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PAUL K Special user Massachusetts 547 Posts |
Here is an interview with Ponta Smith where he talks about which Magicians influenced him the most and he gives advice on coin magic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptAI9KSf3Iw&feature=related Paul |
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Mb217 Inner circle 9520 Posts |
Nice! Seems like a humble guy that just happens to have amazing chops and creativity. A true breath of fresh air.
*Check out my latest: Gifts From The Old Country: A Mini-Magic Book, MBs Mini-Lecture on Coin Magic, The MB Tanspo PLUS, MB's Morgan, Copper Silver INC, Double Trouble, FlySki, Crimp Change - REDUX!, and other fine magic at gumroad.com/mb217magic
"Believe in YOU, and you will see the greatest magic that ever was." -Mb |
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lejon Special user 721 Posts |
Very nice. Thanks.
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mavericklancer Elite user Tustin, CA 448 Posts |
How awesome would it be to visit the magic shop/bar that Ponta works at?
Too bad there aren't any magic bar type venues near me. That would be an awesome place to go for an after work beer. |
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Ruldar Regular user 132 Posts |
Thanks for this link. Very interesting. I especially liked his comments on smoothness.
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volto Special user 603 Posts |
Awesome guy. Incredible magic. As the interviewer says, like trick photography.
There should be more magic bars in the world. |
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Mb217 Inner circle 9520 Posts |
Y'know, I went back and watched him do his amazing vanish sequense again and again, and all I can say is WOW!!! No wonder Fish strives to do it the way Ponta does it, it's perfect, is it not? I ask you all big and small?
I've seen a lot of smooth guys out there but Ponta is just so matter-of-fact fluid motion, just doing that little routine shows you so much of the kind of giant ability he has. No, he's not part of the bigger gang in this stuff but truly as good as any of them out there. If not and no disrespect meant, I'd like to see just who is any better...I'm just sayin'. I've heard many people speak of him but you don't hear a lot from the big boys out there about how really good this guy is, as he's not your average bear. He's as good as some of the very best I've seen and better than most of them truth be told. I thought the same about a few others I came across from up here and they have gone on to prove themselves every bit as unique as I believed they initially showed me they were. Mickey Silver was one of them back then, Ponta is clearly one too now...Just on a another level with this stuff, how very lucky for the rest of us big and small. And not for nothing here, but I am very proud that such a talent like Ponta The Smith thought enough to also pick up my Crimp Change behind so many people suggesting here that it was a very good alternative to the way he opened his already brilliant One Coin Routine. And I'm happy to say that in our communications he seemed to like it very much. Sometimes it's good to just be in the neighborhood when such a parade comes marching by.
*Check out my latest: Gifts From The Old Country: A Mini-Magic Book, MBs Mini-Lecture on Coin Magic, The MB Tanspo PLUS, MB's Morgan, Copper Silver INC, Double Trouble, FlySki, Crimp Change - REDUX!, and other fine magic at gumroad.com/mb217magic
"Believe in YOU, and you will see the greatest magic that ever was." -Mb |
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PAUL K Special user Massachusetts 547 Posts |
I watched the Fish Video and it looked good.I can see why he strives to do it
like Ponta. Ponta Smith is very smooth with his handling with coins.His Coins Across is one of the best I have seen. |
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mavericklancer Elite user Tustin, CA 448 Posts |
Wow, congrats Mb. That's gotta be a great feeling, when such a talented manipulator starts seeking your advice.
After hearing so much about the Fish video, I decided to give it a watch, and wow. I don't know what fish was saying about having trouble, because his routine was almost flawless. I don't know if you can see this, but good job, Fish! |
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Sean Giles Inner circle Cambridge/ UK 3517 Posts |
I liked the way he came up with his name. (Harry) Ponta the smith. His name always intrigued me and it's always interests me to see the processes people go through to come up with things.
What about his ideas on practicing? Do people agree with that? Ponta practices smoothness over accuracy (although he definitely has both) is that the best way to practice? I've always understood to practice slowly and accurately at first but perhaps it's time for a different thinking. Any advice? Kind regards Sean |
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Mb217 Inner circle 9520 Posts |
Well, Ponta is a very unique individual and so what might come somewhat mechanically to others as to practice seems to come a bit easier to him. I don't think he's suggesting that accuracy is not important but he speaks to the ultimate flow of the action as that's what people see. Perhaps his thinking is from the end result backward. Most greater minds in this stuff might tell you that the established ways are the best ways, just what else would they tell you? Ponta is a bit different as he took a lot of that old stuff and made it more exciting. What he's showing more than anything else is "Progress," perhaps the difference between a staircase and a super escalator, or something like that.
*Check out my latest: Gifts From The Old Country: A Mini-Magic Book, MBs Mini-Lecture on Coin Magic, The MB Tanspo PLUS, MB's Morgan, Copper Silver INC, Double Trouble, FlySki, Crimp Change - REDUX!, and other fine magic at gumroad.com/mb217magic
"Believe in YOU, and you will see the greatest magic that ever was." -Mb |
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Sean Giles Inner circle Cambridge/ UK 3517 Posts |
I agree Marion. There is a theory that evolution progresses in leaps and bounds. When I see someone like Ponta perform its like he just took a giant evolutionary leap. Incredible. I never understood the importance of smoothness more than when I saw him performing his routines. I know he uses the old established sleights, but its the way he uses them that is so visual. He has such a precise smoothness and gracefulness in his hand movements. It's just as amazing to see the work behind the magic as it is to see the magic itself!
kind regards Sean |
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Mb217 Inner circle 9520 Posts |
Typically smoothness comes as to the more you practice the better you get at the moves, which I guess could be called "accuracy." But I agree with you that Ponta represents a sorta quantum leap here. His smoothness is beyond just good practice, it seems to have a heightened understanding associated with it a different intellectual point of reference and application.
