WMF Andrew Mayne again

Andrew, I took you off the list, because you got better. What is this shit?



When I saw this a little bit of me died. Andrew, I watch you on iTricks and what you say is so much the opposite of what you do. This is a crap product yet you market this. This should go against what you said a while ago, when you advised someone to make sure the product is good before you market this.

Am I too dumb to see that this balloon thing is actually convinces the audience? Have I lost my commercial sense? Am I unable to see that there is genius in your monstrous creations? If so, please tell me.

This Inversion stuff is that sort of idea I publish on my free magic blog, because I would know that it is a half backed idea and that maybe someone else can finish this up. Asking for money for this shit is an insult to the magic community.

The fact that you are making money with this is a sad statement about our art and your skill as a magic dealer to exploit idiots who will think that this is good. Sadly they will praise you and do the advertisement for you, making sure that a whole bunch of people who rightfully dismissed the item will buy it.

I feel it is my duty to say the following: Don't buy this product! You might be dumb enough to be fooled by this. The majority of your audience will not.

The Aura

Hey, wanna know something cool? Something that makes exposure of magic bearable? Something that helps you to feel good about spectators who know something about magic?
Sure you do!

Well here it is: We magicians have an aura of mystery. To the common layperson a magician is not only a loser who does cheap card tricks. He also is a guy who is in the know about certain magic secrets. Sure a layperson could look up the secrets on the Internet, but he will think that there has to be more to it, as the secrets exposed on the Internet are "cheap". There obviously is some secret knowledge that only "real" magicians have access to and not those who experience a fleeting interest in the topic.

Now, knowing that is interesting, because it enables you to get away with bold methods. If you make a ball appear and disappear and you make it obvious that dexterity is the cause of the effect you will get credit to be a "real" magician. (as opposed to uncle Bob, who does self working card tricks) Ergo people assume you are in the know about the real magic secrets. So naturally you don't have to fall back to the "cheap" tricks that are on the Internet.

So getting rid of that ball by tossing it behind a chair might be a bold method, but it works as long as your audience has bought the fact that you don't have to fall back to such cheap tricks.

So you can relax now, all is well. Exposure is no harm to "real" magicians and spectators who are "in the know" are no problem, as they don't believe you would go that low. If they only knew!

Comic Time #58

For more comics that will not appear on this blog visit: Dead Marlo

Luis Piedrahita

Sometimes YouTube is a great thing, as it allows me to stumble upon great magicians for a change. Like Luis Piedrahita a 33 year old magician from Spain. He has a nice dorky look going and according to Wikipedia Luis is much more than a magician. He also is a stand-up comedian a script writer a broadcaster and an author. And you can tell by watching him perform that he has other talents than just magic.



As you can see he is particularly good at structuring his routines. You can tell that a lot of thought went into his routines and that it really is good close up stuff. (If you like lapping)
Here is another one:



I don't speak Spanish yet I am entertained. That speaks for the man and that is why I declare him a winner. Luis Piedrahita, you are a Winner in my book. Don't mess it up.

Just A Sunday Post #63

Pathetic but I know of a few magician who are gonna buy it, because they think it makes them cooler.

Karnival Dead Eyes Teaser from Sam Hayles on Vimeo.

WMF Erik von Markovic aka Mystery

9-year-old Canadian pickup artist Mystery is this week's failure. He one of the bigger guys in the seduction community. Some claim the biggest. (even has a patent out) But he also know for using magic to break the ice, to make women sleep with him.

So again magic is misused for reasons that are below what magic strives to be.

The sad bit about it: It actually works. Magic is a great ice breaker and instantly establishes you as an interesting person. But that should be it. If the whole aim of your magic is to get laid you should not do magic. There are other ways to achieve that goal. Stay away from magic, unless you respect magic and your audience.

Markovic is a typical case of "borrowing" from the magic world without giving anything. In biology there is a term for exactly that sort of habit. Markovic is a parasite. He actually makes money by teaching his method to others. Granted magic is only a small part of it, but it's in there. And he is teaching others that learning a few magic tricks is a good way to pick up women. He is teaching a whole generation that magic's purpose is to get laid.

Hurray for Mystery, Hurray for butchering the image of magic.

Out Of This World

Let's talk about card magic and also about why "Out of this World" is a bad influence on magicians. Card magic is not a serious issue. It's playing cards, you know for actually playing. Naturally it is hard to be serious with cards. But I often see magicians who try do to the intricate mysteries, who desperately strive to create some sort of wondrous magic atmosphere, which is of so hard to accomplish with PLAYING cards.-

Card magic should not be treated other then lightly. In my humble opinion that is. The majority of laypeople I met know one or two card tricks. To them it is not a complicated, difficult serious matter, to them it is just a freaking trick. And that is were most magicians who do card tricks seem to fail. They try to make it more than it is. And it feels like a comedian who tries do do stock jokes that are old as hell and not funny.

