Magic Tunnel / False Swipe

[Travmang]

Hey everyone! Just got done uploading two new videos to my YouTube channel and I'd love to know your honest opinions/criticisms you have for me. Please be brutally honest in all aspects of your opinions if you chose to share them!

Thanks guys!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzDAuT-g2CY




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqZNvY1j15c

---------- Post added at 08:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:38 AM ----------

Actually after re watching the False Swipe video, I think it looks really unnatural and the technique is horrible, and I think I'm going to take it down, depending on what you guys say. Maybe to laymen its not that noticeable but to magicians it seems way way way too obvious.

[TommySteal]

Hey trav, I really like the "magic tunnel". Nice control and revelation of the spectators card, but more importantly you did a smooth job of cleaning up after yourself - the design of the cards helped with that I think, wink wink. I agree with you that the second looks pretty unnatural where the palming is concerned but the actual change looks very smooth indeed. Nice one

[Albert]

Not bad, not bad. The Repulse looks pretty good. I'll give my honest feedback now:

1) For the Magic Tunnel, the D*ub*e was well handled, as there were no noticeable mistakes when doing the thru-the-fist thingy (I forgot the name :D). However, when doing the "dirty work" for the Repulse, make sure you try and get used to not having to do the dirty work (it's hard to explain without exposing xD) and using just the one hand for the placement control. Also, this is where the refining portion of the Repulse really gets tough. You see how your left thumb stops moving mid way through the deck in the Magic Tunnel? That's bad. The action of the Repulse is to imitate the squaring up motion, so your thumb must never stop moving and only move backwards and then to the front again. It's hard to do that at first, but try to fix that. However, the idea is clever and I like it :D *thumbs up*

2) As for the False Swipe (yay, it's a pokemon move xD), a little less well done compared to the Magic Tunnel. The problem with the Repulse is also evident here and your thumb started to come off :cry:. More practice should fix that. As for the T**ka*, your pinky was the most awkward (around 0:26 - 0:30). Try and fix the T**ka* to be as natural as it can look in front of a mirror first to get a feel for it and try again :)

However, you are getting better :D Now, try and practice the repulse in the front-view. It's more bold, but can be more deceptive :D

[Travmang]

Thanks guys! And yeah I forgot to mention that the name was purposely False Swipe after the Pokemon move, it doesn't really apply to the trick though because there is no false swiping of anything lol, but oh well w/e lol.

For Magic Tunnel, I really do like the method of the D*ub*e because it seems so natural in the handling that its tough to notice it, even for magicians i feel. The problem with the one handed placement control "setup" is the camera angle is so awkward and i have no option of a different angle with what i have. So its difficult to do as you do in the repulse routine because the angle and i'd have to "repulse" the chosen card ALOT, but i do it that way in person! And yeah, I do need to refine the Repulse, I was focused more on it being really fast instead of doing the full and proper motion, plus i never really noticed the thumb thing before, good catch! I'll just have to work on the thumb motion while hopefully retaining the speed of the control!

For False Swipe, I see what you mean about the thumb again, it is a problem but I'm happy its only a small one. Refining the move is very difficult indeed! And as for the T**ka* I agree, the problem as well with that performance is when I originally got the card in that position, it wasnt quite ideal and it felt that it would fall out of my hand if I didn't have the pinky support, which is something I need to work on a lot lol!

Thanks for the honest feedback though, I really appreciate it, and I'm so glad you both like Magic Tunnel as I haven't seen those combinations of sleights used in a single trick anywhere before, although its much much better with a vocal performance because it really adds to the effect when the original card is incorrect and the spectator believes you made a mistake but then its like BLAM awesome unsuspecting change hahaha.

What do some of you other awesome people have to say about them?! <3 you all I want more feedback so I can improve!

[Fin]

Great work Travmang! Both videos are awesome.. I agree with everything Albert points out and following his tips can only make things even better and smoother. From a beginner's perspective I'd like to add that I saw ZERO flashing. Yes you left a few clues as to what sleights you may be using due to movement and posture but I think most laymen would be blown away and totally clueless at what you currently have going there. Improving the T**ka* posture, the Repulse flow, and other details are well worth working on as you have already discovered; but hey, overall, what I saw was confident, high quality card handling. Keep up the great work.

[la0o9]

The first effect really was good, except your control was a bit less than ideal( everyone understand that there's always room for improvement).

The second effect was a bit unnatural, on the change and the T**k*ai, take a look at Mark's "The city of Paris", when he showed that the top card wasn't the selection, notice his hand position, if you can get your T**k*i to look like that from even just 1 angle, you're good to go.

And the actual change in the second effect, i suggest you end with an "Orbinase" style change, with the deck being held sideways.

BTW, nice concepts.