OK lets set the scene, I'm sat on the 2255 from London to Northampton, i'm starving, I had to work late. went straight from work to London to see my buddy and amazing magician from LA, Patrick Heitkam (we shall get to that story)
so i stayed an extra 10 minutes in the pub, leaving me with no other option but to embark in the dreaded late night tube station dash for the train, the kind where you don't really want to run as you would look like a bit of a tool, so you walk, fast, really fast, like a madman. Ok i rushed, i made it, hurray
Now the problem was, i missed dinner, come to think of it i missed lunch, I'm starving. No bother I'll have some toast when i get home, I thought. No dramas.
BUT THERE IS A DRAMA, the train is ramo and the couple sat opposite are eating Burger king, I can smell the deliciousness of the double whopper, i can see that brown bag I'm fully aware that inside that bag lie some delicious, warm slightly limp fries, probably at the perfect eating temperature, all salty mmmm,
Now, would it be wrong to dip my hand and grab a handful, would that be too far, too much?
Can it get any worse OH YES, the guy left HALF A BURGER WTF, there are starving kids in Africa, for the love of God, there is a staving Ashley's on this very train. SELFISH, I hate him.
Anyway, lets get onto the reason i have actually powered up my mac, I want to tell you about a magic trick!
Ok first let me explain, its very rare for a Magician to be fooled, its so sad. You probably don't realise that a Magician will never get that feeling, the wonder, that all expenses trip back to childhood. (kinda sad really) The reason is, we know methods, we know tricks its just one of those things you sacrifice for being a Magician.
BUT tonight, Patrick Heitkam, my friend and bad ass Magician from LA, killed me. Here's how it went
Girl (Helen) thought of card
Girl cut deck ANYWHERE
Girl cut to HER THOUGHT OF AND NAMED CARD
he did not touch, did not alter, did not shuffle
Yes the deck was normal
Pure, delightful, powerful wonder!
Let me tell you right now, that trick, that feeling i had, that wonder, the sheer joy, was better then any deliciously wonderful burger.
ok thats it, another thought another blog
Me
TheTableTopTrixta
Wednesday, 12 January 2011
Monday, 10 January 2011
The Props
Ok, so the street entertainer needs the following in addition to an Act/Personality/Balls/Likability - Props!
This is the tale of 'getting the props'
Now let me start by saying magic props are EXPENSIVE, you are paying for not only the items themselves but your paying your doo's to the Creator/designer.
like anything you can buy on the cheap, there are many fakes out there. For me its like this, if you want to be the best chef in the world then your not going to show up in a kitchen with a set on knives that you have bought from the market place @ Ikea (dont get me wrong i love Ikea and all that it stands for, not to mention those delicious hot dogs and bite size Dime bars, now that's what im talking about!)
Your just not going to feel special, you are going to want the best knives out there and your going to love using them, you will use them with pride!
When you perform you want to feel like 'the shit,' like a pro. and the way to do that is have the best tools/props etc. They DO NOT make the performer BUT they make the performer feel great!
Now this project was about taking it back to basics, no big expensive illusions, it was about real magic for real people, it was about The Street, so in true street style i had to hustle to get my props, my list was simple as i already have an act, i just needed something extra special.
1) a set of cups, street cups, big rough, copper. I wanted cups made by UK street performer and sculptor Gary Animal (who works the streets of Stratford upon Avon)
2) A street wand, other wise known as a stick
3) A poachers pouch, made by the true master of street performing GAZZO (look this guy up if his name means nothing to you)
4) A tabletop
So, i collected together all the magic junk (and by that i mean tricks, which i have been tricked into buying) which i have never used or performed in.
*Side note - it makes me laugh after all the props that i have bought, just out of my love for the art and facination, all of the money that i have spent, I've managed to built a pretty good magic business out of a couple of decks of cards, a sharpie marker and some delicious sponge balls!)
**Young Magicians spend your money on magic books not trick decks, you will thank me one day**
So I got it all together and headed off to TheMagicCafe a wonderful forum for Magicians (my girlfriend calls it my magic porn lol) its a great place 'Magicians helping Magicians) anyway it was a great way to sell all of my stuff. After a while the sales were made and i have enough for my Gary Animal cups, i got a set of 'babes' the name of the cup i might add!!
Next i got a wonderful deal on a Gazzo pouch off a nice Magician who no longer performed on the street due to a disability, he did me an amazing deal on this very expensive item. I thank him very much.
