Magic Roadshow
March 8th, 2006 Issue# 42
Rick Carruth / editor (C) copyright 2006.. All rights reserved
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March 8th, 2006 Issue# 42
Rick Carruth / editor (C) copyright 2006.. All rights reserved
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Hello All
I want to issue a very warm 'Welcome' to all the new subscribers since our last issue. You are the reason for this madness..
It's amazing how one second can change your life.
Honestly.. I've been somewhat overwhelmed by all the kind responses and wonderful emails since my last issue. I've had concerned emails from literally around the world. I made a sincere effort to acknowledge every one of you who wrote, and I certainly hope I did. I sat here with a smile on my face for two days, until my wife wanted to know what was wrong with me...
I have only seven more weeks to go, and I can throw all this excess 'hardware' aside and do a few rewarding task like sit at the kitchen table, take a real shower, go to the mailbox, get my own glass of tea....
Thanks again.. you folks are great!
Email me for any reason whatsoever..
I've put together what I hope is a worthy newsletter. I had plenty of time to write, so I can't use that as an excuse.
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In this Issue:
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(01) Don Driver and the Fine Art of Making Money
(02) What Do You Do?
(03) Uri Geller - Fact or Fiction
(04) Inside Magic
(05) How to do Card Tricks
(06) How to Make and Sell a Magic Ebook
(07) The Music Genome Project / Pandora
(08) The Magical Mayhem of Mike Giusti
(09) Unlocking the Secrets of Magic
(10) Magic Audio Archives
---------------
Let's get to the good stuff...
===========================
Don Driver and the Fine Art of Making Money
R.Carruth / reviewer
Magicians, magicians, everywhere. Performing their magic for everyone and making 'nary a cent.
When someone mentions 'starving artist' I'll bet you conjure up an image of a middle aged guy with a tie-dyed tee shirt and a graying beard, sitting behind a paint covered easel near the water fountain in the city park, painting clown faces on small canvases for a very few bucks.
When I think of starving artists, I think of a guy with a red vest, a thumb tip in his pocket, along with two coin shells and four halves. Three packs of cards in various other pockets, including two of which are stacked. A Sharpie in his shirt pocket, and a double-faced card in his other pocket. And an ITR pinned just inside his vest, out of sight from his unsuspecting audience.
Where's he headed? Who knows. Even he doesn't know. All he knows is that he has a desire to perform, he just doesn't have an audience to perform for...
You see, unless you're content being a starving artist, there comes a time in your development ( and we develop throughout our lives ) when you realize that this 'magic thing' is nothing more than an expensive hobby, and you wonder what you have to do to actually make money. You've never developed a full act and your knowledge of marketing is limited to an old dog-eared copy of "Think and Grow Rich".
In an attempt to call themselves 'professionals', some magicians turn to performing birthday parties for friends and relatives. Others get a little more motivated and actively seek work in a restaurant setting, hoping they know enough individual tricks to entertain the dinner crowd. And a third group of very smart performers take their future in their own hands and become active buskers (street performers) or, in the case of Don Driver, a professional pitchman.
What exactly does Don 'pitch'?
Svengali decks. Yes, those funny little decks with the 26 short cards that makes performing amazing tricks simple for those in-the-know. I know how it works, you know how it works, but to the public.. the magic you can work with a svengali deck appears to be pure, unadultrated magic.
I think Don's greatest 'pitch' of all is a lengthy DVD (which is a diamond among my many tapes and DVD's) titled "Don Drivers No frills, short, to the point, proven, easy to learn, homemade, cheap, money making Svengali Pitch", in which Don personally demonstrates his industrial strength methods for drawing a crowd, hitherto called 'building a tip', and the actual act of entertaining the crowd and getting them to part with their money.
If the act of building a tip and pitching a product is new to you, let me cut to the heart of the matter..
A pitchman buys dozens of svengali decks at wholesale prices, somewhere around a dollar a pack. He then decides where he going to pitch his decks, somewhere where large numbers of people are scheduled to congregate, like a popular park, pier, event, fair, or market. Although you can set up on the smallest of folding tables, guys like Don construct portable booths, complete with banners, to add a visual appeal and shelter from the elements. Actually, Don includes tips for constructing your own booth, along with a verbal and visual blueprint, on his DVD.
It's from this stage that a pitchman like Don will begin to 'build a tip'...
"Watch. We're going to have a little fun, do a little magic. Watch. I'm going to get these cards to walk, talk, snort, jump through a hoop, and do a tap dance right here on the table. Watch..."
The rhythmic tone of the pitchman reminds one of the carnival shows of years past, and the crowds that gathered to see the amazing snake-skinned boy, or the wild man of Montezeuma.
"This is not a ordinary deck of cards. It's a mechanical deck. A trick deck. It's made so anybody can do tricks without any skill or ability. That's why they let me do it. I'll do a few tricks, and then I'll take the deck apart and let you see how it works.."
With the tip in place, Don begins to perform pasteboard miracles for the audience. Eventually, he'll sweeten the pot with a free two card monte, and then hand out deck after deck to the audience for five dollars each. I'm not going to estimate Don's take... with all busking and pitches it differs greatly from crowd to crowd, location to location, and day to day. But, if you can sell six or seven decks in a fifteen minute time period, you can do your own math.
