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…

Magic Trick Gone Wrong…Funny

These three guys are actually very creative film makers and they’re taking YouTube by storm.

Have you seen their interactive web videos yet? I’m just warning you now…if you start, you’ll be watching them for the next few hours…they’re THAT good!

Here is one I saw today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDn0ow8EzcU

Why are they so entertaining? And more importantly, what can we learn from them as magicians and mentalists?

They are entertaining because…

* They’re kind of funny

* Good special effects

* They’re freakin’ INTERACTIVE!

In my opinion, the ONLY reason they have so many views is because the videos are interactive.

The plot (by itself) sucks and the comedy is just okay…However, the fact that I can interact and “choose my own adventure” makes this WILDLY entertaining.

Please, please, PLEASE make it a point to involve your audience when you perform your magic. It will take your performance to a new level.

P.S. This is one other possible reason the card manipulation guy fails to entertain people…his act is not interactive.

For you card manipulators out there…come up with a way to involve your spectators. It may take some creativity, but you’re artists…I know you can do it. Send me a video of what you come up with and I’ll post it here.

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

Inhuman Card Manipulations

A magic friend of mine sent me this video called, “Opera”:

My question for you is this:

What’s more impressive to you…a great magic trick, or a great demonstration of skill, like in the video above?

Let me know your thoughts by posting a comment below.

Best Magic Book Ever…No Joke

I just finished reading the best magic book I’ve ever read.

I’m NOT kidding.

I knew it was the best magic book ever by the time I got to page 31.

It beats Royal Road to Card Magic, Mark Wilson’s Course, Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic, The entire Tarbell Course, and anything else I can think of.

If you can think of a better magic book…feel free to comment below.

If I could, I would buy every magician I know a copy of this book.

But I can’t (I know over 80,000 magicians) so I’m going to do the next best thing.

I’m going to give you 20% off your next order and with the money you save, I want you to buy this book.

I’m serious. You NEED this book.

Deal?

So, What IS the book?

“Maximum Entertainment” by Ken Weber

THIS is the book I wish I had written.

It doesn’t contain any single trick, but it is full of GOLD when it comes to how to PERFORM magic and how to TRULY spread wonder.

If every magician read this book, magic would be elevated to a whole new level. Please. Help our art and spread the word.

I’m hitting Twitter with this, FaceBook, my blog, and my email list. Magicians need this book and I want to do everything I can to help them get it. How about you?

To get your 20% off, use the following coupon code at checkout:

MAXENT

Use the money you save and GET this book.

Go spread some wonder!
- Tim David

P.S. What products are included in the 20% off deal? Almost all of them…

INSTANT DOWNLOADS:

- Motion (The crazy spinning pen trick)
http://www.TheMagicTeacher.com/motion.html

- Solid Breath (The crazy smoke from mouth trick)
http://www.SolidBreath.com

- NUTTY (The crazy mind-over-matter trick)
http://www.TheMagicTeacher.com/nutty.html

- Solstice (The crazy color changing card trick)
http://www.TheMagicTeacher.com/solstice.html

- Unmake (The crazy complete coin vanish)
http://www.TimDavidMagic.com/unmake.html

- Symbiotic (The crazy restaurant closer)
http://www.TimDavidMagic.com/symbiotic.html

DVDs:

- High-Impact Coin Magic (Includes Unmake, Symbiotic, and 7 others)
http://www.TimDavidMagic.com/hicm.html

- Numismatic (The crazy coin through glass trick)
http://www.TimDavidMagic.com/numismatic

- SOS (The crazy coin DVD)
http://www.TimDavidMagic.com/sos.html

ONLINE COURSES:

- The Sly Art Of Misdirection
http://www.TheMagicCollege.com/slyart.html

- CardTrickInsider Yearly Membership
http://www.CardTrickInsider.com