It's all about taste. This is a very subjective issue. Blaine is in street clothes. "Look look, watch, squeeze," fits his demeanor, his whole persona. He does not have a cheesy story or patter. He's not in a suit and tie saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen." He's not going to tell you a funny story.

Blaine tries to come off as the real thing. The real thing wouldn't need to say one word. If you had real magic, you wouldn't need a story or patter. You wouldn't need to talk about cannibals or Sam the Bellhop. You'd just tell your spectator, "Look," and then you proceed to move the cup telekinetically. You just tell the spectator, "Watch," and you proceed to cause fire with your eyes, etc. Real magic does not need a story or patter to back up or justify its phenomenon. If it's real, you don't need to do any pitching. And that's what Blaine tries to make it seem like. No sales pitch!

That's the difference between Blaine and the majority of Magicians. When Blaine does something, people think, "Who the hell is this guy? The devil???" When the corporate or suit and tie magicians do something, people think, "Trickery, entertainment."

It all depends on what you're going for. It's apples and oranges.

Wow, I hesitate to wade into this David Blaine fray, but if I must... Blaine is better at marketing than anything. He has the right production, number of takes, careful choosing of spectators, etc. I disagree about what magic is. I believe that people will go away having been fooled by "tricks," but they will go away changed if they have been in contact with magic. If they are shown tricks, they are pretty sure that if they bought the "trick" they could do it too. If they are a part of magic though, it is a profound experience that is not completely taken with how it was done, but that magic actually happened! I hope this doesn't sound too out there, but cheap thrills magic bugs me: Psst, hey kid, c'mere. Wanna see a trick? No, thanks, mister.

To me, MAGIC is all about Hans Klok, and Rick Thomas. Man those guys are snazzy...

Seriously. Bad comic magicians, and the cheesy Vegas types kill me, too. Since when does being a magician make you a comedian or dancer, etc.
I will never be embarrassed to be a magician, though. No more so would I be embarrassed to be a musician. There are some pretty silly music acts out there, too.
As far as the Blaine thing goes, I get it, and it works. People think he's the real deal, and that's great for magic. Keep it up, DB.

It's a decision. Old school, or not. I personally enjoy antique magic, performed by...antique magicians. I don't much care for trans-whatever types, or the hype shocker types. Blaine has his own wishy washy style, and it suits him fine. He is, however, one of the great recyclers of old, lame and crusty magic, making it new and enjoyable in his own way. (Watch Thru the Window, etc.)

I do have a group of mini-closeup effects and a routine that uses them all, that to the best of my ability, and bank account, replicates the classic magic show most of us saw in our youth,(still need a mini tricky bottle set) and I perform these for spectators that have never seen a magic show of any kind before (mostly for kids). This is as close as I get to the cheesy magic guy.

If funding permitted, I would have all of the newest and best effects, but it doesn't, so I try to work proven and effective instead.
As for performing style, we could get a beer and discuss most anything.

I will never be a shiny suit and tie guy.
Vegas magicians nauseate me.

Isn't it funny; anyone who doesn't love this purveyor of bad magic is jealous.
It has been written by some of the greats that camera tricks hurt magic- they do.
Believe it or not, newcomers, ethics count.
Rod

For the record - my comment refers to those who write off Blaine's performance style/script as de facto "incorrect" - it has nothing to do with the controversial [faux] Balducci levitation!

I thought we were talking about performance style. You can start a whole new thread on editing/technology.

I'm still waiting for Blaine to try to start
a religion by marching on Washington to get tax exempt status. Maybe his followers will even start drowning themselves until George Dubb-Yuh agrees to give it to them, which would never happen, of course.

"Watch.....watch..."

(Ahhhhh, the wonders of modern South Park.)

Can't we all just get along?

I seriously believe that this is the first time I've ever seen Hans Klock's name in a magic forum.

Blow dryer please. . .

Hans Klock's? What is with that hair effect anyway? Is that supposed to be a magic trick?

fstarsinic: Please do not say you like Blaine over Green, Gertner, and King! These guys are real entertainers.

Bascomb:
I think Frank is trying to say...and I could be wrong...is that Blaine performs for a type of audience that is completely different than Green, Gertner, King, et al. He would not succeed in their venue any more than the reverse would be true.

George's post, despite the reference to the Rodney King School of Human Relations, is very well founded: the style you like may not agree with everyone. That doesn't mean you should not like it. Enjoy it and make the most of it. At the same time, though, take a little time to understand why others may like the Blaines of this world. For whatever reason, it speaks to them and makes magic more real to them.

At the end of the day, though, what you do in magic or in life must reflect your approach. Nobody else's. Graham Nash sang, in a song from 30 years ago, "And in the end remember, it's with you you have to live."

OK...enough of the philosophy. Let's get back to the regular posts.

For a guy that we hate we are all putting a lot of effort into kindly saying that he is rubbish (trash).

You don't hear many complaints about David Copperfield on the forum and he is a sort of Vegas magician. Why? Is it because he has things (secrets) that we can't get or achieve so we respond with "oh he's great" to keep our own little ego's intact?

We do the same thing with Blaine but in keeping our own little ego's intact we have to say, "oh that’s stuffs easy" or "he's not that skillful".

I've said it and thought that is the kind of stuff my audience wants to hear. They may really like the guy; Blaine may be the reason that they came to watch you that night. Give him the credit that he deserves for having the balls to go out and perform to normal people.

I think sometimes people think having a camera there makes life a lot easier. From my experience working with TV crews this is not true. The cameras distract people, people become nervous and forget things, and the list may go on. My small point is why do we have to nurture our own ego's so much?

I believe Blaine should edit his stuff down else we could have another masked magician on our hands (in disguise). I know many lay people who record the Blaine specials.

As far as the editing on the levitation well that was possibly a little extreme but I am sure if you go back a few years we could all find a well-known magician using extreme editing.

I saw Juan Tamiriz at the Blackpool convention this year. I thought he was brilliant. He got a very good reaction from the audience.

Name one performer on WGM that did not have a GREAT performance... (except Tom Ogden... ughhh.)

Sybilmagic,

Just to clarify, I don't think there is anything "Vegas" about Copperfield. I don't equate stage magic and grand illusion, with Vegas. To me, it's the over the top performance style that gives off the Vegas Schmaltz. DC is very laid back, and he doesn't try to do a song and dance. Also, he makes himself the subject of most of his illusions, and I think that's cool.

Ben,
Your right about Tom Ogden. He pretty much sucked on WGM, but there were quite a few bad performances. Most of it was great though.

My problem with the "Big" stuff on WGM, is this. How many different ways can you perform the same illusions on the same show?

Can you give an example of two illusions on the same special that were very much alike? I personally don't have this opinion, but would like to know what illusions brought you to your opinion.

Justin

Justin,
I'll go back and watch my videos, and then I'll get back to you.
Eric

I loved Rick Thomas's illusion where the girl goes into his body!

Was that the same WGM?