Some of the top magicians in the world have pitched svengali decks at one time or another. A few have become full-time pitchmen because of the money they can make building a tip. Other top magicians use these same techniques to build a crowd when busking (performing street magic) in hopes of a 'fat hat'.
What I love about Don's DVD is that he lays it all out; how to draw a crowd, how to entertain the crowd, and how to profit from the crowd. With written material to go along with the DVD, Don tells you, word-for-word, exactly what to say. Nothing is left to happen-stance.
I can't imagine a DVD on any one subject being any more thorough than Don's. If you can't watch and learn from Don Driver how to take a pitch into the real world and turn it into real cash, then I sincerely hope you've got rich parents with deep pockets... because you're going to need them.
Folks, if you love magic, and if you love entertaining people and making money in the process, then I can't think of a better way to become a confident and financially independent performer than Don Drivers way...
As an extra bonus, Don has included rare bonus footage of the legendary S. David Walker pitching at the 2005 Wisconsin State Fair.
Magic Roadshow gives two big thumbs up to Don Drivers Svengali Pitch DVD, and recommends it to anyone interested in making more money, getting more bookings ( yes, this is another benefit of pitching ), and performing when and where YOU want to perform.. on your schedule.
If ordered directly from Don, the price is $25.00 with free shipping.
http://www.dondriver.tk
-------------------------------
Next issue I'm going to offer my thoughts on Don's latest DVD - " Building a Tip, Getting an Edge ", which details how pros gather a crowd of people for 'busking' (performing street magic for tips..)
This DVD is brand new - just out, and is generating quite a buzz throughout the busking world, as Don Driver and Zachary Strange take on California...
================================
What Do You Do ?
R.Carruth
I want to present a series of questions that address some of the problems you WILL encounter if you perform in the public, especially in restaurants. There are no strict right and wrong answers. Each question has multiple answers, depending on how you, as an individual and a performer, respond to adversity.
Don't simply skim through these questions as if they don't apply to you. Take a moment to look at each question and think about how you would respond, because one day you WILL have to respond to many of these very same situations.
Note: I would love to publish some of your responses to these little 'situations'. Feel free to send me your personal solutions to any or all of the questions. Remember.. there are no right and wrong answers.
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* You're working for tips. You perform for a table and receive a warm response.. but no cash. forty minutes later, a waiter tells you they want you to perform at their table again. Do you?
* You perform a linking finger ring, and , upon returning the ladies ring, she insist a stone is missing. How do you respond?
* You're hired to perform an hour of walk-around at a corporate event. Upon arriving, you realize there are only six people present at the meeting. Can you perform for the same group of people for the required hour?
* In the middle of a card trick, the person assisting you forgets the card they selected. Where do you go from there..?
* You reveal a card to a spectator - only to have the spectator insist the revealed card was not their card. You're sure it was. How do you deal with the situation?
* You approach a table and everyone is excited about your performance - everyone except one guy who insist he doesn't want to see any 'stupid tricks'. Do you perform anyway?
* A card is forced, then positioned eighteenth from the top. Before you can conplete your next move, a spectator ask to shuffle the cards. What is your response?
* How do you respond when someone ask you to teach them a/the trick?
* How do you respond when someone wants to show you a trick?
* Half the people at your table are interested in your magic. The other half seems uninterested and carries on a conversation during your performance. Do you ignore them?
* You're in the middle of a trick when the waiter arrives with the food. What do you do?
* You decide to quickly finish the trick - and inadvertently drop a card in someones food. How do you deal with the situation?
* You're summoned to perform for a table, and upon arriving, realize everyone's intoxicated. Do you perform?
* You're buddies from the local magic club come to watch you perform. Shortly thereafter you see them performing for some of the patrons. How do you deal with them?
* You have someone pick a card and return it to the deck. You catch a pinkie break and bring the chosen card to the top. At this point you realize you caught a pinkie break under the chosen card, not above it, and it's now lost somewhere in the deck. Do you have an 'out' ?
* Your perform a strong effect using an Elmsley count. Then, another couple joins those at the table and everyone insist you repeat the trick. Do you?
* You're performing for a table of four ladies (men) when someone at the table makes a flirtatious gesture. What do you say?
* You ask someone to pick a card. They do - and get greasy barbecue sauce on several cards. How do gracefully finish the trick?
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I owe a big debt to the wonderfully magical writings of Tony Griffith ( http://www.tonygriffith.co.uk ) for inspiring these questions, which are based on a series of similiar questions found in his lecture notes. I've re-worked Tony's questions, and added a few of my own, to come up with this list.
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Uri Geller Interview..
Robin Healey / Mensa magazine.. Jan.2005
Uri Geller - love him, hate him. I know there are those of you who don't mention Uri and magic/mentalism in the same breath, and that's perfectly OK with me. Many question his methodology and psychic claims, and I don't have a problem with that either.
