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BAGWIZ Loyal user San Francisco Bay Area 234 Posts |
Frankly, I'm not even sure this is the right place to post this item - but here goes.
I have been a magician for over 35 years, performing professionally off and on throughout that period. The thing that is perhaps a bit unusual about me is that I've been partially sighted (e.g. legally blind) since birth. My acuity is 20/200 in the right eye and basically I see shapes and color with the left. There is no cure or correction and over the years I've basically always been able to find ways to compensate. That is, except in a few key areas. One of these is the area of mentalism and more specifically, using billets, peek wallets and any other effect that requires the ability to spot a word, phrase, etc., from a distance. This has been a great disappointment to me, because I have always loved mentalism and many of the book tests and other effects involving center tears, etc. The problem isn't that I can't read what is written on a billet or whatever; I can. The problem is that typically I have to put something written about 3 inches from my face in order to make it out clearly ... and I sometimes have to take extra time to do it. Call me crazy, but somehow the effect seems lost if the mentalist or magician has to hold something in front of his nose for five or six seconds to aparantly read it, when he claims to be able to capture the thought mentally! So I guess what I am asking is for anyone's ideas on how I might overcome some of these obstacles. Basically I feel like I'm so close to the problem that I can't see (no punn intended) it from a fresh perspective. Perhaps there are ways I can overcome some of these challenges, or perhaps not. I don't know. So I am just asking for ideas and feedback. Can you think of ways I could get information off of a billet, without making it look too obvious? Can you think of ways I might use a peek wallet, that won't make it look like I'm peeking? What wallet might be best for someone in my situation? Or should I just avoid performing these kinds of effects and stick with what I know and do best? As an aside, I used to really love a lot of the work done by Earle and Becker. Problem is, their book tests in particular require the ability to easily see and quickly read a word, phrase, etc., from a book. I've actually purchased a couple of their effects and tried to figure out how to modify them to my particular abilities ... to no avail. Anyway, you get the point and I'm sorry for going on so long. If you have ideas and thoughts, please feel free to share. Thanks in advance for any help, ideas and advice you can provide. |
Cyberqat Inner circle You can tell I work on the net from my 2209 Posts |
Well... I've only recently gotten seriously into mentalism myself so maybe Im the wrong person to comment. The only "peek" illusion I do is a Final Cut routine and you do need to be able to recognize a pretty small rendition of a movie poster witha glance for that.
BUT... what about either force based illusions or ones where the item is supposedly safely locked up? If you can work an excuse in to turn your back on the audience during a "downbeat" would that help? Im working on prediction routine right now based on a card to wallet (I built my own) and a very clever idea that comes with the Peter Nardi extractor. Basically, it gives you access to a chosen card that has been buried in a sealed deck such that, in a very natural way, you can double write to the card and then produce a "duplicate" card that is the "same as" the card sealed in the deck and has the chosen word written on it. You could also just use the extractor to bury their card and leave it in "plain view" in the "sealed deck", then turn your back to the audience and look at it It sees to me that if you cant peek you cant peek, but there are many ways to skin a spectator
It is always darkest just before you are eaten by a grue.
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Herr Brian Tabor Special user Oklahoma City 729 Posts |
I would also recommend forcing, this way you'd already know and not need to peek. Good luck though!
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euphoria5150 Regular user Russell Jeanneret 110 Posts |
Hi Bagwiz,
There are a lot of stuff in the 'mentalist' realm that you could do. For a book test, with the information you provided, I would suggested Tom Mullica's impromptu video tapes. There is a book test on there with 2 regular books, in which, the word is found way before the trick begins, and under cover of seeing how many pages are in the book. The trick itself is the 'bluff' type variety, but is very very strong. And you would have plenty of time to do the 'secret work' in front of the spectators without them getting none the wiser. There are a variety of other mentalist type effects that you could do by feel. Such as the method of the hair under the cup. Magic Makers has a nice SuperSight trick, in which, you could feel the tube and know what color chip has been removed. How about a 'Mental Board'..where you can read the minds of the spectator three times (1. a name or place 2. a special date or color 3. a card (force)). That is a great effect that doesn't have anything to do with sight. Although, you read the minds three different times and its strong! Well, hope this has helped... good luck!
Theater, cinemas, and literature are all better forums for telling stories or creating drama. Stand-up comedy is better for telling jokes. But magic is unique in creating the Twilight Zone sense of turning a corner and finding yourself on another street, in another town, in another country. Deception is the means to that end. –John Bannon
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BAGWIZ Loyal user San Francisco Bay Area 234 Posts |
Thanks everyone for all of the great ideas and suggestions. I think the thing I like most about your posts is that you are all so encouraging. It is sort of like you are all saying, "Hey, so what if you can't do it this way or that way ... try it this other way!" I like the thinking and attitude. Years ago I used to spend a lot of time at the Magic Castle and once in a while I'd run into a group that treated everyone with a question in much the same way you've treated me. Other times I'd find myself in a group full of ego-centric snobs who acted like they wouldn't help another person if their lives depended on it. You are all certainly like the former and if we were at the Castle I'd be buying you all a round or two! Cheers and thanks again. I'll be happy to hear any more suggestions and/or thoughts.
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