talkmagic.co.uk

There are many magicians that I enjoy watching and who impress me, but one of my favourite performances on YouTube is Lennart Green's half-hour show for TED. From a magician's point of view his technique is excellent and fascinating to watch, and from an audience's point of view his presentation is very imaginative and entertaining.

TonyB wrote: It is one reason why I don't hang out with magicians.

Then what the hell are you doing on this forum?

SpareJoker wrote:

TonyB wrote: It is one reason why I don't hang out with magicians.

Then what the hell are you doing on this forum?

Not watching card magic!

hate to say it, but I'm with Tony on this. I too don't find myself in the company of magicians very often. And usually if I see one coming I tend to find myself moving elsewhere. A life time of ego's tend to do that to a person. And when I do get together with magicians the one thing we usually do not talk about is magic. Which not only makes it tolerable, but makes it pleasant.

When you have done this as a career, and the majority of your life is/was based in the magic world you really don't want it overpowering every aspect of your life.

I remember our magic club planned a picnic. I had previously made plans, (purchased tickets) to go on a Bald Eagle Count just outside of Vancouver BC, this is the largest wintering home of the Bald Eagle. Some of the magicians actually got upset with me because I decided to keep my plans and see this possible once in a life time event of seeing such a gathering of Eagles.

What many who have a passion for magic and enjoy the hobby don't always understand that others sometimes need to be away from it.

Well, this devolved quickly. We had 3-4 posts about inspirational characters, then the rest of the thread devolved into a piss-on-everyone's-inspiration-fest.

So howz about we turn this around people?

Post about people who inspire!

Perhaps it's an indication that very few actually impress?

Mandrake wrote:Perhaps it's an indication that very few actually impress?

Well, actually the OP was after inspirational people (as opposed to impressive) But still, really?
100's of years of craft, and it comes to this? Where's the passion?

Why not just shut down the whole site and replace it with a single page that states:

Magic: it's a bit shitt.

Well, we all know it's better than that but I struggle to think of anyone truly inspiring. Loads of Magi are excellent entertainers but not necessarily inspirational. Perhaps I'm just getting old......

Actually the word "inspired" always gives me wicked amusement. Whenever I see a magician present or supposedly invent a trick, they often say the presentation was "inspired" by so and so. What they mean is that they actually stole the idea from so and so and are now presenting it as their own. Alas I have always had a cynical nature.

In reference to the origional topic, Morgan and West have to be among the best magicians I have seen perform. They often seem to be disregarded based upon their TV appearance on "fool us" which apparently wasn't well recieved by many magicians, but having seen them perform a live act, they are clearly a set of outstanding performers, and the performance I watched was nicely balanced between long, involved card effects (which, for me, can quickly become tiresome) and lighter magic using an array of unusual items. So they are probably at the top of my list of "impressive" magicians.

Some Dictionary .com definitions might help:


Impress - to affect deeply or strongly in mind or feelings
Inspire - to fill with an animated , quickening or exalting influence.

I'd still rather be entertained .........

So nobody found 'Strong Magic' or 'Designing Miracles' (Ortiz) inspiring?

I have already stated that "Strong Magic" is an excellent book. I think in certain cases it could inspire someone.

magicofthemind wrote:To me, most card "magic" is just a display of skill in controlling a pack of cards and not in the least bit magical. There are exceptions, of course. The only card performance that has impressed me in recent years was one of Mike Vincent's sets on "Fool Us" - his colour changes DID look magical.

Barry

Actually this is mainly a modern trend. Although it was prevalent when I was younger it seems to be far more evident now. I dislike it intensely. I believe skill should be hidden when performing card magic. The occasional flourish can spice up a performance but it can easily be overdone and that certainly seems to be the way things are done nowadays. However, it is not so much the trick that makes the magician. It is the magician who makes the trick. In other words the performer should have a bit of personality and charisma. If he doesn't then as far as I am concerned he needn't have bothered in the first place no matter how many hours he has practiced and no matter how faultless his technique. Card magic can be quite wonderful and it is no accident that Hofzinser described it as the "poetry of magic". However, it has to be done in an entertaining manner by an interesting personality.

In magic it is the MAN (or woman) that is important rather than the trick.