Magic for 2009

Hey guys,

We just wanted to wish you all a happy new year.  We have decided to post some videos that truely show magic as an art as opposed to a trivial hobby.  We are putting up two sets of videos, one comedic and the other very serious.

Derek Hughes:  A great magician, who truely knows how to mix comedy and magic.  He is a councelor at Tannens Magic Camp and really helps kids expand their own style, he was also recently on a Taco Bell commercial.  Here is a set of videos of him performing at some club.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uFuG05rgoQ

To see the other parts, look on his profile.

Here is a video of him performing a more dramatic piece, you can see he knows how to make geek magic artistic opposed to disgusting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gTmRB37rtPw&feature=channel_page

Derren Brown:  Is a name we most are pretty familiar with.  Considred to be one of the best performers by magicians and laymen alike.  Here is his live show “Something Wicked this Way Comes”, were you can see him amaze the crowd.  I guarentee most of you will be fooled, I know I was.  This is a great example of a serious performer.  I urge you to watch part 4 in which like Derek Hughes, he makes Geek magic, an art form in its self.

Part 1 of “Something Wicked this Way Comes”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VY6Zfi-6wo&feature=channel_page

To see the other parts, look on the right side of your browser.

These two performers are great to watch, and you will find that these videos go by quickly due to how much you will be entertained.

 

© Spencer Peterson

 

 

Happy New Year,

Tatanka Tan and Spencer Peterson

Creativity Challenge

Hey everyone,

The other day I came up with a cool way to stimulate ones creativity in magic. I limited my self to creating an interesting premise or effect using only a double lift, a control and one more thing of your choice. I used a side steal to control the card, a double lift and a topshot in conjunction for a powerful routine. What made the routine strong was the presentation I used to enhance the effect. So here is the challenge for you guys to try out:

Guidelines: You may use only a control of your choice, a double lift, and one other move to create a routine. You must create an interesting presentation to go with the effect.

The whole point of this is to show that less is more. Often the better effects are simpler in appearance and/or handling. Be a minimalist when designing routines. After you have the basics down, then you add to it. I will post a video of my effect soon. If you would like, you can post a link to a video of your effect in the comments section.

Happy New Years,

Tatanka Tan

Excited?

There are many new magic products out there and there are many more to come. I’m pretty excited about the following:

• True Astonishments by Paul Harris
• Revelation by Dai Vernon
• Mirage et Trois by Eric Jones
• Andthensome by Dan and Dave Buck

Tell me what you’re excited about in the comments.

Spencer Peterson

Happy Holidays

Well it’s close Christmas so I thought it would be a good idea to put everyone in the holiday mood with some holiday music.

Spencer Peterson

Magic in NYC

I’ve been seeing a lot of questions about the magic scene in New York City on the forums and I thought that a little list of magic related things going on in the city would help some people out:

• Maui Tacos Gathering: Every Saturday afternoon, Doug Edwards and a few other magicians get together downstairs at Maui Tacos. Noon-3PM Fifth Avenue Between 32nd and 33rd streets.
• Tannens Magic: The magic shop that me and Tatanka are at during the weekends, very close to Maui Tacos. 45 West 34th Street Suite 608.
• Manhattan Magic: A new show in Times Square, magic and variety. The line ups are very good, in a nice and intimate theater. Wednesdays at 7:30PM at the Sage Theater 711 7th Avenue 2nd floor (between 47th and 48th streets.)
• Pure Magic: Eric Decamps’ parlor show, it’s beautiful and elegant magic that should not be missed. A once in a lifetime oportunity to the this world renowned magician. Sundays at 4PM at The Metropolitan Room 34 West 22nd Street (Betw. 5th & 6th Ave.)
• Monday Night Magic: New York’s longest running magic show, different line up every week. Mondays at 8PM Bleeker Street Theater 45 Bleeker Street (East of Lafayette Street.)

I hope this helps all of the curious people looking for magic in NYC, if you’re a magician visiting the city you can email at s.peterson.magic@gmail.com and maybe you can meet up with me and Tatanka to session or what not.

Peace,

Spencer Peterson

An experiment in Jazzing.

Hey everyone,

First of all I hope you all have a great holiday season.  Now onto the magic.

