David Berglas's philosophy on magic is at the opposite end of your advice.
Interesting.
May be, but I can assure you that more professionals yield and support to what I said than what you are alluding to what Berglas "encourages" (and I'm thinking you might be misunderstanding his view. . . I've not read any of his stuff but given his reputation I have the strange suspicion he'd be closer to the thinking of his peers on this matter. Then again, from what I do know about Berglas. . . well, I fail to understand the worshipful attitude so many have towards the man. Though he's given us some interesting things and ways of thinking, he really isn't as incredible as some make him out to be. . . this can be said for many that magic lovers canonize into sainthood when the opposite is often the greater truth.
I'm certainly not taking about from M. Berglas's contributions and sense of resource, only tossing some ice water onto the issue when it comes to the likelihood that his views on being the obvious amateur with pockets bulging with junk as the "norm" . . . I just can't imagine that would be his actual perspective.
Yes, some old timers do encourage the carrying of about a half-dozen chief items. Bob Cassidy, a man who I have great love and admiration for, is just such a person and I can understand his logic, even cosigning it to a very limited degree. I think that Mentalists in particular should have little to nothing on hand while many do make it a matter of habit to carry a nail writer of some type (an item I rarely ever use) as well as a gaffed wallet/card case (I'm guilty of occasionally carrying my SUC case and if I know I'll be doing certain things a Serpent's Wallet and possibly a Himber Hip Wallet set-sup.). I do not carry loops or ITR units unless I know I'll be working and typically only when I know that work will be Ghosts/Seance related. I do have a heavily modified Butterfly pad that allows me to generate loads of time (roughly 20 minutes) because of how I set it (eBook to be released sometime this fall). But outside of the Butterfly abut the only thing you'll find me carrying with any frequency is a magnetic ring and that's very rare. I do all I can to live up to what a Mentalist is supposed to be and that means NO PROPS wherever possible. The more I can work prop free the better I'm going to look when I'm doing a deliberate performance and ring in this and that gaff.
Magicians really need to flex their own mental muscle and see how to create Magical effects (and I emphasize "MAGIC" not mentalism type material) using every day items including such things as the coins already in their own pocket or understanding how to incorporate everyday Items such as a tube of Chapstick. . .
Huh?
A single tube of generic chap stick in a lip-stick styled tube will give you a thimble (the cap) as well as poor-man's Magician's Wax and even a method by which to create invisible markings on cards or a slick spot on a book or magazine page, borrowed deck of cards or even a stack of business cards in which you want one that is easily found. Having a traditional Bic pen with the conical cover cap allows you to do the "magnetic cap" type routine along with lead-in to routines using the pen itself. . . especially if you happen to find a staple and covertly insert it under the edge of the cover cap (the small rounded cap that fits over the opposite end of the pen) and thus, create a gimmick similar to that used with the old Voodoo Doll and needless to say, gives you the ability to hypnotize the pen and make it raise and move to your command. . .
Let me see here. . . less than a full dollar's investment with two items that are not conventional magic props but are common items people are used to seeing. Between the two items and a bit of creativity in which you incorporate other borrowed objects, you are able to do an east 10-15 minute demonstration more or less at the drop of a hat. To my mind this is far more impressive that 101 card tricks in which you need to switch from one deck to another deck for some strange reasons; doing so quite deliberately vs. making a clean switch that goes unnoticed. . . where's the magic in that? May as well hang a neon sign saying "Yes, I Must Use a Gimmicked Deck" when this sort of thing is going on OR WORSE when you move from one packet effect to the next (Vernon used to ream my butt for doing packet tricks . . . yes, THAT "Vernon" . . . kind of trumps Berglas, don't it?)
If you're going to be a "Magician" then strive to be just that and not someone that does tricks; learn to not just produce the sandwich under the proper setting, but understand why working one's magic (when in a casual atmosphere) in this manner, is so much stronger and more bewildering than what is seen and considered by the laity when you corner them and force them to watch you do a card trick or whatever the case might be. Being a magician is far different than being someone with a bunch of tricks he/she is willing to whore out.
Interesting.
