I am always positive when it comes to magic, but in this case something needs to be said.

When people buy tickets to go to a magic show, they expect to see magic, not singing, dancing, origami, etc.

This is an example of a recent experience I had of not getting what I paid to see -
I recently went to a magic convention where they had a theater show which was advertised as a night of magic. We ended up leaving early (after 3 hours and it started 45min late) Of the 2 1/2 hours of watching with my guests, we only saw 30% magic. The rest was singing, dancing, paper folding, no so funny jokes, etc. One example was a guy playing a banjo and singing hillbilly songs for around 30 minutes. We though there was a problem backstage and they were trying to kill time while waiting for a real magician to come back out.

Is it so hard to find real magicians to perform? If I wanted to see singing and dancing, I would certainly not buy tickets for a magic show. Instead I would go somewhere to watch people who were really good at this sort of thing.

This was particularly embarassing since I told my friends ahead of time that this was going to be a great magic show and we traveled from afar to see it.

Don't get me wrong, there was some great magic, but you had to be very patient to wait for it.

Since this was a magic convention, there were many great magicians there who could have performed... so why didn't they?

The extravaganza may have been produced and directed by a "Theater type" rather than a magician. If so, sit there and shut up! soak up the culture and diversity that IS the theater! We know what is best for you. <Please read the previous statement with all the pomposity and sarcasm you can muster>

Frank Tougas

Sorry, Frank, but I don't agree with this. This wasn't theater. From the short description, it sounds more like a variety show pulled together from whatever was available. Maybe the producer intended to do a magic show and then ran into problems and had to fill the bill at the last minute. Three hours is a long evening to fill, which tells me a lot right there. Also, the fact that it started so late raises several flags.

I'm not about to guess on so little information, but it almost sounds like a show that went wrong somewhere.

The show actually lasted close to 5 hours. We left after 3 hours because it was getting very late, we were getting very tired and bored (we were not the only ones leaving). I believe that there was some good magic after we left. It would have been a perfect 2 hour show if the extra time-wasters were not included.

Frank - The problem here is that everyone did exactly as you said; "sit down and shut up" because we are too afraid to speak up when something is not right.

Holy smokes... five hours? Was that a show or an endurance contest?

I was pointing out the absurdity of the show by being absurd. A five hour show is insane by any standards. Sounds like every act on the bill performed their entire act rather than having a well put together variety show with eight to ten minutes from each.

Would you care to tell us what convention this was?

Frank Tougas

I know... but when you said a "Theater type," the hairs on the back of my neck stood up


Yeah!

Daytona Magic Convention