SMC Gathering - 21 Feb 2009
Loads of thanks to everyone who turned up and made this gathering one of the most successful ones in a LONG time! The turn out was good and everyone was sporting enough to mingle and have a great time together!

Kudos to the people who took the plunge and actually took their turns performing!

I sincerely hope that all who turned up had a great time and perhaps ‘levelled up’ in their magic in some way or other. Enjoy the following pictures!

(My apologies to those who went earlier… I think my phone had a glitch and I missed taking photos of those guys.)

Xiang Long and Justin in the photo enjoying the show


Justin (Itachi) performing a card trick for Allie (Eagle)


Greatly engrossed (or completely bored?) Moses and Javier (Jumbo) watching on.


The crowd watches…


Linking Rings Mayhem! Adrian (AdrianLee) works the crowd!


As Gordon would say, “SHOW OFF!”


Wei Liang (LoyaLover) doing his coin stuff!


Alex (Alexander) puts on a show


Wenhan (ghostace84) doing a grotesque effect with some thread and body orifices.


Zian (Chanzian) flashes his coins at a mesmerised audience.


Allie (Eagle) doing a rendition of the Crazy Man’s Handcuffs


The great cardician – MagicalLobo – Han Xiang making Zian do some work.


Gordon (dry_gin) tempts fate again and hopes that coincidence would save him.


Jiawen (jiawen) makes his move and performs a quickie.


Jerome (jeromefang) dazzles with his display of coin work.


Bernard (magic_dow) chills out in a corner – proving that he does indeed show up for gatherings. (And that miracles do happen)


Chinmaya (hope I got the spelling right) (csjoshi) uses his ‘paranormal’ powers to bend a 50c coin.


Bin Hao (chizzielamer) makes an impression on more than one spectator in the audience!


Bin Hao's cousin, Vincent, shows us a thing (or two!)...

Once again, I want to thank all the performers for taking the plunge (I know I had to twist a few arms but hey – you guys were really sporting! It felt good right!?) and making this a truly memorable SMC gathering!

Thanks also to all the MODs who made a concerted effort to facilitate the event with your presence and help!

Do drop a post or message if you have any feedback or comments on ANYTHING - be it the organisation, the performances, etc. Feel free to comment on each other's performances (constructively of course) or raise questions on your own performances if you like - I'm sure there'll be plenty of people here who'll be more than happy to help you out (those who were there anyway)! That's how we can all keep improving!

Look forward to hearing from you and seeing you again soon!

i think some of the comments are wrong.....my COUSING- vincent is the last one..

i am the 16th one.. :P


But...yeah, it was extremely fun and 60% of the talk going on were sex-related.
E.G the 50c coin.....

Had a great time!
:g:






P.S Working on your variation of the P.H trick..will get back to you soon ^_^


Edit:oh,
you changed it ....thats fast

Yeah - I know; it's complicated to add the photos because I had to link to the source directly at my BLOG. SMC forum isn't friendly with pictures (*Gives ALOY a hard glare)

Yes - I think the 50c coin quip was in somewhat poor taste... and perhaps a little less than appropriate considering the context.

BUT - I'm glad you had a good time Bin Hao. See you again soon!

Actually it's not my version - I don't do it that way at all. I believe the first time I saw it was as it was performed by Uncle Bob. But Gordon (being Uncle Bob's GREATEST disciple and all) couldn't remember it exactly so I just had to improvise a little. I'm not sure if I got it exactly, but it should be close. Perhaps you can ask Bob if you see him sometime.

Shade

I think it was a great idea to have people perform,

It at least gives all of us to perform in a safe environment where mistakes are only counted as a learning step. And we can take this opportunities to learn from the mistakes and gain confidance.

I would like to thank to all who organized, of course the ones who performed and also all the mods who made it really a great event by sharing their experience, it was really a great learning and joyful time for me.

Shade, Next gathering you can count on me to perform.

Thanks,
Ashtrix

i can't stop heaping praises....but i noticed an anomaly :P

Why are the people present all GUYS ( or at least, acting like one, just joking)

Hope one day a lady would grace the SMC gathering. THAT would be one major success. It shows that magic is not only limited to guys! Maybe Magic babe Ning would come (or not..)

Yesterday was FUN! I've learnt alot of things and saw many different performance! I hope to gain more experience and advice from all of you! Also looking forward to the next gathering!

