Introduction to Classic Magic

Hi there First of all I would like to introduce myself to anyone who reads this blog. My Name is Robert Garvock and I am a keen magic enthusiast, I study the art and performance of magic in great depth, not only do I enjoy discovering new skills and new secrets I also enjoy watching a good performance.

I am particularly fond of close up magic but I do enjoy a good stage magician with good performance skills. My particular speciality in terms of tricks that I perform are in card and rope magic but I do have an all round knowledge of magic and my expert knowledge really does lye in my performance skills.

I may not be the best magician in the world but due to my focus on performance I manage to obtain regular bookings that many more skilled magicians can't get.

Here at classic magic I will be looking to discuss various tricks and sleights but I won't just be focusing on the sleights I will also focus on the actual performance of these tricks.

I am a member of The Magic Circle and I have got many friends who are professional magicians and meet regularly to discuss new techniques and ideas. Between us we regularly create new magical effects and we help each other to produce great performances. Although I am reluctant to openly discuss too many magical secrets I will discuss some magical sleights for the sake of demonstration purposes, I will try to focus on the performance side and rather than discuss how a sleight is done I will point a person in the right direction as to where they can find the information that they require.

This may seem unfair to newbies but its not fair on the professionals who have spent a great deal of time and money in perfecting their art only for their trade secrets to be given away so cheaply.

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Let me show you the ropes

In my opinion rope magic is one of the most overlooked areas of magic yet in my opinion it is one of the most exciting and entertaining forms of magic.
Rope magic requires precision and dexterity whilst you MUST make the moves look natural so as not to raise suspicion. Rope tricks are one of the oldest branches of the magical arts and sleight of hand magic is a kind of time machine. Rope Magic Rope magic is a branch of magic all on its own, with enough variations to make a complete and specialty division.
Rope magic can be added to any type of performance, from impromptu stunts to well-orchestrated stage magic shows. Rope magic is one of the most fascinating magical effects in the art.

Great way to get crowds in the street because the rope fits in your pocket but plays big enough for the stage. You hardly need any patter, because rope is just so simple and visual.
In fact many of the rope routines that I perform I find are so strong that cheesy one liners will only serve to cheapen the effect and as a result I just perform to music, well performed and with good timing this can be so artistic and spell bounding that it would be silly to change anything.
One of my favorite routines is the Ring and Rope Routine now I don't want to give away the secret to this routine I will point you in the the right direction as to where you can learn the secret but this trick contains one of my favorite moves in rope magic and as such I feel that I don't want to give the secret away to anyone who isn't prepared to study magic themselves.
Anyway the performer starts with a fairly long piece of rope which he loops a ring onto then ties the ends of the rope together and then magically pulls the ring off the rope. Then after pausing for a few seconds throws the ring back onto the still tied rope. I think this is a very beautiful and effective trick.

As mentioned I don't want to give away the secret to this too easily but if you do wish to learn rope magic I would initially recommend self working rope magic by Karl Fulves.
And don't make the mistake of under estimating the effects in this book just because they are self working I promise you if you were to study the book and learn 5 or 6 tricks from the book you would have a very effective and interesting rope routine that would be impressive in anyone's repertoire.

However look at reading this book as more of a building block to becoming a magician pay particular attention to the sections on knot tying as this will provide a stepping stone towards learning more difficult tricks.

Self Working Rope Magic by Karl Fulves - Book

Now if you want to study a little bit more in depth then I would recommend you get all three of Daryl's Rope Magic made easy DVDs.

Expert Rope Magic Made Easy by Darly 1 DVD

Expert Rope Magic Made Easy by Daryl - #1, DVD

Expert Rope Magic Made Easy by Darly 2 DVD

Expert Rope Magic Made Easy by Daryl- #2, DVD

Expert Rope Magic Made Easy by Darly 1 DVD

Expert Rope Magic Made Easy by Daryl - #3, DVD

I will be discussing rope magic in greater depth in the future but I encourage you to study rope magic in great depth if you are to become a truly great all round performer, in fact If you study rope magic in depth you'll probably find an area of magic that is over looked by other magicians and would help to make you stand out from those that don't give it the due attention.

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