I am just extremely happy that this whole presentation is over! Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed performing and practicing magic, but I was soooo nervous for that presentation! Hopefully nobody noticed that my legs were shaking the entire time. I think that overall I did alright and here is the breakdown.
Visual Component: I did in fact have a PowerPoint for my presentation. I really didn't want to make it too flashy and I wanted to make sure that people were focusing on me, not my visual aid. I do think that it could have been a little bit more detailed while still not overtaking me.
Content: I hope that my lax personality gave the impression that I was passionate about magic, even though I know that I am not very good at it. I obviously showed my product with the card trick, and I explained how exactly I got there. I hope that the audience understands that my purpose was to get people to try something. Trying something has no bad consequences.
Organization: Looking back, I don't think that my hook was all it could have been. I probably could have refined it more and made it more interesting.
Delivery: I think that my delivery was the best part of my presentation. I went up without notecards and I don't remember stumbling at all. I knew exactly what I was going to say, and I said it. I did talk a little bit too fast though.
The TED Commandments
Dream Big: I really do feel like this was one of the best, if not the best talk I have ever given. I hope that the audience remembers my magic trick.
Show us the real you: I tried to talk about my failures as well as my successes, and I think that I got both points across.
Make the complex plain: Ehh, I did alright with this commandment, not as well as some of my other components.
Connect with people's emotions: I saw a couple of giggles.
Don't flaunt your ego: Don't really think that I need to talk about this. It was extremely obvious that I wasn't bragging.
No selling from the stage!: I had nothing to sell...
Feel free to comment on other speakers' talks: I asked a couple of questions, but I didn't exactly give advice or criticism.
Don't read your talk: I certainly didn't. I didn't even have notecards.
End your talk on time: My talk was right on the 4 to 5 minute mark.
Rehearse your talk: I rehearsed so much that I knew the speech from front to back.
Overall, I think that I did a decent job with my talk. I was certainly prepared and I think that for the most part it went well. I could have added a bit more substance in both my PowerPoint and speech though. I would give myself a 26/30. If you feel like I was too hard or not hard enough on myself, feel free to let me know.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Blog Post #5
Hello fellow magicians, welcome back to my mystical and magical blog. Today I am going to talk about my attempt at a very difficult card trick that I have been trying to learn. Here is the link if you want it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTfzlcmEA5s
I have been working on this trick for about a week now, and I am proud to say that I can do the first part! Well, I guess i'm not very proud.... Anyways, I have watched at least 5-6 tutorials on how to do an "Elmsley Count", yet I still can't seem to do it. Just goes to show how difficult magic can be. I have watched this video over and over however, and I am still amazed at how this guy completes such difficult maneuvers. It is quite obvious that he has practiced this techniques over and over, and he is a master of card tricks. Unlike me, he actually knows what he is doing.
I really don't have too much to talk about this week. I would like to address something though. I know that a lot of you have been saying that I criticize myself too much, but I think it is time that I talk about it. I may be hard on myself, but in all honesty, I don't think that I am that great of a magician. That is just the fact.
Sorry that I don't really have much to talk about, but hopefully everyone is preparing and ready for their TED Talks! Good luck everyone!
Blogs commented on
Will: http://learning-woodworking.blogspot.com/
Jeremy: http://jspitt.blogspot.com/
Brianna: http://streetdancein7weeks.blogspot.com/
I have been working on this trick for about a week now, and I am proud to say that I can do the first part! Well, I guess i'm not very proud.... Anyways, I have watched at least 5-6 tutorials on how to do an "Elmsley Count", yet I still can't seem to do it. Just goes to show how difficult magic can be. I have watched this video over and over however, and I am still amazed at how this guy completes such difficult maneuvers. It is quite obvious that he has practiced this techniques over and over, and he is a master of card tricks. Unlike me, he actually knows what he is doing.
I really don't have too much to talk about this week. I would like to address something though. I know that a lot of you have been saying that I criticize myself too much, but I think it is time that I talk about it. I may be hard on myself, but in all honesty, I don't think that I am that great of a magician. That is just the fact.
Sorry that I don't really have much to talk about, but hopefully everyone is preparing and ready for their TED Talks! Good luck everyone!
