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At the Table Live Lecture - Greg Wilson 8/27/2014

Wilson, Greg

Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.

(Based on 3 reviews)
Greg is a 2 time FISM-winning magician. He has been hailed as one of THE most creative thinkers in magic. With best-selling hits like "On the Spot," "Hundy 500," and the newly released "Exact Change" and "Flash Pen", Greg has enough material to cover practically every genre of close-up magic. In his lecture, Greg will focus your attention to his uncanny ability with a deck of cards, as he performs and explains in detail all of the inner workings that make his magic so unforgettable. What we're particularly excited about here is the various effects Greg will tip that he typically does NOT discuss in his live lectures for magicians.

Reviews

Josh Burch

Jan 06, 2015

Gregory Wilson is a veteran magician and lecturer and on this lecture he shares some great magic. I had the chance to watch portions of this live, I found the interface to be easy to use and many of the questions I asked were answered throughout the lecture.

Party Time Opener: A paper bag is pulled out of the magicians pocket, a streamer is pulled out and a full bottle of wine is produced. This is a great, somewhat organic, production of a bottle. This does have some angle and wardrobe considerations but would work great on stage.

Sugar Change: A packet of Sweet and Low is dropped through a coffee sleeve and changes color. This is a new clever application of a J.C. Wagner effect that can easily be set up on the fly.

Pitch ‘n Ditch: A coin changes in mid air then vanishes multiple times. He jazzes a bit here making the coin vanish in a handful of different ways all using the pitch and ditch. This is a utility move that is best performed in a stand up cocktail situation. It is knacky and requires heavy audience direction but it is a fun move to do.

Pick Pocket Basics: On a whim Greg decides to start pick pocketing his spectator. He explains a couple routines and techniques. He goes through the credit card steal in detail, stealing a credit card and wallet in succession. I love this routine, I feel like Greg milks it a little bit too much but I like the cleanliness of the credit card and wallet steals. He also shows a way to steal glasses. There are some classics mixed in but a lot of good tips and tricks from really working.

Ring Side: This is a 3 phase ring and coin transpo with a surprise ending. All you need its a quarter and a ring. This is a fun effect for stand up situations but it’s not really my cup of tea.

Repeat Watch Steal: Under the guise of guessing which hand a coin is in he steals a watch twice. Even if you don’t want to steal a watch you learn a fun way to guess a coin in a spectators hand.

Pocket change: A number is named and it is revealed to match the exact change in the magicians pocket. He shows a couple handlings for this as well as the gimmick but you really don’t get the whole picture. You will still need to purchase the trick from Greg to perform it.

Copper Silver: This is a fun impromptu penny and dime transpo that happens in the spectators hand. This is a very cool transpo that I can see myself using, I love how easily it can be performed. Because this was impromptu it can easily be routined with other effects using pennies and dimes.

Stick Shift: 2 pieces of a toothpick penetrate each other over and over. He then restores the toothpick in a very magical way. This uses a classical method for the penetration but finishes in a unique way.

Lighter Change: A lighter is shown to be out of gas, the magician changes its color and it now works. This is a fun color changing lighter with a nice twist. You can also make it a kind of transpo where the lighter appears in your sock.

Revelution (performance only): Using the OCD deck from Sans Minds. Greg shows a mixed deck, he spins it on his finger and it rearranges itself into new deck order. He only teases the deck spin, but it really looks like he’s spinning it just like a basketball spinning on his finger.

Poker Peek: Gregs touches on the spectator peek. There’s very little new here but he gives a couple strong pieces of misdirection that you may find to be helpful.

Card Under Box: This is a very bold handling of the classic effect. A card is selected and appears under the box over and over again. This is naturally a very bold effect but Greg has managed to make it even more so with his simple additions.

Video Performances: In this section Greg watches himself perform on camera and really tries to rip his performance apart. There’s a lot to learn here in real world situations. I enjoyed this a lot. He talks about hecklers and his ideas on how to deal with difficult audiences.

Overall, this is a strong lecture for those interested in pick pocketing and stand up cocktail magic. It is very entertaining but I can’t see myself doing much of the magic taught.
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Dr. J. M. Ayala De Cedoz

Official Reviewer

Dec 09, 2014

Wow! This lecture is another that went much longer than originally intended, and with great results!

Not only does Greg teach some newer material in this lecture but he teaches some of his old stand-by material as well, giving some of them an overhaul, of sorts. He does not get into theory that much but he does touch on it briefly where it ties into the subject of the moment. There is quite a bit of material that he explains that he has never explained before - understandable because it is fantastic stuff!

If there is anything that Gregory Wilson is more known for than magic/sleight of hand, it is pickpocketing. This lecture is almost a master course in pickpocket work! I say almost because he does not teach every type of pickpocketing, but he covers wallets, some smaller items and watches. He spends a great deal of time on this subject and covers it very well!

If you are someone that has had problems with the 'Pitch and Ditch' technique, there are some newer observations on that which you will find useful and helpful.

Something else that you will find particularly interesting (and something which I think is a first in any magic lecture) is that Greg shows footage of him doing things on the street, then offers commentary as to why he did what he did, why it was wrong to do it (if it was the wrong thing to do/say) and what should have been done/said instead.

