500 magicians will materialize at convention

500 magicians will materialize at convention
As you wander around downtown this week, don't be surprised if you see someone pulling a rabbit out of a hat or making goldfish appear out of thin air.
More than 500 professional and amateur illusionists from around the world are expected to conjure plenty of excitement in Louisville during the Society of American Magicians 2006 National Convention, which runs Thursday through Saturday at the Marriott Louisville Downtown.

Card Tricks and being Shy

Card Tricks and being Shy

Learning a few card tricks is a great way for a relatively shy person to break the ice during parties. Even the most diffident individual can interact effectively with perfect strangers in spite of his shy ways. Card tricks help someone who isn’t very comfortable around people engage himself with others pretty easily.

The thing that makes an activity like this so appealing to many people who have trouble in social situations is that it provides a vehicle for interaction. The card tricks are the foundation for the conversations and exchange. Everything is scripted for the magician.

One of the most difficult aspects of dealing with people in social situations is coming up with interesting things to say. For many of us, social conversation tends to be very uncomfortable and quite awkward. Conversing behind card tricks is a great way to ease into a scripted exchange of words that appears to be natural.

Conversation can be challenging for just about everyone. Even outgoing people have moments that they wished that had a card trick or two to hide behind. Finding the right words can be stressful for many individuals. We tend to worry so much about what we are going to say next that we don’t really listen to what is being said.

Listening skills are crucial to appropriate social interaction. Ironically, few people take the time to really listen to what the other person has to say. Think about how many times you meet a new person and you realize that you have forgotten his name within seconds after hearing it. You may have heard the name but you didn’t listen to it. It slipped right past you.

Engaging in an activity like card tricks when interacting with new people will channel your intellectual focus on the task at hand. You can target certain questions and actually give yourself pause to listen to the responses. Part of the usefulness of card tricks during social interaction is control. If you direct the interaction, you maintain control of the interaction.

Of course, you aren’t going to attack a group of strangers at a party with a bunch of card tricks right away. There is nothing wrong with absorbing the situation to get a feel for how you should interact. However, they do come in handy during stale moments and someone who knows you perform tricks will probably ask you to do so. You also may find that you really don’t need the card tricks after all.

Card Tricks

The Mind of Daniel Garcia

Have you heard of Daniel Garcia?

If you are into visual, in your face Street Magic, I urge you to check out some of his DVDs. He's the "author" of Torn, Greed, Sh4de and his three volume series called the Daniel Garcia Project. Not to mention his two lecture notes: NEXT and Blueprints.

Just the other day he was on the Magic Broadcast (an internet radio station) talking a bit about some of his upcoming releases and his background. Here are some of the highlights:

His favorite effect: His Ambitious Card Routine
How long have you been creating magic: since he was nine or ten
How often do you practice: don't have set time, but said he constantly have cards in his hands...
What famous deceased magician would you like to have met: Vernon
Will there be a Daniel Garcia Project Volume 4: No, however he will be releasing 10 new effects / titles this year.
How old were you when you learned the pass: Around twelve
Last Magic Effect you bought: Card Sharpie
What are some of your upcoming releases: Torn Too (a torn piece of a playing card fully restores itself); a Gaff Deck (made in conjunction with Wayne Houchin); Bent (a coin bend); Card to Wallet

In any event, this interview with Daniel Garcia was pretty informative and enlightening... And needless to say I am looking forward to his new material.

Street Magic "Tricks"

Street Magic "Tricks"

So what types of tricks fall into the category of "Street Magic"?

It seems like most people like Card Effects (effects = tricks), since it's easy to carry. Some crowd favorites seem to be: the Ambitious Card Routine, where a chosen card jumps back to the top of the packet no matter where you place it in the deck; Two Card Monte, a 2-card version of the favorite street con game with 3 cards. I mention these in particular as they are effects performed by David Blaine on one of his many television specials...

Other types of magic that lends itself to impromptu magic performances on the street are effects utilizing: money, rubberbands, coins, cetain types of mentalism / psychokinetic effects etc.

Some effects that are talked about a lot on various forums are: Hundy 500 (money effect) by Gregory Wilson; Strange Travelers (card effect) by Paul Harris; Greed (money effect) by Daniel Garcia; Sinful (coin effect) by Wayne Houchin; Saw (Geek Magic) by Sean Fields; Crazyman's handcuffs (not sure who the originator is) taught by Michael Ammar; Sh4de (coin effect) by Daniel Garcia; Stigmata by Wayne Houchin; Metal bending routines (including silverware and coins) with the ever so popular Banachek.

Some of these require setups (gaffs), but all of these can be performed on a moment's notice.

I'll be a bit more specific with some of these effects in the future... with some of my personal opinions and reviews.

Stay tuned.

What exactly is Street Magic?

What is Street Magic?

I think what most people associate with "Street Magic" is the visual, impromptu, in-your-face, hit-and-run magic that has been popularized by David Blaine over the past few years.

Another term that's been used quite a bit is Guerilla Magic. This is where a magician would walk up to (or ambush) unsuspecting people and perform one or two impromptu magic effects.

Prior to this, this genre was called "busking" or "Strolling Magic"...

Some say that Street Magic is just a fad, but the truth is that this form of entertainment has been around since the inception of magic... and will be around for a long time to come.

So, why all of this hoopla???

Because Street Magic is unpredictable, different and has an edge to it.

There are so many variables when performing for strangers on the street. It forces the performer to adapt and learn what is effective and... not.

There's nothing like practicing your magic day after day and finally getting out in front of "real people"... AND getting insane reactions from people you've never met!

In future posts, I'll share some resources and review the different types of material that's available for the aspiring street magician.

Stay tuned.

Street Magic

Welcome to my Street Magic Blog. Here you will learn about Street Magic and tips on how you can learn Street Magic effects as popularized by David Blaine on TV.