My teenage son is obsessed with Criss Angel's show "Mind Freak"

[Shine]

I have to admit, the guy is pretty good. I don't know how the hell he does that freaky levitation stuff. :scared:

[mzteris]

1. Mine, too!

How old is yours? Mine's 13.

He's also a magician who wants to be a professional magician. So he's always trying to dissect what CA - and every magician - is doing.

It's kinda freaky though. His dad sent me a clip from Wiki about Criss - that he has a background in martial arts, dance, and gymnastics. My son knew he did kung fu - which is what my son's been doing for the past 5 years - before CA) - but my son also does dance and gymnastics, too. Weird, huh?

[Shine]

3. Hey, mine is 13, too! He'll be 14 in mid-Nov.

ShineBoy has been into performing magic since he was 8. He's also into acting and drumming.

It'll be interesting to see where these kids end up, eh? Esp with inspiration from Chriss Angel....

:hi:

[mzteris]

6. Too weird -

my son's birthday is Nov. 15...

Has your son found a magic club yet? That helped tremendously in becoming more "professional" - we joined the IBM (International Brotherhood of Magic) - they have Youth program. There is also the Society of American Magicians (& Society of Youth Magicians). One or the other should have a local chapter; the meetings are a hoot and it's a great place to learn.

[Shine]

7. Wow, my son's b'day is on Nov. 13th....just two days apart. That's funny

No, we haven't done a magic club thing, but I'll look into the ones you suggested, thanks! I'm sure he'd be interested. He's mostly done his own thing with tons of tricks, props, videos, books, etc....How cool that those clubs exist. I didn't even know about them. :hi:

Is your son wrapping up 7th grade, like mine, or did you start him early? His last day of school is next Wednesday and he's counting the hours....:D

[mzteris]

9. Links -

IBM: www.magician.org/

IBM local clubs: http://www.magician.org/websites.htm


SAM: www.magicsam.com

CA clubs: http://www.magicsam.com/assyFind.asp


SYM: www.magicsym.com


Yeah - do you have magic 'stuff' everywhere? Does he "load up" his pockets with tricks everytime he leaves the house? Does he drive you crazy saying, "Hey, Mom! Watch this!" And you watch the same trick about 500 times (and you STILL don't know exactly how he does it!) :rofl:

Does your son have a specialty - or just everything? Mine does a lot of coin and other close up magic, cards, appearance/disappearance stuff. He did a couple of stage shows recently. Very different from closeup. Linking rings, ropes, Zombie ball, etc. Oh yeah, he juggles a little bit, too.

He really wants to do Doves, and get into escape magic, - oh and fire. I told him he had to wait on the last two. He's always drawing pics of 'illusions' he wants to build. (Too bad he can't hammer a nail straight! lol)

There is are a couple SERIOUS magic camps that we know of - one is Tannens in NY www.tannens.com/magiccamp.html (though I think the camp is actually held in Philly) - he wants to do that one, but the dates didn't work out this year - so he's going to Sorcerer's Safari Magic Camp in Toronto. www.sorcererssafari.ca/

There are probably some less expensive closer ones for you guys.


We've been homeschooling since my son was in 2nd/3rd grade (split schedule) - so technically he would be completing 7th grade this year I suppose - but he's all over the place skills wise. We are looking into his going back to school next year. He wants to just go to highschool but I don't know if they'll let him or not. So he may or may not go back for 8th grade next year. I really don't know yet. He's a bit on the quirky side, doncha know? :hi:

[Shine]

14. Hey, great links! Thanks! I've bookmarked all of 'em

Yes, whenever I'm getting ready for the laundry and checking pockets, I'm ALWAYS finding quarters in his. :D He's big on coin and card tricks, like your boy is, too. He recently broke down a huge cardboard box in our garage that he wanted to use for a trick he had in mind.

