasure of ours to work with such a master and an honor to present his magic.

Reflections by Bill Goodwin will be available this Halloween on dananddave.com. Stay tuned for a teaser and a list of effects included on the DVD.

With this being said, what are your favorite Bill Goodwin effects?
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Leonard Hevia
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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Leonard Hevia » October 3rd, 2009, 8:50 pm

"The Vanishing Penumbra"

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Dave Buck » October 5th, 2009, 2:13 pm

The DVD master and artwork have been sent to the printer! With every project, we aim to step up our game and Reflection is no exception. It's one of our most professionally produced DVDs to date.

Reflection represents an exquisite selection of eleven ingenious effects from one of our eras finest card magicians. In addition, there are numerous variations, alternate handlings and sleights consuming this 2.5 hour DVD. Only a small number of Goodwins effects have seen print, and in limited editions. This is the first time a collection of his material has ever been released on DVD.

Shot in High Definition in Hollywood, California. Includes a 12 page booklet written by Bill Goodwin.

View an assortment of screengrabs from the DVD on our facebook at facebook.com/dananddave

Available THIS HALLOWEEN
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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Stan Willis » October 5th, 2009, 3:16 pm

Leonard,

You make an excellent point. I wonder if the multitude of us who fell victim to the previous vanishing act will be allowed a discount or something regarding this latest offering. I'm not going to hold my breath!

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Joe Mckay » October 5th, 2009, 7:12 pm

A DVD of Bill's wonderful magic?

I'm in!

Joe

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Leonard Hevia » October 5th, 2009, 7:18 pm

Hi Stan--I didn't fall victim because I didn't renew my subscription for the second year. I bailed out because I was low on cash at the time. I slowly picked up copies of the second year at Barry's Magic as they were published.

Subscibing to a new magic publication is a gamble. I hope Mr. Goodwin pulls through, Lord knows he's brilliant.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Stan Willis » October 6th, 2009, 1:01 pm

No doubt, Bill Goodwin is a brillant thinker and sometimes brillant thinkers have to step up to the plate and do the right thing if they want to maintain their batting average.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Pete McCabe » October 7th, 2009, 2:51 pm

Bill Goodwin is the only magician I have ever seen who can do a Biddle steal and make it look good.

This probably doesn't seem like much of a boast to most of you. But I have seen hundreds upon hundreds of magicians do a Biddle steal, including some of the best and most famous in the world of magic, and it always looks awkward. Always. Bill is the only one who does the move in a way that makes me say "I wish I could do that move."

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 7th, 2009, 3:05 pm

video clip so we can watch and maybe learn?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Pete McCabe » October 7th, 2009, 3:10 pm

Jonathan,

Just watch a clip of every other magician doing the move. You'll learn.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 7th, 2009, 3:18 pm

Okay, now how about done well?
Mundus vult decipi -per Caleb Carr's story Killing Time

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Stan Willis » October 8th, 2009, 6:46 am

[quote="Pete McCabe"]Bill Goodwin is the only magician I have ever seen who can do a Biddle steal and make it look good.

Forget about Biddle!

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 8th, 2009, 9:37 am

? oh?

The overhand grip approach to handing cards is basic, what's to replace that sleight?
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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Pete McCabe » October 8th, 2009, 10:14 am

It's not the grip, although the overhand grip is only basic to card magic, not to actual card playing. It's the non-smoothness of the action of the steal.

Sorry I don't have any links to clips. I guess we'll have to wait for Bill's DVDs.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Stan Willis » October 8th, 2009, 1:28 pm

WHEW!!!!!!!

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Leonard Hevia » October 8th, 2009, 5:17 pm

It's easy to get caught up and fumble when doing an "easy" move like the Biddle Steal. Even a split second delay can look awkward. A good way to practice it repeatedly is to work on Aldo Colombini's Multiple Selection routine. The Biddle Steal is the basis for it.

I think Johnny Thompson does it well on his Commercial Classics DVDs.

