so i dont quite know what section of the forums this should go under but seeing how most things can be grouped into close up or mentalism i figured id post this here because i see bizzare stuff as being more visual so prolly closer to close up.....but to the point what are some good books and dvds with some effects or principles and such that will make people think :O thats not normal i know a few effects like stigmata and some tricks i can do with my hands alone, and ive looked around reallly hard for a while and cant seem to find swami and mantra anywhere its like sold out and yea. so what are some good references for bizzare magic that are still in print or at least arent impossible to find? thanks for reading my ramblings

You seem to be confusing "bizarre magic" with what is often called "geek magic" or "body magic."

"Bizarre magic" is a performance style that has more to do with scripting and presentation than with the tricks themselves. In the performance of bizarre magic, the tricks are performed in the context of presentations that involve storytelling, often about mystical, mythical, or supernatural subject matter: "Here I have a piece of wood broken from the very stake that killed Dracula..." ... "This deck of cards was found in the hands of the corpse of George Strode, famed Vistorian ghost hunter, at the foot of the stairs in the infamous Andruzzi House..." You get the idea. There are many resources available for this kind of stuff.

However, I think what your'e really looking for is geek/body magic -- doing strange, dangerous, and/or impossible things to or with your body. Although geek/body magic effects can be performed in the bizarre style, they are often presented not so much as magic but as stunts, depending on the performer and the goals.

Thomas Medina's Geek Magic is one source; Andrew Mayne's material is another. Fields' Saw and Houchin's Thread. Meyer Yedid's Finger Fantasies can fall in this category. Start with this kind of stuff before trying to hunt down a copy of Swami/Mantra, which is OOP but still available if you look hard enough. Bizarro's Helter Shelter might be as far as you want to push yourself for now.

yeaa but the name geek magic i mean come on thats a lil lame lol but ok ill deffinatly look into that and thanks for the heads up, was not aware that bizzare magic was more about the performence scripting than the effects themselfs

When you say, "bizarre magic" to a reasonably knowledgable magician, it will be taken to mean a very specific thing. If you don't want to be misunderstood, you have to use the language correctly, i.e., as it is used by other magicians. If you want to have an intelligent conversation with other magicians, you have to learn the jargon of the art.

fair enough, i havent really explored bizarre magic before so my bad for not understanding what it was. i mostly do coins cards and spongeballs and a smidge of mentalism so was curious as to what bizarre magic was and i guess i was thinking of the wrong thing, but thanks for correcting me cause now i actually know what to look for lol

Glad to help!

To learn more about bizarre magic, check out this site:

http://www.dragonskull.co.uk


Also, spend some time reading Peter Marucci's column at onlinevisions.com:

http://www.online-visions.com/bizarre/index.html


If geek/body magic is what you're looking for, though, go to the sources in my earlier post. "Sideshow magic" is kind of an appropriate term for it, but I haven't really seen it used much... although...

http://www.toddrobbins.com/Press-Mum-SideshowsMagic.htm

And here's an online shop with an actual "Sideshow Magic" section:

http://www.magiciansboutique.com/PC1066 ... ducts.aspx