talkmagic.co.uk

Mandrake wrote:Indeed a very pleasant and likeable chap, also very talented. However (you just knew there'd be a 'however' in this didn't you?!) do I really need to know about his family, his background, his hairdresser, and his thoughts on various topics? No, not really. Do I also need all those audience reaction shots where the words are limited to Oh my God' over and over? No, not really. What I'd like is to see is just the magic please. To that end I'm glad I recorded the show and could fast forward through all the padding.

If it was just the magic with no family or background wouldn't it just be all about the tricks with no personal involvement for the T.V audience?

Probably but I really don't want any personal involvement with the performers, I watch the show for the magic, not to learn about his family etc. I leave that sort of thing to shows like This Is Your Life and lifestyle magazines such as Hello and similar publications! This style of show is probably how producers and commissioning bods think magic needs to be portrayed so the type of presentation I prefer is unlikely to seen on TV any more - hence my affection for the live shows where the magic takes centre stage and there's no padding with background details and so on.

The magic was very good and covered a lot of different styles and types of prop etc so, IMHO, Troy certainly scores over Blaine and Dynamo.

The format of the show was as uninteresting as I thought. I taped it rather than watch it live, so I could flick through if needed. It was needed. I don't need to see so much about his life. What was wrong with the Paul Daniels format? Good strong magic and variety, good strong performers.

Troy may well be an engaging performer. Hard to tell with this sort of show. But I have as much interest in German opera as I do in this sort of stuff.

Ive said all I have to say over in the Cafe!

FirstOfficer wrote:Ive said all I have to say over in the Cafe!

So why post here? It is rude to expect us to have to chase after your views. At the very least you could copy and paste, if you are too lazy to retype your thoughts.

Spot on Tony, thank you.

TonyB wrote:So why post here? It is rude to expect us to have to chase after your views. At the very least you could copy and paste, if you are too lazy to retype your thoughts.

That thought crossed my mind too. Didn't care enough to go look for someone's views on a tv programme i don't care much about either...

Hi,

I am not a magician and I'm from Holland but when I read this forum I wanted to reply.

Mandrake: I understand from a magicians point of view that you only want to see the magic but for the 'plain' people it is nice to know something about him because he creates his image as a magician, not only by his tricks.

Okay well my biggest question is: How does he do it.
I know magicians dont give away their tricks but I need to know a few things. The trick with the iphone behind the glass. Is this truly possible with magic or is it something he only accomplished because he had a camera crew? Could he do this live?
The other trick that is still going true my mind is the trick with the bridge. When the bridged was still open he managed to get across the bridge. Is that a trick that is been done by more magicians? Or is it something he can only accomplish with help and special effects?
I dont need to know how he does it, I just need to know if he really did these things by himself and not with special effects etc.

As a non-magician I am truly amazed and I have respect for the skills magicians have.

xx

Thank you for your comments which are very much appreciated. I still maintain that if you want to know the background to any performer, singer, actor or whatever then it's better to seek that through biographies or programmes devoted to giving such background. For a magic show I expect to see magic, for a singing show I expect to hear songs, certainly not snippets about the singer’s personal life. However, I fully acknowledge that I’m in a minority and I’m not in the target audience such shows are aimed at.

Re the rest of your posts, regrettably we can’t offer to explain how such things are actually done - even if we did know the exact method, it’s not ours to divulge and we respect the confidentiality of the arrangement.

Incidentally, your registration seems to have disappeared (we sometimes get glitches like that, sorry) so could you try re-registering again during the daytime tomorrow onwards?

Troy made a personal appearance at a nightclub in Belfast recently, and a friend of mine was there. Troy did three tricks, none of them particularly spectacular, and picked up an astronomical check. Personal appearance, not a show.

Gone are the days when a magician would go to a venue and perform some magic. A pity.

Something positive about the newer magic shows (Dynamo, Troy, Hanlin etc) - Compared to the magic specials of 2001 UK magic specials showing people only reacting to a trick after 1am at night once the booze has hit... the TV shows of today provide magic pieces that can invoke a reaction without the drunks.

jhmagic1 wrote:Something positive about the newer magic shows (Dynamo, Troy, Hanlin etc) - Compared to the magic specials of 2001 UK magic specials showing people only reacting to a trick after 1am at night once the booze has hit... the TV shows of today provide magic pieces that can invoke a reaction without the drunks.

It is easy to invoke a reaction if you are using stooges and camera tricks.

Reaction is fine but repeated reactions, sometime the same ones filmed from different angles, with OMG's and profanities, really aren't good at all.

As a contrast, consider the recent appearance by Dynamo on Parkinson Masterclass - the first section was an interview covering his background and life which was extremely interesting, then the second section which was Dynamo performing uninterrupted magic, including basic stuff like DL's and an ID. It was sheer class, the audience were obviously enthralled and showed it by applauding in the time honoured fashion. Now that's Magic !

sorry if its a bit off topic, but its nice to see the big names giving nods to the classic working routines. I didn't see Dynamo on Parkinson, but David Blaine's latest TV special and Derren Brown's tour all feature some classics.

After Mandrakes words, I quite fancied watching Dynamo on Parkinson. However, not having Sky, I searched the www. but couldn't find any youtube links for it...

Any ideas where I can watch this?