We saw Lance Burton osmosis and was amazing ...same about Rick Thomas version and now is time for Hans Klok osmosis...Dear fellows I am speakless....for this kind of moment we live ...remember for this kind of moments we fall in love about magic art...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-cnrM5s7WA

Thank you
Jis

Personally, I disagree...

The near four minutes of dancing at the start of Hans' routine is unnecessary, and I found it quite boring and skipped through most of it.

Out of the three you mentioned, IMHO Lance's is by far the best as it gets to the point right away and is far more magical.

Just my opinion.

Have to agree with same... Lance all the way..
In both Ricks and Hans' I skipped through the dancing, as it was getting boring.

Daniel

I enjoyed Lances, but the vanish in Ricks is so much more magical to me.

-Matt

I agree with Matt in the fact that I like the vabish better in Rick's version. If I recall. In Ricks it appears that the person is actually emergeing or coming through his body.

However, I have to disagree that the dancing and music in the beginning is unnecessary. I actually enjoyed it because it established the mood and presence of the illusion before the effect was even done.

To me magic does not always have to be all about the illusion itself. In this case the dancing and the music were an intrical part of the entire entertaining experience he is trying to create. There is a bit of storytelling happening through the dance and music that leads up to the vanish.

Kyle

Maybe it's just me, but I'm just about tired of all the slutty, lesbo dancing that dtracts from the magic and turns a 15-minute magic performance into a 90-minute "spectacle".

Lance Burton certainly presents the most motivated version out of all three.

The leg on the Rick Thomas version for some reason always brings a grin to my face - although it is not, it just looks fake!! )

I am sure that Lance has the best presentation. But I also feel this is an artist presentation. I feel that we all forget that not only magic shows consist of magic but also entertainment. Thus I feel that Hans presentation was very entertaining and that an audience would be entertained too. Remember if you just want to see the min of magic then it would be a boring show. Add entertainment value to the show and you have all the element that makes people come and see the show. I think we all forget that we as magicians have to also entertain our audience. Each magician has there own take on it.

I thought the vanish was pretty cool.

Best

Exactly and nicely stated. That is my point here. Often times we as magicians fall in love with ourselves. This simply means that we fall in love with the trick and the illusion we are presenting. Nothign wrong with enjoying what you do, but the fear is forgetting your audience. It is the audience that all of the magic should be aimed at. We want to create a sense of magic but we also want to entertain them through the magic that is taking place on stage. This does not always have to be just the illusion itself. I like the fact that the illusion has more to it then just the illusion or trick. There is dance and music that creates mood and drama before the illusion takes place. To me it is more entertaining to an audience this way.

Kyle

Don't get me wrong... I enjoy a certain amount of extraneous "entertainment" or setup to the illusions. I'm just tired of sleazy, quasi-strip show dancing of the type that would embarrass me should my family be watching. Illusionists in years past could achieve the same "entertainment" value without resorting to the bumping and grinding that make folks uncomfortable. I just know that I wouldn't want my daughters up there "performing" like that.

I can't understand what would make you uncomfortable or embarrassed about that choreography. The "slutty, lesbo-dancing" remark is a little bit over-the-top. I watched 3 times looking for something overly-gratuitous...but couldn't find anything worth mentioning. I've seen far worse, as I'm sure many have. People often forget--not everything is designed for a "family-audience"--nor should it be. The mere fact that Hans' show aired on Fox Family Channel would suggest that few, if any, thought the piece questionable enough to edit out.

Keith Jozsef

I can totally understand and respect that AMOSMC. We have to set the entertainment value to what our target market is and who we are performing for that make up our audiences. That will dictate a lot of what we do and how we do it.

Hans Klok performs mainly for vegas style crowds a lot and that dictates a lot of his style and the way he performs the routines for the illusions. I also was not overly offended by what I saw as well. I have seen far far worse in my opinion. I thought the dancing was pretty well done and tasteful.

Kyle

That´s a different topic - so only a short input: I understand me as an artist, so my main target is to express! To entertain is (not irrelevant but) a minor point.
If somebody only is an entertainer - okay... but that´s not enough for me.

Lance did the best version - in my opinion - also because of the nice reapearrance. Rick has a plus in the "story/motivation" for the illusion.

Nice version. In my opinion the music fits quit well the illusion.
What would be interesting to know now is, how did he "introduced" the illusion. Unfortunatle we often only see an illusion presentations recorded for the internet when the music starts, but for me an illusion starts even before.
So I do agree with Kyle.

Oliver.

I have to agree with Keith. I think calling it slutty, lesbo, and sleazy is a pretty ignorant remark. I personally enjoyed the presentation. That aside, I think I wouldn't have had a problem w/ the dancing even if I didn't enjoy it. I can understand that it may not be prime family entertainment, but in reality it isn't that far off. I agree that not everything we do needs to be family oriented. Just my thoughts.

I have nothing against the so-called sleaze (which I do not find sleazy in the slightest!), my point however was that Lance performed the illusion in reverse, thus finding a motivation for the cape (which is an integral part of the illusion), whereas the other two presented themselves and then donned the cape, which in my view was not motivated.

Unless you drape this piece with a matador theme, it's certainly going to be difficult to motivate putting on the cape...
But then again, why do we pick up and have to use a cloth during Metamorphosis, why do magicians don a robe before levitating between 2 poles?
At least with a cape, it belongs to that stereotypical image of a magician, which helps it go unquestioned by the audience.

Keith Jozsef

The Hans Klok routine seems to me that it would be a to the lay spectator?? When I saw Rick Thomas perform his show in Las Vegas, it did not appear that his version was all that obvious.

The vanish was awesome...... With the cape draping around the chick it reminded me of a vampire and it looked like REAL MAGIC!

If you consider me ignorant because I have a different set of values, then so be it. I won't disagree with your opinion.

Since I have a different set of values and am obviously in the minority when it comes to this sort of thing, I will bow out of the thread.