Have a Magical Christmas

To all my readers and to everyone else in the world. May you have a truly fruitful Holiday Season and a blessed New Year.

Last Saturday was a Sucess

Last Saturday I went to my girlfriend's sister 18th Birthday Party and there I did a little walkaround magic for the guests. I have prepared for this for quite some time and i had a routine in mind. Unfortunately the routine was kept short due to time constraints and of course I had to fit it with the audience after seeing them.

Well after the dinner ,all of the traditional 18th birthday ceremonies and the dancing I got on doing my walkaround. I started on a table where the girls actually moved their chairs to face the dance floor. They weren't on the table so I was actually able to perform the Asher Twist with jacks with the patter that the headturner in the group actaully causes the jacks to face her one at a time.

I also did a few more tricks but my highlight would have to bee my routine with the jacks, consisting of the twisiting jacks, the red and the blacks exchanging places and the four jacks finds a selected card. It was all screams from the audience and although I appreciate it, sometimes it hurts my ears.

Well it was really worth it and the reactions were really overwhelming. I hope that I'll get to perform more so that I could share the magic.

Just a few days left before that day

Yes it's just a few days left before my walkaround show for a birthday party. I have my routines set-up already and it's just a matter of presenting it for the show to be successful. I do hope there would be less mistakes and more fun when I perform.

I do hope that I make a good impression to all the guests there and just maybe I might consider doing it professionally. Well times are hard and any extra work would be welcomed right? Well at least maybe not this time yet.

Anyway I hope the show would be a success and maybe it will inspire me to do more an be better in magic.

UP Diliman Lantern Parade! Extremely Magical

Ok here's the news coverage of one of the best events in my beloved School UP diliman


For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

Hah! Beat that! Well no other school has that but us. I hope to post more pictures soon here.

Until then.

I'll be quite busy for this week

Yup Christmas is fast approaching and I'll be busier than ever. I do hope you still visit this blog and read about my views and insights on magic. I'll be busy because I'll be performing for a friend this weekend and I'll be taking a vacation on the Christmas Week. I'll be back around January already hopefully earlier.

Until then,



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Download Free Magic E-books!

Yup I admit I'm a sucker when it comes to free stuff. My search for new knowledge has brought me to the far and wide corners of the worldwide web. So far I've seen a lot of e-books on magic both for free and for a fee.

Of course between the two I would choose the free one. However most of the time the free e-book that is given to you gives you something that either you already know about or something that everyone knows already. That is really quite frustrating and of course I feel that I wasted my time actually going to that site.

However there are good sites too that provide quality e-books and they are really a goldmine when it comes to magic knowledge. I was lucky to find a website that has that repository of over 100 classic books of magic and surely that is something for a magician like me.

There is another site that I found that offers e-books for a reasonable price (meaning cheap in my vocabulary)Well I purchased some e-books there and some were even under a dollar and also if you look carefully into the site you could get their free e-books too.

Anyway I'm not mentioning the sites where I got my e-books from simply because I don't think telling about them would be a good idea because if anyone could purchase the trick the someone who isn't a magician who bought it might expose it to others too.

Anyway I'm just telling you my experience about e-books and magic. If you want I have uploaded some in my other blog Learn Classic Tricks. Just follow the instructions on the Request Password page.

Check out KLM - Fill a Plane - Promote your plane

Hi,

I want you to take a look at : KLM - Fill a Plane - Promote your plane

and who knows we might be on the same plane en route to Amsterdam. See you there!

With a few days before Christmas, Magic is all around here again

Nothing really beats the feeling of Christmas coming near especially the happiness and warmth that it brings. Not to mention of course the long holidays and merrymaking that goes with it. Every year it never fails to bring its magic to all.

To make me feel more the joy this season brings I searched for a lot of a Christmas songs and being the European languages major that I am I actually searched for various versions of Christmas Carols in French and I found this guy on youtube who sings it beautifully.



That's his version of Jingle Bells: Vive le vent in French

Very nice indeed and of course I enjoyed his other songs on his channel.

Anyway that's for Christmas magic so far...

What does it take to be an expert?

Recently I read an article that in order for someone to become an expert at any field a person should have dedicated at least ten thousand hours to it. It is roughly equivalent to a little more than a year of non stop practice for 24 hours everyday or if you like you could just do it four 3 hours a day for ten years ( I hope I did my Math correctly back there) This may be too much but of course for someone who actually enjoys what he or she is doing it is really nothing since one doesn't notice the passing of time that goes with it.

Honestly I don't consider myself an expert in magic since my experience with it is really not that long and also even though I've been practicing it for a long time performing it would be a different thing. Of course I'm saying this because I've experienced it ones that I have practiced a trick for such a long time and sometimes it still fails.

Yup it's really embarrassing when people see you fail and more often than not they would say "I saw that!" then of course you'll be caught off-guard and that really feels terrible because you'll really feel that it seems like everything you have put to that trick is put to waste.

Well of course the only solution for one not to fail no matter how much practice is made is of course to practice more. Well they say practice makes perfect but in my own experience it never makes perfect, it only makes you better and being better lessens the chances of failing.

Yes more practice could be boring most of the time but there's no other way to become better than to do it, just make sure you don't count the hours you practice, just enjoy what you're doing and you won't notice how have you improved greatly.

To finish it off here's a video quite related on the topic. You just have to think deeper why is this song related to what I have written above.

Marvelous Magic- New Layout and Features

Since it's beginning last June Marvelous Magic has undergone a lot of changes. Aside from the change in template, there are also new features that makes this site more interesting and useful to all the visitors here.

First of all the new template of this site makes it easier to navigate around it. With it's links on top of the page that helps visitors navigate around the site with ease, surely more would be coming back to visit this site.

Checking the top links, you would see that it is now easier to learn magic and to order for the stuff you need with the Learn Classic Tricks and Magicians.com Shop. If you really want to learn magic then you should visit these two sites.

In addition to this, the site now has a contact form. With this a visitor of the site could personally send a message to the author of this blog about anything. Whether it be about shows or simply a magic advice the author is more than willing to answer your e-mails. Just a note "NO SPAM OR ANY OTHER UNNECESSARY MESSAGE PLEASE!"

