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langston3711 Loyal user Cumming, GA 218 Posts 
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I just bought this book and it's gonna be a long read so before I just start at the beginning I thought I'd ask... What are some of your favorite effects from Max Maven (Phil Goldstein)'s color book series "Prism"?
When a magician lets you notice something on your own, his lie becomes impenetrable
~Teller |
Magiguy Inner circle Seattle, WA 5480 Posts
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Pages xi - 219
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Chris K Inner circle 2545 Posts
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So many but, for the heck of it since people are going to name Destiny and 4-sided triangle in droves (and rightly so):
Predixion |
Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts
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Quote:
On 2008-10-23 23:35, Magiguy wrote: Well said! I would like to expand on Magiguy's concise statement: Favourite effects are highly subjective. Many factors come into play and must be considered such as your own performance persona, your experience in any particular branch of the art, etc. David Kaye is an EXCELLENT kid's show performer, but would he put something in his act from The Compleat Invocation? Probably not. Take your time, read the book. Essentially what Magiguy has already stated in that the book is EXCELLENT but only YOU can find the effects that will garner the strongest impact FOR YOU. Often, you will have to field test effects to find out if they work for you. Those that DO will become your favourites. But there is another layer - even MORE satisfying: in any given effect, you might easily find a principle that you could adapt to something already in your repertoire. Reading a magic book just for effects is in my opinion not enough. Read why the effect is constructed the way it is. Get into a dialogue and ask yourself WHY a certain method is employed over another. Look at the psychology underpinning the effect. Pay close attention to how each effect is blocked/structured. Close reading of any book - not just magic books - reveals more and more with each successive reading. The Church made the canon of books known collectively today as the Bible in 325 AD. Close to 2,000 years later, this book is still being read CLOSELY all over the world on many different levels. Sure, many of us could suggest an effect. But in the end, how much does that really help YOU as a performer? I am no expert and I offer only my opinion. I think that an effect comes to life in part by what you bring to it. The aforementioned Four Sided Triangle might work for you, but it may not work for me. Something as simple as the Haunted Key is a nice example. In a shop where I used to demonstrate, one of the guys would get little reaction when showing this classic. I would get screams from people. Am I a better performer? No. But how I presented the effect and what I brought to it was different than my friend at the shop. Conversely, he could hold people absolutely spellbound with Sam the Bellhop, whereas I got at best a few amused chuckles. Sam the Bellhop is a GREAT effect, but it does NOT work for me. No big deal really, since there are literally MILLIONS of pages of magic to be studied. As I keep progressing in magic, I find David Devant's comment about quality versus quantity becoming one of my mantras. Another is Annemann's comment about effect and method. (Look them up  )
Whatever the case, you WILL find great stuff in Prism, stuff that is meant for YOU. Best, Vlad |
Craig Dickson Veteran user Pleasant Valley, NY 353 Posts
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In my opinion The Color series was his best. As both Vlad and Magicguy put it, all of it. Had the originals, and now those are put away and safe, and re-reading all of it in the book. I am remembering why I loved them all so much. You cannot go wrong. We brought a dozen copies to Blackpool, and they sold out first day.
Craig R Dickson
Website: www.wizardcraft.com Blog: http://wizardcraftmagic.blogspot.com Magicalendar: http://allmagicguide.com/c.html |
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Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts
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I realise this is VERY long after the OP, but, I wonder if he ever began reading PRISM?
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parmenion Inner circle Switzerland/Zürich 3988 Posts
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Nop, because nobody doesn't answer what are the best effects, so you have to read all, it takes time, dvd is better
“I love talking about nothing. It is the only thing I know anything about.”
<BR>Oscar Wilde experimentaliste <br> <BR>Artist pickpocket Professional <BR> <BR>Looking for the best book test in French? send me a PM! |
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sthielman Regular user North Carolina 129 Posts
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Craig - how would you compare Prism and Focus?
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kozmic kettle Regular user 123 Posts
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Prism and Focus cover very different subjects.
Prism is a book of mental effects. Focus is a book of (mainly packet) card magic. |
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andre combrinck Special user South Africa 953 Posts
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Burnt Offerings, Tephramantic Brainwave, Pre-duck-tion, Geometric Coin, The Spirit is Willing, Double Undercurrent, Middle Telepathy, Vision Version, Predixion, The Mind's Eye Deck, Shuffled Impulse, Designation and Kirigami.
