trycks of the trade

general meeting about bearwin's revelation

2011-04-28T18:49:00.000+09:00

We wish to inform you that, as per last night's
meeting with MAGFI, Star Aces, Camp 33, Pinoy
Salamangka, Elemento, Salamangkeros and
Illusive, spearheaded by the Inner Magic Club...
BERWIN MEILLY was declared PERSONA NON
GRATA in the magic community.
PERSONA NON GRATA means fully unacceptable
or unwelcome.
We were also advised to halt all rants about the
issue particularly on social networking sites (i.e.
Facebook).
These rants creates publicity for the show and
heightens the market's curiosity causing them to
watch the show and therefore, increasing its
ratings...negative or positive ...still it's publicity.
Ranting is advised to be held in the forums.
If we want the show to be removed, the best
possible way is to stop watching it, for as long as
there are people
watching it... it will be aired!
Be responsible for your actions. Bear in mind that
you're not only representing your self but the
group/club you belong as well. What you say or
do reflects to the group that you belong to.
We would also like to make it clear, that this is not
just about us being against Meilly's actions but
also against TV5 and Magic Gimik airing and
producing such program, which puts the magic
industry and its secrets at risk.
To be fair, the whole magic community
requested a statement from Meilly himself. His
response, however,
reflected negligence and arrogance according to
some sources who have attempted to contact
him.
Legal actions was started as well. I, on behalf of
TSC and leaders of other clubs/groups have
declared full support regarding the issue.
We may be needing people to come with us
during court hearing if required.
Let's unite for this... for divided we will all fall.
Thank you.
-trycks

overstuffed kannibals

2011-04-28T17:27:00.002+09:00

Another old card magic video of mine, this is chris kenners variation of kannibal kings from his book "The Right Stuff".

jack robbers

2011-04-19T17:18:00.002+09:00

Jack Robbers is the first card trick i learned from my cousin so as a tribute i want to make my own variation of it. I made it longer and more visual.

this is my old video performing it
2008 video footage :D

Honest Illusions jamming

2011-03-23T16:52:00.007+09:00

Yesterday Tong and I went to P.U.P to meet the close up magicians there. Their group name was Honest Illusions, they're compose of P.U.P students. At first all of us got shy showing our magic to each but before i leave we have a little round robin some perform coin magic, mentalism and cards. I didn't stay long because i have some important things to do but definitely enjoy that jam.

Looking forward to meeting you all again
-trycks :D

Congrats Jeff Tam!

2011-03-23T16:45:00.005+09:00

I would like to congratulate my Jeffrey Tam for being a champion in the bangkok international magic extravaganza 2011. He won close up magic competition.

Believe by Erik Mana

2011-03-23T16:40:00.005+09:00

Erik Mana is back again this 2011 with another tv special

I like his approach, his more of a mentalist but not a purist because he also do something else.

more power to Filipino magician :D

New TSC forum

2011-03-19T02:05:00.001+09:00

The Storycircle's new forum
www.thestorycircle.tk
To all magicians, feel free to visit our forum and discuss our art.

-trycks

my shuffle works

2011-03-10T12:18:00.005+09:00

Just documenting my shuffle practice.

the first one is an ace cutting sequence using the steven cull/control. I love this effect because it fools laymans and magicians specially the one who knows any estimation aces routine.

i won't consider this next video a magic instead a shuffle demonstration how you have complete control of the cards

that's all for know, hope you like it :D

my most hated card sleight

2011-02-25T19:03:00.005+09:00

Back then when i am hooked with different kinds of false shuffles there is only 1 shuffle that i really hated, its the "zarrow shuffle" i said to myself am i doing it right? or it's just that the sleight is really bad? after that i didn't bother to practice it, i said to my self that's ok there is so many false shuffles to choose from i dont need to worry about it instead i learned the push through shuffle and truffle shuffle.

i'm satisfied with that 2 shuffles until i find myself looking for a new effect to learn and i said to myself "i want the roll over aces by derek dingle" that i watched a year ago. So i learned it through classic rendition vol. 3 by michael ammar the dvd teaches the roll over aces in great details and guess what the trick needs my most hated shuffle hehehe. so i decided to learn it seriously, i watch all the sources of zarrow shuffle that i have like "the zarrow shuffle by herb zarrow" and "zarrow shuffle by jason england" it really helped me a lot. After that it become my habit to practice it whenever i am holding my deck of cards. There's so many things you can do with this shuffle that can't be done with the other shuffles. Right now it's one of my favorite card sleights :D

So the lesson that i learned here is never neglect a sleight and say to yourself that its not worthy until you learned it perfectly. specially the classic sleights because it won't be a classic for nothing.

if you want to know what happen to the roll over aces that i'm learning that time here's the product :D

happy valentines day :D

2011-02-14T10:28:00.002+09:00

thanks to magic i found my her

wow meganon!

2011-02-14T09:08:00.003+09:00

Last january 26,2011 Jeffrey Tam called me and he said if i'm free tomorrow for wow meganon shooting, without hesitation i said yes because it will be another exposure for me and the storycircle.

We did many magic tricks like rizer, coin bag routine, crime card (a sandwich effect), pressure and many more. It was nice to perform some of my favorite card tricks and gain new friends :)

heres some of our wow meganon (one,two,trick) episodes:
Coin bag routine

crime card

rizer

rubber routines

I would like to thank my friend Jeffrey Tam for inviting and trusting me to perform in his show, i really enjoyed being there even for just one night :)

creativity and originality

2011-01-21T12:27:00.001+09:00

Read this from one of the forums, that I'm visiting frequently:

This is for all of those who are
anxious to perform effects that
they just saw on television. It's an
excerpt from "The Artful
Mentalism."
_____________________________________
ON CREATIVITY AND
ORIGINALITY
Everything you do should be
original or uniquely presented in
an original way. If anyone
watches you perform and says
later, “I saw a guy on TV do
that,” you’ve failed. (Unless you
are the one
who invented the effect and the
guy on TV copied you; in which
case you might say “Yeah, he
does it
almost the way I taught him to!”)
If you are the kind of performer
who sees something on TV and
immediately runs off to the
magic shop to get the props to
do the same thing, you are
reading the wrong book. If you
should one day
decide to take this art seriously,
please feel free to come back.
But for now you may return to
the faceless crowd of wannabees
where you may all gripe about
not getting any breaks even
though you can do the same
things the guy on TV does.
You know what's funny? Go to
ebay and look how the folding
coin is advertised. First off, it is
never
a half dollar- always a quarter. It
is not advertised as a folding
half, but as David Blaine’s “Biting
a Coin in Half.” (Or, most
recently, and amusingly, “Bite
and Spit”) Why anyone would
want to present it
Blaine ’s way, or to do any of the
effects that Blaine does, is a
mystery to me. Do they really
think that by doing so they will
get their own shot at a television
show? (Personally, I believe there
is a sound
psychological reason behind this
desire to imitate- the imitator
secretly wants to BE the person
they are
imitating. But stop and think- did
you ever see an Elvis
impersonator who you mistook
for the real
thing?)
Are you an artist or a hack? Do
you perform for money or for
you own amusement? If you love
the art and can act, create,
innovate, take risks, and work
long hard hours, months and
years, you may
one day be known as [insert
your name here] If you just want
to copy and let the artists do the
creative
work you will one day (soon, if
not already) be known as “that
dude who thinks he’s David
Blaine (or
whoever it is you happen to be
imitating.)
__________________________________
The reference to David Blaine is
now probably a bit date.
Substitute "Derren Brown" if you
wish.
Good thoughts,
Bob Cassidy

Penn and Teller "FOOL US"

2011-01-13T16:03:00.006+09:00

Yesterday i went to my friends house and we watch the Penn and Teller "FOOL US".
Its all about fooling Penn and Teller and when you fool them you will win a five star trip to Las Vegas to perform as the opening act in Penn & Teller's world famous show at the Rio Hotel & Casino.

I knew it from the start that they wont be fooled by any stage magicians because that's what they do, what i'm looking for is for them to be fooled by a close up magic and guess what? they've been fooled by 2 magicians.

The first one who fooled them was John Archer he's known for his comedy mentalism, he performed a bank night comedy routine. Penn and Teller thought they knew how its done but when John Archer told them that its not what they thought of, the whole crowd cheered hehehe so his been fooled :P. It was so funny because they said that they dont wanna be fooled by just an ENVELOPE hehehe.