Gregory and Mike had some very funny back-and-forth moments and Mike did an excellent job as host yet again, making for a very entertaining lecture!

I have long been a fan of Gregory Wilson and even if I were not, I would be hard-pressed to not recommend this. Whether you like Gregory Wilson and/or his material or have never seen it (in which case you must have been living under a rock for the past 20 years), check this lecture out because you will find something in it for you!

Very highly recommended!
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Stuart Philip

Official Reviewer

Oct 29, 2014

Greg Wilson’s three plus hour At The Table lecture is fun, entertaining and stuffed to the gills with great magic and moves. I highly recommend this purchase for magicians of all levels.

The lecture starts off with a joke-mock 1970’s era advertisement for a magic VHS tape for the “Art of Card Throwing.” That is the only part of the lecture that should have been skipped. Then the lecture really starts and Greg Wilson, two time FISM winner, walks on stage with high energy and removes from his pocket a small folded up bag, big enough to hold a deck of cards when folded. He talks about the party he is going to have. He then unfolds the bag which is seen to be a long champagne bag, reaches in and throws streamers into the air. Then he reaches into the bag and slowly pulls out a full sized bottle of champagne. He immediately explains this very easy trick and sits down with At The Table host, Mike Hankins and launches into and explains his next trick in which he drops a sugar packet through a corrugated heat cuff from a cup of Starbucks coffee several times until it changes colors.

Wilson then polls the audience about what their “thousand timer” trick is - which is the trick that a magician’s immediate performs (and has done so a thousand times) when asked “Can you do a trick for me.” He then explains that he just invented a trick, has never performed it and dubs it his “one timer.” As soon as he starts the trick, with a sugar packet, he halts the performances and confesses that he forgot the set up and cautions the audience that they need to practice at least twice and moves on to another trick. This slip up is actually very endearing and is a demonstration of how a magician can move past a gaffe without being visibly confounded.

Wilson then borrows a fist-full of coins, calls on an audience to be a spectator and repeatedly does a coin vanish using his pant pocket as an impromptu topit, in a very entertaining routine, mainly because of Wilson’s quick wit and patter. When the spectator asks a question about the type of pockets you can use to perform the trick, Wilson breaks into an unplanned pick-pocket routine using Hankins as an accomplice. The spectator is unaware of all the moves that are happening, but the audience can see what is happening in real time and it is nothing less than absolutely hysterical. Wilson then teaches the very strong misdirection he uses to pick several pockets and explains “if you can’t hide it, highlight it.” Wilson is so smooth and adept at misdirection that it very entertaining to watch - and several times too.

Mike and Greg discuss Wilson’s show, Wizard Wars for a few moments and then he performs and explains Ringside, an impromptu and very visual coin/ring transposition. He then gives advice on performing tricks, changing them and testing them with an audience.

Wilson tells the audience that he has secretly removed 10,000 watches and that he gets caught every few hundred times. He tells the audience that he once broke a watch, but would not reveal the name of the person; just that his initials were “A. Schwartzenegger and his first name sounds like Flarnold.” He then teaches and discusses his approach to removing watches and demonstrates the art, step by step, with an audience member. As part of the routine, he has the spectator hide a coin in one hand, behind his back and then Wilson guesses, with 90% accuracy which hand the coin is in. Greg then explains how he is able to guess what hand the coin is in.

Wilson then performs, Exact Change, a trick he had not planned on performing in which the spectator guesses a number between 1 and a 100. Wilson empties his pocket to reveal the exact amount of loose change in his pocket that matches the number. Continuing with coin tricks, Wilson performs and explains an impromptu copper silver coin transposition with a dime and a penny. He urges the audience to learn this easy trick, with real coins, because it can get overlooked, but it is a very strong effect.

Wilson then goes into Stick Shift, a wooden version of Crazy Man’s Handcuffs with a tooth pick that has been broken in half. Wilson moves the toothpick halves through each other, his finger and even a spectator’s finger. Then, as a finale, he restores the broken toothpick and lets the spectator verify that in fact it has been unbroken. Wilson does a color changing disposable lighter routine, but questions if people still use disposable Bic lighters.

Hankins prompts Wilson to do some card tricks. He then performs Unshuffled, which utilizes a gimmicked deck, which is as easy as it gets to perform. He then performs a peak prediction effect and teaches his patter, which is a nice trick for beginners. He then performs and teaches his card to box performance , which is astonishing because of his top-notch misdirection.
In a very interesting segment, Wilson shows some live footage of his street performances and critiques his own work and teaches how to deal with certain situations by examining his spectator’s reactions to his tricks. Watching the live performances and hearing Wilson’s impression of his own act is fascinating and left me wanting more. It is similar to watching a great movie on DVD with the “director’s commentary” function activated.

Wilson then picks an audience member and performs Slydini’s Paper Balls. The routine as presented is very funny. He adds an open and partially full soda can to the disappearing act and incorporates some of the pickpocket moves to the routine as well. The audience can see everything that Wilson is doing while the astonished audience member is mystified. The entire routine is very fun to watch.
Wilson presents so much great magic in such an entertaining way that this lecture should move to the top of your list.
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