And this is were Paul Curry comes in. The creator of a marvelous self working card miracle simply called "Out of This World." For the very few who don't know about the effect. The spectator deals down cards from the deck on the table into two piles. When the face down cards are turned around they are separated into red and black.

Why is this trick cool? Well it is self working. It is a "in the spectators hands"-effect. It really has an impossibility build in that is hard to top.

Why is it bad? Because it takes too much fucking time to deal out those cards.

And to cover that dead time (dead time defined as the time in a show where no magic effect happens) the magician needs to make it interesting. And this is where almost all fail. You need one hell of a good "cover" to get past this part without boredom. Yet "Out of this World" is performed really often. Simply because it is self working. Naturally is often performed badly. Thank you Paul Curry.

So here is my little thing: Treat card magic playfully! If you need to, use Tarot cards!

Comic Time #57

For more comics that will not appear on this blog visit: Dead Marlo

Just A Sunday Post #62

It's been a slow week, sorry for the lack of updates.

The Poll was: Is balloon twisting Magic?

Answer: No! 76% said so. And we know one thing, 76% is the majority and the majority is never ever wrong.

I know that quite a few magician offer balloon twisting additionally with their magic act. Should it be associated with each other?... No according to my scientific study. Also because of balloon twister magic has the image of being something for kids.

Not too "ranty" today, so more later.

WMF Sven Combs

Sven Combs, a German magician, fire dance, balloon twister, and entertainer. Sven Combs is a typical Jack of all Trades, Master of None. Panturio or Waayatan is his stage name. And he was one of the mentalists in the German version of the Next Uri Geller. During that time all he did on national television was instantly picked apart by YouTube.

He of all should know how much it hurts the art if you expose magic on that platform. At least one would think so.



Aside from the exposure of "his own" effects (Recapped by Gregory Wilson) this was a piss poor presentation. He hardly knows what he is saying and obviously no rehearsal took place. If you speak an German you will get a chuckle of his weird choice of words and his overall inability to speak a whole sentence without any mistakes. This man, who presents himself on a local network should not perform.

He is the reason why people, if they think of magician, think of this kind of helpless, pitiful creature.

And this is just the first episode of many more to follow. Sad world.

According to an amateurish interview the aim of that show is to inform people about illusions, magic, witchcraft, deception and other phenomenon. So far it was just spoiling of magic. Bad magic, but magic nonetheless.

I know that I should not judge a book by it's cover, but this is a book that stinks. Hope it gets cancelled and never sees the light of day.

Waayatan, Panturio or Sven, whatever name you listen to: that seriously sucks. Stop it! I heard from others that there used to be a time, when you were cool. Go back in time. In the present future you are Weekly Magic Failure.

Btw: Subtle

Comic Time #56

For more comics that will not appear on this blog visit: Dead Marlo

Just A Sunday Post #61

The poll was: Is Mentalism Overrated?

More than half of you think yes... a quarter thinks no and another quarter was trying to be funny. Haha!

What does it mean? First off: Mentalism is too expensive. Have you taken a look at literature about mentalism? 50$ the book, on average. 25$ for a DVD with a stupid peek. 60$ for a block of wood that falls over.

But I am a magician, so naturally I don't care that much. I won't buy it. I might take a look into the scanned pdf which I downloaded via Torrent. (Looking at you David Berglas)

But since mentalism is over rated as my oh so scientific poll proves, I guess only a few will buy the really good books.

It is all a scam to keep the majority of the mentalists dumb and by doing that enabling the elite to ask for fees that are between 6000 and 7000 $ per hour. Clever thinking.

And second, Mentalist seem to be able to create an aura around themselves that just screams: "At least I am no magician" But this is just me.

Face it. To be a good mentalist, you need to be a good showman, nothing else. Skill is not really required. Clever routining also not that important. All you need to have is a good character and a solid structure. And most books and DVDs about mentalist are not about that.

So is it overrated? Absolutely!

Wanna know why certain performers seems so shallow? Simply because they are. If you ask them why they do magic you'll get answers like: "Because I want to enchant them, make them forget the troubles and the suffering of the world for a few minutes."
And while there is nothing wrong with this statement I wonder if those performers know about the suffering of the world from anything else but TV. Also I wonder if they really care about the suffering in the world, or just their way of exploiting it.

Take Hans Klok for example. A dutch magician who seems to love magic. All he does is magic. A magic show here, a magic show there... it seems like there is nothing else he can do.

