Magic, do you like it?

[Paulington]

Hey guys,

Just been thinking, I've been ordering some new things to complement my magic arsenal ranging from new fly-looking decks to whole illusions and I thought I'd ask you all a question:

Do you like magic? If so why and do you practice magic?

I've always enjoyed practicing and performing magic just for the sense of accomplishment when you absolutely master an illusion and then the feeling of amazement you can see when you notice that everyone in the audience just had a little glint of amazement in their eyes.

I'm sure some of you have been watching the recent Penn & Teller: Fool Us programme on ITV? If so fantastic and what do you think?

I must stress though, that if you don't 'enjoy' magic then I'd suggest changing your view of it. I know a lot of people that don't enjoy magic because they hate not being told how it's done/being unable to figure it out where all you should actually be doing is just enjoying the showmanship of the magician.

If you aren't sure if you like it as you've only ever been exposed to "mediocre" style magic, i.e. bad wedding magicians and stupid David Blaine stunts, then I'd take a look at some of these, a couple of which have recently performed on the Penn & Teller show:

Cubic Act - A very compelling stage illusion.

Coinvexed - An off-the-shelf micromagic illusion designed to stun and amaze.

Dual Reality - Another micromagic illusion by Kenton Knepper, a famous mentalist and protagonist of dual reality and instant stooges.

Penn & Teller performing "Shadows", a stage illusion that no-one but Penn & Teller themselves know how to perform.

Penn & Teller Explaining Sleight of Hand in the form of a fantastic illusion.

"Explaining Slight of Hand" is the best in my opinion.

I hope there are a few magic fans on here, if you like watching it I'd highly suggest practicing it, it's a very rewarding hobby and can win you plenty of drinks down the pub once you get good. .

Cheers!
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[Hetzer]

The reason I hate TV magic is it's performed by lying cnuts who state no camera trickery is involved when it blatantly is. Or utter wankers like Derren Brown who actually thinks he can convince anyone with half a brain that he really did fire a revolver at his own head with one round in the cylinder without knowing if it was behind the barrel or not.
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[mistergixer]

I love magic, don't really know any myself (unless you count fooling my small children with '2 little dickie birds' as magic).

When I used to live in Welwyn Garden City there was a chap who used to come round the curry houses etc and do magic tricks at the table - he was awesome and would always get good tips from us.
It was little stuff like card tricks and spoon bending and a bit of 'mind-reading', but he was absolutely excellent and had a really good patter with it.
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[Paulington]

[Chriss]

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Paulington]

[D O G]

I do like it, I appreciate the skills and practice involved.

It just isn't as good when you're an adult, as ultimately the answer as to how it is done is always the same - they fooled you with a secret compartment/had something 'up their sleeve'/have a trick coin/have a stooge etc etc.

There is no 'wonderment' like there was when you were a kid.

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Skudd]

I don't like magic as you know it isn't real, but working out how they did it does interest me, although often when you find out how it is done you're disappointed.
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[hellbound]

Derren Brown sometimes amuses me, it looks clever on the TV but the trouble is no one will tune in and watch a bloke with a deck of cards so he has to do something better to get the airtime.

David Blane however has no right to even call himself a magician
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[Nai]

Not interested in big show magic but absolutely love Tommy Cooper and The great Ballantine.

Ballentine : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqQVq-tfVaU

Cooper (like you need a link) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc3u9bVV6s4&feature=related

[Paulington]

[elgard]

I've been watching Dynamo: Magician Impossible on Watch (Sky channel) and that guy is good, But i must admit despite the good tricks it's more a case of how the fuck did he do that.

https://youtu.be/OOKn0XBUDCI

[Bendy]

A good magician with a good act is a thing of beauty. Even though you know it isn't 'magic', if just for a second or two you're actually amazed then it's like being a kid again. If you're completely stumped as to how it could be possible, so much the better. A long-practiced skill executed perfectly is great to watch. Things that involve camera trickery and stooges, not so much.

Lots of it is the act too. Love Penn & Teller, can't stand David Copperfield, for example.

It's kind of like watching a film - a good one makes you forget that you're watching actors act and loses you in the story. Too many special effects and it gets a bit

[G]

[hellkat]

I like magic - and I get disappointed when they tell you "how it was done".

At first, the novelty of knowing used to appeal to me, but now - in such a cynical and harsh world - I would rather suspend my disbelief sometimes, and be amazed instead.

I'm a realist in my life - strangely, I don't believe in ghosts or all that hoodoo (although I am prepared to be open-minded about it) - but I do love simple magic tricks.

Life is too short, its impossible to know ALL the answers, so why try to spoil life's little childlike pleasures.
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[DrDonnyBrago]

I am not misunderstanding anything.

[Paulington]

[Nexus Icon]

Surely "Magic" is what Harry Potter and Merlin do?

There's no such thing as magic. There are some very impressive illusionists out there but, as others have said, to the cynical mind the greatest trick of all is keeping the method a secret and, from this spectator's point of view, the most enjoyment is found from speculating on the method.
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[kerr]

penn and teller are the only magicians i still like from childhood, i remember watching the slight of hand on tv an spent hpurs trying it
and btw can any thread on here turn into an argument
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[Paulington]

[Bike Bunker]

i can play and always win a game of three card monty and can pull5-6 card tricks but thats about it :')

won £80 at college playing three card monty once...had to have a 'important meeting' after the cafe women lost £10 and a snickers bar playing.....stupid bitch.

[Bendy]

[GhostRider]

Magic is a funny old thing.

Amazingly it can make people very angry, seemingly because they are disappointed that it is not "real magic", as if there were ever such a thing.... Some people get offended by the fact that in a way they are being fleeced, I guess they can't take that step back and appreciate it for what it is and appreciate the skill and mastery required, alas it is pointless arguing the toss with such folk as you will not convince them otherwise. It seems you either love it or loath it.

I enjoy a good magic trick, can't be bothered with the whole dramatics of it so shite like david copperfield is out, I prefer the close-up style. David Blain was good when he was doing his street magic, but when he started standing on poles and sitting in boxes I lost interest.

Haven't catched any Dynamo but I keep hearing it's good. Been watching Penn & Tellers fool us and there's some good guys on that too.

One of my favourite magic tricks I've seen in person and on the net I think goes along the lines of them having four cards, say 7, 8, 9 and 10 of hearts, then he flips them over 1 at a time and all of a sudden they are all the 8 of hearts, then does it again and now they are all 10 of hearts, then finally says that what we've seen is impossible because in actual fact there are no heart cards in there, finally flipping them all over to reveal they are all the king of spades.

Sounds shit to describe it, I know how it's done through double-lifts and such but even so it's still a marvel to behold. A friend of my brothers is shit hot at things like this and could do that very trick, I asked how you become so good at it, he said "Dump you girlfriend, lock yourself in your room for 2 years and practice practice practice". I Laughed but it turned out he was quite serious

I wish I could find a video of that trick I described but I can't recall what it's called and with so many card tricks out there it's virtually impossible to google it.


Edit: LMAO I just typed "card trick" into youtube and whaddya know, it's the first result that came up, not quite how I described it but it was a couple of years since I saw it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBvl1kuPLC8

GhostRider
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