I have been an avid amateur for 40 years. This was my typical repertoire when I was 14 or 15 years old.

- Chop cup
- Color changing knives
- Brainwave deck
- Out of this world
- Prof Nightmare
- Sun & Moon (coin)
- Linking Rings
- Zombie

40 years later I am somewhat startled and intrigued that gosh darn it, those are all strong effects and I could pretty much be performing those same effects to this very day. In some sense I feel like I have traveled around the world only to meet the girl next door.

I've posted this in the "New to magic?" section as food-for-thought for beginners out there. You can "collect" magic and that is fine. But you can be a "Magician" and "Entertainer" with just a handful of effects that you work to perfection and make your own.

You may be thinking, "Linking Rings? Zombie? Those are dated and stale". I would agree with you if performed exactly the way they were 30 years ago. The challenge is to think differently and make it something new, fresh and entertaining. Case in point, my linking ring routine ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI-sqY_XAFw ) looks nothing like it did 40 years ago, yet it is one of routines I am most proud of and gets the greatest reactions... and it has only continued to get better since I made this video of our first performance.

Karl Rabe
The Raven

I liked your post for the general points you made.

Here comes the "but".....But, you need to understand that you cannot "collect" MAGIC. Not only can you not collect MAGIC, you cannot buy MAGIC, and you cannot own MAGIC.

You can buy,own, and collect PROPS and/or SECRETS. --with which you can perform a TRICK, which, if you have performed it well, with a pleasing presentation will create an EFFECT, which the spectator sees, or thinks that he sees. If the presentation of the TRICK, was simple, so the spectator can easily understand it,the MAGIC will happen, not in your hands (or his hands) not on the stage, but, in the spectator's mind. Here comes another "but".....But, MAGIC IS NOT INHERENTLY ENTERTAINING. For the MAGIC to be entertaining, the EFFECT must also be fun.

The "William Tell Overture" is a classic. Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is a classic. (I'm not going to present a "dissertation" on "what is a classic".) If the orchestra doesn't play the music well,it's still a classic. If the actor blows the lines,it's still a classic. BUT,neither is entertaining!

The Linking Rings are a classic, The Egg Bag is a classic. Cups & Balls are a classic. Zombi is almost a classic. (A matter of opinion, eh?) Well presented, Rings, Egg Bag, Cups & Balls,etc. can be entertaining. Poorly presented, they're atill classics, however they can be boring. Ditto for Zombi.

It was unclear whether the video was from forty years ago.

I agree Dick! You call it a "but", I see it as an "and.."

Hi Raven! "AND", I agree! I wrote that, to "back up" your statement, and to help new people who read the threads, to understand some of our terms. --and, to reemphasize that the classics are not inherently "dated and stale".

Too often, it's the PRESENTATION of those beautiful "pieces of magic" which is dated and stale. I put the Mutilated Parasol "in" in 1992. It gives me a SHOW STOP LAUGH! --EVERY TIME! --PRESENTATATION! (Every time I pick up the Parasol, I am silently thanking my friend, the late Don Lawton, for his idea!

MOSTLY, I perform the classics. --PRESENTATION!!! makes the difference! YOU know that,I'm sure, but, (this time,its a "real" but!)but. we have new young people (and, a few older people) joining the Café, every day, and, some of us old geezers just keep explaining the basics (and reminding some of the others, who may have forgotten those basics!

Oh! I put the rings "in" in 1971. They get nice laughs, and a big mitt at the finish. When I pick up the rings, I'm silently thanking my old pal, Karrell Fox, for his motivating me to use them.

Dick - I was lucky to have the opportunity to meet Karrell Fox several times when I was just a lad. My Dad was the PR man for the Univ of Detroit and later for the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. I was present backstage when Karrell Fox performed at U of D for the students one time and a couple of times at Grand Hotel I saw his night club act as well as a close-up show he did. He had a big influence on my passion for performing.