talkmagic.co.uk

There was a discussion on this on the Cafe a while back.

SleightlyCrazy is right about his responses, they are a bit on the 'un-nice' side. Sad thing is he's American. To that audience all of that was his and therefore he won't have to deal with changing things to fit him. Doing that sort of thing here would get him ripped to shreds, Trust me I've tried (As ashamed as I am, now I know better)

It should be said that this wasn't a show as such from what I can see, I.e with tickets and the exchange of money and such so he can perhaps be forgiven. Someone sent this of to DB himself and the videos still stand so I am guessing DB isn't too bothered with this imitation. It just makes his version look even better.

Again, not entirely sure what side I'm falling down on.

As you say Mr Beard, I know all too well the struggle of writing a full show, lord knows the current one is giving us hell - and I only have half the work!

However, I do also know the sheer joy of getting a fabulous reaction to your own material - not necessarily methods even, as a magic trick that hasn't been thought of before is practically impossible to come by, but just a presentational quirk or style that is your own. I think if you don't experience that, you're missing out on what it is to be a magician/mentalist.

I've seen lots and lots of people perform Derren's routines, in their entirety, and I think the reason this one draws attention to it is the fact that he uses *every* line, *every* gag, whether or not they in any way relate to the magic. I can see why that makes people uneasy - it's not just using the trick, it's a carbon copy. What is left of the performer themselves?

Magic is interesting. If an artist or musician could recreate the works of Rembrant/Da Vinci/Mozart/Hendrix in their entirety, you would certainly say they were a master of their field, or at least a highly skilled practitioner (no one goes to watch a classical violinist play and wonders if she wrote the music herself...). However, these are art forms when the skill involved in visible/audible. You could tell if the person was rubbish, it would be obvious. In magic, the skill is hidden - or at least, the mechanisms are. None of us are judging this poor sod on how well he reads minds, because we know it's all tosh anyway. The material he is presenting requires basically no skill on his part OTHER than presentational, and his entire presentation is someone else's. does this makes him a magician at all?

If you went to see a comedian, and had an excellent night, laughing yourself stupid, you would call them a good comedian. If you then went to a different comedy club the next night and saw a second comedian tell all the same jokes, would you have as good an evening? Knowing all the punch lines would surely get boring - I've walked out of magic shows before because I was able to say the gags the guy was going to use in his ID routine before he said them. Even if the second comic wrote all those jokes, you are still going to remember the first guy more fondly. That is, I think, why it is wrong to use someone else's presentation, someone else's lines.

Sorry, quite a long post. In short - good try kid. Do your own stuff next time.

Beardy wrote:I would be the first to step forwards and defend the guy.

He is on stage, his first stage show, and he is using other routines. I know that I used other people's routines as well as my own in my first ever theatre show. In the stage jobs I have done since it is normally my own material, but more often that not the first show can be just to get to grips with stage and how it works when performing alone for a loooonnnnggggg period of time. I remember mine was over 2 hours - no small feat!

The main mistake here I believe was putting it on youtube!

I do agree however, that if he were to only perform Derren's stuff in the future and not to develop into his own performing style, then yes, that could be considered wrong

One point I have to disagree with, He even used Derrens Dialogue, to the exact, i watched another vid with the date trick, fair enough he pulls it off well but something screams to me saying part of magic is creativity, we all use effects patented by others (ok some of us create) but we change the words and other factors, he made to effort to alter the script.