Blogs commented on
Will: http://learning-woodworking.blogspot.com/
Jeremy: http://jspitt.blogspot.com/
Brianna: http://streetdancein7weeks.blogspot.com/
Monday, April 1, 2013
Blog Post #6
With time winding down until my TED Talk, I have been thinking a lot about what exactly I want to teach in it. At first I wanted only to teach what I had done and what magic I had been working on. But, after really thinking about what I had been doing for the past six weeks, I have decided to talk about what exactly it means to be successful in magic, and what you have to do to become successful. By learning what it takes to become a successful magician, you can learn to master any trick. I felt that helping other people become magicians was more important than documenting my journey amateur magician to professional master. Actually, I still consider myself an amateur...
In other news, this week, I started off by trying to attempt disappearing tricks. These tricks require more stealth and you must posses more skill to pull these off. These are two characteristics that I do not posses whatsoever! Because of this, you can probably guess what happened, I failed miserably. After trying for what felt like hours, I decided to go back to card tricks, the one facet of magic that I was actually good at. I first tried out a pretty difficult trick, one that required three major steps. After not being successful, I thought, why not try to break it down into smaller, more manageable tricks? That was my epiphany.
The card trick itself was composed of three, minor, easier card tricks. I worked on one of them, and after about an hour, I seemed to have gotten it down. After that, I moved on to the next one, and mastered that one. I then moved on to the third. After I seemed to be able to complete them all individually, I moved on to putting them all together. Suddenly, the larger, more complicated trick didn't seem like such a daunting task! I put together all three of the tricks that I had learned, and I was able to accomplish it without much of a problem. Because I believed in myself and was determined to do it, I accomplished my goal!
After I complete my TED Talk, I will post the link here for you all to see. You might see some of it during my presentation....
One more thing I would like to point out is the lesson that I have learned while trying to become a magician, is that if at first you don't succeed, you have to keep trying. Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself, because if you don't how is your audience going to believe in you?
Blogs I commented on:
Jeremy: http://jspitt.blogspot.com/
Noah: http://noahgillygeniusproject.blogspot.com/
Will: http://learning-woodworking.blogspot.com/
In other news, this week, I started off by trying to attempt disappearing tricks. These tricks require more stealth and you must posses more skill to pull these off. These are two characteristics that I do not posses whatsoever! Because of this, you can probably guess what happened, I failed miserably. After trying for what felt like hours, I decided to go back to card tricks, the one facet of magic that I was actually good at. I first tried out a pretty difficult trick, one that required three major steps. After not being successful, I thought, why not try to break it down into smaller, more manageable tricks? That was my epiphany.
The card trick itself was composed of three, minor, easier card tricks. I worked on one of them, and after about an hour, I seemed to have gotten it down. After that, I moved on to the next one, and mastered that one. I then moved on to the third. After I seemed to be able to complete them all individually, I moved on to putting them all together. Suddenly, the larger, more complicated trick didn't seem like such a daunting task! I put together all three of the tricks that I had learned, and I was able to accomplish it without much of a problem. Because I believed in myself and was determined to do it, I accomplished my goal!
After I complete my TED Talk, I will post the link here for you all to see. You might see some of it during my presentation....
One more thing I would like to point out is the lesson that I have learned while trying to become a magician, is that if at first you don't succeed, you have to keep trying. Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself, because if you don't how is your audience going to believe in you?
Blogs I commented on:
Jeremy: http://jspitt.blogspot.com/
Noah: http://noahgillygeniusproject.blogspot.com/
Will: http://learning-woodworking.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Blog Post #4
Well guys, the magic is certainly starting to flow.
As you guys know, I decided to do card tricks again this week, and after starting off with a few difficulties, I managed to pull off a couple of card tricks. But this week, in my blog, I would like to focus on the premise of magic and what it takes to be a successful magician. Magic is defined as the art of illusion or the process of making something appear to be happening that actually isn't. To be successful in a magic trick, you have to trick your audience into believing that what you did and believing that the trick is somewhat impossible. If your audience has the slightest idea that you rigged something or you did something out of the ordinary, the illusion is destroyed and the audience catches on.
I would like to share with you all the guide to magic that I have been using so far. http://www.wikihow.com/Do-Magic-Tricks This guide has given me some tips that I have been trying to in corporate into my magic tricks. I do have a few more problems to announce (Noah you will have to deal with it). The problem with the card tricks that I have been encountering is the fact that I don’t know how to do these card movements called fake cuts. They better the illusion of the trick because it makes the audience believe that you cut the cards, but you really didn’t. To pull this off, you have to have a very precise movement of your fingers, which is something that takes time to master. Because I am not able to accomplish these, my tricks don’t look as real as they should. Just this once, i’ll post one of the tricks I am trying to learn.
