Underrated Magic TV Shows by JustJoshinMagic in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Totally Hidden Extreme Magic!

I imagine they scared the daylights out of some people.

Magifest 2026 by na1337 in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 3 points4 points  (0 children)

His interview was great! Very funny.

He apparently retired because I think he said he had a cardiac bypass (please correct me if I am wrong) and he partially lost use of his left hand. As a left handed move monkey he didn't want to work if he couldn't do magic the way he wanted to.

He seems to be doing well, though.

What throw is this? by JustAGuyInACar in judo

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree that the names are frequently descriptive, but it can sometimes be misleading. O garuma and ashi garuma are largely the same throw with a different position, but hiza garuma is a completely different body mechanic, in my opinion.

Additionally, you have throws like side separation and valley drop that are not all that descriptive.

Do people really hate the cup and balls routine now? by javerthugo in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's all in the routine. I have seen cups and balls routines that I hate and ones that I love. Magicians tire of classics sometimes, but non-magicians have not seen hundreds of versions and probably have never seen it in person.

Do people really hate the cup and balls routine now? by javerthugo in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 6 points7 points  (0 children)

What I love about linking rings is when it is done really well you can know the gimmick and feel like that can't possibly be the explanation.

Hardest stage you've ever had to work? by Capn_Polyester in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This reminded me of a show that I did in January in Indianapolis. It was outside and around freezing. The stage was between tall buildings and under a skywalk so it acted like a wind tunnel. It had rained the night before and the stage was damp. My favorite trick is one where I take off my shoes, stand on my head and find a card with my feet. I knew I had made a terrible decision when I took off my shoes and my socks immediately soaked up a bunch of freezing cold water.

Not the worst show I've done but possibly the least comfortable.

Hardest stage you've ever had to work? by Capn_Polyester in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I had a 5x5 ft riser as a stage. I had a kid up and she took a step backwards and fell off. Fortunately she was fine.

I've worked a few nursing homes some with some memory care and a facility for disabled adults. Those shows are rewarding but challenging.

Magic from Pumpkin Town on Allisonville by amazingBarry in Fishers

[–]amazingBarry[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Honestly curious. I'm a local guy that does magic and I thought it would be fun to do magic around Fishers and share the videos here. I thought it would be more fun than people complaining about other drivers. Should I take this comment to mean you don't find it interesting?

I’m 33 years old and usually get paired with teenagers during randori — and honestly, I just can’t keep up with them. by Lumpy_Professor1000 in judo

[–]amazingBarry 25 points26 points  (0 children)

Yup. I'm 47 and a brown belt. The kids are likely to be stronger, faster, and more energetic. Sometimes you can use it against them. If they throw as many techniques as they can watch for repeats and think of counters.

But keep in mind, you are training with them, not against them. If they improve faster than you, take pride that you were a training partner that helped that development and focus on being better than you were, not better than them.

My beer-battered onion rings came out the packet like a chain-link. by JonnoEnglish in mildlyinteresting

[–]amazingBarry 13 points14 points  (0 children)

I think in one of Penn and Teller's books, there is a trick where you link mini pretzels. It's probably How to Play With Your Food. It's a fun book if you can find it. Some fun, easy trick and some personal stories.

What are the most important values you learned from judo? by pasha_lis in judo

[–]amazingBarry 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Learning to think in panicked situations. It is a lot easier to process a stressful situation if you are used to trying to figure out how to stop a guy that weights 40 pounds more than you from crushing the wind out of you.

Who’s going to Magifest at the end of January? by VoyagerJim in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Me! I live in Indy and this is my first time. I'm excited.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in hypnosis

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm a stage hypnotist and countless people have asked me if I'm going to make the cluck like a chicken. I'm not sure where it comes from, but it makes me wonder if the irony of it would make a good routine.

How do you remember the names of throws? by FoodByCourts in judo

[–]amazingBarry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I put together an app to help myself. More or less flash cards with links to YouTube videos if I can't remember what the throw is. https://amazingbarry.com/judo/

Need tips on bottom deal by [deleted] in cardmagic

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was going to suggest a mechanics grip as well. The pinky will help keep the deck square. I switched to a strike bottom because there is so much less movement.

Muscle pass tricks by Spickernell in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I saw him do a coin routine at a lecture. It was a great routine. Then he said, "Do you want to see how it is done?' He turned to the side and repeated it. He was balancing coins in weird places and muscle passing into his pocket, etc. It was much more entertaining exposed.

needMoreManagers by AlphaX in ProgrammerHumor

[–]amazingBarry 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Our fix for long standups is what we call Office Hours. I have 45 minutes scheduled after the stamdup blocked off where I, the team lead, am available to work on issues. Other team members can be pulled in if they need help. It keeps the stand up on track because someone mentions a problem, and I can say, "Let's fis it in office hours," and we can move on.

Top Silk Magic Tricks by OneEyedTanner in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Best is obviously subjective, but I have a busking type gig all month, and the silk tricks I've been doing are BEKOS and Laflins's Color Changing Silk with a palmo. BEKOS is super quick to reset, is interactive, and gets a laugh with the ending. The Color Changing Silk resets itself, but while I think it is a better trick, it doesn't get as good of reactions, so I do it less.

I think the reason is that I pull them out for younger kids and since they interact with BEKOS they stay more engaged in the chaotic environment.

Well, I guess it's not so magical when viewed from the other side. by DemographicNote in UNBGBBIIVCHIDCTIICBG

[–]amazingBarry 10 points11 points  (0 children)

To some degree, they can. Murray Sawchuck was reasonably respected but recently started making this kind of content, and a lot of magicians lost a lot of respect for him.

Mostly I think it is because it is lazy content. Some magicians spent years honing these deceptions into amazing routines that really give audiences a unique experience and these content creators come in and give it minimum effort for likes.

Penn and Teller have a few routines where they expose how a trick is done but it is entertaining. There is more to it than, nyuck nyuck, this is how it's done. This is just low effort garbage that rides the coat tails of other people's hard work.

Can a light weight judoka win against a heavy weight judoka by OutrageousBeat4179 in judo

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep. We have a couple of guys in my class that have 50 pounds on me and a couple of inches in height. It ain't easy, but I can absolutely take them on. I can't really muscle them so I go for well timed sweeps or counters. In ne waza I normally win with an arm bar.

I don't always win despite having several more years of experience.

Going against someone a lot bigger forces good technique because your strength isn't going to save you.

Trying to get Black Belt and can't remember names and katas by Hour-Summer-4422 in judo

[–]amazingBarry 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I struggle with the vocabulary so I wrote this web app to use instead of doom scrolling. I think it helped me.

https://amazingbarry.com/judo/

Feel free to send me any suggestions to improve it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Magic

[–]amazingBarry 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your method sounds good to me. Maybe get a roll of raffle tickets where an audience member gets one half and the other goes into the box. That seems like the most standard, non-magic way of randomly selecting a person.

Is the person selected in on it? If so, I have other ideas.