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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Anyone have this? Just saw it is now printed on Hocus Pocus website, but it is also an eBook at Lybrary.com...sounds interesting!
http://www.lybrary.com/black-pri-589.html?reviews_id=164 This is not just -strong- but -Army strong-. Black is a compilation of all of Dan’s work many years in the making. All of the following effects are practical, direct, and creative. These effects have been designed and tested for the real world, anytime, anywhere. Dan has been working for nearly a year now on this project. INKED: A card is chosen from a blue backed deck and signed. It is lost back into the deck. The performer places the deck down, and claims he possesses a magical red backed card. He cleanly pulls out his wallet, and takes out a red backed card. Slowly, he reveals that the signature has transposed onto the red backed card that has been in his wallet the entire time. NO CHARGE: A super visual ace production. With no cover whatsoever, four aces visually appear out of nowhere. A great opener for any routine! BURN: A card is signed, and the spectator tears it into several pieces. The performer introduces a lighter, and sets the pieces alight on top of the deck. After the flame dies out, he rubs the ashes against the back of the top card of the deck. He then instructs the spectator to turn over the top card…their signed card! Everything happens in the spectator’s hands, and the book includes several devious handlings behind this wonderful effect. MEMORY: This technique will allow you to memorize the order of a deck shuffled by the spectator! You can name almost any card at any location with ease. With the right presentation, this will kill audiences. INFRARED: Imagine this. A sealed invisible deck effect…the spectator thinks of any card. They name it, and they remove the plastic. They break the seal, and spread through in their own hands. One card is flipped over in the middle. It is their chosen card. This routine is devastating, and can be accomplished in one simple setup. AMIDST: This is Dan’s classic three phase sandwich effect. Four aces are visually produced by the “No Charge” production. The aces are removed, and held in one packet. The magician places one red ace back into the deck. As soon as the other red ace is sandwiched between the two black aces, it swaps places with the red ace placed into the middle of the deck. The magician claims he will take it one step further. The spectator shuffles the four aces back in randomly. He claims the black ink is more dense, so it will sandwich the red aces, no matter the location in the deck. To his surprise, two jokers are sandwiching the two red aces. The black aces are nowhere to be found…only to end up in the spectator’s pocket! INFERNAL CHEAT: An amazing revelation involving a borrowed watch, and a deck of cards. The magician has a spectator choose any card. He claims he will reveal it in a very odd way. The value of their card, corresponds with the time on their watch. So if they picked a four, their watch would jump forward to four o’ clock. Anytime, anywhere, and absolutely devastating. ENEMY: This an amazing card stab routine. The spectator points to any card, but the face is never looked at. To keep track of the card, the spectator signs the back of it. It is lost back into the deck, and the cards are spread all around an open table face up. The performer introduces a knife, raises it high, and drives it straight into the table. Low and behold, he has stabbed one single card. The audience knows what’s coming for them. He slowly lifts the knife to reveal their exact signature punctured by the knife. TRANSPORT: Another cards across routine? No. This one blows them all out of the water. Everything happens in the spectator’s hands, and there are no difficult sleights involved. The performer begins with a red deck, but it is somewhat old and clumped up. He continues to have the spectator sign the card, and lose it back into the deck. He claims he will attempt to finish the effect with a new deck. He pulls out a blue deck out of the box, and in the middle, one red backed card is found. Their signed card. SCITHE: Same card in the end. This is Dan’s take on the classic here then there. This is truly an astonishing transposition, as no duplicates are involved. He replaced the duplicate with a new force, making the effect that much stronger. This effect will blow audiences away even in the worst situations. You can do it with a borrowed deck! IMPRESSION: Two variations of this effect are taught. A card is signed, and buried in the middle. The magician claims he can make it jump to the top, but the top card is only found to be blank. He walks over to any copy machine, or computer scanner, and makes a fresh copy of the blank card. As it slowly prints out, their chosen card is printed on the paper. A second variation is taught, where the magician snaps a photo of the blank card with a cell phone camera. Right after the picture is taken, you can see the faint outline of their chosen card in the saved photo. An absolutely devastating effect, and an even better method. LIGHTNING MONTE: This effect is based around the classic two card Monte, but Dan took it several steps further. The magician cleanly places one ace in their fingers. At lightning speed, they instantly switch. The cards could be face up if you wanted them to be! Finally, it ends with the classic transposition of the jokers. This routine will heighten your reactions on any of your Monte routines! No gaffs, duplicates, or gimmicks. This can