|
|
Go to page [Previous] 1~2 | ||||||||||
Bill Nuvo Inner circle 3094 Posts or 2742 Posts |
Wow Reynold, way to go with standing your ground with the Miami TV show. I applaud you.
|
|||||||||
JasonB Regular user 174 Posts |
Reynold,
I think you have great conviction on that issue. To turn down a TV show's request is really amazing. The previously mentioned show (and if I'm wrong I'll admit it), was written and produced by Jim Steinmeyer. There are few living people in magic (if any) that have contributed more good to magic than him. What do we think of his judgement? I said before, I'm not overly expressing my side. But, I do understand publicity and I understand the more you overtly draw attention to something the more attention it gets. By Renold declining to do the exposure he helped magic but didn't draw attention. When you send letters to FOX you absolutely fan the negative flames. So much magic is exposed by bad and good magicians. If we really hate exposure we have to look to clean up our own acts (literally). Do you only do effects in the absolute right venue, do you ever use extra stage hands, do non-magicians ever help you load out or in, do you "Make the CEO appear"? I'm just asking questions. Isn't wrong just wrong? Who's the judge? We can be our own for ourselves. But we judge another's exposure and excuse our own. Again, Reynold I applaud your conviction to your beliefs. |
|||||||||
reynold Elite user Puerto Rico 490 Posts |
JasonB: I was lucky I succesfully convinced the producer for a sucker effect but I was willing to turn it down. I am packing now thus I leave tommorrow so after this post I will turn off the computer.
Jason, my philosophy is if it helps the show or magic then do it. Having extra stagehands and assistants (I give a huge speech on magic secrecy before hiring)definitely helps the show, so I think is OK. Making a CEO appear, helps the show, so its OK for me (obviously with a confidentiality agreement.) I did a huge 2 hr local TV Special using celebrities in my illusions and they all signed confidentiality agreements. I think is ok to learn magic if you are really interested. If the person seeks information, goes to the library for magic books or contacts a magician for lessons. Now, is a different story if tourist who don't care about magic wandering around Universal Studios and they see the knife thru arm,I think that is really wrong. Supposed I had agreed to reveal a simple magic routine in tommorrow's show and a guy in boxer shorts and beer in hand, changing channels happens to see me and he couldn't care less about magic, then he just learned a secret for no good. But if that same guy saw the show and became interested in magic and goes to a magic shop and buys a DVD because he really wants to learn I think is OK. Hope this helps to clarify my views on exposure. Thanks, Reynold |
|||||||||
JasonB Regular user 174 Posts |
Reynold Good luck on your show and thank you for your point of few. I think you really ave some good food for thought.
Posted: Oct 9, 2007 3:41am -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reynold, I think you have great conviction on that issue. To turn down a TV show's request is really amazing. The previously mentioned show (and if I'm wrong I'll admit it), was written and produced by Jim Steinmeyer. There are few living people in magic (if any) that have contributed more good to magic than him. What do we think of his judgement? I said before, I'm not overly expressing my side. But, I do understand publicity and I understand the more you overtly draw attention to something the more attention it gets. By Renold declining to do the exposure he helped magic but didn't draw attention. When you send letters to FOX you absolutely fan the negative flames. So much magic is exposed by bad and good magicians. If we really hate exposure we have to look to clean up our own acts (literally). Do you only do effects in the absolute right venue, do you ever use extra stage hands, do non-magicians ever help you load out or in, do you "Make the CEO appear"? I'm just asking questions. Isn't wrong just wrong? Who's the judge? We can be our own for ourselves. But we judge another's exposure and excuse our own. Again, Reynold I applaud your conviction to your beliefs. |
|||||||||
kendavis Regular user 182 Posts |
Getting back to the knife shown at Universal Studios. I recently saw it demonstrated at Universal in Hollywood. It WAS the same model that I have seen in some larger joke shops and several Halloween catalogs. I have also seen cheap knock offs of Viking's Needle Through the Arm. Don't throw your knife out. In a couple of years they will fall off in popularity and disappear from the joke stores. Save it for the next generation.
|
|||||||||
Slim King Eternal Order Orlando 18012 Posts |
I;m not sure if the Hollywood Universal's show is the same as Orlando's?