Moving on this site also has opened its pages for advertisers who would want their sites to have more traffic driven into them. Simply check this entry on how you could promote your site here for as low as USD3.oo a month. With easy payment via paypal you'll be able to purchase your ads and be seen with each page of this site almost instantly.

More features to come soon, as for the meantime enjoy your stay here.

My Christmas Wishlist Part 1

Well for all of you who are wondering why I'm writing something like this even though Christmas is still a few days away, I'm writing this simply because I just need a little something to uplift my spirits and possibly to motivate me with whatever thing I need.

Well here it goes in no particular order:

1. A new job

I've been ranting about this since I've started this blog. Although not regularly you could find on my other entries how i really want a new job wherein I'll be fulfilled. Having a this day job is tough and being a magician who can do tricks but won't earn from it is being harder. Hopefully by next year I'll be able to find a new job and maybe even my own clients for magic shows.

2. My own place

This is something that I really want since as a magician I need time alone to practice and at my current situation right now, staying with my family makes me feel that I really have no time to practice it and since everyone could see me in the house I really feel sometimes that what I do isn't good enough.

3. New books and new props

Just a little something for increasing my knowledge as well as adding up to what I can do as a magician. Having new books to study makes me feel happy because it makes me feel that my brain is still working properly and it gives me new ideas to think about.

So far that's what I've been wishing for myself (at least) and maybe I'll go think about the world if I'll be able to solve my problems first.

Marvelous Magic now accepting ads

This blog has grown a lot since when it first started. It is slowly becoming known throughout the worldwide web and traffic has been good over the past few weeks.

Because of this, the owner of the blog: me has decided to accept banner ads on his site. You could buy your ads for as low as USD1.50 for 2 weeks. Imagine two weeks of exposure and back links for a very low price of just USD1.50.

Here are the terms and conditions in buying ads in this site.

1. Ads must have a size of 125x125 pixels only. The banners should only contain only still images and should not show any nudity, obscenity and other material that could be offensive to the viewers of the site.

2. The site owner reserves the right to accept or decline advertisers for this site.

3. The site owner reserves the right to remove any ads that shows nudity, obscenity and other material that could be offensive to the viewers of the site.

4. The ads shown on the site doesn't necessary reflect the views and opinions of the site owner.


5. By placing an ad on this site the advertiser agrees to the terms and conditions stated above.

Contact Me if you are interested in placing your ad in this blog.

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So what are you waiting for buy ad space here now.

Buy Ad Space via Paypal

Something I made just for fun

Just a few things I made out of my Free Time.





Create your own logo too here.

Wordless Wednesday

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A magic toon courtesy of Jim Salabim. More toons on his zazzle.

December

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Well yes it's December already and a few days from now it will be that magical moment: Christmas. Everywhere everyone is busy preparing for that day and on almost every corner there are Christmas decorations already.

If everyone is busy, well so am I. In two weeks I'll be performing for a Birthday party and until now I'm still feeling butterflies all over.Honestly I'm still finding good effects to perform and had been practicing them everyday so that I won't fail when that day comes.

It is a walkaround and table hopping type for a birthday party and good thing though the audience are old enough to understand more complicated tricks. If they were kids I would have a hard time controlling them and doing tricks to them.

I do hope that I would be able to pull through this show and hopefully they'll remember the magic.

Oh well Back to my practicing again, wouldn't want to ruin the big show right?

What a magician does when he Buys Shoes

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Over the long weekend, there was a big sale on a mall near us and fortunately I just received my salary, so I thought of buying something for myself and that is a pair of rubber shoes. The ones I bought were the exact ones in the photo and I was really able to buy it at a very good bargain.

Before I was able to buy this pair, I looked all over the mall, in each stall trying to find a good pair for a good price. If I were a normal guy I would have been annoyed with myself because it took me very long to buy a shoes.

It took me so long to buy shoes because I am really conscious first of all with the fit then of course the look. The shoes should be comfortable when I wear them, that's why I need a perfect fit of it. When it comes to style of course I wouldn't want to look anything like a clown with over sized shoes.

Something I think that most people wouldn't do is to levitate when they buy shoes. Actually I was just looking on the shoe mirror on how it looks like on me, until a saleslady suggested that I use the full body mirror. So I followed her advice and as I was looking through every detail on how the shoe looks, I decided to practice a very simple levitation trick performed by David Blaine for his first TV series.

Here is how he does it.



I was actually practicing it and a good thing is that no one else was watching me perform it in front of the mirror. I really don't know what will happen if anybody had seen it.

Oh well it really seems a little weird but whenever I buy shoes I try to levitate one or two times to see if it works well with what I buy.

Why Spoonbending and some Mental tricks don't appeal to me

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The picture above is a spoon bent by one of the most famous spoon benders in history Uri Geller. He is a magician who claims to have supernatural powers and apparently he had made a lot of money putting up shows that supposedly shows his psychic powers.

However when he was asked to do it for a live audience on national TV with all the props supplied by the show itself he wasn't able to perform any of those apparently psychic feats. His reason for not being to be able to do so was he said that he wasn't feeling powerful that night.

Anyway I saw a lot of magicians actually doing this trick and many times I see the same type of bending. It usually goes wave spoon-bend-bent spoon-rubbed-spoon breaks in two. I find this quite boring and totally not amazing because instead of entertaining audiences some turn this into a boring pseudo-science class.

Some who perform this would say that they're channeling mental energies. into the metal piece that's why it bends. So it's mental to the metal ok anything else? Of course this would go on saying more and more uninteresting and boring things.

Well claiming it as a scientific thing is really quite annoying in my opinion. They claim that psychokinesis in bending spoons is real etc. and this is really misleading especially to those who are not that knowledgeable with the studies on psychic abilities.

Another is how some of these mental tricks are actually psychological ones, well some of course are really psychological ones but there are who claims that even though it is simply not. I remember watching someone who did a trick that guessed the cards in a spectator's hands.

He said that he was reading the cards via body language. For all I know he could be using a special deck in the first place or even worse a "shiner" to see what those cards are. I really don't know but that was one boring trick.

