As a new comer to most things magical I’m sometimes getting lost amongst the jargon. Is there any chance of someone posting a glossary of common terms?



What, for example is an ’out’?



Thanks.

Some of the best ways to learn is by reading books, and hanging out at wonderful places like The "Magic Cafe" (shameless plug).



One good source of information is a book called "The Encyclopedia of Magic and Magicians by T.A.Waters". This oversized book is available through some magic dealers, though I purchased mine through a local bookseller.



To answer your other question, an ’Out’ is basically a way to conclude an effect that has gone ’wrong’, or not the way you planned,

in such a manner that the spectator or audience is unaware that anything went ’wrong’ in the first place.

Being ready for the unexpected is a MUST if you plan on performing in the real world.

Good luck!



_________________

Life is not a problem to be solved...

but a mystery to be lived.

To build on Steve's post:



If something goes wrong you need to find a way OUT so that it still has a magical affect on people. Some tricks are built around this premise and have multiple outs. It can be a lot to keep straight but rewarding to perform.

yep, you'll learn the slang just by hanging out with us speaking of OUT though, can I get a refill on my coffee please

I don't know if these definitions will be of any help, but:



Out: Opposite of in

Double Lift: Twin elevators

Classic Palm: Vintage tree

Gambler's Cop: Vice squad

The Pass: Standard move in a singles' bar.

The Force: Follow up to the pass in a singles' bar.

IBM: I Bother Magicians

SAM: Sometimes Annoy Magicians

Magic Circle: What a lot of performers run around in.

Dancing cane: Magical way of making 30 seconds seem like two hours.

Patter: Jokes without the punch lines.

Exposure: Bad, if you're Valentino; okay, if you're Tom Mullica.

Erdnase: Drunken card cheat who committed suicide; most card magicians aspire to be just like him.

Gimmick: Something unseen by the audience; okay, something sometimes seen by the audience; okay, something the audience knows about but is too polite to mention.

Silk: Cloth square, usually made of anything BUT silk.

Vanishing cane: Sugar field in a tornado.

Masked Magician: Valentino

Muzzled Magician: What most performers should be.

Linking rings: Magical sleeping potion (apparently works on the audience and the performer alike!)

Thumb tip: Keep it out of your eye!



That's not everything, but it's a start









cheers,

Peter Marucci

showtimecol@aol.com

Dylan:

Here is a good site to visit if you want magic terminology:

http://www.miracleplay.hpg.ig.com.br/mpterms.htm

I’m MUCH better at magic than I am with COMPUTERS!!!

Took me three tries just to get the above e-mail right!!!!

Bengi
:rolleyes:

And here’s another:



Click Here!

Ahhh...the PM brand of humor. Are we blessed or what??!!



Perhaps I am wrong in this thinking but I do not always view the term "out" as negative. Outs are an inherent part of effects such as "twisted sister" and "b’wave". To me it means the solution which most effectively concludes your presentation. Granted "out" can be used to identify alternate solutions when something goes awry but I do not think it necessarily has to. It implies multiple solutions to an effect.



I believe it originates from the viewpoint of "How the heck do I get out of this situation I am in and still successfully fool people?"



JR



_________________

Those

who hear not

the music



Think

the dancers

mad

Hi Dylan,



A great little pamphlet to get on "outs" is entitled "Outs, Precautions, and Challenges" by Charles H. Hopkins. It runs about 79 pages long and somewhere around eight dollars. It really is worth a look ESPECIALLY if you are a card worker.



Best of luck,

Dorian Rhodell

Many thanks to everyone. All very helpful. Oh, and Bengi, the link works fine and I’ve added the site and the one Ray suggested to my favourites list.



At the risk of opening the floodgates – are there other sites you guys would recommend?



Thanks again.



Dylan

On a related topic. Those who are newer to the art of magic (and many who have been around awhile) need to know the history behind some of the effects performed.

Here is a site that intends to collect the history of magic inventions and discoveries. Questions such as "Who invented this move?"

or "Who introduced that variation?" will be answered here for everybody to see.

Go to http://www.lybrary.com/mlp/
to view the MAGIC LINEAGE PROJECT or
"Geneology"


Scott O.
_________________

Levitating somewhere over Wisconsin

Meanwhile, back to the glossary. A point of terminology that I've always wondered about.....

Why is it necktying a card or cards so called? Is it because your hand moves as if it were adjusting your necktie?

Thanks,
Dave

Assume you are holding the deck in a left-hand dealer's grip.
The top card is a blue backer but the rest of the deck is red backed.
You tilt your left hand so the backs of the cards are facing your chest (or necktie) as your right hand removes the blue backer from the top.
The "necktieing" hides the fact that the rest of the cards (or next one, at least) are red backed.
It isn't exactly as if you were adjusting your necktie; more as if you were smoothing your tie if the cards weren't in your left hand.
cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

Thanks Peter. I've only just discovered your reply to my question.

I'd known what Necktieing was, I'd merely wondered why it was so called. And I'm still not really clear on that.

But no matter. Thanks anyway.

Dave

Dave,
If you were wearing a necktie, your "dirty" hand (the one with the deck) tilts the deck towards your necktie.
Hence the expression.
It could as easily have been called "shirting" the deck or "chesting" the deck.
Don't know why "necktie" became the word, or who came up with it.
(Well, I assume it was some performer who wore a necktie! )
cheers,
Peter Marucci
showtimecol@aol.com

Thanks Peter. And my apologies for being a linguistic pedant.

I wasn't clear if it so called 'cuz the hand moved in the general direction of the necktie or 'cuz the hand simulated doing something with the necktie.

But now I know. Thanks for the clarification.

And another really naive question from Dave.

Why is a Retention Vanish called a Retention Vanish?

I always presumed that is was because the hand that apparently puts the coin into the other hand doesn't do so, but in fact retains it. But if that were the case, then all sorts of vanishes (such as the Bobo Vanish) would be called Retention Vanishes. And they're not.

Or is it because of the Retention of Vision aspect of the vanish?

The sleight that's usually called THE Retention Vanish has in fact several different guises. Ammar's handling differs from Roth's. So presumably the term Retention Vanish is generic, rather than applying to just that sleight and it's variants.

I posted this on another site, and everybody replied that it was because of the retention of vision aspect. But then I later read elsewhere that it was because the coin was retained. So I thought I'd ask the question again.

Dave

AFAIK it is the retention of VISION. The brain continues to see the object even when it is no longer there.