be done with a borrowed deck. TORCHED: This routine is perfect for you devious restaurant magicians out there! The magician takes a straw wrapper, and writes every card in one suit on the wrapper. He then has the spectator choose any card. He introduces a book of matches, and he sets the wrapper alight. It quickly burns up, but the flame instantly extinguishes itself right before one card written on the wrapper. So if they chose a four, it would stop at the four. A truly amazing reveal! Dan also provides awesome advice on how to routine this with a previous effect in the book, Burn. FLAW: Dan saved the best for last. This card to box effect will kill audiences. It is super easy, direct, and practical. He introduces a red deck and blue deck both in their boxes. He removes both decks from their boxes. One spectator chooses one blue card from the blue deck, and the same for the red deck. The cards are lost back into their corresponding decks. After the magician will claim he will make them transpose into the opposite deck. He is quite surprised to find that he screwed up. Both chosen cards have completely vanished. After looking slightly confused, he points to the card boxes. He touches nothing. Again, it all happens in the spectator’s hands. They remove each chosen card from one box, but here is the kicker. The chosen blue card is found inside the red box, and the chosen red card is found inside the blue box. No palms, loads, or gimmicks. This routine can and will become part of your repertoire. Besides these effects, this ebook includes many informative articles to help you along the way. Dan also has full spreads about Psychological forcing, Hellstromism, food for thought, scams, and deception. He also covers his ideas on magic, including inspiration, effort, and passion. This information will make you become a much stronger performer, and make you find your true identity as an artist. |
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VasMagic New user 54 Posts |
Yes ive heard of it and nowing how great dan's material is its got to be great
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spycrapper Loyal user Indonesia 295 Posts |
I just got e-mail from lybrary.com that it will be discontinued..
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magiclee Special user 570 Posts |
I ordered yesterday and still didn't get it.
magiclee |
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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-07-17 12:49, magiclee wrote: I believe it isn't a file you get sent to you, you go to your Lybrary account and it is there, it should be immediately available after you pay |
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magiclee Special user 570 Posts |
Your right Christopher!
Thank's, magiclee |
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Nitro New user 27 Posts |
Just found a review:
Looks like it has some interesting stuff: " --==BLACK==-- ::Dan Army:: BLACK, a series of ideas and effects regarding Card Magic and Psychology, was written in order to entertain laymen. It was written to do our job as magicians, and these notes certainly do magic justice. In total, there are 14 full Card effects, two 'ideas', and an entire section dedicated to psychology, and you working with it. -- :::The 'Ideas': In BLACK, Dan gives you two 'ideas; that havn't really been fully developed into effects; that's where you come in. I won't mention the ideas, but they both are pretty useful. One is a take on an old classic, and it makes things a bit more economical, and the other is a fun challenge to do with friends. The idesa are great, and you will use them at one point in your magical career. It is also fun to develop them a bit to your own liking. Good Section. -- :::The Psychology: 10 well thought out, informative pages are on this subject, proving that Dan is definitely a fan of this 'Lost Art'. Dan not only goes over the main points of how you should approach dealing with Psychology, but how to 'use' it to your advantage as a performer. Dan also goes over some extremly useful Psychological Forces, or forces of Cards that you don't require you to have a deck. This kind of force is the cleanest around, and Dan obviously realized that as he wrote this, because he took time and effort constructing this section. After reading this section, I assure you that you will have an excellent base to begin forcing with your mind. A Terrfic section. -- :::The Cards: Ah, The Cards. Not only the longest section with 14 full effects, but my personal favorite section. In this section, Dan has generously included the works on Matt Anthony, Jeff Fitzgerald, and Calvin Lauber, which, in my opinion, varies the style of the notes, which is a great thing. Here are the effects: (Descriptions taken from product page.) ~~INKED : A card is chosen from a blue backed deck and signed. It is lost back into the deck. The performer places the deck down, and claims he possesses a magical red backed card. He cleanly pulls out his wallet, and takes out a red backed card. Slowly, he reveals that the signature has transposed onto the red backed card that has been in his wallet the entire time. ~~Thoughts: I love this routine. It is very simple, and it hits hard. It won't take you that long to learn, but will require a tiny bit of misdirection that anybody can pull off. Don't worry. ~~NO CHARGE : A super visual ace production. With no cover whatsoever, four aces visually appear out of nowhere. A great opener for any four card routine! ~~Thoughts: This was created by Matt Anthony. Although the instruction is a little unclear, everything