The second magician who fooled them was happen to be one of my favorite close up magician, non other than Benjamin Earl. What he did was really awesome first he shown a picture of a man classic palming a card in his back and said to remember that situation then he borrowed a deck of playing cards from Teller then proceed to shuffle and produce the 4 aces. after that he lost again the 4 aces into the deck and asked Teller what hand would he used and he said left hand so Benjamin cuts the deck and produced the aces one by one and on the last ace he turn around and asked them if they remember that situation, yes the last ace is palmed in his right hand on his back. Penn told Benjamin that they wasn't fooled of his false shuffles etc. until Benjamin replied that he doesn't use any false shuffles. At first they didn't admit that they've been fooled but in the end they give up and said "YOU FOOLED US". In the backstage Penn and Teller were talking to each other that they were really been fooled from the start middle to end.

The other magician that i like was non other than Michael Vincent. He performed a classic card magic routine. it was so perfect they didn't see any flaws in his sleights but its not all about that, its all about fooling Penn and Teller. Since its an classic effect they already knew it but non the less its really an awesome performance :D.

The whole show was nice and Penn and Teller also perform there. What i really like about this show is its really a made for magicians. What i don't like about this show is sometimes they are exposing the magic as if all the viewers were magicians but they are using magic lingo's maybe im just paranoid hehehe. i wish there's a part 2 of this show i really enjoyed watching it.

So now you're so eager to watch it right? well i have something for all of you
heres the link to the show: Penn and Teller "FOOL US"

tsc baguio trip :)

2010-12-13T17:01:00.004+09:00

baguio trip with the tsc certified members plus magic lecture with the baguio illusionist guild :D

here's the pictures to tell our stories.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=252322&id=608846764

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php?aid=252298&id=608846764

creativity in 9 steps

2010-11-05T16:56:00.002+09:00

It's certainly not the only way, but this basic outline of the process may be helpful:
1. Knowledge -- Study, read, learn, ask questions, try to know as much as possible.
2. Preparation -- Decide on a small area or problem, focus, gather all the physical
elements you may need.
3. Relaxation -- Give yourself space, set aside time, clear your mind of other concerns,
eliminate distractions.
4. Play -- Be silly, stupid, have fun, approach the problem in every way you can think of,
even the dumb ones, especially the dumb ones, just let your mind wander, act like a
child, no one is watching.
5. Awareness -- Pay attention to your inner dialogue, ask yourself why you keep going
about things the same way, force yourself to break the rules.
6. Acceptance -- Embrace the stupid, weird, ugly, nonsense, pointless, just let it happen
without feeling that anything is wrong.
7. Record -- Write or draw or video everything, doodle, jot, make notebooks, carry a pad
or recorder with you.
8. Judge -- After you have all the ideas generated then you can begin to edit to try to
make sense of your foolishness, analyze, test.
9. Apply -- If something works even a little bit see if you can develop it further, put the
workable ideas in and play some more.
Repeat as necessary.
You don't have to do these things in order. Don't expect to have great results right away.
It takes a little time to break your mind free from the structure imposed by the outside
world.
--Dan Harlan

chad long close up magic

2010-10-20T10:44:00.004+09:00

I really like his style in performing close up magic, watch this video clip where he performs live the coin two(by homer liwag), 4 (in his dvd) and other effects.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rJSmcgJ_wA

the video can't be embed, so just go to the link.

history of fism

2010-08-25T16:33:00.004+09:00

do you know what is the meaning of FISM? do you know where, when and how did it started? all your questions will be answered in this articles in genii magazine 1996 wrote by Max Maven.

enjoy researching :D

History of Fism

essencial magic conference (EMC) review part 2

2010-08-13T13:43:00.004+09:00

session 5
the host for this session is mr. Marco Tempest

good practice makes good magician (Carlos Vaquera) - tips on getting more in your practice session and talks about the theory of Arturo Ascanio about study of magic

apollo robins performed and explained his close up coin production.

not my kind of coin magic but an interesting approach

the mind of doctor frost (david britland) - watch t.a waters do his mentalism routine in television

although this video performanced is very old its routine/effect is very nice

de'vo performed and explained "the ring" an extreme ring manipulation

he only explained the different kinds of rings and the basic ring move

five effects you never see in magic show (paul kieves) - he talks about different kinds of magic done in theater but never seen in any magic shows

dani da ortiz performanced another of his impromtu magic and a very nice triumph effect which i think can be found in fat brothers 2 dvd

panel discussion
max maven
topaz
helder guimaraes
richard macdougall
eric eswin

in this discussion hosted by max maven they talk all about the FISM, what they expect in fism and many advice if you want to join the FISM competition.

guy hollingworth performed his legendary torned and restored card effect called reformation

session 6
the host for this session is mr. stan allen

how to use internet to be popular/known (marco tempest) - many many tips on how to get many views. how to make your videos interesting etc. very informative after the he performed his version of sam the bell hop plus technology in 3D (you have to see this)

who was the first close up magician (max maven) - story of maven searching for the first close up magician

finn jon performed his beautiful smoking thumb & bubble magic

the mental path (helder guimaraes) - theory about deception. very interesting talk on why we fool laymans/magicians with our magic

the tricked brain: explorations into psychology and magic (richard wiseman) - about deception using psychology, plus many illusion diagram and videos. very entertaining even though its not magic you will still be fooled.

cyril takayama performed card manipulation as a tribute to his teacher mahka tendo

de'vo talks about the history of XCM manipulation

session 7
max maven is the host for this session

original magic (finn jon) - he talks about impromptu magic and when is the appropriate time you perform each of your effects

better than natural (gene matsuura) - he teaches the technique of slydini how hes misdirection works

paulino gil performed a beautiful string/cord magic. i want to learn that :D

7 lessons i've learned froma packet trick (guy hollingworth) - he talks about how can you improve a trick much better with what he learned.

anton lopez performed and explained his very elegant/beautiful effect called "the tenebrio". this is the very best performance in EMC (just my opinion). he makes an origami boat and swan then it moves by themselves. Also a chosen card outjog itself in the middle of a spread. note he doesnt use any I.T or MAGNET.

jason england told a story about the greatest magic he ever heard.

past, present and future of fism (eric eswin) - the president of the FISM talks about the history of FISM, what they do to improve it and their future plans to take it to another level.

session 8
my favorite card magician mr. guy hollingworth is the host for this session :D

miguel angel gea performed and explained a coin magic using an okito type of box & his coin through glass

barry and stuart performed and explained worlds coolest party trick :P

cyril takayama talks about performing his television magic into theater.

richard wiseman performed an iphone magic, nice idea :D

hokasen the 1764 japanese work on magic (ton onosaka) - he talks about the oldest japanese magic book he has and what its content

gaetan bloom performed and explained a selfworking russian roulette style magic. i like his idea mr gaetan bloom is really genius :P

panel discussion
eric mead
max maven
william kalush
mike caveney
they discussed how they got interested in researching the history magic

lennart green performed a card magic tribute to his friend

session 9
luis de matos is the host of this last session

ton onosaka performed a very visual card magic. too bad he doesnt explain it.

luis de matos shows some of the pictures of EMC subscriber

the secret way to secrets, or what i asked alexander(william kalush) - he talks and share his secret what tool hes using to research about magic, what site, its like a online library of magic books + google search capability. he gave a free 1 month trial to all those EMC subscriber.

mike caveney performed an egg bag magic routine

gazzo performed his cups and balls routine very funny hehehe

luis de matos performed his sand in the dessert effect(i think thats the name of that effect?)

after that luis de matos challege cyril takayama perform his cigarette routine live :D
and cyril does it beatifully.

thats the end of the EMC 2010 till next year :D

roll over aces

2010-08-13T13:30:00.003+09:00

I am now concentrating on different kinds of shuffles, especially zarrow and riffle shuffle techniques. And as I was practicing, it came to my thoughts that I am in need to find an effect to utilize this shuffles… and that is when I remember, that derek dingle’s "roll over aces" is exactly what I was looking for.

here is the video, hope you like it :D

For those deck SEAL lovers

2010-08-10T17:35:00.003+09:00

So you have a new deck of playing cards and want to open it without tearing the seal, then after that your cardcase have a sticky substance that's hard to remove: like the picture below.

