I guess for me is, why are we acting like this is new? I mean the way these T.V. magic specials are? We know this already, we know that editing takes place and that stooges may or may not be used. Some more than others and don't like that part of it either. But it does not stop us from watching. Even if it is to only turn it off after the first commercial break point is, more often then not you will tune in. I enjoy watching the shows even if its to point out to myself when I catch it. Non the less these performers are making a name for themselves and the ONLY people who are complaining or bickering about it are the ones in the "KNOW". This to me falls on the same side of parents who complain about murder on a primetime TV show because their kids are still up to see Sons of Anarchy and the sex and murder on the show offend them. Your a grown up, change the channel. I am sure that Dynamo is a decent enough magician to have even gotten started. Now where his shows have gone from day one might not be anything he has a say on. Would you stop if they told you ok season two will be ALL CGI. I'm pretty sure making ends meet and seeing your face on Billboards might alter the way you think when/if that day arrives.

I guess my point is simple, if you don't like that show then don't watch it, but that is not to say that his Lecture might not have actual magic insight that you didn't expect coming from him. How do we know that his lecture isn't the time where he can be around what are supposed to be his brothers and actually be real with his friends. Learn to separate the man from the big name TV show, or at least give yourself to see if his lecture is more then you thought it could be. Or be an adult and choose not to watch that one either. The café has become very bitter and salty about any and everything recently. I remember when I would log on and learn something, or get welcomed with open arms. Now, if anything goes past one page the negative posts come rushing in. Then again I guess I too can stop reading right?

Dynamo has got more people interested in and talking about magic.
That's a good thing in my book, I never have an issue 'living up' to his TV effects/illusions when out working - it can provide a good talking point/opener.

I also saw him at an International convention/gala in London a few years ago and he was pretty good live.

I may not like stooges or camera edits, but I like professionals building interest with the public.

Merry Christmas to all!
Charlie

Considering most shops online have a section of "dynamo magic" - and its a considerable size, that does suggest that maybe not quite all of his stuff is for tv only..

i kinda like some of his shows - at least its not some big headed show off on my telly, and at least it has interesting themes...he's a good guy in my book...

I think it is ethically wrong to stooge almost every effect and the use of camera tricks. This makes all of these reality street show magicians no better than the mask magician in my books!

Maybe he is a good business man to convince people into giving him a TV show, but what happened to the artistic approach to magic, it is not all about business!? The business or money side was surely also what lured the masked magician into his TV show. Selling our souls!

Where is the skill if any child with a little acting experience can do this? How can people even "come up" or defend these types of shows.

All I am saying is that he is not the first, or far from the last that will do TV magic like this. And with technology improving daily it is bound to only get worse. My opinion is just, I will not stereotype a magicians lecture just by what he does on his publically televised show. Which is what the title of this thread is. Not wether or not the Dynamo Show is ethically correct. Again do not get me wrong, I have not seen all his shows to say that every effect is stooged or edited. I cant say that, from the previous seasons that I have seen not everything falls in that category. I watch for when I see an effect that is legit is shown, he has done some like blaine has done some and even the one I like the least angel has done some real world effects. I watch for that, or maybe see an edited effect that I can do real world. I do not condone that it is done, by I am also open to not knowing the ins and outs of this type buisness. I just cant make it a point to say "NO I WONT WATCH HIS LECTURE BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DID ON TV IS ALL SCRIPTED AND STAGED" I wasnt asked for my opinion on wether I would or wouldnt. So why would I chime in to stir that type of negativity? There are plenty of threads on here that do not interest me, you wont see any of my posts in there simply because if I do not have a horse in the race why should I share my negative opinion?

I could not have said it better.

All I have ever seen from this man was an actor playing his part with other actors all set-up in advance. I never saw the real magician Dynamo, and I can only compair what I saw with most films with magic in it. But Dynamo does not say his spectators are actors. So most viewers don't know they are watching a profesional set-up act and they love it... untill the word gets out! And one day it will!

Or a new magician takes over with the disclaimer:
I will never use stooges or actors like Dynamo... This is real magic!

Maybe it's an lecture on acting:)))

OK I know now I'm the bad guy now, hit me, blame me, yell at me, but this is my opninion and I will stay with it.

It raises questions I find interesting, and I admit to playing Devils advocate on the subject but arn't we all actors playing the part of magician? We even call it a show/act.

How do we justify a gimmick but not an accomplice?

Is pre-show any more unethical by that standard?

so a human can't be a gimmick, used to trick the audience? The audience of a TV show is the viewer at home.

Yes, we are all actors playing the part of a magician, but that does not mean stooge and TV edit everything you do! This is why magic is not seen as an art because of the respect magicians have towards it!

Comparing gimmicks with accomplice is comparing apples with bananas!

