Magic Camp!!!

Hello everyone,

Spencer and I have just come back from Tannens Magic camp yesterday. It was a week of pure awesomeness. The camp was extremely fun with great lectures, classes, workshops and shows. Many great magicians and entertainers came including David Oliver, Kostya Kimlat, John Pizzi, John Cassidy, Derrick Hughes, Marc DeSouza, Francis Menotti, David London, Doug McKenzie and Ryan Oakes and many more.

At camp we received a lot of magic. In this years kit, we got The Collected Almanac, Reel Magic Quarterly June 2009, Spin Doctor, Acting for Magicians, Thumb Tips, Silks, Half Dollars, Deep Astonishment, Ring on String, Cards and More. Also, thanks to Spencer and the Buck Twins, each camper received a signed orange edition of Andthensome. Along with the kit, we were given a huge opportunity to learn from master magicians from all over the country.

Our daily routine included, a two and a half hour long class on magic that was divided into groups based on skill level and interest in stage or close up. After class we had great lectures from a lot of professional entertainers on various subjects from restaurant magic to a workshop dedicated to the Ring On String effect. We then had workshops which was a class dedicated to various aspects of magic. There was workshops on Kids Magic, Creating Magic, Comedy Magic, and more.

After the Workshops we had Dinner and some chill time before the show. The shows were great and had both close up and stage performers alike. Highlights included Chris Chiappini, Kostya Kimlat, John Pizzi, The Show Off Show, and Harrison Greenbaum.

This was my fourth year at Camp and my favorite so far. Everything was so fun that the week went by so quickly. I believe every person who went had a great time (even Darby). From the late night Jams, to the competition acts, Camp was an experience like no other.

Can’t wait till next year,

Tatanka Tan

2009 Competition Winners:

Junior Close Up

1. Eli Tannenbaum
2. Robert Radway
3. Bhavish Malkani
4. Matt Richman

Senior Close Up

1. David Orshan
2. Joshy Kurzban
3. Max Cron
4. Spencer Peterson

Junior Stage

1. Jeff Prace
2. Jonah Conlin
3. Nicole Humberger
4. Nick Healy

Senior Stage:

1. Eric Wilzig
2. Matthew Lescanic
3. Reuben Moreland
4. Bailey Ludlum

Congratulations to all of the finalists for doing a wonderful job.

LIMAC

I’m going to be at The Long Island Magical Arts Convention this coming Saturday, will you? 

http://magicartsconvention.com/

Spencer Peterson

PS: Unfortunately, Tatanka will not be able to attend.

With Spring Comes New Changes

Hey everyone,

We would like to apologize for not staying on track with our posts. Here is a reminder on how to get back into your schedule after a long holiday season.

With the end of winter comes the end of good and fun holiday times. Spring is seen as a time of renewal and rebirth. This is especially true with our lives in many aspects including magic. We must get out of our bad habits and get back into a schedule (as you can see with the Blog, we lost touch as well). Here are things you must take into account when starting again.

• Start practicing again. Routines, sleights, and effects are usually rusty at this time of year. Practice getting the motions and moves down.
• Get rid of old bad habits. Now that you are starting again, you may as well fix all bad habits and and start afresh.
• Make new goals. Challenges will help with your growth. It might be a good idea to work on new things and styles. For example if you are a card worker, work on coins. Or a close up magician working on stages.

These will help get you back on track in practicing and performing your magic.

Tatanka Tan

Back

I’ve been very busy lately with work and some travel, so I haven’t had much time to post. This isn’t a formal post but I just wanted to give you all a heads up on two new products on the market which caught my attention.

The first product is Tarantula by Yigal Mesika, an invisible thread hook which enables you to do some amazing things, like making a ring float onto a spectators finger. Some people are concerned if this is that same as the Spider Pen, an electric reel built into a pen, but it is not. On the website, you can preorder it for $69.99 instead of $75.00 and preorders also come with a FREE pack of Loops.

The second product I’m interested in is French Connexion by James Chadier and Mathieu Bich, a DVD with over 20 tricks and sleights which look great. Unlike the Bebel DVD, this will have english subtitles and clear, silent explanations. One of the effects in the trailer which really fried me is the rubber band effect. Click on the link to watch the video.