Anyway I have nothing against the tricks, it's just that the way some present them are really boring or even worse misleading. Yes a lot of magic tricks are meant to mislead but only your imagination and not the real facts of life in this world.

Give a man enough rope and he will hang himself. Give me enough rope and I'll show you a trick!

Cross posted at Magic Daydreams

Yeah the first line of the title really sounds desperate. Yes Desperation is actually an anagram of "A rope ends it"and a lot of us has felt despair one way or another but if you are reading this it means that you haven't ended yours yet with a rope. Good for you because for me if you give me enough I'll end your desperation by using rope too.

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No I'm not hanging you or anything! If you give me enough rope maybe we could end your desperation if you let me show you a trick or two with it. If we are both desperate the better because we'll be learning that it's not by the rope around the neck that will end it rather it will be by the rope on skillful hands that would make you believe that no matter how impossible a thing is to achieve as long as you believe you'll be able to achieve it. (Ok this is redundant but you get my point right?)

Honestly I have always wanted to do some rope magic. Although I don't get to practice it a lot I have a lot of methods right here in my head ready to be performed even with borrowed rope. I'm not bragging or maybe I am but maybe I should just be performing rather than bragging right?

Well hopefully I could get some rope to practice on but I must be careful with it because the moment I get mad at a heckler I might be showing a trick: Bind the heckler. Anyway until then my rope magic still has to wait.

An interesting fact about the Ace of Spades

Of course as you may have known my specialty when it comes to magic is really card magic. Of course being the curious person that I have always been I just did a little research over the internet about playing cards and now I'm presenting you random facts that you may have not known about playing cards. Here is the site where I found this interesting trivia.

Why is the Ace of Spades bigger than the other Aces?



Well this thing about cards is a classic whenever one performs Vernon's Twisting the Aces. Apparently it is only in USA and UK wherein the Ace of Spades is the biggest among all the other aces. In other countries it is the diamonds or the hearts that is bigger or has a more elaborate design.

Speaking of which why does the Ace of Spades has sometimes more elaborate designs that those of the others? Well apparently in History playing cards were once taxed and in order to show that they have paid their taxes they placed it on a card. They did this because if the plastic wrap or the seal is destroyed when a new card deck is opened usually the seal that you have paid the tax is also broken.

Of course as time went by the tax was abolished but making elaborate designs on the Ace of spades remained.

So that's it a little random fact about playing cards.

Doing nothing in order to do Something

Right now I'm facing again a stage in my life wherein I do nothing so that I would be able to do something. So much for being a paradox it simply means that I need to take a break and do nothing so that in a few days I'll be able to bring myself back together to do something.

Maybe I need to wait and listen to myself and to the universe as well on their plans for me. Too bad I can't find the time to do this especially now that I've become too busy with work. So for the meantime I'll just check myself to see if I'm still ok.

Maybe I need to vanish myself or the time being or if not maybe I need to spend it with my closest friends. Or maybe I just need to know what bothers me right now so I could get back to my life.

That's why I searched all over the internet to look for personality quizzes and stuff and so far this is what I found that mirrors more or less myself right now.

I took the free ColorQuiz.com personality test! "Needs a peaceful environment. Wants release from s..." Click here to read the rest of the results.

Oh well I hope to get a grip on myself soon.

One of my favorite magicians: Joshua Jay

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Joshua Jay is an American Magician who always has very fresh ideas for magic. According to his website he started magic when his father showed him a tricks and he himself figured out how the trick was done after a few hours. He always says that he didn't find magic it was magic who found him.

As one of the best young magicians out there he always innovates the tricks that most magicians already know or he even creates his own new tricks. Besides having a creative mind he also writes books and some of these have been published already in different languages.

He also knows how to speak French and Spanish (just like me only difference is I look better LOL) that's why he is one of my favorite magicians. Not all could speak more than two languages and those who do are blessed.

His presentation style is really captivating and he always make sure that the audiences are always engaged with his act. Watching videos of him doing magic makes me more determined to become a better magician.

My favorite tricks of him include

1. Waltzing Cheek to Cheek
2. Elevator
3. Chinese Coin Challenge
4. Cornered
5. and a whole lot more

His tricks are very good and as much as I try to figure it out I just don't because I'd rather enjoy watching it. As his website says "The secret is right in front of you" so you don't need to try look for it anymore.

Well that's just it hopefully in a few years I'll be in a level same as him and I think knowing more than two languages is a good start now all I have to do is work better in magic and my boyband projection just like in the photo above LOL.

Instant downloads

Probably one of the best gifts to magicians out there who want something new in their stuff. Instant downloads are magic products that either come in pdf or video format and of course it is downloadable via internet usually for a fee.

Honestly I have always wanted to buy an instant download product to learn a new trick or two. Even though I could buy online for stuff I'm having hesitations on these kinds of products because it might not be worth my money to begin with. Yes you are buying a secret when you buy an instant download but are you sure it is something really new and aren't there any free copies of it from the internet? Also why should I buy a secret if I could watch it over and over to learn it?

Well that brings me again to why I should buy it. Well yes you could get it by watching it over and over again but the problem is the methods you might be thinking of may be really wrong for the trick and wouldn't it be better to spend more time practicing it after learning than trying to learn the secret?

After thinking about that I decided to give it a try and to buy one from penguin magic. After I decided which one to buy I filled out this form and too bad I can't get an instant download because they do not ship to this country. I mean come on, you get the product via the internet so that should mean that anyone could get it anywhere anytime right? Too bad I can't so I abandoned the thought and decided to e-mail them at least to let them know.

What happened next is really more disappointing and annoying. After spending minutes writing a letter explaining what happened and pressing send on the screen, my e-mail bounced back and apparently my e-mail didn't reach them. I was really frustrated with what has happened and I promised to myself that I'll do the best that I can to get this to penguin magic's attention and it includes this post in my blog.

So I hope this reaches them and appropriate action could be taken.

How fast time flies and how wisdom could be found in unlikely situations

So I was at the office today at around 6 AM to call some countries for follow ups. When i finally finished calling at around 7 I just took a break and surfed the net for some stuff. I came across a website that has cool videos of some TV shows and I decided to watch Avatar the Last Airbender.


