And I'm on the move.
Please follow me at
http://magicianboston.blogspot.com/
See you there
Stephanie

Have not given up

And the reason I have not published any further practice sessions from Metal is because I've been performing it. These last few months have been great with me creating shows for parties and events.
Now I'm about to perform at the 99 restaurant in Nashua this Wednesday night (9/19).

My BF and I discussed what one should say when you approach a table.
I love this from Patrick.

Hi, I'm your magician for this evening. Can I interest you in our specials tonight?" 
You might follow up with "We have cards (flourish) and some very fine coin magic using an American half dollar and an English penny...." or something like that. 
If there are children you could say, "On our kid's menu we have..."

This is brilliant and fits right in with the restaurant genre.

So Wednesday I'll be doing Mirage et Trois along with Coins across using Silver dollars.
Wish me luck. ;D

OK so back to Eric and getting ready for my July 4th stage show.
Here's the link to my performance this weekend. What a thrill it was to sit down until
1:30 with magicians who actually worked with the Masters like Dai Vernon.oh...my...goodness.
Anyway, I hope you like my performance here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10N_Q8PR_nY

Glenn Brooks (see in my YouTube vid in a hat, tie and jacket stage left, knows Eric Jones!
Wow this whole weekend was a dream come true and everyone was so nice.

As for the routine by Eric Jones, I performed it for some folks in the hotel lobby who were visiting from Georgia. I received a bit more than polite applauds. They asked me to do additional magic and thank you Jeff McBride for the thumbtip and color silk streamer idea. THAT put the finishing touch on a quick 5 minute impromptu performance.

I'm going to move on to the next part of Eric's DVD. Although I like this routine, the Han Chien Pin needs a lot of practice. Especially when performing with a person's hand as the table. And I really don't see the reason for it, in regards to the performance. Why not, in the eyes of the spectator, simply move the coins up in the left hand? For the Performer, it's needed for the next manipulation.

Like I said, I know have Mirage et Trois to the four coins across as a little routine.
(I get the fourth coin by splitting the third coin of Mirage in two)
But I'm going to see what's next.

Also I bough Metal 2 from Eddie of Diamond's Magic. That DVD is loaded with routines and will be next on my list of DVDs to work on.

I hope you visit me at http://StephanieBeachMagic.com and at 

http://Facebook.com/StephanieBeachMagic.com

New week and finally routines.

He just slipped into sleeving and although it is important, I'm skipping that section.
I simply don't wear sleeves. I am glad it is there however. I viewed it and now understand
a few more things about sleeving.

The DVD, by going through basics, sets up the theme to be 'for beginners'.
Since this is his 'first' routine, I would have expected something a bit more basic.
His 'first' routine is rather difficult for 'beginners'. Palming is very difficult.
So is Han Ping Chien.
In addition is dropping one of two coins from a palm. 

Well, I'm having a blast with the routine.
I've now put it with Mirage et Trois. So together, these two sets form a nice coin routine.

Using Han Ping Chien does have a draw back. You need a table to complete the routine.
Although in his "Audience show" he does not use a table. He does not teach that technique.
I'm assuming he is simply using the spectator's hand as 'the table'. I'll practice that.

But the HPC doesn't really make sense in the routine. You need to get the two coins from one hand to the other while making it appear as if you are showing the original two coins.
In other words, you have two coins in say your left palm.
You end up, from the spectators point of view, with those two coins in your left hand's fingertips.
"Why do you need to drop them to pick them up" a spectator might ask.
From Eric's point of view, it's "the way" to move the coins for the next part of the routine.
And with his smooth actions and moves, he makes it look like a very natural thing but you can't really tell.
The camera-man stops shooting the 'move' and is shooting a man who is not really looking at the action.

DVD Editor:
Please show us the moves and not the people.
For entertainment: The David Blaine shot is great.
For learning, the David Blaine shot is terrible.
Show us the full front of Eric so we can see how his eyes move, his body moves, he hands.
For learning, I don't want to see the people.
Show me the people in another action sequence or simply leave it out.

AHHH Stop saying "Check it out make sure it's real". (referring to the coins)
The audience won't think they are not real unless you say "Check it out make sure it's real".
Ahhhh Stop saying that.

