by TylerMason » Aug 17th, '07, 16:48
Blaine vs Angel vs Brown huh?
I can see all the posts for this thread are gonna make it a long one.
Three good choices to discuss though. Mainstream TV magicians unfortunately not only get most of the media attention...but they also seem to occupy a great deal of all OUR time too. Almost as if we've all been brainwashed into aspiring to be like either one of those three TV performers, or nothing at all. Weird.
Might be interesting to hear some of your guys opinions on contributions made to magic by the likes of Vernon, Marlo, Devant, Tarbell, Giobi, Daryl, Leipzig.....but anyway, thats for another post some other day I guess. Back to the point. Let's start with Blaine:
BLAINE - As much as it pains me say it, but a lot of us wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for Blaines refreshed performance take on close-up magic. It was only because reality TV was beginning to spread around the world like a plague......so of course, he jumps on the band wagon, and makes a reality TV magic show. Subsequently the sanctity of close-up magic has been forever desecrated with the now, more popular notion of, "street magic"
Im sure most new magicians would protest that they don't care what the name of their performance style is. They will only know it as "street magic" these days. So I guess I can hardly use this as my excuse for not particularly liking Blaine.....but if you want measure the guy's merit on his skill as a performer: His early stuff was simple, but effective (much to the annoyance of magicians who were better than him at the time his shows aired), and Blaines later stuff went, well, down the toilet really e.g:-
Does anyone here actually think standing on a pole, floating in a water bubble, lying underground, or staying awake in ice with a catheter tube in your penis constitutes as being magic? No, it doesn't does it. They are however, very good ideas for publicity stunts (which lets face it, was his point in doing them) He gets to promote himself more, without having to perform hardly any new material. Perfect for him, but not so entertaining for magicians who are the spawn of Blaine. Lots of new magicians began by worshiping the ground Blaine walks on, only to find themselves secretly hating the guy after they've gotten a basic knowledge of card sleights. Some often feel somewhat betrayed - "I can do that trick! Why's Blaine so famous for it then?" .....I've heard so many new magicians say things like this.
He did magic justice by generating an entire generations worth of new performers. It's a hard thing to do with today’s technology obsessed youth, to capture their interest with....a deck of cards. So lets face it, love him or hate him. No-one can deny that he's earned his place in magic history - Not for his skill, certainly not for his personality, but for the influx of interest in magic generally.
ANGEL – I’ll make this one short & sweet. No offence to the guy, im sure he’s probably the nicest, kind, most friendly man in the world if you got to know him better…..but isn’t it comforting to know that even if you’re stooge dependant, ugly bast**d, with a chin like an ass, a nose like a knee-cap, and still dress like your in high school when your pushing 40, that magic can get you a shag from the likes of Cameron Diaz and Brittney Spears. God bless magic ehh?
BROWN – and finally, we come to Derren, a mentalist predominantly, with a background in hypnosis and close-up card magic. What a combination! Coupled with the fact that the guy is very well educated, with charming sense of being ‘honest’ about his dishonesty as a magician. He never seems to present his non-psychological effects as just plain old magic tricks. He uses pseudo-science to give the audience a sense of ‘realism’ – This presentational point is excellently covered in The Devils Picture book and Trick of the Mind.
I always like to see this kind of commitment to the art form in a magicians performance. Magic has changed, maybe not in our eyes, but to the lay man it doesn’t hold the same magnitude as it would have done say 100, 200 & 300 years ago. Before anyone had a grasp on what magic was, magicians used to be worshiped like gods & prophets (devil worshipers mostly in the 1500’s) We live in a sceptical world these days. We walk amongst non-believers, even religion is failing to draw the crowds like it use to….so the point is, there seems to be little room left in the world for us magicians now that the average spectator always thinks he “knows how that one is done!”
So, it’s very welcoming to see some magicians adopting Derren’s style of, well, giving them a reason not to doubt what your doing basically. Its much more believable for a spectator to be told you’ve guessed their card by reading their body language, mannerisms, non-verbal communication, iris dilation etc….than to be patronized with “I read your mind” (yeah right!) Anyone you stop in the street will think you’re a bull shitter if you tell them that’s what your doing. Even if you succeed in correctly identifying their card, it will only take just one mention of the principle of mind reading for them to dismiss your efforts as: “Well, he obviously just knew what the card was from the start” People aren't as stupid as they were in the middle ages!
Magic is a tricky enough art form to pull off as being even just slightly believable at the best of times…..so I salute magicians like derren brown who use an extensive knowledge of psychology, pseudo-science, suggestion etc, to create what I think is one of the most believable ‘magic’ act around today.
SUMMARY –
BLAINE: Boring, uncharismatic, average close-up skill level, groundbreaking influence on the world of magic (7/10)
ANGEL: Mid life crisis dress-sense, average close-up skill level, excellent stage skill level, shamefully excessive use of stooges and TV editing (5/10)
BROWN: Intelligent, above average close-up skill level, excellent stage skill level, superb use of psychology in his mentalism (9/10)
So there you go, I’ve had my rant, god that feels good to get that off my chest. It’s quite therapeutic this forum isn’t it? Have a good weekend all.