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I watched a few episodes and as always I enjoyed every episode of it. It was so cool watching all those elemental manipulations that would have made great magic if it was really possible to do. Watching a few episodes made me realize how time flies so fast that when I looked at the clock it was past 8 already and at any time the others would arrive

Anyway there was a certain episode when one of the character Iroh teaches his nephew Zuko, a new technique in firebending. It was emphasized that one should learn from other places so that one could be whole and to avoid the rigidity of staleness of some things.

So that's it a Eureka moment for me. I gained some new wisdom about things and surely it could be applied to magic. Now I'll be looking not only magic from one point of view but from other views as well. This thought lead me to branching out my magic not only focusing on sleight of hand and visual effects.

That lead me to study mentalism. I have downloaded some free e-books about it and I hope i could pull off some mind reading and psychological persuasion tricks to some people. Also studying mentalism gave me some new insight on how to interact better with audiences.

I do hope I could learn a lot from mentalism so that I'll be a better magician.

I'm getting ready for my first formal show

As an amateur magician (emphasis on not doing magic as a source of income) I was always asked to do a trick or two during gatherings amongst friends or families. It was always impromptu and usually I never get to show them the best tricks that I have.

Until one of my friends asked me to do a walkaround magic show on a birthday party. I was asked if I could perform for the guests and I didn't hesitate when I said yes. Of course it would be a great opportunity for me to show my skills at the same time to assess myself in case I would be doing shows in the future.

It was good that the Birthday party will have a theme and from there I was actually able to draft a routine for each table consisting of tricks that are simple to understand yet very mind boggling. Since it is walkaround and table hopping style I opted for tricks that are not too flashy, to avoid people from the other table from being disturbed while the show is going on in another table.

I hope to complete the line up at the end of this week so that I could go practice for the remaining weeks before that day. I hope I could pull it off as a magician and leave a good impression on the guests so that in the future I could share more of the magic with other people.

One of the best: Jorge Blass

I just want to write posts about magicians who may not be that known but who are very good when it comes to magic.

So let me begin these series of posts by featuring one of the best magicians out there: Jorge Blass

I've discovered about him actually when I was searching in youtube some good magic. I'm so tired already of all those David Blaine and Criss Angel tricks when I decided to use the Spanish word "Magia" in the searchbox in youtube.

There I discovered Nada x Aqui a magic show in Spain that combines Close-up, Street and Practical Jokes. The best part is when the hosts would perform their magic and of course it's always a treat to see Jorge Blass in action. His Close up magic is really very good and even though you're not actually watching it live, it feels like you're very near watching it.

He also does some street magic and his effects are very fun to watch. It is so different from the usual Street Magic that you see in TV wherein the audiences are usually frightened by what the magician did. With him it is always fun and what's best about it is that you are left with a good impression that magicians shouldn't be feared.

So if you want to know more about Jorge Blass you could visit his site at this link.

Magicians.com Shop Opens

Club Magicians by Magicians.com has recently opened it's magic shop. so it means that the definitive group of magicians by magicians, won't only be providing a place for magicians to exchange ideas, but also will provide the necessary material to magicians.

Thanks to Ryan Ogaard a new online magic shop is here, which is really aimed for magicians, both beginner and advanced. I myself had been witness on how this shop came to be. From it's conception and planning, until the final stages of fine tuning, until its opening.

If you would visit the shop, you will be amazed on how much material there is in the shop. Ranging from beginner's kits up to the latest in magic. Their products are all of the best standards because it comes from the best magic suppliers from all over the world. The way the products are categorized makes it easy for anyone to find products that they like.


Overwhelmed by the number of products? Want to find products according to your level of experience? Don't worry the experience filter will help you find the products that suit your level as a magician, whether you're a beginner or an expert.

You're a magician who wants new material or just want to improve your skills? Then try the DVDs section where there are over a hundred DVDs from world Class Magicians like Jeff Mcbride. Joshua Jay. Jay Sankey. Daryl and a lot more. Also there are a lot of new materials that would stun even the most doubtful of audiences.

Have you seen the latest trick by Criss Angel or David Blaine? Well it would be good if you have seen them but wouldn't it be nice if you could perform it for your friends too? Try visiting the As Seen on TV section and impress your friends with magic that they know and would want to experience first hand.

So if you're an aspiring magician or a magician who wants only the best material, go visit Magicians.com Shop to find the best products that suit your taste and your level. This shop really lives up to its dream to share the magic all over the world.

Need Inspiration?

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I've been scouring the Internet this past few days for some inspiration on magic. Youtube has always been a good source but it is tiring to find a good video. I really don't know why those who end up at the top of search results are usually those that are boring.

Good thing though there are a lot of online magic shops that has good videos wherein I could get a lot of new ideas. These online shops of course only shows the best magicians in truly amazing routines. Of course they do it that way so that they will have more profit LOL. No seriously online shops need that for the profit.

Anyway after watching videos from certain online shops, I've actually got new ideas and actually new tricks. As a magician, after watching a trick and appreciating it, finding out how it's done is the next step for it.

I've been a magician for quite a long time and knowing it's essentials make it easy for me to actually know how a tricks is done. It may not be the exact method but recreating the effect is something achievable by knowing the essentials.

Anyway I got some new tricks, not up my sleeve though, ready to be performed as soon as I have perfected them.

Free Magic Tricks

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Whenever I visit online magic shops or websites related to magic, I notice that some of them offers you free tricks if you sign up for their website. Signing up would usually give you access to a free trick and more often than not you'll learn a trick or two and maybe you would want to learn even more.

Well that's what they really want, they teach you a trick or two then they'll teach you the rest but of course for a fee. I really wouldn't say that I totally agree with this kind of arrangement but in my opinion it could be the best so far.

Since magic heavily relies on secrets, it wouldn't be good if all these secrets would be revealed for free. It might be the end of magic as we know it, if ever all those tricks are revealed for free. The only thing I don't like about it is that some tricks are overpriced and maybe the reason for that is you don't only buy the trick you also buy it's secret. (Read more about my experience in buying the secret here)

It is quite disappointing but a magician once told me that most tricks have high prices to discourage non magicians form buying them. Although true I really don't agree with it. wholeheartedly because most of the time, you don't get your money's worth and secondly you also discourage aspiring magicians . Maybe because those who sell tricks have that goal is to make more profit rather than make better magicians.

