Carrying Magic

Becoming a magician, doesn’t just mean you’ll have a new hobby or a new profession its more on having a new lifestyle. Magic has become my passion, even right before I fall to sleep I am thinking of new ideas and routines to do and there are even times that I dream of performing on a show. Magic is addicting but at the same time fulfilling. It will eventually become the air you breathe.

I don’t leave home without having my close up bag with all the things I need for casual impromptu magic. Before, I use to put my stuff on my pockets thinking I might meet a group of people whom I can perform magic for it may be in a coffee shop, a pub, etc. My reliable bag is my partner almost anywhere, who knows I might meet a big

How to control anxiety

All types of performers would eventually or regularly undergo anxiety attacks before and after their performances.

Anxiety is a natural state that exists anytime under stress. Giving a presentation normally will cause some stress. When this type of stress occurs, physiological changes take place that may cause symptoms such as a nervous stomach, sweating, tremors in the hands and legs, accelerated breathing, and/or increased heart rate.

Don’t worry! These signs are just normal. The only thing you have to do is to make stress work for you, it can be the fuel for a more enthusiastic performance. Whenever you feel butterflies in your stomach, you have to make sure that those butterflies would fly in perfect V formation.

Here are some tips on managing your anxiety:

1. ORGANIZE – Lack of organization is a

Michael Ammar’s Easy to Master Flight Miracles

One of the best DVDs I have is from Michael Ammar entitled Easy to Master Card Miracles. Coming soon is his new DVD entitled Easy to Master Flight Miracles. Watch the video below:

I had my share of laugh from this one. I was thinking that this is a DVD for different levitation techniques in magic. LOL.

Magic is a higher form of learning by Lee Asher

Here’s a short yet substantial vid clip for all those who are students or to be students of magic. Lee Asher is one of the most respected people in the magic community for his contribution to the art having tons of DVD releases for the past years. One of the feats that he is coined with is his Asher Twist. The effect  that I loved from him would be the Search and Destroy or in other terms SIMPLE AND STRONG.

Take a while to listen to this vid, it speaks a straight down truth! Learn from this.

A new product from Dan&Dave&Dave!

This is actually a parody of the type of magic instructional video that Dan and Dave and other online magic stores are producing. Watch this video and enjoy the insane humor of David Williamson.

Who is Michael Matthews?

I just read this inspiring post on the T11 forums about Micheal Matthews by Tom Isaacson. It depicts the story of a magician as he lives day by day with cancer. He continually does his magic despite his condition, a mark of a true magician.

Here’s an excerpt of Tom’s post on T11:

“Toward the beginning of the summer he started to disappear from the radar. He was busy with projects from what I knew- but ever slow slowly he was out of contact. It wasn’t until the end of September that I found out what happened. Less than a year after he had been released, the cancer came back. And this time it was worse. He was hospitalized again, had a list of ungodly amount of medical procedures performed to keep him alive.He called me up to meet for sushi to tell me the story. He’s not the kind of person to seek sympathy or petty feelings for the stuff he was going through- he didn’t want to bother the world with his disease. He didn’t want his problem to bring other people down. While that’s a remarkably humble trait to find in someone who has undergone such an ordeal, I knew part of it was that he didn’t want to be seen in his weakest state.

But sometimes its in our weakest that we find strength and others can find it too.”

Here’s a link of a video clip from Michael Matthews on Vimeo: Click HERE

Let this be an eye opener to all the people in the world who loves watching magic. On stage, magicians may seem like the most gifted people on earth because of their talents and the feats they do for the sheer entertainment of those watching, but the moment we get off the performing stage, we’re just normal people living with the daily struggles of life.

Copperfield takes part in a documentary about GOD

“Oh my God”. This stunning story travels the different regions of the globe with an attempt on examining the prception of God through different various religions and cultures, spiritual leaders and celebrities.

His goal: to give the viewer the personal, visceral experience of some kind of reasonable, meaningful definition of one of the most used—some might say overused—words in most every language.

It is expected to be out on November 13.

Here’s the list of the credits of the film, guess who’s one of the people in it.

