OK, this is my 1st attempt on video presentation, and I hope to get comments from you guys, the pros ^_^

Well, on my side, i noticed a few sleights wasn't execute perfectly :( , errr ok now back to the magic.


The story goes...

Once there was a King of Spade. He was ambitious and wanted to rule all 51 cards. Soon, the ambitious king rose to the top of the 51 cards, all cards under his command. However, days passed and there came an Eight of Hearts who was unhappy with the king’s reign. He confronted the King of Spade but the ambitious king told him off. Obviously the Eight of Hearts wasn’t happy with what the king had done to him. Months passed and he wanted the throne badly. Finally, the Eight of Hearts came to the top but that did not last. The ambitious spade king lost his cool and killed Eight of Hearts. But guess what? The Jack of Club and the Six of Spades were the accomplices of Eight of Hearts. Yet, they failed in their mission to overthrow the spade king. Are there any cards to stop the ambitious king? ;)


http://dxsibo.spymac.net/Ambitious_King.wmv

Great job on the video. Only thing I think can be improved upon is perhaps the usage of a better video cam? There are certain parts of the video that is slightly blurred out due to the fact that your hands were moving too fast.

All in all, nice DLs, color changes and of course the long pinkie nail (left hand) which caught my attention :blink:

hahah! thanks dude.
my fren told me tt too! my nails caught his attentions :P

actually i'm poor to get a good DV, so i borrowed my fren's webcam instead. only support up to 30fps. ahhh thats sad, but that is better den none ^_^

i think if a better cam was used, the problems with some of the sleights would have been more obvious, but still, a great video you've got there.

good job ^_^ .. if u cant afford a better cam.. borrow a better one.. haha :P

ho thanks r jayz, u got quite a point there :lol:

and nicky, u know... i got limited circle of frens :P :lol:

your finger nails are really long.. i think it's more appropriate to have it short like mine. so people will actually take note of your magic instead of your nails.. just like a few of us here who immediately noticed it. :P

well, i like the way you present it. did you wear a formal wear? haha.. overall i enjoyed the video..

oh. i tot it will look better if i've some nails :lol:
and ya, juz wan to make myself look presentable ;)

it was cool and good, wish i can do so, but some magician told me, i not able due to my age....

keep it up, real cool. B)

o.O how old are you..

ha....ha...just turn 41 on this year. B)

Ministry, do you honestly think that keeping long nails is better than trimmed nails? Assuming you were to perform for someone, that person is sure to, even on a subconcious level, believe that you are too tardy and lazy to trim your nails, a matter of personal hygiene. that in turn would draw the attention away from the magic, again assuming that this isn't what you want.

The DLs in the video were quite unnatural. do note that flicking/throwing/flipping the DL back onto the deck would seem more natural, but this may be an issue of practice. familiarise yourself with the sleight to the point that you can do it perfectly without even looking at your hands.

Also, the routine lacked a good resolution, assuming that the 'story' part of your post refers to your patter. simply do away with the question, and end the routine with the card transposition, or continue it from there should you be able to keep the routine flowing.

@M.A.D., please do not limit yourself by listening to that magician. you are, essentially, only limited by what you believe you can do. should you take a look back to the 70s and the 80s, great 'classic' magicians such as Larry Jennings, Charlie Miller and Dai Vernon were some of the best sleight-of-hand artists of all time. while there are several effects that require no or minimal/basic sleight of hand, utilising sleight-of-hand can and probably will enhance your effects, bringing them to a completely new level. I repeat, you are only limited to what you believe you can do, so simply believe that nothing is impossible, and you will surely be able to pull off the most difficult sleight of hand ever.

couldn't agree more with tham on the 'classic' magicians part.

oh, MOB, just wanan highlight 3 points to you;

1) Practise your DLs to amke thenm more natural.

2) Fill in a more 'suprising' ending, perhaps come up with an acr that's more charged with action.

3) your story doesn't link with the trick. not at all.

nods. thanks tham and jeremy for the comments.
appericiate it and will try harder on my next attempt :)

Things I like to point out lol

1. Nails- (my personal preference no offence) Long nails don't impress me.. and some how make me do not wan to see wat you are perfroming..