He likes to give elaborate shows for our adult friends who come over and does well one-on-one with his school friends, but when I tried to convince him to participate in his middle school's annual talent show, he basically bailed. He flat out refused for last year, saying he wanted to get a "lay of the land" and see how it was all done. This year it was particularly frustrating, b/c he'd PROMISED us earlier in the school year that if we helped him buy a pretty expensive trick, he'd perform in the talent show. Well, the tryouts came and went and he didn't mention one word about it and when we finally asked him what had happened, he sheepishly admitted he hadn't taken action and it was "too late" now. :eyes:

This is a kid who is NOT shy, trust me...but when it comes to his peers, he gets shy sometimes. I guess that's pretty common. It's all about looking good when you're this age. Gawd, you couldn't PAY me to re-live those awkward teenage years!!

Good for you with home-schooling. There's NO way I'd have the patience for that.

Thanks, again, for all the helpful links, mzteris! :pals: Sounds like our boys have a lot in common. Too bad you're not closer to us, out here on the west coast. We're coming out to WI later in the summer, in fact, for a huge family reunion on my cousin's farm. She lives on 220 acres outside of a town called Gays Mills. Do you know where that is? I've never been there before, but I've spent time at Lake Geneva. :D :hi:

[Wetzelbill]

2. I watched it once

It was interesting. He escaped from a casket after it was buried in the ground, and he had his friend try to run him over with a car and smash him against a wall, and somehow he dodged injury after all that happened. I think those were the two tricks he did that episode.

[Shine]

4. I can't help but wonder how he manages to pull those tricks off.

:shrug: weird.

[LynzM]

5. Erm....

I was kind of obsessed with him last year, too... :blush: I know some of it's gotta be camera tricks, but they're well-done, and dammit, I enjoy being stupefied!! :)

[AllegroRondo]

8. I was impressed with his version of the classic Metamorphosis

although I think that was before the Mindfreak show.

Its a standard magicians have done for years - magician is tied up, handcuffed, put in a trunk, while an assistant stands on top. Assistant pulls up a curtain, or blanket, or whatever, and the two change places.

His goal was to do the classic trick faster than anyone previously. No curtain or anything to block the audiences view - just a flash of light, and they switched places. Amazing. Even when you know how its done, the level of training and dexterity to pull that off just blows you away.

[mzteris]

10. Yeah, that was a good one.

My son's been "checking out trunks" for the past year or so. Stores, yard sales, flea markets. It's hysterical because he'll climb in and close the lid - and then climb out. You should see people's face's when he climbs out.

I told him he had to wait until he stopped growing before he buys one.

Though we did pick up a couple of packing crates from a dumpster that he thinks he can 'rebuild' into a big enough crate.

Kids, you gotta love 'em, eh?

[seemunkee]

11. What fun

I used to do close up magic with my son. There was a big magic convention every year here in DC that we went to until it moved to Vegas.
If there is a magic shop near you they can be a big help, usually they will bring in magicians to give lectures(with a lot of sales of their latest book/video/routine involved). Just hanging out was a great source of info too.

I still have a flying carpet illusion in my basement along with some custom made dancing canes.

[Divameow77]

12. My 9 year old is starting to really like magic

He has a couple books and tricks, I think he really wants to learn. Any suggestions??

[Shine]

13. Lance Burton has a nice set of tricks with a video that comes with it

the kid has sooo much magic crap he's collected over the years, I've lost track of what's really good or not.

Check out the links mzteriz posted upthread, though. They're excellent! :hi:

[ChickMagic]

17. Get him the Mark Wilson book

It is great for beginners and has some medium to hard stuff in it too. Local magic shops usually have it - patronize it! They need you.

[Rhythm]

15. His big stunts don't impress me as much as the small things...

I rented/watched all of season 1 of "Mindfreak" after seeing a linked short piece on someone's MySpace page.

The big stunts are cool, and the build-ups are interesting... but the little tricks, like the ring in the ice cube, the ring falling through the jewelry counter glass, or the lady's selected card showing up on the OUTSIDE of the bus windshield (if you saw this, you know what i'm talking about)... those bug me for hours.

I'd love to go to Vegas to see him perform live...

[ChickMagic]

16. I'm like you

Close up magic is my thing. Here's me doing a little ring trick. I hesitate to call it a trick, because it's a skill. I can do coin through soda can, card on outside of window, the trick he did last night with the guitar string - lots and lots. They call me ChickMagic. Don't be bugged. Just enjoy the skill.

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