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Bodgit New user 89 Posts |
Thanks Gary, looking forward to the release.
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
I am enchanted by this! This is the level I wish to achieve. I can sit like that all day, and I'm 57!
Doug |
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Lawrence O Inner circle French Riviera 6811 Posts |
Interesting basis.
The skill is there and there is still room for improvement in the showmanship.
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
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Tilman Regular user 182 Posts |
I don't quite understand why anyone would call this a 'basis' and want to judge it in terms of showmanship, when the explicit intention was to demonstrate a traditional presentation of this trick (and, more importantly, preserve it).
I think what Gary has done here is really quite extraordinary (not to say sensational): gaining the trust of the last teacher of this version of the cups and balls, learning it as taught and in a language not his own (thereby preserving the script that is an integral part of this form of performance), reaching an incredible proficiency in it, obtaining permission to teach this version in print and thereby effectively rescuing it from oblivion. To give us anything else than this sober (and really quite enchanting) rendering of the routine would be quite beside the point in the context of this project (as I understand it). Am I missing something? |
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Tilman Regular user 182 Posts |
Oh, I should say that, to me, this routine is hugely entertaining, magical, and really one of the most special things I have seen in magic in a long while.
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tomsk192 Inner circle 3894 Posts |
I think you put that across very well, Tilman, and I quite agree with you.
It reminds me of that Ravi Shankar fellow. Helluva Sitar player, but he never played it with his teeth: lacking altogether in showmanship... |
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Gary Kosnitzky Elite user 409 Posts |
The way traditional Indian magic is presented can sometimes follow a completely different paradigm than what Western magicians are accustomed to.
In regards to Indian conjurers: “ The street conjurers performed with gravity, and this mein helped impress Westerners with the magical quality of their work. Even when doing such common sleights as the cups and balls, they evidently did not carry on clever patter or banter with the audience. Some were obviously imitating the fakirs, and they went through the appropriate rituals to simulate trance, meditation, or invocation of the spirits. But they did not want to amuse the audience, for magic itself was a serious matter and they treated it with respect.” Edward Claflin in collaboration with Jeff Sheridan - Street Magic: an illustrated history of wandering magicians and their conjuring arts, Dolphin Books, 1977 |
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kentfgunn Inner circle Merritt Island FL 1639 Posts |
Gary,
Thank you, very much. Your work pays homage to a grand tradition, cups and balls as a field of study and magic as a whole. Plus you fooled the snot out me! Thank you. KG |
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Andrew Zuber Inner circle Los Angeles, CA 3014 Posts |
Kent's sinuses have never been clearer.
"I'm sorry - if you were right, I would agree with you." -Robin Williams, Awakenings
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RS1963 Inner circle 2734 Posts |
Very very nicely done Gary.
Randy. |
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Donnie Buckley V.I.P. Cleveland, Ohio 1123 Posts |
Quote:
On 2013-09-18 23:36, Gary Kosnitzky wrote: Indeed. My favorite parts of "Net of Magic, Wonders and Deceptions of India" by Lee Siegel, are the translated mystical presentations that are the patter for the vivid descriptions of the street shows. But what Siegel reports has much more amusement in the show than what Claflin would lead us to believe. The Maslet magicians in Net of Magic (trained from infancy) are working a pitch, drawing a crowd, holding the crowd, and passing the hat (often). Much of the presentation is humorous, particularly the banter between the magician and his boy assistant (son). They give back-handed compliments to the audience that sound like a Gazzo pitch. People are amused, people laugh, they hold their audience. The "magic" however is always performed with reverence, and often with invocations to Gods and Goddesses. They are so sincere that ordinary people, like policemen, believe the street magicians to actually have supernatural powers. In Siegel's book, much of the earnings that they make from the crowd is earned because of their "mystical" identity, not just because they drew you into the shade and entertained you for a while. Sales of enchanted rings or gems are an important part of the business and they are bought by people who believe in the magic. Gary, the only improvement I could possibly suggest, because I barely understand how you are doing what you are doing, would be to get rid of the backlit setting when you are shooting video. Because you are backlit, the foreground is too dark. Try to get the natural daylight to shine on your face, or from the side. Or shoot it outside. You're the best, man. Keep it up. |
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Gary Kosnitzky Elite user 409 Posts |
Donnie,you are right about the backlight.
I can't make a video to save my life. |
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Regardless, Gary, I am FLOORED by that routine. Both. The music and the patter. I call that style of sitting, "Yoga Style", but I'm sure it has many names. I feel bad for those with knee problems and such. I've been blessed.
I'm thinkin' L&L Publishing and A-1 Multimedia are two production companies whom I would bet would be thrilled to shoot a vid of ya, Gary! They are true pros. Still, I had no problem seeing what was going on! Doug |
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Gary Kosnitzky Elite user 409 Posts |
Doug,
I am your age and I also had knee problems. I am not making any medical claims here but all my knee problems vanished once I built up all my muscles around my knees by sitting that way (Ardha Padmasana). |
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Ardha Padmasana? That's what it's called? Just playing around, I found some pretty neat little "stash" ideas sitting like this. My left foot has to be ON TOP though. Wow...this is cool!
I like the Indian patter. Doesn't matter if they don't understand. It's obvious what's going on. I love it! Also the music, although kinda "computer-y" (is that a word?), it works. Looking forward to this. Doug |
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
Drat. Can't afford the cups. That's OK. I want the book. That's the important thing.
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Andrew Zuber Inner circle Los Angeles, CA 3014 Posts |
I'm looming forward to the book as well. This thing is definitely fooling me.
"I'm sorry - if you were right, I would agree with you." -Robin Williams, Awakenings
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maharajademagia Regular user 127 Posts |
Gary, I though you had gone into hibernation but you are back with a bang. I liked both the performance and the presentation. I am amazed that you learned the traditional South Indian traditional patter as well. Unlike the West in India, students perform the same trick as they learn from the guru. The idea is not to be different but to keep doing the saem thing again and again till you archive perfection. The process is called sadhna which is important, once you attaind perfection it is called siddhi. Gary you are almost there.
I have almost all the books written on the subject and I can assure you that not a single one is authentic. If you have learned from Mr. Nanu I am sure you have learned from the best guru. Waiting for your book. Take Dougini's advise and do a video as well. Book the first copy for me. |
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Dougini Inner circle The Beautiful State Of Maine 7130 Posts |
God...I hope I can afford this BOOK! I'm sitting here playing the routine I've done since the day I bought my Charlie Miller set. The cork balls change size until they are too big to fit in the cups! You use a thick-pile, green carpet sample. What, 11 x 17? That's about right. It's a good routine. Not what I want, though.
I feel, if one does not do Cheppum Panthum with these cups, it is an insult to those masters from where the routine came! Hell, if I can sit like this, WHY WOULDN'T I perform it? I might do the music version though. I would need a coach to learn the correct patter. No use butchering that! LOL! Wow...the ORIGINAL Cheppum Panthum! I get a thrill in my gut! Please let me know when a copy is available! Doug |
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Lawrence O Inner circle French Riviera 6811 Posts |
Some of this fools me as well
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DMviA0gbO8 and I find this one pretty refreshing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARa4EPCLf2Q
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
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