If you are not from the USA... which is most of you, you might have missed it. But Dan Sperry got kicked out of an American Talent show which was on TV. Well it was about to happen. Because Dan Sperry seriously has no personality. He might have a character that he performs as. But aside from that he is pretty shallow.
When being called out for that fake arm, Sperry said.
"Sometimes Magic isn't about being convincing it's about just imagining and letting go, that's what I do!"
What a pathetic excuse. He should have said. "Yeah I fucked up..."
I hate to say it, but Piers Morgan is right, magic is about being convincing. Nothing else... oh, and about being entertaining of course.
Dan Sperry failed this week...
Is it lonely up there on your pedestal?
ReplyDeleteI expected a more nuanced commentary on this performance from you, Roland.
ReplyDeleteSpecifically when you take into consideration what goes on behind the scenes with these shows, the fact that a magic act failed on this level is not unique but WHY they've all failed is an interesting question.
And chiding someone for sticking up for themselves and not rolling over like a dog on national TV and YouTube forever? Is that really a crime?
Lazy effort by WMF and what could be a really interesting topic.
I can understand going after people who willingly expose magic or repeated acts of dickery, but jumping on a normally strong performer right after a comparatively mediocre performance without knowing what went into it is just being a tool.
ReplyDeleteLets not forget that, despite his sudden popularity, Piers Morgan is a sleazy unpleasant chap.
ReplyDeleteHe's basically a licensed heckler here and would probably have had a go whatever the effect.
But it was a crap choice of trick
Did you really get my last comment on here and not allow it?
ReplyDeleteShame, it was very supportive of you.
don't know what happened... it was there... but I certainly didn't delete it. I just checked the comment options, it is not there anymore. Odd!
ReplyDeleteIt was a shit act and Piers said as much. It was lame and obvious and there is no excuse like "they wouldn't let him use blood". If that was indeed the case, then he should have done some thing else. I think Roland is spot on this time.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't even start me on the bullshit about magic not having to be convincing, if it's not bloody convincing it isn't magic, it's just pantomime.
As for JRY's comments, what a load of suck up excuses. He's trying to justify what Sperry did, and why? Well gee, I'm sure the fact that Sperry is in the iTricks cliche has nothing to do with it. It's really no surprise JRY is in here trying to defend him.
How's this Justin;
1) Sperry screwed up and did a shit act, Roland called him on it, that's perfectly nuanced, but perhaps you think nuanced means excused.
2) Sperry like all of us knows what the behind the scenes things are and should plan accordingly. As to why magicians get booted at this point, there's no question this time, it's because the act was shit. Maybe if it was a halfway decent act you could justify your inference that there is some type of anti magician conspiracy, but not this time. There's no question in any one's mind about why he was booted, in case you missed it, the act was shit.
3) So sticking up for yourself is better than taking your just desserts for a shit act? Talking shit about what magic is (or isn't) is better than saying "yeh, I screwed up"? Maybe in your mind Justin, but he screwed up, no sense bull shitting about it, suck it up princess and take what's coming. It comes back to him doing a shit act based on a shit and unconvincing effect in the first place, but hey, it's Piers that's the arsehole huh?
A pathetic sycophantic response from JRY on what is very obviously a shit act getting canned on TV and a magician who not only couldn't choose a good and appropriate effect, but tries to justify shit magic by claiming magic is just pantomime.
Pull your pants up Justin, your bias is showing, and it's not a pretty sight.
To be clear, I'm actually a fan of Dan's work. I've loved most of what I've seen him do, but that is irrelevant. We are discussing this act in particular and it was.........yep, shit.
tried again and nothing hmm, might be too long LOL
ReplyDeleteIt was a shit act and Piers said as much. It was lame and obvious and there is no excuse like "they wouldn't let him use blood". If that was indeed the case, then he should have done some thing else. I think Roland is spot on this time.
ReplyDeleteAnd don't even start me on the bullshit about magic not having to be convincing, if it's not bloody convincing it isn't magic, it's just pantomime.
As for JRY's comments, what a load of suck up excuses. He's trying to justify what Sperry did, and why? Well gee, I'm sure the fact that Sperry is in the iTricks cliche has nothing to do with it. It's really no surprise JRY is in here trying to defend him.
How's this Justin;
1) Sperry screwed up and did a shit act, Roland called him on it, that's perfectly nuanced, but perhaps you think nuanced means excused.
2) Sperry like all of us knows what the behind the scenes things are and should plan accordingly. As to why magicians get booted at this point, there's no question this time, it's because the act was shit. Maybe if it was a halfway decent act you could justify your inference that there is some type of anti magician conspiracy, but not this time. There's no question in any one's mind about why he was booted, in case you missed it, the act was shit.
3) So sticking up for yourself is better than taking your just desserts for a shit act? Talking shit about what magic is (or isn't) is better than saying "yeh, I screwed up"? Maybe in your mind Justin, but he screwed up, no sense bull shitting about it, suck it up princess and take what's coming. It comes back to him doing a shit act based on a shit and unconvincing effect in the first place, but hey, it's Piers that's the arsehole huh?
ReplyDeleteA pathetic sycophantic response from JRY on what is very obviously a shit act getting canned on TV and a magician who not only couldn't choose a good and appropriate effect, but tries to justify shit magic by claiming magic is just pantomime.
Pull your pants up Justin, your bias is showing, and it's not a pretty sight.
To be clear, I'm actually a fan of Dan's work. I've loved most of what I've seen him do, but that is irrelevant. We are discussing this act in particular and it was.........yep, shit.
Trickster: Dan has a live show on iTricks. Me and Dan are friends. True and true. Am I predisposed to stand up for Dan more than I would for Murry or Antonio or Grasso? Absolutely. I am biased no matter where my pants may hang, but I do appreciate the heads up.
ReplyDeleteI really like Weekly Magic Failure, I think it's a valuable part of an overall weak magic blog culture. My comment was meant to spur Roland to write a more detailed post, which he did.
For the record, I was not trying to say that Dan's performance wasn't disappointing, I said as much myself on iTricks. I just thought it was lazy to stop with that point, isn't it more interesting to talk about why it sucked? Or as Roland pointed out in his follow-up, why Dan would go on AGT in the first place?
Maybe it's just one man's opinion...
Justin, I'll adress each of you r paragraphs.
ReplyDelete1) Respect to you for the openness and honesty, not only to us but to yourself.
2)Yeh me too (love fest). I can't question your intentions, I only know how it seemed to a casual reader like me. I also think the original post was in fitting with his previous posts and didn't need elaboration. There were other interesting things to discuss re AGT, but I think Roland summed up Dan's act pretty well in this original post.
3)Good to hear, but it did seem you were trying to justify or at least divert discussion away from the fact that it sucked.
4)(liberal with definition of paragraph) That's all any of us have.
I sincerely think that Dan should be revoked as a magic failure. The reason being is on the list you put his reason for failure as "underestimating what it means to be on tv" when in reality his initial appearance on America's Got Talent has paid off for him ten fold. He had no interest in winning, just using it an a commercial for what he does and the people who got him saw that.
ReplyDeleteEver since then he's been busier than ever. He's sold out auditoriums in his college circuit, got his own theater show in New York City, landed one of the main spots on "The Illusionists" tour which grossed millions of dollars and he continues to be on of the main draws, and came in third place on the much more accommodating "Das Super Talent".
While his second trick on America's Got Talent may be mediocre, but he made the splash he wanted to make and he's still reaping the rewards. He's not a failure at all.