What Can Young Magicians Learn from Penn & Teller: Fool Us

Penn

Performing magic tricks in front of professionals does not sound like an easy job. Considering the fact that magic is about convincing or letting people imagine a thing or two, you are less likely to succeed. But that is not the only case when you go ahead to perform a trick in front of magicians, Penn & Teller. Their support and willingness to watch you perform speak a lot about the fact that they have been in the industry for more than 40 years. But the platform has also stood out as a learning experience, and even individuals watching can learn a thing or two. Want to know how? Well, go ahead and read the following.

1. Different Methods

Since Penn & Teller have already seen a lot of tricks, they are more likely to be aware of what you’re going to perform. As a result, they tend to expect all that has happened in the past. But that does not mean you should continue performing the trick despite the obvious fact of the matter. Instead, you need to change the method. There are over a dozen ways to land yourself with the final act. While the trick remains the same, one can easily tweak the technique and surprise people once again.

In this manner, they will not know what to expect and will eventually start believing in all that you do. So think about the same and look for ways through which you can bring out something from the past to create something new.

2. Unique Skills

There are many ways through which magicians get away with a trick, and one among them are skills. Yes, that’s right. Every magician tends to go through a journey where they keep learning and practising more about the world of magic. While you may be viewing a trick for the very first time, they will be doing the same for the third or fourth time. Due to that, they tend to develop specific skills that are unique to all that they perform. At times, these skills can be speed, precise decisions and even last-minute changes.

By incorporating speed and other essential skills, you tend to take control of all that people are viewing. As the method is to help them stay focused and convinced, you need to do so by being quick. Once you have speed by your corner, then things tend to head in the right direction.

3. A Whole New Trick

The passion that drives you towards magic is an essential element that manages to keep you alive. This particular feeling will help you stay rooted in all that you perform by also helping you perform better. Once you have achieved the same through practice and years of learning, then you can think about different ways to bring in new tricks or concepts. Either by combining a couple of methods or by thinking out of the box, you can always stand a chance to surprise the world.

Since such aspects are also visible in Penn & Teller: Fool Us, you need to watch and learn. 

Top Magic Tricks by Mat Franco

Mat Franco

Mat Franco and his world of magic have managed to leave people surprised and gasping for breath on many occasions. The different methods and tricks that he employs into his craft are credible and well enough to leave everyone astonished. As his journey has left a lot of tricks, we decided to go back and pick out some of the best ones that are still remembered to this day. So without further ado, here are some of the top magic tricks by Mat Franco.

1. Teleporting Cards

As a winner of the ninth season of “America’s Got Talent,” Franco was able to showcase a beautiful finale. To perform his trick, Franco invited Rosie O’Donnell and Howard Stern and provided them with some cards. To carry forward the trick, Franco asked them both to place a few cards at someplace where he wouldn’t touch it. Significantly they went ahead and did so. Soon after finishing all this, Franco went ahead and did the impossible task of teleporting cards from Rosie to Howard. The magic was powerful enough to convince the audience and leave everyone amazed.

2. Franco Uses Fire

Mat Franco’s gifted fans of “America’s Got Talent” with another sweet episode where he performed an incredible magic trick. To make it even more impressive, the feature began by introducing people to Mat Franco’s grandmother, who he dedicated the trick to. By starting off with spray paint and telling the judges to pick a card, Franco went on to predict the wrong card and leave people puzzled. But all that was only a part of the process because later by using fire, Franco made the right prediction and ended up projecting the same on the big white board.

3. The Card Canon

By introducing us to a new way to shuffle cards, Franco once again left people wondering about his trick and how he managed to pull things off. Apart from helping people choose one card, in particular, Franco performed his new shuffling technique and managed to leave that card on the top of the roof. But that was not the end of the trick as the magician also involved Howard Stern to sign on one of the cards, only to reveal the same though the aspect of magic. Well, what else can you expect from Mat Franco.