I have a tip for all the seal lovers out there LOL.

first gently peel off half of the seal so that you can open the cardcase and stick the seal in the flap.

after that there's the sticky substance around the halfmoon cut in the cardcase, all you need to do is cut a small piece of scotch tape and stick it on the sticky surface of the deck then unstick it (what this will do is the sticky substance will stick to the scotch tape).

repeat this process until it is clean.

note: you can use any kinds of tape adhesive like masking tape, packaging tape, double sided tape, vhs tape, cassette tape hahaha

essencial magic conference (EMC) review part 1

2010-08-05T17:43:00.004+09:00

SESSION 1

The host for the first session is mr. Luis De Matos
where he introduce each participants of the conference
and thank all the sponsors of the event with an
introduction video of the emc by mr. David Berglass

here are the lectures and performers of the first session:

puzzles, tricks and magic on the curious aesthetics of conjuring (Eric Mead) - he talks about different approach of magicians in presentation/magic and also what the audience thinks about our magic from skillfull to magical approach.

I like his lecture about this topic it
made me realize how my trick/effect plays for layman.

Ponta the Smith performed live from his matrix routine, ring on rope to cookie spellbound.

He performed all his act with music, i really like his coin effects
except for his ring on rope routine. the cookie spellbound is fun to
watch with a cookie bite effect :D. there's some flashes in his routine
because of the camera but you will still be fooled

dani da ortiz performed and explained one of my favorite effect in his dvd. he makes borrowed deck look like a marked deck

I like this effect a lot because its impromptu card magic
and it fools layman specially magicians :D

Lastly all the sessions end up with a question and answer
from the subscriber of the event. where you will find funny questions
with funny answers from the lecturers and performers.

SESSION 2

The host for the 2nd session is mr. Topaz

talks about creativity (gaetan bloom) - he talks about how to exercise
your creativity to come up with a different approach to magic and
create your original props.

This is the first time i saw mr gaetan bloom, i just knew him because of his
effect "escalator" where the chosen card rises top visually. All i can say is
he is really genius :)

helder guimaraes performed his variation of reset and invisible palm.

things worth thinking about (stan allan) - He talks about different kinds of FAQ and advices for magicians.

marco tempest performed his digital magic stick man drawing comes to life and even marco tempest
became an animation hehehe fun too watch.

everything weve learned so far (barry and stuart) - how they become successful, how they make new routine/effect. and also

dont do ambitious card routine 14 times LOL

carlos vaquera performs mime + magic = refreshing magic

PANEL DISCUSSION:
max maven
cyril takayama
tempest britland
marco tempest
luis de matos

they discuss about television magic, how they get and succeed getting into television

gazzo performs ambitious card 14 times or more. He made this performance for Barry and Stuart

lastly another question and answer.

SESSION 3
eric mead is the host for the 3rd session.

zigzag girl scandal (mike caveney)- story about illegal copying of magic (the zigzag girl) and some moral lessons about it

about attitude (james freedman) - He talks how you can change everything you want
just by chaging your attitude. Another topic i like.

max maven perform a two card divination to Barry and Stuart under inpossible condition
with a solo video explanation not in this session.

misdirection (apollo robbin) - He talks about theroy of misdirection, pickpocketing
and putpocketing techniques. He even putpocket some of his business card to almost all the magicians in the conference including the staffs like the cameraman.

use your imagination (richard macdougall) - like mr gaetan bloom topic but concentrates
not in your props but in your performances in giving details to make it more
interesting for your audiences

paul kieve performs marauder's map folding in itself like the folding bill. he is the only magician
consultant of the famous movie Harry Potter

lennart green performs master of chaos, with his clumsy style magician you will be
fooled how he shuffles the deck he even teach some of his techniques

again question and answerwith a funny question for
mr max maven "How do you make your hair and beard like that?"

SESSION 4
For the 4th session the host is mr. mike caveney

flypaper (luis de matos) - he talks about how you can improve/monitor your ratings in tv appearances. he talks about strategy to develop a magic content to attract a tv audience

idea society (topas) - He talks about being original with your magic performances. he also performed music using his deck of cards. isnt that original hahaha

miguel angel gea performed a coins a across with a glass then reverse the effect and lastly coin through table with the coin change into a chinese coin. sadly he didnt explained it :(

magic goes public (paulino gil) - history how the magic goes public like festivals, conventions, etc.

radical coin magic (ponta the smith) - teach his other effects not in his dvd.
he taught his other coin effect you see in his youtube channel :D.

anton lopez performed nice elegant performance with elegant music and an assistant frog :P (real frog)

magic and cardsharping (jason england) - He talks about crimps and different applications of it.
im currently studying riffling techniques and this is helpful :D

guess what????? your right Question and answers again hahaha

I will watch the other sessions and give you another review. subscribe hahaha

ULTRA CERVON

2010-07-28T16:47:00.004+09:00

I was bored last monday so i decided to revisit/watch some of my magic videos and end up to watching ULTRA CERVON BY BRUCE CERVON. I fell in love again to his magic, all his effects are direct to the point, baffling and easy to do :D. I really liked his variation of card warp and his ace assembly. this dvd consist of 6 effects (5 card magic and 1 coin magic). im sure there will be effects in here that will suit you.

WARP II - his variation of card warp which uses 1 card and 1 bill. I like this variation because it only use 1 card to be ruin :P it is also a multiphase routine that will baffle laymans and magicians. i also like how you can show the inside of the card everytime. even though i know the secret of this effect i feels like real magic to me everytime i do it. *****

THE RED BACKED ACES - typical ace assembly routine with a twist, the aces have different colored backs :D. i also like this effect because of its directness, easy to perform and specially NO gaffs or gimmick. *****

the BC card across - bruce cervon favorite closer, under impossible condition while the spectator is holding the packet of cards with a hankerchief wrap around it, still it managed to get in the packet. i like how the effect is constructed and how fair it is to your spectators :D. i really dont do any card across effects but i think i will try this one. ***

TO PAY THE PRICE - A poker routine which involves 4 spectators. they will choose what card to give you but still the magician is still the winner. looks easy but needs a hard sleight (but its much easier in this effect). ***

A MATTER OF PSYCHOLOGY - this is like an ambitious classic effect but uses 4 cards. I really like the patter/presentation bruce cervon, even dai vernon and derek dingle liked it :P *****

HANKY PANKY - A hankerhief gag plus coin flurry plus mini misers dream and a kicker ending of producing a wine glass WITH WATER/WINE/SOFTDRINKS anything liquid hehehehe. If you want a comedy in your act and also want to avoid card magic then heres the trick for you. this is not just an effect its a routine that will get you an applause :D. *****

thats all the effect, enjoy and practice :D.

short and sweet coin vanish :P

2010-06-28T18:18:00.003+09:00

My second blog post this june :P throw away the pasteboards and lets play coin magic :D heres ah simple complete coin vanish and production ive been playing with, also playing with my new downloaded music from sony proscore.

8th tsc level up jam :D

2010-06-01T17:29:00.002+09:00

the 8th level up jam(luj) like the other luj is a success :D all the participants gave their best to their performance. after that jamming and kulitan time :D

here is the summary of the event

sorry for the bgm, the music i used is copyrighted so i was forced to used their audioswap :((

raise rise by ray kosby

2010-05-28T13:22:00.002+09:00

every magician knows the ambitious card routine and everyone loves it :), the effect of the ambitious card is that you place a chosen card in the middle of the deck then magically its on top again, but what if you can do it visually that you will see the chosen card rise to the top slowly with one hand, no gimmick or gaff card? well yes can do it with the effect of ray kosby named raise rise.

you can learn it in his video called the impossible card magic by ray kosby, when they say "impossible" card magic they mean it. this dvd has lots of knuckle busting sleight of hand that you will never think that can be done, enough of the dvd this is not a review about that hehehe (but will make a video review soon). back to the raise rise, since its in the impossible card magic dvd then its alaso a hard effect but worth it. there's so many rising card effect in the market but this is really the best (maybe for me :P).

heres my take on the raise rise, still need to improve it but its performable so heres it is, hope you like it.

cups and balls? coin matrix? both :D

2010-05-21T12:14:00.003+09:00

have you ever seen a cups and balls routine? how about a coin matrix? well if you've seen it all maybe you will appreciate this trick its a hybrid of the 2 effects, don't believe me? then watch and be amaze how clever the routine is.