A tribute

It hurts… It really does…

Growing in Magic

It’s been a while since I blogged again. I’ve been busy these past few days practicing our stage manipulation act. It’s totally different from my usual stage magic act which is more of comedy magic and a lot of audience participation. This time it is music based and a bit of theatrical performance on my part. There are no comic remarks, and we have to perform as soon as the music starts beating. Stage manipulation is harder than I thought. When people invite me to perform on stage, I was only limited to mentalism feats back then. To my readers who are non magician, manipulation is another field of magic where there is a huge dexterity of the hands and showmanship involved. Such effect in manipulation include, producing a

David Blaine’s “What is Magic”

I am currently enjoying Criss Angel’s Mindfreak season 4 on AXN though I’ve seen some of the episodes already, I still am amazed by the feats Angel did. This September correct me if I’m wrong, David Blaine’s Special: “What is Magic” will be aired over the channel. It includes the Bullet Catch where a 22 caliber bullet was fired at point blank range in a small metal cup in his mouth. The stunt is filmed with Phantom Camera which shoots 10,000 frames per second so that every fraction of a second is seen.

I’ll definitely watch this!

Cyril calls for nominees

I got this news from AXN, Cyril Takayama will be having a special in Asia and thus he wants someone to join and have an unforgettable experience and become a part of his very first TV special made outside of Japan. Nominate someone now by clicking here! 

New from theory 11 – Mathieu Bich’s Watermark

The Effect:

A card is chosen and placed back into the deck – and a napkin (or cloth, tissue, etc.) is introduced and examined. While the spectator holds the napkin, some water is lightly sprinkled over it.

Slowly and visually, the chosen selection appears through the water. The napkin can, of course, be kept as a souvenir.

- – -

This is a great “bring along” quick trick especially when you’re hanging out in restaurants or anywhere where there is water.

Check it out at theory11.

Magician turned himself into ashtray

A smoker magician, Richie Magic plans to finally quit his 40 year old smoking habit by pulling off a crazy stunt and beating the record by putting 200 lit cigarettes in his mouth and chewing them up in front of a Queens magic shop. He would like the stunt to leave an important message among spectators

“I want them to know that if you smoke, your mouth will look, feel and smell like a human ashtray,” said Magic, 53.

Read more about it in NYDaily News.com by clicking here

Video of the Week – Teller’s “Shadows”

A wonderful piece of magic being performed by Teller on stage. Its simplicity speaks of how magnificent its magic is.

Know before you act!

Most of the magic performers today both starting and long professionals are focused more on updating their skills, having the newest props and making ways to have bookings. Yet somehow they tend to forget about updating, having new ideas, and looking ways to improve their very own selves.

I would like to share this few lines which on my contention is a big help to not only magic performers but also to other people who performs on stage. These lines are from Sonya Hamlin’s Book entitled “How To Talk So People Listen”

Here are the lines:

“Its not about you and your skills

Its not about your subject (or in our case magic)

It all starts from this basic principle:

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE!“

* * *

The success of our performances lie on

Bound and Gagged!

They’re at it again, after their successful show (Laughs and Gasps) last November 22, 2008 together with Giselle Sanchez, this year they have come up with a far more comical lineup. If you had a one hell of a time in Laughs and Gasps, for sure you won’t miss out on this one.

On October 23 in PETA theater, Bound and Gagged will feature Kel and Jay’s amazing death defying, humorous and jaw dropping magical performances knotted with 2 of Philippines’ top ventriloquists, Wanlu and Ony Carcamo. The show will be

Quick Press: David Blaine To Make Magic For Aborn

Magician David Blaine will be delving into the dangerous world of New York politics for the first time next week when he hosts a fundraiser for Manhattan DA hopeful Richard Aborn.  To read more about it on nydailynews.com click here.

Fox and The Magician’s Elephant

According to Variety, 21st Century Fox is stirring forward on “The Magician’s Elephant,” having Martin Hynes (“The Go-Getter”) to adapt Kate DiCamillo’s soon-to-be-published children’s book.

Story centers on impossible things that may happen when a fortune teller tells an orphan boy that an elephant will lead him to his long-lost sister.