I was about to post a topic like that to say my thanks to all those who taught me so much and it was really quite an eye opener.

First and foremost to

Zi An - Thanks for your "coaching" and your patience. Im actually quite a slow learner without the mirror. But im doing well! I think im getting it. Chris and I can't get enough of your "perfect" retention vanish with my big sliver coin. Hope to learn a thing or two from you again!

P.S. I just checked the mecuring post and actually no one quite replied you. My bad.

Shade - Thanks for always being very welcoming and making most of the newcomers feel very comfortable. Chris was telling me how you opened his eyes to the real original color change.

MagicDow - Thanks for sharing some tips and advice on coins and your matrix is wonderful. I was so occupied with the small details on the ring effect you tried to share with me that i forgot to watch your handling for the effect with an extra. Hopefully i get the chance to meet the legendary coin work again!

Bin Hao and friend - I wanted to share with you a little more on the MP move but i was too carried away once i saw the gang of coin workers gather at one corner. Hopefully you would be looking around the forum on Muscle pass threads. Feel free to pm me or add me up on msn for enquires!

Xiang Long - Was hoping that you'd stay a little longer so that i can look at some of your card tricks! I was asking Chris if you showed him anything! Hopefully you can the next time we meet!

Gordon - I didn't quite manage to talk to you but i got to look at your huge palm while Adrian was explaining how you had the perfect hands without windows. Just wanted to say that I enjoyed your performance the most and i believe many found it to be one of the best.

Adrian - I hope i didnt get your name wrong again, and i think i got to talk to you more the last gathering than this one. Would be nice if i can leech a thing or two from your coin work!

Jia Wen - It was nice to see your new effects. Great surprise ending! Thanks for sharing! Stop "encouraging" me to pick up cards and start coins!

Alex - Really wanted to ask you a thing or two about the Russian wallet and i wish i could have look at your coin work, but you left earlier!Samuel mention how well you could handle large coins! Perharps we could chat online sometime?

Axl - I wanted to ask you about David Stone's Coin routine!!!

Jerome - You showed me the possiblities of muscle pass!! It was quite amazing how you could pass up 3 coins at the same time and catch it! Thanks for sharing your handling!

Finally to anyone i didn't get to mention, I hope i get the chance to exchange some tips soon.

hey Wei Liang ! Nice to see you again.....just want to know how you get that rupiah. I want one too!


:g:

That's what I like to hear now... :) I'll surely hold you to it!

Well, I think it's because most guys who pick up magic are like guys who pick up music (assuming they're straight with music) - to attract GIRLS :P. Hahaha. I'm an exception - I just do it for the money. I find poetry works better for ladies.

You won't find a girl going, "Oh - I want to learn magic to get guys!".

Anyway, Ning's not likely to grace our gatherings for a few reasons. One of them (the most poignant one) being that she's too damn busy strutting her stuff at the ARENA with JC. And if I see her at one of our gatherings, it's probably bad news and likely means she's lost her job. Not a good prospect I would wish on anyone; especially given today's economic downturn.

Most working magicians are busy on weekends! If you're a full time magician, it's unlikely you'll have many public holidays you can enjoy or spend with your loved ones. :P

Shade

Hi! I got mine from a coin collector over at china square central flea market on Sundays. I strongly encourage you to start with half dollars that you can get from magic shops instead of using my sort of 5 rupiah.

Here are the following reasons:

1) The pros say so.
2) Technical tricks cannot be well executed with a 5 rupiah.
3) Light coin has its advantages. For example you can pass high with it. However, the disadvantage is that people usually won't be impressed when you are using a light coin.
4) The coin isn't quite accessible. Its a collectors item and out of production. Most collectors don't bring them in either because its just a 5 rupiah and they don't see the value in it. (Although i did trick them into thinking that there is a demand for it, so if you are serious in this you can check it out at china square central)

From how i see it, you are probably just gonna try and learn the muscle pass instead of going into any other coin tricks. I think some magicians would discourage that, but personally i think its up toyour preference.

I did mention that you should use a larger coin as 50 cents are too small. But actually its possible to pass with those. My problem with it is, if you pass with a small coin, it will affect the position of your CP. But since you are probably not going into other coin tricks,
i strongly encourage you to learn with either 50 cents.

Now about where to start, try some online streaming sites for a headstart.