211th tsc gathering

2010-05-17T19:04:00.011+09:00

this is only one of the many gatherings that i really enjoyed. even though our forum is down still many members attended the gathering. the ambience of the gathering is really nice its like the old days pure magic and and laughing trips. i really appreciate the members that dont complain and just there to support the tsc even though the tsc is not really in good shape right now. thanks to sam thats always there to support the group (thanks for hearing my rants :P), the tm, and some of the members that not really always present but when they are, they're always tell me that their just one call/text away (you know who you are) also carl even though hes not present in this gathering i really appreciate your loyalty to tsc.

ok stop with my rants, i just need to release it :) heres the pictures of the gathering

the mechanic shift

2010-05-14T14:54:00.005+09:00

The Mechanic Shift is created by Jo Sevau and Richard Hucko, if you are like me who likes hard moves then here it is :P. This shift is not like other shifts because it can accomplish many different things like controlling a card to bottom of the deck, to the top, to palm, mutiple shifts, palm to palm transfer and color change....... did i say that you can do this with only one hand :D.

heres what can i say about the contents:

The Basic Mechanics Shift - this is the basis of all the moves you will encounter here so practice this till your fingers ache hahaha

Covering Actions For the Basic Mechanics Shift - there are two covering actions that they taught using both hands and one using only one hand.

Control To The Bottom From Centre (With Covers)- if you know the basic mechanics then this will be easy for you

Two Handed Centre To Top Control - this is like a pass but not a pass, it can also done with one hand and some misdirection

Mechanics Shift To Palm - This is my favorite application of mechanic shift, imagine doing the diagonal palm shift with one hand.

Table Palm - if you can do the mechanics shift to palm then this is much easier with the cover

Palm Transfer - palm to palm transfer clean in the video but i think its hard to execute in real performance and its a little angle sensitive.

Colour Changes - think of it as a cardini change without a clean up :P

The Split - the one and only trick included in the video, a very visual card split that looks like a camera edit when done smoothly

Multiple Control - i dont like this multiple card control because it needs table or someone to hold the packets

the video production isn't the best like the other instant download out there, its like a homemade video from your neighbor but much better, they explain it thoroughly but i wish they add some videos about the common pitfalls of the moves :P

So for the someone who likes hard sleights that are versatile then this is for you, learn it and have fun fooling your spectators and friend magicians

THE MECHANICS SHIFT

roadrunner cull dvd by Kostya Kimlat review

2010-05-13T17:32:00.011+09:00

So you want to learn a move that can do many things? Well then you should learn how to cull and "the roadrunner cull dvd" by Kostya Kimlat is the right material to learn it. he teaches you the basic of culling one card then four up to the full deck separation plus many applications of the cull like how to force a card, as a control, using special deck with cull and much, much more.

I like how he made the explanations, first the explain the method then followed by a performance (spectator view), magicians view from above and below. I also like the cards he used, he is using a tranparent card (acetate) so that you can see the proper mechanics of his fingers. still have a problem learning it? don't worry there is a section called troubleshooting, this is the section where he talks about the common mistakes that you will encounter and how you will solve that problem.

He also made a live performances of all his tricks using the cull, there are 6 sets of routine that will help you see how it should be performed and how powerful all this effects are. the tricks that he performed and explained afterward are:

Culligula Triumph: One of Kostya Kimlat's favorite don't try this one if you're still not comfortable with your culling techniques. i like this "HARDCORE" triumph because it is so direct, the spectator pick a card, then "really" shuffled it face up and face down then show the cards to be completely shuffled then booooom! it is fully restored except for the chosen card.

Shuffle first, ask questions later: Well i think they is a more friendly triumph than the culligula. what i like about this effect is your almost done while the spectator thinks you will be starting the effect.

Four 4 following: I like this effect but i still dont perform it, maybe i should try it later hehehe, this is a 4 card production of a named card in the spread. note its from a shuffled deck ;)

If all goes wrong: Its like the shuffle first, ask question later effect where you put back the 4 cards (this effect is a nice follow up to four 4 following) from a shuffled face up and face down cards. Then magically restore it. this effect is nice but i much prefer the shuffle first, ask question later effect.

Plus a bonus cd with an interview with adam rubin, michael ammar and vito lupo. and an ebooks.

All in all i will recommend this dvd to all card magicians, this sleight is a must have.

enjoy practicing :)
trycks

c3 Con, Ca, Coimcidencia by Paul Wilson

2010-05-06T12:51:00.002+09:00

this is the latest "ondemand" effect by dananddave.com, c3 is the name of the effect which means Con, Cam, Coincidence created by Paul Wilson. this is effect is inspired by the effect of chad long named shuffling lesson. if you saw the performance video of the effect, that is what your audience will remember when they try to decipher the trick. the performance video isn't really everything they omit some parts so that it cant be decipher because it is a selfworking effect (swe) . dont be discourage to try this because of what i have said, it can fool layman and MAGICIANs too with proper presentation.

what i really like about this effect is that it can be done on a shuffled deck which means "impromptu magic" hehehe, also its a do as i do effect not only with 2 persons but 4 persons and they are really into the effect because they all handle the cards.
Paul Wilson also taught an alternative ending method this is also nice.

overall i really like this kind of effect, easy to do but it kills layman and magicians. also this effect isnt reall 100% swe you will still do something but its really easy if you know the method :P.

the storycircle & cerca trova convention sooon!!

2010-05-05T16:51:00.003+09:00

guys dont miss this very special day may 22 sat at rotary center, q.c.
this will be a non stop jamming and bonding about flourishes and magic specially you will gain new magician friends

lets support this very special event made for us flourishers and magicians emoticon

-trycks

becoming a card magician

2010-04-30T16:20:00.004+09:00

Once in a while i get asked by my friend magicians what does it need to be a good card magician. Well for me there should be a balance of nice presentation and technical skills.

On presentation part you should have a nice patter so that they can understand what you are doing. When i say patter it is not just limited to verbal but also in how you move, body gesture.

On technical skills you should learn at least one or more sleights in each category that i will mention: card controls, false cuts, false shuffles, different kinds of false counts, force, peeks and some palming methods. When i say you should learn at least one or more that means that you can do the sleights profficiently.

In my opinion thats the things you must get to be a good card magician. OT this is my first time blogging using a mobile phone, hope this works fine :)

hurricane change

2010-03-16T13:30:00.004+09:00

this color change is created by harry levine and can be found in trapdoor magazine by steve beam issue #42. this is by far my favorite method of color change, not angle sensitive and you start and end clean.

enjoy :D

the strolling cow aces

2010-03-10T11:52:00.004+09:00

there are many ace assembly routine out there but this is one of my favorite
its a progressive ace assembly routine which means its not the conventional ace assembly in which all the 3 other aces go to the leader ace one by one, the progressive ace assembly looks more impossible because the first ace travel from his pile to the second pile to join the second ace then the two aces travel to the third pile to join the third ace and lastly the three aces in the third pile travel to the forth pile to join the last ace.

the strolling cow aces is an progressive ace assembly created by dr. hiroshi sawa
which can be found in his book called "sawa's library of magic" written by richard kaufman.

hope you like it enjoy :D

preset, reset

2010-02-06T14:08:00.003+09:00

one of my favorite card effect is the reset, the plot is the aces and the kings exchange places one by one then immediately exchange back again all at once.
since it was one of my favorite effect, i tried to do my own variation of it base on
offbeat and to change the traditional handling of the reset.

here is the outcome :D

preset reset

my first magic video review - SICK by Ponta the Smith

2010-02-02T00:23:00.008+09:00

After waiting for a long time finally i got a copy of Sick dvd by Ponta the Smith
Sick is first released in Japan then after a month it is released nationwide by the ellusionist this january, and also murphy magic will release it too this february.

Sick is an advance coin magic dvd made by Ponta the Smith from Osaka Japan, yes he did it all by himself from the performing, filming and editing. In this video he made 11 no gaff coin routines that when you first watch it you will think that he did it with gaffs. The routines are spellbound, One Coin Routine, Tenkai Pennies, 3 Coins Across, Vanish, 3 Fly, Winged Silver, Matrix, Backfire Matrix, Quick Matrix, Backfire Assembly. The dvd only last 34 mins ='(.

