The Adequate Blog

So, what is it about those little crystals I mess with anyway?

As with most things, it’s a bit of a long story. I saw these things advertised by another magician as an alternative to messing about with billiard balls. Since, during the Renaissance, billiards had not been invented yet, I figured what the heck and went looking for them.

Thanks to my unofficial “Chief of Acquisitions”, I found ‘em and bought a nice big bag of the silly things for a relatively low price.

In reality, they’re faceted “high bounce” balls, transparent, and when they’re free of dust they shine quite prettily in the sun.

Of course, in my act they are..

THE CRYSTALS… OF MYSTERY!

… you can make anything more interesting if you add “OF MYSTERY” to the name. Try it at dinner.

So in this case, I found the Crystals before I really knew what the heck I was going to do with ‘em! I came up with an idea fairly shortly - I can roll ‘em around on my fingers, giving the impression of skill. I can juggle them, and I can … use them as a flashing shiny thing to attract the crowd.

Recently, I’ve been motivated to come up with an actual magical reason to have ‘em around…

(Edit - some secrets have been removed from here. Why? I’m not done with them yet!)

… which is currently under development. This is, as Stevil put it in a comment on the development of a trick, one of those ’stuff sitting on the shelf till genius happens’ situations.

One of the mysteries of the Crystals… OF MYSTERY! … is why anyone believes me when I say they’re crystals after I bounce one off the stage. Hee.

I’m a member of the Society of American Magicians - a magic club that has branches all over the US (naturally). Last night we had an “Installation Banquet” for the new officers, and the “Stan Kramien Excellence in Stage Magic” competition.

This was also my very first magic contest. Well, the first one I participated in.

Magic contests are funny things - basically you get X number of minutes to go out there and amaze and amuse. The judging is almost always done by fellow magicians.

I was number 8 on your program - but really only the sixth entry due to two scratches. All the acts before me used many props - boxes and balls and scarves and birds and a sword basket and appearances and disappearances…

Me, I went out and did my version of the Mongolian Pop Knot. Me, a rope, a pair of scissors, and the full brunt of my personality.

I didn’t win.

I wasn’t surprised by that, really.  First off, my act isn’t geared toward winning contests. Just as there are ways to “study to the test”, there’s creating an act that’s designed to win contests.  The Pop Knot isn’t really a “contest” bit.

But…

I got an amazing amount of positive feedback from folks at the banquet - including a lot of people, magicians, spouses and families telling me they voted for me.

“Thanks for involving everyone in the audience!”

“It was great how you held the stage with so few props!”

The best kudo came from the man himself, Stan Kramien .  Now, Stan is one of those guys who “got the money” doing shows all over the US for a lot of years. He’s never been known to pull punches (heck, the first time I cited Dai Vernon at an SAM meeting he called the guy a bastard)… after the contest, I went to thank him for letting me play in his sandbox, and he said to me,

“You’re really good. You’re really entertaining. I mean that.”

… as far as I’m concerned. That’s a win.