http://www.mallusionist.com/blog Bad advice for magicians, delivered somewhat weekly Thu, 02 Oct 2008 21:05:47 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The folks a the Ellusionist blog invited discussion of what a list of the ten most dangerous effects in magic might include. I am pleased to add my vast knowledge of magic to this area of inquiry. My list of ten most dangerous magic effects (in no particular order) would ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/09/30/most-dangerous-effects-in-magic/ A reader writes: Ok of course I'm gonna be skeptical on how he walked on the lake. But you guys said he had batteries on him and electricity was going, to the bottom of his shoes that had strips of metal. Don't you see what's wrong with that,as I recall there ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/09/29/clarification-on-criss-angels-lake-walk/ I had time this weekend to do a little research and have posted the results in the main part of the Web site. This time around I have a clear, detailed explanation of how magician Criss Angel walked across Lake Mead on his Midfreak show, and the secrets behind Ellusionist's ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/08/11/new-effects-exposed/ Finally I've received another question! My dear new friend Jordan writes: how does criss angel turns a little 8 year old to a 20 year old? I have not personally seen Angel perform this effect, but the secret is well known to television magicians. The secret is simple: an eight-year-old child ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/08/05/angel-ages-a-child/ How nice! I'm starting to receive more mail that is neither insulting nor unprintable. I am pleased to answer selected questions on this blog, and will do so as they arrive. A reader writes: I went to see Derren Brown recently and in his act he went from behind a writing screen ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/07/24/derren-brown-and-the-gorilla/ Sorry not to have written in so long! I have been touring the country helping to promote Pixar's new short film "Presto" which is playing before the wonderful cartoon WALL*E. Although I was not consulted in the creation of this film and neither Pixar nor Disney asked for my assistance ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/07/15/wheres-presto/ Magician Jason Palter's latest effect, iKnow, is quite an entertaining bit of mentalism. It begins with you allowing a spectator to borrow your iPod and listen to a song. Then you listen to their ear for the sound of the music "echoing about in their brainless head" (as one frequently ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/04/24/iknow-iknow/ I would like to share with you a few things you might not know about one of my favorite illusionists, Andrew Mayne. Mayne is the creator of such memorable body-deformation effects as Chest Burster, Painful Dislocation, and -- as made famous by The Amazing Johnathan -- Jump Rope with Your ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/04/21/mayne-events/ I keep hearing about the magicians' code. What is it? The magicians' code prevents magicians from giving away their -- or other magicians' -- secrets. This is done because revealing the secrets of magic would ruin magic as we know it, sending magicians out of their fabulous mansions and into the ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/04/14/the-magicians-code/ A few years back, Ellusionist released their Bicycle Black Tiger deck of cards -- a deck with white ink on black paper, scented like a real Asian tiger. They proved so popular that a short time later the company began producing an entirely new deck -- a deck with white ... http://www.mallusionist.com/blog/2008/04/07/the-history-of-black-cards/