Steven Blair`s blog of magic & life

The first feature you will see is a menu bar at the top. I added this feature because I know a lot of my readers are either magicians or non-magicians. You will see an about me page on this page you will find a little bit more about me (that’s why it’s called an about me page). As well as the about me page we have the videos, updates, non-magic, magicians only and product reviews. This page will make it easier to find posts that interest you for example if you’re a magician and you want to see what I have been up to lately magic wise clicks the magicians only. On the other hand if you`re a non-magician and you want to see what I am up to then click the non-magic page. Also there is a contact information page which lets you get in touch with me if you want to discuss anything further.

Another feature I have added is the email this icon at the bottom of each post. This allows you to email the posts to a friend. Also at the bottom of each post there is what I call “reactions buttons” this allows me to know what you think of the post and it will help me improve my posts in the future.

Now that’s the new stuff I have added on to some old stuff you may not know about. First up is the follow by email box on the right side. This is one of my favourite features of the site and saves me a lot of time. All you do is enter your email and you will automatically get emailed when I post a new blog post it’s as simple as that. Next feature is one I feel all my readers should use and it’s the share it box that can be found on the right side below the Follow by email. This allows you to share any of my posts or my blog on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Finally the last feature is one called twitter updates this is where all my tweets are posted.


Well that’s it from me this time I will be back maybe next week or before that with another post which will be a magic product review of a trick I have feel in love with over the past few weeks. If you want more info contact me on the ways listed below ore click the contact information page.

Steven Blair :)


Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Like me

Hello people of the interwebs its Steven again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be 100% aimed at magicians so apologies in advance to my non magician readers.

As a lot of you will know in my spare time I spend a lot of time browsing the Internet and I come across a lot of useless websites but every so often I find a hidden gem. So in this post I will share with you gems that most magicians will enjoy.

The first site that I have to mention is properly one of my favourites and that site is www.themagicsession.com (soon to be sessionone.com).

what’s this site all about? 

Well this site is where I spend most of my spare time and it is an online community that allows you to chat with magicians from all around the world. On this site I have met some really nice people and a lot of them have helped me to change the way I think about my magic.

What are some of the features of this site?

Well this site has some great stuff such as FREE yeah that’s right will say it again FREE lectures in the on-demand section from “names” in magic such as tony Chang, Eric jones, Chris Mayhew, Aaron Fisher, Jamie Daws and Caleb Wiles. In these lectures these guys share some there thinking of magic, tricks direct from there working routines and also some even share some of their marketed effects. Another thing they offer is a product review show that Luke Dancy (one of the co-founders along with Josh Norris) hosts live via the internet every week at 1am UK time or 8pm EST. I enjoy watching this show because it helps me to decide which products to buy and which to stay away from also they give away FREE magic in there contest called “random magic giveaway”. As well as lectures and product review shows they also offer articles in this section they have a range of articles from a number of magicians. The best part of the site and the place all the cool guys in magic hang out is “the lounge”. This is a video chat room that allows you to chat with loads of magicians from around the world. Also in this section of the site they host what’s called a “Jam Session” this happens once a week on a Tuesday at 1am UK time or 8pm EST and this is one of the highlights of my week. In these sessions Mark Calabrese and Trini Montes set a topic and the members share ideas on this topic. If you haven’t attended a Jam Session then I suggest that you do because even if it’s a topic in magic that you have no interest in you will still learn something. It maybe a little thing but it’s still worth it and you will see some good magic. Also they give away free (yeah again its FREE) PDFS that have some great magic essays and tricks in them.


Contact information

www.themagicsession.com

team@themagicsession.com

www.sessionone.com

www.twitter.com/wesession

http://www.facebook.com/WeSession


The second site is one that is around 6 months old but I feel it’s made a huge difference to the way I think and approach magic and this site is called magicontheside.com.

What’s this site all about?

This site is run by my friends Seuss Métivier and Eric Johnson who I met thru themagicsession.com. On this site the guys do a podcast that is all about magic and as well as chat about magic performance, magic books and review products they also chat about beer and drink beer.

What are some of the features of this site?

This site is one of the best podcast there is not just saying this because its run by friends of mine I mean it. I have listened to a few other magic podcasts but didn`t really enjoy them because they were either boring, irrelevant or just lacked that bit of vavavoom. In some of the episodes the guys are joined by special guests such as Eric jones, Max Krause, Garrett Thomas, Shoot Ogawa, Joshua Jay and Gregory Wilson. So go give them a listen.

Contact information.
feedback@magicontheside.com

www.magicontheside.com

http://www.facebook.com/magicontheside

https://twitter.com/#!/magicontheside

2 Apps to help you with magic.

The next 2 sites aren’t really websites like the ones I have listed above but they are more like apps for any card magician.

The first one is a Farro shuffle Simulator. This is a little fun thing to play with. The best thing is that it allows you to stack the deck in a number of stacks such as Tameriz (the one I am currently working on), Aronson stack, Si Stebbins or new deck order and by using this app you will be able to work out who many perfect Farro`s it will take you to go from one stack to another. Play around with it and you will work out some new ideas using the Farro shuffle.

www.natedog.com/cards/faro.html

The second one is a memorised stack trainer that was made by my friend Joe Williamson. This has helped me a lot with learning of Tameriz stack (you can also learn any stack you want just by typeing it in) so go check it out. http://huruey.webs.com

Well that’s it from me for this post hope I have helped you discover a new magic related website for any more information on any of the sites be sure to contact me on any of the ways listed below.

Steven Blair :)


Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Like me

Hey people of the interwebs its Steven back again with yet another blog post. This one is going to be the last 12 months of my life summed up in less than 1000 words I know bit of a challenge but here goes.

This year has been full of lots of ups and downs due to some health issues and personal matters I have had well that’s enough of the sad stuff now on to the good stuff. So I will start off by explaining my non magic related life and then I will move to the magic side.

First thing that I did was I went to see one of my favourite musicals for the 4th time “We Will Rock You” really enjoyed it and if you haven’t seen it I recommend you go and see it. In June I celebrated my 17th birthday. Well I don’t feel any older but it was a good birthday.
In July I went to the Bulgarian town of Slunchev Bryag for a family holiday it was great I met some nice people and had a fantastic time. While I was there I had the chance to travel to the Turkish city of Istanbul really lovely city and had a great time and would certainly do it again. That’s the important events of the past 12 months that are not magic related.( for photos visit my Facbook)

So magic wise it’s been a great year had the chance to perform at some events and they were good fun although I had to stop because of my health issues but I have been slowly starting to do some more. Well at the start of the year I attended a day of card magic called “Paul Gordon’s card capers” this was a great day learned so much about performing magic and loads of new tricks that I still do.( A review of the day can be found by clicking here) .

In February not much magic wise happened apart from I had the chance to see Peter McLanachan AKA The Cardman perform his lecture “A Force Much Greater Than Luck” this was a really good lecture based on just card magic but some of the stuff was really fantastic and I still to this day perform one of the tricks he explained in the lecture all the time.

Nothing really happened for the next few months up until May this was a great month for magic because I had the chance to go to the Scottish Association of Magical Societies (S.A.M.S) convention which this year was held in the Scottish city of Dundee. This was a really good weekend got to spend time with some magician friends and even had the chance to see some lectures, competitions and shows. The first lecture of the weekend was Terry Herbert this lecture was based on kid’s stage magic. Although I don’t do magic aimed at kids I still enjoyed this lecture and I learned some stuff which is a bonus. The second lecture of the weekend was by a Scottish magician called Paul Nardini and this lecture was on comedy stage magic which is something that I really love Paul taught all kinds of magic from booktests to tricks that were more arts and crafts I really enjoyed this lecture and I hope I can catch the full lecture sometime soon because it was cut short due to the competitions over running. The last lecture was by Eddie Dawes and it was called “The Dream Merchants” and this was about old magic catalogues I never watched the whole lecture because I had some other things to do. This was a great weekend and if you ever get the chance to go to a S.A.M.S convention I would go. Next year’s convention will be held in my hometown of Kilmarnock hope to see you all there.

Then not much happened over the summer months apart from performing some magic in Bulgaria to bar staff in a few pubs thats about it.

The next thing was I had the chance to see my friend Michael Neto perform his Lecture “ structuring a Close up Competition Act” this was a great lecture in which Michael spoke about how you make a magic act he then performed one of his winning magic acts and taught all the material he had performed this was a really good lecture because the main focus of the lecture was not tricks it was theory and I liked that also he taught mostly coin magic tricks and as you all should know coin magic is my favourite magic. If you ever get the chance to see Michael perform this lecture recommend you do.

As well as catching a lot of lectures in person I also managed to catch some online. The first online lecture this year I managed to catch was a lecture by Themagicsession.com and it was a lecture that Chris Mayhew performed this was a good lecture had some nice stuff (magicians if you missed it. You can find it on the on-demand section of their website along with lots of other free lectures, product reviews and articles.).

