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danaruns Special user The City of Angels 808 Posts |
This is going to sound like an ad or an infomercial, but it's not.
As a birthday gift, I got two days of private magic lessons from Jeff McBride (Friday and yesterday). I'm just writing to say I thought it was AMAZING. My head is still spinning with the tremendous amount of content I received, geared specifically to my level. Mind officially blown. I got technique, philosophy, presentation and had a lot of fun. And I walked out at the end with a close-up show, a parlor show, a stage show, and social magic. Waaaay more content than I had anticipated. Plus, he turned out to be a really nice guy and a phenomenally good teacher. I was impressed with his professionalism and humanness. He gets a rap in some corners as being "hippy dippy," but this was hard, solid magic teaching, intense from the first moment to the last. Not all great magicians are great teachers, but Jeff is both. I've done a lot in my life and have been fortunate to know the best in many fields of endeavor. So I know quality when I see it. And my friends, as a teacher Jeff has it. It was such a pleasure. I have always loved learning from the best in any profession, and Jeff shares the attributes of the best of them: depth and breadth of knowledge, flexibility, a personal approach and tremendous professionalism. He is a truly gifted teacher, and far exceeded my expectations. I know I sound gushing, here. It is only because I am still on a high from the staggering amount of content I walked away with. In two days I improved every aspect of my magic. It was far beyond what I expected. I thought I would learn a few tricks and pick his brain about performance. I thought performance is what I could best take from him. But he told me that I'm pretty strong (at one point he called it "intense" during some mentalism), and what I came for actually ended up being only a very tiny part of what I took away. I guess I'm saying all this for two reasons: (1) I posted here a couple months ago asking folks what I should try to get from lessons with Jeff so I'm reporting on the results, and (2) I want to let anyone who may have some hesitation about spending the money to take lessons or classes from Jeff not to worry, it will be money well spent. After two days, I feel like a much improved and refined magician. I got a lot of nuance. I have so much new content I can't keep it all straight (thankfully, Jeff wrote it all down and I have dozens of videos). It turned out to be the best birthday gift ever! End of fangirl rant.
"Dana Douglas is the greatest magician alive. Plus, I'm drunk." -- Foster Brooks
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Brad Burt Inner circle 2675 Posts |
Jeff McBride is far and away one of the nicest people in magic...ever. Over the years (40+) as a dealer you get to hear lots of stuff about lots of magicians. I have never heard a negative comment from anyone who had actually met him and spent even a short time with him. Good for you for posting.
Brad Burt
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GreenKnight33 Regular user 151 Posts |
Wow, thanks for following up! Sounds wonderful. May I ask about logistics? Was it four hours on skype, hour for lunch, then four more?
Thanks, GreenKnight |
danaruns Special user The City of Angels 808 Posts |
Actually, I went to Las Vegas and did it in person. We went from 10am to 6pm, with a "working lunch." I don't think I would have gotten nearly as much if I had done it by Skype. There was tremendous value to being there, standing right next to him and copying his moves, letting him correct things in my positioning, and having him burn my hands on everything. Couldn't get all that from a Skype session. Plus, uh, I got to go to Vegas, where I watched the taping of Season 3 of "Penn & Teller: Fool Us," and went to Mat Franco's show at the Linq. Coulda been worse!
"Dana Douglas is the greatest magician alive. Plus, I'm drunk." -- Foster Brooks
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Doug Trouten Elite user Minnesota 471 Posts |
Thanks so much for posting this follow-up. I remember your original post and was actually wondering how it had turned out. It's great to hear that Jeff is a gracious in person as we would hope he would be. I've found that people who love their craft more than they love themselves are often generous with their time when they have a chance to help a kindred spirit.
It's still magic even if you know how it's done.
Terry Pratchett |
GreenKnight33 Regular user 151 Posts |
Thanks for the details. Yeah, definitely could not have done that with skype.
Greenknight |
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