First off, let me step on my little soapbox just long enough to say this... If there were true psychics, with the ability to alter molecular composition, they could make untold millions simply by being who they are and doing what they do. They wouldn't need controlled situations. They wouldn't need to run around a stage getting everything 'just right' for their performance. They wouldn't need managers and publicists. They could bend whatever, whenever, under any circumstances. And when you viewed a display of their power, there would be no doubt as to their very unusual powers.
When you think of Geller, or David Blaine, Houdini, or the Amazing Kreskin for that matter, you're dealing with a group of people who are 'Performers'. You can't pigeon-hole them as mentalists, magicians, escapologists, or whatever labels other folks want to apply... or not apply. These guys are all 'Performers'. And like 'em or not, they make the Big Bucks in our business.
Why? Because they're entertaining, they're successful, and they know how to market themselves. Read everything you can get your hands on about successful performers and see if you can discover the pattern. No, I'm not telling. I'm not going to make that little journey for you either. If you're content with your career, ignore this article, and continue down the road you're headed. Maybe next issue I'll feature an interview with you, my friend.
Please don't misunderstand me.. I'm not advocating that you need to be like Geller or Blaine to succeed. You just need to do some of the same simple acts of self-promotion that they do. Discover how they promote themselves.. and duplicate that... OK?
".. the problem was that Geller refused to admit that he was a magician. he had paranormal powers and to prove as much he repeated his feats under the strictest of scientific conditions. And as the debate continued the world became divided into believers and disbelievers.."
http://66.221.71.68/articles/mensa/p0.html
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Inside Magic
Sometimes I tend to pick out something new and hi-tec to feature in my Ellusionist showcases'. But, the actual trend is this.. When I get detailed sales reports and see what my customers are buying, I see 'Inside Magic' again and again. That struck me a curious, since Inside Magic is not one of the 'newer' DVD's. When I decided to dig a little and try to see what my customers are seeing, it didn't take long to see why Brad has turned Inside Magic into a 'hot' commodity...
He combined two tapes onto one DVD and dropped the price by fifteen dollars. Now, you're looking at a solid two hours of strong magic for thirty-five bucks..
What you will see in this video...
• Multiple performances on the streets
• Multiple talks on the vital aspects of magic and routining
• The most effective methods to TEACH better: voice-overs, slow motion, multiple angle shots
• A preview that will show you the quality involved
• An iron clad money back guarantee if you don't like the video
• A full support system and PROTECTED discussion forum for the material
• An on-call support staff of experts ready to answer ANY question you have
• Packed with all the tools you need to transform ordinary tricks into electrifying miracles
Watch the video..
http://snipurl.com/insidemagic
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How To Do Card Tricks
On one of my recent jogs around the magic world I ran across this site. If you need a little help with some of the basics, or a little refresher, visit 'How to do Card Tricks'. They have a number of pages devoted strictly to card work, complete with illustrations..
"In order to become a successful conjurer with cards, it is essential that you first become familiar with the various sleights or skills upon which the most effective card tricks are based. It is impossible to devote too much time to the acquirement and practice of these moves, there being practically no limit to the degree of dexterity that can be reached by practice (and only by practice)."
You'll find pages of good info about card tricks, the pass, the force, changes, false shuffles, glimpses, cardpalm, and various sleights..
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"The conjurer employing this plan of discovering a card secretly thought of is apt to be suspected of being in league with the devil. When performing the trick the performer takes an unprepared pack of cards that has just been shuffled, and without as much as glancing at one of the cards places the pack behind the back, which is turned towards the spectators. Passing the cards from one hand to the other, the performer invites a spectator to think of one of them. Closing up the pack, and after shuffling it, the performer produces the selected card in any way desired.
This method, which is entirely different in principle to the preceding one, depends mainly upon a novel way of forcing a card. As the conjurer rather rapidly passes the cards from one hand into the other....."
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Check it out...
http://www.howtodocardtricks.com
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How to Make and Sell a Magic E-book
Making and selling magic ebooks is a big-time proposition at the moment. Every magician of note has something to sell, whether it be a lecture, effect, or series of effects. Hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with converting some of your hard-earned knowledge into stone-cold cash...
The problem with most of us is that we're not sitting on top of the self-publishing bubble. Good, reliable information about publishing your own pdf files, without someone trying to sell you into three or four affiliate programs, is hard to come by.
While skimming through the Cafe a few days ago I discovered that one of our forum friends, Ron Jaxon, who many of you know as MagicJax, had put together a tutorial devoted strictly to putting together your own ebook for a minimum of moola called " A short tutorial on the basics of creating and selling a PDF E-book"
How convenient. Just when I was debating spending a few more of my limited brain cells putting this info together for you guys/gals, I discovered Ron had beat me to the punch. Thank goodness...
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"So you have a trick or routine and you want to sell it on line as an instant download. How can you do this without spending hundreds of dollars?
To be honest it would be very difficult to make a "good" E-book without spending a little money. If you want a quality product you'll want to invest a little into it. But this doesn't mean you can't do it with a low budget. That's what I had to do when I released my first E-book. So I decided to put together this little tutorial to share how to make a good E-book for very little money. I hope someone finds this helpful.
