How did you do that?










I learned it from a Edited, half-bold fat guy who goes crazy and dances with the black tiger deck.

that was dumb

I think the best answer is to follow the Tamariz, Ortiz line... we are performing magic... there is nothing to learn therefore there is nowhere to get anything from

Presented with some wit, you can deliver it rather ambivalently. No one will ever take you 100 % seriously...but they will always wonder whether or not YOU believe it...

" Where do I get what?" " These tricks" " These are not tricks...it's magic!!! * impish grin*

I learned these illusions at the same place you learned to dress yourself, (do your hair, speak intelligently, etc.). ...Fortunately, my success rate was better.

I Just have to wonder. Whit Haydn is right. Magic while presented in a non confrontational manner, should be confrontational, against a spectators everyday worldvirew rules.

When a spec goes around day to day, things do not float in mid air... when solid connects with solid there is no penetration, a thing is what it is, it does not suddenly become something else.

When they come to a magic show, we should be twisting these rules around and making a pretzel out of them. When the spec asks " How do you do that?" what is wrong with saying.." magic." it's what they came to see.

Many want to be sheepish about it, I will admit, I used to believe the same. I know the spec will not believe magic exists anyway, but that is not the point. Why should I go along with their world view, when in my opinion we should be doing everything we can to smash their world view to smithereens.

So should we say " We have magic powers for real" ..No we shouldn't... but every effect we do will proclaim that, so why disavow it afterwards by some silly explanation? " Where did you get all these from?"

" All of what? It is magic..there is nothing to get."

I guess my basic question is... Why are magicians anti-magic?

I think it's partly that we want to set ourselves apart from the worst magicians - those that are too confrontational. Being confrontational is what I believe people dislike the most about bad magicians.

There is a difference between saying " it's magic" and being confrontational...I can perform my art as theater, as a story, as a way that angages and entertains. If I do it well, during the performance they do not care how it is done because it entertains them.

Once I am done the curious will come over, and want to know, " How did you do all that?" or " Where did you learn all that?"

I think that at this point the worst we can do is say..' from some catalogue" or " at a website." or " from books" because it cheapens the art a bit. I rather look at them with a twinkle in my eye, and a knowing grin and say.." I did not get " these" anywhere, it's magic."

Just because I can perform in a gentle way, does not mean i have to divulge all the secrets. I am a magician, I perform magic.

Hogwarts!

I just finished watching a Gregory Wilson video, I liked it when one of the spectators tried to imitate what Greg was doing (i.e snapping his fingers to produce a coin). Greg actually showed the lady how to snap the fingers before saying "Hey wait, you forgot the 10-years-of-practice part".

I just try to confuse them usually I'll say:
"Learn what?"
They'll say "Magic"
"I don't know magic"
"Then what did you just do?"
"I didn't do anything" and so on

someone should make a website that has a rely long story about how you learned magic from the karate teacher at the end of the block in a purple house so we can write the url on the back of a card and when they go home, they see the 50 page essay that they might even read. at the end, say something like and if your reading this, that means you have no life.

sorry... double post

For the love of God never answer that question by saying, "internet."

That makes it sound like you did a google search the day before and simply got free, easy instructions to the effects you're creating from some crappy web site or YouTube. Then all you did was learn the secret and off you went performing it half a minute later without a bit of practice.

Unless that's actually what you did... then feel free to tell everybody that.

Otherwise, don't. It makes it look like anyone can do what you do with minimal effort. Then what do you think they're going to do? They'll run home and find those crappy sites like Dave Castle's piece of sh*t website and learn things they're not supposed to know, because god knows they're not interested in practicing anything, so all they're doing is learning your secrets.

I don't see the problem with just being honest. I'd just tell them that I've been interested in magic for a long time and have learned from many different resources over the years such as books and DVDs... then you practice a lot.

Well when I first performed Stigmata my friends thought I sold my soul to the devil, occasionally when I perform I get the response "DEMON MAGIC!" If someone asks me and I want to mess with them I say "I sold my soul to the devil." I'm a sarcastic person by nature so this often confuses people because they can't tell if I'm joking or not Otherwise I tell them the truth, that I bought some books/DVDs/figured them out myself

I respond with either:

"Learn what?"

or

"I'm a lonely guy..."

-JT