Ye Olde Magick Blogge

Hey thar, ho thar, hallo thar… After seeing a dramatic rise in viewership in the past couple of days due to interest in Tony Cabral’s artwork, it was with great pride and excitement that I went to my girlfriend’s computer to show her the page in question, so that she could marvel in my abilities [...]

This article was originally printed on the olde Ye Olde, March 3, 2007 A common sentiment that abounds amongst people starting out in magic who really are interested in magic itself, is that they want to learn skills that don’t involve gimmicks or gaffes. I understand where they’re coming from — it was very important [...]

Here’s David Roth making David Letterman giggle. It’s probably worth pointing out that two of these routines are actually taught in the first volume of his coin magic DVDs.

One reason why I hate the word “Layman” is because it seems to cast a generic light upon random spectators, when we can never really know what knowledge they bring to a magic show. Whenever I hear a magician utter the term, it almost feels like they see regular people as though they were the [...]

This article was originally printed on the olde Ye Olde, February 25, 2007 Exposure was a problem for me the moment I got my first professional gig, or what I suppose could be called a professional gig — I was getting paid to do magic shows, but whether or not that makes me a professional [...]

There’s a magician by the name of Tony Cabral that some people might know through his spirited contributions to the various web forums out there. He’s also one hell of an artist. Below are some of the caricatures he’s done, and here’s a link to the slate of magicians uploaded to his Flickr account. Enjoy…

Take a look at the video that got Juan Tamariz a standing ovation.

I gazed at the deck of cards. Five years it had taken me to learn what kind of effect was hidden between those many edges. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from that lovely trick! Two beer-stenched tears trickled down the sides of my chin. But it was all right, everything was all [...]

One thing that strikes me about the old school of magic is that when they embraced an effect, they embraced it hardcore. Here’s Al Flosso doing the Miser’s Dream, the sort that makes many modern versions just wilt.

There was a thread on the Magic Cafe once about which three magicians they’d love to study under. If somebody were to ask that today, and leaving out Tyler Erickson only because I’ve already studied under him, I’d probably have to go with Juan Tamariz, John Carney and Eugene Burger, with Whit Haydn being a [...]