What you'll need to make your E-book
In this tutorial I'm going to show you how to make an E-book for next to nothing. Actually you can make one absolutely free but to make a good one you'll need the following..."
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Read Ron's tutorial at: http://www.magicjax.com/createpdf/
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The Music Genome Project / Pandora
Pandora is magic-related... in it's own way.
"On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.
Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.
Over the past 5 years, we've carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as we endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world."
The result is Pandora.
Pandora is a totally free music service that lets you create your own stations, each playing music that is intricately connected to the previous song through a series of in-depth evaluations that attempts to reproduce the type and style of music you love.. over and over.. with many different artist from around the globe.
Personally, while putting together almost half of this newsletter, I went to Pandora tonight, clicked on my 'Stevie Ray Vaughan' station, slipped on my headphones, and listen to Stevie Ray, Jimi Hendrix, Ellis Tinsley, Bad Company, ZZ Top, John Hyatt, and an assortment of similar artist. Yesterday I listened to George Winston and his friends.. go figure..
Pandora is free. Pandora does not require you to download software onto your computer... everything is hosted on their system. And Pandora only requires that you register to take full advantage of their service. There is a free and a paid version. The paid version does not display ads on the Pandora site. When listening, I minimize the screen and go about my other task, so I don't see the ads anyway...
A special "Thanks" to my buddy.. James Bower.. for sending this link to me...
http://www.pandora.com
==========================
The Magical Mayhem of Mike Giusti
Mike Giusti is not only an outstanding magician and funnyman supreme, but he has put together a website complete with over twenty select magic effects from some of the top names in magic. Mike has set up a web page to provide easy access to the tricks, but, you must answer the prompt correctly to gain entry. The questions not hard. Hey, I got in, didn't I?
'Whatever it Takes' by Diamond Jim Tyler, Steve Beam's 'Killocation', 'Coin Wrap' by Aldo Columbini, and 'The Un-cut Rope' by Dan Garrett, are just a few of the effects highlighted on Mikes site...
These effects are not for beginners. If you have a good, general working knowledge of card sleights and magic in general you will find yourself surrounded by a regular smorgasbord of some of the favorite effects of some of the top names in magic...
Go to MagicalMayhem's homepage and then click the 'Magicians' link..
You can also catch Mike's live show every Tuesday night at 8:15 PST on MagicBroadcast.. the radio station by magicians, for magicians... http://www.magicbroadcast.com
Thanks Mike..
http://www.magicalmayhem.com
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Unlocking the Secrets of Magic
First, I want to thank all of you who purchased this outstanding collection of magic knowledge last issue. But there's still hundreds and hundreds of you guys who didn't.. Don't think for one moment I'm going to let you slide under my radar..
I recently received notice from my Irish friend, Gary McCaffrey, that he had put together a package of many of the greatest works ever put between two covers. I'm talking about works that I refer to EVERY week to help me uncover a "new" effect.
How would you like to receive electronic copies of:
Expert at the Card Table, Bobo's "Modern Coin Magic", The Royal Road to Card Magic, Anneman's "Mental Miracles", Jean Hugard's excellent "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks", and Tarbell's Original Course in Magic.. all sixty courses.
And this is a Partial List !
These may be in modern electronic form, but they are true classics of magic that should be a part of every magicians library - and can be for LESS than the cost of one typical magic dvd. All I ask you to do is click the link and have a look... you may get a little "bonus" just for looking...
( Don't like electronic books? No problem. I can't speak for all the office supply stores, but I do know that Office Max will let you go online, send them the ebooks via an attachment, and they will print them up for you for 5.5 cents a page. The average one hundred page ebook will cost you $5.50 to print out... Just a suggestion..)
Click Here Now!
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Magic Audio Archive
"If you're a magician, like myself, these recordings are a way to get to know to the masters, and are a veritable 'idea factory' of wonderful effects lost to time."
How would you like to listen to some of the greatest magicians and magic icons of all time, performing their classic radio shows of years past? Folks, this is history. Real history...
Listen to free broadcast of Chandu the Magician, Kreskin, Blackstone The Magic Detective, Mandrake The Magician, Johnny Carson, Harry Houdini, and Joseph Dunninger.
There's no obligation, nothing to sign up for, no commitment... just pure enjoyment!
http://www.noonco.com/audio/
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That's a wrap for this issue. No mas.. This issue has been a good bit easier to get together than the last one. I have my little laptop working overtime, and typing has grown progressively easier.
As usual, it's been my pleasure to be allowed into your home to deliver these resources to you. I love to share and 'try' to be helpful to my fellow magi's.
If you have an article you would like to see in print, send it my way. Don't worry about spelling and all that good stuff. I'll take care of that for you.
Email me..
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Street Magic.info ----> http://streetmagic.info
Magic Bullets blog ----> http://streetmagic.info/blogger.html
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May my next newsletter find you well..
Rick Carruth / editor
~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~::~
I want to issue a very warm 'Welcome' to all the new subscribers since our last issue. You are the reason for this madness..
It's amazing how one second can change your life.