The video quality is ok but not the best like the "coin one/two" 4/5

I like the music a lot, its an acoustic type music, very relaxing you will be surprized that the routine you are watching is already finished. All the music he used is from Kevin Macleod. 5/5

The teaching of the dvd is very poor in my opinion. First of all it has no talking in there, it is substituted by a text, if you own a xcm/flourish video like dan and dave trilogy or david stone real secrets of magic its like that. He teach the routines step by step in slow motion then a full performance view of the routine in slow motion followed by a full performance view of the routine in real time. 3/5

The routines that i really like is the spellbound routine its like his hands is dancing when doing the routine, also all the matrix he did (im an avid fan of matrix routine) also the vanish where the coin instantly vanish into thin air then appear suddenly in your fingers.

sick trailer

This dvd is a must have for a coin magician but i will not recommend it for a newbie to coin magic, almost all the sleights he uses are advance.

facebook - magic quotes

2010-02-02T00:18:00.005+09:00

to all facebook addict! i made an application for us magicians that we can use in facebook, its a simple application where you get random magic/inspirational quotes for magician everytime you visit the application :)

heres the link: magic quotes

be sure to click "become a fan"

thanks in advance,
-trycks

my spellbound routine

2010-02-01T01:10:00.003+09:00

last year, tong, andres and i are playing with the spellbound trick plot.
every one of us made our own variation of the effect. we started playing it when we saw ponta the smith spellbound routine.

here is my own variation of the effect with some of my original move. as much as possible, i tried to do the move differently from ponta and here is the outcome :D

spellbound

this spellbound is still in progress and evolving slowly

new magic video/book syndrome

2010-01-19T20:57:00.004+09:00

everyone of us come to this point where we are not contented in what material(effects, sleights etc) we had and always waiting for a new magic video/book to come out in the market hoping that this will be the solution for us to be a great magician we dream of.

the truth is if this is our thinking in magic then you will not be as good as you want to be. why? think about it, if you are learning something like the pass for a month now but you still cant do it right then suddenly you saw a new move like the side steal which you think is much easier, your tendency is you will learn it then you will forgot to practice your pass and after another weeks or months again you see another card control which you also think is much better than the one you currently practicing and switch to it again.

if this is what you will always do everytime you see something new then you will not master any sleights/effects you like, instead you will only learn it and you will not perform it well because you didn't put much time in practicing it. i remember a quote from bruce lee that suits to this topic he said “I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

to summarize it all, new material is not the answer to be a better magician instead practice what you have until you can perform it perfectly. i will assure you that you will be a better magician in the eyes of your audience and magician friends

elegant close up magician

2010-01-18T18:59:00.006+09:00

if you are looking for an elegant close up magician also smooth polished sleight of hand effect then look for ponta the smith if your a coin magician and arnaud chevrier if your a card magician. when you watch them perform their effects you will swear that they used gaffed or gimmicked cards/coins but theyre not, they just use pure sleight of hand.

you can learn more from their videos just by watching and understanding their economy of motion, why they did this or that to make their effect smooth as possible

arnaud chevrier:

invisible palm

twisting reset

ponta the smith

winged silver

spellbound

mnemonicosis by juan tamariz

2009-11-13T02:14:00.003+09:00

i like this trick a lot, its a magician/layman fooler if performed right.
it looks like an easy effect but believe me its hard not physically but mentally :D

tamariz juan -fism 2009
Uploaded by fondouble. - See more comedy videos.

limitations??

2009-10-28T12:43:00.004+09:00

"i cant do this, i cant do that because my fingers are to small,
i cant do this, i cant do that because im too old for that,
that sleight is really impossible no one can ever do that.
thats the best ive seen i cant top that"

every gathering of magicians i have attended i always hear that line, i said to myself why are they saying that? they just limiting theirselves to what they can really do. its like saying, its impossible to do that, then your subconciously accepting that you cannot do it no matter what you do and then end up giving up learning that sleights/effects.

for me whenever i saw a sleights/effects that is hard, i tell to myself that "if he can do it so i can do it too". to overcome this, first you should change your mentality to "i cant do it no matter what to i can do it no matter what". after that you also need proper info about what your trying to learn and some patience learning it.

dont let what you see become a limitation but an inspiration (biruin mo nag rhyme sila wahahha)

push off double lift

2009-10-16T02:37:00.006+09:00

the most commonly use sleight in card magic, the double lift.

i first saw this kind of double lift to my friend john™ after that i fell in love with the sleight. this is the most natural DL ive seen so far also the hardest. i asked john if he can tell me who invented this kind of DL and he said he read it somewhere in the book of alex elmsley, i search it but i cant find it, john also forgot where he read it.

then while reading marlo in spades book i saw a very similar method but sleightly different approach to it. the name of ed marlos DL is "best card push off".

so if you know where can i find the reference of the push off double lift i use right now please tell me :D

thats all for now if you have any question just PM me.

elmsley count

2009-10-06T23:56:00.004+09:00

ok im back again after 1 year hehehe, starting today my blog will focus on different kinds of sleights, first is the elmsley count :D.

so why elmsley count? well elmsley count is one of the most used sleights in card magic
but even though it is by many magician i still see many magician doing it the wrong way, they think that their elmsley count is correct not noticing what is wrong in their sleight. here ill try to point out the common mistakes magicians do while executing ng elmsley count.

first common mistake is the first and second finger clipping the card and the
second mistake is not squaring the packets

just check the video for reference

what is the first name of the inventor of elmsley count? (the answer is the password)

also in the video is the different handling of elmsley count (theres a lot more handling of elmsley count but i only put the most common i see).

i wish that this video can help you improve your elmsley count

ok thats all for now. if you have any sleights that you want me to tackle just pm me
and ill do it.

my first cardistry video

2008-08-25T15:21:00.004+09:00

last night i was bored so i was thinking what can i do, so i said to my self i'll just
shoot a video about cardistry, i picked my cam and tripod then some lights and viola im ready to shoot. i've video shoot for almost 30mins then proceed to edit in my computer using sony vegas 8.0 this is my first time editing in sony vegas so i tried everything i know to accomplish what i want.

the video consist of my currently favorite flourishes like:
squeeze
ragnarok
anaconda dribble
the werm
sicked and twisted wings of the mockingbird
00.327.000
akira
pandora
curly cue

all of that flourishes are from:
daren yeow and kevin ho of the virtouso
dan and dave buck
bone ho
and mr paul lepaul

ok some info about my cardistry life, i started practising seriously just last june so it would be 2 months of non stop pracitising(ouch my hands hurts)
i liked cardistry for 2 reasons:

*first is because i love hard moves and its such a fullfilment for me when i finished something like the flourishes above

*second is because i like it when i saw someone doing cardistry in any videos

i named this video cardisTRY with the "try" word capitalized because i want to have the word cardistry a meaning with this video with is "trycks(me) is TRYing to do cardistry"

i hope you like it,
-trycks

my favorite flourish :D

2008-07-23T18:35:00.003+09:00

right now im into flourishing and i just want to share to you guys whats my favorite flourishes out there, and heres my list and review:

pandora - from DnD's dvd trilogy, i like it because of the crabshack and the tornado its beautiful flourish when done smoothly. practicing for about 1 and a half months now and im getting better at it =D

sick and twisted wings of the mockingbird -this flourish is created by kevin ho, i like it because of its long name (joke) i like it because of its movement and the flow of the flourish, this flourish is inspired by daren yeows mockingbird and sean and scott sicked and twisted and i think because its really different i think they call this kind of flourishing "single card cuts" i still learning it right now i hope i can do it after a month

dalena - heres another favorite of mine from youtube user name "thinhv12" which i think is much better than the sick and twisted wings of the mockingbird (s&%^t long name) that has a card production

oo.327.000 - another flourish from DnD dvd the system i liked it because of the packets movement, rolling twisting packets. if your think i've forgot to add a link nope i just cant find any video of it lol

molecule 4 - DnD dvd trilogy again as usual i like it because of its flow and also its easy :D

anaconda dribble - this is from bone ho, i like it because theres no one doing it in our group not until i did it, also because of the length of this dribble right now i can do it 2 feet................... no link again try to search for yourself LAZY

well that's all the flourishes that i like and prctising right now. i hope you like it also, see you till my next post

first tsc competition + extended jamming

2008-07-06T16:22:00.003+09:00

yesterday is one of the most happiest gathering of my life, why because its our first tsc close up competition and its a success =D we are jampack in the room we have many guest also there is some guest from magfi.

