Bizarre videos

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I would love to see new Bizarre DVDs or video lectures put on the market. There has not been much in a long time.

As far as DVDs, the last one I recall was Tony Chris’ Karnival of Magick. He promised a sequel, but it never came. Sure Docc released Monster Mentalism but the bizarre material there was the same material from his Weerdist tapes from the 90s and many of us already had that.

David Parr did a fantastic lecture for Penguin with bizarre material, that is the only other recent “new” contribution. Sure, Eugene burger did his Spirit Magic lecture for Penguin, but that was essentially a remake of his Steven’s Magic Spirit Magic video, a video which most of us already have and have seen dozens of times, and unlike the Penguin video doesn’t have that annoying Lawrence Hass butting in.

I know there were other lectures listed as being bizarre, but they weren’t. Just using a tarot deck or talk about readings does not make it bizarre. TC Tahoe had an amazing lecture, it had 2 bizarre pieces, but it was a general lecture, it covered mentalism, magic, comedy, coin routines, it was fantastic, but not bizarre. Penguin advertised Paul Voodini’s lecture as bizarre, it wasn’t. It seems if there is a tarot card used, talk of readings, or geek magic, they refer to it as bizarre. The labeled Dee Christopher’s as bizarre, and there was nothing bizarre about it, but he looks Goth, so there it is…

I just wish there were more. Maybe ECSS can record and add to these, or some of the new bizarrists out there will get together and produce something. I would love to see a DVD from Christian… That would make my decade.


Tony Iacoviello

I had been thinking this exact same thing the past few months!

I think there are some solid things to do that will encourage the magic retailers / producers to release more work of this genre. Sites like Penguin Magic and Vanishing Inc respond to numbers. If you see work you like on these sites, buy it. Recommend it to friends. And always post a review on the site, even if you think you don’t have something original to say. The reviews are moderated, so that means they’re reading every single one. I am grateful to Tony and everyone else who took the time to post a review of my Penguin Live lecture. (Well, maybe not the guy who said the lecture was boring and uninteresting, but that review is hilarious if you read it in a Boris Badenov voice, so thanks for that.) When the folks behind the scenes see the numbers and read positive reviews, they’ll be inclined to produce more stuff of that type, stuff that’s maybe a bit weirder than the mainstream. Cultivating a diverse clientele is good business. We have to show them the directions in which they can expand. Which brings me to another thing to do: send them emails that say, “Hi, I’m into bizarre magic and I’d really like to see more lectures along those lines. I really dug the lecture by so-and-so and I’d love to see another one. And I’m a big fan of whatshername and whoshisface; would you consider releasing a lecture by them?” Just keep it positive and not ranty or complainy. They pay attention to communication from their purchasing base. They have to. And if enough people encourage them to expand in a direction, they’re more likely to consider doing that.

That's solid advice, David! I'll definitely be sending some letters and writing some reviews!

Docc's the vault had suitable material for adapting into bizarre performances.

I wonder whether the fact that many performers collect there own items for routines searching through junk, antique shops, ebay, etc plays a part. Then many bizarre routines use a handful of simple, but effective methods. Many of the best bizarre magicians routines are personal to them, making DVD's an unsuitable medium. Books being better suited to discussing developing your own routines. Many of the best bizzare books encourage you to come up with your own routines. Whereas for a lecture people expect to be presented with tricks they can perform themselves. While lectures can discuss this side of creating, and I've seen plenty of good ones at Doomsday, I wonder whether retailers can't see a demand. They wouldn't make for good product descriptions if the DVD is talking about the art of creating a good routine yourself.

The reversal of Net Neutrality may make DVDs (or thumb drives) the most economical way to share videos, so they may revive.

Books are great and my preferred medium, but for a visual art, there is nothing like seeing a performance.

Bizarre performances are not that common, essentially you can only see them performed at conventions and on video (downloads or DVD).
Watching others give you ideas on what other people are doing, how they present, and provide a fun viewing experience.

Tony

So true, Tony. It's such a rare treat to get to watch a bizarre performance.....even manufactured items that have "trailers" for them rarely actually show the effect of performance of said effect.