Honestly.. I've been somewhat overwhelmed by all the kind responses and wonderful emails since my last issue. I've had concerned emails from literally around the world. I made a sincere effort to acknowledge every one of you who wrote, and I certainly hope I did. I sat here with a smile on my face for two days, until my wife wanted to know what was wrong with me...
I have only seven more weeks to go, and I can throw all this excess 'hardware' aside and do a few rewarding task like sit at the kitchen table, take a real shower, go to the mailbox, get my own glass of tea....
Thanks again.. you folks are great!
Email me for any reason whatsoever..
I've put together what I hope is a worthy newsletter. I had plenty of time to write, so I can't use that as an excuse.
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
In this Issue:
--------------
(01) Don Driver and the Fine Art of Making Money
(02) What Do You Do?
(03) Uri Geller - Fact or Fiction
(04) Inside Magic
(05) How to do Card Tricks
(06) How to Make and Sell a Magic Ebook
(07) The Music Genome Project / Pandora
(08) The Magical Mayhem of Mike Giusti
(09) Unlocking the Secrets of Magic
(10) Magic Audio Archives
---------------
Let's get to the good stuff...
===========================
Don Driver and the Fine Art of Making Money
R.Carruth / reviewer
Magicians, magicians, everywhere. Performing their magic for everyone and making 'nary a cent.
When someone mentions 'starving artist' I'll bet you conjure up an image of a middle aged guy with a tie-dyed tee shirt and a graying beard, sitting behind a paint covered easel near the water fountain in the city park, painting clown faces on small canvases for a very few bucks.
When I think of starving artists, I think of a guy with a red vest, a thumb tip in his pocket, along with two coin shells and four halves. Three packs of cards in various other pockets, including two of which are stacked. A Sharpie in his shirt pocket, and a double-faced card in his other pocket. And an ITR pinned just inside his vest, out of sight from his unsuspecting audience.
Where's he headed? Who knows. Even he doesn't know. All he knows is that he has a desire to perform, he just doesn't have an audience to perform for...
You see, unless you're content being a starving artist, there comes a time in your development ( and we develop throughout our lives ) when you realize that this 'magic thing' is nothing more than an expensive hobby, and you wonder what you have to do to actually make money. You've never developed a full act and your knowledge of marketing is limited to an old dog-eared copy of "Think and Grow Rich".
In an attempt to call themselves 'professionals', some magicians turn to performing birthday parties for friends and relatives. Others get a little more motivated and actively seek work in a restaurant setting, hoping they know enough individual tricks to entertain the dinner crowd. And a third group of very smart performers take their future in their own hands and become active buskers (street performers) or, in the case of Don Driver, a professional pitchman.
What exactly does Don 'pitch'?
Svengali decks. Yes, those funny little decks with the 26 short cards that makes performing amazing tricks simple for those in-the-know. I know how it works, you know how it works, but to the public.. the magic you can work with a svengali deck appears to be pure, unadultrated magic.
I think Don's greatest 'pitch' of all is a lengthy DVD (which is a diamond among my many tapes and DVD's) titled "Don Drivers No frills, short, to the point, proven, easy to learn, homemade, cheap, money making Svengali Pitch", in which Don personally demonstrates his industrial strength methods for drawing a crowd, hitherto called 'building a tip', and the actual act of entertaining the crowd and getting them to part with their money.
If the act of building a tip and pitching a product is new to you, let me cut to the heart of the matter..
A pitchman buys dozens of svengali decks at wholesale prices, somewhere around a dollar a pack. He then decides where he going to pitch his decks, somewhere where large numbers of people are scheduled to congregate, like a popular park, pier, event, fair, or market. Although you can set up on the smallest of folding tables, guys like Don construct portable booths, complete with banners, to add a visual appeal and shelter from the elements. Actually, Don includes tips for constructing your own booth, along with a verbal and visual blueprint, on his DVD.
It's from this stage that a pitchman like Don will begin to 'build a tip'...
"Watch. We're going to have a little fun, do a little magic. Watch. I'm going to get these cards to walk, talk, snort, jump through a hoop, and do a tap dance right here on the table. Watch..."
The rhythmic tone of the pitchman reminds one of the carnival shows of years past, and the crowds that gathered to see the amazing snake-skinned boy, or the wild man of Montezeuma.
"This is not a ordinary deck of cards. It's a mechanical deck. A trick deck. It's made so anybody can do tricks without any skill or ability. That's why they let me do it. I'll do a few tricks, and then I'll take the deck apart and let you see how it works.."
With the tip in place, Don begins to perform pasteboard miracles for the audience. Eventually, he'll sweeten the pot with a free two card monte, and then hand out deck after deck to the audience for five dollars each. I'm not going to estimate Don's take... with all busking and pitches it differs greatly from crowd to crowd, location to location, and day to day. But, if you can sell six or seven decks in a fifteen minute time period, you can do your own math.
Some of the top magicians in the world have pitched svengali decks at one time or another. A few have become full-time pitchmen because of the money they can make building a tip. Other top magicians use these same techniques to build a crowd when busking (performing street magic) in hopes of a 'fat hat'.
What I love about Don's DVD is that he lays it all out; how to draw a crowd, how to entertain the crowd, and how to profit from the crowd. With written material to go along with the DVD, Don tells you, word-for-word, exactly what to say. Nothing is left to happen-stance.