is cleared up in the pictures provided, so don't worry. It looks great, and is a very nice flourishy production. It will take some practice though. ~~BURN : A card is signed, and the spectator tears it into several pieces. The performer introduces a lighter, and sets the pieces alight on top of the deck. After the flame dies out, he rubs the ashes against the back of the top card of the deck. He then instructs the spectator to turn over the top card…their signed card! Everything happens in the spectator’s hands, and the book includes several devious handlings behind this wonderful effect. ~~Thoughts: I absolutely LOVE the method Dan has used here. It works well, even though after I read it I was suspicious, but I tried the concept; just trust me, it works. It is a killer effect, and fits well too with another effect later in the notes. ~~MEMORY : This technique will allow you to memorize the order of a deck shuffled by the spectator! You can name almost any card at any location with ease. With the right presentation, this will kill audiences. ~~Thoughts: Not my favorite, but still good. This relies mainly on presentation, and if you present it wiell, you will get great reactions. It also requires a LOT of practice. Be prepared. ~~INFRARED : Imagine this. A SEALED invisible deck effect…the spectator THINKS of any card. They name it, and the remove the plastic. They break the seal, and spread through in their own hands. One card is flipped over in the middle. It is their chosen card. This routine is devastating, and can be accomplished in one simple setup. ~~Thoughts: Yes, this is Infared developed by Matt Anthony and Dan. The method is very creative, and will work for you, believe it or not. The setup isn't too extensive either, and can be accomplshied within a few mintues, perhaps right before a show. Like everything, this requires practice. It's worth it though. ~~AMIDST : This is Dan’s classic three phase sandwich effect. Four aces are visually produced by the “No Charge” production. The aces are removed, and held in one packet. The magician places one red ace back into the deck. As soon as the other red ace is sandwiched between the two black aces, it swaps places with the red ace placed into the middle of the deck. The magician claims he will take it one step further. The spectator shuffles the four aces back in randomly. He claims the black ink is more dense, so it will sandwich the red aces, no matter the location in the deck. To his surprise, two jokers are sandwiching the two red aces. The black aces are nowhere to be found…only to end up in the spectator’s pocket! ~~Thoughts: This is pretty much a Collector's Plot, which I like. It is easy, simple, fun, and gets great reactions. After reading the method, I was scared, but Dan gives you alternatives to make the routine easier, yet just as strong. ~~INFERNAL CHEAT : An amazing revelation involving a borrowed watch, and a deck of cards. The magician has a spectator choose any card. He claims he will reveal it in a very odd way. The value of their card, corresponds with the time on their watch. So if they picked a four, their watch would jump forward to four o’ clock. Anytime, anywhere, and absolutely devastating. ~~Thoughts: Simple, yet effective. Requires a bit of misdirection and practice of said misdirection, but you shouldn't have too much trouble with it. Dan also includes his presentation and patter, which works well. ~~ENEMY : This an amazing card stab routine. The spectator points to any card, but the face is never looked at. To keep track of the card, the spectator signs the back of it. It is lost back into the deck, and the cards are spread all around an open table face up. The performer introduces a knife, raises it high, and drives it straight into the table. Low and behold, he has stabbed one single card. The audience knows what’s coming for them. He slowly lifts the knife to reveal their exact signature punctured by the knife. ~~Thoughts: This effect hits hard, and it works well. Everything does everything for you. (If that makes sense.) There are few crucial things that you have to do, but they are very easy, and with some practice time, you should have it down in no time. ~~TRANSPORT : Another cards across routine? No. This one blows them all out of the water. Everything happens in the spectator’s hands, and there is no difficult sleights involved. The performer begins with a red deck, but it is somewhat old and clumped up. He continues to have the spectator sign the card, and lose it back in. He claims he will attempt to finish the effect with a new deck. He pulls out a blue deck out of the box, and in the middle, one red backed card is found. Their signed card. ~~Thoughts: This was developed by Jeff Fitzgerald. It is pretty effective, but requires some extensive set-up, and some practice. It will be worth it. There are a few issues to worry about when finishing, but Dan covers them all. ~~SCITHE : Same card in the end. This is Dan’s take on the classic here then there. This is truly an astonishing transposition, as no duplicates are involved. He replaced the duplicate with a new force, making the effect that much stronger. This effect will blow audiences away even in the worst situations. You can do it with a borrowed deck! ~~Thoughts: I Love this effect. Mainly because of the Force, which is incredible. Both Cards can be signed, and like stated, it can be done with a borrowed deck. (On an off note, Who borrows decks?) ANYways, a great routine, that is simple, yet effective. ~~IMPRESSION : Two insane variations of this effect are taught. A card is signed, and buried in