Chicago close up magicians
July 20, 2016 12:44 PM Subscribe
Chicago close up magicians: Every Saturday for the past 25 years, a group of friends
has gathered in a Lincoln Park apartment to invent and
perfect some of the world’s most mind-blowing card tricks.
Neal Pollack had a great story about Mr. Ash back in the day.
posted by luke at 1:10 PM on July 20, 2016
posted by luke at 1:10 PM on July 20, 2016
Sometimes magic can be very, very narrowly focused. Close up magic especially so. For some reason one memory my very odd brain has decided to store and easily recall is a segment of a daytime talk show when I was quite young. I'm thinking it must have been the Mike Douglas show, so I'm going to proceed as if that's the case. But anyway, they had a close up magician on who did a trick onstage.
Douglas and the magician are seated opposite each other across a small table in the middle of the stage, and the audience is well back, looking on from the side. So the audience's perspective is totally different from that of Douglas, the "audience" for the trick itself.
So the guy's got a pad of paper and the thing he does is, he tears off a sheet and balls it up, and then he passes the ball of paper back and forth from hand to hand a few times while he's doing his patter, and then the ball is just gone. "Where did it go?" he asks, and Douglas admits "I don't know."
"Okay, I'll do it again. Watch this time." And he does it again. Balls up the sheet of paper, passes it back and forth a couple times, it's gone. And Douglas never does figure out what he's doing. But the audience is losing it because from their perspective it's really obvious what he's doing. He's getting Douglas' attention focused where he wants it, and then he's literally tossing the ball of paper over Douglas' head. By the end of the bit, there's damn near a dozen balls of paper scattered across the carpet behind Douglas' chair.
But it worked. Douglas never figured it out. While for the audience the bit was mostly about the comedy and maybe that feeling of being on the inside, from Douglas' perspective, it was a successful magic trick. Different perspectives, different results. It reminds me of those anamorphic street drawings that turn into 3D scenes when you view them from just the right angle.
posted by Naberius at 1:28 PM on July 20, 2016 [16 favorites]
Douglas and the magician are seated opposite each other across a small table in the middle of the stage, and the audience is well back, looking on from the side. So the audience's perspective is totally different from that of Douglas, the "audience" for the trick itself.
So the guy's got a pad of paper and the thing he does is, he tears off a sheet and balls it up, and then he passes the ball of paper back and forth from hand to hand a few times while he's doing his patter, and then the ball is just gone. "Where did it go?" he asks, and Douglas admits "I don't know."
"Okay, I'll do it again. Watch this time." And he does it again. Balls up the sheet of paper, passes it back and forth a couple times, it's gone. And Douglas never does figure out what he's doing. But the audience is losing it because from their perspective it's really obvious what he's doing. He's getting Douglas' attention focused where he wants it, and then he's literally tossing the ball of paper over Douglas' head. By the end of the bit, there's damn near a dozen balls of paper scattered across the carpet behind Douglas' chair.
But it worked. Douglas never figured it out. While for the audience the bit was mostly about the comedy and maybe that feeling of being on the inside, from Douglas' perspective, it was a successful magic trick. Different perspectives, different results. It reminds me of those anamorphic street drawings that turn into 3D scenes when you view them from just the right angle.
posted by Naberius at 1:28 PM on July 20, 2016 [16 favorites]
Close magic is like an artichoke. When you're young and cynical it seems gross and difficult, but as you get older more and more you start to appreciate its prickly charms. And if you ever encounter it employed by a true master, it is utterly incomparable.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:33 PM on July 20, 2016 [5 favorites]
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:33 PM on July 20, 2016 [5 favorites]
Naberius, I could be wrong, but I believe that Ricky Jay did that on Douglas or Letterman.
As I was reading your post, I assumed you were going to relate it to this OP as I believe the camera work reveals at least two of the tricks.
For instance, in the final trick in the video, it's clear what the magician is doing because we can see the cards as he's placing them on the woman's hands. She can't, but the camera can. At the head of the trick, it looks like the magician is aware of the problem and is trying to physically turn her so that she and the camera have the same perspective, but he fails.
In an earlier trick in the video (I believe it's the second), the magician does a piss-poor job of hiding what's going on and it's clear what he's doing--not sure if it's because of the camera-placement, but it spoils the trick.
I haven't read the article yet, but, watching the video, I was not impressed with the magician featured. I haven't done magic in over 30 years, since I was mid-teens, and really only mastered one card trick, but that trick uses the same technique this guy does in all his tricks.
In short... yes, perspective is very important.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 2:09 PM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
As I was reading your post, I assumed you were going to relate it to this OP as I believe the camera work reveals at least two of the tricks.
For instance, in the final trick in the video, it's clear what the magician is doing because we can see the cards as he's placing them on the woman's hands. She can't, but the camera can. At the head of the trick, it looks like the magician is aware of the problem and is trying to physically turn her so that she and the camera have the same perspective, but he fails.
In an earlier trick in the video (I believe it's the second), the magician does a piss-poor job of hiding what's going on and it's clear what he's doing--not sure if it's because of the camera-placement, but it spoils the trick.
I haven't read the article yet, but, watching the video, I was not impressed with the magician featured. I haven't done magic in over 30 years, since I was mid-teens, and really only mastered one card trick, but that trick uses the same technique this guy does in all his tricks.
In short... yes, perspective is very important.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 2:09 PM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]
Naberius & YSSTOG:
You are thinking of Tony Slydini https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW6oQZc_c80
posted by aerosolkid at 2:11 PM on July 20, 2016 [7 favorites]
You are thinking of Tony Slydini https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FW6oQZc_c80
posted by aerosolkid at 2:11 PM on July 20, 2016 [7 favorites]
The mostly long gone tiny old time magic shops were really magical. I wish I'd photographed the shop in downtown Seattle (on Seneca) had floor to ceiling wooden drawers jam packed with every sort of clever trick or spring loaded flower. But even now nerds beware, diving into this puts to shame "fandom" or compulsive forums in the intricate arcane details of card passes or palming techniques. The article does point out that most "secrets" are accessible in books. A volume from the library can have serious info but there does seem to be an ongoing cottage industry publishing books and DVD's many are available on amazon but probably few with look inside activated ;-)
posted by sammyo at 2:16 PM on July 20, 2016
posted by sammyo at 2:16 PM on July 20, 2016
aerosolkid, yup! I believe better footage of that trick is in a documentary on Ricky Jay where he's talking about his influences.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 2:25 PM on July 20, 2016
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 2:25 PM on July 20, 2016
Terrific, I bloody love close up magic, thank you for sharing this.
posted by smoke at 5:52 PM on July 20, 2016
posted by smoke at 5:52 PM on July 20, 2016
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https://vimeo.com/86908002
I remember going to Magic, Inc when I was a little kid. I was too young, but my older brother got the linking rings trick there, and several others too. This was the 70s, so I guess towards the end of the Magic craze in Chicago.
posted by jeff-o-matic at 1:00 PM on July 20, 2016 [2 favorites]