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Doc Svengali New user 66 Posts |
I recently reviewed videos of 165 linking ring routines. 26 were taken from DVD's; 139 were posted on the internet. (All appeared to be professional magicians performing for live audiences, presumably for remuneration. None were children, amateurs, individuals performing solo at home, or "secret revealed" videos.)
There appear to be only five types of routines being performed. The first, largest category were performances presented silently to music involving two or three rings. Two and three ring routines have a very different feel from routines with more rings and seem almost like a completely different effect. Music or silence, absence of patter, slower and more majestic handling, less interaction with the audience, more mystical, and a sense of artistry tends to characterize the two and three ring routines more in the style of Richard Ross. The silent routines look very similar to me, containing similar moves and subroutines. Everybody seems to borrow liberally from Richard Ross. Some use music so compelling that it detracts from absorbing the visual miracles. The second group are performers essentially doing the Dai Vernon routine, with some modifications. In this category, the routines by Tilman Andris and Martin Lewis were by far the most effective I observed. The third group are performers imitating Pop Haydn's comedy four ring routine. What was notable were the attempts to clone Pop's patter verbatim, and the imitators falling well flat of the bar set by Pop for an engrossing and thoroughly entertaining performance. The fourth group of routines involve one or two spectators on stage in variations on the theme "I can do it, you can't." Usually, the magician embarasses and even humiliates the spectator who visibly regrets volunteering to help. Lines like: "Oh, dear, you're not doing very well are you" are not uncommon in these routines. The magicians aim for comedy, but it is usually at the spectator's expense. Some magicians in this genre when working with children show the good sense to set the child up to cause the magic to happen, by waving a wand or saying magic words or blowing on the rings. The fifth category of performance is relatively rare among the internet videos, but appears with fair frequency on the DVD's, with the best examples appearing on Levent's 4 DVD set. These are routines that tend to have more rings, are highly interactive and very high energy, and involve dialogue or instructions to several volunteer spectators (whether seated in the audience or on stage), who are asked to engage in various tasks, such as looking at or inspecting rings, holding rings, linking or unlinking rings, holding rings into which the performer links another ring, or to simply be a close-up, "in your face" eyewitness to highly visible apparent miracles. Some or several rings are usually examined but not necessarily. The extra rings typically involved afford the performer added options related to the use of chains, substitutions, and examination of some rings. I really have no point to make here and am just reporting data; I was expecting more variation given the vast linking ring literature than I found. I was surprised to find that none of the 165 performers even attempted to do Chris Capehart's "Impossible Link" (except of course the performances by Chris himself). I'm guessing that is because he is the only one that can do it. No keyless openers were observed except for Levent and examples on his DVDs. Nobody else except Levent likewise passed out all rings for examination. Nobody had a ring or rings examined before and after linking or unlinking. There were only a couple of routines observed involving more than a small handful of spectator participation events (again, material on Levent's DVDs were the exception). Thoughts about the state of the art of linking rings? |
thomasR Inner circle 1189 Posts |
No Jack Miller 5-ring routine? I've seen that a few places online.
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Doc Svengali New user 66 Posts |
The Jack Miller routine is very entertaining as performed by Tom Frank, but he was the only performer I found who does it regularly. I did find one other performer who did it, but the performance was labeled "in honor of Tom Frank", so presumably it was not his regular routine. I'm not saying nobody does it; I'm just reporting on the 165 performances I watched.
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Hi Doc!
Egad! 169! But, ya didn't see mine! Scroll down to "Locking Linking Rings" (this forum) to my posts on October 14.
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Double 'egad'! (I forgot to put a "hee hee" after the "But, ya didn't see mine"!)
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Doc Svengali New user 66 Posts |
Dick -
I didn't see a link to the video of your performance but I found Denny Haney had a copy of your DVD so I ordered it. I can't wait to see the rings done with style. |
Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Hey! Thanks for the order! (Now I'll be able to pay the rent!!!) Karrell gave me his delightfully simple routine about 40 years ago, when I was his house guest, while working a mall nearby. We had our own "convention" every evening!
