Richard Osterlind

When I originally started out in magic, I pretty soon realized that mental magic is pretty hard hitting. The way non-magicians react to mental effects is proof of this fact. Although I am of a reserved nature, I have a BIG ego and to make matters worse I have what is called, the gift of the gab. I can act and pretty seriously too. I reckon this is all you need to be a good mentalist.
I recently had the good fortune of watching the Mind Series videos of Richard Osterlind. The methods used are remarkably simple and yet the effects he achieves are remarkable. And by effects I donot simply mean the actual end result of a trick but the effect those tricks( or acts ) have on people.
I am a researcher and like puzzles. What I think I really like about puzzles is the elegant solutions that make them such charming things to know. So I really despise those effects that have a mundane simple solution. Though from an engineering point of view that is precisely how it should be. A simple method that creates a powerful effect is exactly the stuff powerful magic is all about. And I completely agree, this is how it should be. However from a personal liking point of view I donot like magic that has too uninteresting a solution. I know I am treading fuzzy grounds when I say uninteresting, and I won't even take the pains of clearing the notion.
Any ways the reason I started this topic was simply to tell u that I was completely blown away by the paddle moves in Volume 7 of Osterlind's videos. So simple a move and yet mind boggling effect. I hardly used paddle move but now I am going to try and perfect it to look as good as Richard makes it look.

Levitation

I stay away from effects involving levitation of small objects using the IT. There are some good effects possible like the Hummer's Card. However there is one objectionable side effect of many a levitation tricks. There is ALWAYS a noticeable ``wobble". This to my mind gives away the secret. If ever a system can be devised that can do away with this mid air wobble then I guess we have something on our hand.
Notice that Hummer Card does not suffer the same problem.

Magic In India

Though I hardly know much about the scene of Magic in India, I can say that Magic in India has suffered a lot. Not that we don't have talent here, we do. The fact remains that Magic does not offer a viable career option. There is no close up scene, no table hopping here, no trade shows. T.V. in India hardly pays attention to Magic as a form of entertainment. Most magicians in India have to have a day time job to support themselves.
We don't have enough innovative artists in this field. Two of the names that I can think of A. P. Sreenivasan
















and Arun Bonnerjee










{the guy on the left in above photo}

Its impossible to buy good magic DVDs or books here. We have to import all of these material. Because of this the standards are never raised and Indian Magicians blissfully unaware of the international developments miss the train !

{ more later...}