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Duncan Trillo
 

Mouser: May I ask; is Magic Week a commercial operation or is it something that you continue to work on voluntarily from your interest in magic?

Duncan Trillo: It is a commercial venture.

Duncan


YinHoNg: First of all, thank you so much for your time.

What do you feel about the 'comedic' magicians on t.v. today, who seem to me, more interested in telling jokes than showing the beauty and impact of magic.

Duncan Trillo: Hi YinHoNg,

TV is a very difficult medium for magic.

David Blaine understands how to make the most of it and always allows time for the impact of an effect to really register. (In fact he's allowing 44 days for his latest effect to register!). Derren Brown's shows also allow time for the "magic" to really have impact.

Combining comedy with magic isn't easy though and, as you say, the impact of the magic can get lost in the process. Simple things to highlight the magic can be done even in the middle of a "full on" comedy stand up set... sometimes just slowing up the final moments of a routine are all that is needed to focus the audience for the climax, the magic.

The current compilation shows are too finely chopped up to have any real impact magic wise unfortunately, but they're not doing any harm.

I'd like to see a show that instead of mimicking everything else that is already out there i.e. Blaine, Dom Jolly, Jackass, the Muppets(!) etc... and not quite succeeding, had the courage to set its own standards and really present some of the world's finest magic and magicians… not 'clips' but current world class performers presenting mainly close-up sleight of hand magic.

All the best,

Duncan

YinHoNg: I totally agree. After watching Bill Malone perform on his DVDs "On the Loose" i really feel that that type of performance, from that kind of skilled performer would really work on T.V


Magic Mike: Hi Duncan I would like to know how many times per week/month you perform close up given the fact that your very busy "behind the scenes" so to speak. (Also I need to send you another pm soon regarding adding another page to my site.) By the way guys, if you're reading this and you're looking for a professional web site designer, Duncan's your man, he's as good at site design as he is at magic!

Duncan Trillo: Hi Mike,

Actually I don't do close-up magic at all. My real passion is silent magic. When I was 18 I worked in Hamleys (pre Marvin's Magic) so used to do close-up all day and loved it, but never followed it through. Instead I used that period to work on card fans and productions for my act. I really enjoy watching great close-up performers though.

All the best,

Duncan

Aged Magician: Duncan, I wonder if you ever encountered the 'ghost' of a great guy who, many years ago, ran the magic dept in Hamley's, back in the basement days......Vic Fabian?

Duncan Trillo: Hi Aged Magician!

No, but I know the name. I worked for John Henley of the Inzani-Henley Magic Co.

All the best,

Duncan


Tor: I remeber when I was kid, I was watching this magic show wich was every monday. They showed clips of diffrent magicians. One time they showed your card manipulation act. I thought it was so amazing, stil do. Ever since that time I wanted to learn card manipulations.

Right now Im practising on card manipulations wich is difficult. I havent tried out many types of cards. I only use Bee's. What kinda cards do you recemend? For how long did you practise your routine? Do you use faning powder?

Im affraid of becomming a copycat. I'm trying to come up with my own manipulation sequences wich is going well. I propably have to do something else to. I cant just do card manipulations. I want to be original and diffrent. Could I combine card manipulations with illusions? Like first I do a bunch of illusions then I go into card manipulations.

Duncan Trillo: Hi Tor,

I started out with Bee's also, recommended to me by illusionist Russ Stevens. They are a great card to work with. I'm now using my own cards, the "www.manipulationcards.com" deck, they are super smooth and very thin (10cm for the whole deck) but still spring like card - not paper! So you can back palm a whole deck.

I've always used fanning powder either to make unusable cards work like Piatnic Fanning Cards for example, or to keep good cards in top handling condition. I'd recommend applying the powder to the cards one by one rubbing it in between your thumb and first finger. Then go through the deck with a tissue removing any excess powder. I never got on with the old "shake it in a bag" method.

Learning a manipulation sequence will always be useful. If you work illusions then a front of tabs card routine can be used while illusions are being changed over on stage.

Good luck with it all,

All the best,

Duncan


Elwood: Apart from Rousseau, and young man I saw at Nottingham last year (I think you also appeared, the Guild of Magician's do), there don't seem to be many traditional manipulators about.

Do you feel that the cult of Blaine, and "Nu-Magic" (Monkey Magic, etc) is killing traditional manip acts off, or do you sense a return to the physical skill and dexterity in Magic that was once commonplace in the Music Hall and Vaudeville era?

Although what you perform is Magic in the sense of the impossible, to many younger Magicians I suspect that the time and dedication needed to develop the skills required by this branch of the Art are what pushes them towards the Blaine style of quick tricks and minimal presentaion.

However, there may come a time when this youngest generation of Magicians grow tired of the same old, same old, and come back around to the old way of thinking.

So, do you see yourself (and your contemporary manip atristes) as the last in line, a refreshing alternative or (playing devils's advocate) the Magic equivalent of self-indulgent Jazz music?!

(As a disclaimer, I'd just like to add that I am a big fan of manip artistes, and dove workers especially - Lance Burton's dove act has always fascinated me, and your own hanky routine is a particular favourite)


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