And that is true most often with those kind of performers. They know nothing except their magic. They cannot do anything proper except their magic. They have no other field of interest but their magic.

A good magician in my not so humble opinion needs to be more than a magician. The audience has to be aware that there is a much deeper personality behind the mask of a magician. And if you really do have other interests but magic, if you really are knowledgeable and if you really care about the suffering in the world, it will show.

Because if your interests are nothing but magic people will be aware of it. And if you pretend to have higher aims, like "making people forget the suffering for a few minutes" you will seem pretentious and fake.

Most people don't like that.

And being pretentious and shallow looks pathetic.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOORING

Seriously... If you need 6 minutes of exposition for a really half assed effect that all in all takes nearly 10 minutes, then you are doing something wrong.

Again the usual challenge. If you can watch the entire thing, without skipping forward, without doing something else, then you are officially brain dead.

WMF Tony Hassini

Hey, wanna have an award? Not just a stupid WMF-award, but an actual one. just call Tony Hassini, fly him first class to your place, offer him some money and he will give you the Merlin.

Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy and even Doug Henning got it, so it is good, right?

No!

Read this little post by Tim Ellis. Obviously you can buy the Merlin. Like Brad Ross:

I'm going to be honored to be accepting the 2010 Merlin Award for "Best International Family Entertainer" as presented by Tony Hassini and the International Magicians Society. This is an award that has been presented to such magicians like David Copperfield, Siegfried & Roy, Lance Burton, Criss Angel, Harry Blackstone and I am beyond humbled and thrilled to be adding my name to that list.

New Jersey illusionist Brad Ross receives magic's highest award

Well, what can I say to Brad Ross except, "Congratulations for buying yourself the Merlin."

So this award means nothing and the Winners who bought it are automatic failures. It's a sick, sad world. Why can't magic be more about not having awards? Why can't it be about magic. About actually performing.

There is the constant need among magicians to compare each other. Who's got the better pass, who gets the most money and who does the most shows. And because of this need the Merlin exists. And because of this need Tony Hassini keeps making cheap money. What a sell out, what a failure.

PS. If you google Tony Hassini, the first video you'll get is him explaining a gimmick. ;)

Playing Card Factory

If you get unemployed, China is looking out for you.

Comic Time #55

For more comics that will not appear on this blog visit: Dead Marlo

Just A Sunday Post #60

Just random stuff...

Winner of the Poll:

Ed Marlo

By one vote. So I guess it remains undecided. Well new poll coming up.

Design T11 should go for:


Seriously, this design is great for the crowd of the 15-year-old Extreme Beginnerz. Instant Cash I tell ya!

Finally:
Go crazy with Magical Trevor
Part1
Part2
Part3
Part4

The Next Level!

Don't you wanna elevate your magic to the next level? According to Rich Ferguson, a rather recent addition to the drone army that supports Ellusionist, mentalism is the way.

Magic is fine the way it is. If you have a good, solid close up base and a nice stage act you don't need the next level. What is the next level anyhow?

Are there levels in magic? Sure: Layman, Beginner, Extreme Beginner, Professional and IBM-Member I guess. But once you are a professional is there a need to progress into the realm of the mentalism? I think not. When I am booked, they book me, because I do magic. Not because I do mentalism. If they want a mentalist, they would hire a mentalist. The client wants me to do magic. And I love doing that. Making a coin vanish is a great thing. Magicians seems to be too close to that issue and dismiss a simple coin vanish as a beginner's trick. It is not. The same way mentalism is not the natural progression of magic.

Sure Mentalism can be a nice way to entertain a crowd, but it is not the next step in magic. It is a distant cousin of magic.

According to Rich Ferguson you can enhance your magic with the principles of mentalism. Really? I thought the mentalist's use the principles of magic. But I might be mistaken on that, not having researched mentalism along side magic... wait, I have.

Rich Ferguson also claims that putting magic and mentalism together "it's the best of both worlds". I think the best of both worlds is that they are not perceived as the same and that they stay apart from each other as much as they can.

Magic is a pure little world full of vanishes, transpositions, levitation, and restorations. Mentalism is a world full of predictions, suggestions, chances and talking with spirits. If you mix both, you get something that is hard to grasp and you need one hell of a character to make clear for the audience what is going on.

And I might add my own little observation here: Most performers lack the ability to support such a character. Especially the majority of the Ellusionist customer base.

You wanna know the next level of magic? A really deceptive false transfer with no funny moves and no awkward dancing of the hands. If you are able to do that you can do almost anything...even mentalism.

Holidays

No failure this week... have fun!