“What attracted me to the project was that Fox wanted to make a fable which could both be a classic but not take itself too seriously,” Hynes told Daily Variety. “The film we’ve referenced in terms of tone is ‘The Princess Bride’ — something that kids will enjoy, but adults will love on other levels.”

Two of DiCamillo’s books, “Because of Winn Dixie” and “The Tale of Despereaux” have been adapted into features.

I will be looking forward to this, it may give me lots and lots of inspiration related to my craft.

World Magic Seminar Asia

Last August 14-16 was the 9th World Magic Seminar Asia. This event is being held every 2 years. To read more about it at itricks click here.

Here are some of the guests magicians who attended the event:

How I wish I was there…

Heroes of Magic

I saw this set of clips from youtube a month ago. This is a very informative video that would give insights to the new generation of magicians who are looking up to Criss Angel and David Blaine. This could be very helpful in strengthening magical foundation.

Check out the other 3 parts after watching the first clip

Don’t make your child’s party suck!

Parents would always do anything to make their son/daughter’s birthday special but sometimes they overdo it or even weren’t able to make that day special despite all their preparations.

Here are some of the common mistakes parents make in making their child’s birthday party special:

1. They tend to do lots of preparations to impress their friends and co-workers instead of looking after what their kid wants for his/her own party
2. They tend to invite more of their friend’s or officemate’s children that their birthday celebrator doesn’t even know.
3. Instead of hearing upbeat songs or children’s songs, adults are hitting into the party with “And I did it my waaaayyy!” or “One in a milliooooonn”. Children don’t appreciate videoke machines that much.
4. They hire clowns without even knowing if their birthday celebrator is or not afraid of them. Children especially

The FISM Song

Here’s a nice piece of work for FISM. The lyrics of the song made me laugh and as a whole it made me sad for not being there in FISM 2009.

This is a loving tribute to FISM 2009 written & performed by the fabulous TOPAS, with images added by Tim Ellis.

Joshua Jay Injured

The magician’s hand is his main weapon in his performance unless he already didn’t have any before he became one. If I will be asked which would I rather loose: my hands or my feet, I’d choose feet. I don’t care if I won’t be able to walk like everybody does at least I could still perform something that not everybody knows how to. I can’t imagine myself without my hands; just the mere thought of it is painful enough for me.

I just knew from itricks that Joshua Jay had undergone surgery and is suppose to do another one since he had wrist and arm injury. Joshua Jay is considered one of the best close up magicians in today’s generation of performer. A good teacher and good entertainer, Joshua Jay gained the respect from magicians around the world.

I hope he would recover soon. Get well soon Josh!

The magician’s hand is his main weapon in his performance unless he already didn’t have any before he became one. If I will be asked which would I rather loose: my hands or my feet, I’d choose feet. I don’t care if I won’t be able to walk like everybody does at least I could still perform something that not everybody knows how to. I can’t imagine myself without my hands; just the mere thought of it is painful enough for me.
I just knew from itricks that Joshua Jay had undergone surgery and is suppose to do another one since he had wrist and arm injury. Joshua Jay is considered one of the best close up magicians in today’s generation of performer. A good teacher and good entertainer, Joshua Jay gained the respect from magicians around the world.
I hope he would recover soon. Get well soon Josh!

Video of the Week – Kenton Knepper’s Time Machine

Never thought I’d see this on a video clip. I read about this feat when I was starting at mentalism. Certainly one of Kenton’s classics. I love the presentation of the feat and somehow I found myself almost drowning in Kenton’s worlds as I imagined I was flowing back in time. The time when I first knew about this wonderful piece of effect. LOL

Pre-show Work

I consider Pre-show meeting as an appointment set with a client for a show regardless of how big or small the event is. It is a form of courtesy and professionalism when it comes to services based business on my case, the entertainment business.

Whenever my group or I alone would be invited to perform for a certain event, it must always be ensured that there is a personal meeting with the client to settle the logistics. A phone call for me isn’t enough unless the client had already met you before and settled the deal therein. One point to be taken note for is not to take a show or close a deal without settling the condition or logistics for your performance.

One reason would be you have to know what kind of party or event you will be going to. Of course it would so much of a hustle to bring your entire room of props for the event just to be sure you’ll be prepared. Is it a children’s party, a corporate event, a brid