The Wand/Stick was made by Tabman in the USA and made in cherry wood, in all honesty i think its too nice for the street so I'm going to get a drum stick and tape that bad boy up!
The Table is going to be made by a friend of mine 'Gadget' nice guy and pretty handy with the old wood work skills!
So I'm all set, and the best thing is Ive worked hard to use what i had to get something that i wanted (i think this is the way to go in todays harsh economic times, have a look through your magic draw, you may have something that someone will want!!!
Special mention, to street performer Peter WARDELL, his DVD 'CrowdPuller' is fantastic and I would advise anyone wanting to get into street magic to watch this, also GAZZO cups and balls DVD is great, I'm not one for being a clone so I'm working on my own patter but these DVD provide a great starting point for the performer.
One final special mention is for sideshow performer Jimmy talksalot, his writings have been an inspiration for me, again you can find this great guy all over YouTube, worth a watch, or even better if your stateside go watch him and throw some bucks in his hat!
Here you can see me and my Fantastic Gary Animal cups!
Until next time, take it easy, 291 readers of the blog, thats a really nice feeling, thought i was talking to myself!! lol
ps IM NOW ON TWITTER @tabletoptrixta follow me! (ive got a great comp coming soo to win something AMAZING from my buddy Jamie D Grant, there you have reason to follow on twitter and facebook!!
and also www.facebook.com/thetabletoptrixta (make sure you click the like button
This is the tale of 'getting the props'
Now let me start by saying magic props are EXPENSIVE, you are paying for not only the items themselves but your paying your doo's to the Creator/designer.
like anything you can buy on the cheap, there are many fakes out there. For me its like this, if you want to be the best chef in the world then your not going to show up in a kitchen with a set on knives that you have bought from the market place @ Ikea (dont get me wrong i love Ikea and all that it stands for, not to mention those delicious hot dogs and bite size Dime bars, now that's what im talking about!)
Your just not going to feel special, you are going to want the best knives out there and your going to love using them, you will use them with pride!
When you perform you want to feel like 'the shit,' like a pro. and the way to do that is have the best tools/props etc. They DO NOT make the performer BUT they make the performer feel great!
Now this project was about taking it back to basics, no big expensive illusions, it was about real magic for real people, it was about The Street, so in true street style i had to hustle to get my props, my list was simple as i already have an act, i just needed something extra special.
1) a set of cups, street cups, big rough, copper. I wanted cups made by UK street performer and sculptor Gary Animal (who works the streets of Stratford upon Avon)
2) A street wand, other wise known as a stick
3) A poachers pouch, made by the true master of street performing GAZZO (look this guy up if his name means nothing to you)
4) A tabletop
So, i collected together all the magic junk (and by that i mean tricks, which i have been tricked into buying) which i have never used or performed in.
*Side note - it makes me laugh after all the props that i have bought, just out of my love for the art and facination, all of the money that i have spent, I've managed to built a pretty good magic business out of a couple of decks of cards, a sharpie marker and some delicious sponge balls!)
**Young Magicians spend your money on magic books not trick decks, you will thank me one day**
So I got it all together and headed off to TheMagicCafe a wonderful forum for Magicians (my girlfriend calls it my magic porn lol) its a great place 'Magicians helping Magicians) anyway it was a great way to sell all of my stuff. After a while the sales were made and i have enough for my Gary Animal cups, i got a set of 'babes' the name of the cup i might add!!
Next i got a wonderful deal on a Gazzo pouch off a nice Magician who no longer performed on the street due to a disability, he did me an amazing deal on this very expensive item. I thank him very much.
The Wand/Stick was made by Tabman in the USA and made in cherry wood, in all honesty i think its too nice for the street so I'm going to get a drum stick and tape that bad boy up!
The Table is going to be made by a friend of mine 'Gadget' nice guy and pretty handy with the old wood work skills!
So I'm all set, and the best thing is Ive worked hard to use what i had to get something that i wanted (i think this is the way to go in todays harsh economic times, have a look through your magic draw, you may have something that someone will want!!!
Special mention, to street performer Peter WARDELL, his DVD 'CrowdPuller' is fantastic and I would advise anyone wanting to get into street magic to watch this, also GAZZO cups and balls DVD is great, I'm not one for being a clone so I'm working on my own patter but these DVD provide a great starting point for the performer.
