In Front of the Mirror

Hello friends,

Wow, what an amazing journey it has been, and in just a year.  I am officially

moving from Eyellusionist to Vult Decipi, and I hope that you will stay with me

during this change, I’ve got to know a lot of you over the past year and I hope that

I can continue to engage with you on a regular basis.

Thank you for your all your support, without your readership and participation,

I wouldn’t be here.  Thank you, each and everyone one!

And if you’re new to In Front of the Mirror, pull up a chair and put on a pot of coffee

this blog isn’t just me, it’s the whole community, anyone is encouraged to add to the conversation, whether it be a question, a comment, a correction (hopefully not too many of those…) or whatever, I’ve seen what people want to claim as the “home of magic”

But I seriously consider this the place, please feel free to email me about any questions you may have at alan@vultdecipi.com  and I’ll be only too happy to speak with you.

Until next time friends,

Cheers,

Alan

Hey guys,

This is a little piece of video from a large project that will be underway in a week or two.  Keep tuned, this is going to be awesome!

I’m now performing at TGIFridays in Plano, if anyone is in the area and wants to come see me.  I work there every Sunday from 9 til midnight and it’s a really fun experience, or so I’m told.

Just made Youtube Partner, so thank you to all of my fans who made that possible, it’s really exciting stuff.  I can’t wait to put some of my new ideas in action.

Speaking of that, I have Downloadble videos on Youtube now, it says “rental” but you pay for it, and then you get to watch it for free forever, at least the videos I’m putting on there are set up that way.  Make sure to pick it up, it’s only 2.99 and it has a wealth of information.  Can’t go wrong.

I’ll talk to you all later, and again, if anyone’s in the area, come see me perform this weekend, I promise a good time.

Alan

Happy Easter!

I’ve seen some of you guys message me and email me through every possible social media venue! I see you, I’ve read most of the comments, messages and emails up to this point, and I’m sorry if you’re one of the people I haven’t got back to yet, I promise I will just as soon as this holiday is over!

There will be no video this weekend due to family obligations for the holidays, but don’t worry!  I’ll be back and with a tour de force of great reviews, advice and tutorial videos for all of my dear friends in Internet Land.

Be safe and have a hoppy holiday!

Alan

Hey Guys,

I know you’re out there and I know you’re reading this, if you haven’t commented, this would be the post to do it on.

I’m thinking about creating a dvd, but the question is, would anyone buy it? Let me know if you’d be interested in that. It wouldn’t be this youtube graininess, I’m talking about high quality, or even HD video and sound, super high end production and best of all, awesome effects by yours truly. I’m also going to post a Youtube video asking, “If I made it, would you buy it?” If so contact your local magic shop and tell them you want my DVD!

Alan

Here’s your chance! Him and I were at the same event TAOM 2009 and he put on the best lecture I’ve ever seen.

Thought you guys might enjoy this!

Cheers,

Alan

P.S. In this video you can see John Born, Diamond Jim Tyler and Trigg, just to name a few…see if you can spot them.

                 Ok, I’m going to share a crazy story from one of my performances.  I do not recommend that anyone do this…or at the least should be considered only after a lot of meditation and preparation before hand.

 I was at a point where I had been performing professionally for about ten years, had studied and spent a lot of time improvising. 

Say, you go somewhere, like a restaurant a lot and they know you as a magician, but maybe you leave your pack of cards in the car or something, kind not in magician mode, and it never fails that, someone wants to see a magic trick.  The cardinal sin for a lot of magicians, is when given the opportunity to do magic, instead, the magician apologizes and says “Sorry, I don’t have anything on me”.  If you’re a real magician then it shouldn’t matter. Right?

 So anyway, it started as a way to deal with those situations, then I got more and more into this area and thought process, to the point that it became my favorite part of performing.   I would play with “everyday” objects. Matches, sharpies, coke cans, diapers…you name it.  Ok, not so much the diapers…anyway, I read up on effects that had already been created for some of these objects, some not.  Where I found the literature lacking, I would apply basic magic concepts and principals to have something to work with.  One that stands out is using a dry erase marker as a “hot rod”.

So I get this call from the entertainment agency I’m working for about doing a show for an Easter get together.  At this point I’m feeling confident in myself, working on a lot of impromptu material and I made a judgement call.  Like I said, I DO NOT recommend this, at least not for a paying gig.  I went to the show with absolutely nothing on me.  I had the shirt on my back, and that was about it.  I did an hour set, with nothing and the audience had no idea that I was sweating bullets.  It was the single most important, fun and absolutely terrifying performance of my life and I learned a lot from it.

I do suggest leaving the house without your cards sometime.  Go out and when someone asks to see a trick, improvise.  There is a lot of great material out there on impromptu effects, but you have to dig a little deeper to make sure it’s not an impromptu effect with an object that cannot be easily borrowed.  Things I would look at are coins, pens, matches, napkins, drinking straws, things like that.

Just don’t do this for a paying gig.  It’s crazy, stupid and can get you in a lot of trouble with whoever is paying you to be there.

 If anyone else has any stories like this, or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to share or ask.

Cheers,

Alan