David Lang lecture - 5 Oct 2006

12 January 2007

I have known Dave Lang since joining the Asylum and we finally met face to face at the IBM convention a few years ago. Dave invited me to come to lecture at his local Magic Club, the Medway Magical Society. Afterwards in the bar we were chatting and Dave showed me some great close-up material which he used for his table-hopping work. I loved it, and we invited him to come and lecture to us at the SMC.

Despite having had a nightmare journey to Lewes, Dave was unphased and confident as he began his lecture. I was a little distressed to see what Dave had picked for his opener; he was doing Card Warp! I felt that our audience of magicians was polite and let him get through it, even if privately thinking that this was not the lecture we had been looking forward to. I should have been more patient!

Of course, Dave had been setting us up for his finale, which he calls "Card Warp Flambe" The clue's in the title, and this provides a strong magical ending to the venerable Card Warp. Well done to Dave for recommending that everyone go out and purchase the original version of Card Warp. Basically, Dave takes the torn cards, sets fire to them, and they restore in a flash. Now, a note to those of you who use flash effects in strolling settings: you will know that many of them just aren't practical. This effect, however, is entirely so, and furthermore is a logical thing to do. As Dave points out, if you could really do what Card Warp implies, restoring the cards should be easy. I found myself wishing that I performed the regular version of card warp, just so that I could add Dave's Flambe kicker. (I use Michael Close's version, and am trying to adapt it at the moment, following Dave?s lecture.) As Close would say, Card Warp Flambe is a worker.

Dave moved on to show us Mirage Coins. Again, it was based on classic plots (coins through table followed by glass through table), to which Dave had added some small touches which add strength and build, so often missing in coins across (or through) routines. Without giving too much away, the noise convincer was a lovely piece of finesse, which could be added to most glass-through table routines with just a little thought.

Dynamic Card, Dave's version of Cards Across was next, using two spectators. Although designed for tables, it could be adapted for walkaround when no table is available, and for that reason this too would count as a worker. If you perform, or would like to perform a version of this (I love Paul Harris's Las Vegas Leaper) you will be interested in Dave's handling. I particularly appreciated an idea contributed by Ted Annemann. Dave has taken the old plot, and decided that modern audiences would be just as impressed with one card travelling as three cards, especially if that was a mentally selected card. Good logic, to my mind.

By now we were spotting a pattern to Dave's work. He focused on old plots, and tried to bring new ideas to them in order to make them work for modern audiences. He was not afraid to combine plots where he felt it added to the overall effect, trying to emulate Michael Ammar's idea of 'kicking them when they're down'.

Nightmare Card was next, and was just such a synthesis. Here Dave combined card to wallet (cheers from our treasurer as Dave paid homage to Keith Bennett's Hip Wallet) with colour changing signed card. There were a few things I liked about this effect. Firstly, the point Dave made about the best method being the most direct, whether that involved sleights or not. Secondly, the Royal Road to Card Magic got a passing credit as the source for a deceptive force seldom seen these days. Finally, this is one of the few tricks where the magician breaks a cardinal rule of close-up magic: he tells the audience exactly what he is going to do, and then does it, yet the effect is just as strong as it would have been had he not done so.

The penultimate effect was Trimisma. I hope that Dave won't misunderstand my oblique compliment if I say that this is one of the most successful attempts to hide an old but sometimes over-telegraphed principle that I have seen. There are probably hundreds of versions out there, and it is hard to describe the effect without referring to it specifically, which in deference to Dave I have no wish to do. If I say that 3 spectators take part in a game of chance, and all three find that the magician has correctly predicted the outcome, you can almost certainly read between the lines! What I can say is that this effect, though very strong, was hard to get across to a large audience, as it is by its nature an intimate piece of mentalism for a small group, using coins on the table. Nevertheless, I can see that it would be extremely effective in the right setting, (bar or restaurant for example) and will certainly give it a go once I get hold of the special something..!

Dave showed us The Creature with Two Backs: a utility envelope that Dave came up with some years ago, and is an extremely effective switching envelope. Dave demonstrated its use as a pre-show tool, though there are of course many other uses. I threw away my Fabrice Delaure Clipboard as soon as I got home. OK, not really.

Dave's OTL Dictionary Test was another combination of principles; the clue's in the title! In brief, three people write down numbers, a spectator thinks of one of them and turns to that page in a large dictionary, magician divines first word on page. What I liked about this were two points: Dave?s thinking behind what sort of dictionary to use and why, and his miscalled date subtlety. (I believe that Jeff Hobson is credited as doing something similar by mentalist Marc Spellmann). I love thinking like that, and it is another example of covering your tracks so that spectators cannot reverse engineer after your performance.

The final piece was called Pet Symmetry. Essentially a card memory feat, this relied on a clever old principle, but I felt it was more of a puzzle than a magical effect. Of course there is nothing wrong with this per-se, but I didn't feel it quite fitted with Dave's other material, all of which had serious 'fry the laymen' potential!

Dave had some interesting patter about Gestalt Memory to go with it, but personally I'm not sure I would have closed with this effect. Perhaps this is a little unfair: I can see this working very well in a relaxed and informal 'having friends to dinner' setting, where the patter really has time to sell the effect. Dave, I hope that isn't an offensive or ignorant observation.

I have no intention of closing with a criticism, especially of a pro who has been in magic and mentalism far, far longer than I. Overall, this was a lecture filled with workable, strong material, and one which offered something for all tastes and skill levels. If only all lectures were this useful; as you know we had Etienne Pradier the month before, and although I loved watching what he was doing, I knew after a few moments that I just wasn't ever going to do his stuff!

AJ

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