Price$24.95
Media TypeVideo Download
CategoryClose Up
Date AddedAug 23, 2014
At the Table Live Lecture
Elsdon, Mark
Murphy's Magic Supplies, Inc.
(Based on 3 reviews)
Using examples from his own repertoire, including full explanations of several marketed items, Mark will teach practical techniques to help anyone become more creative in their approach to magic. To illustrate, he will take a specific trick and show exactly what inspired him to create it, he will perform and explain several very different approaches and variations that led to the final version and then teach two brand new handlings.
He will also recommend his favorite books on creativity, and teach how the more general approaches described in those books can be easily adapted to the creation of new magic effects, methods and presentations.
In this lecture, you will learn:
Triple Impact -
The ideal walk-around trick. Not only does the magician predict which three cards a spectator will remove from the deck, he also predicts exactly which three freely-chosen pockets the spectator will choose to put them in!
Dream Poker -
The tables are turned as the spectator successfully reads the magician's mind, revealing details about the magician's dream that he couldn't possibly know.
Rubik Predicted -
See the hand-drawn genesis of the effect, learn the various version Mark created along the way and then learn the secret to the marketed effect. Finally, Mark will show what happens when you carry on your thinking after an effect is complete and marketed.
ME CAAN -
A worker's version of the ACAAN plot using a borrowed deck. No set-up, no gimmicks, no math, just a practical approach that leaves laymen thinking they've seen the impossible.
The Guessing Game -
This effect is the perfect example of using the creative approach that Mark teaches. Mark takes a standard trick (McDonald's Aces) in a completely new direction, resulting in a beautifully interactive piece of card magic.
Bottle-capped -
A mentalism effect where the spectator somehow predicts the magician's favorite brand of beer.
Origami Morph -
A spectator removes a bill and folds it into eighths and secures it with a paperclip. By simply holding it in his hand, and without touching it, the magician transforms it into a cool origami souvenir.
Polychromatic -
Take a standard color-changing deck and think about the changing colors the way an artist would. Magic that engages the brain. This is a color-changing effect that triumphs all other ones!
Wishful Tinkering -
Within the context of a card trick, the spectator's wishes all come true. It climaxes with the cleanest card to pocket imaginable. Another great example of Mark applying the creative process to an existing trick to devise a completely different (and much easier!) method.
Conversation as Mentalism effects -
What happens when you apply creative techniques to entirely remove all the props from a mentalism effect. Imagine being able to amaze people without the aid of any gadgets, gizmos or gimmicks, anytime, anywhere with just the knowledge in your head. Mark teaches 2 brand new CAM effects.
Mark Elsdon 9/24/2014 - video DOWNLOAD
Reviews
(Top ▲)
Before I review Mark Elsdon’s appearance on Murphy’s Magic lecture series, At The Table, I disclose that I came to this lecture with certain preconceptions; that is, that Elsdon is a creative master. I have been a huge fan of Mark Elsdon for many years. And, so you don’t need to skip to the end, before you read the rest of this review, I give this lecture the highest marks.
This lecture is unlike many others since Elsdon concentrates more on explaining the creative process than on teaching trick after trick. That is not to say that he does not present numerous excellent tricks that are easy and fun to perform - -because he does. This lecture is cerebral and intellectual and he makes that point that we already know too many tricks. The lecture delves into the creative process and Elsdon shares how he devised some of his great effects and his inspiration for thinking differently and challenging himself. To borrow an old adage: If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. After watching this lecture, you will understand that Elsdon provides thoughts and insight into how creating magic, for him, is not just about rote learning and repeating tricks, but using your brain to improve tricks.
Mark starts the show with a great discontinued trick, Triple Impact, which he marketed with Alakazam Magic. Triple Impact has long been a favorite of mine. Elsdon teaches how to do this trick and it is a mind-blower. Interestingly, he teaches how to do this trick differently and perhaps more fooling than the way in which it was marketed. Knowing this trick alone is worth the price of admission, in my opinion, but you get so much more during the course of this fantastic two hour and forty two minute lecture.
