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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
How much does the average magician pay to be on that show?
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Yellowjacket Regular user Wisconsin 159 Posts |
Unfortunately, there are some very good magicians being made to look bad because of the ridiculous format of the show.
There are also some rather mediocre magicians that continue to look . . . well mediocre. This show will not have much of an impact on magic in general. The older “World’s greatest Magic” had a format that worked and is still one of the best rated television shows in magic. There have been some dreadful performances on this show. But I blame the producer for this, they should have known better since they are deeply entrenched in the magic community. And as usual this has a lot to do with money. |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
You are absolutely correct YellowJacket!
I'd like to see guys like Eason, Whit Haydn, Mike Close, etc. in the RIGHT performing environment. I'd rather see 15 minutes of a really good act than pieced together bad performances, not that all of the performances are bad, too many are. There are some really good performers out there, let them do what they do where they do it! Want to show good illusionist? Go film Kalin and Jinger at their theater in Reno, catch the Pendgragons in Martinez California. Film some of the top street acts on the street with a real performance. I think they are getting a lot of people who are willing to be on TV at any cost because they work for scale, hell they would work for free to get on the box and be able to put 'seen on national TV' on their web site. Too bad honesty can't force them to put 'seen sucking on national TV'. I still say the best act yet was that kid with the Chinese sticks, he was funny, the character fit him, his timing was excellent, and he connected. |
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mantooth New user 40 Posts |
I agree totally with Randi...Kristen definitely has the looks and personality...but that is NO WHERE NEAR enough. The show is called Masters of Illusion for crying out loud! Masters! NOT Beginners of illusion OR Youths of Illusion. There are many greats on there...and then they cut to Kristen...or the kid that coughed up the card. They just look silly. PLUS, if they can't do "the move," couldn't the camera guy pan away to a spectator and then back to the "magician" after the horrible move is done? I mean... does Gay Blackstone actually watch the performances? She should know immediately that the kid flashed his pass and that Kristen's "MOVE" with the pen borders on exposure...
It just hurts the show. I find it hilarious that people criticized Phenomenon and Celebracadabra, but there are magicians that actually think Masters of Illusion is GOOD for magic! As magicians, of course we love watching some of our fav's shine! But the format kills virtually all them in one way or another. We like to see magic... but to laymen, the show just looks and screams...LAME!!!!!! I mean, the show would've been fine in the Champagne Music L. Welk days, but it's no where near current. Parent's with children will tolerate it, but that's about it. There is a lot of GREAT talent on there...but the way the show is shot and edited, plus the non-masters mixed with the great talents...just kills the show. Obviously, I'm sure there are politics that decides who was featured on the show... That's the only way I can guess Kristen, and the card vomiter could be on that show. Note to the EP's... Just because you have young kids on there doesn't make your show hip! The kids MUST be amazing at magic! It's simple... It's the Executive producers faults, plain and simple... they should know better. At least Gay should. I mean, even Stan Allen of Magic went public in his editors column about the show and where it falls short. My hat was off to him for speaking the truth. I mean... what do you think Simon Cowell would say about the show if he watched it! He'd laugh and tear it apart! IT'S TIME FOR MAGIC TO MOVE ON! Have we learned nothing from Copperfields specials? It's been down hill ever since he left the airwaves in my opinion... Accept for Blaine's first couple of specials... This show just furthers some of the negative cliches that hurts magic. Posted: Mar 13, 2009 3:32am And magic santa, you are absolutely right! Especially about the kid that did the Chinese sticks. Perfect example of a youthful kid that deserves to be on the show! LOVED HIM! Seen him on youtube before and loved his character! He'll go very far! What's Ironic is... he was on once... And Kristen Lambert has been on at least four times! Makes NO sense! |
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Stucky Inner circle I'm Batman! 1355 Posts |
I don't care for Kyle Eschen's stuff. Only a few of the jokes work well for his age (just because he KNOWS why they are funny, doesn't mean he can MAKE them funny) His timing is off a lot of the time, and he has trouble staying in character from time to time. (Mind you in very minuscule ways)
To me he is a clone/ product of the Zebrecky/ Fitzgerald guys at the castle. Dead pan works for a few people.. and they are usually stand up comedians.
Official Thread Killer
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Rich B. Special user Philadelphia 632 Posts |
Stucky...I completely agree with you. Its a great achievement to get to perform magic on TV. I find myself not even cracking a smile with Kyle's material. Of course its just a personal thing. I do give him credit for deciding on a character and developing a style...it just doesn't appeal to me.
Rich B. |
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magicnewswire Inner circle 1947 Posts |
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Don't forget that they're only half way through (a little less actually) the complete run. I have no doubt that we'll be seeing doc. I'll be posting an interview with Gay today in which she talks quite a bit about the show and what it took to put it together. It takes them almost three weeks to edit one episode...all shot in HD.. and she tells me that the only magician that has been edited so far was Mac King's Fig Newton/Card from Fly bit. |
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magicnewswire Inner circle 1947 Posts |
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On 2009-03-12 19:47, MagicSanta wrote: They don't. You hear her talk about how they were selected.. it wasn't all from her input.. some was from the network |
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Yellowjacket Regular user Wisconsin 159 Posts |
A group of people that I was performing for recently asked me about the show. I turned the question around back to them and asked them about it.
