Which part of magic do u think is the most difficult to do?

it seems everyone agrees that XCM is the hardest... which is the truth... wonder how Devo and jerry do all that..

I don't think its the hardest.

There's no element of concealment required for a performance. all you need is major practice.

hardest? Stage, definitely. unless you're naturally charismatic and have lots of stage prescence. otherwise, it would be really hard to get into the persona and perform well on stage.

hope you get what I'm trying to say. in a rush now.

actually maybe it is not really hard or not..
i think it is just the amount of practise u do for it. for example if u learn an XCM and u practise hard, then it would be easy to you to perform as u r used to it rite?

i agree that is the amount of time spend practicing. diff types of magic will den require diff amount of time doin it...

XCM is not even magic.

The Hardest magic is the kind that you can't do. Because it's so hard. Different for different people.

true...practice makes perfect. But not many people have the patience to go through endless dropping of cards and picking them up one by one.... like my friend who took up XCM and gave up after a few months...

Then is Card manipulation part of Card magic ?

I'm a proud voter of Coin Magic!

I think the hardest kind of magic is GOOD magic. Only a select few can actually do stuff in that genre. Burr.

-Kev

I mean ... Card Manipulation belongs to Magic, so whats wrong with XCM - Xtreme Card Manipulation.

It's so weird to have XCM and flourishes in that poll, because both of that is not magic, and is also not comparable with magic. :blink:
Even if we are just talking about the technical handling aspect, that is still extremely inaccurate. It's like asking is software programming more difficult than playing the piano. Both uses your fingers on a keyboard (of different sorts), but you cannot say which is easier than the other.
Perhaps someone would only say that if they only see magic as just sleights and secrets and not have a healthy view of it.

It's a strange thing, unless Card manipulation belongs to Card magic itself, or does people know Card manipulation as Xtreme Card manipulation.

As we all know Card manipulation ain't that easy, as there are angles, so Xtreme Card manipulation can be consider a higher level in Card manipulation.

Actually you are talking about 2 different kind of "Card Manipulations" Winder.
Card manipulation in it's traditional meaning refers to a sub-genre of card magic which includes (but not limiting to) producing and vanishing cards through sleight of hands. Certain florishes are sometimes incoporated into such acts (fans, card-shooting, etc etc). But card manipulation in this sense of the term typically is still magic orientated. All other aspect of magical performances still applies (e.g. presentation, motivation, performance style, theatrical considerations, etc etc)

In recent times, Card Manipulation has been a common term which is also used to refer to flourishes, or XCM (Extreme Card Manipulation). In my opinion, it is used to escape the term "flourishes" in the same way magicians try to escape/avoid using the term "tricks", because of the percieved negative intonation.
However, Card Manipulation in this case is vastly different from the tradional meaning. This Card Manipulation is the new artform which involves fancy handling of cards and choreographed and precise movements with attention to smoothness, speed and details. It is both seperate and different from magic, albeit probably branching out from the traditional magic flourishes.

Using the same term like that is actually very confusing and would certainly be more so for those unfarmiliar with the different application and meaning of this "Card Manipulation".
For example, traditional (magicial) Card Manipulation has angles, the new (XCM) Card Manipulation doesn't have any angle problem as far as I know. Talking about them as 1 is mixing up the meaning.

adding to wad R_jayz said. i believe only perfect practice makes perfect. no point practicing wrong moves.

and also, agree with kevin Good magic is hard to achieve. you can be the greatest sleight of hand artist out there, but most laymen i shd say, wont get to understand wif just ur sleights.

XCM is not magic?
whats ur explanatio for magic?

Maybe you can explain why XCM is a form of magic?



Magic = The art that purports to control or forecast natural events, effects, or forces by invoking the supernatural.

I'm not against XCM, if its considered magic, what about juggling? Do we consider juggling as a form of magic?

Then i think the people are actually voting for Card manipulation, cause there isn't a "term" for card manipulation and the nearest is Xtreme Card manipulation.

I myself do Card manipulation, so naturally i will vote for Xtreme as it's the nearest to 1 of my genre.

Oh i see....so you mean you are actually voting for the (magical) card manipulations, not the flourish (XCM) card manipulations. B)

Somehow something which puzzles me is that XCM consist of the normal 1 handed cut, fans, arm spreads, cuts which are also consider as Card manipulations. But only that XCM is in a much more advanced stage.

Thinking again, XCM might be the toughest to do.

Its not as dissimilar as you think aloy.

XCM is not mere flourishing, it is the PRESENTATION of a flourish to impress. and it is NOT EASY to present a flourish or a set of flourishes to garner the same responses as you would have when doing a magic trick. I know Bone, Huron, Kevin, Cai and Sly have gone to present pure flourish routines to friends and have had GREAT responses. There is some showmanship involved; its not a self-indulgence hobby. Its very much like magic.

I'm currently intending to do some flourish presentations the next time I meet people. Its in ways harder than magic because you can usually make your own recoveries in magic when you mess up. But when you screw up a cobra catch in front of people, saying "erm lemme try that again ah kekekeek"... the effect is lost somewhat.

Its not easy.

My point wasn't that XCM was easier, my point was XCM is not comparable with magic, because they are fundamentally different.

The "presentation" points are present in all performance art form, from singing to theater to cutting pubic hair and vomiting in public (I'm not making this up, some performance artist really did this for a street gig).
All performance art will have to find their own way to bring the "omph" across while taking care of the techniques. Most of them can draw pointers from each other, and often they do (that's when you get hybrids like MTV and no-stage theaters).

But it is more than a little weird to compare one to the other in the context of "Which one is more difficult?".
Which is more difficult? Singing the national anthem nicely or unicycling?
It is irrelevant and more importantly (sic), unimportant.


Cheers B)