talkmagic.co.uk

I attended a charity event last night in Glasgow where Dynamo was set to appear as entertainment after the meal. The event was a typical black tie affair - probably about 450 people in attendance and I was very interested to see what kind of performance Dynamo would opt for. I assumed, due to the numbers, that he'd perform something on stage as there were 4 huge HD screens surrounding the hall and he was, according to the program, set to perform from 10.15pm till 11.30pm. Maybe a selection of close-up effects and something with a mentalism twist? I had no clue.

So dinner came and went and the clock ticked eagerly to 10.15pm. Dynamo was introduced and came on stage for a brief chat before the magic began. The charity last night was called the Catherine McEwan Foundation and supports children with Crohn's and Colitis. Did you know Dynamo has Crohn's disease? I didn't, but suddenly his connection to the charity and appearance at this event made more sense.

Then he expained how the evening was going to proceed - he would visit each and every table (approx 40!!!) and perform a selection of effects to each. We were asked not to leave our table or crowd him and he'd get round everyone eventually. We left at midnight and he still wasn't half way around the hall. It was crazy. After an hour or so we realised we probably weren't going to see him unless we sat there for another 4 hours, so we joined the gathering crowd round the latest table he was at to see what he was doing.

In the 5 or 10 minutes or so that I watched him I saw a number of "pick a card and I'll find it" type effects, coin in bottle, i*******e deck, the arm twisting illusion, coin u****e - basically effects I would also perform as a working pro. Nothing out of the ordinary - not that I expected him to be putting his hand through glass or borrowing mobile phones and pushing them into bottles, still the crowd were lapping it up, and quite rightly so - he was a fantastic entertainer.

However, I have a minor quip about the reality of the effects we see him, or indeed any other magician, perform on TV compared to what they can actually do in a live environment. Yes, the more magic on TV the better - it raises public interest and captivates imaginations, and no one can deny that Dynamo has done this fantastically well, but how does it impact the lay person's perception of me (or you) as a performer and a working pro? I am asked at almost every gig I've done lately about Dynamo and can I do this and can I do that - basically effects people have seen him perform on his TV specials. Obviously I can't, but the irony is that even if Dynamo were there instead of me, he still couldn't do the majority of these effects either. We can't reveal this to the public and we ultimately end up looking like an inferior magician (which in all fairness we maybe are), but is ridiculously impossible magic achieved through other "techniques" that we see on TV actually harming the working pro?

It's a massive can of worms I know, but last night's entertainment left a little bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

You perform to your given audience. On TV he uses the fact that he has the advantages of television to create the effects for his audience at large....the millions at home. Just like a stage magician may sacrifice the experience of the helper on stage in exchange for the audience at large.
I guess as long as he entertained the lay audience, he did a good job.

I totally agree - he did put on a good show last night and everyone thoroughly enjoyed his performance, including myself, but as a lay person do you think any of them stop and wonder why he performs such outrageously impossible effects on TV but not in a live environment?

Quite possibly! But then to a laymen, throwing a coin into a bottle or a good ID presentation etc, who probably won't of seen either before, is incredibly impressive.

Granted, by using certain advantages of TV, you have to seriously step your game up in person!

I don't see why you can't point out that some of the things seen on TV can't be replicated in a live walk-around performance at a fairly impromptu event/location. I don't think that would ruin the illusion for them and you aren't commenting on his use of blatant stooges

I can see how showing genuinely impossible feats on TV could make non-TV workers look bad.
I think it's just a matter of handling though.

If asked "can you do the thing where he leans really far back?" you don't need to choose between exposing the trick or letting them think he's better than you. You could simply say, "No, but then if Dynamo was here now he couldn't do it either." which would be hint enough that all may not be as it seems on TV without getting into any of the secrets we're not meant to be sharing. If they press the issue and want details, then you can handle it exactly the same way as if they were pressing you for your secrets.

That's my tuppence ha'penny anyway. :p

I might point out that I've seen the phone in bottle live with my own phone...

Lenoir wrote:I might point out that I've seen the phone in bottle live with my own phone...

To quote Nicholas Cage, in the amazing film, 'The Rock'; "Glass or Plastic?"

Which would be more incredible? The other one.

If I told you how much he charges for such an appearance (none charity) you would be forever depressed.