We have the knife cutting arm.
THE MAN THE SKEPTICS REFUSE TO TEST FOR ONE MILLION DOLLARS.. The Worlds Foremost Authority on Houdini's Life after Death.....
|
|||||||||
Paul Arthur Regular user 196 Posts |
Both versions of the show are generally the same and have been around since the mid 80's. The knife thru arm gag has been in the show since it opened.
|
|||||||||
Vince_the_vince New user 50 Posts |
It was in cinema before being a magic prop!
|
|||||||||
George Ledo Magic Café Columnist SF Bay Area 3042 Posts |
Wow! What a thread!
Let's look at this in perspective for a moment. First, Scot's Discoverie of Witchcraft was not sold thru legitimate magic shops to legitimate, card-carrying magicians. It was intended to be an expose of how people who pretended to have magic powers did their stuff. In other words, "Hey, general public, these folks are charlatans." Remember, in those days being a magician could literally be hazardous to your health; it was long before the trick guillotines were invented. Second, although the knife thru arm is probably outdated as a movie effect (there are far more effective ways of showing gore in a movie), it was still a legitimate effect, and if the studios feel they can entertain their customers by exposing it, they will do so. They don't look at it as a magic trick. We look at it that way, but they do not. Also, remember how short people's attention spans are, and the fact that we very often do not relate things. People who are at Universal and see that effect are going to remember it as a movie effect; actually, they're probably going to forget it among all the other fun stuff they saw. It's not that important to them. The general public doesn't think magic secrets are as important as we think they are. If some of these people see a magician doing something similar later, and the magician presents it as a magic effect, it'll still be a magic effect.
That's our departed buddy Burt, aka The Great Burtini, doing his famous Cups and Mice routine
www.georgefledo.net Latest column: "Sorry about the photos in my posts here" |
|||||||||
reynold Elite user Puerto Rico 490 Posts |
George: Sorry but I completely disagree. They might forget it but as soon they see it again in a magic show they will remember they saw it at univarsals.
Thanks, Reynold |
|||||||||
TuxedoKMax New user 2 Posts |
Here's the problem. Anyone that I have ever seen perform a trick like this successfully did more than just demonstrate the effect. First you have to set the mood, convince the audience that you are really going to cut your arm, maybe perform a switch and have one examined. The ability to convince and entertain the audience is what sets a magician apart from an exposurist (did I just coin a new word there?). If you don't have any more going for your act than just using a gimmicked knife then you don't need to be performing this (or any other) trick.
|
|||||||||
Rich B. Special user Philadelphia 632 Posts |
I just saw the show at Universal in Orlando. Its called the Horror Make Up Show...or something very similar. The show was very good and entertaining. He revealed the the knife that extends from the handle which exposes the cut out "U" shape that creates the Illusion.
Of course I'm against exposure, but in this case it is completely blown out of proportion. The show was presented with the idea of exposing how some techniques are used to create horror movies. I believe it was accepted exactly like this by the audience and not related to magic at all. We all know the T. Tip is always exposed by vanishing a silk. Not once have I ever been called by the audience using this gimmick for a bill switch. The exposure programs the audience to relate to the T.Tip when they see the silk being pushed into the fist, and not used for any other purpose. That is why I don't think the gimmicked knife exposure will be immediately related to magic if someone saw the Horror Make up Show. TuxedoKmax has it right above. If it really bothers you, magicians performing this live as a real illusion and not a throw away effect, should take it to level, by casually having the knife inspected and switching in the gaffed knife on the off beat. If done well, you would have a miracle...or a very realistic gruesome effect. In this case...there is nothing to worry about. Rich B. |
|||||||||
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » Right or Wrong? » » Knife Thru Arm Exposure at Universal Studios (0 Likes) | ||||||||||
Go to page [Previous] 1~2 |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.02 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |