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Author: Rick Carruth

In Medieval England Magic was a Service Industry Used by Rich and Poor Alike

In Medieval England Magic was a Service Industry Used by Rich and Poor Alike

Informative article by Tabitha Stanmore for The Conversation..

Chances are that when you hear the words “medieval magic”, the image of a witch will spring to mind: wizened old crones huddled over a cauldron containing unspeakable ingredients such as eye of newt. Or you might think of people brutally prosecuted by overzealous priests. But this picture is inaccurate.

To begin with, fear of witchcraft – selling one’s soul to demons to inflict harm on others – was more of an early modern phenomenon than a medieval one, only beginning to take hold in Europe at the tail end of the 15th century. This vision also clouds from view the other magical practices in pre-modern England.

Magic is a universal phenomenon. Every society in every age has carried some system of belief and in every society there have been those who claim the ability to harness or manipulate the supernatural powers behind it. Even today, magic subtly pervades our lives – some of us have charms we wear to exams or interviews and others nod at lone magpies to ward off bad luck. Iceland has a government-recognised elf-whisperer, who claims the ability to see, speak to, and negotiate with the supernatural creatures still believed to live in Iceland’s landscape.

While today we might write this off as an overactive imagination or the stuff of fantasy, in the medieval period magic was widely accepted to be very real. A spell or charm could change a person’s life: sometimes for the worse, as with curses – but equally, if not more often, for the better.  READ MORE

How Derren Brown Remade Mind Reading for Skeptics – Article

How Derren Brown Remade Mind Reading for Skeptics – Article

The mentalist’s manipulation techniques give people too sophisticated to believe in the paranormal something quasi-scientific to hang on to.

By Adam Green.. for The New Yorker  –  Very intelligent and informative article will appear in the New Yorker on Monday, Oct.7th.

In 2005, when I was visiting London, a magician friend told me that I had to see the English mentalist Derren Brown, who was appearing in the West End, in his one-man show “Something Wicked This Way Comes.” Brown had become famous for an astonishing ability to seemingly read the thoughts of his fellow-humans and to control their actions. In a series of TV specials, he’d reinvented a waning branch of magic—mentalism—for a new generation, framing his feats as evidence not of psychic powers but of a cutting-edge knowledge of the mind and how to manipulate it.

A few days later, I was sitting in a capacity audience at a theatre in Covent Garden. A slim, pale, vulpine man in his mid-thirties, with well-tended light-brown hair and a goatee, came onstage, dressed in a trim black suit and a black shirt. He looked more like the creative director of an advertising agency than like a mind reader, and seemed to take neither his spectators nor himself too seriously: when someone’s cell phone went off, he gave a look of mock alarm and said, “Don’t answer it. It’s very bad news.” Beneath his genially impudent manner lurked a suggestion of preternatural self-assurance and even menace.

Brown spent the next two and a half hours performing a series of increasingly inconceivable set pieces, organized around the theme of how susceptible we are to hidden influence. He gave demonstrations of subliminal persuasion, lie detection, instant trance induction, and mass hypnosis, as well as manipulation of his own mental state to control his response to pain. To show that participants were selected at random, he hurled a stuffed monkey into the auditorium, and whoever caught it would come up onstage…  Read More

DERREN BROWN SECRET – A Review

DERREN BROWN SECRET – A Review

Derren Brown SECRET – A Review

By Rick Carruth

Derren Brown’s latest, and perhaps greatest, show just opened on Broadway. I have watched many of his tv specials, originating from the UK, and read several of his published works.. so.. when I was invited to attend a pre-opening show at the Cort Theater in New York, I couldn’t resist..

My wife and I were met at the theater by his publicist and given our press passes. Thankfully, we were seated about seven rows from the stage, so we had an excellent vantage point to watch a performer at his peak. I say that because in 2017 Derren finished a run at the Atlantic Theater Company, performing each show to a sold-out audience. This show was the same show performed in 2017, except on Broadway.. and to a much larger audience.