Wah Wei Liang, my name is first, i am honoured. Haha but don't praise me in such public domain, my head will swell.

Anyway thank you all who came down. It has been a long time since the turn out was so big. And also, a big thank you for those who performed. It was very sporting of all of you.

I hope for all those that came down, you brought home something with you. It can be a new piece of knowledge, some tips about your performance, or even just the experience of performing infront of such a big crowd.

For those who performed, don't be shy to ask some of the seniors like Shade, Bernard, or the other Mods for some constructive criticism about your performances. I think the whole point of the performance is for the performer to learn about ways to improve his performance. If you don't ask, you will never know. Others will probably not want to force their advice down your throat without your consent.

Anyway, we are very keen to hear what you all thought of the event. Any suggestions on how to improve it are welcomed. :mellow:


ZiAn

You guys were Great on SATURDAY!! All of you! It is just a simple fact that so many of you took the effort to come down and simply enjoy yourself (Performance or not!)

Well, we do sincerely hope that you guys enjoyed yourselves and cannot wait till the next gathering or naturally get inspired by some of the performances that you witnessed. Either way, enjoy yourself here and continue keeping a look-out for the next gathering!

cheers!

dry_gin

P.S. many thanks Wei Liang, i am not too much of a coin person, so i do not know what to tok about! LOL! Sorry, but we definitely can jam with cards the next time we meet!

Guess you guys had a good time... without me!! :(

Sorry that I have to left early to attend to some matters.

To Wei Liang: Eh...? Which David Stone's effect? Thought you have the DVD too?

That's nothing much for me to write about since I am not there to see the rest of your performance, but heard it's all good.

Anyway, for those who have some fear of performing, you can rest assured... as I have shown that everybody can screw up at some point of time, sometimes at gatherings, sometimes at Legerdemain... but it's ok. Better to fail in front of fellow magicians than the girls you want to impress.

A big Thank You to all who graced the event on Saturday. SMC could not have done it without you. Kudos to all the performers. I think this is a record number of performances in 1 gathering. Keep them coming guys... As mentioned by many, such gathering is a good place to work on new effects before you actually get down and dirty in public. Do not feel embaressed because we're all there to learn and share. Once you make the 1st step to perform, you'll want to do it over and over again. It's very addictive... :lol:

I hope everyone who came made new friends and all brought home something that they can remember. I surely did. Once again, a big Thanks to all the Mods who have made this happen. Oh, my apologies if I did not mingle around much as I was too engrossed by Bernard at our little coin section. Big Thanks to Brother Bernard for gracing the event. He's a rare guest. Those who saw him on Sat are lucky hehe....

Wei Liang, Thanks for the compliments. As many would say, I have too much time on my hands that's why I can do such nonsense stuff with MP haha.. As I said essentially, it's a nice utility move but only if you understand how to maximise it's subtlety so that it can provide you with that open display. Probably next time we can sit down and session more on how to use this move extensively. It was great meeting you... :D

Once again, a Big Thank you to everyone. I'm surely looking forward to our next gathering...

Cheers
Jerome

Yes i have the DVD but just watching it isn't quite enough to master the things in it. Was hoping to ask you a few things such as the "Stone's production" and perharps the "Torres move". Till next time i guess! Not many people seems to be working with Stone's material.

I think MP is one of the most visual move in coin magic that probably gets the best reactions from Layman. I think we are always striving for new and improved techniques but MP itself is actually one of the best for good reactions already. Definately hope to have a session with you again. I am still aiming for the height! :D

Hey all..Xiang Long here. Truly enjoyed the gathering as i got to see a lot of performances. Sorry i arrived late. This is gonna be embarrassing but i overslept on the train and missed the stop by a lot. lol. Seems like a lot of enthusiasts out there who are willing to share. Its great to have this kinda community to learn things with. :D

Seems like Shade is very knowledgable so i guess he would be the best guy i could refer to for tips. :P Promise you i'd be performing next time round k. :g:

Me too. Will try to perform the next gathering. Looking forward!

Solid! So far Ashtrix and Jumbo has already volunteered themselves to perform at the next gathering. I am going to jot this down.

Anyone else was inspired by the performance part of the gathering and wants to volunteer themselves? This is a good time to commit yourself to a performance so you give yourself ample time to practice. Good stuff.


Zi An

i am performing...again! I think it is really very helpful to perform. Shade was right after all!