the participants of the competition are:
jake gacus
frederick garcia
sam halili
harry temperante
mrmark
tenkai
norman nunez
christian lacsamana
and germain magno

the competition went well the first participant to performe is jake gacus with his story telling magic, then frederick garcia with cards and coins routine with a jumbo coin ending, then sam halili with his funny geek magic, harry teperante with his goldfish production, mr mark with his misers dream routine, tenkai with his funny card magic, norman nunez with his restless lady, christian lacsamana with his reset/gambler vs magician routine and last but not the least germain magno with his cutting the aces with the finale trick of "will you be my qeen of hearts" by jay sankey hahaha

the second placer is germain magno
first place is frederick garcia
and the champion is.....................sam halili :D

i was so happy about the competition because they have exceeded what i expecting to happen in the competition. also we also see the other members of the tsc south because of this event

after the event mike, julian, tong, christian, angel and tryck(me) went to burger king welcome rotonda to extend the evening and also to talk and jam with magic.
as usual we talk about cards, coins and other magic tricks. until we have a topic about magic with rubberband hehehe, it was fun to know many other tricks with rubberband but the most funniest of all is when we did a rubberband trick called antigravity ring to christian we all know the method except him who is really baffled how we can make the ring go up in the rubberband.

then julian asked me to show him my take on the culligula (the ultimate triumph) by kostya kimlat and make a video footage of it in his cell phone here it is:

this is all for now!!!!!
-trycks

clipshift

2008-06-16T00:29:00.005+09:00

i first became interested in this move when i've seen the trick "the queens" by dan and dave the last vanish of the queen made me say "putcha pano nya ginawa yun"(wow how did he do that?) then i researched whats the name of that trick which led me to the name clipshift.

clipshift is created by chad nelson, the clipshift is a versatile move that can do vanish, control and i think it depends on your imagination. this move is unpublish but
there will be a dvd named surfaced by chad nelson which will be released this june or july the producer is none other than the buck twins :D. this dvd teach the clipshift and other tricks by chad nelson.

check the last vanish

my first magic lecture =D

2008-04-29T04:11:00.011+09:00

ok! this is my first post this april because im a little busy preparing for the tsc card workshop, the lecture took place in rotary center, april 23,2008
the organizers and lecturers were andres, nomer, richard and trycks(me).

the first lecturer is trycks(me) who did my own routine consist of my variation of gambler vs magician(dr. jacob daley) followed by my variation of rock & roll aces(harry lorayne)/jazz aces(darwin ortiz) and last but not the least my variation of hershey kiss(cyril takayama) with uses a cockroach instead of hershey kisses chocolate.

the next lecturer is nomer lasala who did some mentalism card magic like mocking bird, etc.

the last lecturer is anthony andres who did card magic with misdirection like card in box routine, and many more that uses heavy misdirection technic

i think the tsc card workshop did a pretty good job thanks for the support of the tsc members and other magician who attended the workshop also i would like to thank mr evil_eye(richard) who help us organize the workshop

heres some of our pictures

group picture =D

trycks(me) lecturing

trycks again

nomer doing mockingbird

nomer again

richard thanks for helping us

andres

andres again hehehe

last me doing anaconda dribble

thanks for the pictures fritz =D

*david roth and michael rubinstein lecture

2008-03-13T03:35:00.006+09:00

all i can say is WOOOOOOOOOOOOW! they really deserves to be called coin gods, i thought
all i can see is all their tricks in there dvds and let me bore but its really different if you see them perform their tricks live at you.

we got there early at around 5:30 pm (mga excited eh) with james, tong, andres and me, then after a while mike and pierre came, we chatted a little to kill time and when its already 7:00pm we got inside the clubhouse, hehehehe thanks to doc for his plastic jumbo coin i have a souvenir with an autograph from the lecturers and also for the 5 peso coin shell(tail side) that he gave us for a reasonable price or a bargain? hehehehe thanks again doc.

the lecture started at 8pm and ended 12pm, i really love the coin retension of rubinstein called rops move with is very deceptive and also his spellbound sequence with a chocolate coin. for roth i like his 3 ball routine that has a move he did repeatedly and all of us can't seem to know how he did it and also his okito coin box set/routine, and a device to make any coin grips easily it is called rosin mike buy 1

after the lecture its picture and autograph time ^_^, the lecture ends with a group picture of all who attended it. thanks to rannie raymundo for bringing david roth and michael rubinstein here in manila.

all in all it's really an unforgetable experience for all of us, "sa mga hindi nakapunta mainggit kayo hahahaha laki ng nawala sa inyo"

Back row: Tong, Richard, Pierre, Michael and Rony; Front: James and Anthony

Back row: Tong, Richard, Pierre and Michael; Front: Doc Ronnie, Anthony and James

autograph of david roth(left) and michael rubinstein(right)

autograph of jeffrey tam(left) and rannie raymundo(right)

autograph of david roth(left) and michael rubinstein(right) in jumbo coin

t-shirt souvenir ^_^

eto pa close up

*97th eb the storycircle gathering

2008-03-10T09:21:00.007+09:00

this is just last saturday hehehehe. our eb is located at the rotary this time(my favorite venue) when i came there i was hesitant if i will get the last remaining ticket for david roth and michael rubinstein lecture from crizz, but then i decided to get it, he's selling it only for 1k hehehe bargain for me ^_^. we did a magic round roving including me, what i did is scarne aces which didnt went well but that's ok i just make fun of it then proceed to mercury variation then last invisible palm hehehehe. there was also some guest from magfi, also mr aldino former president of the magfi went there just to get some items from doc. we leave the rotary almost 12am then as usual we extend it in starbucks we jam there and the committees did the final interview for sam after that jam again till the starbucks have to close

later tonight i'll go to the lecture with andres, tong and mike ^_^ ill just update you all what will happen to us. i hope this will be another memorable magical night for us

*96th eb the storycircle gathering

2008-03-07T16:56:00.005+09:00

so this post is late hehehehe, its better late than never ^_~. well as usual im late at the gathering, the gathering went great. i jammed with other tsc members then after that i proceed to do the final interview for the participants of the 4th level up jam
i interviewed swirve and jjorell then in the middle of the interview the other committees(markgic and evil eye) help me with it. after that we leaved the starbucks because its closing time(mga adik) but before that some group pics first hehehehe then we went to dunkin donuts to extend our ebs(mga adik talaga)

here our some of our pics:

*95fth eb/the level up jam + extended jam? ^_^

2008-02-24T18:27:00.009+09:00

ok! at last the 4th level up jam is finished, the eb went great, the program starts at around 5:30 with a round robin to our new members like xhien(joshenne)who did a soulmate effect, 8xtian(christian)with his spelling the aces trick, and jen with her predecktability effect also some of our old members performed like john2(john)with his own trick and chaoserver(carlo) with his play it straight triumph effect after that the level up jam is started, the first is sandman he did las vegas leaper and pk cigarette?, second is zephyr who did no jokers aloud and title bout(a variation of gambler vs magician), third is jjorell who did twisted flush and invisible palm trick variation, forth is miggs with his two shuffles harry and out of this world, fifth is swirve who did many short tricks but i only remember the ring thing, bizarre twist, and the misers dream
then the six participant is gotcha who is late, so to keep the program going nomer did a trick which is the pk touch, he did it really good hehehehe then after that its resembles turn with his hilarious linking ring, ring and rope routine and his famous 1 coin routine(hay sawangsawa na ko dun). then ronstoppable came to promote the david roth and michael rubinstein lecture (hehehe gusto kong pumunta dito) and invite us to the magfi competition. after that gotcha came then do his assign trick which is the oil and water by larry jennings (hirap nito) and also he did his balloon to nose yuck! hehehehe.

after the its interview time then jamming to the max, after that at around 12:00am we leave the rotary and decided to go to starbucks to jam a little more but before that
manips, evil eye, marco, killer, angel, badchoys, cyberheart, 8xtian, xhien, tj and last but not the least me hehehe decided to eat at chowking thanks to evil eye for the halo-halo (grande pa hahahaha). after that we followed the others to starbucks jam a little then leave the starbucks at around 2:30am.

but some members dont to drink so badchoys, cyberheart, empress , chaoserver, nomer, 8xtian, xhien, tj and me decided to go to the place of xhien. well as usual the jam again and talk about tsc matters ^_~. we leaved there at around 8am(mga adik)

participants

sandman

zephyr

swirve

jjorell

miggz

gotcha

judges

other pics ^_^

*my asher twist (modified)

2008-02-19T02:39:00.004+09:00

this is my variation of the asher twist, i can't do the original asher twist because i always flash the twisting part so i make my own variation that i think is much better because i can do it slower and almost sorrounded.

hope you enjoy!