I had bought a used set of 10" Merv Taylor Rings from Jay Marshall, and had developed a 5 ring routine, which was playing nicely, but Merv's rings were HEAVY! I found an 8" 11 ring set (one oversize, one undersize, and a lckng key) for $50, at a convention. I kept the lckng ky and sold the "leftovers" to a guy for $50!!! I found two singles at a "yard sale" at Abbott's GTG for a couple $$, and I've used them since!!! When Karrell died, I inherited his rings, plus two new (Busby "Sterling/Mardo") egg bags. I'm "set" for life!!! I hope you like Karrell's routine. He and I "lived" by the rule of KISMIF. (Keep It Simple, Make It Fun!) BTW...Jay made his own rings. (Nine inch!) He wanted to do the "nose" gag, and eight inch wouldn't fit over his head. He had made 6 rings. After doing the routine for awhile, he realized that he was only using 5 rings, so he red lighted one! I think that I told the story of "hunting" for Dai Vernon, all over the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in NYC, so he could do a "cameo" of his rings at the SAM Convention in '78. He had been "comparison shopping" the various bars in the hotel, looking for the "best scotch & water"! I found him. We stood him behind the mike, put his rings in his hands, and, he "delivered"!
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Pete Biro 1933 - 2018 18558 Posts |
DICK - You nailed it.
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
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Rainboguy Inner circle 1915 Posts |
I like HEAVY rings!
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Rainboguy Inner circle 1915 Posts |
BTW....for those who don't have Pete's Linking Rings Book..........What are you waiting for? It's GREAT!!
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Doc Svengali New user 66 Posts |
Dick -
I got your DVD. Great ring routine! I love your management of the helper while she holds ALL of the rings. |
Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
Thanks, Doc, for your very kind words! --and, thanks, too, to my friend, the late Karrell Fox for the basic routine.
I KNEW, when I first saw Karrell do it, that it would fit my needs, and, the "way" that I work! The only thing that I changed, was the size and color of the silk!!! I thank, too, another dear departed friend, Faucett Ross, for his ideas on "audience management". Lewis Ganson, later wrote up much of Faucett's concepts in "Magic With Faucett Ross" (published by Supreme Magic). I learned, early, the importance of managing the audience, especially spectator assistants, so that those assistants are "fellow performers", and, share in the applause! I also learned, very early, that, involving the audience with the performance, is a critical factor, in entertaining! I didn't write up Karrell's routine, in my book, but, I'm sure that you, and anyone interested, can easily figure out the basic moves! Karrell's genius, has served me well!
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Doc Svengali New user 66 Posts |
I remember one other observation from the review of 165 routines. Despite the praise I have read in Café threads from magicians for an Odin count to establish separateness of rings, apparently this is quite rare in actual practice. Of course, anybody doing either the Haydn or Miller routines does a partial Odin count to switch the double. But I did not see a single example in the 165 routines of anyone doing a full Odin count involving both double and triple substitutions (except in the historical examples on Levent's DVDs). I'm wondering if this is seen as too difficult, unnecessary, unconvincing, or unnatural looking. Do most think a drop count is adequate to sell separateness? I myself doubt it. (I know - "Don't run if they're not chasing you"). I also think that showing full vertical clearance only at certain points in the count only produces suspicions rather than selling anything.
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funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
Years ago I acquired a set of brass linking rings. They are a close match for my silver set except for the "sound," so I don't use them much.
But, I did experiment with switching them in during a presentation, i.e. I start with five silver rings and end up with five brass rings to hand out. No one notices the change until the end where "magic has extracted a price." More people commented on the change than the "incredible links." Not recommending this approach, just hoping to expand folks mental horizons. Most, I now perform "Linking Hearts" as a "variation."
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
gomerel Elite user 458 Posts |
My understanding is that Pop *wants* people to copy his routine pretty much exactly.
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