Stan--I hope that Mr. Goodwin steps up to the plate and finishes Penumbra. Life can sometimes take you away from the main road to the swamps. He's probably wearing hip boots and fighting his way back to the interstate.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby rage » October 8th, 2009, 10:41 pm

I'm looking forward to his DVD, regardless of the Penumbra issue.
with an N

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Stan Willis » October 9th, 2009, 6:58 am

rage wrote:I'm looking forward to his DVD, regardless of the Penumbra issue.


Is there anything wrong in asking for a little accountability or should we all sit back/relax and enjoy the ride on our way to hell in a handbasket!!!!!!!

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Jonathan Townsend » October 9th, 2009, 7:14 am

Stan Willis wrote:
rage wrote:I'm looking forward to his DVD, regardless of the Penumbra issue.


Is there anything wrong in asking for a little accountability or should we all sit back/relax and enjoy the ride on our way to hell in a handbasket!!!!!!!


You can ask though such hasn't worked out so well for the last hundred years or so in this market... so enjoy the ride Toto.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby rage » October 9th, 2009, 2:22 pm

Stan: of course not.
with an N

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Stan Willis » October 9th, 2009, 4:18 pm

You can ask though such hasn't worked out so well for the last hundred years or so in this market... so enjoy the ride Toto. [/quote]

I got'ga Toto, Dorothy!!!!!!!

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 9th, 2009, 9:12 pm

Having published two small magazines (Richard's Almanac and The Looking Glass) whose last issues were long delayed and limped across the finish line--and in the end all subscribers received what they paid for--I can understand the situation well. There have been numerous other instances, such as IBIDEM, Chronicles, and so on, where their final issues took many years to come out.

We don't publish these types of magazines to make money--it's either love, a compulsion, or a combination of both. Sometimes the love grows week, the compulsion wanes, or the money dries up. The latter is often an issue, because the subscribers' money is long gone by the time the last few issues need to be printed and mailed, and that's an expensive proposition.

My guess is that Bill Goodwin and Gordon Bean simply don't have the thousands of dollars on hand to spend on the printing and postage. I don't know for certain because when I've asked either one of them about it, they just grimace and mumble something about getting it done eventually.

Until you've tried to put out one of these types of ventures yourselves, and kept it going for years, you have no idea of the work and dedication involved. For virtually everyone who does it, it becomes an albatross around the neck.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Bob Farmer » October 10th, 2009, 12:03 pm

They could do a pdf download for the subscribers -- costs nothing.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby erdnasephile » October 10th, 2009, 1:28 pm

With respect to Mr. Farmer, while I agree a pdf would help get the material out there more quickly at minimal cost, as a subscriber, I would prefer to wait for the last two issues to appear in printed form (perhaps as a double issue). I would hate to see a situation where a pdf would be seen as a way to fulfill the obligation to subcribers.

Having said that, I'm prepared to wait patiently--magic is a cottage industry and both Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Bean are good guys. Who knows--perhaps part of the profits from the DVD's will help raise the necessary cash to complete Penumbra.

Lastly, anyone thinking about publishing a magazine should reread Richard's comments above, or better yet, his comments in Apocalypse 12 and on page Lx of "The Collected Almanac".

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby erdnasephile » October 10th, 2009, 1:31 pm

One more side note: whenever situations like this occur, it reminds me how laudable the way Michael Ammar dealt with the MAJ situation really was--and how reprehensible "he who must not be named in Genii Forum"'s conduct was with regards to the BN's.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Richard Kaufman » October 10th, 2009, 7:49 pm

Oh, you mean Busby and the Braue Notebooks ... :)
Yes, Ammar is another name to add to the list of folks publishing small magazines who dug themselves out of the hole and finished the volume. In Michael's case, it wasn't even his fault, as he had a partner in that venture.
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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Dustin Stinett » October 13th, 2009, 5:02 pm

Pete McCabe wrote:It's not the grip, although the overhand grip is only basic to card magic, not to actual card playing.


