How Has Magic Changed Your Life?

I had a man walk up to me yesterday after I finished a set and introduced himself and then said, without warning:

"So, how has magic changed your life?" 

I was taken aback. I really hadn't expected to trade philosophies on life with some random spectator on the streets of Santa Monica. It took me a moment to form a response, and the only words I could come up with were:

"Well, I went to school to be a lawyer and now I'm here."

"I guess that says it all then," he replied.

But it got me thinking: how has magic changed my life? Really, how has it? It's true that I did enter college expecting to continue to law school before discovering magic, but that's really kind of a cop-out isn't it? I suppose there are a ton of ways my life has been changed, I've been changed.

To start with, I never look at things the way other people do. I see containers and fabrics and knick-knacks and random things and my immediate thought is "How can I use that?" or "That would be perfect for...". I also glean things from movies. If something fantastic happens I always wonder "Can I recreate that?" So in a way, magic has changed how I precieve the world, changed the way I experience it.

But how else? Magic has given me an entirely different mindset on things. When I go thinking about magic, I almost never think of it as a hobby or a fun thing to do. To me, it is an art. I think of the ways that a show can influence people, how the beauty of a show can inspire people, how magic can show fundimental truths about our lives.

So how has magic changed me? How has it shaped me and my way through life? These are all the wrong questions. The right question is:

How has it not?

Cameron Rivers, Kings To You

Gaffed vs. UnGaffed

There was a post on The Cafe today that made me start thinking about something that I've said before. The post can be found here.

The post starts with someone discussing how they used to use tons of gaffed decks and then moved on to using completely ungimmicked decks. I for one have always found using ungimmicked decks a bit more rewarding than playing up a gimmick; you put time and effort, blood and sweat, and in the end a bit of yourself into an effect and it can be done by someone with a trick deck and no training. It's more than a little aggravating.

However, I'd like everyone to consider the following:

Person A is a purist. He trains with cards and coins and is an expert at sleight of hand. Every one of his peers knows that he'd never use a gaffed anything, and he often speaks out against gaffs saying that they are like training wheels: something to start with but to be shed ASAP.

Person B is also a purist...mostly. He trains with cards and coins and is an expert in sleight of hand. Every one of his peers knows that he'd never use a gaffed anything. But the dirty little secret is that occasionally, every now and again, he finds a trick that blows him away. Now he knows it's gaffed, but he gets it anyway and uses his purist reputation to introduce the trick into "polite society" as it were. Surrounded by magician friends, he does a few tricks and then pulls out his gaff. He executes the trick and gets rid of the gaff, and nobody suspects a thing. After all, he would never use a gimmicked deck, right?

The point of the above scenes is to show that while it is often rewarding to yourself to never use gaffed anything (it's certainly cheaper), sometimes throwing in a gaffed routine can cement your reputation.

As a magician you are to use every tool at your disposal to create illusion and entertainment. So don't throw away a tool for no reason; keep that tool for the one day when it will prove most useful.

~Cameron Rivers, Kings To You Magic

Perfect Practice

Yesterday I mentioned an idea called perfect practice, and I used that to talk about routining, an important part of perfect practice. Today I'd like to go a little more in depth on the idea.

Perfect Practice is the idea that when you practice, you do so as flawlessly as possible. So how do you go about doing this? It's fairly simple.

• Get a Video Camera - This prevents you from doing the famous "magician's blink" where you blink at the moment the "move" is done, thus preventing you from seeing the flaws in the mirror. A camera doesn't blink
• Slow Down - Recently when I practice my cups routine I have decided that I need to do so in front of a mirror, and I do it as slow as I can. That's right. AS SLOW AS POSSIBLE. This helps you justify every single movement, every single twitch of the hand, and helps you see where it is that your routine has flaws.
• Start Over - Every time you screw up, every time you flash or miss a load or get your hand stuck or draw attention somewhere it shouldn't be (and you know when you do that), START OVER. Yes, it's annoying, but it'll give you lots of practice and focus you on areas you need to improve.
•  Learn To Take Criticism - If you get someone to watch something, allow them to be completely honest with you. Yes it sucks when they see something, and yes it's a blow to the pride, but don't get angry or frustrated. Just remember: it's better to have screwed up in front of them where you have time to fix it, than out in the real world.
• Same Time Every Day - This one relates to an earlier post about creating a time/place to practice. If you practice at the same time every day, your mind gets into the habit of practicing, and it focuses on it, thus making your practice sessions better.

