A Great Idea For Anyone Who Does XCM

XCM (Extreme Card Manipulation) has been discussed quite a bit at this blog over the last few days. After I posted the video of “Card Manipulation Guy”, people started talking and bringing up some really good points about XCM…

• Can XCM be entertaining by itself?
• Should XCM be considered a branch of magic, or its own art?
• Should magicians ever perform XCM in their shows? (Sort of like the old “should mentalists ever perform magic tricks” debate.)
• Is all that practice worth it?
• Will an XCM artist ever become famous outside the magic world?

Well, I’d like to switch gears a little bit and ask this question…

Can an XCM artist ever earn any MONEY???

Despite all the above discussion, everyone agreed that “Card Manipulation Guy” (I don’t even know his name…is it Dmitri?) is completely amazing and utterly talented.

So let’s help him, and ALL XCM artists, brainstorm ways to make their art pay off!

Where are some of the places an XCM artist can perform (ONLY XCM! No magic!) to earn a little bit (or a lot) of income?

I have a great idea, but I want to hear yours first. Post your possible XCM venues as a comment below…

My Opinion Of The Card Manipulation Guy

No doubt you’ve seen the video of the RIDICULOUS display of card manipulation skill on my blog.

If not, here’s the direct link:

http://timdavidmagic.com/?p=167

You’ll quickly see that there are already over 50 comments about this guy ranging from “OMG THAT IS THE BEST!” to “Boring after 30 seconds”. (There are some pretty funny comments and some pretty rude comments mixed in there as well.)

Here are my thoughts:

• First of all…YES, this guy is outstanding at what he does.

Probably the best I’ve seen.

• He should NEVER do magic tricks for 3 reasons:
  1. He’s too good at manipulation to waste time with anything else.
  2. People already assume he can do anything he wants with a deck of cards. No need to prove anything.

  Here’s the big one though…

  3. Magic would never be about the effect if it came from his hands. It would always be about the skill he possesses.

  Not his fault…but true nonetheless.

• The focus of his act is on his skill…not on the audience.

His skill sets him apart from everyone else – To the point where people feel that they cannot relate or connect to him.

In fact, almost everyone I showed this to said something like: “Wow…that’s amazing. This guy probably has no social life.”

In closing, this is a classic example of someone who has the potential to be very well known and even famous in the magic and XCM circles, but outside of our little world, I don’t predict he’ll become a household name.

I hope he proves me wrong.

What do YOU think?

Post your thoughts as a comment below.

Go spread some wonder!

- Tim David

High-Impact Coin Magic – NOW SHIPPING

Big news.

(It’s finally ready.)

The magic DVD that was over 35% sold out WEEKS before it was even released is now available to magicians everywhere.

As of right now, you can get “High-Impact Coin Magic” in select magic shops worldwide and at my web site:

http://www.TimDavidMagic.com/hicm.html

While you’re watching the demo video, you’ll have to keep reminding yourself that everything can be done with BORROWED coins.

Go spread some wonder!

- Tim David

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