One final special mention is for sideshow performer Jimmy talksalot, his writings have been an inspiration for me, again you can find this great guy all over YouTube, worth a watch, or even better if your stateside go watch him and throw some bucks in his hat!
Here you can see me and my Fantastic Gary Animal cups!
ps IM NOW ON TWITTER @tabletoptrixta follow me! (ive got a great comp coming soo to win something AMAZING from my buddy Jamie D Grant, there you have reason to follow on twitter and facebook!!
and also www.facebook.com/thetabletoptrixta (make sure you click the like button
Saturday, 1 January 2011
acetabula et calculi
As you can see in my pictures above, i was a very happy Magician this Christmas after finally receiving my AMAZING Cups which were made by the street performing legend Gary Animal, also a great street wand from Tabman in the USA. I have named this 'The Wand of Truth' i'm having some fun making people hold on to this when drunk and answer my questions!
As a result of my projectstreetshow i've had the pleasure of researching, rehearsing and perfecting a Cups and balls routine.
I have not yet taken the routine out on the streets but it is getting there and i'm set to hit London's South Bank early spring 2011 and then to St James street, Covent Garden Summer time!
The cups and balls is a classic performance of magic with innumerable adaptations. The effect known as acetabula et calculi was performed by Roman conjurers as far back as two thousand years ago.
The most widely performed version of the effect uses three cups and three small balls.
The magician makes the balls pass through the solid bottoms of the cups, jump from cup to cup, disappear from the cup and appear in other places, or vanish from various places and reappear under the cups (sometimes under the same cup), often ending with larger objects, like fruit, or even chicks or mice, appearing under the cups.
A typical cups and balls routine includes many of the most fundamental effects of magic, including vanishes, appearances, transpositions and substitutions. Basic skills, such as misdirection, manual dexterity, and audience management are also essential to most cups and balls routines.
As a result, mastery of the cups and balls is considered by many as the litmus test of a good magician.
Indeed the late magic authority, John Mullholland, wrote that no less a person than Harry Houdini had expressed the opinion that no one could be considered an accomplished magician until he had mastered the Cups and Balls.
Enjoy the pics and il try and get some videos up soon!
Keep on Keepin
Ash @ TheTableTopTrixta
Saturday, 11 December 2010
Dearest sponge, are you good enough.
"IT'S BETTER TO GO OUT AND DO SOMETHING, THEN TO STAY HOME AND PLAN SOMETHING!
Above is something i read in a blog by US sideshow legend Jimmy Talksalot, I've been reading alot of his tales from the street lately. So I went out and tried something. Remember I'm still in the research phase, tying out effects that I've been performing for 15 years in doors on the street.
Last night December 10th I was out in Leicester Square, its was 8pm and the place was buzzing, i took out with me a deck and my trusty sponge balls. For years by sponge routine has been wonderful for my business, in fact, if pushed i would say it is the one trick that has bought me more replete bookings then any other trick. I thought it could be great to use to build a crowd, it never fails to get screams. I'm not going to go into my routine as I'm pretty protective about it, but what i will say is that it gets about four people involved and ends with 9 balls popping out of a females hand. Why a females hand well its simple they scream and screaming raises awareness and informs the other spectators that you are good.
OK so i based myself in the doorway of nightclub 'Sound' prior to their doors opening, i managed to lure 2 females into my performance area, told them who i was and immediately asked for both of them to extend their hands and handed them each a sponge ball. They were interested, they went with it. Now my sponge routine runs for about 3/4 minutes, after about 2 minutes i noticed that there was already a crowd of about 8-12, it was working all seemed interested, the finally went down as always and i moved towards the 'newcomers' i performed a couple of simple tricks for them and then thanked them and moved on. It was never about putting on a show it was research and I think Ive found my crowd build
Dearest Sponge, you were good enough, thank you kindly, TheTableTopTrixta
Above is something i read in a blog by US sideshow legend Jimmy Talksalot, I've been reading alot of his tales from the street lately. So I went out and tried something. Remember I'm still in the research phase, tying out effects that I've been performing for 15 years in doors on the street.
Last night December 10th I was out in Leicester Square, its was 8pm and the place was buzzing, i took out with me a deck and my trusty sponge balls. For years by sponge routine has been wonderful for my business, in fact, if pushed i would say it is the one trick that has bought me more replete bookings then any other trick. I thought it could be great to use to build a crowd, it never fails to get screams. I'm not going to go into my routine as I'm pretty protective about it, but what i will say is that it gets about four people involved and ends with 9 balls popping out of a females hand. Why a females hand well its simple they scream and screaming raises awareness and informs the other spectators that you are good.
