| Archive for The Magicanada Project A Place For the In-Depth Discussion of Magic By Magicians Worldwide! |
| Michael Kras |
The Worst EffectWhat is the worst effect you have ever seen or used? Why don't you like it? There are tons of them out there... For me, it is definitely The Liberty Vanish, a new coin vanish DVD from Magic Makers... the most unnatural looking vanish I have ever seen. |
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| BrianMillerMagic |
I would say that the Scraper Card Through Window is the one of the worst effects ever marketed.
I have not seen the Liberty Vanish, so keep that in mind as you read this: Purely as a philosophical discussion, what makes an "unnatural" vanish? Surely a vanish of anything is unnatural by the fact that it's breaking the laws of nature. So what is the difference between a "natural" and an "unnatural" vanish? Discuss! I'll chime in once the conversation gets going. EDIT: If you all feel that this is hijacking the point of the thread, which it kind of is, then just let me know and I'll start a thread devoted to the question I posed in the Brian Takes The Stage section. |
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| MH |
I doubt Mike is trying to be as deep as you are. He probably means the actions necessary for the technique to be used is not natural in the sense that it's not handled the way normal people handle coins. | ||||
| BrianMillerMagic |
Of course he's not trying to be deep. But I saw an opportunity for a slightly off topic but nonetheless interesting philosophical conversation, so I put it out there. | ||||
| Michael Kras |
Actually, they guy grips the coin at the edge of a closed fist... possibly the ugliest, most unnatual, and most suspicious manner a magician could grip a coin in... and you're right Brian, Scraper is pretty bad! | ||||
| Michael Kras |
OOOH I've got another one... Hole In The Head by Ben Harris. I really like his thinking but this effect is just bad. The illusion is miniscule and very hard to pull off. | ||||
| Liam |
wow, scraper looks terrible.
and brian, as a responce to your comment vanishing something can look compleatly natural! in fact that should be something you ae aiming for if you could actually make a coin vanish you would simply make it vanish. No funny or unatural moves. the more unnatural things you add, the harder it is to believe you can do it. If you were to make a coin vanish, by holding it in the knuckles of your fist, that arrises suspition. Because if you could really make something vanish, you would not use something so un natural |
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| Ethan the Emazing |
The method can and should look natural, but vanishing something is not natural. | ||||
| BrianMillerMagic |
If you could really make something vanish, you wouldn't close your hand around the object you were about to vanish; you would just do it. So there has to be some degree of unnaturalness to any vanish. I think that Gone is the most "natural" looking vanish I've ever seen or used. It's absolutely beautiful. |
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| Liam |
yes, closing your hand around it is something unnatural.
thats probably what makes things like gone and the raven so strong. if you can do the impossible, AND make it look compleatly natural, then the only conclusion is its done with magic. |
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| Michael Kras |
Gone strikes me as being an unnatural vanish too... you rub the coin, the actions looks quite suspicious no matter how they are executed. We've yet to find THE perfect vanish.[/quote] | ||||
| BrianMillerMagic |
You think Gone looks unnatural? A coin sits in your open palm, you close your fingers around it and rub, open your hand and show both sides. I used to use it all the time; I've never found a single coin vanish as clean-looking as Gone. | ||||
| Michael Kras |
But like you've said, if a magician were actually able to vanish a coin it would simply vanish with no cover or funny moves. | ||||
| Liam |
this must be the most magical vanish of anything:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-rIwHdz0wRQ |
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| Michael Kras |
That looked truly brilliant... that was flawless!!! | ||||
| BrianMillerMagic |
Tommy Wonder's birdcage vanish is and always has been a work of art. | ||||
| teddy |
I'm not sure what it's called, but the trick where a magician "catches" a bubble and "turns it into" a glass sphere is incredibly obvious and, well, annoying. | ||||
| BrianMillerMagic |
I'm going to disagree with this. My buddy does a beautiful routine with this set to music on stage. He blows a bubble and produces one glass sphere, then another, then a third. He does some juggling with them, then sets them down. He then grabs one of those huge jumbo bubble blowers and blows a huge 4 inch or so sized bubble. As he grabs that one, it becomes a 4 in clear contact juggling ball and he immediately goes into a contact juggling routine. It's absolutely gorgeous from start to finish. |
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| Liam |
well maybe the one teddy saw was different from the one your friend does | ||||
| Michael Kras |
