Well as predicted, I stayed up all night perfecting, creating, and delving deeper into tons of stuff. So what are we at now? A little over 24 hours of straight magic.
Wow! And loving every minute of it as well.
Got a few hours of sleep and popped out of bed at 12ish - I should be conscience enough now to give a detailed report of yesterdays happenings.
Steve Dobson, Andy Vanornum, Stephen Minch, Stephen Hobbs, Jack Carpenter, Allan Ackerman, and I showed up to Thirteen Coins Restaurant around 12:30 PM. (Allan is here in Seattle to do a Lecture this coming up Saturday and he was staying close to the airport. He'll be traveling up to Canada to lecture as well and a few other spots.)
Right away we started busting into things. Cards was really the main focus as we were all mostly card guys after all. I'm not going to go into detail about each of the effects which we jammed on, unfortunately there is not enough space in cyberspace to hold that blog post. But maybe I'll type it up in a Word document some day.
The following should do justice to just tipping the iceberg of what we dove into yesterday. Here are some highlights.
Steve Dobson and I shared a few new touches on the classic, turnover, and spread pass.
I gave an in-depth look at Ron Bauer's Riffle Action Palm. Way to go Andy-keep up the great work! And thanks for the compliments. With continued practice you will own that palm.
I demonstrated the visual and technical sides of Dan Garcia's Ego Card Change and some of it's applications. Everyone had a little bit of a different take on how it should be used and at what angle. I know Jack, it's not the Impulse Change, but it'll do!
Allan shared with us Jack Parker's Reloaded with is featured in this months copy of Genii magazine. Jack Parker's idea for a "spectator-in-control-poker-hand-pick" is quite nice. Allan showed us some of his own ideas for this routine which put a nice spin on things.
We spoke of The Asher Twist, the diagonal insertion, Re-Set, and many other gems. Allan let us know of a false in the hands shuffle which Allan says "is the best he's ever seen" that will be coming out soon in book format I believe. Steve Dobson showed me quite a few, nahh, many things that absolutely fried me. Full deck tricks, packet miracles. He loves his little O.W. Poker Hand gem. He was also very generous to tip me on many things and hand out multiple compliments throughout the night on how he notices since the last time he saw me, how my touch became softer, and what I'm doing is "starting to look like magic." Thanks Steve, you know how much that means. Thank you. Another thing I experienced yesterday for the first time was how someone can properly dish-out constructive criticism. Most people when they want to offer CC, their words air more on the side of criticism and not constructive. When Dobson, had a tip for me he would lend it with a very concerned, honest, and non egotistical hand, thusly airing mainly on the side of constructive. He truly made my nerves settle, my hands warm up, and made me feel comfortable to open up and accept the important advice he gave me. I'm not trying to "suck-up" or stroke Dobson's ego, I do however feel that it is important to mention this attribute of his publicly because we all have something to learn from these characteristics. Mr. Dobson doesn't just quote the Bible, he lives it.
Throughout the night, Dobson, Andy, and I had a down-to-earth, very human talk about an issue which we were privy to. We all saw eye-to-eye on it and it was good to be able to share our feelings regarding life's little issues and not only double lifts and half passes.As you are probably getting a feel for it right about now, I thoroughly enjoyed myself yesterday. I was comfortable, learning, sharing, and perfecting myself as a magician and human being. This was definitely the best session I've been to. Truth is, it was probably more like a one day convention more than a session. It's just that only four or five people were invited and we didn't have to pay 300 bucks!
Great food, great company, and phenomenal magic. But it was only beginning. Stephen Hobbs and Minch left at that point.
We then were cordially invited to Jack's place for dinner and more magic. Allan showed Dobson and I a trick which he had shown earlier but we had missed. Andy says it's the best trick he's ever seen. Essentially two fives are cleanly displayed with nothing in between them and are placed aside. A card is named. When the two fives are placed on the deck and immediately spread, they have a joker between them. Quite startling and amazing but unfortunately not the card named. Without and funny business or anything the joker in between the fives changes into the card named, while between the jokers. Trust me folks, this is clean. It's method is superb and if Allan plays it smart he should never tip this again.
This would definitely fool a layperson, as Allan demonstrated by showing the trick to Joaane, Jack's wife. This is also a magician fooler for sure. Trust me. I think I can speak for Andy and Dobson when I say that it's utterly beautiful and impossible, and clean too!
Although the magic for those many hours at Jack's was really top notch - I would definitely have to say that Joanne's meal took center stage. We had roast, potatoes and carrots, garlic bread sticks, (which I'm going to need the recipe for) corn bread, gravy, and plenty of wine, beer, and whatever else our little magic hearts desired. There is no picture of the spread here, I don't want you drooling all over your keyboards! Thanks again Joanne for the delicious food, and to both you and Jack, for you tremendous hospitality and warmth. Cheers! It was really a special night.
Allan showed us a very clever wild card type of effect utilizing CDs. Quite good. Very visual, and it's good to see something other than ropes, sponge balls, cards, handkerchiefs or any of the other standard props. Very nice!We were even treated to some boogie woogie and finger picking on the guitar! Go Jack go! Jack doesn't play for people too often so he doesn't really know how incredible he is. I'm glad I was able to open his eyes to that a little.
Pictured from left to right: Jack Carpenter, Andy Vanornum, Allan Ackerman, myself, and last but most certainly not least Steve Dobson.
What a great night. I feel personally that I brought my magic up to a new level and I believe everyone shares those same feelings. To many more! Long live Magic.
I want to wish Allan Ackerman a great stay in Seattle, a successful lecture, and safe travels throughout. Thanks for visiting and jamming Allan!
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