NationStates Jolt Archive

Stage magic, street magic, clown magic, mentalists, etc. love em or hate em?

If you like it, who is your favorite? David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, Siegried and Roy, Lance Burton, the Pendragons, Criss Angel....someone else?

Ever been to a particularly good magic show? or maybe you've been to a spectacularly bad one where the magician made a total fool of himself. Tell your story.

Do you have a favorite trick? something that has boggled your mind or astounded you?

Post whatever you want related to professional magic. On this thread.

PS. No exposure please (dont reveal how tricks are done if you are in the know)

What do you mean Tricks?
Magic is real.

Hans Klok is pretty darn good.

The guy that made Tobruk disapear in WWII!

What do you mean Tricks?
Magic is real.

Yeah, I really do saw my assistant in half all the time. :rolleyes:

I believe the card game exists...

The guy that made Tobruk disapear in WWII!
Jasper Maskelyne? The best thing about him I think is his name. It makes him sound like a bad super hero/ villain and it isn't even a stage name. Apparently Tom Cruise is trying to make a film about him with himself as a star which wil probably be a disaster.
As for modern magicians, I really don't like Criss Angel. He tries to associate his tricks with the credibility of street magic, which presents them in a controlled setting to prevent cheating etc. but then tries to do stage magic because it is more spectacular. However to achieve this he has to use all sorts of camera trickery and all sorts of stooges, which completely destroys the object of street magic and makes a mockery of the whole thing. (I hope that that doesn't count as revealing the tricks as I'm not really in the know, I'll edit it if you think it is)

Bah none of them can beat Paul Daniels or Ali Bongo!

Jasper Maskelyne? The best thing about him I think is his name. It makes him sound like a bad super hero/ villain and it isn't even a stage name. Apparently Tom Cruise is trying to make a film about him with himself as a star which wil probably be a disaster.
As for modern magicians, I really don't like Criss Angel. He tries to associate his tricks with the credibility of street magic, which presents them in a controlled setting to prevent cheating etc. but then tries to do stage magic because it is more spectacular. However to achieve this he has to use all sorts of camera trickery and all sorts of stooges, which completely destroys the object of street magic and makes a mockery of the whole thing. (I hope that that doesn't count as revealing the tricks as I'm not really in the know, I'll edit it if you think it is)

Nah, that's not exposure. I used to be against camera tricks because its kinda dishonest. But I'm not anymore. Why? Because Ive had more people claim that David Blaine's ambitious card routine (where he makes a signed card jump to the top of the deck repeatedly after putting it in the middle of the deck, culminating in the bent card climax) or his card through window are camera tricks (they are not) than people claiming his levitation is a camera trick (it is). So, if people cant tell and they are just as amazed by real tricks as they are by camera tricks, whats the big deal?

PS. Thanks to the person who pointed out Jasper Maskelyne, I had not heard that story. Those are certainly ingenious uses of magic, but I cant recall ever hearing about any tricks, sleights, gimmicks, routines, or anything at all invented by him and no performances exist on tape (to my knowledge), so I really have no basis for judging him to be among the best. Though he certainly sounds like the most useful.

Stage magic, street magic, clown magic, mentalists, etc. love em or hate em?

If you like it, who is your favorite? David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, Siegried and Roy, Lance Burton, the Pendragons, Criss Angel....someone else?

Ever been to a particularly good magic show? or maybe you've been to a spectacularly bad one where the magician made a total fool of himself. Tell your story.

Do you have a favorite trick? something that has boggled your mind or astounded you?

Post whatever you want related to professional magic. On this thread.

PS. No exposure please (dont reveal how tricks are done if you are in the know)
There's a difference between illusionists, which is all of the aforementioned people, and actual magic. Both work just fine.

i like penn and teller. they are good at what they do and i like their sense of humor.

Yeah, they're hilarious. Their show isn't aired here anymore though. :(

If any of you can get BBC, watch 'Dirty Tricks' tonight, it's a mix of magic, hypnotism and comedy.:)

I've been entertained by magicians in the past, but it's not one of my favorite forms of entertainment. I'm indifferent.

There's a difference between illusionists, which is all of the aforementioned people, and actual magic. Both work just fine.

Actual magic?

Stage magic, street magic, clown magic, mentalists, etc. love em or hate em?

If you like it, who is your favorite? David Copperfield, Penn and Teller, Siegried and Roy, Lance Burton, the Pendragons, Criss Angel....someone else?

Ever been to a particularly good magic show? or maybe you've been to a spectacularly bad one where the magician made a total fool of himself. Tell your story.

Do you have a favorite trick? something that has boggled your mind or astounded you?

Post whatever you want related to professional magic. On this thread.

PS. No exposure please (dont reveal how tricks are done if you are in the know)

When I was a clown I used to love to do the slight of hand type tricks, and those are my favorites still, I love that you can put a squishy ball in someones hand, wave your hands over it and it ends up on thier forhead and thier hand empty. That stuff is priceless. It freaks out young and old alike.

I don't really care for the "make the statue of liberty disappear" type of magic I think it is stupid. (and yes I have a pretty good idea how that worked)

I like Penn and Teller though, can't get enough of them but more for the humor and gore than anything else. :)