DVD is still A+ though. 98% :D

www.StephanieBeachMagic.com
YouTube: Eric Jones Experience

Metal is falling behind

It's a bit of my fault because I have some paying gigs I need to attend to.
Also I'm performing in June at the http://unknownmagiciansandclowns.com/ event.

So I've been concentrating on one aspect of Eric's teachings.
And that is Michael Ammar's wiping.
I've had a lot of trouble with the palming. My index finger tends to contract making my flat palm look like it's got a dent in it. Not very natural at all.

You can see in this picture my hand is dented while palming the coin.

 

My goal is to have the hand look very natural so I can do the swipe.

What I've done is to develop an exercise to keep the little finger 'out of the picture'.

Place your palm face down.

Now move your thumb in then out. Don't have a coin just move your thumb.

Notice that your little finger does not move in.

With your other hand lift a coin into the palm of your hand and just move your thumb in.

Betcha your little finger moved in. Mine does automatically.

Turn your hand over now and just move your thumb. 

Try to find that spot that will hold the coin but not move the little finger.

And that is the move I'm working on trying to stop.

So far I've found that I can keep my hand relatively 'normal' but I need to slightly bend my fingers.

Back to practicing and I'll post my 'show' called "Do or Die, Dori" when it's done.
Hope you enjoy it. ugh drop my coin again..... :D

Week 5 is done.

Click Pass - wow this was hard holding that coin. I was able to make the click but to make it look natural holding the palmed coin is tough

Jones click -Eric is really really good. He makes this look so easy. And it's not too bad. About 40 minutes of practice got me started.

Shuttle Pass - Yeah Jay Sankey does this better but don't think Eric isn't fantastic. Jay will actually have the hidden coin 'tossed' into the air. Check out Jay's Coin Revolution series. Really nice.


Week 6

Utility Switch - advancing the Click Pass concept but with more coins.
This is useful but need this in a routine.

Hand washing.

Wiped Clean -Michael Ammar's. - WOW this the Classic Palm challenge. In this utility move you MUST keep that coin cleanly classically palmed.

Jonathan Townsend's Hand Washing routine.

Bobo Switch - Back to Bobo. Switching coins.

----
Here is the real value of this DVD. Value meaning quality with quantity. I've gone through 1/2 the DVD.
There is still 50 minutes of material left to work with. WOW.

In my mind now is building a practice routine that will remind me of all the moves or at least most of them, and allow me to practice them at the same time.  Break over back to work.

Nope I have not forgotten this blog nor my practice.
What I recently did was to request to perform at the www.unknownmagiciansandclowns.com
convention coming up June 2nd. This meant writing a 10 min script, getting sound, music and practice.
I've had to spend virtually all my time on that.
Well the script is written and my friends are reviewing the performance tonight.
I do quite a few practice and review session.
I'll film it (in my basement) and post it just as an FYI.
Meanwhile, while I'm at work...oh look! A Coin...oops it's gone...ah back again...gone oh my!

My bad...oops on the last two vids. I needed to 'pull' them.
I did not realize that I looked like a train wreck. I was concentrating on the handling.
I'll redo them.

I've been practicing the pass click and discovered something cool.
Here's the illusion.
Coin in left palm is tossed to right palm
Coin picked up in left hand and placed in left palm.
The left coin is then tossed into the right palm. An audible 'clink' is heard.
Both coins are found in the LEFT hand.
:D

Well week 4 is done
Some important practice notes are;
Minimum finger movement when "taking" a coin
Practice quick moves. I found that I was practicing just a bit 'too slow' and that lead me
to have rather awkward 'take'.
Also in that "takes" i find that actually touching the coin with your fingertips makes a big difference when 'taking'. You make contact with the coin for some brief moments. I'm betting it also 'moves' the coin slightly and that subtle action is a bit more of a convincer..
I guess check out Week 4 ending to find out.

Week 5
OK with the stylized retention vanish, I'm also attempting to put the coin into an immediate Thumb clip. After all, you need to do something with the coin so might as well clip it.
He middle finger carries the coin into the thumb clip position. Best if I could have the coin actually go into many different clips and positions. If I can get t into the Motabe clip, that would be about perfect

OK Week 4 starts
And with that I'll be heading straight into VANISHES. Oh boy.
1. Taking - Quick vanish
2. Putting
3. Elusive Vanish
4. Retention Vanish (Bobo)


With these you MUST Believe!
That's something I did no mention in my vid for this week.
Believe that the coin was taken or was put into the hand.
If you don't believe it then they won't.

