Ardell Gray Magic, a popular beauty product, has been discontinued. This announcement has left many customers disappointed and searching for alternative solutions. Gray Magic was specifically designed to help cover gray hair and provide a natural-looking color. It was a convenient and cost-effective option for those who wanted to maintain a youthful appearance. The product's sudden halt has caused frustration among customers who relied on it as part of their beauty routine. Many users have expressed their disappointment on social media platforms and are now left searching for a new solution.
The book concludes with a thirty-two-page essay titled Can Magic Be Art-New Thoughts. He emphasizes the point that there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants. He feels it is a shame that more magicians do not live their magic and theorizes that one cannot approach magic artistically if we do not possess such a sensibility. Perhaps he is right.
He feels it is a shame that more magicians do not live their magic and theorizes that one cannot approach magic artistically if we do not possess such a sensibility. As card magic is my first love, I was thrilled to recently add a first edition deluxe copy of MINT Volume 1 , signed and numbered by Ed Marlo to my collection.
Many users have expressed their disappointment on social media platforms and are now left searching for a new solution. The discontinuation of Ardell Gray Magic highlights the challenges faced by consumers when their favorite products are no longer available. It serves as a reminder to constantly explore and discover new alternatives in the ever-changing world of beauty.
The Genii Forum
The cat is out of the bag. The February issue of Genii features Darren Brown in a monumental piece by Jamy Ian Swiss. Forum member Sam Kesler contributed a BoM essay on Browns Absolute Magic some time ago, but I held onto it just for this opportunity (I know, I know, I said something else was coming, but that will have to wait). Since I cannot do any better, here is Sams bio, just as he sent it to me, so you may get to know him a bit better:
Ive been interested in magic since I was twelve-years-old. One of the joys of arriving in Los Angeles from the Midwest in 1967 was visiting Joe Bergs second-floor magic shop on Hollywood Boulevard. While my primary hobby became writing novels and screenplays (still unpublished and un-produced), my interest and love of magic has never wavered. In 2000, at the age of 54, I returned to magic as a serious collector and hobbyist thanks to Taylor, my 10-year-old great niece. I joined the IBM and the Hollywood Caryl Fleming Ring #21 in November and plan to apply soon to become a member of the Magic Castle. As card magic is my first love, I was thrilled to recently add a first edition deluxe copy of MINT Volume 1, signed and numbered by Ed Marlo to my collection.
And now, Sam Kesler takes a look at February 2005 Genii cover subject Derren Browns Absolute Magic.
Absolute Magic by Derren Brown (H&R Magic Books, 2003) is the second book by Britains foremost mentalist (he prefers psychological magician) and current boy wonder on the scene today. His television specials have drawn huge audiences and his mass appeal relies on his uncanny ability to predict and control human behavior.
While Absolute Magic may not break any new ground, it does make you think. As Jamy Ian Swiss has pointed out in many of his brilliant Genii book reviews (I think of each of them as essays bordering on masterpieces), if it compels us to think more deeply about our art - thinking is a practice of which magic could use a good deal more. More from Mr. Swiss in a moment.
Absolute Magic is not a collection of routines, but a treatise on Mr. Browns perspective on performance. He focuses on that part of performance that exists when the material is removed. That is, when the magician transcends the trickery and achieves the greater effect and the artists vision is realized. Pretty heady stuff.
While he discusses the topics of cold readings (theatrical and ethical) and pick-pocketing (in technical detail), creating real magic is the primary subject of Browns book; designing routines with a sense of dramatic structure and the creation of a character with the same dramatic sensibility behind it. Real magic occurs when character and performance are fused with magical effect. Unless the principle a magician employs has a meaningful effect on the audience, they have no value. Magic must extend beyond the experience of trickery and deception. And how does one create a true sense of wonder that transcends mere trickery? Browns answer is simple: get the audience to like you. Make the spectators feel comfortable in your company.
Brown doesnt mince words; he speaks bluntly and may irritate some sensitive readers. He ridicules the commercial exploitation of todays magic and yearns for the Victorian age when we manifested a pride in our age and a faith in the worth of our constructs. He decries the fact that there is a lot of dreadful, meaningless, patronizing magic throughout the world. He argues that most contemporary Western close-up magic lacks the experience of magic, rich, resonant magic. Magic that can lead her (spectator) into a never-never land where she can glimpse a level of enchantment that touches and changes her a little. In other words, a grand effect. Brown feels that there are many entertainers but few real magicians. A lot to ask for? Perhaps. Every magician must decide for him/herself.
Reviewed in the March 2002 issue of Genii (quoted with permission) Jamy Ian Swiss writes, If the authors previous book, Pure Effect (reviewed in Genii, March 2000) was a challenge to the status quo of close-up magic, then Absolute Magic is an outright call to arms. Mr. Brown has some ideas about what magic should feel like, but that is only the beginning. In his preface he explains, The aim of this book is to set out, quite apologetically, a model for performing magic in such a way that it feels real to the spectator even though he may intellectually rationalize it later. But the author is after even bigger game: he wants not only to alter the way we do our art and work, but he wants to transform the way we think and feel about it.
Mr. Brown is passionate about drama, the point where entertainment and real magic meet. The role of drama in magic is to strengthen the feel and impact of real and resonant magic. The definition that applies to what Brown is talking about can be found in the Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Resonant: suggesting images, memories, or emotions, evocative, suggestive, expressive, full-bodied, vibrant. Well, you get the idea.
Theatre and magic are inseparable. Brown maintains that showmanship is a cheap substitute for drama. Magic is bad drama and immensely flawed as theatre. As you can see he takes his magic seriously. He argues for magic that has relevance and resonates with the spectators. He further states that dramatic resonance unifies many disparate ideas and brings much into focus. Drama must support the magic, not vice-versa. Brown heartily agrees with Darwin Ortiz and quotes from Strong Magic that the point of a dramatic presentation is to enhance the magic - not there to validate a dramatic premise.
Brown pushes the envelope a bit by declaring that stories are told when entertaining for children (to capture their interest), but there is no need to continue with such obviousness into adult magic. He feels such routines as alienating. Agree or disagree, it does get you thinking about your art.
The book concludes with a thirty-two-page essay titled Can Magic Be Art-New Thoughts. He emphasizes the point that there is a fine line between wishing to produce child-like astonishment and treating people like infants. He feels it is a shame that more magicians do not live their magic and theorizes that one cannot approach magic artistically if we do not possess such a sensibility. Perhaps he is right.
Mr. Brown delights in the fact that after reading his book there will be more magicians in the world who feel a real excitement about his/her work, especially if you are prepared to invest real effort and thought into it. For me, at least, he got his wish. How about you?
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Reviews for "Ardell Gray Magic: The Must-Have Product for Gray Hair Enthusiasts"
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