So that's it, a run down of perfect practice and some tips to achieve it. So go forth and practice perfectly!

~Cameron Rivers, Kings To You Magic

Routining

An important part of performing is having a perfected routine. To accomplish this, it takes hours of practice, but not just practice, perfect practice. So how does one go about achieving perfect practice?

Routining.

That's right kiddos, your show starts at the concept phase. When you start planning a show, you typically start off with a theme. The theme for the show I'm putting together right now is "Beauty". Another theme I'm working on is "Spectacle". So I have to ask myself, what is my goal with this show, what is my theme?

Moving on from that, you have to find your signature piece, the one trick that you really want to do. Sometimes this piece of magic dictates your theme. The next thought is to placement. If this is your key piece of magic, then it will likely fall at the end of your show, so how do you get to it?

To create a great show, you have to answer this question. How do you get to the end? A truly great show will have a justification for not just every trick, but every transition, every body movement, the music, the lighting, everything! And that is what you are working towards by asking the question how?

A great way to do a transition is to utilize the main prop in the preceeding trick, that way there is an obvious reason to start with the prop. An example: your finale routine is card manipulations. Do a card trick in the trick before. Another way to do a great transition is to, at the end of your trick, turn a prop into the next prop. Remember, something unexpected is almost always a great crowd pleaser. Example: Your finale routine is a dove manipulation routine and the trick before is a card trick. At the end, take the deck, wrap in in a silk and produce a dove, leading directly into the finale routine.

So you're starting to get the idea. Every transition needs to make sense; the show needs to have a natural flow (unless your theme is "chaos" or something).

So to sum it up: Have a theme. Justify your transitions. Have a smooth flow. Put some thought into it.

~Cameron Rivers, www.KingsToYou.com

Burnout

So the other day another magician gave me an effect and I took a look at it and decided to share what I thought with y'all.

The effect is called "Burnout", and it is a vanishing ink type trick. I did a bit of research and cannot find the creator of the effect, though it did become apparent that this effect is about three years old.

The effect is that you write something on a piece of paper, take a lighter to the paper and the words disappear (so will the paper if you're not careful!!!) You can also force words to appear by putting it in the freezer.

Now, the effect comes with three pages of instructions which have three separate effects on them, none of them providing any sort of performance tips or patter so I can only imagine that most people are out there saying "Hey watch this!" If you worked in a decent presentation, as well as changing up the trick entirely, then these tricks might be passable.

The first one is really my favorite and only needs a few minor tweaks. The spectator chooses a card and you reveal a prediction. The prediction is incorrect, then by applying heat, some of the letters disappear revealing the actual chosen card.

Now I like the premise of this, but the execution is sloppy. With just a little imagination we could have come up with a routine where you have them choose a card and the prediction is shown to be wrong. Upon discovering the prediction is incorrect, a burst of flame occurs and the prediction now reads the correct card. Amazing what a bit of flash paper can do to help an effect.

Enough of the effects. How is the actual prop? Well to be honest it is a commercially available pen (I don't know if it is anymore, but it was not produced just for this effect) and the ink in it is much lighter than other, normal pens. Comparing it to other pens, it is apparent that the inks are different. All in all though, it does work as advertised. You can make the ink vanish with a flame and reappear by chilling it.

Overall I think there is great potential in this idea, but until I have a creative breakthrough it will remain in my case.

~Cameron Rivers, www.kingstoyou.com

Update: Santa Monica Pier

Something they won't tell you when you get your permit, or in any printed material:

You must sign up each day to perform on Santa Monica Pier. That's right. Every morning you must be there at 11am to sign up for the 1-4 slot, 2pm to sign up for the 4-7 slot and I have no idea when for the 7-untilweclose slot.

I only found this out because a friend found out...from the cops.

Yeah, so apparently the city that thinks we're good for it also believe in secret rules.