Ive waited a while before commenting on this because I didnt want to hijack the thread, but since it has lost a little steam, I dont mind changing direction from Bills fine work and comment on Petes notion quoted above.

I have to respectfully disagree with Petes assessment of the overhand grips use in the real world.

Ive played with and seen hundreds to thousands of card playersthe vast majority of whom are probably non-magicianswho hold their hand (in games where you are allowed to do so) in the overhand grip and thumb off cards from the top to the bottom of the packet: Its an unconscious habit (or conscious one; a way to keep their hands in motion and not do anything else that might be a tell).

They sometimes hold the cards by the ends and they sometimes hold the cards by the sides; but the grip is what we like to call the Biddle Grip. Its a perfectly natural grip in the real world of card playing for even casual players. Many (certainly not all) people who play, and during their deal, will take the deck from their left hand dealing position into the right hand overhand grip and table the deck: Again, a perfectly natural motion.

When I was in my early/mid teens, my older cousin, who was a floor walker at the Monterey Card Club in Gardena, California, would sometimes take me to work where I was allowed to stay on a perimeter walkway and watch the players (back then, everyone played five card draw). Thats where I really took notice of this phenomenonthough Id seen my own parents and our neighbors doing the same thing in their games. The epiphany I had was that it was the grip I was using for the Elmsley Count that was completely unnatural. Thats when I invented an Elmsley Count from a Biddle Grip. It was only a few years later, when I got the book Counts, Moves, and Subtlety by Jerry Mentzer, that I learned that I had reinvented the Veezer Count.

But since my epiphany, I have always counted/displayed cards from the Biddle Grip. Ive adapted everything I do to it. I can even do a Buckle Count from the overhand grip.

I had a discussion about this with Dai Vernon and, while he steadfastly preferred the grip he used, he agreed with the concept of consistency of grips for various counts and displays. Nothing is worse than watching a magician display/count cards using different grips as needed by a given procedure, That is unnatural.

Now, in regard to the motion, its all about pacing (as correctly noted by Pete). Many magicians count the cards with a smooth, quick pace then suddenly come to a near dead stop when it comes time for the exchange (whether leaving or taking). Slowing down during practice, then gradually increasing the pace to a more natural one while still doing the move smoothly is the key.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Pete McCabe » October 13th, 2009, 10:44 pm

I will yield to Dustin's greater experience. I've never spent any time in a poker club and have never seen anyone thumbing off cards from top to bottom of the packet in the casual poker games I've played.

BTW it sounds like a terrible ideawouldn't it drastically increases your chances of flashing one (or more) of your cards? Of course, just because something is a bad idea doesn't mean people don't do it.

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Dave Buck » October 20th, 2009, 6:48 pm

Dan and I recently sat down with Bill Goodwin to record a podcast. Listen in as Goodwin talks about his history in magic, favorite books and creators and the new material on Reflection - his new DVD available this Halloween.
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Reflections by Bill Goodwin - Effect Descriptions

Postby Dave Buck » October 28th, 2009, 6:20 pm

Reflection represents an exquisite selection of eleven ingenious effects from one of our eras finest card magicians, Bill Goodwin. Included is material culled from his hard to find lecture notes as well as several effects never before published. This is the first time a collection of his secrets has ever been released on DVD.

Using only an ordinary pack of cards, discover the secrets of a true sleight of hand artist and experience the deviant card magic of Bill Goodwin.

[size:14pt]Effect Descriptions[/size]

[color:#FF6600]Oxnard Split[/color]
A highly visual handling of Paul Harris Las Vegas Split. A Four transforms into two Twos followed by each of the Twos transforming into two Aces.

[color:#FF6600]One Off[/color]
The magician attempts to find a selected card, however, he is off by one. To remedy the situation, the magician splits the card into two cards to reveal the selection.

[color:#FF6600]Off Balance Transposition[/color]
A three-phase routine where a selected card and the four Aces repeatedly switch places culminating with a visual transformation of the selection into the four Aces.