For example a gaffed card could cost you from $10.00- $30.00 over the internet and all the while you could make one on your own. I have my own experience with those cards, basically there is a store here that sells a trick which uses three gaffed cards for PhP150 (around $3.00) quite cheap for some but it would be cheaper if you'll make your own and the fact that those gaffed cards are only limited to one impractical trick makes it really disappointing. Also the fact that the cards aren't long lasting makes it even worse.

Because of that disappointment, I decided that in order for aspiring magicians to be more encouraged I started writing a blog with the essential sleights and a little of history in magic. I also included tips and tricks so that they could maximize the tricks taught there.

Wait I know you're thinking that if I'm a magician, why do I reveal these tricks? Well I don't because all tricks are password protected and I only give a the password to those who are willing to learn magic. That's the only fee I ask from them as well as they should keep the secrets of magic. Moreover The tricks I put there are in public domain books.

So if you really want to learn magic you may check my blog here and follow the instructions and I hope I encourage you to learn magic not just know its secrets.

Two new blogs for all who wants to Learn or Improve their Magic

I have started two new blogs at wordpress.com, I started these new two blogs basically because I want to provide a resource for magicians to learn new tricks or to improve on their new tricks.

Here are my two new blogs

Learn Classic Tricks



Here I post magic lessons from basic sleights to easy tricks. Most posts are password protected though and you must follow first the instructions on how you'll learn those tricks.

For Advance Magicians



Here is where I post tips and reviews for certain magic products, including effects, props, DVDs, books etc. I also post reviews here of TV specials as well as magician's routines.

I hope you support my two new blogs and subscribe in as a reader.

The Cutting Edge- Another Magic Store in the Philippines

After my MA classes my girlfriend and I went to Trinoma to have some lunch. It took us more than 30 minutes from UP to get there because of the unusually heavy traffic. Anyway after we had lunch, I asked her if we could go to a certain store which I found out while searching on the internet. Apparently this store sold special decks like vipers, ghost decks, black tigers and other trick decks like stripper decks.

So went around the mall and we soon found that store. At first you won't notice that they sell magic stuff because the first thing you'll see are the Swiss knives and other special knives. The magic props are to be found on one part of the store.

I browsed through the decks they have and I was actually quite delighted (even though I don't use special decks due to the fact that they are so expensive) to see those decks that I usually see only in internet shops. Behind the decks, I've found something more interesting: books.

I was surprised to see Mark Wilson's Complete Course on Magic there as much as I would like to have that book, I was really short of cash. I also saw some DVDs like Trilogy by the Buck Brothers. I know these DVDs are expensive since these are original ones.

Anyways what I like about this shop is that they sell stuff that are not cheap imitations and at least their high prices are justified by it. It is a good break from all the other shops around Metro Manila. However their product range isn't that extensive and their staff is not as friendly.

All you could find there are card decks, A PK set, some books and a few DVDs. I don't think they sell beginner sets either. Maybe their target are those magicians of intermediate to advanced level. I may still have to compare prices though at internet shops because they might be charging too much.

Anyways at least it's a good sign that the latest magic hopefully would be available here in this country.

This Blog is jealous of its sibling

I have installed a hits counter last week in my blogs and I was actually surprised of the results on how many people visit my blogs. I know I have passed 1000 hits already and I should have installed this counter a long time ago but just for curiosity sake, I've installed one to track how many people visit my blogs. I am quite frustrated honestly that this blog gets less hits than my Learn French blog.

My two blogs are very different from each other ,one talks about magic, the other teaches French. I think it's obvious why this blog gets less hits than my other blog: this blog is less appealing because it is not as useful as my other blog. It is a personal magic experience blog and maybe people find it boring since they don't see the point in reading magic. They want to LEARN tricks and know the METHODS but that's against my beliefs. I've had a blog once that teaches magic but I have to put it down because I felt guilty doing it.

Anyway it's just a thought, what matters is that both my blogs gets hits at least there are people that is interested in my writing.

Nada x Aqui

Nada X Aqui (read as Nada por Aqui) is a Spanish phrase meaning "Nothing in Here", a common phrase used by magicians, is also a title of a Spanish TV show in Cuatro. This magic show showcases the talent of 5 (sometimes 4) magicians led by Jorge Blass. Along with Luis Piedrahita, Inés, Jandro and Yunke.

Lucky for me I understand Spanish that's why I really like this show. It is a different twist from the usual magic,usually the magic shows on TV are patterned after Blaine or Angel that's why watching a show that actually entertains rather than mystifies.


This show has a lot of elements that make it very interesting. Besides the usual magicians on the show, they also invite magicians from all over the world to perform at their show. Guest magicians who have performed there include Pit Harting, Lennart Green and Paul Daniels.

Besides the magical performances on studio they also show street magic and hidden camera magic. Their street magic is actually refreshing compared to the usual stuff. Their hidden camera magic is really funny especially when they go to other countries to film it.

The tricks presented in the show are actually not the same stuff that you always see on other shows. Besides street magic has been overrated already by some magicians who always appear to be mysterious. Nada x Aqui has shown that Street magic is not about mystifying, it is about entertaining.

Watching videos of it on youtube made me realize that magic is not all about the grand things. Sometimes the most subtle tricks are the best to impress an audience. Presentation is more important and seeing you audience smile rather than terrified is a sign that you are an entertainer rather than just a trickster.

The Crystal Ball that told me things from the Past

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I had been soul searching this past few days. Many of you might know why I am doing it. To find myself once more I read through my older blog entries, even those that dated back in 2006 (that is when I started blogging) in livejournal. Anyway I've discovered and rediscovered myself from reading my older blog entries.

Some entries made me smile, some even made me laughed. Seeing what I have written made me see what I really felt back then. Although it felt awkward, I still continued reading hoping to find new insights on my life as I know it.

