From 1pm PST Today, any purchase of 2 DVDs over $24.95 will qualify for a Free LTD Deck from a reserve of 1000 that we’ve been sitting on since their original release during our Annual Holiday Giveaway.

Not only did Peter McKinnon shoot, edit, star in and direct the above trailer for LTD, he also helped design the deck itself – and may have even incorporated his initials somewhere in there as well… It seems today may even unofficially be ‘Peter McKinnon’ day – as his collaboration with Bobby Motta releases today on DVD exclusive to Ellusionist.

The effect, called ‘Blackmail’ has already been called the Ultimate Mentalism Utility Gimmick – it does away with the standard Mentalism prediction gimmicks, and allows you to predict absolutely anything – from inside a sealed envelope, in full view at all times – no nail writer, no pen, no notepad. Just you and your prediction.

Also releasing today – Rob Greenlee’s newest effect. Rob’s first release with Ellusionist, ‘Ziplocked’ became an instant bestseller, and with Lockdown it looks like he’ll be doing it again. A signed coin vanishes with the pass of a pack of gum and reappears inside… with the packet STILL SEALED. The trailer is unbelievable – but it really does look that good. Coincidentally, Peter McKinnon also consulted on this effect allowing for a much smoother, cleaner disappearance.

So pick up these two new releases – or any other 2 DVDs over $24.95, and your Free LTD Deck will automatically be added to your cart. Want more DVDs? We’ll add more decks! A maximum of 3 decks per order.

These decks won’t last long – we’ll be amazed if we even get to 72 hours, so hurry to get yours while stocks last.

Cracked.com’s website is a merry source of information. However apparently the worlds first hacker wasn’t a teenager playing chess with a mono-chromatic opponent bent on world domination. Read on for more.

From WarGames to The Matrix and, um, Hackers? We guess? 3L337x0rz hackers have been sticking it to The Man ever since the Web was invented.

But Previously, in the Real World …

One afternoon in June of 1903, John Ambrose Fleming and his boss, Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi, were about to demonstrate Marconi’s new high-tech wireless telegraph system to a crowded theater in London. But right before Fleming was scheduled to receive a wireless message from Marconi, the equipment started tapping out the word “rats” over and over, followed by the Edwardian era equivalent of a rap battle diss:

“There was a young fellow of Italy
Who fiddled the public quite prettily”

And all the ladies swooned while the gentlemen got their flummox on, loudly exclaiming things like “I say!” and “Why I never!” Fleming and Marconi were understandably furious that someone would so lewdly interrupt their demonstration — Marconi actually went on record describing it as “scientific hooliganism” (dibs on the Tumblr name!). But who could have possessed the resources and know-how to hack into wireless technology that had barely even been invented yet?

The answer came four days later when Nevil Maskelyne, a fabulously mustachioed magician whose grandson you may have heard of, confessed to the prank in a letter to The Times. When Marconi arrogantly started bragging about not only the efficacy but also the impenetrable security of his new wireless system, Maskelyne, being a proud member of his multigenerational anachronistic scientist/battle-magician bloodline, did the only reasonable thing: He promptly whipped up his own homemade radio tower and proceeded to hack into Marconi’s “secure” signal.

Maskelyne justified his actions by stating that he simply wanted to expose the security risks of the new wireless technology to the public — which is basically word for word what modern hackers say when you ask them why they replaced every uppercase “I” on the CIA website with a crude cartoon dick. Funny, though: It seems so much more plausible coming from the smirking space directly beneath an old-timey magician’s mustache than from the Twitter account of an acne-pocked teenager in Denmark.

Everywhere you go in magic circles at some point or another you’ll hear magicians utter the word ‘Jam‘ or ‘Session‘. What exactly is a ‘Jam‘ and why do we ‘Session‘?

A ‘Jam Session‘ when talking about magic,  is usually when a group of magicians get together to share ideas or work on new routines. Mostly just to hang out and be around the thing that they love, magic. I’ve been lucky to be surrounded by amazing magicians my entire career and the jam sessions I’ve been blessed to be in are nothing short of amazing. It’s almost like being at a convention when ever I hang out. I know that this type of thing doesn’t happen for everyone. But that doesn’t mean that ‘Jam Sessions’ aren’t worth the time.

When I do go to these sessions topics of all types are brought up. Anything from sleights to theory of why you should place an object somewhere.

The sessions go much deeper than just tricks. It’s about improvement all around. I’ve even had discussions as to why a suit jacket should be buttoned or unbuttoned while performing, and even how to comb your hair.