The audience gets its cues on how to react from your reactions.
You mus be excited (or whatever theme you are going for) when the vanish happens.
Don't be 'oh look *yawn*'. This is MAGIC!
:D

No no NO i have not neglected my practicing....just my blog.

Ok the only excuse I have for not having an update is that we just
completed a show at the Wetherbee Primary School in Lawrence Ma.

Practice sessions, packing, setup, perform, packing, putting all stuff away then
chasing my 3 1/2 year old grandkid around the house with a shark all put a damper on my doing the blog.

HOWEVER, I did practice AND perform.

Before the performances began, a  7th grader came up to me and said: HEY YOU'RE the magic lady. Do a trick.
Thank YOU finger palm.
 ---------------------
As she approached i ducked my hand into my pocket.
Palmed two coins then switched one coin to my other hand.
Do her amazement i produced a coin, using JW grip production on the other and a finger drop,
the coin jumped  across then I split a coin into two.
 --------------------
Meanwhile, check out my YouTube of the event.
I think this will get you there.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2C5D7792C7C335C0
I started a Wetherbee playlist.

Vid ya Soon!

Allll Right!
I'm wicked excited about these methods.
What Eric is teaching me in his DVD "Metal" are;

• JW Grip along with the Mike Gallows Production
• Kris Korn's Production
• Motobe Palm Production
• The Pop

 Well the JW grip is in his video "Mirage et trois" available from Vanishing Inc.
I LOVE it. Your hands feel so cool and sort of elegant.
However you can look like they went through a blender if you don't hold them with
confidence.





Now, Eric really starting to combine the previous lessons into more practical illusions.
I've been looking for a way to vanish a coin for the "Cupertino?" effect where a coin
penetrates a beer glass and lands in a shot glass. I needed a sweet way to vanish the coin.
So far the JW grip looks great. Then when I false take a second coin from a rack, i can use the JW Grip production(s).


WOW The Pop is going to be tough. I'd like minimum hand movement on this and not have the coin
look like it was tossed. I'll go over Eric's explanation again a few times this week to get it right.

On with Practicing.

Oh Kay!

Just completed my week 3 of training.
My biggest issue was the finger palm.
I'm going to have to keep practicing that a LOT!
Puffy pads is the killer so the coin is not secure.

The edge grip was simply not a problem. And I found
it more practical keeping my thumb touching my middle
finger. My index was free to point and using the other fingers
as a cover I easily picked up objects. I also was able to use
a coin I picked up as a cover. Displaying the coin full on, (the
head or tail side showing) the hidden coin is behind the coin
I displayed.

The Goshman pinch is difficult for sure. I found my left
pinkie is not as 'good' as keeping the coin pinched as my right
pinkie. My left pinkie has a slight bow outward while my right
pinkie is bowed slightly inward. This, ever so slight, bow makes the
work on the left hand more difficult. My right hand is fine.
So I keep my left hand near my lap and my right hand
on the wheel and practice. In a golf cart of course never a car on
the highway. no sir.

With the Motobe Palm, Eric says to keep the coin parallel to the
ground. He also mentions the site line of the audience member.
THAT is extremely important. That site line makes or breaks this illusion.

I've been trying out the finger palm and got caught a couple
of times because I'm just too darn relaxed. My fingers were not
'tight' enough and the shine of the coin peaked through.
Ugh!

We are getting ready for a show on Friday so I won't start
week 4 until tomorrow evening.

Meanwhile....oops dropped a coin...meanwhile.ugh! hard to type
with a coin palmed. AH Again I dropped it. ok need super glue.
Meanwhile, i'll keep at it and vid my week 2 progress.

As you might have seen in my Video on YouTube, I am in week three. The next four coin manipulations are;

• Motobe Palm
• Curl Palm
• David Roth's Edge Grip
• Al Goshman/Tenkai Pinch

This is a tough week to practice because of a Show this week and another next week.
But there is no excuse. If you have time to watch TV, there is better time spent hanging out
with your coins which is what I'm doing.

