Hello friends,

Last nights lecture was spectacular! We were packed to the max. A total full house. If you missed it, you missed out.

He had the everyone in the place in awe from the moment he took the stage.

He is a technical genius, informative, humorous &personable. He floored us over and overt again. At only 22 years of age, he has a lot to offer. Just imagine what he’ll be doing in a few more years?! Just spectacular.

Don’t miss our next lecture. Patrick G. Redford coming early August.

Take care,
Pete

http://ronjo.com/blog/243.html

Hello friends,

One of the most amazing things about magic is not the audiences reactions to your magic but the reactions of the audience to your image.

Imagine somebody gave you a TV show, would you choose to dress like a homeless person or gang member on the streets?

A camera is following you and you go up to a complete stranger.

Do you

A. Get sprayed in the face with mace.

B. Get handed a dollar for troubles.

C. Get ignored

D. Get attention and respect.

They see the cameras so they may assume they will appear in a documentary about the homeless or a day in the life of a gang member.

Yes I am referring to the public appearances of David Blaine & Daniel Garcia. It seems to work for them but why not choose to look presentable?

If you are working pro and are seeking out the help of complete strangers, looking like a criminal can only scare them away before you have a chance to win them over.

And yes have indeed seen people run Blaine on previous occasions. How many people actually ran away that were left on the cutting room floor? More than those who actually experienced the magic, I would assume.

I am not attacking their talents and creativity but I strongly disagree with their character choice. This is not real life where they should dress however they desire, this is the pro world. Even Criss Angel who chooses unusual attire doesn’t look like a bum, he looks interesting.

Every time I see a sloppy performer in the street, all I think about is the “volunteer” is being stalked and feels uncomfortable. Making these strangers you seek out feel comfortable is key.

In the film Borat, there are several instances where the “mark” was made to run away, feel uncomfortable or get defensive or offensive. And these instances were all done in real life circumstances not acting. These reactions were spontaneous but the intent was at the very least to make them feel as uncomfortable as possible.

Look if you are going to be outgoing and talk to strangers, plain and simple don’t scare them away. Their first impression is your appearnce and you want to make them feel as comfortable as you can before you start.

Take care,

Pete

Hello friends,

Alakhazam UK released Decisions by Mozique some time ago. I wish we had stumbled on it when it was originally released. It is simply fascinating.

No gimmick suspect. All appears to be totally innocent! Just cards with words on them Yes or No. But there is a gimmick and each exquisite one is hand made by Rob Bromley.

The gimmick is invisible, silent, smooth, dependable, virtually automatic and oh so inventive. This allows you to concentrate entirely on your performance.

But what is it exactly that you are performing? Well that is a decision in itself. Decisions is supplied with a manuscript several routines by Mozique, Peter Nardi, Looch & Simon Grant. Picking one that you favor is the hard part.

The link below is of Derren Brown performing “Predictable” a fantastic Yes or No Card routine. I will say I do not know if his method is the same or different but I can say while the cards look a bit different, the circle around the words leads me to believe this was and early version before it was on the market to the public. If the method is different, so be it.

Predictable is not a routine up for grabs. Its not yours to do anyway. I just have the link here to show the type of effect possible and to show you how to focus on presentation for such a simple prop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOvM_I8t6pY

Take care,

Pete

Hello friends,

I found a crazy typo today and I am not sure which one is wrong.

As originally advertised

Ambiletious Card by Katsuya Masuda

This title is also spelled out the same way in the photo online and can’t be changed by us as it is artwork supplied to us from the manufacturer.

But here is the kicker, the DVD box cover is spelled Ambelitious, so I had my webmaster change it up.

So which name is the correct spelling? I have no idea!

This is why I am blogging about it.

Not so much to complain, but for all you gogglers out there! Because we don’t know what you might be searching it out under and we hope you’ll find this post?!

Take care,
Pete