Early in my magic career I thought topics like this were ridiculous and not needed. I believed that attention to such ‘trivial’ detail was nothing more than ‘old’ guys listening to themselves talk. Nothing can be farther from the truth.

As I quickly learned, everyone has something to learn and you can learn something from everyone if you know how to listen. ‘Jam Sessions‘ are a wonderful way for magicians to meet, connect, share ideas and invent new ones. Some of which we use today because the people who we know as ‘Legends‘ did just that. Don’t be afraid to go out and go to magic shops, meet other magicians, and most importantly don’t put others down. Don’t discourage anyone and be open to ideas. You may create the next amazing thing by just listening and working out ‘kinks‘.

The bottom line is for me that I’ve noticed a trend in the magic world lately of hiding ‘secrets‘ from other magicians. There seems to be less ‘comradery‘ in our gild of the magi. Let’s get back the days when we shared and helped each other grow. Start a jam session and help each other out. Share ideas, and most importantly grow together.

-Xavior

• Ray Cosby
• Tony Clark
• Dan Harlan
• Jon Racherbaumer
• Nathan Kranzo
• Paul Gernter
• Mike Vincent
• Richard Osterland
• Carl Cloutier
• Doug Conn
• Gaston Quieto
• Marcus Eddie
• Akria Fujii
• John Gustaferro
• Rich Aviles
• Woody Aragon
• Kainoa Harbottle
• Caleb Wiles
• Pit Hartling

Why am I listing all of these magicians?

Because this is your opportunity to ask them anything you want. In the upcoming weeks I’m going to be interviewing these well known magicians and more. I know there are questions that I’ve always wanted to ask them and now you can too. Submit your questions below and have your chance to be answered by some of the great thinkers of our time. All questions must be submitted by April 27,2012 at noon EST. This is going to be EPIC!

-Xavior Spade

Do all the hard moves you like!

For a long time, I’ve practiced many card moves in order to have an arsenal of techniques to help me out of many situations. That being said, some of the moves are not the most “practical” but are useful in certain situations. Some of the moves are very difficult but allow for minimal obvious movement and others require a good amount of misdirection. Regardless, it always seems that someone has a move that’s better, or a reason as to why the move I’m doing isn’t the best choice. 

To be honest, I believe that every move has a purpose and also everyone has a move that they can do very well in almost any condition. There are so many tricks, moves, controls, steals etc. that it’s almost impossible to learn them all. But just because you have a move that you’re comfortable with does that mean that you shouldn’t learn any others? If the move is hard, does that mean that it’s useless because there is an easier way? Should we always look for shortcuts?

I’ve found that sometimes the best way to reach my goal in a close up effect is to use moves that can be considered “difficult” or moves that “can be achieved with a double lift.”

This is usually spot on, the end result is the same but sometimes using a difficult move can create moments where seemingly nothing has happened and I can do things “away from the heat”. This is why I practice those moves, especially with cards. When doing card effects I try to make the effect as streamlined and “hands off” as possible. My goal is to make my audience think that I never touched the deck.

Too often  most people say that moves are too difficult or are not needed don’t take the time to really study the move and its possibilities–by saying that something is “too hard” you’re putting up blocks in your learning and in your performance.

I’ve been luck enough to be surrounded by some of the most amazing slight of hand professionals of our time and I’ve never heard them say that something is “too hard“, instead they say “I’m gonna have to practice this for a while” or “let me play with this and see if I can use it“.

Test your limits and try something you’ve never done before. Practice hard and develop a solid practice routine and before you know it people will be telling you “that move is way too hard.” It’s actually a really good feeling because usually that person can’t or won’t take the time that you have and will not get as far as you will go.

Tell me what you think of “hard moves”. And tell me what are your thoughts as well.

-Xavior

With less than 6 weeks until IMX2012 – we’ve bought out plane tickets, we’ve got our hotel booked, our itinerary planned – and we realised while packing our bags that we actually had 3 extra passes – 3 passes we figured we’d give to you, so you can join us for the greatest convention of the year. Hosted in Vegas, with names like Greg Wilson, Jeff McBride, Dani DaOrtiz and Lennart Green along for the ride, you know this thing is going to be HUGE.

But enough about all that – we know what you really want to know. How do you get your hands on these fabled tickets? It’s simple, so get your bags packed. We’re giving you 3 ways to get your hands on them. The more ways you enter – the more chances you have to win.