Spencer Peterson

Inspirations

If you would ask me to name my inspirations in magic, you would find that besides Paul Harris, and a few others, the rest is a list of non magic related people. Yet despite not knowing sleight of hand, these people have just as much magic in them as we do. We must acknowledge those that influence us for they are subconsciously a big part of us as magicians and people. I will give examples that relate to my self.

Dr. Suess played a huge part in my childhood, and stimulated my creativity. His books were a big help in inspiring my creative side.  He understands how to take the reader on a journey of fun and happiness.  You are drawn into the story, drawings, and lyrical format.  His books remind me of the wonderful essay that starts Paul Harris’ Art Of Astonishment series.  The stories in my opinion take you back into a childlike state of emotion.  They are simple, not clouded with unnecessary crap.

People can find there influences in many things.  It does not even have to be a person.  It could be a song, book, pet, or any object in the world.  Objects can inspire my creativity for magic, for example “how can I use that _____ to create an effect?”  while quotes from songs or books can inspire presentation aspects or theories on magic.

Look around you, Magic is everywhere.

Tatanka Tan

P.S  That is not an actual picture of me playing basketball.  I am actually good and wouldn’t carry like that kid is doing in the picture.

TA

I promised you guys a video of me opening the True Astonishments 9 DVD set, I later realized that this is not fair for those who did purchase the item, for it would reveal the contents of the box. So instead of a video, here’s a picture of my box.

Enjoy…

Spencer Peterson

Basketball

Guys, just wanted to apologize for the lack of posts from Tatanka. He has been busy playing basketball and should be back soon.

Spencer Peterson

True Astonishments

I finally got a message confirming that I will be able to pick up my True Astonishmets DVD set on Wednasday. I’ve been waiting for this for a while and it’s only 2 days away!!! I know Tatanka will also be getting the set, but he might get it slightly later than I do, if I do get it before him I will torment him. And just for you guys I will film myself unboxing the box, so if you’re unsure of what you’re getting in the set, you will be able to find out within the next few days.

Spencer Peterson

Licking

I work with magicians and people who think they are good at magic often. And one thing that a fairly high number of these people do is something that is in my opinion outrageous, licking their fingers before doing a card trick. This is not only bad for you and your deck, but it’s DISGUSTING for your spectators. The day I meet a laymen who wants to shake hands with someone who’s hands are drenched in saliva, I will give each and every one of you a panda. So if I ever see you lick your fingers around me, I have the right to slap you silly.

Now back to playing Rock Band 2, the best game ever.

Spencer Peterson

Sorry for the super late post.

Hey guys,

I am really sorry for the late post, I have recently been sick and unable to come on here and finish a post by the deadline.  Anyways, today I wanted to talk about being in magic mode.  When you perform, are you noticably different than you usually are?  Do you change your personality, your style, and your overall self?  I know that I along with many other magicians have had this very same trait.  While some can say laymen will never see your other non performing side,  you still feel artificial.  I mean I know that it has become quite corny to say this, but truly be yourself.  If you spend your time trying to either copy someone else’s personality, or create a brand new one, you are wasting you and the audiences’ time.

For a while I always used to get into magic mode.  I tried to act very confident, and tried to seem better than everyone else.  I guess it was my ego showing but it was all very artificial.  It made me seem like more of a jerk than performer.  Since I am a very laid back and casual person, trying to be someone else is very bad for me and the audience.  I am not saying not to bring confidence and to take control in your performance, but I became a magician that didnt need an audience.  Everything for me was scripted, and I allowed no room to adapt my patter, and flow with the audience.  It was as if I performed for a camera and merely showed an audience a tape of it. I may as well of been a robot doing sleight of hand.

Here are some tips to bring more humanity into your work.  When performing, keep the attitude as casual as possible, yet maintain your professionalism.  Make it less of  a “look at this trick” and more of a group effort.  Remember magic is only half of the magician’s performance, the rest relys on the audience and their reactions.  Your performance should also be as conversational as possible.  Talk to the people as if they were your friends and had your trust. I would really recommend reading the first essay in The Art of Astonishment (Volume 1) by Paul Harris.

Tatanka Tan