I then was able to catch the Essential Magic Conference (EMC). This is the world’s only online magic conference and it was great. It had performances, lectures and talks by some of the biggest “names” in magic. Recommend you all try and catch next years.

The next lecture was another themagicsession.com lecture and it was by my friend Jamie Daws and in this lecture he taught tricks with cards, business cards and he even spoke about his creativity process yet again available in the on-demand section on the site.

The last online lecture of this year was a lecture by yet again themagicsession.com and it was a lecture by the awesome Caleb Wiles this was the best online lecture of the year (close to the best lecture over all closely behind Peter McLanachan and Michael Neto.) in this lecture he taught loads of great magic and he also explained a lot about how he thought up the tricks which was really interesting. Really recommend you watch this lecture it’s also available in the on-demand section of the site.

Well there you go that’s my past 12 months summed up in just over 1000 words.With the year being almost over I have set myself some goals and aims for 2012 and I really hope I can stick to these. They are:-
1. Join the gym
2. Eat more healthier
3. Spend more time with friends (magic/non magic related) and family
4. Do more magic gigs
5. Pass my college course
There are some more but they are the main ones.

Anyways that’s it from me for this year feel free to contact me on any of the ways below and have a Happy New year.

Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Like me

Hello people of the interwebs its Steven yet again with another blog post. This will be a really quick one because I can’t type too much due to an injury (long story may share it with you all sometime).

As you all know it’s almost that time of year again where we all get together to spend time with friends, family and loved ones. Lots of people at this time of year travel half way around to world just for this occasion. Yes I am talking about the Christmas and new year . So I would like take the time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year and for those traveling over the festive period I hope you all have a safe trip.

In the next couple of weeks I will have another post up. This will be my summary of 2011. Well that’s it from me. If you have any questions wish to contact me then feel free to comment below or contact me on the ways listed at the bottom of this page 

Thanks again

Steven Blair :)

Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Like me

Hello people of the interwebs its Steven again with yet another blog post. This post is going to be a little different from anything I have done before.

In this post I am going to share with you some of my favourite online videos I have found in the past few months. Why am I doing this I hear you ask? Well the answer simple, when I first started up my blog I said I would share things I find online from time to time but I haven’t done it yet.

The first video I want to share is a video titled “Pete Holmes on Conan #2 (Magic)” this is a fairly new video that was posted around a month ago. This video really made me laugh so much and what Pete says is so true.

The second video I want to share is one that really inspired me when I first seen it and its titled “Apple Steve Jobs The Crazy Ones - NEVER BEFORE AIRED 1997” this was going to be an advert for Apple products in 1997 but it was never aired and being a big fan of the late Steve Jobs I thought I would share this.



The next video is a video that features probably on of my favorite magicians of all time Wayne Dobson and its titled “Freddie Starr & Wayne Dobson Royal Variety Performance 1989” this video if you haven’t seen it will properly have you in stiches because Wayne Dobson is one of the funniest and most entertaining guys there is. The second part of the video is Freddie Star performing some stand-up comedy and when I first seen this video I couldn`t stop laughing. I am sure you will enjoy it.



Think you will all enjoy this one it’s a video title “Beat Box 2” and it features clips of two guys going to stores and randomly beat boxing while talking to people in the store.



The next video is one that is called “He Dies At The End” the first time I watched this it scared the pants off me and it just so happened to be while on webcam with some friends. I am not going to spoil what happens just watch it.



The next video is called “Japanese in Istanbul / Maras Dondurmasi / Turkish Ice Cream” the reason I am sharing this is because as you may remember I went to Istanbul in the summer and I saw this live for the first time 3 years after I first seen this video.



The next video is a magic related video which is called “Andrei Jikh- in the cards”. I want to point out I don’t do any of this style of magic but this video is great has fantastic camera work and editing plus some kick ass flourishes and I think you will all enjoy this video even if you’re not a magician.



The last video I want to share is a video that combines two of my favorite things magic and technology. This video is called “iPod Magician - Marco Tempest” I have watched this video at least 30 times in the 6 months its been online.



Well that’s it for this post I hope you enjoyed watching some of the videos I decided to share and I will be doing more posts like this in the future. I will be back with another post later in the month and if you have any videos you think I would enjoy then feel free to share them in the comments below or contact me on any of the ways listed below.




Twitter
Facebook
Youtube
Like me