I can't imagine a DVD on any one subject being any more thorough than Don's. If you can't watch and learn from Don Driver how to take a pitch into the real world and turn it into real cash, then I sincerely hope you've got rich parents with deep pockets... because you're going to need them.
Folks, if you love magic, and if you love entertaining people and making money in the process, then I can't think of a better way to become a confident and financially independent performer than Don Drivers way...
As an extra bonus, Don has included rare bonus footage of the legendary S. David Walker pitching at the 2005 Wisconsin State Fair.
Magic Roadshow gives two big thumbs up to Don Drivers Svengali Pitch DVD, and recommends it to anyone interested in making more money, getting more bookings ( yes, this is another benefit of pitching ), and performing when and where YOU want to perform.. on your schedule.
If ordered directly from Don, the price is $25.00 with free shipping.
http://www.dondriver.tk
-------------------------------
Next issue I'm going to offer my thoughts on Don's latest DVD - " Building a Tip, Getting an Edge ", which details how pros gather a crowd of people for 'busking' (performing street magic for tips..)
This DVD is brand new - just out, and is generating quite a buzz throughout the busking world, as Don Driver and Zachary Strange take on California...
================================
What Do You Do ?
R.Carruth
I want to present a series of questions that address some of the problems you WILL encounter if you perform in the public, especially in restaurants. There are no strict right and wrong answers. Each question has multiple answers, depending on how you, as an individual and a performer, respond to adversity.
Don't simply skim through these questions as if they don't apply to you. Take a moment to look at each question and think about how you would respond, because one day you WILL have to respond to many of these very same situations.
Note: I would love to publish some of your responses to these little 'situations'. Feel free to send me your personal solutions to any or all of the questions. Remember.. there are no right and wrong answers.
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* You're working for tips. You perform for a table and receive a warm response.. but no cash. forty minutes later, a waiter tells you they want you to perform at their table again. Do you?
* You perform a linking finger ring, and , upon returning the ladies ring, she insist a stone is missing. How do you respond?
* You're hired to perform an hour of walk-around at a corporate event. Upon arriving, you realize there are only six people present at the meeting. Can you perform for the same group of people for the required hour?
* In the middle of a card trick, the person assisting you forgets the card they selected. Where do you go from there..?
* You reveal a card to a spectator - only to have the spectator insist the revealed card was not their card. You're sure it was. How do you deal with the situation?
* You approach a table and everyone is excited about your performance - everyone except one guy who insist he doesn't want to see any 'stupid tricks'. Do you perform anyway?
* A card is forced, then positioned eighteenth from the top. Before you can conplete your next move, a spectator ask to shuffle the cards. What is your response?
* How do you respond when someone ask you to teach them a/the trick?
* How do you respond when someone wants to show you a trick?
* Half the people at your table are interested in your magic. The other half seems uninterested and carries on a conversation during your performance. Do you ignore them?
* You're in the middle of a trick when the waiter arrives with the food. What do you do?
* You decide to quickly finish the trick - and inadvertently drop a card in someones food. How do you deal with the situation?
* You're summoned to perform for a table, and upon arriving, realize everyone's intoxicated. Do you perform?
* You're buddies from the local magic club come to watch you perform. Shortly thereafter you see them performing for some of the patrons. How do you deal with them?
* You have someone pick a card and return it to the deck. You catch a pinkie break and bring the chosen card to the top. At this point you realize you caught a pinkie break under the chosen card, not above it, and it's now lost somewhere in the deck. Do you have an 'out' ?
* Your perform a strong effect using an Elmsley count. Then, another couple joins those at the table and everyone insist you repeat the trick. Do you?
* You're performing for a table of four ladies (men) when someone at the table makes a flirtatious gesture. What do you say?
* You ask someone to pick a card. They do - and get greasy barbecue sauce on several cards. How do gracefully finish the trick?
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I owe a big debt to the wonderfully magical writings of Tony Griffith ( http://www.tonygriffith.co.uk ) for inspiring these questions, which are based on a series of similiar questions found in his lecture notes. I've re-worked Tony's questions, and added a few of my own, to come up with this list.
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Uri Geller Interview..
Robin Healey / Mensa magazine.. Jan.2005
Uri Geller - love him, hate him. I know there are those of you who don't mention Uri and magic/mentalism in the same breath, and that's perfectly OK with me. Many question his methodology and psychic claims, and I don't have a problem with that either.
First off, let me step on my little soapbox just long enough to say this... If there were true psychics, with the ability to alter molecular composition, they could make untold millions simply by being who they are and doing what they do. They wouldn't need controlled situations. They wouldn't need to run around a stage getting everything 'just right' for their performance. They wouldn't need managers and publicists. They could bend whatever, whenever, under any circumstances. And when you viewed a display of their power, there would be no doubt as to their very unusual powers.
When you think of Geller, or David Blaine, Houdini, or the Amazing Kreskin for that matter, you're dealing with a group of people who are 'Performers'. You can't pigeon-hole them as mentalists, magicians, escapologists, or whatever labels other folks want to apply... or not apply. These guys are all 'Performers'. And like 'em or not, they make the Big Bucks in our business.
