Ricky Jay

It's been a few days since I've posted (pardon me & life: the holiday where we celebrate indian massacare... I mean "giving thanks" was in the way... that and a minor bout of depression... ces-le-vis) The weather has me under the wind and ... I'll bite my tongue at  that.

Over the holiday I was  fortunate to have seen "Practices and Deceptions - The Life and Mentors of Ricky Jay". I found it good. It's wasn't as 'great' as I'd hoped, but it is good (and in a day / age when so many things regarding my art are not, that is a pleasure)

If you know me, you know I consider Mr. Jay to be one of magic's finest showman alive (and a great author to boot) In honor of that recent viewing, here's a couple clips. The one with Steve Martin (who happens to be a fellow magician) is pure brilliance. He is a treasure. I'll save you the upraise & fun, if you enjoy magic you'll watch this film and you will love it.

Ok, well, I guess the traditional youtube clip is appropriate.

I had Tyler Wilson in mind (for the spelling trick) as I was picking a segment to post
The rest of you can ponder why Ricky chose to open his set with and obvious display of skill and flourish...
I have answers... do you? (*if not, get some!) Ejnoy




speaking of Steve Martin: this is great
http://youtu.be/n7HuPDDNb4E

Ok, I'll do my best to stay on track with my postings
I hope the minor hiccup did not dismay my 3 readers.

... what is it... oh yes... "onward"

Ya never know

Nice surprise today:
I got a "repeat" booking today from a gig where I thought I bit the bullet.

I worked a Halloween party a few weeks ago and thought my performance was fair at best (walking into a 9pm NOLA "adult" party after working 3 hours of children church charity work prolly had something to do with that vibe.)

Guess ya never know (and really you don't.... you can guess, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.)

I think what I'm ultimately trying to say is: you should never be your own judge.
A camera might tell you what flashes and if you're script is tight, but in the heat of battle all bets are off. For example that Halloween party night I had a drunk heckling me... alas he was so drunk, I couldn't understand what he was saying... Heckler don't bother me (I mean really: my performance style does not invite mean people ;)  But when present I do know how to handle them (10 years of working Bourbon St left me with fairly thick magic skin) alas, if I don't know what that heckler is saying, I'm a bit at a loss.
I guess that will be tonight's homework... What to do with incoherent hecklers.

I'm straying... pardon me, back to the point:

You should practice, rehearse, read, study, practice, rehearse and DO GOOD MAGIC (rinse repeat)

Perform with love & care for your audience. CARE
Believe in your magic and yourself. BELIEVE
and Practice, Rehearse and DO GOOD MAGIC

Be Nice, Be Interesting, Be Amazing

(and don't fake it *if you're gonna phone it in, you might as well stay at home)

The rest will fall in line.

:)

A+ Mem-Deck Tools

Tools and Websites for memorized deck work

http://www.stackview.com/index.html  Nick Pudar's amazing program
be sure to read about it (*download the user guide)
Nick's work is a incredible. The fact he gives it away: even more so!
Join/Read his "Musings" blog for some extra great info.

http://headinside.blogspot.com/2008/06/memorized-deck-online-toolbox.html
One of my all time fave "blogs" is Grey Matters http://headinside.blogspot.com/
Above is one of this pages regarding the Memorized pack
Wow

Vincent Hedan is a mem-master
On this page of his Blog: http://www.vincenthedan.com/magic/blog-iflipr.html
Vincent offers an online tool-tip on how-to memorize, a stack.
His blog offers lots more: Be sure to check the sidebar for some interesting info/effects

Simon Aronson is the godfather of Memdeck magic
His site has some invaluable readings and some GREAT effects using his stack, etc
http://www.simonaronson.com/magiciansonly.htm (read it ALL!)

If you've chosen the Aronson stack, you'll want to study the work of Eric Richardson
He's put more effort into composing effects for the above than anyone else I know of
Want to get into/out of New Deck Order? TOUR the site below:
http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/search/?term=eric%20richardson

There's more... I just have Aronson on the brain today and those are a few sites I had open this a.m.

As Always, I hope you find some of these useful
all for now, lots to work on today...

Happier Amp?

Just saw this in Walmart 

Interesting ... 

50amps

I-compatible

Bluetooth 

Mic in

Only $129

Worth a look maybe? 

Input anyone?

New Tricks

Ok, so, I've been slacking a bit the last couple days...
If my life was on "Press Your Luck" these days, I'd be getting all Whammies.
My Car is dead... likely a timing belt ($1000ish)
I'm having trouble inside the house (I don't like to get personal on here, but it sucks: not just inside: but even the neighbors are being rude)
and last but not least, I lost a good friend two days ago: Earl Guidry... A diving buddy who passed on the job / accident (to make it double sad, my daughters boyfriend is the guy who had to pull him out & try to save him.)  Geez, they say things come in threes... I hope that it.
There's other "tiny" crap, but that's the main stuff... "This too Shall pass eh?"

The wonderful news is: my beautiful grandaugther gets moreso each day.
The Doc has given her a perfect bill of health and her mommy Kaitlyn (my wonderful daughter) is doing a great job.

Meanwhile magic goes on.
Thought I'd take a second and mention a couple goodies that I've seen this week.
I'm gonna send all the traffic towards http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/

Josh and Andi have always been great guys to me IMO: to the magic community.
Geez, check out their free magic downloads: http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-downloads/free-magic-downloads/  You could literally make a living doing just the magic they give a away on those pages.  The "Magic in the Mind" and "Under / Over" books in particular are amazing freebies that everyone should have... ok so, onto the good stuff:

Tricks of the week =

Unwritten: wow when you talk about visual magic, it doesn't get any  more visual that this.
I won't spoil it, just watch the demo:
http://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/card-magic/unwritten/

And then for stage or parlor guys, there's this gem. Cue the Magichttp://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/great-magic-for-big-crowds/cue-the-magic/
It's awesome... it's also a couple hundred bucks. Good.
I love the cue card idea... I have sense Steinmeyer introuduced "Cue Card Mentalism" in his Genii Colum... but his effect is off the chain. I. Want. One! (Iactually I wan't two...I'll need a back up)

Okay, that's all for now
Didn't really wanna even write at all, but figure I need to get back to some 'normalcy' LOLOL

New Book (Title)

Working on a new book (every failure begins somewhere!)

Busking in the Corporate World : Magic - Outside in!

I've got a cpl dozen chapters laid out
 &
I think I've got some valuable advice worth sharing
{**some really good conn-tent that I'm excited to share)
now....
all I need are words.

wanna have it done by xmas (so I can sell an extra 3-4 copies)

so, I guess the phrase: coming soon
is valid

tosh.o

I like tosh.o (Comedian with a web-short show on Comedy Central)

if you don't like it (he's a bit lewd)
or if you haven't seen him
you still might consider the clip below
it's a Halloween episode from 2011
and there is a moment @ 12:06 seconds in that is exceptionally hilarious
(and a few right before that... not to mention the payoff)

worth a lookeloo  IMHO

enjoy (aside from the obnoxious web-commercials; but hey, at least the content is available)

http://tosh.comedycentral.com/episodes/qvkdgw/october-25--2011---worst-magician-ever


I needed the laugh today
Thanks Tosh