Way 1. Twitter

Win in 140 Characters or less! Simply Follow @Ellusionist and @IMXLasVegas, and tell us WHO you want to see the most, and why – making sure to use the hashtag #IMX2012. We’ll pick the most creative, honest, humorous – basically the best tweet that complies with the above conditions, and we’ll give them a free pass to the convention.  You’ll also get to hang out with us – come by the booth and meet Brad, Jason, Peter and Eric – we’ll all be there. You can even bring us nachos from the buffet. We like nachos.

Example:

Way 2. Facebook

We want to know just how much you really want to win the Ultimate IMX2012 experience. So – we’re not going to tell you what you need to do, you’ll need to tell us what you’re willing to do to win. Would you be nice to your sister for a whole day? Would you string up a massive ‘Please Ellusionist, Send me to IMX2012!’ sign at the next NFL Game you attend? Would you give away your entire collection of playing cards to a Hospital or Nursing Home – including Gold Arcanes?

Simply post on Facebook what you’re willing to do, tag @Ellusionist: Magic Beyond Belief and @IMX International Magic Experience – and cross your fingers that you’re chosen. But be honest in what you’re willing to do – because if you win, you will need to do it – and we’ll verify it before we send you tickets. Again, most humorous, creative and downright epic post will win.

Example:

Way 3. Pinterest

What? What’s Pinterest? How do I win with this thing? First – crawl out from under that rock. Pinterest is here, and it’s great fun. It’s basically a collection of Pinboards of everything you find and want to share on the web. There’s boards for Brownie Recipes, LOLCats, Wishlists, Cool Gadgets, Travel – and even Magic. It’s the fastest growing social media community on the web – and we’re doing awesome things with it – including sending one Pinterester to IMX2012. To win, follow @Ellusionist on Pinterest and create a ‘What a Free Ticket to #IMX2012 from Ellusionist Means to Me’ Board. Then get Pinning!

Whether it’s the sights of Vegas, Piff the Magic Dragon, buying Arcanes, Artifice Decks and PureSmoke at our Booth (hint hint – pin or repin from Ellusionist.com) or cruising around town in one of those giant Pink Stretch Hummers – we want to know what a free ProPass to the Ultimate IMX2012 experience means to you. Not on Pinterest yet? Register on Pinterest.com and start following us for your chance to win – as there’ll be more ways to win with Pinterest in the future from us as well.

Example;

All entries will close on Friday, 27th of April at 9pm EST. Winners will be announced across our social media streams on the evening of Sunday 29th of April – giving you 3 weeks until IMX2012.

That’s 3 Easy Ways we’re giving you to win a Free ProPass Registration to IMX2012 Las Vegas, as well as the chance to come hang out with us while we’re kickin’ it there too. So – go out there and get to ‘tweepospinning’ – that’s right, we just made our own buzzword.

We can do that, we’re awesome.

Good luck to everyone. Make those entries count – we’ll keep everyone updated as things progress, and look forward to seeing as many of you as possible at IMX2012.

I wrote this post because I wanted to share some of my practice regiment. These are some of the steps I take in order to accomplish my goal when performing. I hope that you can take something out of this and apply it to your magic.

-Xavior Spade

Magic is something that is more than just a hobby to me. It is a way of life. I constantly strive for perfection. I work constantly to improve, not just my technical skill but my performance as well. It takes much more than just practicing in front of a mirror.

Step 1

When I first decide I’m going to practice something the first thing I do is make sure that I understand the details of what I’m doing. I read, re-read, or watch and re-watch and try to follow along.

Sometimes I get frustrated as we all do. At that point it’s time to stop and take a breather. Once you get frustrated it becomes hard to retain information because instead of paying attention to what you’re doing you feel like ripping apart your book or destroying your cards.

Don’t let the anger take control of you.

Take a step back and take your mind off of it. You’d be surprised how much you actually learned when you decide to go back to practicing.

Step 2

Now that I’ve gotten the moves down it’s time to stop looking and practice again. When you first practice it’s ok to look at your hands. However when performing if you’re looking at your hands it’s not a good sign. It will tell your spectators that you’re doing something. If you have to look at your hands to do a move chances are that you don’t know it well enough.

Everything you do in your performance should be “automatic“.  You shouldn’t have to think about your next action. So after I feel that I’ve gotten the “tech” side of the trick pretty much down, I begin to think about how I’m going to “deliver” the trick. What meaning am I going to put to the effect or vice versa. Just doing a trick is just doing a trick. I’m a professional magician and because of that I don’t just do tricks. I perform miracles. I want people to walk away with something they’ve never experienced before.

I NEVER want to hear the words “That was a nice trick!”

