This is me doing Grease Lightning...a trick by Dorian Rhodell in Avenue using Pughe's Pass ( which is the actual name...other names are like DG Ego)

Its just a simple transpo...was thinking of using it with a 4 for 4 s***ch to really tell the audience that the Aces are lost.



http://www.vimeo.com/3186527



:g: My first vid!

P.S I took this on am electronic piano which i never use...its the only place good enough to hold on the my makeshift tripod....

Practice on your card shuffling :lol:
Add some music to your video! or maybe your should have taken the Aces and Kings out from the deck, something like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jCwYaqHd-g

A good start! :D

Hmm... the change looked very nice. (don't even know it's called Pughe Pass).

Yup, I do agree it would be stronger if you can just use the 4 Aces and Kings without using the whole deck, though I can understand why you need to.

First of all, don't bother about the music. Having it or not having it, won't make a different to what you are showing. (Unless you are going to play the music every time you perform for people) Its just a slight touch to the magic.

Second, your shuffle should not be a problem, because you mentioned that it is a piano, so it is not flat, thus I can understand why your cards will drop. So for that solution, get a table. :)

Third, whether or not taking the Aces and the Kings out of the deck shouldn't be the issue. No one says that you cannot start with the kings and aces on the table. Thus, I feel its okie to start like that.

Fourth, I also don't know that it is called the Pughe Pass, but I saw alot of classic effects being brought back by modern artists and they rename as their own. So, put it aside.

Now the actual comments, I feel that the flow is too fast. Show the 4 Aces slow, let the audience register the Aces. Then the 4 Kings. Pacing should be slower, I feel, So that people can see what you are doing.

When you are slow, suddenly, BANG, the Ace becomes the King. It will be straightforward and hit hard. Next take out the 4 cards slowly, showing that its the 4 Aces now. I know there might be a difficulty taking out 1 of the aces, but there is a move that allows you to take the last Ace out easily. Cut the deck, turn it face up, spread open, showing the 4 Kings, and spread the other half, showing the deck is clean.

Well, I hope you know what I meant. :)

Well, Unless you want to do the exact same thing as the video that Jianwen show.

thanks for your comments! Especially LarryDK....i will do it more slowly next time. I got different reactions for different people when I do this, sometimes people go "huh?" and others go "wow"

I think they go "huh?" because i did it too fast.

I will pace my stuff from now on.


* I shuffled to show that the deck can be shuffled. It can be done without one.*

wow...the one that jiawen showed is real flair...i cant do the cuts as good as THAT. :P (and still keep the deck in one piece)

Hey Bin Hao,

What you have done is a good start.

I'll just highlight some things that I felt need a little nudging. :) Of course, bear in mind - these are my personal opinions and you're always free to agree/disagree. It's just my (slightly more than) 2 cents worth.

1) I agree with Larry - screw the music. Music is great for the less than articulate bedroom magician who feels a need to cover his voice with a blaring symphony; OR if you're performing a showpiece on stage to a particular theme that compels you to coordinate your music with your magic.

Most of us here are closeup performers. What're you going to do when someone asks you to perform? Say, "Wait wait - ", whip out an MP3 player, hook up some speakers, select your favourite tune, play it and start to perform? Or just play the tune with your handphone? I don't know about you, but I'd probably start fantasing about Megan Fox instead of watch your act.

You have a voice - use it. In a close up act, your magic is really much better if you can infuse your personality into it. And nothing does that better than good presentational patter.

YOU NEED A SPEAKING PART. ;)

Why? - because YOU are the star. Not your cards; not your hands; not your effect. YOU. :) If you simply want to hide behind a video screen all day long and perform for yourself, then you can forget everything I just said. But if you intend to perform for people often enough, learn to speak.

JC Sum is a great example of somebody who forced himself to take langauge lessons so that he could present himself well - he takes the trouble to learn to speak well and present his art well. This guy takes his work seriously. Shouldn't we all?

2) No offense to Jiawen and his choice of videos - but that's probably one of the worst presentations of a magical effect I've seen in awhile. The guy wasn't performing magic - he was showing off his skill. And he iced it with so many flourishes the magic is distilled away in that very mix.

Don't get me wrong - I love visual magic. I think a card transforming from one to another is probably one of the most visual and entertaining forms of magic ever. BUT - it should be artfully performed. And you don't wear the audience down with transformation after transformation. TOO much of ANYTHING is bad. A flourish here and there is beautiful - it's elegant and gives your performance a certain air of distinctiveness. But when you throw in flourish after flourish, it's just ostentatious; almost vulgar. It's like fine cuisine - if you take too much of it it just sickens you. I think you just need to time it right and hit them with it ONCE. It's good enough. Then the taste lingers and you get the stuff of legends form.

I honestly preferred the version YOU did compared to the one in the clip that Jiawen provided. It was straight forward and it was magical.