*94th eb the storycircle gathering

2008-02-17T03:56:00.006+09:00

as usual im late again ^_^, i got there between 8:30pm-9:00pm, the gathering is fun
then there are new faces like 8xtian and i think 2 girls that i think is a member of the ust tsc chapter. also there is dina and carlo, alive and still kicking hahaha^_^
im also happy because i got my new shadow master deck thanks to jonas_byron.

speaking of the ust chapter, i dont agree with it because i think its just applicable if the location is far like the tsc south, ust is also in metro manila and our gathering is not that far. well the ust tsc chapter is there, i can't do anything now but to support this chapter and be there if they need a help.

im happy that the tsc members like my variation of "the jack robbers" FYI this is the first effect that i learned that is taught by my cousin, after that my magic journey starts. so in my tribute to this first effect that i learned i did my variation of it.

after that at around 12:00am we talk about the upcoming level up jam and the 100TH/2nd anniversary of the storycircle, some said that they will donate to the upcoming event with is good ^_^. after that we leaved the starbucks at around 2:00am
maybe ill post a video of my variation of the jack robbers when im not busy

*imc competition

2008-02-15T04:00:00.003+09:00

it's valentines day and imc competition day, tong and i came late, we came there at around 10:00pm(the competition starts at 7:30)so we didnt get a chance to watch any of the participants specially nomer and andres T_T. the winner of the contest is none other than mr chris castro.

there are also some tsc members that came like germain, oniznoy, angel, carl and criss.
almost all of us do a crash ^_^ except tong and oniznoy. the one and only group that i crashed was all heckler ^_^ but its ok i have solved the problem i only did 3 tricks starting with my ambitious card routine then followed by cull-gilla(triumph) and the last effect is the rock and roll aces.

after that we ate at the pares house near the pepetons, then we left at around 1:30am
when i came home my computer is still slow so i search the internet on how to remove the jaymyka.wen9.com virus after 20 min i finally got the answer to my problem, i got a program called noob-killer i think its the best anti-virus if seen it can remove different kind of viruses.

thats all for today, thanks for visiting my site regularly ^_^

*jamming with germain

2008-02-14T16:44:00.006+09:00

last night germain came to my house at around 10:30pm, he told me he wants to jam so as usual we talk about magic. after that we decided to watch some magic videos, we watch the lecture of carlos vaquera a student of jean pierre vallarino, in the start of the lecture he talk about combining different kinds of art like mime and magic to create more powerful presentation, then he did an anniversary waltz effect with blank cards, he also taught how to approach a table if your doing a table hopping, he said never to tell the spectator that your a magician but show it to them.

after watching his lecture i learned that to maximize your effect you need to have a good technical skills, good patter and also good acting skills, when im watching him i see him more as an actor than a magician, while he's doing his effect sometimes he will change personalities or do two personalities.

before i forget jean pierre also shows a NO PALM CARD TO WALLET effect which is good but he didnt teach it because he said he is selling it T_T. after watching his lecture video we are hungry so we ate then jam again, germain left at around 4:30am hehehehe adik yan si germain eh.

tonight i will go to imc because there will be an imc competition and also to support nomer and andres because they're one of the participants.

ill keep you updated, after the imc competition ill post what happen to us ^_^

*93rd eb the storycircle gathering!!!

2008-02-10T05:00:00.004+09:00

its a bit bad trip eb for me because first i cant find my bicycle deck so i open a brand new red bee deck, the deck is nice but the smell is awful it smells like cockroach (yuck) then when i came in eb at around 9:00pm cakit and marco told me that the starbucks will close soon at around 10:00pm because of water shortage T_T. there's a new faces like grim jargon and the other two guys sorry if i forgot your names^_^. for my TM friends only andres and julian came. we jam a little together and ask me to teach my trycksting the aces (my variation of waving the aces II) so i taught it to them ^_^ also they leaved early at around 11:30pm-12:00am.

the committees including me talked about the level up jam, and the upcoming tsc anniversary in the end of march. after that i taught "the werm" flourish to some tsc members. then i and carl made a practical joke to germain with the use of shocking sharpie hahaha. after that carl, sam,germain and nomer shoot some parody of david blaine i wish they upload it in youtube. at around 1:30am we went to mcdonald to eat then we leaved there at around 2:30am

*finally i found it (invisible one hand pass)

2008-02-09T02:24:00.001+09:00

at first i thought a pass cant be an invisible move, then i saw many videos of pass
that is really invisible, i said to myself... so it can be done but how about a one hand pass? then i research over the internet to find the answer to my question.

i've seen many different kinds of one hand pass like one hand dive shift by richard turner( RICHARD TURNER'S SHIFTS, HOPS AND MAGIC PASSES DVD) but it has a cover of the other hand, the blink shift by tom wolf but the grip is awkward almost like biddle grip but different, The Vernon One Handed Shift from the book Vernon Chronicles vol. 1 page 25, erdnase one handed pass where i saw it in dai vernon revelation don't remember what vol is it and finally the solitary pass by tom stone when i first saw it i said to myself this is what im looking for^_^ i know that this is a hard sleight and nearly impossible for me because of my small hands but i want to do this pass so i search where to learn it, it is in magic magazine june 2006 issue. but cant find a copy of it only after a 1 year i got a scan copy of solitary pass and its only today. after knowing the method it is almost the same as the other one handed pass/shift but with only sleight differents in grip but i like the angle of this, there's a good angle where the move is nearly invisible.

im going to add this to my sleights if i can do it perfectly, for now i'll just keep practicing ^_^

solitary pass

*another imc day

2008-02-07T04:36:00.002+09:00

this day is fun for me, firstly allan d. and angel a friend of mine went to my house
and allan gave me a 3 brand new bee deck ^_^ after that at around 7:30pm we went to angels house and we ate in the canteen near their house(angel paid our bill)hehehe busog, the sisig is delicious. after that allan and i went to imc meeting (eat and run).

we wait anthony andres in pepetons(imc's venue), then after the meeting we watch their guest magician thomas chang do magic, he's great, i really like hes effect where he made mr boy samson pick a card then return the card wherever he likes then mr thomas get 1 card from the deck and riffled the deck and at the middle of riffling he throws the card in the deck, the card location is besides the chosen card, its really amazing hehehe. its something like kuroda card stab(video below) which i like more because he's blindfolded but his variation is he riffled it on the table

then i get a chance to jam a little with bob doreza, teddy, chris castro, boy albis, leodini, thomas chang and ronnie mariano^_^. im really happy that they appreciate my magic, all my hard work in my sleight is worth it.

*bored

2008-02-06T02:45:00.001+09:00

here i am again 2:00am in front of my computer, just finished watching bitoys funniest video special where michael v. do a parody to criss angel and david blaine, his screen name is david chris nyahahaha! i laugh at loud when i see his trick card through glass when he started to throw the cards through the glass when a young man walk over there and he got hit straight in the face ^_^ the young man chased michael v. with anger nyahahahhaa!

but before that i have finished deciphering this magic trick below named moment of zen, its a variation of lee ashers continental divide from the magazine "penumbra" vol 2. this is an impromptu triumph effect by liquidsn a youtube user. at first you will say that its an ordinary kind of triumph effect but wait till you finish this video ^_^

*92nd eb the storycircle gathering!!!

2008-02-03T05:44:00.002+09:00

the gathering started at 6:00pm at rotary center, the gathering went great the new members and the south members do some magic, after that we jam and orient the new members also interviewed the participants for the 4rth level up jam.

at around 12:30 we left the rotary center the south members go home, the others go to starbucks and me, mike, andres, julian, swirve and olrac went to chowking to eat, then mike treat us a halo-halo hehehe^_^ sarap. after that swirve and olrac followed the other tsc members in starbucks while we went to mikes house to jam a little bit more then we left.