Elsdon also present numerous mentalism effects, with and without “things.” The tricks with “things” are actual things, such as bottle caps, and the tricks without “things” use imaginary dice and invisible though-of colored envelopes. Game On, is a mental puzzle that will confound your spectator, over and over again, with an invisible die. Although he doesn’t give an in depth lecture into equivoque, he expertly employs it with several different tricks. Elsdon, who demonstrated a proclivity for the Rubik’s Cube, also teaches Rubik Predicted, another clever and fooling effect.
The pre-lecture marketing ad copy is not completely accurate because some of the advertised effects are not taught. That happens with live-lectures as they take turns and the performer may depart from script. That is A-OK with me.
If you are only looking to learn tricks, you will still be extremely satisfied and utterly pleased with this lecture. And, if you want to listen to a real professional and a great instructor, who approaches magic with intellectual curiosity, you will thoroughly enjoy and appreciate this discussion.
Interestingly, you see Elsdon make a mistake while performing Dream Poker, yet you don’t even know it until he tells you that he flubbed it, during the explanatory portion of the trick. Although it was an inadvertent error, it demonstrates how an effect that takes a wrong turn can still be as strong for your audience, if the performer doesn’t get derailed by a mistake.
During the At The Table lectures, the host, Mike Hankins, usually is an active questioner and participant. Here, however, Elsdon is so fascinating and gives what I consider to be a very informative and compelling lecture that Hankins was rendered somewhat silent. At some point, Elsdon indicated that he may never give this same lecture again and that he felt it was somewhat disjointed. I did not agree with his self-critique, and I wish this lecture continued for another hour or two.
A great lecture, from a great creator. Highest marks.
This lecture is unlike many others since Elsdon concentrates more on explaining the creative process than on teaching trick after trick. That is not to say that he does not present numerous excellent tricks that are easy and fun to perform - -because he does. This lecture is cerebral and intellectual and he makes that point that we already know too many tricks. The lecture delves into the creative process and Elsdon shares how he devised some of his great effects and his inspiration for thinking differently and challenging himself. To borrow an old adage: If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day. If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a lifetime. After watching this lecture, you will understand that Elsdon provides thoughts and insight into how creating magic, for him, is not just about rote learning and repeating tricks, but using your brain to improve tricks.
Mark starts the show with a great discontinued trick, Triple Impact, which he marketed with Alakazam Magic. Triple Impact has long been a favorite of mine. Elsdon teaches how to do this trick and it is a mind-blower. Interestingly, he teaches how to do this trick differently and perhaps more fooling than the way in which it was marketed. Knowing this trick alone is worth the price of admission, in my opinion, but you get so much more during the course of this fantastic two hour and forty two minute lecture.
Elsdon also present numerous mentalism effects, with and without “things.” The tricks with “things” are actual things, such as bottle caps, and the tricks without “things” use imaginary dice and invisible though-of colored envelopes. Game On, is a mental puzzle that will confound your spectator, over and over again, with an invisible die. Although he doesn’t give an in depth lecture into equivoque, he expertly employs it with several different tricks. Elsdon, who demonstrated a proclivity for the Rubik’s Cube, also teaches Rubik Predicted, another clever and fooling effect.
The pre-lecture marketing ad copy is not completely accurate because some of the advertised effects are not taught. That happens with live-lectures as they take turns and the performer may depart from script. That is A-OK with me.
If you are only looking to learn tricks, you will still be extremely satisfied and utterly pleased with this lecture. And, if you want to listen to a real professional and a great instructor, who approaches magic with intellectual curiosity, you will thoroughly enjoy and appreciate this discussion.