Reading those entries made me realize how forgetful I am or at least whatever doesn't affect my present, I can't remember much anymore. For example I didn't know that I used a username "argent" in one of my "lost" blogs. Along with all my older rants on a lot of things, that I can't remember that I have written, I really can't remember why I wrote some of them. Anyway I find that helpful for me because that means that I had moved on from the past.

This brings me to my second realization. Reading through my blog entries made me realize how I evolved in a sense on how I formed my identity. At that time, I was more into anime (like 70% more) than into magic I saw myself from the over anime loving Jordan into the more mature Magician Jordan. Maybe it's just me, whatever I am in to, it influences me and my personality. For example the anime Jordan is idealistic, just like most anime heroes. Becoming the magician made me look at things not as they are. Now I analyze things and see the reality that not all things are ideal, no matter how much you try to make them.

Realizing this I looked at myself again from both my past self , my present self and my future self. I have these characteristics from my past self that has disappeared in my present self. For example I used to believe that everyone is inherently good but now after a few years I have learned to believe that there are people who will use you for their personal gain. Another is before I am the type of person who tackled problems in a way that I swayed with it to avoid conflict. Now I learned how to be headstrong and tackle the problem head on because I learned that being too passive will not get you anywhere. Now I take action so that I won't be left behind.

Of course some characteristics simply just faded away and the bad thing about it is that some of these characteristics are good and could have helped me face my current problems. This the main reason why I tried finding my past, to see how I got through problems that were worse than what I have now. How I wish I could meet my old self and ask him what would he do if I were him.

Magician Superheroes

This is a follow up to the previous entry about having superpowers and using them for magic. Now what if it is the other way around: using magic as if they were superpowers? This lead me into writing this entry about Magicians who use their magic to become superheroes.


1.Mandrake the Magician
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Created in 1934 by Lee Falk (the same guy who created The Phantom) Mandrake uses an impossibly fast hypnotic technique to create illusions to battle the lowliest gangster up to aliens and demons. One magician actually adapted his Pencil-thin Moustache and Top hat and there's no doubt they look the same. He is Leon Mandrake

2. Doctor Fate

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Doctor Fate may not look like your average magician, because his powers came from a certainlord of magic: Nabu who is from Egypt. He was trained in the art of not only any magic but magic of the highest order. He could manipulate objects using that kind of magic. I don't know if anyone would adapt his costume.

3. Zatanna



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She is a descendant from a long line of magicians including, Da Vinci, Flanel and Nostradamus. Before discovering she was a real magician, she worked as a stage illusionist. Using spells she combats evil along with other magicians.


There are more magician superheroes out there and it might take me more than one entry to list them all. I wrote about them because they had made magic not only for stage, but also for comics and TV series as well.

Superpowers? I hope I have them for REAL

I am a magician but I don't have any superpowers and I don't even claim to have any. All that I do and perform are merely illusions designed to entertain or puzzle people's minds. No matter how simple a trick is, I know for some it leaves an impression that I have a superpower.

Thinking of this, I started imagining, what If I have real superpowers? What would it be and how will I use them. Then all of a sudden I started daydreaming of how nice it is I have those super powers.

I thought how nice would it be if I know how to teleport from one place to another. If I did then I wouldn't have to pay for my transport fares and maybe I could go anywhere I want. On the side of magic, I could actually make an even better version of the transported man.

Another is what if I could be invisible or at least make thing invisible? Then I wouldn't be worrying about angles if I make things vanish right? (I actually now have the power to read minds and I know that if you could be invisible, the first thing you will do is to go somewhere where you are not allowed to go, to watch some things.)

Well we all know that I don't have those powers and what I do just gives an illusion that I could do those extraordinary things, but come to think of it, isn't it extraordinary too if we could make the people around us forget the harsh realities of life even for just a minute? Seeing them smile is a proof that they believed even for a few seconds that you do have super powers.

Actually putting a smile on their faces is something extraordinary too and I think that is a superpower that we all have.

Rubber Band Philosophies

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I've been playing with a few rubber bands as of the moment. I was practicing my usual tricks with it and when I got bored, I just started stretching them. Trying to make sense of what I was doing, I then remembered something about people and rubber bands.

I've heard once that people are like rubber bands. When rubber bands are stretched they can only be stretched up to a certain length and the moment it reaches its limit, it would either go back into its original form or it would just snap. Just like rubber bands, people when put into a lot of stress either goes back or snaps.

Stretching these rubber bands made me realize what I am really feeling right now: being stretched. I've been stretched to much with problems and frustrations from work especially. I'm trying my best to stretch myself even more trying not to snap amidst the pressure combined with the realization that I should be in another job. What I'm talking about is a usual office day job and I'm not a professional magician so don't worry I'm not planning on quitting magic. (A magician? Why not but of course I need a more stable job than that.)

If I will write all the things about my work that stretches me to the limits, it might take me a whole day writing about it. Besides I think it's not worth the bandwidth and space on my blog. (How I wish I had studied escapology so that I could just escape through all of this.)

Well so much for philosophizing, ranting and comparing myself to rubber bands. I'm more than a rubber band and I know I could surpass even my own limits. So for now I'll let you enjoy an older blog entry with tricks with rubber bands.

Dealing with know it alls

Whenever someone asks me how I did a certain magic trick, I just smile and say that it's by magic.
Of course some people would say that there is trickery or it's just that my hands are fast. When I hear that I just smile back at them.

Well an annoying situation might be when someone says how you do the trick although more often than not that person really doesn't know how the trick is done. I've actually heard someone once when I've performed said that it's more fun when he solves the trick.

Ok I'll leave you to your happiness but as far as I know you may know ho it is done but surely you'll never be able to do it. Also I've heard that same guy explained to the person on his side how it is done but as I was listening to him I just laughed from the inside because what he was saying was really a different method for a trick. I was doing an Ambitious Card routine at that time but when he saw me placed the chosen card face up on the center and having it come back to the top, really he just stood there silent and maybe embarassed that he tried to expose me.

So to all magicians out there, don't be afraid of those heclers who says they know how to do a trick. Usually what I do is show them a "sucker trick" wherein a trick might seem to go wrong only to find out in the end that the trick is working fine all along.