OK so i based myself in the doorway of nightclub 'Sound' prior to their doors opening, i managed to lure 2 females into my performance area, told them who i was and immediately asked for both of them to extend their hands and handed them each a sponge ball. They were interested, they went with it. Now my sponge routine runs for about 3/4 minutes, after about 2 minutes i noticed that there was already a crowd of about 8-12, it was working all seemed interested, the finally went down as always and i moved towards the 'newcomers' i performed a couple of simple tricks for them and then thanked them and moved on. It was never about putting on a show it was research and I think Ive found my crowd build
Dearest Sponge, you were good enough, thank you kindly, TheTableTopTrixta
Tuesday, 7 December 2010
The Project
Character is who you are when no one is watching.
So this is it, just finished the contract at the restaurant where i have been performing for 2.5 years (Friday Night Magic is no longer RIP baby) Its time to move on to the next project for TheTableTopTrixta, a project which i will formally name 'Projectstreetshow' this is something I've wanted to do since my days at Drama School performing installation pieces in the centre of Melton (oh lord what a place)So lets set some aims and objectives -
1 - To take my Magic out onto the streets, like my Grandfather did in the late 1800's
2 - Perform a great show
3 - Make the audience put their hard earned money in my hat.
Why do I want to do this, well to be honest I'm sick of performing indoors I've done way to much, i want to take my show to those who don't get to go to posh ball's and events. The world is a stage and i want to damn well use it.
I fully understand that this is not going to be easy, but I've been performing for 16 years now I believe in myself and that is the main thing. Strength lies in belief, belief lies within *that is my quote*
I'm entering the research phase, I've been watching a great deal, Charlie Caper (amazing) Gazzo (brilliant) Peter Wardell (amazingly brilliant) to name but a few.
I have already created a few tricks to work with on the street, some taken from my stand up comedy set and some taken from my 'stupid, over thinking all the time, damn brain' but what i don't have right now is an ACT with a start middle and the all important end. I don't want to become a clone, I don't want to be a rude busker as that's not my style and to be honest i hate it. I once saw a old guy in San Fran doing a sidewalk show, he showed me some not very good tricks (i said nothing throughout) after he was very rude in extracting a dollar from me, i would have given him 5!
anyway I'm off 'prop hunting' Christmas is coming and for all you nine to fiver's, here is a nice excuse to use on your boss this festive season 'Sorry I'm late boss, i couldn't find number 7 on my advent calender
A little about my Grandfather, Joseph Turner.
Joseph Turner born 22nd February 1897 a man who was described by my grandmother as being 'always the perfect gentlemen'
The magic in this story is this, he survived the world war due to his conjuring skills, FACT.
He was pulled from his dirt ridden trench to entertain the officers, I'm only here today thanks to his Magical skills.
He joined a performing troupe in London circa 1919 as the Magician, he was also a member of the Magic Circle in London around this time, he spent a season with them performing in their show.
After the year with the troupe he moved to Cork, Ireland to perform his one man magic show. He travelled from town to town with his horse drawn carriage. He would stop at the local towns and firstly entertain the local priest and then cleverly ask that his show be advertised at Sunday Mass. I'm told his shows were sell outs, he lived in a wonderful time where people would rather see live magic then watch Simon Cowell on Xfactor. He eventually settled in Lucan, Ireland where he used the money that he made from performing to build a cinema. *TO BE CONTINUED*
The magic in this story is this, he survived the world war due to his conjuring skills, FACT.
He was pulled from his dirt ridden trench to entertain the officers, I'm only here today thanks to his Magical skills.
He joined a performing troupe in London circa 1919 as the Magician, he was also a member of the Magic Circle in London around this time, he spent a season with them performing in their show.
After the year with the troupe he moved to Cork, Ireland to perform his one man magic show. He travelled from town to town with his horse drawn carriage. He would stop at the local towns and firstly entertain the local priest and then cleverly ask that his show be advertised at Sunday Mass. I'm told his shows were sell outs, he lived in a wonderful time where people would rather see live magic then watch Simon Cowell on Xfactor. He eventually settled in Lucan, Ireland where he used the money that he made from performing to build a cinema. *TO BE CONTINUED*
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