talkmagic.co.uk

B0bbY_CaT wrote:i dont think there is such a thing as a good trick or a bad one... i think there is definately such a thing as we well presented routine and a poorly presented one.

I really cringe whenever I hear this because it's usually said of defence of some dealer bilge that should never have seen the light of a display case. There are plenty of bad tricks; tricks where the effect is convoluted and unclear, tricks where effect is not strong enough for even the best presentation to rescue, etc.
Not, by the way, that I'm saying that the zombie or the rings are bad tricks. What I am saying is that most people have seen them presented many, many times and even something which is innately wonderful will cease to cause wonder when the audience have seen it dozens of times before. Some of these tricks are almost exclusively of interest to the magicians who regard them as a rite of passage only. Usually the same ones who are appalled by the idea that anyone should think about performing magic when not wearing a jacket and tie (preferably bow-tie, but something with cards on it would be a suitable concession to post-war (Crimean, that is) sensibilities). I think (and I know people will want to shoot me down for this) that magic is in large part about surprise and astonishment (thank you PH) and it's tough to surprise someone with an effect that's become a cliche.

Honestly, I'm with you all the way on the importance of presentation. But it's bandied around like a mantra in a lot of fora like it's the solution for all magical problems. I believe strongly that some material is beyond rescue, or at least not worth the trouble of rescuing since there is plenty of good material out there...and maybe in your own head if you bother to look for it. And some material is just crippled by familiarity. A bit like The Wizard of Oz getting wheeled out by the BBC every bleeding Christmas.

... they are all busy practicing removing their heart from their chest on National Television... shame really, i do enjoy well presented card magic.

Doesn't really float my boat either, but at least you've probably not seen it before. Chris Angel (and Blaine) are raising the profile of magic and entertaining a lot of people. They would not be getting international exposure doing linking ring routines. Not even the best presented linking rings routine the world had ever seen.

Yeah, i find Ellusionist very good, i've bought How to do Street Magic (which let me down!) Ninja 1, Mercury (By david Kong) Stigmata, and some decks (black tiger rising and ghost deck).

mark lewis wrote:I may be doing a tour of magic clubs in the UK to lecture there.

About time too - let us have details asap!

mark lewis wrote: I suppose I will have to learn the art of being nice to the members or at least pretend to be in the same way that every other lecturer does.

Not Pygmalion likely - just be yourself otherwise we'd be disappointed!

B0bbY_CaT wrote:although i do accept that English people eat cabbage

Not me - can't stand the stuff!

Henry Higgins

some good points Charles, and yes of course your right to say there are "some" bad tricks... my point is more so that presentation can often make the difference... and what a difference it makes.

i dont dislike what Blaine and Criss Angel do, in fact i find some of it quite entertaining and i also realise the contemporary interest they create in magic. however when a card routine is well presented by someone who REALLY knows how to handle them, the skill involved is just beautiful to watch.

compare that skill to holding up a piece of canvas while the girl you are hiding climbs through a trap door... that is more the point i am making.

It should also be mentioned that one man's meat is another man's poison. In other words sometimes what may seem a mediocre trick to you could perhaps suit someone else.

For example the spoon bending trick had been around a long time before Uri Geller and it would seem to be a nothing item at first glance and in many hands that is precisely what it would have been.

However Geller presented it in such a way that it created a sensation.

I concur with Dunninger who said "it doesn't matter what you do. Nail Through Finger will suffice if you have some way of magnetizing and hypnotising that audience"

The emphasis should be on the last eleven words of that sentence. I would suggest that members of this forum should immediately put some work into Nail Through Finger.