Aaron Jones Magician

Cups and Balls

The Cups and Balls return to my close-up show. Why did they disappear from my show in the first place? Well it what out of respect to the owner of Momentos Magic Bar where I worked for 2 and a half years. Mr. Momentos signature closing to his show at he magic bar was the Cups and Balls. So when I worked there I thought that it would be a bad idea for me to perform them. Mr. Momentos never said I could not perform them but out of respect for his show I decided not include them in my show when I reworked it for the magic bar. After I finished my time at the magic bar I got used to my new show that did not have them in the show. Now 5 years after I removed them from my formal close-up show they are coming back! I am excited to bring them back because the Cups and Balls has a lot of magic, entertainment, and, artistic value. I have some ideas that I want to add and remove to my original routine. My goal with the new routine it to make it relevant to a modern audience, and I hope to bring more magic to it than just juggling balls with cups. It will still be a few weeks before I will actually use it but I will be spending time with my Cups and Balls everyday until I have my routine fun and entertaining. I hope I can do it!

Aaron

Close-up Rehearsal

I am currently setting up my new close-up rehearsal space. I have mentioned before in other blog postings and my Magic AudioBoos about having a set rehearsal space. Well it is time I set up a new space for myself t get the best out of my practice and rehearsal time. I set up my video camera so that I can record myself then watch it back, to check my performances. As I have mentioned before, I practice moves, then routines, then rehearse my full show in full dress. This way I can find any problems with prop management in my suites, settings etc. It’s also important to always set regular rehearsal and practice times. It a part of your job as a performer to do this and should be a part of your regular magic work day. Once you set your rehearsal space, and time when you will rehearse you will start to get in the proper mind set to work through your show in a structured way, which will show when you perform in the real world and make your show look a lot more professional. the last think you want to do is just put a bunch of tricks together in a string with no reason and perform them. Make sure you spend the time and put them together as a complete show.

Aaron

Some Classics of Magic

As I reflect on the effects in my shows both stage and close-up I have come to realize that almost all of them are classics of magic such as egg bag, torn and restored newspaper, cut and restored rope, the ambitious card, coins across, cups and balls and the list goes on. Why do I like these old classics and why do I continue to develop them and use them more than new effects? Well they work, I enjoy doing them, the routines I create entertain my audience. So I want to talk about why I think the classics work and how I go around working out their presentations.

First I want to mention why I think the classics are classics. The main reason I think this is because of the basic plots of these effects are easy to understand. Like an egg disappears and reappears, a newspaper is torn then restored to its original condition. Spectators can easily understand the point of the effect without any convoluted explanations. This is similar to classic movie plots that are constantly recycled. Why is this? Well they are easy to understand. I feel this is the same for magic effects, and is one of the main reasons the classics of magic are still relevant today.

Because the main plots of classic magic are easy to understand and follow they allow a lot of innovation for performance while maintaining the basic core of magic. If you look at Jeff Hobson’s Egg Bag, or Doc Eason’s bill to lemon routine you will see exactly what I mean. There are many many more examples of this. I feel the classics of magic open the doors to many great and entertaining presentations that are modern and don’t seem old like the effects themselves. These effects have remained for years because of these points. This does not mean that newer effect are not good, there are plenty of great ones, but these classic effects sometimes remain even stronger than some new effects.

As the plots of these classic effects are simple to understand, when working out you own presentations for them you can concentrate on the entertaining aspect of magic. You won’t need to create difficult to understand justifications for the effects because this effect is clear with these classics of magic. You can concentrate on how you want to engage with an audience and using the magic as the medium to do this. Sit down with any classic of magic and try to work out a new and fresh presentation for it and you will see what I mean.

If you are new to magic please do not skip over the power of the classic effects of magic, there are more to them  that may appear on the surface and for this reason is why many professionals still continue to use them to this day.

Aaron

Fixing Props

Well it that time of the year where I like to check over all my props ones in current and some that I use only at certain times and check over their conditions and fix any problems they may have. I also replace parts that need to be replaced. I guess it is just like to make all my props new again. In the picture adding new ropes to my rope effects pretty easy to do. It is also good to check over any props you use every so often to make sure they are in working order and look nice. Fix any scrapes, dents, or any other blemishes in them. Also if you use silks in any way replace any badly wrinkled ones. wrinkled silks always look bad so always store them well after each show.Have you checked your props condition? If you haven’t no better than now. Good looking props in one step towards looking like a good professional. Nothing worse than beat up ugly props. Have a good one!

Aaron

iForce Prediction in Japanese

I had been hearing about this magic App for the iPhone called iForce. Being an iPhone lover I decided to download it and WOW. I love many of the great magic apps on the iPhone but I can’t really use them in my close-up show, however iForce is one that I can use and will use. So what is iForce? Well unlike other magic apps where the app does the magic or the magic is contained only in the app,  iFoce magic app doesn’t do the magic it is just the medium for a prediction. With iForce you tell the spectators that you are going to make a prediction. You open up a doodle app on the iPhone and show how you can draw on the app. You can even have the spectators try it out. Then you ask them for example, to think of any day of the week. You then say you will read there mind and write what day they are thinking of. You then do this and lay the iPhone face down. You then ask them what day they thought of and then turn the iPhone over and the day they said is written on the doodle program your prediction was correct. So as you can see the iPhone just becomes there medium where you write your prediction down rather than on a piece of paper. After the prediction is shown the spectators can play with the app. What is great about this app is that it is fully customizable. As I live in Japan I can customize all my predictions into Japanese. In  the picture in this post you can see my day of the week prediction for Monday.  This is very versatile as you can create many many great effects with this. It comes with a bunch of presets so you can use it right away. There are a few different methods to do the effects with iForce so you can do a repeat with a different method. There are teaching videos built into the app but an internet connection is required. There is also a practice mode so you can practice it repeatedly with out resetting the effect which is great way to practice. iForce also works on the ipod Touch. Because of the great customization, and that the effects that are done will be credited to you not the app makes this a real magic effect that you can use in your close-up show and just for fun. For more information here is the iForce website and here is iForce in the app store.

Aaron

My Lippincott Box

Today’s Magic AudioBoo is a new series on my Favourite magic props. Today I will introduce my My Lippincott Box.