If you look at some of the other smoother coin guys out there, they are not like Ponta even though he is using their stuff or doing stuff they use too. They do some difficult stuff and make it look simple but the grace is very different from what Ponta displays, IMHO. It's good that all progress doesn't have to come from the top but can come from anywhere and most times does, and that's a good thing I think. Ponta is proof that perfection is not necessarily any such end-result by someone's thoughts on the matter, that perhaps more specifically it's just a heightened part of a greater progression going on. Good talk my friend.
*Check out my latest: Gifts From The Old Country: A Mini-Magic Book, MBs Mini-Lecture on Coin Magic, The MB Tanspo PLUS, MB's Morgan, Copper Silver INC, Double Trouble, FlySki, Crimp Change - REDUX!, and other fine magic at gumroad.com/mb217magic
"Believe in YOU, and you will see the greatest magic that ever was." -Mb |
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mavericklancer Elite user Tustin, CA 448 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-09-16 03:23, seangiles wrote: Just because Ponta's practice primarily focuses on smoothness doesn't mean that he didn't initially practice slow for accuracy. Unless you're some type of genius savante (which I guess isn't beyond the range of Ponta... he only started magic in college, which looks like a few years ago for him!!), you need to learn the mechanics of whatever sleight you're working on. Smoothness means nothing if you vanish a coin, only to have it drop on the floor. I feel that once he got his initial moves down, then he started practicing for smoothness. This is where the difference in mentality really occurs - he isn't thinking to himself that he has to make a vanish look cleaner or more consistent. He's making sure that not only his hands, but his entire attitude is relaxed and almost easy going, giving him a unique type of flow to his routine. And essentially, he does something we all forget to do from time to time... he has fun with it. If you've watched SICK, you know exactly what I mean. |
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Sean Giles Inner circle Cambridge/ UK 3517 Posts |
Hi Maverick. I have the Sick DVD. Have you seen this interview? In it he is asked if he has any advice for others. His advice is that when he practices he practices with the emphasis on smoothness over accuracy. That's what I'm referring to. Obviously you have to have the basic mechanics of a move down first but once you have the basic move, practice for smoothness and let the accuracy come out of that. What do you think? It just sounds like an interesting way of approaching practice to me.
Kind regards Sean |
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Dan Magyari Regular user San Francisco, CA 173 Posts |
Thanks PAUL K for putting that link up for this interview with Ponta. What a great reminder at the end to check him out at the Essential Magic Conference - his performance and lecture were fantastic, as I'm sure you'll all agree. And, to think that we can view it, as well as the rest of the Conference, over and over again - unheard of.
Everything you do -- everything -- has your signature on it. Regardless of whether you intend it that way or not. And that's how people perceive you.-George Ledo
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MICKEY SILVER Elite user Boston, Ma. 442 Posts |
How's the Café going ? I see new people and new magic !!!! SO INSPIRING!!!!
Excellent Tim, what a fantastic job you did interviewing Ponta The Smith !!! Ponta's coin moves are a "WOW" how can you not just "LOVE THEM"!!!!! I certainly do!!!! Good going kid, MICKEY SILVER - "THE HANDS OF LAS VEGAS" |
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mavericklancer Elite user Tustin, CA 448 Posts |
Sean,
Yes, I saw the interview. And the idea of practicing for smoothness was what I was talking about. Even after learning the basic move, most people I've seen will rigidly keep repeating the move over and over in practice, not really caring if they look relaxed (and yes, I'm aware that this does not apply to many who read this), but analyzing angles and precision of things like drops and passes. Ponta's advice to practice smoothness and let accuracy come is something that I'd like to adopt myself as it rejects that common ideology. The more we practice, the more likely certain habits become ingrained. If accuracy is the only point of focus early on, I feel that smoothness becomes that much more difficult later on. Adjusting accuracy to me is easier, because it's a matter of a slight adjustment of something as simple as timing or angle. Adjusting smoothness, however, is a whole other matter as it's not only about how relaxed your hands look, but about your entire attitude and body language. In the interview, he said that most people have rigid hands when they practice. I could be completely off base, but to me, part of that is due to their pursuit of accuracy, and part of it is the idea that a lot of people forget the magic is something that we also practice for fun. Watch Sick again and note the leisurely and sometimes almost comical approach Ponta takes to present the material. Heck, in one routine, he's even wearing joke 2006 glasses. When watching someone like David Roth or Michael Ammar teach, I get the feeling that I'm in another college lecture. When Watching Ponta, it's almost like he's a friend showing me something he thought was awesome. |
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Jacques Loyal user North 206 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-09-16 19:02, mavericklancer wrote: I agree mavericklancer. Ponta's demonstrations are a different learning experience. It's part of its success I think. Quote:
On 2010-09-16 03:23, seangiles wrote: We have no choice but start with practicing accuracy. The basics of moves has to be learned and adapted to our hands. Nevertheless smoothness has to be added very soon and very close to accuracy. Smoothness is also applied to transitions and movements between critical sleights. Many manipulators will use sleights that are very precise but unatural because of visible differences in hand appearances between a sleight and a transition. Look at Ponta's routines, especialy his stand-up routines, his presentation is like a continuous movement. Sometimes it's like a rolling movement, or waves. His smoothness of gesture is spread in this rhythm. In this style of coin manipulation, smoothness seem to be applied beyond sleights and become part of hand choreography and routining. |
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TC Ryder Elite user Florida 496 Posts |
Thanks for the post PK,
I like how he credits David Roth as one of his mentors. I would love to see the Owner of the shop that he is referring to perform. If he amazes Ponta he must be spectacular. Great interview and thanks again for sharing. TC |
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