Why? Because they're entertaining, they're successful, and they know how to market themselves. Read everything you can get your hands on about successful performers and see if you can discover the pattern. No, I'm not telling. I'm not going to make that little journey for you either. If you're content with your career, ignore this article, and continue down the road you're headed. Maybe next issue I'll feature an interview with you, my friend.
Please don't misunderstand me.. I'm not advocating that you need to be like Geller or Blaine to succeed. You just need to do some of the same simple acts of self-promotion that they do. Discover how they promote themselves.. and duplicate that... OK?
".. the problem was that Geller refused to admit that he was a magician. he had paranormal powers and to prove as much he repeated his feats under the strictest of scientific conditions. And as the debate continued the world became divided into believers and disbelievers.."
http://66.221.71.68/articles/mensa/p0.html
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Inside Magic
Sometimes I tend to pick out something new and hi-tec to feature in my Ellusionist showcases'. But, the actual trend is this.. When I get detailed sales reports and see what my customers are buying, I see 'Inside Magic' again and again. That struck me a curious, since Inside Magic is not one of the 'newer' DVD's. When I decided to dig a little and try to see what my customers are seeing, it didn't take long to see why Brad has turned Inside Magic into a 'hot' commodity...
He combined two tapes onto one DVD and dropped the price by fifteen dollars. Now, you're looking at a solid two hours of strong magic for thirty-five bucks..
What you will see in this video...
• Multiple performances on the streets
• Multiple talks on the vital aspects of magic and routining
• The most effective methods to TEACH better: voice-overs, slow motion, multiple angle shots
• A preview that will show you the quality involved
• An iron clad money back guarantee if you don't like the video
• A full support system and PROTECTED discussion forum for the material
• An on-call support staff of experts ready to answer ANY question you have
• Packed with all the tools you need to transform ordinary tricks into electrifying miracles
Watch the video..
http://snipurl.com/insidemagic
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How To Do Card Tricks
On one of my recent jogs around the magic world I ran across this site. If you need a little help with some of the basics, or a little refresher, visit 'How to do Card Tricks'. They have a number of pages devoted strictly to card work, complete with illustrations..
"In order to become a successful conjurer with cards, it is essential that you first become familiar with the various sleights or skills upon which the most effective card tricks are based. It is impossible to devote too much time to the acquirement and practice of these moves, there being practically no limit to the degree of dexterity that can be reached by practice (and only by practice)."
You'll find pages of good info about card tricks, the pass, the force, changes, false shuffles, glimpses, cardpalm, and various sleights..
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"The conjurer employing this plan of discovering a card secretly thought of is apt to be suspected of being in league with the devil. When performing the trick the performer takes an unprepared pack of cards that has just been shuffled, and without as much as glancing at one of the cards places the pack behind the back, which is turned towards the spectators. Passing the cards from one hand to the other, the performer invites a spectator to think of one of them. Closing up the pack, and after shuffling it, the performer produces the selected card in any way desired.
This method, which is entirely different in principle to the preceding one, depends mainly upon a novel way of forcing a card. As the conjurer rather rapidly passes the cards from one hand into the other....."
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Check it out...
http://www.howtodocardtricks.com
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How to Make and Sell a Magic E-book
Making and selling magic ebooks is a big-time proposition at the moment. Every magician of note has something to sell, whether it be a lecture, effect, or series of effects. Hey, there's absolutely nothing wrong with converting some of your hard-earned knowledge into stone-cold cash...
The problem with most of us is that we're not sitting on top of the self-publishing bubble. Good, reliable information about publishing your own pdf files, without someone trying to sell you into three or four affiliate programs, is hard to come by.
While skimming through the Cafe a few days ago I discovered that one of our forum friends, Ron Jaxon, who many of you know as MagicJax, had put together a tutorial devoted strictly to putting together your own ebook for a minimum of moola called " A short tutorial on the basics of creating and selling a PDF E-book"
How convenient. Just when I was debating spending a few more of my limited brain cells putting this info together for you guys/gals, I discovered Ron had beat me to the punch. Thank goodness...
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"So you have a trick or routine and you want to sell it on line as an instant download. How can you do this without spending hundreds of dollars?
To be honest it would be very difficult to make a "good" E-book without spending a little money. If you want a quality product you'll want to invest a little into it. But this doesn't mean you can't do it with a low budget. That's what I had to do when I released my first E-book. So I decided to put together this little tutorial to share how to make a good E-book for very little money. I hope someone finds this helpful.
What you'll need to make your E-book
In this tutorial I'm going to show you how to make an E-book for next to nothing. Actually you can make one absolutely free but to make a good one you'll need the following..."
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Read Ron's tutorial at: http://www.magicjax.com/createpdf/
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The Music Genome Project / Pandora
Pandora is magic-related... in it's own way.
"On January 6, 2000 a group of musicians and music-loving technologists came together with the idea of creating the most comprehensive analysis of music ever.
