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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Books, Pamphlets & Lecture Notes » » Wanted: Maurice Fogel (0 Likes) Printer Friendly Version

magicduro
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Is his material as great as T.A. Waters says? I have never experienced any of his books and am interested in purchasing some.

PM me.
ThoughtThief
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Hi Magicduro,
Your question whether Fogel's "material" was "as great as T.A. Waters says" is not so easy to answer. Fogel was a bold and dynamic showman who got a lot out of relatively simple methods and concise plots by the sheer force of his personality, confidence and charm. If you re-read Waters' comments, you should glean from them an admiration for Fogel's showmanship and charisma, more so than for Fogel's "material," which, as Waters notes, was not unique or particularly novel, but was presented impeccably and convincingly. I would categorize Fogel as a "traditional" mentalist who favored straight-forward demonstrations of apparent mind reading and prediction over more esoteric presentations. To compare him to other British mentalists of his era, Fogel was more Koran than Canasta or Berglas (although Bergals and Fogel shared a penchant for the sensational). Fogel used the mentalist's standard fare (a nail writer, a simple billet switch, one-ahead)and direct plots (divining thought-of names, telephone numbers, colors; predicting a word or phrase torn from a newspaper; predicting which of six air/pellet rifles was the empty one that could safely be aimed and shot between his eyes), all presented with tight scripting and without wasted moves or risks. His performance venues were mostly the British music halls and holiday camps, which required a thoroughly professional, polished act that could be counted on to "hit" night after night. His style was foreceful, bordering on bombastic, yet softened with humor and charm. He was particularly adept at obtaining newspaper publicity to promote himself as an artist and his appearances. Fogel's interview in Corinda's 13 steps and his tape recorded Magicassettes interviews with Pat Page ("Secrets Of A Sensation Seeker"), which includes an audio taped performance of "Headline Hunter" before the Magic Circle, provide a good idea of Fogel's approach to his craft.

By all means, purchase Fogel's materials, but do not expect to receive ground-breaking plots or novel methods. Fogel was a working professional who relied absolutely on five or ten classic effects, each honed to perfection, to feed himself and his family.

Just a thought.

TT
eddieloughran
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A nice piece TT.
It really sums all good mentalism up !

Eddie Burke used to sell some of his routines.
http://www.mreenterprises.co.uk
and old Supreme books are still being resold.
But - as above, it was him not his material.
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