Pre show done correctly is also different, there is a fine line just as with ethics.

Comparing a gimmick to a stooge Dominic is a poor analogy I'm surprised with your comments there . Deception is of course one thing but dam right cheating is another .

I never agreed with the statement that we are actor's playing the part of a magician. Many do not know how to act but use their skill of magic to entertain. We are more magicians than actor's trying to be magicians. Most great magicians were terrible actors, but their skills in magic make them entertaining. Actor's playing the part of magicians is the same as actor's playing the part of doctor's, lawyers, detectives, etc, but none of them are real doctor's, lawyers, or detectives. They rely on other people to write the scripts, directors to direct them, other actor's, editor's to clean up the footage and special effects to convince the audience at home to temperarily believe that they are. Magicians live it everyday of their lives. There's no acting about it.

I cringe when I see him on TV.

All good answers

I think Dynamo is fascinating. I haven't seen very much of his stuff but he appears to have no real charisma, no special dexterity or performance chops, yet is the biggest magician on UK tv.

Perhaps he is living proof that in TV magic it is actually all about the song not the singer?

Dynamo and his team of consultants are just geniuses! Look at what they have achieved, I therefore can't wait to hear about this in the lecture.
Btw, what really annoys me is when magicians have a go at magicians like dynamo. In my opinion they are clearly just jealous, if you are not happy how magic is being done on TV, then go out there and change it!!! Put together your own show with no edits etc etc and let's see if you can do better then dynamo, criss angel etc.

You do realise that not every performer's ambition is to be on television, don't you?

Also, I recently heard Paul Daniels bemoaning the over-use of s******* and edits on TV magic. Presumably you think he is just jealous too?

Having been offered a TV show in the 80's and turning it down because I did not want the hassle of fame I can safely say that I am neither jealous nor a fan of the Dynamo show. I've absolutely nothing against Dynamo himself, quite the opposite, I have nothing but the utmost respect for him for achieving the level of success he has achieved at such a young age. That didn't happen without hard work and smarts.

However to me the show is prostituting the art. I'm not one of those that believes that the end justifies the means. The beauty of magic is the skill, talent, call it what you will of making the impossible appear to happen. Our methods may be hidden but the reality is that we should at least be able to do the things we do. Generally a magician uses a combination of clever thinking and/or skill to make the impossible happen. When the impossible (as in the trick itself) didn't really happen at all and the whole thing was faked, well there I feel that we are straying from the honest deception that is necessary to perform magic into dishonest deception that isn't necessary.

Let's take Derren as an example, his core TV shows are condensed showings of his live performances, everything we see in those shows are what the live audience see's. It simply isn't necessary to fake it in order to create an impossible and entertaining show. More worrying is that shows like the Dynamo show essentially makes magic as an art form almost redundant. Who needs talent and skill when you could essentially take any actor who's face fits the required profile and build impossible tricks around him with no concern for methodology beyond stooging and camera trickery.

Alas The Dynamo show itself does to some extent prove Martin right and me wrong in another debate we had recently as it shows that the bigger the trick the less important any form of engaging presentation. So whilst I wish Dynamo himself every success that the hard work he has put in to achieve it deserves, I personally think shows like that particular show are damaging to the art as a whole.

Mark

I get precious little to watch in the way of magic shows here on the island but Dynamo is one show we do get from time to time. Afraid I never watch it. I have tried but its so obviously staged I can't believe people fall for it. And I'm sick and tired of hearing, "I had a hard childhood" sometimes wonder if Britain's got talent has comeon instead.
And the lay public are not as daft as we think they are. Holiday makers here ask me all the time "he's good but its all camera trick isn't it" trouble is when you get people doing this Joe public assumes we are all doing the same. I have nothing against him and like to see people get on in life. But for me he is no better than the masked magician in that respect.

What do guys mean when you say he has nothing to lecture on? Haven't you seen his amazing Dynamo shuffle, a sybil flourish with a robot two step? I'll be all eyes and ears when he goes over this sequence.

No it's just lazy magic.



My years of performing give me the right to say he is a mediocre performer with no stage presence. This is experience talking not jealousy.

I know a number of people involved with TV magic productions and I hear the same thing from all of them "We just don't have the time" so in lieu of doing it right they feel they have to fudge it a bit and move on. I have always said that once one thing is supect then it ALL is. Once you can explain away one thing is done with stooges or actors, then you can just lump it all under that same catagory and thus so will many non-magicians.

I just watched, "Dynamo Revealed" on television. It was an interview based show talking about his past, growing up, being bullied, how his grandfather taught him his first trick. How he got into magic professionally, getting his break on television, and even demonstrated his Dynamo shuffle/breakdance moves.

I wonder what the lecture will offer that the Dynamo Revealed didn't?