Alvo Stockman's Coffee Shop Magic

Coin Vanish Zen Garden

I started a new project last week called "Coin Vanish Zen Garden".  It's about seeing the creative possibilities in the simplest magic trick.  Using only a single coin vanish, the idea is to make the most creative video possible.

My hope is that by showcasing the array of presentations, it will give us all an inspirational resource to look at whenever we're feeling magician's block.  

By creating the right restrictions we can better focus our creativity.  The rules for the Coin Vanish Zen Garden are simple:

• You only perform one coin vanish
• The vanish can be only a french drop or false transfer.

Coin Vanish Zen Garden is at: http://vimeo.com/groups/coinvanish

Basically, just focus on painting a picture. Tell a story. Not necessarily with words, but make us care that the coin vanishes. 

Did you do it? 
How are you doing it? 
Why are you doing it? 
Is there an explanation? 
Did you mean to do it? 
Is it a good thing that it happened? 

Question all of the hundreds of assumptions magicians make every day, every time they go through the motions. 

Here's my latest submission:

The name Coin Vanish Zen Garden is an homage to csszengarden.com where using a simple html page, designers from all over the world create the most beautiful css style and change the way it feels dramatically.  It's an inspirational resource for thousands of designers and is one of the best examples on the internet of presentational creativity.

Submit as many videos as you like, we've got 25 videos so far, and the number is growing every day!

http://vimeo.com/groups/coinvanish

Fan Art

Plastic and Our World

I was really affected by a particular TED talk I watched recently: 

http://www.ted.com/talks/capt_charles_moore_on_the_seas_of_plastic.html

I encourage you to take a look as well.

It's inspired some changes in my own lifestyle.  I'm working to eliminate my use of disposable plastic.  

One major new step I'm taking is to release my upcoming DVD Singularity in a cardboard sleeve rather than an unnecessary plastic Amaray case.  Something like this:

I hope it will start a trend in the magic industry.

Santa Monica Beach HD Podcast

Go full screen, it's the next best thing to being there! Coming back from my Temecula lecture, I stopped by Santa Monica Beach to get some sun and unwind.

Lecture in Temecula California Tomorrow (Thursday March 12th 2009) at 7:00pm

I will be arriving at The Trick Shop in Temecula tomorrow night at 7:00pm for a massive 2 hour lecture.  I'm excited to be visiting southern California, and I'm going to make sure the lecture is a great one.

There will be 4 larger effects discussed and a few quicker ones.  I'll be going into full detail, and making sure everyone leaves with a lot of new information.

Tickets are $20 and can be reserved by calling 951-506-0664

Hope to see you there!

Here's a map to find The Trick Shop:

View Larger Map

Behind the Scenes on the Set of Singularity

It's been a long time coming, but Singularity is finally in the can and almost here.  I shot some great instructional footage at the Penguin Studio.  Here's a behind the scenes snap of the shoot.

Singularity is great, there's nothing more I can say about it.  It's as good if not better than The Invisible Deck, and it's completely impromptu.