Interestingly, you see Elsdon make a mistake while performing Dream Poker, yet you don’t even know it until he tells you that he flubbed it, during the explanatory portion of the trick. Although it was an inadvertent error, it demonstrates how an effect that takes a wrong turn can still be as strong for your audience, if the performer doesn’t get derailed by a mistake.
During the At The Table lectures, the host, Mike Hankins, usually is an active questioner and participant. Here, however, Elsdon is so fascinating and gives what I consider to be a very informative and compelling lecture that Hankins was rendered somewhat silent. At some point, Elsdon indicated that he may never give this same lecture again and that he felt it was somewhat disjointed. I did not agree with his self-critique, and I wish this lecture continued for another hour or two.
A great lecture, from a great creator. Highest marks.
(Top ▲)
Well, this was certainly the most organized dis-jointed lecture I have ever watched in my life, and I mean that in a good way!
Even Mark says that it was a disjointed lecture because it was the first time he ever gave this particular lecture and it is likely to be the only time he ever gives this lecture.
There are some very commercial effects taught in this lecture and none of them are terribly difficult, but the meat and potatoes of this lecture is the how-to part of the creative process. These are the parts of the lecture that made me think, "What a genius!"
So as not to spoil the lecture, I will not divulge the name of the product here but it is not a magic dealer item. In fact it is something you can buy through Amazon, Barnes & Noble book stores or other similar retailers for a mere $20/USD. After seeing how he uses it, I think it should be something that magic dealers carry.
Mark is a very good teacher and explains everything clearly and in depth. There was only one item that he did not really explain, but there were others that are still sold at dealers that he did explain in the context of the lecture. Everything effect in this lecture tied into his creative process and was very well laid-out.
Mark is well-known for his non-magic puzzle fascination and his ability to use them as a magic effect, or within the context of one. He teaches some of those here as well and they are very clever and easy to do with really nothing to carry around. He also talks at length about his work with the Rubik's Cube.
To me one of the standout effects involved a bunch (15 or 20) of glass bottle caps (beer, soda, sparkling water, etc.). This is a very simple and straightforward effect that is great for any number of venues and can be very practical if you put your mind to it. You can use any combination of caps - all soda bottle caps (alcohol-free presentations if that is your thing), all beer caps, water bottle caps or whatever. This *could* be done with plastic bottle caps but there are more limitations to those that would be apparent once you see the explanation. Basically, you show the various brands of caps and turn them over so that you cannot see which caps are which. An audience participant places five fingers in five caps. The rest are eliminated. Then they eventually eliminate all but one, which is then revealed and shown to match a surprising prediction! Yes the choices of which caps are eliminated are free and there is no equivoque...
To summarize, the material presented here is very commercial and comes directly from the working repertoire that Mark has used and developed for a long time. Everything is very clearly explained and he gives you one of the best tools for creating/streamlining your own effects, routines and ideas that I have ever seen!
This was an excellent lecture and I very highly recommend it!
Even Mark says that it was a disjointed lecture because it was the first time he ever gave this particular lecture and it is likely to be the only time he ever gives this lecture.
There are some very commercial effects taught in this lecture and none of them are terribly difficult, but the meat and potatoes of this lecture is the how-to part of the creative process. These are the parts of the lecture that made me think, "What a genius!"
So as not to spoil the lecture, I will not divulge the name of the product here but it is not a magic dealer item. In fact it is something you can buy through Amazon, Barnes & Noble book stores or other similar retailers for a mere $20/USD. After seeing how he uses it, I think it should be something that magic dealers carry.
Mark is a very good teacher and explains everything clearly and in depth. There was only one item that he did not really explain, but there were others that are still sold at dealers that he did explain in the context of the lecture. Everything effect in this lecture tied into his creative process and was very well laid-out.
Mark is well-known for his non-magic puzzle fascination and his ability to use them as a magic effect, or within the context of one. He teaches some of those here as well and they are very clever and easy to do with really nothing to carry around. He also talks at length about his work with the Rubik's Cube.
