talkmagic.co.uk

I grew up with and fell in love with magic thru Paul Daniels so I would have to say him. That said though I like Paul Xenon for humour and blagging and to be perfectly honest I like anyone who can make me say WTF?? after each and every trick!!

Brad Christian - NiNjA, Dai Vernon - David Frederick Wingfield Verner and The Late Tommy Cooper.

Most people say Tommy Cooper? "he couldnt do magic" well in a way your right but he was almost a magician

Tommy Cooper made you laugh and thats important!

for me it would be Tommy Cooper, Paul Danials and the Monkey Magic Crew and Derren Brown.

for me a good magican either makes me think WOW
or i laugh at them!

PCWIZME

their are many good magicans ,all of them has his own styles

well if i say simon lovell? do i get killed because he has done dvd's for "the oh so evil magicmakers"?? i think he is a great magician.. and he says some clever things about magic and that it should be done for the entertaining purpose not just to show that you are the great sleight-of-hand magician.. it should be simple and fun..and he's quite funny..
or else.. i would say: Jay Sankey.. so funny, so great.. and gregory wilson..

does ammar and marlo count?

For a personal influence in school of magic - Paul Daniels.

For sheer ability to promote himself and be at the very top of his field - Harry Houdini.

For amazing skill - Shoot Ogawa.

Genius Inventive-ness - Henry Evans

Hmmm,

I'd have to put David Nixon near the top. Purely because I sat mesmorised as a kid and he got me interested in magic.

Daniels because I like his professionalism although he is disliked by many non magic people.

I feel that I have to throw 4 names in that I am surprised have received no mention so far, and to me, rank in the top 10.

Ali Bongo, Alan Shaxton, Ken Brooke and Terry Seabrooke.

Yup. All the above... Probably have to tip my hat the most to David Nixon (& Ali Bongo - despite the cheesy fez & costume) purely because of his TV stuff in the 70(?)s which was my first introduction to magic... and where the bug began.

Currently - Derren Brown's style is slick, and the fact he has constructed a whole myth about his ability to read and influence minds is excellent.

Also - Paul Zenon... for pure entertainment and slickness his 'Off the Road - on the road' at the Edinburgh festival had me grinning from beginning to end...

Not a big fan of 'showy' types - e.g. David Copperfield - but then that's my conservative (small C) British values showing.

-C

Well, having also been brought up on paul Daniels, magic shows in the garage for mates etc, hes got to be an influence.
i've just got back into magic after about 20 years and am loving it!!!
I really like Bill malone, for the humor and skill, Lee Asher and Allan Ackerman because he's just God!!!
Paul Wilson is hot as well.
All great card-men.
Waiting for the 3 DVD set of Lennart Green at the moment!! Hope it's good. 8)

After 20 years?! I just came back from a 7 year break, and I'm overwhelmed. I really love to see Martin Nash and Carl Cloutier work. They're both experts; maybe that's what's so admirable. But in terms of overall presentation and natural demeanor, it will always be Dai Vernon. Even in his 90s (when he was performing alongside Bruce Cervon), he was just so likeable. I know too many skilled magicians who put NO time into their patter and routines, you know? Dai Vernon just did it naturally, as far as all the videotape and books show!

OK, gonna sound like a broken record, but I also grew up with Paul Daniels on Saturday nights. Apart from him though... Jerry Sadowitz, Jeff McBride (especially his mask show...Saw that for the 1st time on Daniels show)

More recently Jerry Andrus while I was living in Eugene Oregon. Little known talent for years...inventive thoughtful and immensly skillful, which is probably why L&L recently made a 3dvd set of his work. It was a joy to be in the bi-monthly magiuc society meetings with him. Also the man was a genius at 3-d optical illusions. If you are not who he is google his name. there are a LOT of sites.

[quote="blinkmagic"]OK, gonna sound like a broken record, but I also grew up with Paul Daniels on Saturday nights. Apart from him though... Jerry Sadowitz, Jeff McBride (especially his mask show...Saw that for the 1st time on Daniels show)

More recently Jerry Andrus while I was living in Eugene Oregon. Little known talent for years...inventive thoughtful and immensly skillful, which is probably why L&L recently made a 3dvd set of his work. It was a joy to be in the bi-monthly magiuc society meetings with him. Also the man was a genius at 3-d optical illusions. If you are not who he is google his name. there are a LOT of sites.

There is an interesting article about Jerry here...
http://www.o4r.org/pf_v1n4/Andrus.htm

Jay Sankey is all way

Paul Daniels made me love magic as a child, however it is Derren Brown who has inspired me to actually learn how to do it.

What I like about Brown is how it is dressed up not to look like magic when of course some of it is.

Blaine annoys me. When he first became popular I thought he was great with his street magic but the presentation of his recent tricks, impressive though they are, has turned me off.

not sure if he fits in this list but i think Tommy Cooper was a genius. For entertainment he was, in my opinion one of the best.