talkmagic.co.uk

danalbion wrote:I'm his manager.

Can you pass Stephen my apologies for hitting him in the face with a card in the ruskin a couple of years ago.
In my defense, he walked through the line of fire (read: was in the ruskin)

Just because someone is on TV, radio, in films, has a record deal etc. does not necessarily mean they are particularly talented. It does, however, usually mean that someone thinks that that person is bankable and will draw ratings or help make sales.

Just because someone famous is being criticised does not necessarily mean that the critic is jealous, ill-informed, "should have a go himself if he's so good" or anything else of that ilk.

How many times are we told to be ourselves and/or be unique? Those are the real things David Blaine and Dynamo have sold - a different take on magicians. The only people who should know if an "original" effect is being performed are magicians. Who else would care?

I think Dynamo has identified his USP and marketed himself based on this.

There might be slicker, funnier, snappier, "better" magicians around, but for whatever reason, they either haven't got themselves noticed, or the executives simply aren't interested in their acts. It's about the target audience, isn't it?

Of course, the problem with this is that a lot of those execs are absolutely hopeless at knowing what audiences really want!

Part-Timer wrote:How many times are we told to be ourselves and/or be unique?

And how many times are we told we have to be a 'character' of a magician.

It all gets rather boring doesn't it.

When i said he was raising the profile of magic in England, i didn't mean he was waving a flag to the world saying 'Look at England isn't it the new Las Vegas', i was saying that Sport Relief was a show with some heavy viewing figures, and they had Dynamo - a magician - on it. The last magician to get prime time viewing was Paul Daniels. Even Brown and Blaine are relegated to Channel 4.

I'm sure we have this managers/agents/PR guys to thank, but also he himself for putting it out there in the first place.

I also agree Part-Timer that not all criticism is jealousy related, i was just looking for some balance. If you can do something someone else can do, yet they're more successful at it than you, i guess you're bound to become at least a little resentful. I'd be interested to know what others on here would have done, given Dynamo's opportunity.

I think you'll find that Derren Brown not only got his face on the back of half the newspapers of England for his Lottery prediction, but also 3.1 million views, which was considerably more than the number of people watching the actual lottery.

Grimshaw - I was one of the main people talking about his dancing in the other thread, I've also been involved in this one.

I'm always careful to balance what I'm saying though. I'm not slating him, I don't resent his success or any such thing. When I comment on his dancing and the effect it has on dancers who watch and on his immediate spectators, it was to point out how stopping would improve his performance.

My comments in here have been about how it's possible to direct a cameraman from in front of the lens and improve the shot (and in this case the effect) as a result.

I'm not under the impression that Dynamo reads these boards (in fact, I'm surprised his manager is on here - usually "big names", and Dynamo is certainly a big name in certain circles, don't bother with forums) or even that he'd take on board anything I've said - but it's all said with the spirit of something that could improve his performance which in turn could only be a good thing.

The sad part is, no matter how it's presented, positive criticism, even when it seems pretty scathing, often seems like a direct attack on the person or some sort of "I could do better" or "should be me" whinge.

Again, I wish Dynamo all the success he can manage to gather... but if he can improve in even just one or two of the ways people tend to suggest he needs to he'll go from being a well known magician to being one who captivates people in a way he currently doesn't. Losing things like the Dynamo Shuffle will achieve that by default as every time I've seen that move done he loses the spectators to some degree.

If people comment on his performances and he takes that as encouragement to improve rather than as an attack to get him down (regardless of how it is intended) he'll be a better magician and, possibly more importantly, a better performer as a result.

I'm gonna duck out of this now.

All the best, Dynamo.

(Again, not that I expect he'll read this, but still - the thought is there.)

and, when i said....

That would be a valid case, if people outside the country knew who he was.. they dont

what i was getting at, was name recognition.

He's known by the lays as "that young bloke on television last night."
not Dynamo.


And Im talking about all the lays, not just the target audiences that the shows mentioned are aimed at....I.E the quick fix younger viewer.

Eshly wrote:I think you'll find that Derren Brown not only got his face on the back of half the newspapers of England for his Lottery prediction, but also 3.1 million views, which was considerably more than the number of people watching the actual lottery.

Really? Ah right. Can't think where i was when that was happening. Under a rock on Saturn probably. Hey, the rings are pretty sweet this time of year and it sure beats Newquay. Less stag parties.

Past experience tells me Dynamo has posted on this very Forum, so who knows, perhaps he will take on board everyone's excellent advice.

Still interested to know what others may have done though, given his slot. No-one's been very forthcoming. If he is reading, he may put your idea into practice.

since you ask.. First spot with Davina and Robbie, I would get Davina to name a shape, and have it end up engraved on a coin that Robbie was holding from the start..
second spot.. I would do my frightening ropes through neck on Corden.. anything to shut him up for a couple of minutes. And Davina would be the one that pulled it tight. ( and they really do get tight.. only i know the thing is 100% safe)
the reasons for this are simple... the camera would have to pull out, in order to get Davina in shot... making the thing better television.

Dynamo does occasionally look at these posts but with his schedule its hard to follow everything.

Although I think a few good points have been made it's easy to critique without having experienced a live shoot of this scale and without truly understanding our target audience. Luckily, we have the great fortune of working with some of the worlds leading magicians who have a wealth of experience in TV magic and who's opinions we respect and trust.

We also get regular feedback from Dynamo's growing fan-base (Dale, it's nonsense to suggest he is known as just some kid of a TV show) and above all it is their opinion that matters most.

Dynamo is a huge fan of magic and is dedicated to studying the arts and bringing it to new audiences - but I think his biggest gift is being in tune with his audience and really understanding what they want...

People saying how comic relief is a large live show where things can go wrong and change in the last minute only need to watch previous years here and here where penn and teller appeared. It was entertaining, it was funny, and things probably went wrong (in fact you'll notice in the first video that penn slipped up with his words, but he carried on like normal)

I hate to attack Dynamo, but the two performances for the same show, and largely the same audience, are worlds apart. I know the style of magic is different, but the level of confidence and patter other than "Watch this" is completely different

Maybe it's just wrong performer wrong show. I actually really liked Dynamo on the gadget show, as he was on his own turf doing magic to people on the street, which is a completely different setting. In which case it's not Dynamo's fault, he did the best with what he had

But that's just my opinion. It's not a jealous opinion or the opinion of someone who knows a little magic, it's just the opinion of someone who watched comic relief last week

You're certainly entitled to your opinion as we all are - I wouldn't expect everyone to like what he does and I don't think he's trying to cater for everyone, but he's doing his thing and making a success of it... in that regard he is certainly doing something right.

The real question is... WHO is he trying to cater for? I don't think I know anyone who prefers the "David Blaine style" presentation of murmering instructions to pick a card, or such.

Is there such an audience I wonder? Personally I only know people who like magicians with charisma.

Eshly - If you dislike him, or think he has no charisma then why waste your time commenting on a forum or watching his performances, I'm sure you can find something better to do?

There are a very large number of people who enjoy his work (as there were undoubtedly huge audiences for Blaine) and that is why he continues to have a successful career.

Clearly this post isn't going anywhere constructive so I'll let you all get on.

I think we're all done here - let's move on folks, please.