To me one of the standout effects involved a bunch (15 or 20) of glass bottle caps (beer, soda, sparkling water, etc.). This is a very simple and straightforward effect that is great for any number of venues and can be very practical if you put your mind to it. You can use any combination of caps - all soda bottle caps (alcohol-free presentations if that is your thing), all beer caps, water bottle caps or whatever. This *could* be done with plastic bottle caps but there are more limitations to those that would be apparent once you see the explanation. Basically, you show the various brands of caps and turn them over so that you cannot see which caps are which. An audience participant places five fingers in five caps. The rest are eliminated. Then they eventually eliminate all but one, which is then revealed and shown to match a surprising prediction! Yes the choices of which caps are eliminated are free and there is no equivoque...
To summarize, the material presented here is very commercial and comes directly from the working repertoire that Mark has used and developed for a long time. Everything is very clearly explained and he gives you one of the best tools for creating/streamlining your own effects, routines and ideas that I have ever seen!
This was an excellent lecture and I very highly recommend it!
(Top ▲)
Mark is a quiet, unassuming guy, and I am always surprised by how clever and fooling his magic is in method and premise. The lecture is generally on creativity and how he approaches magic creatively. For a good part of the lecture he uses a deck of cards that is designed to prompt creativity, each effect prompts a small discussion on creativity.
Triple Impact: The spectator selects 3 cards and puts them in their pockets randomly. It is then revealed that the magician has the exact same cards in the same pockets as the spectator. A gaffed version is taught but as an in studio spectator points out it could be performed without any gaffs at all.
Poker Prediction: The magician predicts the year, day and cards that he will use to win a fictional game of poker. The spectator is able to guess them all. This is nice, it is a bit transparent for most magicians but the kicker ending makes a good piece of mentalism based on poker.
Rubik's Race: He gives a spectator a small childrens puzzle and he takes a rubik's cube and they race to see who can finish first. Of course the magician wins. This is the kind of trick that you may be able to work into a situation where the audience feels like they have something against you. It may be a good way to make hecklers calm down. For me I guess it was magical but I don't see it as a magic trick per se.
Rubik Predicted: A handful of Rubik’s Cube practice cards are pulled out. A card is selected in a very fair way and it matches a very clean prediction made by the magician. I love Rubik’s cubes and this is a very clever very fooling piece of magic.
ACAAN #1: From a borrowed shuffled deck a card and number are selected. The selected card is found at the number. This is a fun trick but it is not a purist version of the ACAAN plot, Mark touches on this. I do believe it is a strong trick though.
ACAAN #2: This is an ACAAN using a deck with numbers written on the backs. A back is chosen and a card is chosen it is then revealed in a photo that that exact card was at that exact place. This plays well, and while it isn’t an ACAAN in the strictest sense it is a very strong effect that starts in the same place effect wise.
Heirloom Redux: I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the original Heirloom. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the trick, a card is named by a spectator and it is found in a picture of your great uncle that has been in your wallet. The problem with the first is that you had to have a very specific wallet, which I could never get ahold of, and you were likely to end with a less than desirable revelation. Mark has taken this and freed it up, you no longer need a special wallet and the revelation at the end is much cleaner.
Bottle Capped: The spectator selects a bottle cap from a pile and the magician was able to predict it. The selection process is very clever and very fair, no equivoque is used.
Little bunny’s Card Trick: This is a version of Aronson’s Shuffleboard using a children’s book. I didn’t really like this presentation or the way he performed the shuffling sequence. He changed the method slightly from the original and I don’t think it helped out that much. He shuffles all the cards here but he could easily have had a spectator shuffle the cards. He also touches on a version using a mentalism presentation.
Conversation as Mentalism: Here he goes into 3 tricks that are in his newest book of the same title. All of these effects can be performed almost completely without props.
Game On: You win every time, all you do is roll a couple invisible dice and you always get to the goal first. This is a clever game but it isn’t magic specifically, I will be using it.