May be, but I can assure you that more professionals yield and support to what I said than what you are alluding to what Berglas "encourages" (and I'm thinking you might be misunderstanding his view. . . I've not read any of his stuff but given his reputation I have the strange suspicion he'd be closer to the thinking of his peers on this matter. Then again, from what I do know about Berglas. . . well, I fail to understand the worshipful attitude so many have towards the man. Though he's given us some interesting things and ways of thinking, he really isn't as incredible as some make him out to be. . . this can be said for many that magic lovers canonize into sainthood when the opposite is often the greater truth.
I'm certainly not taking about from M. Berglas's contributions and sense of resource, only tossing some ice water onto the issue when it comes to the likelihood that his views on being the obvious amateur with pockets bulging with junk as the "norm" . . . I just can't imagine that would be his actual perspective.
Yes, some old timers do encourage the carrying of about a half-dozen chief items. Bob Cassidy, a man who I have great love and admiration for, is just such a person and I can understand his logic, even cosigning it to a very limited degree. I think that Mentalists in particular should have little to nothing on hand while many do make it a matter of habit to carry a nail writer of some type (an item I rarely ever use) as well as a gaffed wallet/card case (I'm guilty of occasionally carrying my SUC case and if I know I'll be doing certain things a Serpent's Wallet and possibly a Himber Hip Wallet set-sup.). I do not carry loops or ITR units unless I know I'll be working and typically only when I know that work will be Ghosts/Seance related. I do have a heavily modified Butterfly pad that allows me to generate loads of time (roughly 20 minutes) because of how I set it (eBook to be released sometime this fall). But outside of the Butterfly abut the only thing you'll find me carrying with any frequency is a magnetic ring and that's very rare. I do all I can to live up to what a Mentalist is supposed to be and that means NO PROPS wherever possible. The more I can work prop free the better I'm going to look when I'm doing a deliberate performance and ring in this and that gaff.
Magicians really need to flex their own mental muscle and see how to create Magical effects (and I emphasize "MAGIC" not mentalism type material) using every day items including such things as the coins already in their own pocket or understanding how to incorporate everyday Items such as a tube of Chapstick. . .
Huh?
A single tube of generic chap stick in a lip-stick styled tube will give you a thimble (the cap) as well as poor-man's Magician's Wax and even a method by which to create invisible markings on cards or a slick spot on a book or magazine page, borrowed deck of cards or even a stack of business cards in which you want one that is easily found. Having a traditional Bic pen with the conical cover cap allows you to do the "magnetic cap" type routine along with lead-in to routines using the pen itself. . . especially if you happen to find a staple and covertly insert it under the edge of the cover cap (the small rounded cap that fits over the opposite end of the pen) and thus, create a gimmick similar to that used with the old Voodoo Doll and needless to say, gives you the ability to hypnotize the pen and make it raise and move to your command. . .
Let me see here. . . less than a full dollar's investment with two items that are not conventional magic props but are common items people are used to seeing. Between the two items and a bit of creativity in which you incorporate other borrowed objects, you are able to do an east 10-15 minute demonstration more or less at the drop of a hat. To my mind this is far more impressive that 101 card tricks in which you need to switch from one deck to another deck for some strange reasons; doing so quite deliberately vs. making a clean switch that goes unnoticed. . . where's the magic in that? May as well hang a neon sign saying "Yes, I Must Use a Gimmicked Deck" when this sort of thing is going on OR WORSE when you move from one packet effect to the next (Vernon used to ream my butt for doing packet tricks . . . yes, THAT "Vernon" . . . kind of trumps Berglas, don't it?)
If you're going to be a "Magician" then strive to be just that and not someone that does tricks; learn to not just produce the sandwich under the proper setting, but understand why working one's magic (when in a casual atmosphere) in this manner, is so much stronger and more bewildering than what is seen and considered by the laity when you corner them and force them to watch you do a card trick or whatever the case might be. Being a magician is far different than being someone with a bunch of tricks he/she is willing to whore out.
I've made three attempts at making a kind & civil reply to Mat but it seems impossible given my loathing of arrogant spoilt children that have issues with authority and petty jealousy when it comes to someone having had a personal connection to living legends . . . or I should probably say, those that were living when I was in my 20's 
I actually feel sorry for people like this in that medical science has proven what their physical and mental health will look like by the time they start hitting their 40's and early 50's . . . cancer being quite typical for such anal-retentive characters. Ironically, anal (lower bowel) and Prostate cancer seem the most prevalent in the males . . . I guess it comes from trying to make a diamond all those years leading up to middle-age.