Also I try not to present a challenge for this "know it all" type of people, doing this might make them more observant and even to nosey that they will roam around as you do your trick, viewing some angles that might give away your trick.

To sum it all, just remember that when dealing with those know it all hecklers just remember that no matter what they say that they know the trick, they can never do it because nothing equates a magicians dedication and hardwork that has been put into a trick.

It's not about hand speed it's about being natural.

Magic as most people would say, is about hand speed. Yes it is done by the hand but it is not the speed of it that makes it magical. This is actually most beginner's mistakes: doing the tricks in a hurried fashion. Because of this more often than not, the trick is discovered and the audience's reaction would surely be something that would annoy you.


So what must one do? Yes magic is usually done by sleight of hand but it shouldn't be done in a fast and hurried manner, rather it should be done in a natural manner. Natural meaning, in a normal pace. Not too fast because the audience might miss it nor too slow for they might suspect something else is happening.

When I practice my magic, I do count in a rhythmic fashion. I do it first without doing the sleight so that I'll get the feel of how should it be naturally then, I would start counting its steps so that when I do the sleight I could pace it with how I normally do it. In this way I achieve the effect of a movement as being natural.

That's it a little tip for all beginner magicians out there. Remember it's not about speed it's moving at a natural pace.

Looking for Something Better

"There no progress in art, any more than there is progress in making love. There are simply different ways of doing it." Man Ray 1948




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That is what I'm exactly feeling when it comes to magic. With all the things around us claiming to be new methods, apparently a lot of them could be traced back from all those old books some even dating more than a hundred years ago.

Maybe there are new things but I would say (not all might agree) there had been little progress in a sense that new methods are being created but the effects remain the same. Although some methods cast a new dimension to the effects, the effects are still the same. I know magicians would say that magic could be summarized into eight basic effects namely:

1. Transformation
2. Transposition
3. Penetration
4. Levitation
5. Vanish
6. Production
7. Restoration
8. Prediction

I would actually like to add animation to these effects but I think they put it under levitation. I think it is common in all art forms that it has a a basic effect like in painting it's effect should be visual appeal whether good or bad. Magic's Eight effects are just presented in different manners.

I'm not saying that new methods are inferior to older methods,some are even too good. Take for example the classic Twisting the Aces. The Vernon method is still being used until now and it is very convincing and maybe one of the best. A newer version The Asher Twist is actually very good in terms that it is clean and really surprising even to magicians.

Another good improvement is Entity. It is based on the haunted deck effect wherein a chosen card moves out of a spread deck on a table. In the usual Haunted deck effect a magician must be careful in a certain aspect but in the newer version you could actually involve more audience participation.

Anyway I'm not saying that we shouldn't create new tricks based on old methods, what I'm saying is that if we could improve the old effect with a better method it would be more interesting and thus it could give a little more progress than what was it before.

The Prestige of being The Illusionist

The Prestige
The Illusionist


Ok so I've watched "The Prestige" again and this time I watched it so that I could compare it with another movie "The Illusionist". Both movies are great and I'm saving you the time because I'm not writing a review here.

What I'll be talking about here is more on it's effect on me as a magician. Well the tricks done on both films were really very good. Although I'd still go for the Prestige because all the tricks here (except for the transported man) were done in the way that it would have been for a live audience. The Illusionist however used Hollywood Magic but still it is a good movie.

However as a movie both had inspired me to become a better magician. Well how I wished that Christian Bale or Edward Norton's charms rub off me so that I could charm audiences. If that was possible I would have been a high paying magician now right? Anyway what I'm saying is that it gave me ideas on presentation which most magicians lack. I remember someone told me that someone who just shows tricks is not a true magician. A true magician is someone who connects to the audiences hearts and minds by his tricks. In other words presentation is the key to become a true magician.

Also there is one important lesson I've learned from the movie The Prestige. It goes " No one is impressed by the secret's it's what you do with them" (It is what actually Christian Bale told the kid on the picture on top) Anyway In connection with what I was talking about presentation. Telling the secrets of the tricks makes you simply a presenter of clever puzzles. Magic is a form of entertainment that challenges the mind the most, so revealing it defeats its purpose.

Anyway to wrap it up, my life doesn't just revolve around magic you know. I also watch films (although these two's theme is magic) so that I could get better insight to become better in what I do.

Old but new again- Modern coin Magic by Bobo- 1910

I've been trying to add more show stuff into my magic, that's why I decided to get a hold again of the book Modern Coin Magic by JB Bobo. I've been reading it for quite a long time, but I really never got into doing tricks with coins. One thing why I don't do it is the lack of routine on my part when I do it.

For months now, I've been busy studying and trying to master the sleights written in the book. Unfortunately, although most sleights are easy, I find some of them impractical unless combined with a trick or a routine. Also the lack of having a routine that I could create and be comfortable with, discouraged me from practicing more of coin magic.

I almost gave up reading on this book because i really find it hard to do coin tricks, I took a break from learning the stuff from it and took more time into doing other sleight of hand magic.

It continued for a while, until I saw some videos of how the tricks taught in this book still awed audiences. Being the foundation of coin magic as we know, this book is even being sold in DVD format. Because if what I've seen,I know now what really lacks into my coin magic: presentation.

Although I know how to do this trick or that trick, I couldn't present it properly. Maybe it is lack of confidence that stops me from doing such or the fact that I got so used to cards that I find it hard to handle coins. Right now I'm doing all that I can to solve these two problems and I know sooner or later I can perform a very good coin magic routine.

I have one now though and I did it for some people. It was based largely on this book and really I owe a lot to this book.

Contact

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I know how it's done- NOT

Magic is a form of entertainment and part of it is its mystery. When the audience say "How did you do that?", that is music to the ears to a magician. Unfortunately some people answer those questions, and sad to say instead of magicians hearing "How did you do that?" they would hear now from one member of the audience "I know how he did it, here let me show you..."

That is an example of an exposure and sad to say a lot of people are actually exposing the tricks because they see it being exposed too. It could be via TV specials or even via the internet. Here are a few people who had been considered as those who actually support exposures.

