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Christian Z. Regular user Seattle, WA 126 Posts |
Hey guys, I think there have been posts on this subject before but decided to try one here since it's street magic.
Anyways, I don't get why there is soo many Blaine haters out there. I really don't understand this, is it because he uses camera trickery? Jealousy? People think he can't do magic? Well I don't know but I'm a big David Blaine fan, and I don't really get what people hate about him. I really have to say he deserves the respect. First off he worked to get his name BIG. And that is hard to do, get your name BIG and noticed. And he has taken the time and dedication to magic and be able to do the card tricks he does well, people think he is like not even good or something with cards or magic in general. Well if you watch him in his specials, what did he do that was bad? Anyways, I think the big issue is the camera trickery part about Blaine. Now personally there are times where you think he shouldn't do it but there is a big pro to this, camera trickery can make people believe in magic, if your mom or dad watched him and said how did he do that and started to be more interested in magic, then it's done it's job. Sure it makes the job easier but makes more people believe, but this doesn't mean that he is a fake magician. He has proven himself in the specials by doing card tricks, coin tricks, close up illusions, sleight of hand and such, that sure should prove that he is real and not fake. Another thing is, he does stunts also and crazy stuff. Buried Alive for one, and Frozen in Time and let me tell you that the Masked Magician that revealed this "trick" which was really a stunt isn't true. Blaine really did do the stunt and didn't slip out of some trapdoor (I have pictures to prove this). Masked Freaked did this to make Blaine look more fake and he ran out of tricks to do. Anyways, Frozen in Time was real, and Vertigo. Well I think Blaine deserves the respect, but that's what I think. Peace. Christian |
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MacGyver Inner circle St. Louis, MO 1419 Posts |
wow.... hit enter every now and again, paragraphs really help for people who decide to read what you post.
While I don't think there are many Blaine "haters" (hate is a very strong word.) Many don't like him. Here are some reasons: 1. Constant use of plants and stooges to "read minds" or get his healed and sealed into position. Or him planting a window/glass breaking table into position. 2. Camera tricks. Enough magic can be done without the camera tricks, it just furthers the belief that all magic is camera tricks. 3. Doing tricks that are store bought and require little skill, such as ID/Svengali/coin bite, ect. 4. Having no story or patter, he keeps saying "look, look, look. Watch this, Watch here, look here, look, look, look." 5. The Stunts... which have nothing to do with magic, only to get him more TV coverage and specials... Now I don't agree with all of these things, but that is why you may percieve there to be many "Blaine haters" You might want to take a look at the "Blaine-wannabe's" first, then compare the two groups, lol |
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Heavens to Mercitroids Regular user 117 Posts |
I'm just curious........ Where can I find the information everyone uses to say that he uses plants and stooges??? I hear this quite often and I have done quite a bit of searching, yet the only place I even read about this is from other magicians telling other magicians...... I'm beginning to think that this "Fact" is based on Hear-say.
The comment "How else could he....." isn't too convincing either..... I'm sure we have all come to a conclusion about how a trick was performed and found out later we were totally WRONG. I'll admit, he did use camera tricks for the levitation and I've said this before...... If he had actually shown the same levitation he performed for the street audience...... everyone would be chirping about how he "gave away" the secret to the levitation. (which he would have done if he had shown it) after seeing it a few times ANYONE can see how it is done. As for the, "turning on the camera during the middle of a trick" comment I hear constantly...... what would anyone do??? Show the WHOLE TRICK over and over? Watch the specials again and in the majority of the tricks he repeats, he shows the whole trick the first time and then for the next few times he shows the ending of the trick and the reaction of the spectators..... the camera is rolling the whole time... but that would make for a pretty long special. Also as we all know if he did show the trick from beginning to end ...the TV audience could just go back and watch HIM in a situation he may have needed to use misdirection to divert the street spectators eyes. This is my opinion and my opinion only, but I actually like his "look, look, watch" presentation, mostly because it's a break from the average, corny magician mumbo-jumbo, that I hear FAR too often, The SAME patter for the SAME trick by TWENTY DIFFERENT magicians. His presentation just seems more "real". Now I personally wouldn't use it but I also don't memorize a specific speech for every trick I do...... I think it's far more interesting to know a trick well enough to improvise a little patter. When I perform "Blizzard" for example, I'm not Dean Dill, and when I perform "Ultimate three card monte", I'm not Michael Skinner........ and when I try to be someone I'm not... it SHOWS. MacGyver, I know your post wasn't YOUR opinion, so don't think this post is aimed at you by any means. This is how I feel about having a "Favorite" anything..... We all like different things... and the different things that we like reflect who we are...... for example if someone is REALLY into Rock music..... When someone comes along and bashes Rock music in front of them, it's hard not to take it as an attack on them personally, especially if it's known by all parties that this is their favorite music..... I think the same goes for ANYONES favorite ANYTHING....... When someone shows a special liking for David Blaine, and someone else comes along and talks about how bad he sucks, the David Blaine fan is going to take it personal.... It's human.