On The Road: Busking Santa Monica

As many of you know, I am in Los Angeles busking for the summer (escapades can be seen here). I decided that since the busking laws here are a bit strange at best, that I would take some time to go through the pertinent parts with you. You may find the law, in it's entirety, here.

The first part of the law is it's purpose and the first law reads:


The City Council finds that the existence in the City of street performers provides a public amenity that enhances the character of the City...

Now, I don't know about y'all, but that gives me the warm fuzzies. In law it states that they like us. A step in the right direction.

The first real section you need to look at is 6.112.030 Rules and Regulations. In this part it states that you may NOT perform 

• Within ten (10) feet of any bus stop
• Within ten (10) feet of any street corner  or marked crosswalk
• Within ten (10) feet of any entrance to a business (including outdoor dining areas)
• Without a permit (Pier, Promenade, Tranist Mall) after 12:00pm (if it's not a holiday)
• Oh, and don't block the flow of traffic

Those are the simplified and self-explanatory rules. Here are some slightly more complicated or strange things:

• You many not construct a platform unless it has beveled edges [I know...what the hell]
• No knives, swords, torch, flame, axe, saw, or other object that can cause serious bodily harm
• No tumbling
• No blocking curb-cuts [I assume those are the wheelchair ramps onto the sidewalks...]

Now we get into the really fun bit...Holidays:

• If the holiday follows a weekend and the next day is a workday, then the holiday shall be treated as if it were Sunday and the day preceding the holiday shall be treated as if it were Saturday. 
• If the holiday precedes a weekend, then the holiday shall be treated as if it were Saturday and the preceding day shall be treated as if it were Friday.
• If the holiday occurs during midweek, and is surrounded by workdays, then the holiday shall be treated as if it were Sunday and the day preceding the holiday shall be treated as if it were Friday.
• The following is a list of holidays which trigger the application of this subsection: New Year’s Day, President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Columbus Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. The City Council may by resolution add to this list of holidays.

Now that that madness is past, time for some more random goodness...Times you may perform.

No performer shall perform except during the following time periods:

• 9 am to 11 pm daily
• 11 pm to 1:30 am on Friday and Saturday

Now the real question becomes what do they mean by that. The law states that everyday you may perform from 9-11, but the more specific law states you may only perform 11-1:30 Friday and Saturday.

I spoke with a person at the permit office and they said, as I suspected, it should be interpreted as extending the performing hours on Friday and Saturday.

Now for the really fun stuff. To be space conservative I have merged laws for different locations, evident by the place (place) denotation. So, for you slow people, if there is a place and then a place in parentheses, you may substitute everything in parentheses for the law regarding that location.

No performer shall [ever!]:

• perform on the promenade (transit mall) in any specific location or within one hundred and twenty (120) feet of that loaction as measured in a north/south (east/west) direction for more than 2 hours in a six hour period. 
• perform on the promenade (transit mall) on an even hour at the same location that he/she was performing on the preceding hour or w/in 120 feet measured North/South (east/west).

Now in my twisted little mind, this tells me that if I were to perform and then move five steps East (for the promenade) to the letter of the law I am correct. I don't believe I will try it out though. To best the above law, perform at the far side of the street (N/S) then the middle, then the other far side. Then move to your original spot and repeat.

For the even hour rule, simply start performing on an even hour, b/c even if you get there and set up at 1:50, you WILL be moving at 2:00.

***The pier has similar rules except the hours are from 8am and you may perform extended hours on Sunday as well. Extended hours go to 1am***

The Pier does away with the even hour rule and instead says you have to move at 1 pm, 4 pm, and 7 pm to a different spot 150 feet away. Their time limitation is 3 hours at one location in every 6 hours.

Also for the pier, you will not perform at a distance of more than 10 feet from the railing (north railing in the Center Performance Area, either railing in the Breezeway performance area.

You may also not perform further than 7.5 feet from a star painted on the ground. It's to maintain the minimum "stay away from other performers" rule (which I didn't go into...you should know how far to be away from another person for your show to work)

Penalties for disregarding these rules are as follows:

•  a fine of not less than one hundred dollars, but not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars per violation.
• Any person violating Sections 6.112.030(c), 6.112.030(f), 6.112.030(g), 6.112.030(l), 6.112.030(q), 6.112.050(a), 6.112.050(c)(5), 6.112.060(a), 6.112.060(c)(5), or 6.112.060(d) shall be guilty of an infraction which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars, or a misdemeanor, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars per violation, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment

• 
  
   Any person performing without a performance permit as required by Section 6.112.030(b) shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, which shall be punishable by a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars per violation, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceeding six months, or by both such fine and imprisonment. 

