The Magicanada Project

Michael Kras

A new thing in magic is the effects being released that you perform with cellphones, iPods, etc. Does this magic strike you as being pointless?

I mean, people OWN this technology, they know what it is capable of... they know screensavers, and the ability to switch from photo to photo instantly exists. How can we make this magic less transparent?

A good example of GOOD tech-magic is Donny Orbit's effect in which the spectator thinks of any song on her iPod, and you are able to locate that exact song on her iPod and play it despite the fact that she only merely thought of a song! This is good.. no iPod can do Mental Music Requests yet!

I also developed an effect... yes, it uses the old switching the photo over method to make an object appear to pass through the screen and into cyber land. But the ending is killer, and here's why... it's the torn corner of the spectator's own signed card in cyber scape and when the torn card is placed against the screen it is proven that the piece perfectly matches and that it did indeed do the impossible. This ending totally throws off the method, which is still being used anyway!

Your thoughts on this new fad? Any good effects with technology?

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Michael Kras
Forum Administrator

Liam · Joined: 30 Dec 2007 Posts: 424

i dont like much technology related magic.
i'm not sure why, but most of it seems kinda dry to me.
Things like making the o's on googles homepage disappear just seems stupid to me.

Craig Browning · Joined: 24 Feb 2008 Posts: 34

I think maybe you're real issue Michael is not having the talent to use such materials; at least in my experience I've found that when most people talk trash about something in magic it is because they simply can't work in that area well... HINT: I hate card tricks... guess why...

Not everyone can pull of the PRESENTATIONAL aspect of "magic" using this particular vehicle. On the other hand, I do a Spirit Bell routine using a cell phone that freaks people out... I've done the Ghost Vision thing and can't wait for Brian Brushwood's version to finally get released (it's a killer... nothing like the thing we've gotten used to).

I do not see value in using a cell-phone or related technologies as a regular thing but I do see value in knowing at least a few pieces that can be done with such devices and keeping up to date with the technological changes surrounding them... you never know when the opportunity may surface for you to exploit a killer situation no one is expecting and as they said in the Boy Scouts when I was a kid... BE PREPARED... attitude of this sort is what separates the wannabes from the real magicians...

Rick Maue, myself and several others have a philosophy about effects or routines we do not like... we force ourselves to find a way of using that idea that we do like. One of my pet peeves is the Center Tear; I hate it and think it one of the stupidest methods in all of magic/mentalism and yet, I've found one or two handling's of it... presentations and applications... that make sense to me when it comes to this illogical bit of business. If you APPLY YOURSELF and force those creative juices to move a bit, you can do the same with any and all such "conflicts" both, wihtin and outside of magic. Wink