When it's my time to shine.....The whole world is going blind.....From the Shiesty side of town.....Where a nickle costs a dime!
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MacGyver Inner circle St. Louis, MO 1419 Posts |
Points well made, and I would like to add some more reasons that some magicians may hate Blaine for:
6. He calls strolling magic, "street magic", which it isn't. Street magic is an art and Blaine alienated MANY street magicians by refering to what he does as street magic. 7. He comes across looking for the screaming spectator, and trying to be cool (which he is). Not for entertaining those specific people, but to make himself appear special and wierd out their sense of reality. 8. He created many Blaine-wannabe's which do nothing but expose magic and go around showing friends BAD magic. Ok, now that I have those off my mind, I'd like to talk about stooge's: I only have street magic on the computer right now, so I'll have to only reference those: Sure Stooges (or hidden assistants): SMP: torn and restored, he had the name of the girl on the top card. That at least shows it wasn't impromptue, he had to know her name, and also it was either her taking the right card, or a one way force deck. I'd assume it was the 1 way force, but who knows.... SMP: The JC, QD, JH card thinking.... that was either stooged or just took MANY takes to get a good one, and somewhat misrepresents what he can actually do. I mean, you have to get it right in 52 takes, even more so when you know that people are more inclined to pick certain cards... and he doesn't show him failing. Which is another reason some people don't like him SMP: The little girl had to get loaded with a card during the break in the camera, which is sort of like camera trickery. Anyway in vertigo, I know he plants a healed and sealed can, and some other scenes are either just creative editing or stooging. Ok, onto his performance style: Blaine knows about the average person, and about TV. People loved his special, and were entertained by watching the reactions of the people he did magic for. Unlike most performers, he wasn't trying to entertain the audience with magic, he was doing it by watching other people's reaction to magic. This sort of thing is becoming common place with the "reality" TV craze like Fear Factor and so many other gameshows. They are disgusting and not good TV, but people still watch them. Sort of the same thing with Blaine, while people may get freaked out by him, when it comes down to making money, I bet you Gazzo or any of the other street magicians will come home with the bigger hat at the end of the day for being ENTERTAINING, not spooky. You don't come home with a lot of money from being spooky and weirding people out. Granted, Blaine knew this, and his special was mostly focused not on being entertaining but to show the effect that magic can have on people, and he does camera tricks, creative editing and stooges up the wazoo to get this effect. The problem is that Blaine-wannabe's do not understand that the whole special was made for TV. The reason that Blaine did so much better than other magicians, is that with other magicians on TV, it is basically a televised portion of their own magic trick. Watching it on TV would be about the same as seeing it up close and personal. But not with Blaine's special, they are chock full of editing and the camera focuses on the people, not the magic. Fill in good music, Blaine being "spiritual" by walking alone on a street, celeb interviews and sport figues for specs, add in a huge pointless stunt for publiciity and you have DAVID BLAINE. So the Blaine-Wannabe's go out with the intent of getting the same reactions from people in Real Life, not knowing that Blaine's audience wasn't the people he was performing for, it was the American people watching TV. They throw around secrets like it's nothing, and squeel with glee everytime someone screams and walks away from them. I think that is why many magicians might have a problem with Blaine. Personally, I understand that his whole image and specials are focused around getting people to watch, and stay watching throughout the entire show. He does that amazingly well. I really don't have a problem with Blaine and I think if even 1 in a thousand Blaine-wannabe's can become a real magician, then he's doing his part to help magic and I think most of the serious performers should lay off his back. |
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Scott Xavier Inner circle 3672 Posts |
Is it true that Blaines father is an exec at ABC? In his book he mentions mommy, but never daddy.
I think most of the magicians here hate Blaine, because he skipped all those years of founding yourself in society, and hit the TV stardom! I have to give the man some credit, he has sparked interest in magic again. Finally it's cool or at least OK to be a magician. He does a couple non-gaffed tricks ok, and mixes those in with gaffs that make magic look unbelievable. That's cool, that's what magic is supposed to be, Magic. Here's where people get mad, most of us practice for years and could never pull off his magic because he uses camera trickery, prior knowledge/stooges, and cheesey props yet this guy gets all the publics respect. How many of us will see Aarron Fisher or Rickey Jay on ABC? NONE..... Just a few thoughts from a thought reader.. |
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Sean Loyal user No Cal 205 Posts |
Aren't stooges in magic a long-standing tradition? David Blaine's use of them seems to be a grey area as to liking/hating him.
What I don't like is his use of camera trickery and then claiming it's magic. That's special effects, not magic. Could you imagine someone like Michael Ammar or Penn and Teller using camera tricks to create their effect? |
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rowdymagi5 Inner circle Virginia 3616 Posts |
I wonder how much say so David Blaine has when it comes to editing. Some of that may be out of his control. I know that a lot of the behind the scenes stuff when it comes to t.v. specials is edited and it can have a "spin" to it.