[color:#FF6600]The Paint Brush Change (Roy Walton)[/color]
Roy Waltons wonderful full face visual change.

[color:#FF6600]Double Lift Unload[/color]
A deceptive technique for unloading the lowermost card of a double so that it appears as if the card never goes flush with the deck.

[color:#FF6600]About Face[/color]
A card held at your fingertips turns over visually with just a stroke of your thumb. A handling for Alex Elmsleys Turn-About Card.

[color:#FF6600]Twisting the Kings[/color]
A direct handling of Dai Vernons classic Twisting the Aces finishing with all four cards turning over simultaneously.

[color:#FF6600]The Mirage Trick[/color]
The magician offers to show the audience a mirage. A selection is produced between two cards, but immediately vanishes proving that its appearance was just a mirage. Included in the explanation is a handling of the Bluff Pass.

[color:#FF6600]Spectator Cuts to the Aces[/color]
A clean and direct handling of this classic plot. The method highlights a versatile unloading technique that can be applied to other effects. The deck can be completely shuffled and cut into four piles by a spectator. The top card of each pile is turned over to reveal the Aces.

[color:#FF6600]Mistaken Sandwich[/color]
A card is produced between two others. Realizing that it is not the selection, the magician causes it to change into the correct card. The three cards can be examined.

[color:#FF6600]Reciprocity[/color]
The four Kings and the four Aces change places instantly. Two handlings are included.

[color:#FF6600]Hold the Mayo[/color]
The four Aces are produced one at a time from between two Jokers.

With over 2.5 hours of performances, in-depth instruction and the complete history behind each routine and sleight, Reflection is not simply a DVD on tricks, but an important course for the advancement of your card magic. Shot in High Definition with multiple camera angles. Includes a 10 page booklet.

Stay tuned for the preview video to be posted later this week.

[size:14pt]Available October 31st at 12pm EST. Only at dananddave.com [/size]
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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Dave Buck » October 28th, 2009, 11:24 pm

The trailer has been posted. WATCH IT NOW!
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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby rkosby » November 25th, 2009, 4:29 am

Great job on the DVD Dave. I watched Reflections yesterday. I posted this on the Magic Cafe forum earlier but I thought it belonged here too.

I've known Bill for a long time so everything I'm about write is biased, but it's also true.

The Paint Brush Change looked like the face of the card suddenly changed while it was in plain view. In my opinion, Bill's magic has a distinctive look partly because of the brilliant way he applies this technique. He gave an enlightening history of the move too. I love how many times it's been reinvented and the subtle handling differences.

My favorite tricks on the video are:

Twisting the Kings
Hold the Mayo
Spectator Cuts the Aces
Oxnard Split

The handling's were clean and economical too. Bill's descriptions included timing, reasons, and cover for every move. The best part was seeing Bill perform. He has the touch when it comes to handling cards.

I especially liked Twisting the Kings. Each count looked consistent. There were no shifting or adjusting the cards between counts. There was a surprise, visual ending. It's impromptu. What a great trick.

The Spectator Cuts the Aces is hands down my favorite method for that effect.

By the way, Bill's touch on the bluff pass is a gem.

Ray

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Larry Horowitz » November 26th, 2009, 2:57 am

I am just going to add to Ray's comments that my favorite from the DVD was "Off Balance Transposition."

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby Joe Mckay » November 26th, 2009, 5:30 pm

Great DVD! Two things I will use for the rest of my life are Bill's handling for 'The Paintbrush Change' and 'The Bluff Pass'. The history behind the Paintbrush Change is really interesting to hear as well...

Looking forward to more volumes in the future!

Joe

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Re: Reflections by Bill Goodwin

Postby magicfish » March 15th, 2010, 1:35 am

Hi Dave, looking forward to the DVD. (Although I really wish it was a book) anyway to answer your question, its not a Goodwin trick but it is a great move- its Bill Goodwins Two Ton Transpo from Swains Miracles with Cards. Awesome!

Rodney


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