It is April. In celebration of this blogs two year existence, the whole month will be winner time. Only the coolest and best members of our elite circle of nerds will be featured.
Today: Darwin Ortiz!
My introduction with Darwin Ortiz is shared among many magicians I know. First we got the book. STRONG MAGIC, probably the best book on close up theory that I have ever read in my life. I heard from others that this book changed the way they thought about magic. The book truly is an eye opener and it nice puts all the pieces we have come to know about close up magic together into a giant puzzle.
But then I saw him perform and was disappointed. A boring and dull performer. How could this be the man who wrote that wonderful book? Well now a few years have passed and I realized that I might have taken the wrong approach. First I should have seen him perform and then I should have read the book.
If you take an honest look at his performance you will see that he does what he says in the book. Darwin Ortiz is simply not charismatic enough to compare to the words he wrote. That is sad, but it doesn't take away any of the impact that STRONG MAGIC had with me. And that is why he remains a winner.
4 comments:
Hm it seems a lot of people aren't a huge fan of the way he performs. I actually kinda like it - softspoken, laidback kind of performance.
Strong Magic was awesome, but don't forget Designing Miracles and his books, Cardshark and At the Card Table!
Sometimes he's the opposite of laidback--too fast, with jerky technique and strange patter rhythms.
Just so unnatural, in my opinion. From patter delivery to card technique. Unnatural.
I kind of get what everyone is saying.. but I disagree that he is not charismatic. He has charisma but it's more subtle. He is focused on laymen so everything he says is geared to impact the laymen's perception.
His persona is a bit more serious and academic in nature. He carries a genuine "professor" style to him. One of the qualities I like about him.. is that I think he's extremely intelligent but he's not condescending. He talks in a way that everyone can understand him. Offering a different opinion.
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