They said that it was OK and no one seemed too interested in it. But, then they talked about the Masked Magician and they were much more interested in that show. They couldn't remember too much about it but they definitely liked that show better. based on their answers, I would say they found the MM show easier to watch and more interesting. They could follow the main character (Like him or not). In Masters of Illusions there is no main character, only a hodge podge of short bites. They mentioned the couple that did the going through the jet engine and relayed that it just looked dumb. I think this was because there was no getting to know them, the illusion, or connection to the show. It was a quick hey watch this . . . Ok we're done. Look at the network numbers and you will see the audience is not interested in this show. The problem is that other networks will be less interested in magic. It is all about numbers and money. This could have been a killer format had a Master of Ceremonies or some sort of thread that we (as the viewing audience) could have latched on to. Gay should have known better. |
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magicnewswire Inner circle 1947 Posts |
Actually.. Gay wanted a host for the show and a slightly different format. All thirteen episodes of the show were shot over the course of a few days as well.
Our interview with her is now online. I'll be interested to hear more feedback after you listen to her side of things. She talks about the MM as well and the fact that it was scheduled right after Masters of Illusion |
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Big Daddy Cool Inner circle 1604 Posts |
BINGO! No central characters to connect to. Most variety shows have at least an MC that you can build a connection with.
And this plays into another principle that I preach on my Theatrical Magic soapbox and that is that audiences really do want more than special effects. They want something that lasts beyond the sizzle and spectacle. They want a story, they want a hero to root for and a villian to hate, they want to leave the room having learned something, or at least made to think. The best performance on the show so far (at least for me) was Kalin & Jinger. Their puzzle girl illusion was about more than the puzzle - it was also about their relationship. We got a sense that there was something deeper happening between them. it was only a peek, but it was enough to hook us. Audiences dig that. Even men. The proof is in the pudding folks. The traditional magic show is vanishing in Vegas. The strip is now dominated by Cirque du Soliel, Blue Man Group, and Broadway shows adapted for Vegas. And the successful magic shows in Vegas are largely character driven, or story driven - Penn & Teller, Mac King (Character Driven) Believe (story driven AND character driven and despite poor reviews from magicians, it is doing very well in tix sales). Even Copperfield and Burton use stories and characters to move their magic along. That folks is how to engage today's audience. Give them more than sizzle. Give them steak AND potatoes! Posted: Mar 13, 2009 2:30pm Just listened to the interview with Gay... Interesting... I'll let other comment. http://www.magicnewswire.com |
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Domino Magic Special user 999 Posts |
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On 2009-03-13 12:34, Big Daddy Cool wrote: That's not just how to engage today's audiences - that's what it always took to engage audiences. Look at the magicians you named. Aside from Criss Angel, those guys have been doing it that way for 25 - 30+ years. Vegas is an odd duck. I've been involved in the entertainment industry their for close to 30 years. Vegas runs in cycles. Magic shows didn't start going away because the magicians who left weren't character driven. Many of the hotels just wanted something new. One day they will get tired of Cirque and it will be replaced by something else. Nothing is sacred in Vegas and they have no problem kicking out the old to bring in the new - no matter what it is. The problem with Masters of Illusion is not a lack of an emcee, it's a lack of talent. There are really only a few performers that can shine in that format. It was the same with The World's Greatest Magic specials. These specials do only one thing - showcase the weird looking boxes magicians use. Look a box, another box, oh wow, that's red box with blades. Watch this next puzzle performed by someone who can't dress, has no choreography and no motivation for doing what he's doing. |
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Father Photius Grammar Host El Paso, TX (Formerly Amarillo) 17161 Posts |
It is a miracle that the Masters of Illusion get on the air in the first place. Just talk to Gay or any producer about all that has to be done to get a show on the air. At WMS she was just finding out that the following Monday show had finally been cleared by the network. There are so many people who want to put their mark on it, getting anything together in the first place is a battle most would run away from. It is like the old fable about too many cooks spoiling the soup. Everybody wants a piece of the pie and thinks they have a better idea. The fact that Gay even gets a show to a point where it can air amazes me.
"Now here's the man with the 25 cent hands, that two bit magician..."
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magicnewswire Inner circle 1947 Posts |
See my Thread on tonight's airing of Masters of Illusion HERE - This episode features Doc Eason's appearance
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Ace of Spades New user 54 Posts |
Dodd, loved the interview with Gay. Keep up the great work!
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jackstevens New user 87 Posts |
In the interview Gay says the Blackstone show was on Broadway longer than any other magic show. This doesn't compute, BOTH of Henning's shows ran quite a bit longer. Does anyone have an insight as to why she said this? Perhaps it was the longest running magic show in that particular theater?
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Stanyon Inner circle Landrum, S.C. by way of Chicago 3433 Posts |
I think what Gay was alluding to was that the Blackstone show was strictly magic oriented. Henning's two shows were story based musicals, with magic as part of the plot/story line.
JMHO
Stanyon
aka Steve Taylor "Every move a move!" "If you've enjoyed my performance half as much as I've enjoyed performing for you, then you've enjoyed it twice as much as me!" |
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jackstevens New user 87 Posts |
I guess she's also not including Penn & Teller's lengthy Broadway run. If memory serves Blackstone was on Broadway a few months at most. Am I wrong?
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phaddad2 Regular user 171 Posts |
Dodd, She talks about the importance of music in the show, I think that is the worst part of the show. The music is horrible.
Pete |
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jackstevens New user 87 Posts |
I think the worst part is the editing and repetition of effects.
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