I really like using the Curl Palm and Edge Grip together. Although the Curl Palm (if I am correct)
requires the coin to be deeper into the crutch of the fingers, I can switch between the two giving a
very nice illusion that my fingers are 'freer' than they really are.

The real trouble I'm facing with the Curl Palm is that my finger's fleshing part keeps sliding the coin
up or down. HEY I am NOT Fat! Actually I'm not as you see from my vids. But the slippage is still a problem
I'm working on.

The Motobe palm is very fun. I do see where pushing coin in 'deep' really helps with the fingers being loose.
I really like this grip because you can display the hand very open. Eric shows you how to 'sweep' the table freely. I'm finding that I can really make casual hand gestures and have a LOT of angles where the coin is simply not visible. In this pic the hand is very open, a bit relaxed and the coin nicely concealed.

Oh! By the way, here is the promo for Metal.
Please go there and give a "Like" to it.

Hi Guys,
I just saw Joshua Jay perform Threesome. (Vanishing Inc magic)
I see, for this illusion, he has setup a small table with what appears to be 20 to 30 people attending.
I attended Steve Cohen's show in New York and learned some valuable lessons there as well as
being completely entertained.

As I continue studying Magic, I'm discovering more and more ways an Entertainer can create a  wonderful
experience brought on by the Parlor Show. I have such books from David Stone and "Maximum Entertainment" that I have read a few times each at least.

What I'm doing is creating a parlor show for home and rented rooms.
I'd expect 20 to 40 people.
I see the setup and presentation that Joshua, Bancheck, Green and others have used in this venue and
I'd be interested if anyone has some recommendation on books and/or videos on strictly (or mostly)
targeted toward the Parlor presentations.

In my mind's eye I see many different ways to put on the show.
As I practice my coins (cards and others are coming) and build my parlor character I'd like some choices that others have experimented with that work for them and how they have orchestrate their show.

Any ideas are appreciate.
Thanks for reading now back to practicing my Barkley Productions :)

The multiple coins are as hard as I suspected.
I'm discovering that one day I totally can drop 4 palmed coins easily.
The next day they are dropping like a rain storm pelting my practice mat.
Practice ... you know the rest.

The Thumb palm was easy and I've practiced it before. But now I'm seeing how to get
into it and out of it.
Down's Palm is just wicked cool. The tough part is to vanish the coin and make your middle
finger (and sometimes with the index finger) look natural with the hold out. I've discovered that if I
use my index finger to 'point' into the air where the coin vanished, then bring my hand back a
pace and 'ignore' it while staring at the vanish spot, the illusion works better.
WOW I love Barkley's production and it is tough. Mostly because the production is more natural
on the right or left side of my body and not in the center. I have a BIGGER mirror now so I
can view the production better.
In my YouTube http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL31C824BC6BFDEBA8 I mention that
a circular motion of production is better than having my hand still or moving it back and forth.
Highly HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend: http://www.sleightsofmind.com/
It's on Nook and Kindle which is nice.

Two things came up about palming.
1. Patrick, my BF, was writing to me about palming and said that my 'cone hands' were getting more natural. He hit the terminology right on the head. When palming a coin avoid "Cone Hands"!
2. I was doing what Eric Jones said to do. While typing and driving and etc. keep a coin palmed.
Well first of all, this is also helping me shift coins more naturally from palm type to palm type.
Such as, I can't (yet) 'palm' palm a coin while typing but can thumb palm a coin.
Second, when you are palming a coin, watch out for tossing a handful of peanuts into you mouth.
I almost chipped a tooth as the coin joined the peanuts in a race to my throat. ow...

View my vid. I've seen a perfect application using http://www.sleightsofmind.com/ 's circular motion thoughts in the Buckely Production.
And I have a surprise coming soon on my videos. One that is sure to make you think: Hey that's kind of cool.
or "Wow is she ever lame"
I like it actually. :D
Thanks to Levent although he probably would not think his billard's ball would apply to coins in this obscure way. ;D

