I was gonna do a video rant about this, but because I'm sick and I lost my voice here you go with a written version.
The culprit: The new trailer for the card to pocket routine by Daniel Madison. Without further undue, here is the trailer.
Breath in and out, in and out. And repeat after me. This trailer is so flawed, so amazingly flawed. It could possibly be the worst magic trailer of all time.
Here are some points:
1. Madison says that this is usually the only card effect he ever performs! Really, so all of his other releases are rubbish? Way to start a trailer by indirectly down talking your own "achievements" in the past.
2. Could they possibly pick a worse spectator? The first lady looks like a whore of the street. In fact the whole setting is dirty and unsettling. It just feels like the neighborhood you don't wanna be in. Great, sell you product by advertising it by having it sticking out a pile of shit!
3. The audience reaction s to this supposed show stopper and reputation maker is piss poor. Yes this may be a real life reaction but this has nothing to do in an advertising video.
4. The camera doesn't know where to point the focus.
5. The routine itself (that little that is show) is horribly constructed. The spectators are instructed to do weird things and they obviously have trouble deciphering the mumblings of Daniel Madison.
The problem does not come from the incompetence of the makers of the video. They clearly know how to shoot a video and how to sell magic. This is clearly a directorial decision. Sure there are plenty of worse video out there, but the badness comes from technical inabilities or from a gross misunderstanding of either magic or marketing. If this piece of trash routine is supposed to be the crowning go to routine of Daniel Madison then I clearly wonder about his state of mind.
And what is it about the look of Daniel Madison. I get the hipster influence, but this is taking it to far. He is so fucking mainstream that his inability to understand current trends shows. The whole trailer gives me the creeps. There is some unsettling disease ridden quality to it. Who the fuck is the target audience? Kids? Hardly! Young gangsters maybe!
And name dropping your own name... that is a new low. Either that or he is a Pokemon!
17 comments:
Roland, you fixed the comments so I could play. Thank you!
Daniel Madison makes me sad and embarrassed.
Well either he is a liar or a liar. You can't have this be your only card effect when you close your show with the ripped deck thing he put out a couple of weeks ago.
isn’t this the same guy who was in the comedy movie HANGOVER (parts1-3)? :)
Sad... I hadn't him figured for such a smug pedant (and maybe he isn't, but he definitely appears that way in this particular video).
The first time he introduced himself, I somewhat disliked the self-important tone... The second time he uttered that insufferable "I am Daniel Madison" with the same kind of (misplaced) solemnity you'd expect in someone declaring "I am Duncan McLeod of the clan McLeod", I felt distinctly annoyed. On the third time, I just felt an urge to slap him and yell "DO I LOOK LIKE A MORON TO YOU? I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME, YOU PATHETIC ROCK-STAR WANNABE!".
As for his "this is usually the only card effect I perform", I believe what he really means is "this is *often* the only card effect I perform", i.e. an elegantly (but no less objectionably) misleading way to say "I sometimes perform this effect on its own". Which isn't saying much... When you perform a single, isolated trick, it usually means you're not in a professional setting (impromptu with friends, random people asking you to "show [them] a trick", etc.), therefore not necessarily calling for the level of care and meticulous construction one would expect from someone dealing with a paying audience.
There is the strong chance he only produces magic, not perform in real world settings. Look at some of the other guys who are at or have been with the E, Eric Jones does gigs. Has a website where you can hire him for your event. Adam Wilbur also is a working magician. He too has a website where you can contact him to have him work your event on top of his welling you things site. Madison? Well Madison only sells him books through his website.
Lol he lies his balls of..
A) i thought he was this mythical and legendary card shark who is cheating in high stakes games. why the heck does he perform magic then?and horrible constructed magic also
B) this is the only trick he does, in the same trailer u can see him do another effect immediately after the " only" one he ever performs.
C) garbage trick
What the he'll is that accent ?
For what it is, I think the handling is very efficiently constructed. Very natural sequence to accomplish the desired result.
But in the end, yes, it is just another card to pocket being hyped as the coming of the messiah.
David Williamson does it so much better it hurts. I was actually afraid to watch this trailer. Having finally watched it, I'm having trouble typing from the fetal position.
Curious aside, having trouble with madison now? Watch Mechanic. Aside from the curiously overly contemptuous attitude, he states multiple times that he is going to show you real world applications for cheating, and that is it. He then gives some terrible advice on cheating itself, followed by giving you a method of shuffling... that he admits he wouldn't use at the card table. I turned it off, and got in the fetal position. Much like i'm in now.
I think you're a bit envious. Maybe this card trick is not the trick of the year, but
1) the trailer shows how this could work in real world, you can actually see the methods, it's not difficult to figure out. If you go to the E site, at the page that sells this trick, they point out that the download is not really about the methods themselves but more about the psychology behind them. I have found that informations and advices are really good and helpful for real world, quick, impromptu performances. I prefer a trailer that looks real even if not full of people that scream "oh my goooooooood". Because be honest, how many times did this happen to you?
2) I have followed DM work since the release of Dangerous. all the videos, the books, the releases. DM is like a character, I can't fully understand the meaning of all his attitudes, but if he found that way to introduce himself, why couldn't him? If you wanna take him seriously, yes he's a bit weird, all the madness stuff ..but come on, they're magic people. The truth is he has a lot of success, more than other magicians that simply come up with tricks and stuff without a particular way to act. I think his magic or whatever he does, is powerful because his entire attitude is powerful. it's not a normal person.. like if he comes out from a book.