So... have fun with the insanity that is Santa Monica. Permits are less than $40 (can't remember exactly...$37 maybe?)

Criss Angel Spoof

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltpr4xGXgAU

Creator: http://www.timothydrake.ca/

Magic Talk is back!!!

So the Magic Talk forum is back online at a new website: www.magictalkforum.com

This is a great forum, so check it out!

Last day in Ft. Worth

Cross-posted from BuskingProject:

So here I am, getting prepped for my flight tomorrow and there is a show about cheating in Vegas on TV. It's actually really funny because the people who are talking seem to know what they're talking about, but it still doesn't seem to have any sort of deterrent on people who use sophisticated sleight of hand or other sophisticated scams. It appears that the "eye in the sky" only takes action if something looks suspicious, which for sophisticated methods are never.

For most of us, myself included, cheating at Vegas is never something that you want to try. Vegas is highly sophisticated and quick reacting, so unless you're Richard Turner, don't try cheating!

EDIT: Spelling

A Little Psychology: Practice

Psychology penetrates our craft to the deepest levels: from how we construct illusions, the clothes we wear, the words we choose, and how we structure our shows. It surrounds us every step of the way, but many of us don't really understand what that means, let alone how to harness it.

Has this ever happened to you: You wake up and decide to practice your show so you get out all of your gear and start practicing...until that show you wanted to see was on TV. So what happened?

What happened is that your brain, while you were sitting in your living room, took a look around and thought to itself "This is where we watch TV!" So it shifted from wanting to practice to wanting to watch television. So what can you do?

Have you ever wondered why people have home offices? It's a space that they can focus on their work. That's all that happens there: work. So for the brain, when you walk into your office, starts thinking "work". It's a function of conditioning: every day you work there, so every time you go in it must be time for work. That's why after twenty minutes of practicing in your living room you move on to something else.

So, once again, what can we do?

1. Set up a home studio: Take a room and turn it into your home studio. Put in all of your gear, hang up some magic posters, set up a video camera and practice there. Don't do anything else in your studio. No watching TV, no surfing the internet, no sleeping! Only practicing! Don't have enough space to dedicate an enitre room to a studio? Set up a corner of a room!
   
2. Find a coffee shop: Or a library, or a park. Anywhere that is outside of your house as long the only time you go there is to practice. Try to find a place that stimulates you creatively. There is one coffee shop in College Station, TX (Sweet Eugene's if you get a chance) that when I go in, I get hit with about a thousand ideas. Find a place like that for yourself.
    
3. Set up a block of time: Can't create a studio space and can't find a place in town? Use your own living room. What? Didn't I just tell you not to do that? Yes, but this time what you're going to do is spend an hour a day practicing. Start at the same time every day. Start at the same time every day!!! Then after a few days gear up to an hour and a half, then to two hours. Then after a week or two it'll be a piece of cake to practice for an hour or two a day. 

 So there you go. No more excuses! Get out and get practicing!

Motorcycle Magician: part the last

So as it turns out, my motorcycle won't actually make it out to Los Angeles, so I'm having to fly out there. So I'll have to postpone the idea of writing about the experience of traveling across country with the magic stuff.

Sorry to disappoint.

It begins

So Cameron is off into the wild blue yonder in a few days, but I will still be around College Station. He was one of my greatest magic influences, and it is noticable if you should ever be lucky enough to catch us performing side by side. Our styles are very similar in alot of ways, and our views on most things magical are also similar. Even though I had a lot of self training after he started on my way, he is still indespensible in his knowledge and skill. After I started being taught I also started buying books and videos to teach myself. He was always there if I didn't understand something or needed to run a new trick by someone. So a bittersweet farewell to him amd good luck. I am sure he will be successful and have many adventures along the way. I am also sure that we shall meet again, and not just because I am holding onto all his magic stuff while he is gone.