the middle. The magician claims he can make it jump to the top, but the top card is only found to be blank. He walks over to any copy machine, or computer scanner, and makes a fresh copy of the blank card. As it slowly prints out, their chosen card is printed on the paper. A second variation is taught, where the magician snaps a photo of the blank card with a cell phone camera. Right after the picture is taken, you can see the faint outline of their chosen card in the saved photo. An absolutely devastating effect, and an even better method. ~~Thoughts: Both versions require little set-up, but you can easily do it right before your show. They hit hard, and you will be surprised at how such a simple effect can toy with the minds of the spectators. Nice routine. ~~LIGHTNING MONTE : This effect is based around the classic two card Monte, but Dan took it several steps further. The magician cleanly places one ace in their fingers. At LIGHTNING speed, they instantly switch. The cards could be face up if you wanted them to be! Finally, it ends with the classic transposition of the jokers. This routine will heighten your reactions on any of your Monte routines! No gaffs, duplicates, or gimmicks. This can be done with a borrowed deck. Super practical. ~~Thoughts: If you use the 2CM, you will use this. It enhances it, and will, like stated, increase the greatness of your reactions. ~~TORCHED : This routine is perfect for you devious restaurant magicians out there! The magician takes a straw wrapper, and writes every card in one suit on the wrapper. He then has the spectator choose any card. He introduces a book of matches, and he sets the wrapper alight. It quickly burns up, but the flame instantly extinguishes itself right before one card written on the wrapper. So if they chose a four, it would stop at the four. A truly amazing reveal! Dan also provides awesome advice on how to routine this with a previous effect in the book, Burn. ~~Thoughts: A Nice routine developed by Calvin Lauber. It is entirely impromptu (With a deck of cards of course), and it very iseful in tight situations when asked "Show me something Magic boy!". It requires some practice, and a little misdirection, but is fairly simple. ~~FLAW : Dan saved the best for last. This card to box effect will kill audiences. It is super easy, direct, and practical. He introduces a red deck and blue deck both in their boxes. He removes both decks from their boxes. One spectator chooses one blue card from the blue deck, and the same for the red deck. The cards are lost back into their corresponding decks. After the magician will claim he will make them transpose into the opposite deck. He is quite surprised to find that he screwed up. Both chosen cards have completely vanished. After looking slightly confused, he points to the card boxes. He touches nothing. Again, it all happens in the spectator’s hands. The remove each chosen card from one box, but here is the kicker. The chosen blue card is found inside the red box, and the chosen red card is found inside the blue box. No palms, loads, or gimmicks. This routine CAN and WILL become part of your repertoire. ~~Thoughts: I really enjoy this effect. It is killer, and requires little practice to just get down. (More to perform). It hits hard, and is easy to follow. A great end to these notes. ========= In Conclusion, This is a good set of notes. It has a LOT of material, and some bonus things, like Dan's thoughts on performing, as well as a new, up and coming utility device, which are very interesting to read. I wasn't disappointed, and I don't think you will be. Take Care, //cody. " |
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THEGUY26 (Will Swanson) Inner circle Minnesota, USA 2379 Posts |
So you're giving a bad review?
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
More of a mixed review. Ranging from it isn't greatly written but it is by a magician not a writer to some of the ideas are more Dans than reality. The card material isn't bad at all but neither is it real original. I viewed it more of a legacy print than anything else, meaning just wanting to get a product out much like the DVD makers often do just to have a record they were here.
I'll give you an example. Dan feels that certain people pick certain cards, that is something that has been looked at over years and everyone has different answers as to what the cards are. He does cover his base by keeping with the 'it isn't 100 percent' angle. I'm kind of torn on this one and will take time to consider the review because this Dan seems like he's had a rough go of it from people and is a bit angry and the legacy thing vs should I compare the material to better performers such as Banachek in his Psycological Sublities book which addresses many of the same issues in a more articulate manner and based on years of research and experience. Is that fair to do? I don't know, but if I had not read other text on the same subject would I believe what is in Black? I admire anyone who puts thoughts down on paper (sorry, making a DVD is so simple I am not impressed by that mear act) and it was a noble effort. I'm still pondering. It does take pressure off that he isn't from the UK. I could call a UK performers material 'solid gold' and they come after me for not inserting jewels into the gold. |
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Magiguy Inner circle Seattle, WA 5467 Posts |
I purchased the e-book from Chris's Lybrary a few days ago, and am just now beginning to read through it. So far I like it; a mix of ideas, unfinished thoughts, variations on older themes and ideas...