3) Don't even try to say he's not a good magician/cardman. You can think his character is fake, but he would kick your ass with a deck of cards. He's complete. Tricks, one of the first doing new contemporary flourishes (and cardistry in general), and did you see him at gambilng? You said mechanich is crap, in the meantime his videos prove that he is one of the best bottom/greek/center dealer around. And he's also a good mentalist. The only thing about most of his stuff is that it's risky. If you don't wanna listen his tips do what you want, but prove you can do better, before judging.
4) What really bothers you all, is that he now works with one of the two biggest magic companies, and he already worked with the other one, his stuff is often sold out, and without working at shitty events with the worst audience ever, he's plenty of money, so he has the spare time to post videos and photos in which he does the fuck he wants.
Now, just because I defended him, he's not my god or whatsoever ..just trying to be honest. and forgive me if there are many mistakes, I'm not english.
I think your review need to focus more on the trick and less on the cinematography and character.
This isn't a review!
"This isn't a review!"
No, Mr Henning, your unprofessional and inappropriate bashing clearly isn't a review. Seriously, what has the choice of audience to do with the trick itself? Why for heaven's sake are you mocking about the audience's or Madison's looks?
I'm not to advocate this particular trick because I think the effect it achieves doesn't really compensate for the work you have to put in. In my opinion there are more clever CTP routines. But after all, I think, this product definitely expresses Daniel Madison's style both in terms of the card handling and the overall appearance. It's obviously workable in practice, even though it's risky. But then again, that's kind of his style.
And even if this routine was deliberately contrived for the mere purpose of selling it - Madison is surely not the only one in the industry to do so. But let me come back to this later.
The fact is, he is undeniably an incredibly skillful cardman and he has published many top-notch products in the past. On top of that, he just knows how to sell himself. Fake character - ahem, that's called a public persona. And just because it doesn't appeal to you it doesn't mean that it's bad. Regarding looks, be it the female spectator that you labeled a "whore of the street" or Daniel himself, you should really stop being so fucking discriminatory!! If you seek to rant, then at least try to stay with the facts about the TRICK and not mock about how someone looks or how they present themselves!
In the end it's the routine you are buying, not the trappings. Would you decide not to buy the world's best trick - if there existed something like that - only because the fucking trailer isn't to your liking? What are your conceptions about advertising? I mean why the hell would you think the spectators' reaction - which is of nothing but an honest nature - to "have nothing to do in an advertising video"? Should they edit in fake orgasms of magical brain shagging? Is this what you are looking for in an ad? Mundus vult decipi - I guess that's true in many ways. It's funny too; for those who don't know: Madison has this phrase inked on his underarm (just a little sidenote).
I can only subscribe to "princeofpersia's" opinion, namely that it's Daniel's success which primarily bothers you. Madison has accomplished to turn his name into a brand, which has certainly been supported by Ellusionist for as long as he is with them. And even if there are people that don't get his "fake character" or that just don't like the way he sells himself, hopefully many of them will be wise enough to judge the product and not the man behind it - the latter of which you do. But what's more important, is that there are even more people who are totally looking for his style. Why? Because it's unique.
Because he tends not to call himself a magician in the classic sense, thus allowing for a different, modern perspective on the art that just kind of meets the zeitgeist. (I know he's obviously not the first "Sleight of hand artist" and yes, he publishes magic tricks as well, but that's not the point. The point is to give you reasons (obviously partially from a personal point of view) why someone would like his way of doing things.)
Because unlike most magicians nowadays, Madison has managed to create a persona. I mean it's not relevant whether it's a lie or not. What people care about is a narrative. And Daniel successfully delivers it.
(PART 2 follows)
And for those like "Krab" who say "There is the strong chance he only produces magic, not perform in real world settings.": How exactly do you define real world setting? Doesn't the trailer show you Madison perform in a real world setting? Or do you think it was staged? I mean, I know where you are coming from, but even if performing at corporate events, parties etc. isn't how he earns his money it doesn't lessen the quality of his releases by any means. Clearly you can't accuse him of not being able to present the stuff he creates, considering his prestidigitation. And you need look no further than the trailer of his CTP, which might not have fooled you (as magicians), but it did fool the spectators, and let's not forget that it's them who we perform for. So don't touch on the argument that a routine like that can't be published let alone performed. It's nothing to do with whether Madison can be hired or not.
Most (if not all) of your criticism about Daniel and particularly this product don't have any serious foundation. Which brings me to my final point: What even justifies the existence of this blog, if you don't even try to do an objective review? After all, this "rant", as even you yourself put in the labels, has as its subject "Card to Pocket by Daniel Madison". So what one would actually expect is an objective statement considering the very trick itself. But instead, you go on about completely irrelevant things, in a very immature way.
I'm not saying you aren't allowed an opinion. Everyone is. If you don't like Madison's style on a subjective level, fine. But I don't think anyone is/ should be interested in that, especially if one considers the absence of rational reasoning on your part. All you do is to show your incomprehension and dislike of Madison's style and on a deeper level your discontent that he's successful with what he does.
Don't be so ignorant as to take one release and rubbish his whole work and identity. One release is clearly not the measure of all things. Neither is your opinion. As an appropriate measure, however, I consider success. You can't deny that he is successful, which means that there are a lot of people who buy his stuff - so brace yourself cause there are hordes of "young gangsters" waiting to rob you of your blinkered views!
Madison is a character that is all. You know kind of like the twat magician who makes a blog bitching about everyone in magic.
I agree with Sam. Madison is putting forward a character, he has a style, and the piece is what it is. I watched the promo a few times and read over all of the comments, I don't understand the hostility. The concept of a pet effect is age old. Many of our "legends" when doing walk around use between one to three pieces and then move on. I saw this to be true of Dingle, Chappy Brazil, and Peter Samuelson. In terms of the promo style I will say that I wish that the street magician format would play itself out already.
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