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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
Ahh! But the ace in the hole is that the public has not even the slightest INKLING of the thousands of creative applications we magicians have invented for the TT.
I believe someone worth their salt will still fool the dirt out of them with it, even though they are aware of what it is. I don't worry about him. Worry is not the word. The word is more along the lines of loathe him. I abominate him. I despise him passionately. I detest him. I find him repugnant and ugly. I think he's pitiful. although I myself have no pity on him. I tend to think of him as a subhuman, bottom feeding, scurvy vermin. But worry? HAH! Not a chance!
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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boywonder New user 7 Posts |
Magicians should not download movies as a way of getting back at Fox, etc. That's just stupid. But the point of the piece is well written. I was surprised that Chris (the guy planning on attending film school) was so unaware of the process however. ALL of the people involved with making a movie are paid in full when the movie is complete. Downloading a movie, while illegal, does NOT hurt them financially. They belong to a union, are paid very well for their work and receive no additional payments when movies hit the theatre or are sold as DVD's. This argument that the movie industry is making is just another "hollywood fable" that they want the general public to buy. The only people who benefit from this are the movie studios who have made and continue to make millions of dollars. Downloads do not hurt the "little people" of the movie industry.
However, the damage done by the Masked Magician did hurt magicians around the world. More importantly, he demonstrated a lack of respect for the art of magic and those who work diligently to create the illusions that bring amazement. These illusions were NOT his to expose! He destroyed the work of others - he had no right to do that, regardless of his reasons. |
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KerryJK Special user Northampton UK 621 Posts |
Here we go again;
First, ethics aside, most people agree that the magic presented by Untalentino/The Masked Magician/The Mincing Magician (nothing to do with his sexuality, which I don't know, just the way he moves onstage) stank when judged by the world class standards they were claiming for the guy ("one of the world's top ten magicians," indeed!), but the shows did provide an interesting study in tabloid audience manipulation; the whole way it worked was to make laypeople feel clever and superior to those horrible cheating magicians and idiot fans who think it's all really magic, they gave you every clue as to how it was done before it was actually revealed and any suggestion that there might be more to it was carefully avoided (rule number one of tabloid television; if your audience is at all confused as to what they should be thinking, they will turn over; that's why you only ever get ridiculously polarised good-vs-evil debates on daytime talk shows, so the audience knows who to root for). The viewer's ego so massaged, they will tune in again next time so as to keep feeling clever. No-one bought that "this is for the good of magic" argument, it was more of a running joke; "hopefully this will inspire magicians to come up with new and better effects," said the announcer at the end of the first special, before adding, with a gleam in his eye, "then we can expose those too." Exposure per say isn't so cut and dried; secrets do get out and always will; it's the way in which it's done that's important (plus the fact that as a magician you'll always be a step ahead), and it tends to be forgiven more when done by someone who has contributed to magic. Harry Houdini exposed secrets all the time; most famously his targets were fake mediums, but he also revealed his own methods in order to sabotage the shows of rivals using the same tricks. It doesn't take much research into him to realise what a *** the guy could be, but that doesn't change the fact he is one of the greatest and most influential men in magic history. The best executed piece of "exposure" I've seen is the two "Magic Unmasked" shows which explained all the basic principles and showing illusions that used them without directly stating the methods, this is how it should be done. It brought people into the art and the neccesary principles, challenged them by only showing so much and displayed throughout the sheer depth, skill and effort that goes into it. That's how you get people interested in magic again, not by keeping aloof as some kind of pretentious mystical wizard and wondering why modern audiences aren't connecting with you. As for the downloading movies example; every P2P program going has been trumpeting "it's now legal!" since Kazaa won their court case, despite the fact the court in question ruled nothing of the kind; the court simply ruled that it was illegal for agencies to use stealth means on the service to catch and prosecute ordinary users. But the same tabloid people principle referred to above also means that people will employ any kind of self deception and flimsy rationale to defend something they want to do, also known as the "everyone does it, this is OK, right?" syndrome. For more information, see the "So you've decided to steal cable" booklet featured in The Simpsons. It's OK, it's a Fox show, you can download it with a clear conscience, apparently. |
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Randy Sager Elite user 409 Posts |
The thing I thought was so funny about the last special that Valentino did (I don't think these shows are good or funny however) was when he unmasked and said, "it's me, Valentino!" I could just hear all the non magicians and some magicians as well saying, "WHO??????" NO one knew who he was and he has been (at least name-wise) forgotten by most of them. People come to me once in a while and mention the guy with the mask and that they did not think much of him at all.
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Was hoping this was about a masked man on Fox TV claiming to be a magician and exposing himself. Seemed about right for a joke about Fox TV. Does anyone really watch those shows?
Somehow I wonder if anyone would care if a cable channel used magic teaching videos for filler instead of infomercials.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Mr. Muggle Special user 999 Posts |
Mamma always said, two wrongs don't make a right! If you don't like Fox, just don't watch the channel, or view anything that they produce. A few minutes online and you can easily find out who or what to avoid. Like President Reagan said, "vote with your feet." In this case, just don't buy or use Fox's products.
I'm suprised that magicauction has this on their site. I have used them before and they are professional with their service. I for one will send them an email asking them to take down the comment "Find a movie you like and download it today." You cannot justify wrong doing's by pointing the finger to what others have done themselves. Then I will buy one of the rabbits urinating on fox and put it on my car! MM (And yes people watch those shows. I have copies of a lot of shows with magic in my Tivo player.)
"Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it because you're not really looking. You don't really want to know the secret... You want to be fooled." - The Prestige (2006)
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
The thing that infuriated me the most about the exposures was Mitch what's his face's smart (another name for a donkey) attitude about the whole thing.
Kind of like he was enjoying making the cut and then rubbing salt in the new wound. And I hated the way he seemed to portray magicians as liars and cheats who take advantage of people by fooling them. We're NOT scoundrels! If I ever catch that ***hole on the street, well, let's just say, he had better have his insurance payed up in full. My blood pressure is rising just typing this, so I had better stop.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
The only people that remember the masked magician are magicians. I do the effects that he exposed and people that saw the specials are amazed by the magic.
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Michael Bourada New user 42 Posts |
I agree with Magicchris.
As much as it did hurt the industry, it makes us, as magicians come up with new and interesting effects to wow our audience with.
Experience the Magic.
www.michaelbourada.com |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
I have had people ask me to do those tricks the masked magician did. It's funny, but they can't remember the secret and are amazed at the magic.
I always tell them that the station would have been sued if they exposed the tricks, so they used trick photography and a phony explanation.
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Bill Veteran user and Pretty Nice Guy 373 Posts |
I have no sympathy for FOX and this propaganda about all the money they're losing with illegal downloads. That's a load of horse pucky! What they don't tell you is that 80 percent of the money they lose is to counterfeiters. But they're in Asia, and Eastern Europe and could care less about our workers having to pay for groceries and all that boo hoo hoo. The fact of the matter is, the people that illegally download are pretty much not going to buy the movie, or music or software anyway, so the loss is negligable.
I think it's interesting an industry noted for its lack of concern for people, actors, viewers etc. is crying foul on behalf of their employees. Baloney! It's all about the money, and nothing but the money. |
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