Written and directed by Andy Nyman and Andrew O’Connor, with writing by Derren as well, the show certainly featured a proven trio of both actors, directors, and writers. All are highly respected actors and award winners. SECRET is produced by J.J. Abrams, ( Regarding Henry, Forever Young, Armageddon, Cloverfield, Star Trek, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Thomas Kail and Jeffrey Seller of the wildly popular ‘Hamilton’.

Derren frequently calls himself a “psychological illusionist,” and accomplishes his feats with a combination of mind reading, persuasion, and psychological illusion. He prefers to tell the audience most of what he accomplishes is through the art of muscle reading, gesture interpretation, and subliminal suggestions, among other non-psychic feats. He does not claim to be psychic.

I particularly enjoyed watching and listening to the audience as the show progressed. I could hear the whispers and profound theories. Being a fair to middling proponent of magic and mentalism, I had a distinct advantage over most of my neighbors, and yet I was thoroughly entertained throughout the show.

Derren performed a classic array of effects. A couple were effects you might be familiar with; adapted to the stage.. and a couple more were large scale effects designed for a big audience and utilizing several audience members at once. One I recognized as a card effect he changed to use with various photos of audience members.. and another segment, about 20 minutes, entailed Derren interacting with various audience members, giving mini-psychic readings, disclosing facts about their lives he couldn’t reasonably know. Everything ended with the two best effects of the night… his famous ‘drawing’ effect and a grand finale that served one surprise after another, ending with THE SURPRISE.

The audience is ‘sort of..’ sworn to secrecy.. to preserve the integrity of the show for those to follow.. so I don’t think I can be too specific. I did recognize a couple of the earlier effects in the show as being effects I had seen performed on videos. That said.. it didn’t matter. I was involved in watching how he handled the audience, how he spoke to the audience and ‘explained’ some of the supposed psychological nuiances he employed, and how he avoided ‘patter’.

The latter was important to me. It takes a special skill to make an entire show appear as if you’re performing it ‘off the cuff’.. but with special skill and handling. That is a very difficult combination.. and demonstrates a level of professionalism achievable by only a handful of performers.

What I’m saying is… Derren Brown is one of those performers. He is a pro is every sense of the word. And his show is as good as any mentalism type show you will ever attend. If you’re like me.. you missed the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Dunninger, Scarne and Harry Blackstone… Do yourself a favor and DON’T miss Derren Brown..

https://youtu.be/5CD_eTmLaV4

Sweet Simplicity – John Carey – A Review

Sweet Simplicity – John Carey – A Review

Sweet Simplicity – John Carey – A Review

Rick Carruth

John Carey and BIGBLINDMEDIA present Sweet Simplicity, a collection of mostly self-working card tricks for those of us who enjoy such indulgences.. The Ad Copy reads:

John Carey has built an international reputation for his streamlined approach to card magic. Simplicity of method and great routining equals great magic that is EASY to do BUT still utterly fooling! On Sweet Simplicity you’ll find ten self working or super easy to do card tricks that will slay any audience. Simple to perform they may be – but the effect on your audience will be KNOCKOUT!

FEATURING:

1 in 52 – Carey’s self working streamlined imaginary deck routine is a total worker.

The trick that can be explained – Carey’s spin on a Dai Vernon classic. Devious!

Technicolor Reset – Four blue backed Jokers transpose in slow motion with four red backed Jokers in an exceptionally clean manner and then immediately transpose back in a flash!

Five Oh?! – Semi automatic card magic on steroids, where you get five effects from practically nothing. Super strong and so much fun!

The Perception Shuffle – A self working false shuffle. Yes, you read that right!

Spectator Star – Make your spectator the star as they shuffle, cut and turn over the aces. Boom!

Somewhere over the rainbow – John’s rainbow deck is a thing of beauty. No sleights, just pure subtlety.