I have seen a demo for an effect like this, It is very difficult to pull off properly and whatever versions Teddy has seen were probably poorly executed. I agree it can be a very effective and beautiful bit of magic if done properly. | ||||
| BrianMillerMagic |
It's the same marketed effect. My point was that this particular trick isn't inherently bad; it's all in the performance. |
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| teddy |
That sounds a lot better than the effect I was thinking of. I was talking about this sort of thing (this is not me): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wo3fI2DzMko |
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| Michael Kras |
That performance was crude, disgusting, and totally unnecessary. No wonder you thought it was a bad effect 
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| BrianMillerMagic |
Actually, that performance wasn't all bad. The kid looked pretty young. He was definitely fidgety and not terribly great at a fingerpalm, but I think it could have been a lot worse. | ||||
| Michael Kras |
He totally flashed just before the production. He turned what should have been a graceful bit of magic into a choppy little stunt. However, his Pass, if it really is a Pass, isn't bad at all. | ||||
| Guest |
This is laughable. You folks are actually sitting here criticising a 10 year old on his handling and presentational skills? I'm sorry, not laughable - pathetic. With the exception of Brian, of course.
Most of you should be able to remember what it was like to be that age, trying to find your way. Maybe the kid ain't got a mentor. Maybe the kid has nothing to guide him or show him the proper way. And you all sit on your high horses talking about his naff magic. For shame. I do this trick myself. It is part of my kids magic show. The problem is that when you buy the trick, you get no information as to how or why you should be doing it. The kid in the video simply followed the directions that were given with the trick. The canned garbage that comes with this trick is most certainly naff and without guidance (or experience) what you get is what the kid showed you. But, don't blame the kid and don't criticize such a young man because he isn't the super cool magician that y'all are. Let's see, you blow some bubbles, then grab one and it becomes real. That is an excellent premise, but on its own is fairly lame. "I pulled a bubble out of the air...Now, for my next trick...." Yea, lame. Same as an ACR being, "Look, the card came back to the top...Now, for my next trick..." Fairly lame, don't you think? Funny, because that's what every freaking magician with a deck of cards feels compelled to do - an ACR. But if it was one trick, rather than a routine, it would be just as lame as the bubble. Personally, I pick three bubbles out of the air. Those bubbles ultimately vanish (because, as I tell my audience, they weren't really real to begin with). Further, I don't use the gaffed bubble dispenser - I go with straight sleight of hand (nevertheless, the bubble dispenser is a good idea and just as valid as my method). Dai Vernon stated, "...One trick will lay an egg in the hands of one performer, while with another performer, it will be a masterpiece." Fact of the matter is, a good magician can take a poor trick and make it a masterpiece, but a poor magician will take a masterpiece and make it a poor trick. But, sitting at your computer and criticising a ten year old? Shameful. |
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| Michael Kras |
You're right, it was a waste of space to do so. I appreciate that he's confident enough with his magic to post videos online for the world to see. For those that haven't posted any videos yet, it's definitely not an easy thing. | ||||
| Liam |
not just saying this because philmar said something, but i didnt think it was that bad.
way better than me when i was just starting |
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| Reuben The Great |
Oh my god guys.
The Chopstick Deck. Mike, you know the one im talking about. Quite possibly the stupidest, most redundant piece o' crappola that was ever created. Effect: A card is selected from a non bicycle deck. The card is put back in freely, oh, and i forgot to mention, the deck has a hole all the way through on both sides the bottom part on the top of the deck and the top part). Two random pieces of plastic resembling 3 inch chopsticks are shown, then inserted into the holes into the deck. With a spin the card rotates out of the deck and is standing up. Trust me, although it may sound intriguing, let me tell you (read above XD) |
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| Liam |
heres a vid of what reuban was talking about
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-qa2lgmTxOY and at the NX, this one guy only did one trick the whole weekend. he took a cigerette (even though he was to young to smoke) dipped it in water (for some reason) then rubbed it vigorously and it turned into a bill. |
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| Reuben The Great |
Thank you Liam.
Even the QUALITY of the video is better than the trick. And believe me, watch the quality of the video. 
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