Here's some of the things I observed while jamming and performing with the other mages in the House this past weekend...
Nate uses elaborate scientific hooks to catch his spectators. He's a polite neo-alchemist, nefarious in his plots, mastermindful of his methods. He likes to re-locate you- invite you to his lab to view his research, and share with you his miraculous findings. The piece I saw him do invovled a deck of playing cards, two wine flasks, a red lab silk, and two test subjects. He divided the cards in half between the two subjects, and had each spectator shuffle their cards a million times, and place them in the wine glasses. After waving his words over the glasses, the cards unshuffled themselves without moving, and matched number for number, color for color, when he dealt them out one by one onto the table. He then had seven random cards selected and shuffled a million more times. When the spectator dealt the cards out, they created a randomly generated phone number. He had the spectator pull out a cellphone and dial it. It was his.
Sean's a different story, more abrupt and self-explanatory in nature. It's good-natured, and is never serious. He talks slow as if you're stupid, and criticizes what he's about to do before he even does it. He has a strange mouth drawn on his fist, and when he opens his hand, a mini hand pops out and eats whatever you give it. He vanished a coin this way. I couldn't stop laughing. It was the funniest coin vanish I've ever seen.
Jared lights things on fire. He's big on elaborate special effects, and gets reactions by branding images of burned cards in your memory. He has a bluntly-spoken way about his presentation, and gets right to the point without delay. It reminded me of an action movie, with explosions and comic-relief dialogue. The piece I remember him doing was this: he vanished a signd coin inside a flame, and made the coin appear inside a burned playing card. It was the most wild transposition I've seen in a long time.
Sam is the Gambit, and needs no explaination, as he has already made such a big impact on my mind as a spectator and student of magic, but this is what he did: he read a spectator's entire mind based on the card they were thinking of. He's turned into a lazy but still-got-it mentalist, and has his spectators do all the work- the deck of cards is entirely in their hands. He asks them their name, and more questions, to hook them in, and uses that connection to do whatever he wants to them psychologically. To him, one simple pick a card trick is a sting that can bring about a reaction that goes deeper than the deck. It's that venom, and hits them inside then out.
Bryan is a cartoon character, and is outlandish in his presentation. He's loud and crazy, and overwhelming if you disagree with him. His stories are something you're crazy uncle would tell, and the visual punchlines of his effects work perfectly with his persona. What he did was sprinkle pepper into a glass of water, and clean the water to its original clarity with a touch of a finger. He called it the story of the Pepper People Pool Party. It was a comic strip!
Jaz is unquestionably solid in his ability to get a reaction. He's stone cold and confident in his presentation, and the visual impact his magic has on his spectators is sure as a dunk in basketball. He has a calming vibe, and works well with his visual style and smooth speed of movement. What I remembering him doing was turning $1 into $400 in less than a second. It was strong and unquestionable- an instant hit. He also BS's his way through the build-up of each effect- the freestyle dribble-drive that leads to the sure dunk finish.
Andy is still a coin man, and presents his spectators with years of underground practice in complex coin sleight of hand and visually snappy routines. His skill is advanced, and he hits some moves I can't even begin to grasp. His routines are structured nicely, and his story lines are delightful. What I saw him do was transfer three coins from one hand to the other without moving- a triple-hit transposition that is far more complex than it looks.
The new kid Stefan is a miracle hit! He predicted every single card that was dealt, and precisely how many cards were in each pile. He's like a calculator, and I was thrown back and awesomely surprised by his accuracy. He reminded me of a three-point shooter in basketball- quiet but accurate. He was able to deal himself a royal flush out of a shuffled pack of playing cards in the end.
Seeing everyone else's style of magic and choice of material makes me more mindful of my own. It teaches me about my magic, and what it looks, sounds, feels, smells, and tastes like in relation to other mages in general. The House is a great training spot for this art, and once you step in, you're always guaranteed to learn something. I had fun chilling with the guys again, and seeing where their magic has been taking them.
-the antidote
PS Videos from the Spring Cypher coming soon! Check
http://www.youtube.com/thehofc for updates
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