4. The Close-up Trick

Not a lot of magicians tend to perform their trick up and close, but Mat Franco is not an ordinary magician. For the close-up trick, Franco decided to go with a story which he began narrating through a deck of cards. Although he shuffled the cards at the beginning, he managed to bring them out at the right time by supporting all that was listed in his story. The speed through which he processed the trick was terrific as people required time to get hold of all that was going on. Towards the end, the trick went on to become another classic by Mat Franco.

The Most Controversial Magic Tricks by David Copperfield

David Copperfield

David Seth Kotkin or David Copperfield has always managed to surprise the audience each time he comes in front of them with a magic trick. The American magician was once described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magicians in history. This only goes out to prove as to why he won 21 Emmy Awards and around 38 nominations. But all this does not eliminate the different controversies that the 63-year-old has attracted in his life. While his magic tricks were meant to leave you awestruck, some found things to be a bit controversial. So to get the clear picture without tricks, here are some of the most controversial magic tricks by David Copperfield.

1. Lucky #13

Way back in 2013, Copperfield was set to perform at MGM Grand Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The trick he was about to do was “Lucky #13”. While it may sound to be a bit confusing, you need to know that it was about making 13 people disappear. Yes, that’s right. Copperfield would call 13 audience members and make them disappear in front of the whole crowd. While the setting and the magic went through on a triumphant note, things got out of hand when a British tourist, Gavin Cox, who was one among the randomly chosen audience members, went ahead and filed a lawsuit against the illusionist.

According to the lawsuit that he filed, Gavin Cox claimed he had suffered from chronic pain and brain injury and went on to spend more than $400,000 on medical bills. Due to all this, the court even ordered Copperfield to reveal his trick. Although Copperfield’s attorney argued that revealing the magic trick would be a wrong move financially, the court did not rule it out.

2. Vanishing the Statue of Liberty

Only a Magician like David Copperfield could live up to the challenge of making a 310-foot statue disappear. Back in 1983, the world wasn’t ready for an illusion of this nature, and as a result, they couldn’t handle what they saw. While the trick did not end up being as controversial as “Lucky #13”, it did manage to leave people confused to their very senses. Moreover, the trick was done to emphasize on how we take our freedom for granted. Due to that, when the moment came to light, people realized that they could expect the unexpected from life.

Although the trick was a successful one, things did not reach the true extent as the world came to know about the trick. The effort and the importance of illusion were lost when people realized all about the tricks that were used by David Copperfield. Due to that, if you haven’t read about how he did it, then it is best to leave it that way.

Conclusion

Being successful has always brought forward controversy as things tend to get mixed along the line of work. But for Copperfield, such aspects will not undermine his talent and all that he is capable of doing.

The Life of Criss Angel

Criss Angel

As a magician, illusionist and musician, Criss Angel has offered a lot to the world of entertainment. Apart from redefining the world of modern magic shows, he went on to bring in tricks that further extended the bar on magic. As a successful magician, Criss’s show, “MINDFREAK” was viewed by more than 100 million people from across 90 countries. But before success and fame caught hold of Criss Angel, what was he doing? How was he as a child? Well, if you wish to know about the journey and life of Criss Angel, then go ahead and read the following.

1. The First Trick

An essential part of every magician’s career is the very first trick or the moment that drew them towards magic. As a result, this particular question was asked over and over again to one of the most-watched magicians in television history. Luckily, for Criss, magic started at an early age. When his aunt Stella taught him his very first trick, he was just a six-year-old boy. While a card trick may not have much effect on adults, a six-year-old took things differently.

He was hooked on to that trick and ultimately was inspired to do magic. While his first audience was his family, he soon began to change things for the better. As a result, he kept on practising and never gave up. At the age of 12, he performed his first magic show, which was held at a neighbour’s birthday party. While not a lot of information is known about that show, it did give a 12-year-old Criss $10.