OK i had moderate success last week with the finger palm, the ramsay subtlety, Kaps/Malini subtlety but not as well on the classic palm. My hand kept bending at bizarre and unnatural angles.
Ugh.
So this week I'll continue to wok on the classic palm.
In addition, I will have the pleasure of ;
Multiple coin holdouts.  I should be able to hold out 4 coins and produce them with no indication a coin is present.
From here I will also have the Thumb palm, downs palm (on of my favorites) and two productions from the thumb palm to the two Arthur Buckley productions.
OK time to practice and watch for the video on the beginning of these.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL31C824BC6BFDEBA8

taught the kids about their upcoming show today.
not much else but Muchael really liked the split concept.
Also used finger palm to reveal a coin on a sheet of paper. i picked it up
and showed a man bith sides. when i put the paper down, i ade it appear as if the coin came from the paper.
thinking on this later, i believe i can do a tear up paper routine and reveal money betweem the torn up pieces.
good night ;)

Some of the things i have found from just a bit of practice.
First, although looking relaxed may feel cool. it is not.
I find that a professional posture is best.

While practicing the finger palm, it simply goes well with Ramsay subtlety.

With a coin in finger palm, i pick up another coin and can actually straighten all my fingers.
This is probably what other magicians don't tell us. Yo can use your thumb to capture and hold the hidden coin. Try it. Finger palm a 1/2 dollar. Pick up another coin with the same hand.
Now if you simply apply a moderate amount of pressure with your thumb that is holding the
exposed coin, your other fingers are now free. You have shifted the pinch of the coin from the finger's digits to the thumb.


And finally, when I'm driving, a golf cart of course, i can use the steering wheel to secure the hidden coin. Well you can now apply this to any object your hand interacts with. A cup, bottle, men feeling their beard stubble, almost anything.
Shift the pressure from the points from the fingers to the fingers AND another object.

The other thing i am discovering is "ISOLATION".
No music (yet) no vids no dancing bears.
Just get into the magic.

I've discovered a cool way to take shw your left hand completely empty.
Pick up a coin with your right.
Put it into your left hand.
Take that coin and SPLIT it into two.

I'll show you on my weekly vid

Bye Bye

http://youtu.be/ivJXtufZc6Y
http://youtu.be/L6ZqRNaXoa4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0Got55ROJk
The start of Week 1.
Lessons i've learned is that YES KEEP COINS WITH YOU AS MUCH A POSSIBLE.
It's so cool driving (a golf cart hee hee) and then eeling how the coin needs to switch from position to position in order to not only hold the coin but also keep in hidden.

And Patrick pointed out that the fingers not only need to be flexible and relaxed but also not in a straight line. Keep the fingers separate and spaced in a more 'irregular' pattern.
I'm reading Synchronicity by Dr Surprise and we are pattern matching creatures. So keeping the pattern mixed varied is very important.

Another good book is

• Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals about Our Everyday Deceptions
• Stephen L. Macknik, Sandra Blakeslee, Susana Martinez-Conde

Whoa wicked good.
Meanwhile back to practice.
See ya about Sunday

Stephanie's Magical Worldly View: Oh...my...GOSH!Eric Jones is amazing and his vide...

Stephanie's Magical Worldly View: Oh...my...GOSH! Eric Jones is amazing and his vide...: Oh...my...GOSH! Eric Jones is amazing and his video shows it. Well I do have my work set out for me. Here is what I need to master. Con...

Oh...my...GOSH!
Eric Jones is amazing and his video shows it.
Well I do have my work set out for me.
Here is what I need to master.

• Concealments
• Finger palm (1)
• Ramsay Subtlety (1)
• Classic Palm (1)
• Kaps/malini Subtlety (1)

• holding out with multiples (1)
• thumb palm (1)
• downs palm (1)
• buckly production (1)

• mutobe palm (1)
• curl palm (1)
• edge grip (1)
• goshman / tenkai pinch (2)

• jw grip (love this one!) (1)
• gallo production (1)
• mutobe production (2)

• the pop (1)
• french pop (1)

• Vanishes
• Taking (1)
• quick vanish (1)

• putting (1)
• elusive vanish (1)
• retention vanish (1)
• stylized retention pass (1)

•   Flourishes
• coin roll down (steeple chase) (4)
• Five coin star(4)
• arm roll...arm roll?!(4)

• Utilities
•  Click pass (1)
• jones pass (1)
• roth shutle pass (1)
• utility switch (1)

• wiped clean (1)
• townshend hand washing (1)
• bobo switch (1)
• jones switch (1)