1. The Masked magician



















Also known as Val Valentino, he starred in the FOX TV special Magic's Secrets Finally revealed. That TV special really made a lot of magicians very angry and of course that's the main reason why he hid his identity. He said that he did these exposures to encourage magicians to create new tricks. In my opinion, yes magicians should create new tricks but exposing them is not the proper way to encourage magicians.


2. David J. Castle





















David Castle is a magician who has a PhD, unfortunately he exposes tricks via his website. The tricks he exposes are generally easy ones and those that are self working. It might be good for beginner magicians to learn how these tricks work but of course if these beginner magicians started performing those tricks and some of his audience also knows about it, then the purpose of entertaining is defeated. Maybe if his website would at least require a password then that would help more beginners to get into magic.

3. The Trickbusters











Probably the worst breed of exposers of magic tricks. First they are not magicians (a linguist and an engineer) and second they are just plain skeptics. If they don't want to believe then they shouldn't be watching magic in the first place. Their main reason for exposing the tricks is that they make our rational thinking stagnate in a way. I mean they should go read more Science journals that attest to the fact that magic actually helps psychologists understand better the human mind.

I believe the reason why these people still stay in circulation is that some people really appreciate (sadly) what they do. The main reason I believe is that a lot of people think that magic makes a fool out of you but in reality there is a big difference in getting fooled and making yourself a fool.

A magician's job is not to fool people with their tricks rather they mystify at the same time entertain people. If you watch a magic show and let yourself be mystified rather than think that this magician is making a fool out of me, then surely magic would be more entertaining. Entertaining of course is the main reason why magic tricks are done.

So what must we do about these people, who keep on exposing magic tricks? Well, I remember that happened one time when I was performing some tricks for my colleagues in my school organization and of course I was a bit furious but after showing more and more impressive card tricks, that guy just stayed quiet. The answer is continue performing and show to them that no matter how much you expose the tricks you can't bring down one good magician.

Honestly, I don't think exposure will and can be stopped, simply because a lot of people want to know how the trick is done. For some people knowing how the trick is done is the end of it but for some, performing it after knowing how it's done and trying to learn more magic to perform is actually good (in my opinion) because it means that this person has interest in magic.

That's the only good thing I see though about some exposures: making some people go into magic, making it survive for even a longer time.

Standards are different from Old and Boring

As a self taught magician I have learned most of my magic from books. Most of these books however are old already and I mean really old even dating back from the early 17th Century. Here's a sample page of that book that I have in pdf.



As you will see the book itself is written in Old English which makes it quite hard to understand but dedicated as I am I tried reading it and of course it has been useful for me. Well although I don't use all the routines in this book I still find it very useful even in this modern age.

Now this brings me to a question, why do most beginning magicians nowadays actually consider this stuff as inferior to what they see and what most DVDs teach nowadays? Don't they know that these are the standards and what they are watching right now are actually from these same books too? Sad to say but most beginner's in my opinion actually know little of the History of Magic.

Most Magic Books nowadays actually have a little History of magic part wherein you could know who were the best and innovators of a certain trick like for Card Magic there was Hugard, For Coins there was Bobo and for Close up there was Vernon etc. Again of course many don't read this part anymore because they jump immediately into learning the tricks.

I see nothing wrong with that but of course proper credit should be given to the people who have worked their entire life creating and innovating magic to go along with the times. So for all beginning magicians I would like to make an appeal that before you jump into learning a trick please do appreciate and try to know who did it first. Also before you say that the classics are boring please watch it first then if you are not left wondering how did that happen, then that's the time you should say it is boring.

Coin Magic- Some Thoughts

Coin magic is one of the most effective and beautiful types of magic. In my opinion it is very effective because it taps into one basic human need and that is money. NO I'm not saying that money is the most important thing, rather for me it is a necessity too nowadays and not having it would be very hard to live nowadays.

As I have said Coin Magic taps into our need of money and since we all know that money is very hard to earn, coin magic gives us the illusion (or at least a moment of escape) that money could be easily attained. Well I emphasized that it's just an illusion to remind us that we still have to work on it but not work for it.

Anyway, I've been trying to get myself a coin magic routine because I would like to add it to my performance. Unfortunately I only know a few moves and they don't seem to fit in a routine. So here I am still looking and practicing better moves and hopefully getting my own coin routine.



Now I'm going to share with you some videos on my take on coin magic.

Here's a simple coin vanish and reappear:



And this one is a trick I call "Got Change" (If anyone knows the real name of this trick please inform me)




I hope you enjoyed these little tricks and maybe soon I could get to have my own full coin routine.

The Magician (1973)

I've discovered this series via youtube when someone placed a comment on my page and asked me if I'm familiar with the 1973 series the Magician starring Bill Bixby. So I clicked on his channel and there I was being drawn into watching the series.The Magician is about Tony Blake a magician who does detective work. Along with his friends and sexy assistants they solve crime.

I only saw episode one and it was really interesting. The main character is very different from other detective roles, because instead of solving crimes the hard way (meaning car chases, fight scenes, gun shooting scenes etc.) he solves it with wit and magic.







The first episode too has a lot of things to watch out for. Like the use of his sexy assistant to create misdirection while he sneak in the enemies' hideout. I won't go into details on that one let's just say it's the 70's and almost every man is just like Austin Powers. That's the main reason why that misdirection works so well haha.

I like how he used magic to actually outsmart his enemies haha. I remember one when there was this thug that was about to shoot him but he pointed somewhere to divert the thugs attention and then he hit him square on the face with I believe a very hard extending magic wand. The thug was knocked out thanks to misdirection and a very hard wand

Although it was canceled after 21 episodes, it was still a great series, with magic done by Bill Bixby (no camera tricks involved)along with the interesting story lines. I wish this could be released into DVD and I hope I could get to watch all 21 episodes and who knows I might star in my own series too. LOL

My Youtube channel

I have been uploading some videos of my magic on youtube during the past few weeks and as of now I already have ten videos. I'm hoping to add more videos soon. Right now most tricks here are card tricks and maybe soon I'll be filming my own magic special LOL. Haha anyway enjoy my videos first here and i Hope you Subscribe, Rate and Comment after Watching my videos.



I hope you enjoy them all. More to come soon