talkmagic.co.uk

is doing a run of close up and card magic at the Soho theatre, London.

http://www.sohotheatre.com/comedy/

I'll be there.......

Late review as I've not been around, but this was an absolutley superb demonstration of card + close up effects. Jerry is a stunning card magician and performed about 1 hour of a wide range of card classics with a little coin magic thrown in for good measure. The soho theatre is a very intimate venue, possibly seating around 200. The auditorium is such that you had a decent view of what was going on even from the very back (although we were in a safe spot in row 2 having wisely bottled out of sitting in the front row). The magic is interspresed with Jerry's somewhat "robust" brand of humour, and people would be well warned that if they are offended by anything at all then Jerry is very likely to find it. Those of you who have seen his TV shows will understand what I mean, but in his live show this is magnified somewhat.

Classic line: to a child who was somewha unwisely brought along by his parents when volunteering to assist Jerry with his routine... " Not you, f*** off, I f**ing hate kids". Very harsh, very funny, but you probably had to be there (as the parents probably wished they weren't).

" Not you, f*** off, I f**ing hate kids".

hehe you can just tell he's a scotsman

maybe Jase could pick up some presentational tips.....

nice review fletch, has your tea gone cold yet, youv'e been holding that mug for so long now??.

He's not a very nice person. A good magician though.

I've met Jerry a couple of times (name dropper) as he helps out at International magic from time to time, and he couldn't have been more helpful, giving me a lot of sound advice about card work. His humour is certainly pretty offensive (although often extremely funny), but it IS an act, remember.

Jase,
The mug contains a very large whisky, so it doesn't matter if it goes cold. Thanks for your concern, though

I agree with Fletch for the most part, I have also met Jerry at the IM shop and he was as helpful as possible, and made some great recomendations for books etc. However while the show was very funny (I was in the front row) and he took the P!!! without mercy. I thought the magic was a bit of a disapointment, I was hoping for stuff that I had not already seen or read about . It was basic stuff really and not mind blowing.

Sorry if this is a disapointment but that's my opinion.

Simon

This is fair enough comment from Jabba, but again with some qualification. Certainly there was nothing mind blowing. The routines were standard (although done extremely well) and there wasn't much that I went away saying " How the f*** did he do that?". Having said that, the performance was aimed very squarely at the general public (there was somewhat bizarrely a note on the flyers saying "magicians will not be admitted") and the tricks and routining were robust and professional. The other thing to add was that the effects were, if not secondary to, on an equal footing to Jerry's comedy.

BTW, well done for having the bottle to front row it. I didn't have the bottle myself.

fletch wrote:...there was somewhat bizarrely a note on the flyers saying "magicians will not be admitted"

I was buying something from him on ebay a couple of weeks ago and I sent him an email, trying to be chatty. I asked him about a few things including if any of his books were in print, whether he would be playing live in England any time soon and whether he was serious about the 'no magicians' thing. He sent me a reply which consisted only of my last question quoted and the single word 'Deadly' in reply. No sig, no 'luv Jerry', no autographed glossies, nothing.

Jerry is one of, if not the most generous and kind hearted people I have the pleasure of being able to call a friend. He understand magic inside out and understands what plays and what it is to perform for real people.

Magicians saying they were upset as nothing fooled them, have as normal, totally missed the point. Jerry is not working to fool other magicians, and even thou they are not fooled I have yet to see any other performer able to do such justice to classics of magic the way Jerry does.

Jerry is a rare breed in magic. A genuin lover of the art - that has studied and understood more than most will ever. at the end of the day it all boils down for respect for what we do....

And it seems that often that respect is missing in magic.

Luke Jermay.

And it's worth saying that the great Roy Walton rates Jerry as one of the very best cardmen alive.

Praise indeed.....

Luke,
Although I agree with the majority of your post with regard to Jerry being a nice guy and a superb exponent and scholar within the magic world, I think your comments with regard to "lack of respect" are a tad harsh (and also a little arrogant). Jabba's comments are a critique of Jerry's performance and choice of effects, and whilst you may not agree with them he has said nothing that would suggest that he doesn't respect Jerry's technical expertise or that he could perform them better. I would suggest that this is a forum in which opinions are aired, some of which everyone may not agree with. If we all just blindly respect what the experts do and say then our art is not going to develop. Even the experts don't get evrything right, after all.

And (if anyone's interested) he's doing another run at the Soho theatre.