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griz326 Regular user Eureka, Montana 129 Posts |
Everyone had an old uncle Al who pulled a quarter out of their ear as a kid. You know, a really sloppy French Drop and a herky-jerky production from your ear. Right?
After watching a slew of coin "magicians" on YouTube, I had to get on my soapbox; apologies in advance. Sleight-of-hand, IMO, should be a smooth, elegant, ballet with your hands with no unnecessary contortions. If contortions are necessary to execute the sleight, then it must be covered by a meaningful movement of the other hand (not hand washing) or misdirection. Especially disturbing are contortions made using gaffs. A common example is unnesting the CSB gaff, but you no doubt have seen others. The real masters rarely look clumsy and if they do it is by design. Consider Daryl's 3Fly, MB's Grandpa's Coins, or the young Micky Wong. SOAPBOX=OFF Perhaps my rant is jealousy of those with the brass to attempt magic before it is flawless in their hands. Maybe it is frustration at not being able to achieve the perfection that I desire. Thanks for letting me vent, now I'm off to my mirror. |
Wednesday New user 80 Posts |
I'm a big fan of Kainoa for that reason and watching his performances on YouTube thoroughly convinced me of having a aestheticly pleasing finger palm.
His shuttle passes are oddly satisfying to watch. My own thoughts about people not being as practiced when they release magic content onto the Web is either a real lack of self awareness to be critical of their own work or maybe varying levels of being critical. Or that they just don't care about the aesthetics of the sleights and performance. Theoretically the motions were all "correct" but hands looking cramped cause they're holding out, timings all whacked, performance is rushed, or performance is too slow probably fly. But in the end, for video, people have the luxury to take as many takes as they want to get it "perfect". And I think the people you've been watching are ultimately what I'd describe as lazy. Unwillingly to take the time to do as many takes as needed and maybe even unwilling to put in the actual needed practice and being humble or critical enough to accept "I need more practice. But I know what I need to focus my practice on since I have a lot of recordings of myself". I don't know though. Admittedly I've asked myself this multiple times when I run across poorly executed magic on Instagram. If it takes me a 100 takes. It'll take a 100 takes or I'll do it another day. |
griz326 Regular user Eureka, Montana 129 Posts |
When I made my living voicing radio and TV commercials, one take buys was the key to being re-booked. Now the famous talent got do-overs without penalty, but for the rank 'n file, one-take is the key to building a rep. Personally, I preferred working for directors who wanted to see how good I could make it.
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funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
Perhaps "flawlessly" is an imperfect objective. Normal movements in life are not static repetitions, but natural adaptations to environment and conditions.
Since the objective of a sleight should be "never happened," the training should be natural and congruent movements of hands, arms and body ALL of the time. For example, if you wish to have a natural hand position that allows for a coin in Ramsey, then you practice that position in everyday interactions - ALL of the time. For me this is a posture called Point. My lower finger are slightly curled and the ring and middle touching. The little finger is a bit separate. My forefinger is almost straight and extended in a relaxed point. My thumb is above and separate at about 45 degrees. My 'point' is a casual gesture to the other hand, a stranger in greeting or a bug crawling on the ground. My hand returns to that posture immediately after handling a cup of coffee or handing a dollar bill. The nice part is that I can have a coin palmed 24/7 if I desire - with no one at a store, church or dinner party knowing it is there -- or not. When I execute any sleight with coin, ball, piece of candy, whatever there is no change of posture or position of fingers. If I practice a new sleight I adapt the suggested handling to my Point posture, never changing my posture much to meet someone else's ideal finger position. that's is, what my audience sees of my sweeping hand movements and hand positions does not change and minor shifts of thumb or little finger does unnoticed. Yes, there are some exciting grips and palming potions I cannot do (choose not to use) in favor of this congruency of actions. But this is overshadowed by my ability to always know where the coin is in my hand without looking or checking - to move a coin from FingerPalm to Crimp to Palmer Clip to Downs to no "to the audience" change in finger positions or hand posture. A second advantage is that I do not have to act when hold an object in my closed hand (or not). The mere fact that I am not in Point means that I am holding something by Implication or Inference. Many Psychological Ploys become available because of the controlled repeatability of movements. No mirror required - just dedication.
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
Atom3339 Inner circle Spokane, WA 3242 Posts |
Ponta The Smith.
TH
Occupy Your Dream |
Atom3339 Inner circle Spokane, WA 3242 Posts |
Sol Stone.
TH
Occupy Your Dream |
griz326 Regular user Eureka, Montana 129 Posts |
Thank you, funsway.
I bought both Ponta the Smith DVDs, atom3339, to decide what I think about his coin work. Obviously, the work itself is outstanding, but WTF is it, entertainment for coin magicians or magic I'm still undecided. |
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Poetry in coins didn’t get me gigs.
Connecting with my audience did. There was a story about a young finger flicker at a Chicago bar who sat in for one of the regulars. Comments included - yeah he was OK, but we l like that “fat guy” that is usually here. Practice and you can do as good as my 67 year of hands. https://youtu.be/onRryr-MGbY
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
griz326 Regular user Eureka, Montana 129 Posts |
It is connecting with an audience that I miss most. Although having magic hands again is right up there...
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harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Did your hands get injured?
If you did injure them, have you been to PT. 35 years ago I damaged the tendons of my right hand leaving the fingers useless. It took awhile just to get my hand to open. The video above is just putting a few moves in Bobo together.
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
griz326 Regular user Eureka, Montana 129 Posts |
My hands are:
Old, arthritic, and have nerve damage resulting from spine surgery. None of this prevents me from doing coin magic for myself. However, I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable performing close-up again. |
griz326 Regular user Eureka, Montana 129 Posts |
Shin Lim claims to have recovered from even worse problems. His youth was no doubt an essential ingredient in his recovery.
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