2. Sleights need to be improve..

3. Maybe you are nerveous cos one part you turn the deck face up and face down again.. don't this movement attracts attention..

Overall good effort and need improving.. Work harder.. :D

hmm... personally i think the nails are ok if they're kept clean. I'd wish to have long nails but i just can't keep them clean evrytime..

Darn I shouldn't have started on the nails thing, now everyone is talking about it more than the video itself :P

But then again, I believe that image is very important when performing. Wearing formal is a plus that's for sure.

Another comment, try changing the patter, doesn't really suit what you have displayed.

ahh mac u got me :ph43r: :lol:
ya i was kind of nervous almost forgets my next routine -_-

Mr tham,

thanks, i will take note of that, understand from gordie, u are real good, then i guess if i grade gordie 8/10 than u must be 8.5/10 in skills.

nice to meet u. B)

I think your DL is just fine, laymen shouldn't be able to catch it.

The pass at the start, was pretty good. However, you gotta avoid moving your hands up and down. A huge move like that will attract the audience and that ain't good.

dude, u not only have long nails.. ur fingers are long... and ya long nails sure adds to it... :huh:

my comments... cut those nails off....

ur DL.. is OK... but yes u can make it more natural and try not to always depend on thumb counting to for get ready. use a variation of methods for DL. when do a thumb count, angle is slightly to cover.

other than that... good presentation.

Cheers,
Brendan

thank you dok, Blackwing and magicb, comments noted. ^_^

blackwing, actually i'm going for an invisible pass, but well, looks like my angle r off -_-

imagine breaking them.. OUCH!

traped in e lift and u scratch ur finger nails against e wall.. queck.. zeeeeeee. the ghost show.. :off:

U have long fingers man, you should try flourishing :P

Hm i got nothing much to complain as most have already been mentioned.

Only thing i noticed is that you might need a tad more practise with your fans.

Cheers!!

Hmm, nice long nails; I know what they're for, MISDIRECTION! Lol, apparently MOB's done it. :P

Haha, seriously, the patter is a bit out of point.. Doesnt sound really right, lol. And this video's ACR is very normal.. Pretty much of a routine of a trick that I do daily, perhaps you can check out Daryl's ACR; his ending is really really good.

I cant really see the DLs, probably due to the camera's fault, so I shadn't comment on that part, but IMO, like Nick said, moving your hand up and down whilst covering your pass can be extremely suspicious. <_<

Not bad for a first video, the music really adds the "mystery" to the trick, just work on better endings! :P

is it just me or is the camera too slow?
i thought i literally saw the "too slow movement" for shapeshifter.
oh yea. long fingers , long nails you seriously should try flourishing. lol

dude, your angles ain't off. Don't get me wrong, your pass was good. However, there's always ways to improve. When you do the invisible pass, tilt your hands up then down. Never ever move your arms.

This ambitious routine was pretty good anyway.

Hey Lawrence, first of all, nice vid. A good attempt Very Ellusionist influenced.

Here are a couple of pointers. Hope I'm right and hope this can help you in further enhancing the routine:

1.Try to add patter. After about four sequences of the "card going in and coming onto the top," the trick gets repetitive without patter.

2. The unpolished long nails look cool but I would think that you were a gal if I didn't see your name. Lol. If you want a "bad boy" gothic look, try dark nail polish.


3. Try not to involve shuffling with the ambitious card inside the deck. You can put the card on the table and shuffle the deck if you want to mix up the card sequence (good for those specs with excellent memory), but don't include the particular card in. Shuffling, to the layman, just seems like an opportunity to stack the cards. If you can visibly put the card in and immediately make it come back on top, the impossible just happened.

4. Try sequencing your routine so that one ambitious phase seem more difficult than the last, but try not to go beyond 5 or 6 repetitive phases. Then, end with your most impossible climax. If you're Ellusionist-influenced, you may want to consider taking Brad Christian's advice on ending with the "ambitious pop-up" sequence. May not be a magician's fooler but always remember that it's the laymen we're performing for, an if done properly, the ambitious pop-up is a very strong sequence to add in your repertoire.

Hope to see a clearer version of your vid soon! :)

okie thanks andy, dtjk, lukold, bw and moondust.
comments noted :)

wow getting good response huh? hope to see your second video man..