I agree with Santa that the writing is not of the highest caliber, but it is not too bad, either, and the plumbed well of personal philosophy and creativity clearly overbalances the literary shortcomings. After all, the focus is magic, not Melville. I haven't gotten far enough into it, or had a chance to practice and perform any of the items yet, but so far it is a very enjoyable read, and offers some provocation of thought and ingenuity which, to me, is already worthy of the $20 I spent on my purchase of it. Santa is a thoughtful critic and I am looking forward to his more thorough review. I'll also try to share some thoughts once I've had an opportunity to gain the perspective of performance and a bit of audience reaction. |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
You are reading my mind. I don't want to knock a guy who isn't claiming to be a writer nor can I say someones belief on what works artistically is wrong. This is a tough one for me but I'll hack my way through it. I will admit I'm not a fan of publishing unfinished thoughts be it this fellow, Sankey, Paul Harris, or anyone else.
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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-07-20 23:47, MagicSanta wrote: As someone who writes Magic books, lecture notes, manuscripts etc, and as someone who has released a DVD, let me tell you that is completely wrong. A lot of people think doing a DVD is easy, trust me, it isn't, especially when performing live on the camera. You have no idea how people will react, the tricks COULD go wrong, everythings WILL change when that camera is wrong. Sounds silly, but even if you performed a trick 100 times a night, for 10 years, and then went live on camera, bets are it could go wrong. Before my DVD I was of the same thought, 'This will be easy', let me tell you, it wasn't plain sailing. The explanations take some time as well, so many things could go wrong, as it is unscripted you could say the wrong thing, or miss something out etc, then you have to shoot it all again. A DVD is NOT easy, if you are going to have it produced with any quality. Then comes the editing etc, that again takes time. People think you can knock a DVD up in a couple of days...trust me, it takes weeks, and sometimes months to get a DVD out. Writing is far more easier for me... |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Sorry Christopher, you are correct only if one is aware of the product. Many will walk out, turn on a camera, do a trick the explain it and try to sell it. Not real hard.
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Christopher Williams Inner circle Portsmouth, UK 4464 Posts |
I see your point...kinda...but I don't usually buy those products, so can you make me aware of some? I won't say you are wrong as A) Everyone can have their own opinion B) I'm sure you have a valid point. If you could just show me a few of the 'many' that have just gone out and done the trick to the camera. Most products I know that are released have had a lot of time put into creating the effect, testing it, perfecting it and then spending a long time planning a DVD and shooting and editing it. Again, that isn't saying you are wrong, that is just the process I associate with and that I look for. I am yet to find a product as you have described it, but I hope you can show me some
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THEGUY26 (Will Swanson) Inner circle Minnesota, USA 2379 Posts |
I saw a video on Youtube once of a kid who has only been doing magic for half a year, who is making a DVD with like 4 pretty bad tricks in it.
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Check out 'Melt'. If it took more than two hours to do I'd be amazed. I have also seen some that were going to be released or were released on individual sites that I had access to that were clearly shot in one sitting and that was it, all the 'uhhs' and 'umms' and 'no, I meant to do it like this' stuff included. Some of the kids who put them out are here and I don't want to embarrass them or I may get a name wrong because I didn't bother noting it at the time. One of the major magic reviewers made a great comment that I think he will be using in a column in the next couple months about DVDs and how bad they are so I won't put it here but if you, and I mean Christopher, want to know it and keep it quiet PM me.
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big dan Regular user UK/Canada/New Zealand 178 Posts |
I would steer clear of this e-book.
If you look at some of his posts in the forums at ellusionist it looks like he has only been into psychological magic and effects for a few months, and he is only about 15. If you want more info check out the Magic Woods there is whole thread on Dan Army that explains everything in a lot of detail. I would stick with material from truseted performers. There are too many new guys coming out with stuff because they are young and want to get there name out there and get the respect of other magicians, but most of the stuff is pretty crap. On the plus side I have seen some dvds coming out from some younger guys in England, and they have all been fab but a 15 year old who claims he has been performing for 7 years wants to sell me his stuff, no thanks! all the best dan
Some people work to ski....i ski to work!
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
He's a young guy? That would explain the anger, which I found kind of odd, and also the misconceptions in the psychology area. Where can this discussion be found in the magic woods you brought up? Is that here or someplace else? Sorry I'm not familiar with it.
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Cameron Francis V.I.P. 7025 Posts |
MOMENT'S NOTICE LIVE 3 - Six impromptu card tricks! Out now! http://cameronfrancismagic.com/moments-notice-live-3.html
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Thank you. Kind of matches my impression. The Psychology he presented was so out of whack it really threw a curve at me. It is almost worth reading just to see how wrong a person can be.
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