2. The Passion for Magic

The aspect of keeping your passion within and letting it consume you is not an easy job. You will have to make sacrifices and disappoint a number of people along the journey. Well, for Criss Angel, he did manage to keep his passion, make a few sacrifices and ultimately disappoint people. It all began when he graduated from high school and decided to skip college and pursue his love for magic. His dream was to become a full-time magician.

While it all sounds to be exciting now, things were not the same back in the day. His parents were disappointed as they hoped to see their sons go to college and become doctors and lawyers. But the thought about becoming a professional magician kept Criss going and he never gave up on the same. He kept on travelling and exploring the world of magic. Moreover, he also studied the history of magic by going across multiple books in public libraries.

The journey of Criss Angel talks about life and the will that kept an individual going. Despite facing odds, Criss went on to become a successful magician who will never be forgotten.

Ultimately, Criss Angel studied the arts of music, martial arts, dance and mysticism. With all this, he was ready to take on the world of magic and provide people with something that they haven’t seen before.

Conclusion

The journey of Criss Angel talks about life and the will that kept an individual going. Despite facing odds, Criss went on to become a successful magician who will never be forgotten.

14 Facts You Need To Know About Magic

Magic

Everybody likes magic. Whether it’s the kids or the family, it is entertaining, but as easy it seems, there is a lot that goes in the making of illusion. They make us wonder about things that we thought we knew.

Magic Show

  1. The term “magic” comes from Greek

The etymology is ancient. Magic comes from a Greek word Mageia. The first people believed to perform magic were Greeks and Persians.

  1. Magic is not occult

This is the misconception. Magic is an art that requires a sleight of hand, and a lot of skill. Though many magicians used occult for advertising purposes, that was nothing but false advertisements.

  1. Magic became respectable in the early 18th century

Until the 18th century, magic remained confined to side events, but in the 18th century and began to be performed widely.

  1. The specific magician look is not a random thing

This is one of the most important things in a magician. You would recognize them with their get up. The appearance was created by French magician Alexander Hermann. After that, the audience expected to see the magicians in the same attire.

  1. Magic organizations:

There are organizations that magicians are part of, but they are nothing of the sort that is shown in movies. It is an organization that unites magicians. The oldest organization is the Society of American Magicians. Houdini was also part of it. The International Brotherhood of Magicians is the largest organization as of now.

  1. Professional secrets

There is a lot of magic trick and professional secrets. Initially, these secrets remained confined to the magicians. They feared that once the people know how to do that, there won’t be anything to attract them, but this turned out to be wrong. As long as there is news in the session, the audiencewill love it.

  1. Magic has been used to evangelize

It has been used by St. Don Bosco has used magic in the 19th century to determine children to come back to the school, and attend church.

  1. Online magic exists

This may sound bizarre, but this exists. There are online magic tricks that can be performed without the need of a magician. This can include illusions and card tricks.

  1. Rich magician:

The show business is one of the best as of now, and what can be better than the magic. Popular magicians are very rich. David Copperfield is one such example who has a net worth of $800 million. He has sold more than 33 million tickets so far.

  1. Illusionist:

The tern magician has been becoming old, and most of the artists refer to it as an illusionist. Magic means something supernatural, and you can’t explain.

  1. Classic trick:

Pulling a rabbit out of habit has never been a classic trick, but it was created by a magician to prompt public interest, and capitalize on a woman who claimed she had given birth to rabbits.

Books

  1. Books:

There are a lot of books that are written on the subject.The are sold on specialized stores meant for magical performers.

  1. “hocus pocus” and “abracadabra”?

These two words are the most common phrases repeated in magic. They both have their history. Hocus Pocus was the name of a sorcerer in Norse mythology called Ochus Bochus. Abracadabra was an inscription that people sued to wear on their amulets during the Black plague.

  1. Houdini died on Halloween

The famous magician died on Halloween in 1926. Rumors had that he died of the punch to his abdomen that a student threw at him to check if his claim of withstanding any punch was true.

Conclusion:

Magic is fun. Even though you know that it is just an illusion, we are attracted to the things we can’t understand fully, and in magic, everyday there is a new illusion.

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