I would love to see his out-takes! You know there has to be some! |
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ClodAppleleft Regular user Manchester, NH 195 Posts |
Ummm... Penn and Teller use camera tricks all the time to create their effects.
There are many different ways to cut an apple.
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mrlavaboy New user Indpls 94 Posts |
I use to live and work in NYC. I worked with homeless... to make a long story short, Blaine came to an event at the place I worked (his new girl... a model needed some publicity and something good on her Resume). He performed table side for a bit for some of the folks there and they loved it.
I think the thing about him is that he connects with people. He is a showman first. He has learned to entertain and uses "magic" to entertain. Not unlike D. Copperfield. I don't hear much about his use of stooges or plants, or camera tricks... It happens. It happens all the time. I agree that Blaine has hurt the industry in a couple ways.... encouraging bad magic (lots of people try to be him), and the street magic/close-up thing. Call it what it is. Just the ramblings of an entertainer. andy |
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WR Special user Utah 945 Posts |
Like it or not, he has opened a lot of doors in magic for us. A lot of people are sparked interest because of his stuff.
Just my 2 cents, WR
"Tell Em WR sent Ya."
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rowdymagi5 Inner circle Virginia 3616 Posts |
How does Blaine encourage bad magic? When he first came out he did do a lot of tricks that you could call beginners tricks. However, most people were baffled by it! Unfortunatly his popularity made so many people seek out how the tricks were done, but I don't see how he is causing bad magic.
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mrlavaboy New user Indpls 94 Posts |
What I mean by bad magic... lots of bad Blaine rip offs. People go to the local magic shop and get one of those "tricks" that DB did on TV. They don't spend time practicing. Run out show a bunch of friends the "trick" and then they tell them for $7.50 they can get one to. That is what I mean by bad magic.
There is no ownership. There is no entertaining. They are trained monkeys that do tricks. That is all I am saying. andy |
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WR Special user Utah 945 Posts |
Quote:
On 2003-05-02 14:08, rowdymagi5 wrote: Well said! That's what I am saying. Tell me you did not dig out your folding coins after the first special. I did! WR
"Tell Em WR sent Ya."
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mrlavaboy New user Indpls 94 Posts |
I don't want you to get the wrong idea. I like the guy. I have met him in a non-performance setting (he came to my work when I lived in NYC with his girlfriend at the time). I have a picture of him in my office. I just don't like all the cheap rip-offs out there. DB entertains. That is what is good about him. The bad magic.... just cheap rip-offs people who do "tricks".
I think that makes sense. andy |
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shinobi Loyal user Durban, South Africa 272 Posts |
Its not David Blaine's fault if people think he is good and want to copy him. It is their fault for performing badly and exposing tricks. Blame the magic dealers who sell 'David Blaine street magic packs'
As for his limited patter, I too am sick of corny cheesy overdone blabberings and bad jokes. His effects are strong enough to speak for themselves. My lifelong interest in magic had waned, until David opened my eyes to a new, fresh and accessable style. As for his stunts and weirding people out, that's his way of making magic real through his "shamanic" character. And wasn't Copperfields Liberty vanish a camera trick? I think a lot of 'Blaine hater's are just jealous of his rise to stardom. |
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WR Special user Utah 945 Posts |
Actually I taught Copperfield the liberty vanish. Before you judge the Guy read his book. I am sure you can get from your local library.
WR
"Tell Em WR sent Ya."
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Andrew E. Miller Inner circle Southern California 1428 Posts |
I laugh at the people who hate David Blaine. He's awesome and as long as he can entertain people with magic. Then I support him. He does what works on TV. I think some people are just jealous that they won't be getting 5 television specials in their future.
Andrew |
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shinobi Loyal user Durban, South Africa 272 Posts |
WR, I wasn't saying anything negative about David Copperfield, just saying people shouldn't run Blaine down for using camera tricks, and citing another huge name who has used them. I'd love to read his book, what is the name and publisher?
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Scott Xavier Inner circle 3672 Posts |
I like Blaine, that being said, what happened to his father? Who is Daddy Blaine?
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Christian Z. Regular user Seattle, WA 126 Posts |
Hey guys,
Thanks for all the replies, umm Dr. Zodiac I do not know who Blaine's father is and I don't think his father works at ABC, I think he died or walked out on the family because they said something like that in Blaine's early career on T.V. But I think Blaine takes magic seriously, he knows it's an art, he says this in the Fearless vhs or dvd. And by the look on his face he looked disappointed that the fact that lots of people who aren't into magic take it more as a hobby than an art form. As for camera trickery, I'm not a big fan but it really increases the realness of magic only on T.V., I have to admit that you can't just hate Blaine, if you hate Blaine then you hate a lot of other magicians. David Copperfield uses camera trickery and he is a legend although he changed a lot now (I liked it before, when he put a lot of emotion into it, unlike now, he doesn't put a lot). I know Pen and Teller use camera trickery, Lance Burton also has on one of his specials, I know you guys will find a lot of magicians that use camera trickery. Just my 2 cents. Christian |
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