Now comes what I consider to be the most important part of practice. Practice performance. This is the part that I feel SO many magicians leave out. They go from practice in the private straight to the show! There’s no rehearsing or practicing or figuring out if it’s even good for a show.

I can always tell when a magician has really practiced and rehearsed his routine because he has more to say then “Ok so we put your card in the middle. And now it’s on top.”

To me the difference between a trick and routine is how “complete” it is. Is there purpose to what you are doing? Have you taken away possible solutions to the effect? How engaging is it?

There are countless effects that are beautiful to us, but are just too confusing to a lay person. Is this effect one of them?

In my professional set I do mentalism. Mentalism in practice is technically much easier than a lot of magic because there’s almost no slight of hand. The true art to mentalism is routining and scripting. However it is just as important to EVERY type of magic.

Step 3

The real world.

Just because you’ve gotten the trick down and you think it’s up to par doesn’t mean that it’s quite ready. This is the point that I take my practiced routines and do them for real people and use the experience to tweak the routine future. I try to pay attention to what the spectators are looking at and when to help me develop better misdirection and to see what if what I’m saying is helping to generate the reactions I’m looking for. It can take me up to 6 months before I decide to put a routine into my working set.

Don’t take shortcuts, don’t settle for anything but what you want. Being the best takes time.

Below are a few videos. Both of the same trick. One is a video of what I believe is a complete routine and one is not. Watch them both and tell me what you think. Also share your practicing tips.

Videos

This is Tommy Wonder who to this day has one of my favorite Ambitious Card Routines.

This is an ambitious card routine that need some work

-Xavior Spade

If you haven’t seen Liquid Metal or Liquid Metal 2, then you haven’t seen one of the great thinkers of our time. Morgan Strebler is more than just someone who released a trick. He helped spawn a whole generation of magicians who shop for forks as magic props now!

Perhaps you didn’t know that aside from doing amazing close-up magic, Mr. Strebler was lined up with a $10 million contract to perform in South Carolina with a theater built just for him!

What happend to it? Where did the lights and glamour go?

The story is deeper than you can imagine.

When Morgan first told everyone about his contract deal at the Pat Boone Family Theater, I was surprised to say the least. I had never known that Morgan did stage shows. Turns out Morgan is more accomplished then most people think. How else would he be offered such an amazing deal, right?!

Soon after he got this deal I spoke to him about it and I don’t believe I ever heard someone so excited and proud as he was and should be, but things took a turn for the worst.

Morgan disappeared and I lost contact with him for a few months, when I got to speak to him again he had resigned from the show with vague details. A few days ago he told me everything and asked that I share it with all of you.

Liquid Metal Productions was how it all started, run and owned by Mr. Strebler. But as times changed so does the need to change business types, so with this wonderful opportunity he and his father started Liquid Metal Holdings in order to allow for outside investors. Morgan maintained 55% ownership and his father was next in line. Morgan was to head up the entertainment and his father alongside Morgan would handle the business end.

Sounds like a match made in heaven, having someone you trust by your side supporting your dream. If only it stayed that way. Soon after everything started they called in Franz Harary to help design the thearter and to get the show up to par. Franz has a special place in Morgan’s heart as he is Morgan’s mentor.

Things seemed to be going great until Morgan’s father lied to the press and the leasing company saying that they had over $1 million dollars capitol when, in fact, they had just under $500k. Morgan didn’t agree with this action but it was already too late, the deed had been done.

Shortly after Morgans father began squandering money, buying a $50k  vehicle out of company funds which was used solely for personal use, taking the entire staff out to dinner and drinks every night on the company card and leasing a mansion in Grand Dunes, SC which if you didn’t know is one of the most expensive developments in that area. All of this paid out of the company dollars.

As business progressed, the staff cared less about the show and more about who worked Morgans father in his old company. So much so that anything Morgan suggested was almost always voted down by the board. This included using Morgans stage manager that has been with Morgan for years and hiring one of the local stage managers, who according to Morgan, just didn’t have a clue and even doing the same with Franz Harary.

This goes deeper than just professional relationships as Morgan suggested hiring a close cousin to help with the finances being that he was an IRS employee. Going as far as to offer him a job and having him move to South Carolina. He was so good that 10 mins. into the first meeting he spotted a $13k accounting error, and shortly after that he was as well let go. Even family wasn’t safe. When the issue of misuse of company funds and issue of his cousin being let go was addressed by Morgan he was told by his father that he could easily find 10 other magicians to do the show, he wasn’t needed and if he’d like to quit to submit it in writing. Which was done:

Dear Glenn,

Per your request on August 22 2011 . I’m submitting to you my written resignation from Liquid Metal Holdings LLC, and relinquishing my 55% ownership within the company. You said that I could easily be replaced by ten different magicians, and that you didn’t need me. That being said, I wish you and the rest of the team at LMH a long, happy and prosperous journey!