AJ |
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Vlad_77 Inner circle The Netherlands 5829 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-03-07 09:24, parmenion wrote: Heaven forbid that somebody would actually READ a book. Parmenion, I do hope your statement was made tongue firmly in cheek. Ahimsa, Vlad |
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Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts
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I agree with all of what was said here by the other Café members.
I remember the first time I read these manuscripts. I was in total shock and disbelief. I could not believe how good (and diversified) the effects in this series was...and is. I started out with one or two of the manuscripts and quickly acquired the other three from various dealers in and outside of the State. An especially memorable moment that occurred during this time period was when my mentor, Joe Givan, took me down to a comedy club here in Portland where Phil Goldstein (Max Maven) was booked for one night to perform his mentalism act. as Phil performed, I recognized a number of the performance pieces as coming straight out of the Color series. After the show, Joe and I and Phil sat down and talked for about 30 minutes, and, during that time, Phil graciously signed each of the covers of the five manuscripts. I still treasure this set of manuscripts as my most prized magic/mentalism item...both for "OOP Phil Goldstein" autographs, but, at least equally importantly, for the vast wealth of material contained within their covers. One of the nice things I really like about the effects in this series is the fact that the effects were quite sparse on performance scripting details and concentrated mainly on the methodologies. For performance scripting, each effect just gave a very short outline or general idea of what the plot was. And you, if you were doing your job, had to fill in the blanks and actually write your own storyline. And, in doing so, you inevitably wrote a script that was "just right for you" and fit you like a glove. Mike P.S. While I concur with all the choices already offered by the other Café members, my favorite effect in the series (for sheer enjoyment of performance, flexibility for storyline development and for the absolute looks of astonishment and audience reactions that I get) has to be "Nucleus". Effect: Imagine, having a selected card hopelessly lost within a shuffled deck, then splitting the cards into two halves and shuffling the deck of cards in a "Triumph" face-up/face-down fashion and then spreading out these cards onto a table top or on the floor in a random 15"-18" diameter circle of loosely touching cards. And then, with the open palms of your two hands, you slowly lower your two open-palmed hands down onto the spread-out cards and merely touch the tops of this big 15"-18" circle of bunched-up mishmashed cards with your two open palms. You then slowly raise your two hands up in a vertical lift and the "circle of cards" are seen to actually be clinging to your hands and rising up stuck to your palms...until, after about 1'-2' of lift, you give out a loud shout and all the cards instantly scatter and drop to the floor...all except for the selected card which is now held at the fingertips of one of your hands...and revealed to the audience. Man! I love that effect. (Especially nice to perform during Halloween.) All just IMHO; your mileage may vary.
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
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motown Inner circle Atlanta by way of Detroit 6142 Posts
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Here's a few I realy like:
-Desire -Tephramantic Brainwave -The Spirit is Willing to Write -Middle Telepathy -Satans Nightmare -Vision Version -Designation -French Active
"If you ever write anything about me after I'm gone, I will come back and haunt you."
– Karl Germain |
Miraclemakers Special user INA 685 Posts
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This book worth every penny you spend.....
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ReviewerMaster Veteran user 307 Posts
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The book worth 10 times more than the listed price...
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Rennie Inner circle I think I have about 1812 Posts
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Only bad thoughts I have about it was, I had every Color Series that was put out. They were going up in value, the last one I purchased was Yellow, paid $100.00 for it.
Now he publishes Prism and the entire Color Series is in this one book.Sort of makes you stop and think about the old "Out Of Print" statement. At any rate I am just venting, get the book, it is GREAT!!! Rennie
The effect is the important thing, how you achieve it is not.......
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magicfish Inner circle 7036 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-03-07 09:24, parmenion wrote: This attitude makes me love books more and more everyday. |
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Rennie Inner circle I think I have about 1812 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-05-31 00:24, magicfish wrote: I think parmenion's attitude is correctly called "LAZY"
The effect is the important thing, how you achieve it is not.......
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MoonRazor Special user 853 Posts
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Quote:
On Oct 26, 2008, Vlad_77 wrote: Yah ...... but what are the good ones. 
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Posted: Oct 23, 2008 08:55 pm 