*this pic is from marco

*trycksting the aces

2008-02-01T04:24:00.001+09:00

this is my version of waving the aces II by guy hollingworth, hope you enjoy ^_^
twisting the aces is one of the trick that i want to explore including ambitious card routine and triumph effects.

*nomers graduation

2008-01-31T02:46:00.002+09:00

congrats to nomer for being a certified member of imc now ^_^. nomer did a mentalism routine consist of prediction type mentalism (sorry idont know its name), forutsuke and liquid metal. some tsc members were there to support nomer, there was carl, mike, evil eye, sam, marco and me. then jeff tam came to jam with mike and told him that there will be a magic lecture in march here in manila, guess who will do the lecture ^_^ ........... its only DAVID ROTH and MICHAEL RUBINSTEIN yahooooooooo, to those who dont know who is david roth and michael rubinstein they are only one of the top coin magicians in the world, but there is only one problem, the entrance fee is 1,500 pesos i wish that i can save a 1,500 before the lecture T_T.

well i got back home at around 12:30am then go straight to my pc and back up my other magic videos to free my hard disk space. after that i do my work(dont ask what my work is :D). now let me finish this because i'll still watch "magic to (the next level)" video by imc.

Nomer doing liquid metal

from left to right: sam, marco, richard, nomer, trycks(me), carl and mike

doing the tsc handshake!!! hahahaha

congrats nomer your a certified imc now ^_^

*this pic is from marco

*different kinds of decks

2008-01-29T16:30:00.001+09:00

ok i have read some article in our forum in tsc that talks about different
kinds of deck finishes here it is:

Bicycle: Air-Cushion Finish.
And "Air-Cushion" Is a "pocket" of air, used to absorb shock.
An "Air-Cushion" is used in most trucks, and other vehicles.
For example, when a truck is climbing a mountain,
it uses shocks to help absorb the "Shock" of the bouncing.
This is where Air-Cushion comes into play.
The air cusioning helps the shocks to absorb the "Bounce",
and gives the vehicle extra spring. ( For big hills, etc. )

Same goes for Bicycle Cards.
Their Bicycle cards are manufactured with an air-cushion.
If you notice in a new pack when first opened,
you can see groups of 10 cards at a time, divided
with a slightly different colour in the breaks. This is the air-cushion.
All this does is give the Bicycles that extra "spring"
when performing magic, and/or flourishes.
Tally-Ho's and bicycle are pretty equal in quality however.
We will get to that.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Tally-Ho Playing Cards: Linoid Finish.
Basically what a "Linoid" Finish is. Is a life-extender.
It adds an extra coat onto the cards to keep them from
getting sticky. It also holds the quality to where fans can
be executed more easily. This is why in a new pack of Tally-Ho's,
the cards a extremly stiff. This is caused by the Linoid finish.
Tally-Ho's, like Bicycles. Are GREAT for using in card magic.
( Overall opinion from magicians ) They are pretty much equal
in quality. The Tally-Ho's will most likley last longer,
whilst the Bicycles will spring better.
( general statment with slight opinion )
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Bee Playing cards: Cambric Finish.
Cambric is a cotton like matirial that can also be found
in very expensive bed-sheets. Cambric is atually a "Woven" cotten.
If you notice the design in Bee playing cards,
it is a Woven design. This is because of the Cambric finish.
I am not saying that Bee's are made of cotten,
I am saying it uses the matirial, and is woven the same way.
This is why ( if you notice ) Bee's seem to be soft when shuffling.
Cambric allows cards to be bent more, without giving to much-
damage to the cards. The Cambric in my opinion seems
to absorb alot pressure on the cards,
to make for a better shuffle.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

special decks like black tiger: UV500 finish
its a coating which makes it smoother and will make the cards glow in black light. like on a stage etc.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

ok with this information i thought that this different kind of decks is best for different kinds of card users like

card magician: the best card to use is the ordinary red and blue bicycle playing cards because laymen wont be suspicious that the deck is gaffed not like the special decks like ghost, black, guardian etc. also bicycle decks is really known deck of cards that you can see everyday

card manipulators: i think the best card for xcm artist is the tally ho decks simply because of its linoid finish when practicing xcm it is likely that you will drop the cards every now and then with its finish the cards life will be extended, also it makes the card fan more easily and it is thinner than bicycle cards that makes card manipulation easier

gamblers: to me the bee deck is the best card for gamblers because in gambling the deck is shuffled a lot and what the finish of the bee deck do if to make the shuffling easier and also extends its life because of its cotton component

well for the special decks for me i think its only best for collecting because of its beautiful design also some decks like black ghost and jerrys nugget are very rare and expensive

thats my thought about the different kinds of decks,
i wish you get some good info my article ^_^

*91rst eb the storycircle gathering!!!

2008-01-27T05:11:00.001+09:00

its already 4:17am now i cant sleep so i decided to post another story of my magic life
we held our gathering at starbucks araneta cubao, our meeting time is 6:00pm but i got there late
around 9:00pm hehehe. then we held an interview to our members who want to participate in our level-up(exam to be a certified member of tsc). we interviewed daemon _virus(jason), gotcha(sam), zephyr and swirve(phillip) .

the interviewers were angel, evil_eye(richard), manips(james), resemble(mike), cakit, nomer, markgic(mark) and trycks(me). after our interview as usual we jammed together then we leaved the starbucks at around 1:30-2:00pm. then after that andres, tong, ernest and me went to my house
just to eat hehehehe (tsibugan na!!!) after that they leaved asap (eat and run) hehehehe^_^

*magic quotes ^_^

2008-01-26T03:13:00.001+09:00

here is my favorite magic quotes that inspire me everytime i read or remember it

"The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say is impossible"

“Never apologize, it’s all part of the trick.”
Harry Lorayne

“The worst reason to do magic is the desire to display your superiority to your fellow humans.”
Roberto Giobbi

“Most magicians consider the palm an easy move to make. They are inclined to believe that they are ‘getting away with it,’ when they are in fact fortunate enough to have a polite audience.”
Dai Vernon

“Make them think they’ve been fooled by a gentlemen.”
Howard Thurston

“A good general chooses his battlefield.”
Tony Slydini

“Be yourself.”
Dai Vernon

"Without proper presentation, the best sleight of hand is nothing more than a feat of juggling."
Nate Leipzig

"Perform as many times as you can in front of people you don't know."
Lance Burton

"There are no good or bad tricks. There are only well and badly presented tricks."
Raynaly (A French magician)

"Everyone deserves a shot....and some deserve to be shot."
-K.A. Applegate when refereing to a bad magician.

"Never try to fool children, they expect nothing, and therefore see everything..."
-Harry Houdini

“Mankind luv to be cheated, but they wants to hav it dun by an artist…”
—Josh Billings

"Palming separates the men from the boys"
-Marlo

"Practice your misdirection, as your sleights were none, and practice your sleights as if you couldn´t do any misdirection".

"If the actions used in performing sleights are visible or even suspected by the onlooker, the whole illusion of magic is destroyed."
Jean Hugard

"Never serve flat soda to your guests." - Alkazar
Meaning - Magic without the sparkle of surprise is not magic at all.

"If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him."

"The fact that you like a trick is not enough reason to perform it." - Darwin Ortiz

"The fact that a trick fooled you is not enough reason to perform it." - Darwin Ortiz (again!)

"The good magician inspires in us a sense of wonder. The bad magician just makes us wonder."
--Archie Biefield

hope you like it

*magic new years resolution!!!

2008-01-26T03:00:00.001+09:00

for my first post maybe should start with my magic new years resolution for 2008. well i know its late but its better late than never ^_^

*i will study more flourishes now this 2008 i will only concentrate in dan and dave the system, if i can finish it soon ill go for the trilogy

*i will try focus on patter and presentation this year

*try to share my knowledge to every aspiring magician like me

*try to read more magic books

*try to be more active in magic scene here in philippines ^_^

*polish my favorite effects like raise rise(acr), cull-gilla(triumph) and twisting the aces

*try to create my own effects

i wish i could do all of this, this year 2008