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Danny Hustle Inner circle Boston, MA USA 2393 Posts |
I didn't really know where to put this as it is not kid specific but there was some great magic for children contained within, but it will have to do.
I saw Bill Abbott lecture on Wednesday night and took his "Thing" workshop last night. The lecture is amazing. Bill is what my dad would call, "a real ham and egger" he is a general practitioner who does everything he does very, very, well. He is funny, intelligent, fast paced, has impeccable timing, and the guy just has a great face and knows how to use it to punctuate his performance. His lecture notes on cocktail magic are written with the starting professional in mind and covers some excellent topics that I have not seen in other books. He also explains his handling for some amazing magic that any professional would be happy to include in their set. he has work on the Mullica wallet, Bill Palmer's "Omni deck", multiple selections, and a whole lot more. His lecture also covers his work on "Chico The Mind reader" which is a routine so brilliant in it's design and appeal that I defy anyone to find a way to "improve" it. For what it is, it is truly a perfect little piece of comedy, magic, and theater. I know I bought the props for it over a year ago and have bashed my head into a wall trying to find "my take" on it because the original is just so strong. To his credit, Bill walks you through the entire process particularly making the puppet appear to take on a life and a mind of it's own. The lecture also covers the thing, and considering there was a workshop on the trick the following night Bill still spent quite a bit of time going over the finer points. I was very impressed with his desire that the people who chose to do his routines and use his stuff learn to do it properly. He is obviously proud of this material (and should be!) and wants you to feel just as good about it, and more importantly the audiences you perform them for. A great highlight for me, was Bill's performance and explanation of his marketed effect "Mind Control" this is a GREAT piece of mentalisim combining multiple methods to create an effect so fantastic it hits you mid forehead much like a ball pean hammer. I am a comedy performer and the potential opportunities within this effect for inserting personality and hilarity abound. It is also just a great straight piece of mentalisim and for the price, it is an incredible bargain! "The thing" workshop was held last night at Diamond's Magic in Peabody. If I can digress for a minute, while at Diamond's I found a great out of print book I was looking for. If you are ever in Peabody, stop into Diamond's the stock this guy has up there is incredible! Anyway... "The thing" workshop... ...In this workshop, Bill walked all of us through the routine several times until everyone that was there was performing it, the way it should be performed. I have been performing the thing in some of my shows for a while now and it was nice to have Bill gave me a tip here and a tweak there. As with learning anything by yourself it is easy to establish bad habits (and I had several). Again, it was really important to Bill that we "get it" and by the end of the night we all did. Also included in the workshop were some notes on tips, practice points, new ideas, alternate handling including one for the strolling performer! Bill is a real pro, a great performer, a funny guy, a true gentleman, and a fantastic (and patient) teacher. If you have the opportunity to go to his lecture or workshop I can not recommend it highly enough. I actually passed a gig to a friend of mine so I could go to the workshop last nigh and it was worth every penny. The $40 admission fee is very reasonable considering the amount of time and instruction. If you do not own "The thing" you can purchase one at the workshop and I am pretty sure with the discount it works out to be about what you would pay for just the prop in the magic store. Meaning, you basically get the workshop for next to nothing. It was really a wonderful experience and I just wanted to tip you guys off to let you know if Bill is coming to your town, it is well worth it for you to go and check it out. If you live near Denny Haney's shop in 'Bal'mer' I believe Bill and Co. will be holding a workshop there on Saturday October 6th at 5:00 p.m. If you get the chance, I highly recommend it. Best, Dan- "MT is one of the reasons we started this board! I’m so sick of posts being deleted without any reason given, and by unknown people at that." - Steve Brooks Sep 7, 2001 8:38pm ©1999-2014 Daniel Denney all rights reserved. |
keeblem Inner circle Essex, UK 1167 Posts |
Thanks for all that, Dan.
I love Bill's DVDs. He's routines are polished and obviously he's a natural performer. If he ever comes over to the UK, I'd be sure to see him! Mark |
Donald Dunphy Inner circle Victoria, BC, Canada 7563 Posts |
Great review, Danny. I enjoyed reading your post.
- Donald
Donald Dunphy is a Victoria Magician, British Columbia, Canada.
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Vinnie Laraway Inner circle 1272 Posts |
He'll also be lecturing Oct. 8th in Greenbrook, NJ for anyone in the area...
http://sam161.org/sched.html -Vinnie |
Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
He will be at Marc DeSouza's house Oct 9
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
squando Elite user 444 Posts |
I am looking forward to seeing him. Thanks for the great review. I am hungry for some "ham and eggs."
Frank
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Vinnie Laraway Inner circle 1272 Posts |
Boy I'm glad I didn't miss this lecture!
EXCELLENT magic, and drop dead funny! Chico the Mind Reading Monkey was probably the funniest performance of anything that I have ever seen in my whole life. Bill is a genius! -Vinnie |
squando Elite user 444 Posts |
I wasn't dissapointed he is great. I have already collected most of what I need to do my version of Chico, but with Squando the Mind Reading Squirrel. I probably will drop the tail stapling gag since my puppets tail is so full and attaches at several points to the puppet.
Frank
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