3) A card transformation is gradual (if possible) and hardly instant. It's one of the reasons why I so LOVE the Erdnase change - it's miraculous in the hands of a master. Although it's over-exposed, most people have learnt it the wrong way anyway and they expose it through their poor technique and lack of knowledge. When properly performed, it is a wonder to behold. Done slowly and deliberately, it looks almost like one card visually MELTS into the other. If you ever get a chance, watch Nique Tan perform his Erdnase change. It'll blow you away even if you think you know it. In fact, it'll have you questioning whether you've actually learnt anything at all.

Oh - of course a colour change should be SILENT. On stage you can get away with more since music is usually played in a card manipulation act, but for the close up artiste, you got to practice really really hard to cut away all the tell tale noise that gives your work away. You can also get away with angles on stage since all you need to do is choreograph your act and position yourself well to block the bad angles. You don't have the luxury of that at the close up show. I think your choice of colour change is poor in the context of the effect - you had to pick the one which is both NOISY and angle sensitive. :P

Let's face it - if one card REALLY were to MAGICALLY transform into another, what would it sound like? POOF? Some scraping sound of paper on paper? In truth, I'd go for nothing - it shouldn't make a sound. It just HAPPENS.

4) One of the main reasons I don't like effects like these is because of the DECK. The deck serves as the modus operandi but it's an inherent weakness in the construction of the effect. Many of us just blindly do as they do. If somebody releases a product, we believe it must be good therefore we subscribe to their school of thought without much of our own thinking.

Most of today's 'new' material is suspect and many of them have questionable construction loopholes. Let me just briefly list the problems I would identify from the beginning and why this would have ended up in my drawer to collect dust:

* Contact Rule - the deck serves almost as a medium between the two groups of cards. The cards also come into contact before AND after the transposition. Yes, it's necessary for the clean up and eventually you end clean, but think about it - the rest of the time, your hands are on BOTH sets of cards and the cards are - technically - still in contact.

* Conviction - more than a few problems with the believe factor which I can't discuss here or it would lead to serious exposure. So look me up at the gathering if you want and I'll be happy to fill you in on this.

* Logic - Many people think that magic isn't logical; but actually it really is. To me it is anyway. It's just that what happens is IMPOSSIBLE, but not illogical. You started by showing the 4 aces and the 4 kings on the table - if your final intent is to show that they are transposing, why do you need to pick them up and return them to the deck? It's not logical. The DECK is not needed anymore.

There's more, but I think I'm starting to rant. HAHA. So sorry.

Just a final observation - we tend to complicate things more than we have to. This is an AGE OLD PLOT - 4 Aces change places with 4 Kings. And there're MANY MANY VERY VERY GOOD effects that use this plot. The best ones are all packet tricks.

For example, Paul Harris' reset - 4 Kings and 4 Aces are removed from the deck, showed cleanly and they are set apart. The packets NEVER touch after that - yet ONE at a time, each Ace and King would change places. And of course the kicker was they returned to their original packets.

I believe that the Great ones (like Paul Harris - a bloody certifiable Genius) have ALREADY realised that in order for this kind of effect to be REALLY powerful, you got to eliminate all the other possible 'solutions'. The DECK is one of them.

In Peter Kane's Jazz Aces, it's the same - why do you do an Ace Assembly with 8 cards when you can actually do it with the 4 Aces and the entire DECK? Possibly the same reason - it's MUCH MUCH stronger with FEWER cards. They see you put 4 Aces in a "T" formation layout and you transpose each one with the 4 indifferent cards you place on the leader Ace. There's no hiding of cards and the audience I think instinctively knows this. Check out Logan's take on the Jazz Aces - I think it's possibly on his YouTube account still. I think you'll agree it's very strong stuff.

But hey - I know it sounds like there's tons of stuff to work on (God knows I got tons of stuff to work on myself) but you're just beginning your journey man: You really did a GOOD job. :-) And this is the way to keep getting better - you've already taken that first step. Much better than most guys.

Anyway, my feedback is mostly my personal view so don't fret it if you think I got it all wrong - I'm surely not the authority in this area anyway. Heck - I'm screwing up all the time anyway.

Now that I've completed my thesis, I'm going to Muddy's to meet Gordy and the guys for a good stiff drink (if they turn up that is). Hope Gordy remembers to bring the dry gin!

Shade

wow!

Thanks for putting the effort in writing SO much. I really appreciate it :P

Well... maybe that the only video i found in youtube on Grease Lightning and i feel quite bored when its just visual but not sound.
^_^ Thus i am just giving opinion.
Aha and because of the starting he uses flourish as opening.

Hey Jiawen,

:D no worries man - I just personally didnt' like the way he did it, but there's no denying his competence as a cardworker.

PLEASE don't get even a teeny weeny bit upset cause what I say is just what I think and it means little beyond that unless you agree with me. So don't let my prejudices get to you... I'm like that. :P

You should see me when I critique Gordon (aka dry_gin). I get really nasty - but that's just because it's him. HAHAHA.

Shade
(Frak - I'm gonna get another 10% warning soon)

Aha dun worry mate i wont ^_^