Together we set out to capture the essence of music at the most fundamental level. We ended up assembling literally hundreds of musical attributes or "genes" into a very large Music Genome. Taken together these genes capture the unique and magical musical identity of a song - everything from melody, harmony and rhythm, to instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, and of course the rich world of singing and vocal harmony. It's not about what a band looks like, or what genre they supposedly belong to, or about who buys their records - it's about what each individual song sounds like.
Over the past 5 years, we've carefully listened to the songs of over 10,000 different artists - ranging from popular to obscure - and analyzed the musical qualities of each song one attribute at a time. This work continues each and every day as we endeavor to include all the great new stuff coming out of studios, clubs and garages around the world."
The result is Pandora.
Pandora is a totally free music service that lets you create your own stations, each playing music that is intricately connected to the previous song through a series of in-depth evaluations that attempts to reproduce the type and style of music you love.. over and over.. with many different artist from around the globe.
Personally, while putting together almost half of this newsletter, I went to Pandora tonight, clicked on my 'Stevie Ray Vaughan' station, slipped on my headphones, and listen to Stevie Ray, Jimi Hendrix, Ellis Tinsley, Bad Company, ZZ Top, John Hyatt, and an assortment of similar artist. Yesterday I listened to George Winston and his friends.. go figure..
Pandora is free. Pandora does not require you to download software onto your computer... everything is hosted on their system. And Pandora only requires that you register to take full advantage of their service. There is a free and a paid version. The paid version does not display ads on the Pandora site. When listening, I minimize the screen and go about my other task, so I don't see the ads anyway...
A special "Thanks" to my buddy.. James Bower.. for sending this link to me...
http://www.pandora.com
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The Magical Mayhem of Mike Giusti
Mike Giusti is not only an outstanding magician and funnyman supreme, but he has put together a website complete with over twenty select magic effects from some of the top names in magic. Mike has set up a web page to provide easy access to the tricks, but, you must answer the prompt correctly to gain entry. The questions not hard. Hey, I got in, didn't I?
'Whatever it Takes' by Diamond Jim Tyler, Steve Beam's 'Killocation', 'Coin Wrap' by Aldo Columbini, and 'The Un-cut Rope' by Dan Garrett, are just a few of the effects highlighted on Mikes site...
These effects are not for beginners. If you have a good, general working knowledge of card sleights and magic in general you will find yourself surrounded by a regular smorgasbord of some of the favorite effects of some of the top names in magic...
Go to MagicalMayhem's homepage and then click the 'Magicians' link..
You can also catch Mike's live show every Tuesday night at 8:15 PST on MagicBroadcast.. the radio station by magicians, for magicians... http://www.magicbroadcast.com
Thanks Mike..
http://www.magicalmayhem.com
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Unlocking the Secrets of Magic
First, I want to thank all of you who purchased this outstanding collection of magic knowledge last issue. But there's still hundreds and hundreds of you guys who didn't.. Don't think for one moment I'm going to let you slide under my radar..
I recently received notice from my Irish friend, Gary McCaffrey, that he had put together a package of many of the greatest works ever put between two covers. I'm talking about works that I refer to EVERY week to help me uncover a "new" effect.
How would you like to receive electronic copies of:
Expert at the Card Table, Bobo's "Modern Coin Magic", The Royal Road to Card Magic, Anneman's "Mental Miracles", Jean Hugard's excellent "Encyclopedia of Card Tricks", and Tarbell's Original Course in Magic.. all sixty courses.
And this is a Partial List !
These may be in modern electronic form, but they are true classics of magic that should be a part of every magicians library - and can be for LESS than the cost of one typical magic dvd. All I ask you to do is click the link and have a look... you may get a little "bonus" just for looking...
( Don't like electronic books? No problem. I can't speak for all the office supply stores, but I do know that Office Max will let you go online, send them the ebooks via an attachment, and they will print them up for you for 5.5 cents a page. The average one hundred page ebook will cost you $5.50 to print out... Just a suggestion..)
Click Here Now!
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Magic Audio Archive
"If you're a magician, like myself, these recordings are a way to get to know to the masters, and are a veritable 'idea factory' of wonderful effects lost to time."
How would you like to listen to some of the greatest magicians and magic icons of all time, performing their classic radio shows of years past? Folks, this is history. Real history...
Listen to free broadcast of Chandu the Magician, Kreskin, Blackstone The Magic Detective, Mandrake The Magician, Johnny Carson, Harry Houdini, and Joseph Dunninger.
There's no obligation, nothing to sign up for, no commitment... just pure enjoyment!
http://www.noonco.com/audio/
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That's a wrap for this issue. No mas.. This issue has been a good bit easier to get together than the last one. I have my little laptop working overtime, and typing has grown progressively easier.
As usual, it's been my pleasure to be allowed into your home to deliver these resources to you. I love to share and 'try' to be helpful to my fellow magi's.
If you have an article you would like to see in print, send it my way. Don't worry about spelling and all that good stuff. I'll take care of that for you.
Email me..
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Street Magic.info ----> http://streetmagic.info
Magic Bullets blog ----> http://streetmagic.info/blogger.html
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May my next newsletter find you well..
Rick Carruth / editor
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