Sunday, April 3, 2011

Chad Long magic lecture (and 'spoke too soon')

Magician Chad Long - he of pulling-cards-out-of-walls fame - came to Calgary last week to give us a lecture. Probably because we'd been misbehaving. I suppose we deserved it.

No one's lecture will be useful for everyone in the room (we all like different stuff. Funny, that.) but I came away with eight or ten little ideas, sleights and bits of business, which is far more than what I consider my minimum to make a lecture 'worthwhile'. Oh - and I was inspired by Chad's opening coin routine. What a superb piece of magic! Elegant and convincing.

...Shame he didn't teach it. And such a shame that the only DVD in the world that teaches this routine is Homer Liwag's CoinTwo DVD... which is sold out of its limited run and is completely unavailable for love or money. Why is it that some crappy dross-filled DVDs are produced in quantities far beyond what is either desireable or necessary, yet Liwag's excellent work hasn't been available for...oh...two or three years?

I say 'excellent' only because that's what the reviews say. I wouldn't know. I haven't seen it. Because there aren't any left. Do you sense my faint sense of frustration? I see a beautiful coin routine that appears to suit my performing style and the kind of venues I work, and there's no way to get hold of it. Damn you, Mr Liwag, for being so good. And for only producing 1000 copies of your DVD.

But back to Chad Long. Yeah. Fun. Nice guy, funny and creative, and worth going to see.


On an unrelated lagomorphic note, in my earlier post when I crowed of our success in reintroducing our previously-antagonistic bunnies to each other, I was a little premature. A week or so on, and the fur started flying again. Damn. This means back to the drawing board. Or more accurately, back to the cardboard box on top of the washing machine during a spin cycle, followed by a nervewracking visit to the Empty Bathtub of Slipperiness.

Day 1 of the reintroduction is over. I'm hoping this doesn't take too long. It's bloody inconvenient having to keep them apart all the time. If anyone's had any experience with this (and how often and how long the stressful situations should be engaged in) I'd be interested to know.

Incidentally, I just got a new little video camera (and new software) so I'm re-learning the video editing thing. Don't expect wonders 'cos you won't get them, but the above video is the boys in the bathtub.

3 comments:

  1. Have you tried eBay for the DVD? It's amazing the stuff you can find there.

    As to the fluffy combatants, sometimes it does take a few trips to the bathtub--or box-on-washer, or carrier-on-car-trip--to get them to cohabit peacefully. Switching them back and forth between each other's habitats, keeping them where they can see and smell each other, but not reach each other, and outings in neutral territory (perhaps an outdoor pen when the weather's good?)--pretty much everything it looks like you're already doing--will eventually pay off as well. We'll be thinking lots of good thoughts for you.

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  2. The boys are fixed right?

    A certain amount of scuffling is normal with siblings. Not every bun couple will form a tight bond, some just enjoy each other's company and hang out. My Scout and Sage were more like sisters than anything else.. and occasionally, Sage got nipped for being obnoxious (as the much younger sister ;) and Scout would thump and chase her around for a while.

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  3. Hey Lorna,
    Yup, they're fixed but started scrapping just two days beforehand and had to live apart (though side-by-side) for three months. We then did the re-bonding thing and it seemed to go well, but a few days ago they began scrapping again.
    I'll keep going and see if I can make it work better this time!

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