Another topic that I began to explore again this week is disappearing
objects. These tricks require more skill than your average card trick,
but they are manageable. Like I said in my first blog, I have always wanted to be able to make a penny disappear, and pull it out from someones ear, but we will see what happens. Thanks for tuning in!
Commented on Will's, Lukas' and Jeremy's blogs.
Commented on Will's, Lukas' and Jeremy's blogs.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
Blog Post #3
I have some good
news to report! My first card trick, though trivial, has been mastered! I have
a beginner trick down. If my audience member picks a card, I can successfully
tell the person what their card is! While this doesn't seem like that great to
some people, I am very proud of myself. To respond to someone that commented on
my blog post last week, it's hard for me to show my resources because I don't
really want people knowing how I do my magic, that would defeat the purpose of
magic! I do plan to upload a video of me performing a magic trick! I would to
ask all of my viewers, I hope I have a couple, what they what me to do in weeks
to come! I plan on working again on card tricks again this week, as I think it
is important for me to master.I do know what I am going to try to accomplish next week. I have a trick in mind that involves burning a card, so I don't know how practical it is, but I will practice the part that doesn't include fire. I also have one that doesn't involve flammable materials, but uses the same basic concept of using the element of surprise.
There
is one facet of magic that I will also be looking to explore, disappearing
objects. Disappearing objects is
probably one of the most difficult types of magic to master, as it requires a
great deal of skill. With card of coin tricks, if you mess up, you can usually
fix your mistake. If you mess up a disappearing trick, the magic trick is
ruined and your audience will more than likely be disappointed.
I would like to extend a question to you guys, my followers. What exactly do you want me to perform next? Write your comments in the comment section below. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and I hope they are some good ones. Especially you Noah!
I would like to extend a question to you guys, my followers. What exactly do you want me to perform next? Write your comments in the comment section below. I look forward to hearing your suggestions and I hope they are some good ones. Especially you Noah!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Blog Post #2
Well, I have some bad news to report this week. Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in mastering the first trick that I set out to accomplish, the disappearing penny trick. After trying and trying again, the penny just kept falling to the floor. Eventually, i "rage quit" and went off to another venture. There are currently two tricks I am trying to achieve, the penny behind the ear trick and a trick where I rub a penny into my arrm, and it dissappears
Well, I have some bad news to report this week. Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in mastering the first trick that I set out to accomplish, the disappearing penny trick. After trying and trying again, the penny just kept falling to the floor. Eventually, I "rage quit" and went off to another venture. There are currently two tricks I am trying to achieve, the penny behind the ear trick and a trick where I rub a penny into my arm, and it disappears (I will post the link if you would like to attempt the trick yourself). After failing over and over again, I have convinced myself that there is only 1 explanation, I suck at magic.
Next week, I will moving on to card tricks, where I know that I have at least a drop of skill. Many times I have been able to correctly guess someone’s card, even though everyone already knows the trick. I hope to be able to complete a trick my dad always pulls on me, a more advanced version of my petty allusion, but we’ll see what happens. I have a video lined up that I need to watch.
Back to this week. I still need to perfect my tricks and techniques, and I have to keep working! Stay tuned for more updates on my progress!
Commented on Will Franks, Noah Gilly’s and John Abrams blogs.
Well, I have some bad news to report this week. Unfortunately, I have not succeeded in mastering the first trick that I set out to accomplish, the disappearing penny trick. After trying and trying again, the penny just kept falling to the floor. Eventually, I "rage quit" and went off to another venture. There are currently two tricks I am trying to achieve, the penny behind the ear trick and a trick where I rub a penny into my arm, and it disappears (I will post the link if you would like to attempt the trick yourself). After failing over and over again, I have convinced myself that there is only 1 explanation, I suck at magic.
Next week, I will moving on to card tricks, where I know that I have at least a drop of skill. Many times I have been able to correctly guess someone’s card, even though everyone already knows the trick. I hope to be able to complete a trick my dad always pulls on me, a more advanced version of my petty allusion, but we’ll see what happens. I have a video lined up that I need to watch.
Back to this week. I still need to perfect my tricks and techniques, and I have to keep working! Stay tuned for more updates on my progress!
Commented on Will Franks, Noah Gilly’s and John Abrams blogs.
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