• benzais friction palm (2)
• han ping chien (2)

• Sleeving ( don't do sleeving in performance but gotta learn it
•  dr e.m. roberts sleeving (2)
• parallel sleeve vanish (2)

• sleeve retrieval (2)
• Review weak sleeving (2)

• Routines
•  4 coins across (4)
• using a jumbo coin (fun!) (4)
• simplex 3 fly (4)
• loose change (4)
• bluff vanish (4)
• jones spell bound (4)

WOW then he has some tips on "getting caught", "windows" and "closing thoughts"
Whew. you know, you but  dvd and expect to immediately KNOW the information the and be perfect.
But I don't. I'm 57 and want to be good. I didn't have those early years with friends practicing with me or simply having the 'free time' to practice.
So that's the challenge at this point: Master Eric Jones' Metal 1.

Time line. A time line is good.
I'll keep to the hour practice per little piece.
What I did was to put a number of practice sessions next to each each.
But that is just a guess. And it does give me a time line in a sense.
I'll do that now but you'll have already seen the results.

Done. 71 initial practice sessions. I know a lot of these but that doesn't mean i can skip them. Nope! I'll take each one again.
My plan is 4 days a week for each session.
One day to review the material for that week and previous week.
I guess I need to recall the names of the slights too. I have a poor memory but I'll give it a try.
This means 14 weeks to master this dvd.
Week one starts today. Week goes from Mon to Sun. AHHH I'm already a day late!
The flourishes i added one more practice session meaning I'd use the whole week on that. Say with routines so the total weeks has increases to 81...81?
Well that's 20 weeks. I probably counted incorrectly.
Start now - Complete Aug 3rd. One week before Pat and my vacation.
Sounds like a plan. I'll be posting to Youtube at the beginning and end of each week.
THAT's the plan.

My beloved Patrick said that, like a good musician, i should take one small piece and practice it until it is perfect. And no more than an hour for each practice session.Build on the routines a little at a time.After an hour go play with the magic.
Each practice session should have a review of the previous lesson and then move on to the next provided the previous session is mastered. Once a week, i should have my hour teacher lesson which will be reviewing the video parts i am working in.
Gawd i love this life and country!

That is what i am going to do with Eric Jones'Metal.
once i master that i will decide which part of the art is next.
I am going to list all the routines, video without practice, practice and when i feel good about the piece, re-film.
This will be a sort of blog and youtube experience for me.
I love coin magic and there are so many little nuances to it.
I hope to share these with anyone reading.

OK Create a new post....new post....
This blogger is not very intuitive and I'm a QA geek.
Sheesh.
Well this blog is for those of us that are 50 and over and wanting to break into Magic.
My my My what a chore this can be. Frustrating and non-rewarding.
The reason is that we work 50 hours a week (plus commute in some cases) then are home to practice magic. It's tough.
You just a want to sit down and and watch tv. And that is why the first thing I have setup now
is my airplay. On my iPad I've setup the routines I want to practice.
I'm currently working on Eric Jones Metal 1. THis is like a Bobo (BeauBeau) crash course.
The DVD is about 120 minutes. Worth EVERY penny too.
And I need to watch it a few times and take notes.
My plan is to demonstrate how things are going on my YouTube.
WOW talk about brutal. I posted some vids for the kid's at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Nashua where I teach and I got totally ripped apart by some folks.

When it comes to 10 year olds and only 6 weeks and they won't practice at home, you have do make things simple.

Well regardless. My goal is to go through the Metal DVD by this week's end (Sun for me).
Then demonstrate what I've learned - practice - and show improvement.

Oh did I mention I've got a B&G kid's show on the 19th and a show to perform at the Wetherbee school on the 24th and a full time job? Yeah I said that already.
OK watch for a link to the post shortly.
Time to watch the vid and practice.
I'll also add some ideas on how to become a magician full time as I go along.
That is my ultimate goal and I have only 5 years to do it in.

I can't afford a bunny right now...

OK this is confusing. Life was simple way back when.
You just logged into the Blogger, wrote and published.
Now it's hooked with Google+ and hard to find.
Oh well, here goes

As you go on...

When you are young: you think you know.
When you are older: you know you know.
When you are old: You Know