Don’t Make Me Cross – Carey’s ungaffed Brainwave effect where the card they think of is the only odd back card – so cheeky and yet SO strong!

Entrapment – A really cool, self working slow motion sandwich effect that you will love using.

One thought One Spell – A very subtle spelling effect you will want to add straight to your repertoire.

My Thoughts…

The vogue seems to be self-working card tricks. I can understand. There are many out there who do not have the time, or dexterity, to devote to endless hours of practice… yet, they want to be a part of the magic revolution.

The next-to-last time i saw the amazing Daryl was at a magic convention in the South. He spent all his dedicated time for the lecture to performing and teaching several self-working card tricks. You might expect more from such a talented magician, but Daryl understood his audience. When he finished and said..”What I performed is available in a set of lecture notes at my table just off the front of the stage.”.. I sat in my seat and watched as thirty to forty grown men unabashedly rushed, and I mean RUSHED, to the front of the stage to get their copy. They saw the performance.. they saw the power.. and they wanted it…

I often pick up self-working card magic DVD’s in hopes of finding one, and if I’m really lucky.. two effects I can file away in my repertoire. Although primarily for true beginners, I do run across that occasional unicorn.

SWEET SIMPLICITY is more than a unicorn ( an extremely rare creature ).. it is a little herd of unicorns. Honestly. I can’t disagree with anything in the ad copy. This collection WILL fool most magicians.. not to mention any lay audience.

The description of the ten effects in the ad copy will suffice. I could add a little something, but in all fairness to John I don’t want to give away too much. Here are a few of my thoughts that might add a little something to the review..

1 in 52 – Equivoque force of one of three cards.. This effect is not a magician slayer.. but gets a REALLY good reaction from a lay audience.. A keeper.

The Trick That Can Be Explained – Prediction effect with multiple outs. I would have to call this one a keeper too.

Technicolor Reset – Color Transposition. Strong packet effect. One of the only effects not self-working and could probably be sold as a stand-alone effect. You may not fool many magicians.. but they will certainly applaud your efforts. One of my two favorites..

Five Oh?! – Another Teleportation type effect. A selected card ends up sandwiched. Deck changes to all Jokers. This is a fine study of subtle moves, and is definitely a keeper.

The Perception Shuffle – Inspired by the Paradise Force Cut. Learn to perform this shuffle while looking the spectator in the eyes… and you have another keeper.

Spectator Star – A four Ace trick, as performed by a spectator. Semi-automatic working. Another effect that will slay a lay audience. May not fool most magicians, but they will certainly appreciate your effort.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow – Another four Aces trick with a kicker. Optical display would work perfectly with Daryl’s Kaleidoscope Cards or a Bicycle Rainbow deck. My other personal favorite.. Love the handling…

Don’t Make Me Cross – Ungaffed Brainwave type effect. The spectator finds the odd card in a mixed deck.

Entrapment – Self working sandwich effect. Nice series of moves to reach a performance climax. Another one the lay audience will never figure out.

One Thought One Spell – A spelling effect you’ll like, even if you’re not crazy about spelling effects..

Sweet Simplicity is available as a DVD or as an instant download, depending on where you purchase it. My copy is a DVD, and if there’s a downside, it’s that there was a lack of info for us reviewers. Short of pulling out a calculator and totaling ten performances and ten explanations, I can’t tell you the length of the DVD. Let’s just say it’s about an hour and ten minutes. Everything about the DVD was typical Bigblindmedia quality… The sound and video were very good, the music was very good.. and the helpers, aside from Liam, were very easy on the eye.. ( I only have one good one..)

Again.. I am very impressed by this collection of effects. This will be one of the best twenty five bucks you’ve spent in a long time. I really enjoy being able to make a firm recommendation of a new product, and Sweet Simplicity gets just that.. If you can’t find at least three or four keepers on this DVD, may I recommend badminton?

$25.00 From dealers who carry the Murphy’s Magic line of products
https://www.murphysmagic.com/product.aspx?id=65050