Bet On L.A.: Using a fun puzzle a spectator is able to come up with a clever answer that was predicted by the magician. This is very fun, it’s not completely fooling but the puzzle is very clever.
Pre-Fingered: Using only a spectators hand you are able to predict what finger they will chose. This is very cool and I think I will be performing it.
Red Envelope: An invisible envelope and letter opener are selected very freely by the spectator and it matches a prediction that has been in full view the whole time. This is nice, it isn’t the craziest prediction in the world but it is strong.
This is a very good lecture. There is lots of magic here that you can perform with very little. Some of the magic was very clever as well. Most will get something out of this lecture.
Triple Impact: The spectator selects 3 cards and puts them in their pockets randomly. It is then revealed that the magician has the exact same cards in the same pockets as the spectator. A gaffed version is taught but as an in studio spectator points out it could be performed without any gaffs at all.
Poker Prediction: The magician predicts the year, day and cards that he will use to win a fictional game of poker. The spectator is able to guess them all. This is nice, it is a bit transparent for most magicians but the kicker ending makes a good piece of mentalism based on poker.
Rubik's Race: He gives a spectator a small childrens puzzle and he takes a rubik's cube and they race to see who can finish first. Of course the magician wins. This is the kind of trick that you may be able to work into a situation where the audience feels like they have something against you. It may be a good way to make hecklers calm down. For me I guess it was magical but I don't see it as a magic trick per se.
Rubik Predicted: A handful of Rubik’s Cube practice cards are pulled out. A card is selected in a very fair way and it matches a very clean prediction made by the magician. I love Rubik’s cubes and this is a very clever very fooling piece of magic.
ACAAN #1: From a borrowed shuffled deck a card and number are selected. The selected card is found at the number. This is a fun trick but it is not a purist version of the ACAAN plot, Mark touches on this. I do believe it is a strong trick though.
ACAAN #2: This is an ACAAN using a deck with numbers written on the backs. A back is chosen and a card is chosen it is then revealed in a photo that that exact card was at that exact place. This plays well, and while it isn’t an ACAAN in the strictest sense it is a very strong effect that starts in the same place effect wise.
Heirloom Redux: I personally wasn’t a huge fan of the original Heirloom. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the trick, a card is named by a spectator and it is found in a picture of your great uncle that has been in your wallet. The problem with the first is that you had to have a very specific wallet, which I could never get ahold of, and you were likely to end with a less than desirable revelation. Mark has taken this and freed it up, you no longer need a special wallet and the revelation at the end is much cleaner.
Bottle Capped: The spectator selects a bottle cap from a pile and the magician was able to predict it. The selection process is very clever and very fair, no equivoque is used.
Little bunny’s Card Trick: This is a version of Aronson’s Shuffleboard using a children’s book. I didn’t really like this presentation or the way he performed the shuffling sequence. He changed the method slightly from the original and I don’t think it helped out that much. He shuffles all the cards here but he could easily have had a spectator shuffle the cards. He also touches on a version using a mentalism presentation.
Conversation as Mentalism: Here he goes into 3 tricks that are in his newest book of the same title. All of these effects can be performed almost completely without props.
Game On: You win every time, all you do is roll a couple invisible dice and you always get to the goal first. This is a clever game but it isn’t magic specifically, I will be using it.
Bet On L.A.: Using a fun puzzle a spectator is able to come up with a clever answer that was predicted by the magician. This is very fun, it’s not completely fooling but the puzzle is very clever.
Pre-Fingered: Using only a spectators hand you are able to predict what finger they will chose. This is very cool and I think I will be performing it.
Red Envelope: An invisible envelope and letter opener are selected very freely by the spectator and it matches a prediction that has been in full view the whole time. This is nice, it isn’t the craziest prediction in the world but it is strong.
This is a very good lecture. There is lots of magic here that you can perform with very little. Some of the magic was very clever as well. Most will get something out of this lecture.