Lee Darrow wrote:

Don Alan's Ranch Bird
Okito's Oho
Slydini's paper Balls To Box
Vernon's The Challenge
The Purse Swindle (an old con game from the UK that isn't well known over here at all)
Scoop Vanisher (do it in their hand for extra credit)
Victor's Magnetic Cards (Edward Victor)
Shigeo Takagi's Lemon Trick

And that's just for openers. Not new. All of it at least 30 years old. But I'm willing to bet that not one magician on this board under the age of 25 does any of these effects.


Lee, I'm 24 and perform Don Alans Ranch Bird and several of Slydinis effects including paperballs over the head, and a stand up version of paper balls in the hat. I'll try not to take offense to the fact that you'd believe no one under the age of 25 would have stumbled across any of these miracles, but I do understand the rationale behind your comment.

I have been lucky enough to have a mentor( the amazing Woody Landers) who has been more than gracious in sharing his knowledge of magic and what works for real people. And anyone who knows Woody also knows that if you show him one trick, he can give you 10 that are along those same lines from 30 years ago. As the serious student knows, this is an extremely valuable tool to have.

The problem with most of us in the newer generation of magic, is we don't take the time to read, nor do we actually STUDY magic. We emulate the styles of people we've come across in video, on DVD and consider ourselves magi. I was lucky enough to escape that line of thought.

If you are interested in other older effects for the table side conjuror along the same lines as these. Check out a couple of the coin effects in The Best of Benzais, or check out the Al Flosso book by Gary Brown, as they are some of my favorites......

I'll be a tiny bit politically incorrect here, and say that SOMETIMES, newer is better, especially for younger magicians. There is some really cutting edge, extreme magic being created these days, and it's stuff Dai Vernon and Ed Marlo never would have thought of. Every other art progresses, both with technique and material, and I think it's possible that a unnecessary loyalty to traditional magic contributes to the old-fashioned image magic has with some folks.

I think theater and music are good comparisions. Yes, there are lots of revivals out there. Some wonderful shows that people (especially the older generation) will return to again and again. But can you imagine if there were no new shows. No theater tackling the issues of the day that people couldn't write about 30 or 50 years ago?

Which would you rather see, a fellow in the Holiday Inn singing old standards, or modern, topical music made for today's audiences. There are some great old songs, and thank goodness most contemporary artists include a remake or two on their albums. But that's 1 out of 12 or 13 tracks. I've often complained that if magic were music, most magicians would be Holiday Inn lounge lizards, performing pieces they're not connected to, and material that isn't so relevant to today's audiences.

magic can be as relevant and meaningful as other art forms, I think. And while every art form must rely on its past, it also has to move forward. I don't think there's anything wrong with looking for new material, and ESPECIALLY, looking for modern presentational styles.

Joshua your comparison is a bit flawed I am afraid. First of all we may very well think of ourslevs as an art form, but very few outside our little inbread community do. Theater and music do not compare correctly.

We are a lot more like the circus.

The problem with it is that there really is nothing new under the sun. Card gets picked, lost and found. That is basically card magic. There are exceptions to the rule, but in general this holds true.

Johnny Carson used to say there were only 7 jokes and all others are simply a variation of those. He was right.

Most new magic and "cutting edge" stuff can be traced pretty easily back to somewhere in time. Now taking old magic and making it 21st century, now that is cool. Making the "RED HOT MAMMA" a trick you can use without the tired old phrase "RED HOT MAMMA" for example. The point in looking at what has been done is to see what can be done, and what you can do with it.

By the way, most magicians ARE the equivilant of Holiday Inn lounge Lizards I agree wholeheartedly. But WHY is that the truth is the question.

Danny

Joshua,

I agree that there is a lot of good new magic coming at us daily. I just get frustrated that that is all that many seem to do. I laud Godhandz for his list of excellent, well thought out, killer magic. New is not bad unless it is done to death. Look at stage magic. Most everyone seems to be doing basically the same illusions; eg., oragami, twister etc. Not bad, just too much of the same.

Joe