Best wishes,

Morgan Strebler

That sent a chill down my spine. I began thinking about Morgan’s attitude during this whole ordeal and realizing that he continued to be a very plesant and helpful person and never having anything negative to say. This shows a great deal about his character. It made me grow a great deal of respect for him. Would anyone else have handled this so graciously?

So what is going on now?

When Morgan left and gave up his share at LMH the company had less than 100k in funds

The show still hasn’t opened

There is no word of when it will open.

What is Morgan doing?

Morgan Strebler has been in talks with other thearters in Myrtle Beach to perform.

He has also been pushing for a reality television show that will be aired here in the United States. He’s at the top of the list and we here at Ellusionist would like to help him out. All you have to do is vote for him at the link provided below. You can vote once a day so please show your support and vote for him daily. He’s given so much to the magic community. Let’s help give him a push.

To vote for Morgan Strebler click the link below and vote for him daily!!

VOTE FOR MORGAN STREBLER

Strebler2012

I hope this article gives you some insight as to how things may go wrong, and how best to deal with them. Be confident, work hard and things will go well for you. Never let anyone hold you back!

I’d like to thank Morgan Strebler for talking with me about this situation, and for allowing us to post it here for all of you. I am lucky to consider Morgan one of my friends. Thanks again.

-Xavior Spade

Early this morning we hit our 100,000 th like on our Facebook page.

Once we hit it, we released a few things for all of you. The first was a video that is only on the facebook page,  you can see it here and comment if you like. Go HERE for the Facebook page and video.

Also on the Facebook page was a link for your opportunity to download a free gift form Vince Mendoza, an effect called Blossom, for helping us get this far! Here’s what it looks like.

Click here to view the embedded video.

If you like the video and would like to learn it, all you have to do is go HERE and it will tell you how to get the download, on the house, just for you!

We’ve got a lot in the works for the upcoming year. All of it with you in mind.  None of this would be possible if it wasn’t for all of you. We love what we do for you. So from the Ellusionist Team, to all of you. Thank You for all of your support.

Facebook page and video: HERE

Blossom from Vince: HERE

A quick sharing of something I believe in

Over the last week or so I’ve had the chance to meet with and session with some of my friends who are magicians. Some you may have heard of and others you have not.

Their names are not important to this topic, but it’s important to know that there are so many magicians out there with amazing skill that you have never heard of and the knowledge that I’ve been around in the past week at times seemed, well, intimidating to be frank.

Thankfully I know these people on a personal level and we all share the same feelings, though to save our egos we keep it to ourselves. I did notice another thing we all shared. It is an intense passion for magic that goes beyond reasoning.

For a long time I felt that the people who release material for sell just did it for the money and recognition. I felt they did it for selfish purposes.

And I’m sure that there are those out there. But I feel that for the most part there is a sincere need they they need to fill. It’s the need that I have. It is the need to teach and to help. On many different levels.

Personally I love to teach. For years I had and still have the pleasure of teaching many magicians. I alway and still strive to do my best to give them the absolute best guidance and information.

And now Ellusionist has allowed me to live my dream. I get to wake up everyday and do what I love. I get to do magic, talk about magic and, more importantly to me, I get to share my ideas and hopefully teach some of you something. I never thought that a company like this would be so passionate about magic like I am. I never thought that they would put magic above just making sales.

Although I’m new to the Ellusionist Team I feel that I’m part of something bigger. I experience everyday the process to bring to the magic community more then just tricks. More then just cards. I’m a part of my dream! And hopefully my advice will help you achieve your goals and dreams.

Why am I talking about all this?

Well it’s because I know what I wanted to accomplish and I decided to do that. Everyday I feel closer to my goals. But I feel that for some of you, well, you just do it because you think it’s cool which is ok. Maybe you feel that it helps you fit in or give you and edge for something. All of those reasons are ok. But be honest with those reasons. Don’t do a few tricks then decide to call yourself a professional magician. Decide what it is you want to accomplish, in magic as well as in your life and think of nothing else. Un-train yourself to know what failure is. If you don’t know how to fail then how can you?

What are you really doing? Take some time and think about it. It’s about more than just magic.

Please leave you comments and tell me what you think

-Xavior Spade