Super working on new magic concept
September 12, 2008
Watch out for Mike Super: He has the next big thing in magic.
What is it? Don’t know. He can’t say yet.
NBC’s “Phenomenon” winner Mike Super will be performing for students at Pittsburg (Kan.) State University tonight. In an interview with The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, he talked about his show, his performance style and went on record about that big thing coming. From the story:
One show in particular, he said, would introduce “a completely different concept that hasn’t been done before.” He can’t say much else about it, he said, because of network agreements and performance secrets, except that it should premiere sometime in 2009.
“When this comes out, it will be the next ripped-off magic trend, it’s that good,” Super said. “It will follow in the street-magic way, and everyone will be trying to do it.”
Though we magicians know magic is making a resurgence, popular culture hasn’t quite caught up yet, thanks to shows such America’s Got Talent (iTricks’ Justin Robert Young provides some compelling evidence of how this show treats magicians), “Masked Magician” specials and even Criss Angel’s antics on Phenomenon. The way to fight that, Super said, is to make sure you develop your performance personality.
“I see magic getting lampooned most of the time, and more than 50 percent of the time, it should be,” Super said. “Magicians can be locked in the past, repetitive and imitative. They don’t develop a stage persona or character.”
Keep watching here for more on Super…
Forum user: Don’t perform for strangers
September 8, 2008
Joe Williamson, who goes by the user name huruey on the Ellusionist forums, offered some advice that made at least one moderator wonder if he had gone mental: Don’t perform for strangers.
Eh, what? Isn’t that kind of the point of street magic?
Yes it is, Williamson explains in this thread, which has earned the Post of the Week award. His advice: Treat your spectators more like people and less like strangers. If you get to know them a little better, barriers are broken down and your spectators become more willing to see, and appreciate your art.
Williamson said his advice is meant for those who still fight nerves, or those who get heckled a lot. But it’s solid advice for many situations. Magicians are sometimes viewed as self-absorbed geeks who try to look all mysterious. If you take the time to bond with your audience, then the magic become more than an effect. It becomes something special that bonds people and creates a lifelong memory. Good work, huruey!
The Ellusionist forums are loaded with information just like this. If you’re not checking the forums out daily, you are missing out on a powerful library.
SawChuck: Personality as important as magic
September 7, 2008
Of all the things Murray SawChuck works on for his stage show, the most important is his personality.
The creator of CD magic and coach on VH-1’s CelebraCadabra was featured in this article in the Sunday, Sept. 7 issue of The Province. He told reporter Glen Schaefer that he’s practicing not his double lifts, or his productions, but his comedy chops. From the interview:
“I spent the last five years trying to become more of a personality as well as a magician,” he says over the phone from Ketchikan, Alaska, where he’s doing nightly shows at a resort theatre. “I push the comedy edge, really trying not to take myself too seriously.”
Schaefer also detailed some of SawChuck’s non-magical work lately, including work with Robert Englund, who plays the legendary Freddy Krueger from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series, and adult-film star Jenna Jameson. He noted that Johnny Carson and Bob Barker got their starts as magicians.
Mislabeled sushi proves experts easier to fool
September 4, 2008
Photo courtesy Lars Klove, The New York Times
Are you scared of the skeptical spectators? The questioners? The ones burning your hands? Do you think the more attentive or smart a spectator is, the tougher they would be to fool?
You’d be proven wrong by a couple of girls who bought a lot of sushi.
Kate Stoeckle (pictured, left) and Louisa Strauss, two New York City high-school students, conducted a painfully easy science project and discovered, through genetic fingerprinting, that about a quarter of restaurants and markets sold mislabeled sushi. Expensive tuna turned out to be cheap tilapia. Several red snapper samples were actually everything from cod to Acadian redfish.
NYT columnist Edward Dolnick, in this column, revealed the arrogance behind a restauranteur’s bold assertion that his restaurant did not have any of the mislabeled fish. “It is impossible to mislead people who have knowledge,” said Eric Ripert, the chef at Le Bernardin, in the column. Dolnick continues:
Few statements could do more to gladden a con man’s heart. In the art of the con, magicians and swindlers and forgers insist, the ideal victim is not an ignoramus but an expert. Any magician would rather take on a roomful of physicists than of 5-year-olds. “When you’re certain you cannot be fooled,” wrote the magician Teller, “you become easy to fool.”
Dolnick’s column goes into a little bit of detail about the phenomenon. In a nutshell, a more aware, educated person makes assumptions about what they are actually seeing; ergo, they trick themselves. That means you shouldn’t fear those skeptical, quizzical, eagle-eyed spectators. Perform boldly for them, because they will be even more stunned. And think about how you can use this sushi psychology to set up your audiences for even more amazing, impossible effects.
Spectators want to see more
August 27, 2008
We already know that David Blaine is going to put more magic into his upcoming ABC special, “Dive of Death,” than has been in the last few specials. As it turns out, Criss Angel plans putting more magic into season No. 4 of “Mindfreak,” on A&E.
Justin Robert Young at iTricks was at Angel’s building-implosion stunt. He snagged an interview with several of his creative team, including Ben Seidman, who said that two full episodes this season would be dedicated to closeup magic. From the Aug. 4 Magic Week in Review podcast:
“Although (Angel) is great at closeup, he hasn’t had all of the experience that other closeup magicians have had. So watching him work, starting out as a terrific (stage) magician, but then working his *** off to become a really amazing closeup magician has been great. It’s been inspirational watching the amount time he has dedicated to practicing, and he is learning things beyond a lot of closeup magicians.”
Seidman said to watch out for a trick where a deck is dropped in a pond. Every card will melt away except a spectator’s chosen card.
Over the last several months, magicians have criticized both Blaine and Angel about focusing more on stunts and less on magic. The fact that both of these powerhouse magicians making changes means the viewing public also wants to see more magic.
That means — and this ought to get you excited about hitting the streets — that spectators are hungry to see more.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there. Show them your art.
Does Real Magic Exist?
April 1, 2008
Hi Everyone,
This is Clifford, a fellow magician from far-away Goa in India. This is my first post on the Ellusionist blog.. and based on feedback, I intend to post regularly .. I will write mostly about the practical aspects of our art.. trying to look into the performer’s mind, find out what are the issues that arise there, and try to answer them based on my personal experience. Once in a while I will also write about important happenings in the Magic Scene in India. And if any one of you plans to be in this part of the world, do get in touch!
The topic I would like to touch upon today is “Does Real Magic Exist?”
As a magician you see a magic show and are watching an effect which you have performed dozens of times. Do you ever get thrilled or get transported into the world of magic after watching the same Chop Cup routine, which you are an expert at? It happens to me, and am sure it might be your experience as well. The question is, why did that happen? You know the effect backward. You know the logic and every step in the routine. But still the magic hits you !!!
If the performer believes that the ball penetrated a metal cup, his belief will be transmitted to the audience and they will believe the same. In my opinion, to create “Real Magic”, being skillful, or mastering the principles of the art of magic, are not the only criteria. You have to feel the magic happen. Your expression and your body language will convey this to your audience. It will convey the “Real Magic in you” to the audience.
So remember “Real Magic exists”. Yes, your magic is “Real Magic“.
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