Jazzing or improv magic can be some of the most amazing magic.  Jazzing is the art of spontaneous magic.  When done well the reactions can be escalated due to the spontaneous aspect of the performance.  However, when done poorly, it seems as if the magician is out of control and has no idea what he is doing (Mike Patrick).  The main thing people do not realize about Jazzing, is that the magician must have a plan or set of outs if things do not go as planned.   For example, always have a killer ending effect, yet if any of your spontaneous miracles occur, you STOP IMMEDIATELY.

Say you remove a card from the deck, and ask a spectator to name it without them seeing the face, and they name the correct card.  You stop immediately.  I do not care if your final effect was your favorite routine that you have been practicing forever.  Do not weaken miracles with other effects, that’s just being greedy.

Now that you have some fundamental rules and tips, here is a challenge or experiment you could do to practice.  Go up to a spectator who is familiar with your magic such as a friend or family member, upjog and remove a card of your choice, and have them name a card.  If it matches, pump the conditions noting how completely fair it is (which it is), and show your miracle.  If the card does not match, think quickly and try to work your way out of it.  Will you cull the correct card out and make a switch?  Will you laugh of the mistake as a joke?  Will you use this mistake to enhance the reactions of the next effect?  Or if the card they name is close to the prediction show them how close you got?  You have many options on what to do just think on your feet and practice Jazzing.  Try it out and do get nervous, a spectator will be able to sense your tension, if you make things seem as if you were doing exactly what you planned, it will cause no suspicion.

Practicing this on random people is just a plain bad idea.  You want to practice on people who will give you constructive criticism and tell you if anything fishy went on.  Now this experiment will help you with presentation, and being able to think on your feet.  I recommend that you read Eric Mead’s Tangled Web for his work on Jazz magic.  Dai Vernon also has great work on Jazzing.

I hope you all enjoyed this post, and please comment on your thoughts on this experiment.  Feel free to comment with videos of you trying this out or write about your experiences with this challenge.

Have a great holiday season,

Tatanka Tan

1000 hits

Hey!
I’m excited to announce that we received our 1000th hit today! We really enjoyed making this blog and just to be able to give back, I (SPENCER) will be posting every weekend and TATANKA will be posting every wednesday. If you have any ideas or special requests for reviews, videos or advice, you can send me an email at s.peterson.magic@gmail.com.

Thanks for the support,
Spencer Peterson

Two Reviews

Howdy y’all,

Spencer here, I haven’t posted in some time and I thought that now would be the appropriate time to do so. I recently purchased two products and thought I could say what I think about them, here they are:

• Dear Mr. Fantasy by John Bannon, the Chicago lawyer/magician. This book was originally published in 2004 and went out of print until now. I almost bought the book for about 60$ a few months ago but didn’t, so I am extremely pleased that it was reprinted. The book is based on nothing but card magic, but the magic in it is nothing but GREAT. Everything is direct, simple and cleverly thought out. He has 3 different ace assemblies, each one of them has a very strange, offbeat timing, you will understand what I mean by this when you read the book. Bannon speaks about the effects and how/why he performs them for lay audiences, all I can say is that he is a very clever man. The material in the book isn’t extremely technically demanding, but the effects are strong and clear. Bannon streamlined ever trick making sure that there are no unnecessary moves involved. I HIGHLY recommend this book to the intermediate/advanced magician, I believe everyone will get something out of reading it.
• Bebel, enfin le DVD is a brand new DVD by Bebel, it is produced by Fabrice Delauré. As you all might know, I am a huge fan of Bebel’s card magic. This DVD has 6 of his original routines on it, each routine is smooth, magical and well thought out. First, you get to see Bebel perform a routine for audiences in the streets of Paris, where he sets a table up and does magic for tips (how ghetto is he?). He then explains the routine in detail, going over all the little touches and subtleties he has added. After the explanation, he does another performance of the same routine for a different audience. It is very interesting to watch the legendary French magician perform in tough situations in the street because you get to see how he handles hecklers and interacts with his audiences. My favorite routine on the DVD has to be Repro Rétro, but there are two other effects I might start using. The effects are very technically demanding, but once you have them perfected you will have a piece of art in your hands. There is one problem about the DVD, I kept this for last knowing it might be a turn off. This may not be bad for everyone including me, but the DVD is completely in French. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get it, for the explanations are so clear that you do not need to hear what is being said. Also HIGHLY recommended for the advanced card magician. I don’t want to see crappy YouTube videos of Bebel’s magic being done by bad magicians. If you do get this, PLEASE put the time into perfecting the routines.

I hope you enjoyed these two reviews, and that they may help you make a decision for a Christmas gift to yourself.

Spencer Peterson